Jun 24, 2007 By Commentary John Mehno 3 min read

Baseball managers are usually as successful as their players allow them to be. Lou Piniella won a World Series with Cincinnati and regularly went to the postseason with Seattle. The roster was full of talent with both of those teams.

When Piniella got to Tampa Bay, his record suffered because the Devil Rays didn’t have much talent and had to compete in a division with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Jim Leyland won the 1997 World Series with the Florida Marlins. When the Marlins held a fire sale of their good players, Leyland lost 108 games in 1998.

Bad managers can mess up talented teams, but good managers can’t turn talent-less teams into winners.

The biggest impact a manager has in establishing an attitude and expectations for effort and attentiveness. You don’t have to be good to try hard and play smart.

Which brings us to the 2007 Pittsburgh Pirates.

Not only do you rarely see extraordinary effort, you often don’t see minimal effort.

When the Pirates were in extra innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, the team-employed broadcasters felt a need to note that Ronny Paulino was jogging to first base on a ground ball.

Paulino is the most obvious offender, but he’s hardly the only one.

How many times do the Pirates throw to the wrong base or overthrow the cutoff man, or exercise mind-numbingly bad judgment on the bases?

The Pirates’ everyday lineup is comprised almost entirely of players trained by other organizations, so this isn’t a case of players not learning fundamentals in the Pittsburgh system.

It’s more like players failing to concentrate because they aren’t held accountable for mistakes they repeat.

Effort isn’t just hustling down the line, it’s understanding situations and being prepared on every pitch. That often seems to be optional with the Pirates.

And that’s the manager’s responsibility.

The Penguins had a good day even before they were able to grab center Angelo Esposito with their first pick in the draft.

Before the draft, forward Gary Roberts agreed to a one-year deal. Roberts would have been a poor investment at two years, but having him back on a one-year commitment is perfect. Roberts is still a viable player at 41, but the greatest benefit will be the imprint his work habits and dedication leave on young players.

Please keep a good thought for Nellie King, the former Pirates pitcher and broadcaster and all-around good guy. He’s in Mercy Hospital, battling a series of medical problems.

You read these stories about troubled Tennessee Titans player Adam “Pacman” Jones and a couple of details recur.

Most of the stories contain “strip club” and “4 a.m.”

Makes you think he’d benefit from changing the way he spends his free time.

Maybe he could get a library card.

John Mehno can be reached at johnmehno@lycos.com