Wins and losses

Dejan Kovacevic, PG beat writer, has found the problem underlying all our Pirate woes:

Sean Casey opened his morning newspaper yesterday and turned to a page he previously considered off limits.

"Yeah, I actually checked out the standings," he said with a big laugh. "I get the feeling that, hopefully, we're climbing up and wanted to see where we were. Hopefully, I'll get back into checking them every day."

Casey and others in the Pirates' clubhouse acknowledged avoiding the standings for most of the opening two months.

"It wasn't something I wanted to look at," reliever Mike Gonzalez said. "We were losing and losing, and it would bring you down to see it."

. . .

"The standings are something I don't even concern myself with," [Craig Wilson] said. "You've still got to go out and play the game the same way. I guess you could say that, later in the summer, if you're still in it, the standings become more interesting."

So, how long has this been going on? The Pirates must be one of three or four teams made up of players who do not look at the standings every morning. They have no good understanding of why they are 20-35 because they do not know (a) that they are 20-35 and (b) what it means to be 20-35. You can't know 20-35 without knowing 20-34. You have to study these things to learn.

That said, it should be easy enough to fix.

If I'm an owner, the GM, or a coach, I call Mike Gonzalez tomorrow morning and have a nice long talk about exactly where the Pirates stand. Then I call him the next day and talk about the standings some more. There is so much to learn from the standings. I talk about why Colorado is 27-27. And why they are in last place. "Do you think they will go up, Mike, or do you think they will go down? Do you think we are as good as Colorado? If you do not know today, I will ask again on Tuesday, after you play them." I talk about why Detroit is 36-19. I talk about why the Pirates are 20-35. Every day I talk about the standings.

Some days I talk about the schedule too. "How can we get four wins next week, Mike?" I demand specific answers.

There's nothing else worth talking about. No individual accomplishment merits any respect in the context of 20-35. If the players are serious about improving their won-loss record, they should, you know, study the won-loss records. If the coaches are serious about improving the won-loss record, they should, maybe, lecture about the won-loss records.

It's not going to fix itself. If the team is going to fix it, the team has to look at it.