McClatchy Done as Pirates CEO
July 6, 2007 marks a great day if you’re a Pirate fan. Today, Kevin McClatchy and Bob Nutting (owners of the Pirates) announced that Kevin McClatchy will be replaced as CEO after the 2007 season. This announcement couldn’t come soon enough for me. McClatchy knows nothing of baseball, and as chief executive officer, he was a detriment to the organization. His removal is long overdue. While I don’t believe Nutting knows dick about baseball either, losing McClatchy is “addition by subtraction”.
This move is a step in the right direction, and while I am steadfast on the boycott of the Pirate games until I see some changes in the win/loss column, I have to admit that I think the wait might be shorter than I expected. Hopefully the pool of candidates for the job are proud enough to demand their organization be successful. Hopefully they are all the types who won’t want to be known as CEO fo a failing organization. Hopefully the new CEO will bring desparately-needed budget changes to the Pirates organization. Hope.
I suppose the walk off had no impact on the decions. C-level executives aren’t fired over things like 1,000 fans walking out of their seats. According to McClatchy, the decision was made before this season started. This is a big change for an organization. The CEO is the day-to-day manager and it’s that day-to-day involvement which guides an organization down one path or another. Since McClatchy was a moron when it came to baseball, he was walking the team down a losing path.
What will the CEO do first? My guess (and hope) is to fire the current GM, Dave Littlefield. While I always contended that it was difficult to measure the talent of a GM who can’t spend money, I’m not sure he’s good at what he does in the GM role. Perhaps the Pirates could find another place for him, maybe head custodian or something. Sure, I’ll admit he’s not the worst GM I’ve ever seen. I’ll admit it’s tough on a GM who has to give interviews and be positive, when there really is nothing to be positive about, but we’ve heard it all before. We need a change. When the organization has been this bad for this long, the whole system needs to change. Get us a new CEO. Get us a new GM. Prove to us that the Pirates are as important to you as they are to us.
I understand that McClacthy is no longer the best person as the CEO of the Pirates,and I’m glad the Pirates are trying to move into a better direction. Don’t forget that if it wasn’ for McClacthy there may no longer be a baseball team in Pittsburgh. He also created the beautiful PNC Park. In short, McClatchy kept baseball alive for Pittsburgh. It is his time to go, however.