Commentary
Did the Pirates take a joke too far? PITTSBURGH – Did the Pirates take a joke too far?
No, wise guy, this has nothing to do with anything that happened on the field.
The Texas Rangers visited over the weekend and their first baseman happened to Rafael Palmiero. He is also a national advertising spokesman for Viagara.
So the Pirates’ “in-game entertainment” staff created several oblique references to Palmiero’s endorsement of a product designed to treat sexual dysfunction in males. They had organist Vince Lascheid play a couple of songs when Palmiero came to bat. One was “Pop Goes the Weasel.” The other was the theme from the Woody Woodpecker cartoon show.
It has been alleged that the Pirates also coordinated a visual on the scoreboard that showed the fountain at Point State Park spouting.
Funny stuff?
You decide.
Some of you are laughing, others are not. Some of you might have laughed but wouldn’t have appreciated the attempts at humor if you’d been at the game with your children – or your grandmother. Almost everybody tells an off-color joke at one time or another. Most people don’t tell them if they think someone within earshot might be offended.
There were 26,930 people in the ballpark on Sunday afternoon and probably most of them missed the material aimed at Palmiero. Others probably thought it was funny and it’s guaranteed that someone was offended.
If you go to a movie, it comes with a rating that reflects its content. TV shows have a similar system these days.
You go to a baseball game on a Sunday afternoon, you don’t suspect you’re going to be exposed to comedy material that may make you uncomfortable. For that reason, the people in the scoreboard room ought to be told their cute little salute to Palmiero was out of line and similar material doesn’t have a place at the ballpark.
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Darryl Kile went to sleep on Friday night and didn’t wake up.
By now everyone knows the sad story of Kile, the St. Louis Cardinals’ starting pitcher who died at age 33. An autopsy revealed his heart was enlarged and that it was also plagued by arterial blockages.
The obvious question is why no one knew of these problems before they became fatal. Teams invest millions of dollars in players so they should order the most extensive medical examinations available.
The counter argument is that Kile showed no warning signs of heart problems. Think about it – starting pitchers usually run for conditioning on three of the four days when they’re not pitching. It’s a tough regimen and Kile consistently completed it in the thin air of Denver and the oppressive summer heat and humidity of St. Louis.
He showed no signs of a life-threatening condition. But Kile’s father died at 44 after a stroke, which should have been a red flag for those trusted with his medical care.
A Cardinals spokesman said the team had no knowledge of Kile’s family history. If that’s true, it’s mind-boggling. What’s the first thing that happens when you visit a new doctor? You’re handed a clipboard and several forms, all of which ask for any family history of illness. If the Cardinals skipped that step, they’re negligent. If teams don’t want to get the most thorough medical exams for humanitarian reasons, they ought to do it for practical reasons.
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Finally, there’s e-mailer Chris, who wants the Pirates to make a managerial change over the All-Star break.
“Lloyd McClendon has proven he can’t handle a major league club because of his inexperience,” Chris writes.
“They need someone with experience to shake them up, like Davey Johnson or Whitey Herzog.”
Reply: Wouldn’t you just love to be on the extension when someone tries to talk Herzog to leave his fishing boat to come here and manage this club? It’s not about experience or motivational skills, it’s about talent. The Pirates don’t have enough of it. They have major holes at center field, right field and first base. They have a third baseman who is underachieving and they have a potential No. 1 starter who is coming back from missing a year and a half because of career-threatening surgery.
Can Lloyd McClendon manage a major league team? Let’s get him one and find out.
John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehno@lycos.com.