Chuck Tanner managed the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1977-85. Tanner will now return to the Pirates as a special assistant to new GM Neal Huntington. Frank Coonelly says, "He won't be just a figurehead," Coonelly said of Tanner, "He will evaluate players and give his input to Neal Huntington." A group of more than 100 men, many of them World War II and Korean War veterans, listened to Coonelly. Many of them nodded when Coonelly said the Pirates had become undisciplined in recent years.
Coonelly said he especially noticed it during the final home game of the season. When "God Bless America" was played during the seventh-inning stretch, all of the St. Louis Cardinals -- but only two Pirates -- stood at the top of the dugout with the hands on their hearts.
"That was disgusting to me," Coonelly said. "It's an example of the culture that somehow had taken hold here. I believe leadership matters. Loyalty matters. Respect for the game matters."
Amen!
1 comments:
Jack Wilson checked himself out of the hospital during the Pirates' season finale versus St Louis, went to PNC Park and changed into his uniform to be in the dugout for the end of the game, and stayed waving and interacting with the team's long-suffering fans after the game.....but where were most of his teammates?
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