Big Lead Sports Bar

9/29/2010

Pirates Clinch 2011 #1 Overall Pick: Anthony Rendon?



For once, the Pittsburgh Pirates had things fall their way. At least one good thing is now guaranteed to come from this nightmarish season: the #1 pick in next year's amateur draft.



That pick looks very much like it could be 20-year-old 3B Anthony Rendon, who has played to glowing reviews at Rice University and has been favorably compared to Ryan Zimmerman and Bryce Harper. He won the 2010 Dick Howser Award as the college player of the year in 2010 and finished the season hitting .394/.530/.801, with 26 HR, 85 RBI, 83 runs scored, 65 walks, and just 22 whiffs. He was also named the 2010 National Player of the Year by Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association.

But there are some red flags that come with such speculation. Rendon broke his ankle for the first time against LSU in the Baton Rouge Super Regional two seasons ago, and broke and dislocated the same angle on a rundown play in a July U.S. Collegiate National Team game against South Korea. 

For what it's worth, Rendon thinks he'll bounce back, but don't forget that injury history as a potential reason for the Pirates to pass on him next year. 

On the topic of the draft and Rendon, Neal Huntington gave the expected non-answer answer to Dejan Kovacevic after the Buccos' 7-2 win against the Cardinals last night

"I'll be able to give a lot more information about who we take No. 1 in the country after we take him," he said. "There's a good list of guys available, some college arms, and there could be some college bats. Prior to the injury, Rendon's a very interesting player. We've got to see where he is post-injury."

Huntington also added that he "looks forward to the day we start picking 28th and 30th," and after I stopped laughing, I realized that he was serious. Hey, it's good to have goals. Might be shooting a little too high with that one, but a guy's gotta dream.

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17 comments:

Anonymous said...

theres that classic pirates negativity. when we break the streak in 2 years and NH is seen as a god, i am going to say i told you so.

Rick said...

The Pirates organization deserve every piece of negativity written about them. There is a whole generation of people out there that have no idea what a meaningful Pirates game is (past opening day). I have lost interest in baseball for the most part and won't get it back until these guys start winning again.

Nate said...

@Rick: Translation: "I'm a bandwagon fan and only care when the team does well."

Dom Errico said...

@Nate

Translation: A realist who realizes he has been rooting for a minor league team disguised as a major league team and won't start caring again until they make it an actual major league team again.

BURGH08 said...

Exactly.

I wish I could quit this team. It's easy to play the 'bandwagon' card like Nate when you lives in Muncie and don't see up close and personal what a joke this organization is to the city.

The last time they had a winning season, I was a senior in college, picked up my girlfriend after classes at Pitt, and rushed to TRS to watch them clinch the NL East Pennant in '92.

Went through the first 'rebuilding' phase, then the "Freak Show" that was only a mirage. Fretted over the team leaving when the half cent vote didn't pass, and took the day off to witness the ground breaking ceremony at PNC. Made a third of the money I make now, but found a way to scrape up a partial ticket plan for that same girlfiend, who became my wife.

Now that wife I've now been married to for 15 years calls me a 'sucker' for even watching them on TV, told them to stuff it after they doubled my tickets after the first season of PNC (and a 100 loss season), and saw an additional two 'rebuilding plans'. The only reason I walk through the gates to put any money in a Nutting pocket is due to the six year old that hasn't been scarred like I have......yet.

So please, to the Nate's and dorks that think comments like Rick's don't have merit, they clearly do. To paraphrase from the words of former NFL coach Jim Mora...."you think you know, but you really don't know..and you never will know".

Not to be critical.

YinzerInExile said...

Erm. I am, admittedly, in temporary exile but, honestly, BURGH08, could you be more sanctimonious?? You don't actually have to live in Pittsburgh to be fully aware of the level of suck that the Buccos have achieved. If you can't see what a joke the franchise is, you're blind, deaf, and living in a cenobitic monastery in the Egyptian desert.

I plan all my spring/summer visits around the Pirates schedule, and try always to catch at least one game. Yeah, I spend my *vacations* immersed in the suck. One needn't actually reside within or around city limits to realize that the franchise is a painful laughing stock at this point.

Point is: it sucks. If you're a fan, you'll weep, and then rise another day to take another flogging. If you're not, you'll whine, then rise in several years (or whenever) when we're contending, dust off the Killer B's shirt, and pretend like you never missed a step cause you're so hard core like that and you have the slightly ironic shirt to prove it.

Steve said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steve said...

I agree 100% with Burgh08 and I live 300 miles from Pittsburgh now. The fact that I choose not to jump on the current Pirates "bandwagon" with flat tires and all that self-righteous martyrs like Nate seem to enjoy riding is my choice and I choose it because I'm a realist who knows what it’s like to grow up watching great teams with great players win pennants and World Series. When you have that engrained in your psyche as a kid and then are later confronted with the polar opposite -- not for a 1 or 2 year hiccup, or even a 5-10 year run of bad luck, but for going on 20 years now of some of the worst baseball in history -- only a complete fool would hide behind the false logic that only a real “true” fan would stand behind this teams ownership now.

That period of blind faith ended for me 2 years after the PNC park was opened and the end to the losing was still nowhere in sight. Fast forward another 7 years and a winning season is still not on the horizon, let alone a division championship or World Series appearance. So stop with the bandwagon B.S. kiddies, I was living and breathing every Pirates game when Stargell was handing out stars in the 70’s and had my heart ripped out 3 years in a row in the 90’s, so if I’m coming of as "sanctimonious" too, excuse me but I believe I've earned the right and it’s not because I’m willing to eat the $hit of an ownership group that hasn’t done anything yet to earn my dollar, let alone my allegiance, outside of small talk and doing what every other team should do. Besides, If I was a bandwagon fan, would I even feel compelled to post this? I mean, it just wouldn’t matter right? Besides, my dead mint ’78 John Candelaria and Omar Moreno cards told me I’m right. I guess I’ve been riding the bandwagon a little too long now.

Beta Whorf said...

Raising two young daughters in the hopes of them becoming fans of the game of baseball is not that difficult. This is the same game and same team that my Father, Grandfather and Great-Grandfather loved. I don't need to show them the September box scores to make them enjoy this game. I don't need to show them current gold glove players or Cy Young winning pitchers on the current Pirates team. If that becomes important to them I can tell them about Roberto Clemente or Elroy Face or Willie Stargell. They have never seen these players play but I neither have I. This is the same game that our Grandfathers took us to. The same game they talked about at bedtime. To be a parent and a baseball fan and not share the these stories with your children is the big travesty. Just because your team is not winning shouldn't dictate how you influence your children's intrest in the game. If that was the case there wouldn't be any Cubs fans. The Pirates are one of baseball's storied franchises. To teach or encourage your children to avoid the game is only hurting them. How many of you became fans in 1979? Most of us became fans because our families were fans, because this is Pittsburgh's team. Now in my forties my strongest memories are not World Series wins but the times my girls actually paid attention to the game, took pride in a player or left the stadium on the high of a come from behind win. Winning championships is great but being a fan is better.

BURGH08 said...

Yinzer,

First of all, yes-I can be more sanctimonious, but that's for another discussion.

My post wasn't intended to say that you don't have to live in the city limits to understand how awful this franchise is. However, it's probably a lot easier to put on the rosey glasses view if you don't see the effects on this region and it's fan base.

Call em like I see em.

Steve said...

Nothing wrong with taking the kids to games and getting them interested in baseball, plus right now it's harmless since they won't grow up expecting anything special from the Pirates and won't be bitter, resentful fans in the future like me...Besides, when they get a little older and can appreciate it more, they’ll look good in those Yankees and Phillies hats they’ll be wearing so they don’t get confused with the losers at school. Even wonder why there’s so many Steelers and Cowboys fans in every city? Well, it’s not because a lot of them just moved there, Pittsburgh didn’t lose that many people. Thank you 1970's!

Whorf - You are in your 40's and never saw Stargell play?

I was a fan ever since I could swing a bat and catch a ball which would be the early to mid 70's but this isn’t about being a fan because most likely everyone who posts here is. The difference is being one who accepts the direction and effort being put forth by the current ownership as the best they can do, or the fan who thinks they can and should do better and if they can’t, should sell the team. I am the in the later and have been for a while and until they can change my opinion through on-field performance and wins and losses, I’m staying there, because that’s ultimately what it’s about. They don’t play the game simply so fans can fill out score cards and eat hot dogs, even though Mr. Nutting would just love everyone to believe that. There has to be a point to it all and it seems that point has been lost on an entire generation.

BURGH08 said...

More accountability from the Bucs.

Extend John Russell in secret, but public about getting rid of Walbeck in Altoona, who only led his team to the Eastern League title and was manager of the year:

http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/542823/Curve-manager-Walbeck-let-go-by-Pirates.html?nav=751


In

Unknown said...

what bandwagon? where?

Dom Errico said...

My 17 year old cousin asked me the other day why I root for the Pirates. Her exact words were, "They've never been good"

She's a prime example of why this era of Pirates baseball is a crime. An entire generation of Pirates fans has never experienced a playoff game around here.

This losing streak is almost to the point where it can legally buy itself a beer.

I told her I still root for the Pirates because they are my hometown team and in spite of the long drought, they are still one of the winningest franchises in MLB history.

I looked something up the other day. They still rank 8th in winning percentage despite the last 18 years of losing. That alone tells you something.

Rick said...

@Nate, if bandwagon fan means caring more, spending money on and actually enjoying the Pirates when the day comes that they have a decent team, then yes. I gave them about 15 years of losing but I finally came to my senses. The fact that I still call myself a Pirates fan when living 2500 miles away in L.A., is more than enough for me. I've given too much of my hard earned money to this franchise and they just waste it away. The most beautiful stadium in baseball is going to waste. They are an embarrassment to my hometown.

I understand down years and rebuilding years (not decades). Look at the Penguins in the early 2000's. I was still going to games then when not many others were, game day seats available in A and B sections, no sell outs. But they made smart moves and got some great draft picks.

I remember the early 90's Pirates, I remember leaving a playoff game and the city was electric. Thats what I want to see again. Thats what everyone that is even taking their time to read anything about the Pirates in October deserve. We deserve it now, not in 3-5 years. I don't care how they do it, but we deserve it now. Imagine what PNC Park & the Burgh would be like on a mid October night game?

Daquido_Bazzini said...

As another horrifying Pirate season comes to an end, the Pirates continue to be held hostage by the worst ownership in sports.
When will enough be enough?

J D Gerlach said...

Fandom to me doesn't mean blindly following a broken organization into the bowels of hell. NO TEAM EVER has been this bad this long. I lived and died, as a young teenager, with the Bonds playoff years. Looking back, maybe I died more than I lived...

In any case, I just don't care anymore -- because they don't care about me. I'm thinking about getting my daughter some Phillies gear. Can't do the Pirates thing to her.