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

*   Parity in the Senior Circuit? In 2007, the four N.L. playoff teams registered 90 victories or less, and the three division winners-Chicago, Philadelphia and Arizona-finished two games, one game, and a half game ahead of the second-place clubs respectively. What's more, the Cubs and Diamondbacks had finished last in their division in 2006. Everyone says they want parity, but the truth is it's kind of boring. Dominant clubs are much more entertaining than a bunch of teams that have difficulty distinguishing themselves from each other.

*   How about the killer line-up Jim Leyland's Detroit Tigers will feature this year? C-Ivan Rodriguez, 1B-Carlos Guillen, 2B-Placido Polanco, SS-Edgar Renteria, 3B- Miguel Cabrera, LF-Jacque Jones, CF-Curtis Granderson, RF-Magglio Ordonez, DH-Gary Sheffield. That's pretty awesome, right? Then consider that Dontrelle Willis was added to a starting rotation that already included Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman and Kenny Rogers. Potential problem: There's something I don't trust about veteran closer Todd Jones, who will turn 40 in April.

*   When you've been down for as many years as the Pirates have, even when you do something positive, the reaction is negative. Recently, the ballclub broke ground on a new baseball academy it will own and operate in the Dominican Republic (instead of renting an existing one), and the collective drone was: "You should have done that a long time ago." True. But Bob Nutting wasn't calling the shots a long time ago. He is now. An increased budget for signing bonuses, and the new facility, will help the team recruit and develop more Latin American players -- something we all know is desperately needed.

*   Home runs in baseball are like dunks in basketball. They're fun to watch and can demoralize the opposition. But I don't subscribe to the theory that baseball owners view homers as an easy way to keep the turnstiles humming and make bundles of cash. I worked in the front office of major league teams for 14 years, and never once sat in a meeting where someone said, "You know, if only we could hit more home runs, I think we'd draw a lot more people." If you win on a consistent basis, fans don't really care if you hit six home runs a night or none.

*   Since the Pirates appear to be bringing their starting eight back pretty much intact, several players -- including Jose Bautista, Jason Bay, Adam LaRoche, Ronny Paulino and Jack Wilson -- will need to present themselves as offensive threats over a longer stretch in order for the team to improve. Consistency over time is much more beneficial to a ballclub's victory total. Wild spurts here and there help players get paid and make their end-of-the-year stats misleading.

*   Read this somewhere and thought it was pretty funny: If the guys who manage baseball teams coached football teams instead, they would take quarterbacks out in the fourth quarter when they reach their pass count. Imagine hearing Bill Hillgrove say, "That's gonna be all for Ben Roethlisberger. Charlie Batch is comin' in to try and nail this thing down."