Tuesday, June 28, 2005 -- After dripping through a muggy weekend and managing a split of four games with the Cardinals, the best team in the National League, the Pirates yesterday got their only day off between June 13 and the All-Star break.
"We really need this day off -- for a lot of reasons," manager Lloyd McClendon said.
It's a short respite before things kick up again tonight in Washington against the Nationals, the Pirates' seventh series against a first- or second-place team in a current stretch of nine series, dating to May 30 and ending Thursday. Another series was in New York at vaunted Yankee Stadium.
That kind of scheduling irks McClendon, who last month criticized the Pirates' interleague matchups.
During the series in St. Louis he took another chance to expound on his team's difficult stretch.
"My God, you look at the schedule -- and I don't mean to keep harping on it; everybody has a tough schedule -- but we started with Florida, Atlanta, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, New York, Washington, St. Louis, a day off, and then Washington," McClendon said.
The Pirates began that stretch strong, winning the Florida, Atlanta, Baltimore and Tampa Bay series before being swept by the Yankees, losing two of three in Boston and two of three against the Nationals last week at home.
With the split against St. Louis, their record over those games is 13-13, which could be considered encouraging for a team trying to climb out of a 12-year slump, but that doesn't mean McClendon wouldn't like what he thinks would be a fairer schedule.
He sees another disadvantage, in the form of a travel nightmare, coming late in the season.
"I don't know what these people were thinking, but you look at our stretch in the middle of September. We play Cincinnati and Houston at home, fly to [Los Angeles] and play the next day," McClendon said.
"We play four in L.A., fly to Chicago and get in at, like, 7 o'clock in the morning and play Chicago [that night]. To play a night game in L.A. and get into Chicago [and have to play in 12 hours]?"
McClendon thinks someone should give the schedule-makers some tougher guidelines, and he knows who that someone could be.
"You know what? The players association allows that," he said. "They shouldn't allow that. You talk about abusing the product. These guys are going to be so worn out. It doesn't make any sense."
General manager David Littlefield doesn't get nearly as worked up over snags and rough spots in the Pirates' schedule.
"It's a very, very challenging thing to work through and to put together, and no one is ever happy with their schedule, I don't care if it's minor leagues or major leagues or whatever," Littlefield said.
"This is the big leagues, and everyone's got their issues. If we have good starting pitching and we hit the ball, the schedule will be secondary."
Still, McClendon isn't the only manager unhappy with scheduling quirks.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, the National League All-Star manager, complained over the weekend about St. Louis' game July 10 in San Francisco, the eve of the All-Star activities, being switched to a night game for TV, meaning he and most likely some of his players will have to take a red-eye to Detroit.
"You would think that ESPN would understand that we have several players who are going to be participating," La Russa told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"I don't know. You would think you would get [the Sunday night game] from a team that's playing in the East or Midwest. It's hard to understand."
McClendon feels his pain, but he's thankful for the All-Star break, something on every team's schedule.
"That halfway point, that break, is much needed, make no mistake about it, to kind of get over the aches and pains, get your starting pitching staff fresh."
"We really need this day off -- for a lot of reasons," manager Lloyd McClendon said.
It's a short respite before things kick up again tonight in Washington against the Nationals, the Pirates' seventh series against a first- or second-place team in a current stretch of nine series, dating to May 30 and ending Thursday. Another series was in New York at vaunted Yankee Stadium.
That kind of scheduling irks McClendon, who last month criticized the Pirates' interleague matchups.
During the series in St. Louis he took another chance to expound on his team's difficult stretch.
"My God, you look at the schedule -- and I don't mean to keep harping on it; everybody has a tough schedule -- but we started with Florida, Atlanta, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, New York, Washington, St. Louis, a day off, and then Washington," McClendon said.
The Pirates began that stretch strong, winning the Florida, Atlanta, Baltimore and Tampa Bay series before being swept by the Yankees, losing two of three in Boston and two of three against the Nationals last week at home.
With the split against St. Louis, their record over those games is 13-13, which could be considered encouraging for a team trying to climb out of a 12-year slump, but that doesn't mean McClendon wouldn't like what he thinks would be a fairer schedule.
He sees another disadvantage, in the form of a travel nightmare, coming late in the season.
"I don't know what these people were thinking, but you look at our stretch in the middle of September. We play Cincinnati and Houston at home, fly to [Los Angeles] and play the next day," McClendon said.
"We play four in L.A., fly to Chicago and get in at, like, 7 o'clock in the morning and play Chicago [that night]. To play a night game in L.A. and get into Chicago [and have to play in 12 hours]?"
McClendon thinks someone should give the schedule-makers some tougher guidelines, and he knows who that someone could be.
"You know what? The players association allows that," he said. "They shouldn't allow that. You talk about abusing the product. These guys are going to be so worn out. It doesn't make any sense."
General manager David Littlefield doesn't get nearly as worked up over snags and rough spots in the Pirates' schedule.
"It's a very, very challenging thing to work through and to put together, and no one is ever happy with their schedule, I don't care if it's minor leagues or major leagues or whatever," Littlefield said.
"This is the big leagues, and everyone's got their issues. If we have good starting pitching and we hit the ball, the schedule will be secondary."
Still, McClendon isn't the only manager unhappy with scheduling quirks.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, the National League All-Star manager, complained over the weekend about St. Louis' game July 10 in San Francisco, the eve of the All-Star activities, being switched to a night game for TV, meaning he and most likely some of his players will have to take a red-eye to Detroit.
"You would think that ESPN would understand that we have several players who are going to be participating," La Russa told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"I don't know. You would think you would get [the Sunday night game] from a team that's playing in the East or Midwest. It's hard to understand."
McClendon feels his pain, but he's thankful for the All-Star break, something on every team's schedule.
"That halfway point, that break, is much needed, make no mistake about it, to kind of get over the aches and pains, get your starting pitching staff fresh."
