On Duffy

Rotoworld reports the Duffy story this way:

Duffy thinks the Pirates set him up for failure by changing his approach at the plate during spring training and then having him share time with Nate McLouth right from the start.

I feel for the kid; if that's how he sees the situation, he must have all kinds of problems.

I saw it the other way. He never looked qualified in spring, yet they kept giving him chances, and for whatever reason certain members of the broadcast crew were determined to report a glass that was a one-quarter full as one-quarter full of "a guy who plays the game right" - as if that would be enough to make him an eventual All-Star.

Duffy looked like the second coming of Tike Redman. Could he hit a hollow .300 and steal a bunch of bases over half a season? Sure. The odds of much better never looked great.

I don't know what all went on between Tracy and Duffy, but I never had any problem with Tracy adjusting Duffy's approach. It's not like Duffy was ever a great hitting prospect. I saw it more as, "Kid, if you want to be a big-leaguer, you can't totally suck."

What stunned me was not that it didn't work, but that they gave Duffy so many chances. And stacked the deck in his favor by starting his main competition, Nate McLouth, against all the pitchers most brutal for hitters like Duffy.

All this "I got your back," "You don't got my back," "I stand up for my guys," "You don't stand up for me" stuff is dysfunctional macho bullshit. Duffy is not justified calling out his coaches the same way that Tracy is not justified with his undying support statements for Jeromy Burnitz.

The team is fifteen games under .500 in mid-May. No one has any right to complain about playing time, and no one has any right to act like they know better. Every single one of those guys bears some responsibility for this disaster, and any one with a shred of honor will shut up and not complain if his ass is fired tomorrow.

They all deserve to have their major-league careers ended, tomorrow, the way I see it. Duffy shouldn't act like he deserves better. Tracy shouldn't act like he knows what he's doing.

Some humility is in order here, yes?