Pirates calm

In this game report, Dejan Kovacevic quotes Bay, Wilson, and others on the subject of listlessness.

The team appears to understand, but somewhat resent, our perception of the team as not highly motivated. The hits will fall, they say. They appear to be thinking, from these few quotes, that it's mainly a matter of luck.

A consistent approach must be a good thing to have. And it's probably true that they are never as good as they look on the best days, and never as bad as they look on the worst days.

But there is a generosity in the theory that they are not sufficiently motivated. Perhaps they understand this, perhaps they do not. If motivation is not a problem, then fans can only say one thing. These are not good ballplayers. This is a bad team.

Look at the scoreboard. They are seven games under .500. Good teams made up of good ballplayers do not slip to seven games under .500 by accident or luck.

Either these guys are not working very hard out there. Or they are working hard and they are not very talented. It's hard to know the difference. I think it's the former case, but they probably know better.