North Shore Notes
View From The Crow's Nest
By Jim Lachimia

*Charley Feeney, the former Pirates' beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette used to say, "Every pitching coach helps two guys, hurts two guys, and the rest don't matter." That's probably an oversimplification, but you could certainly make the case that Jim Colborn helped Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny and hurt Oliver Perez and Zach Duke. To put Feeney's phrase another way: For every guy that loves the pitching coach, there's probably a brooding guy that hates him.

*Without the wild card format this would have been the first year since 1995 that the World Champion Red Sox qualified for postseason play. Between 1996 and 2006, Boston made the playoffs five times as the American League's wild card entry.

*Proof the Buccos need more offensive firepower: National League champion Colorado had five players that collected more than 90 RBI this year -- Matt Holliday (137), Brad Hawpe (116), Garrett Atkins (111), Troy Tulowitzki (99) and Todd Helton (91). Pittsburgh had none. Adam LaRoche led the squad with 88.

*Proof it's extremely difficult to put together a long, successful run as a major league manager these days: Of the six men who guided their clubs to a National League pennant between 2000 and 2006, only one -- Tony La Russa, who led St. Louis to the World Series twice during that period -- is still on the job. The other five -- New York's Bobby Valentine, Arizona's Bob Brenly, San Francisco's Dusty Baker, Florida's Jack McKeon and Houston's Phil Garner -- were gone in less than three seasons after being crowned the N.L. champs. Enjoy it now, Clint Hurdle!

*Speaking of Clint Hurdle, Colorado deserves credit for showing patience and faith in him. Right now he's the poster boy for what makes a good manager, but in his first four full seasons as skipper the team finished within 10 games of the .500-mark only once. In fact, the Rockies were accused of rewarding mediocrity when they gave Hurdle a two-year contract extension on Opening Day this year. Six months later, Colorado was in the World Series for the first time ever.

*Former Pirates skipper Jim Tracy's youngest son, Mark, had transferred from Pepperdine to Duquesne over the summer with the intention of playing baseball for Coach Mike Wilson and the Dukes. The sophomore catcher, who is still listed on the Duquesne roster, might be the first person who ever left the beaches of California for The Bluff. Don't forget, Pepperdine's team nickname is the Waves. Another one of Tracy's sons, Brian, pitched for the State College Spikes this year after being selected by the Pirates out of Cal-Santa Barbara in the June draft.

*David Ortiz has averaged 42 homers and 128 RBI in five seasons with Boston since Minnesota let him walk away. To clarify: The Twins didn't LOSE Ortiz in a bidding war with the Red Sox. They made a conscious decision not to bring him back. Boston saw something in Big Papi that Minnesota didn't. That's why the Red Sox are so successful. They have tons of money AND make good decisions.