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Deciding good, bad from Wilson's words
Wilson, the Pirates' shortstop, was critical of the latest trade in the organization's rebuilding plan. Popular outfielder Nyjer Morgan was swapped Tuesday for not-so-popular Lastings Milledge, who is on his third team in a brief and unremarkable four-year career.
Morgan was packaged with reliever Sean Burnett and the Pirates received reliever Joel Hanrahan with Milledge. This trade came after outfielder Nate McLouth was dealt to Atlanta for prospects and pitcher Charlie Morton June 3.
Wilson blasted the organization, claiming he was "beyond, beyond tired of such moves." He knows when the white flag on a season is being hoisted.
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Wilson might see a winning season next year, but not if he's with the Pirates. He is expected to be traded at the deadline or politely told to move on if his $8.4 million dollar option is not picked up.
The next day, a contrite Wilson backpedalled so fast, he nearly tripped over his apology. He said there was no cryptic messages left in his locker or late-night phone calls telling him to back off.
So he faced the media with his act of contrition.
"Some of my comments were pretty harsh," he said. "I definitely don't want to be the guy who is butting heads with the organization or trying to cause any type of negativity, so I apologize."
The organization is happy. The bad Jack Wilson had seen the errors of his way and repented, turning into the good Jack Wilson.
At least, that's how president Frank Coonelly and GM Neal Huntington will see it.
It's not the way I see it.
The good Jack Wilson had the guts to rip his employer because this has become a throw-away season. When it's over, the Pirates will have 17 consecutive losing years, a record for a major professional sports franchise of any kind.
At least they'll be No. 1 in something.
Wilson's emotional outburst probably spoke for every player and fan sick of this losing organization's plans. The trade of Morgan is a bad one, not because Morgan is such a strong character player. That doesn't win championships.
It's bad because, so far, Milledge has shown to be at the bottom of the character chart. He's worn out his welcome with the Mets and was dumped by the Nationals after missing a team meeting and playing a bad outfield. Divas don't bat .260 with mediocre power and limited defensive ability.
The bad Jack Wilson shrunk from his criticism the next day. He said he was worried about how he would be perceived by the players and fans.
But for those few moments, when the emotions boiled over, he stood as the spokesperson for a generation of Pirates fans that is beyond tired of losing baseball.
And that was good.
Assistant sports editor Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
ALUMINUM !! : 7/3/2009
As a fan since the 60's, Roberto Clemente was my idol growing up with Willie Stargell a close 2nd, in today's market, those 2 players would not be playing for the Pirates ! In the 70's we had the Lumber Company, Since 1992, we have the Aluminum Company, cause we are the best recyclers in baseball !!! As Sonny & Cher use to sing "The Beat Goes On" MLB 18+million/yr Bud Selig, keeps lining his pockets with this outrageous salary that he gets paid, he continues to let this TRAVESTY TO THE GAME roll on, 3/4 of the league can't afford to keep their stars once they get their 6 year service in, management keeps feeding their fans with every excuse in the book, but the bottom line is that MLB is broken & it needs fixed, BAD !! Barry Bonds left town in 1992 because of SALARY, and it will continue until someone does something about it !!! The 1/4 of the teams that can afford these outrageous salaries that have gone from a starting salary of $43,500/yr in 1984, to $400,000/yr now, has caused the stars of the league to be untouchable for the 3/4 of the fans that are the majority of the league, the fans of these 1/4 that can afford it because of their market size, have no clue what the fuss is all about, because unless it happens to them, they are blind to this TRAVESTY ! The thing that annoys me the most is MLB has 30 teams in it's league, but all 30 teams are not marketed by the league the same, their TV contracts with FOX,ESPN & TBS expose this fraudulence on a everyday basis, I don't blame the media for this, they paid big money, they want the big audiences for their sponsors, I blame MLB for allowing this to happen, a SALARY CAP would make it fair for all the teams, to all the people who claim that a SALARY CAP would not work because of the Minor Leagues, Baloney !! You have a separate SALARY CAP for the minor league system also !! There are thousands of Pirate fans that live all across this great country,just like the Steelers & Penguins, just take a look next time your watching a game when the Pirates are on the road, or the Steelers who in my opinion, are America's team, are playing a road game, the majority of those fans live in that area ! We as fans did not cause these salaries to get out of control, we would show up in droves if these players made 1/2 of what they make, we just want a good product to support our team once ownership puts that on the field, just look at the STEELERS & PENGUINS !! I am just wondering if the new pay czar that Obama just hired, will do anything about this, they sure are making a big stink about what people are making in the real world !!
