It didn’t take long after the regular season ended for baseball teams to make changes as Internet gambling companies have noted the changes made by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers. The Pirates fired manager John Russell while the Brewers gave the pink slip to Ken Macha. Neither team was very good this past season against the online gambling odds so the firings were not a surprise.
Pathetic Pirates – There are not many teams in baseball worse than the Pittsburgh Pirates. Maybe the Kansas City Royals but that is about it. The Pirates lost 299 games in the past three seasons under Russell. The Pirates lost 105 games this season. You would think that even a minor league team could do better than that. The Pirates have now lost 90 games or more in six straight seasons. Russell is one of the worst managers in Pittsburgh history. The Pirates were simply horrible. They went 67-95 in 2008, 62-99 in 2009 and 57-105 this past season. The team had the worst hitting, pitching and defense in the National League. Some of that has to fall on Russell.
The Pirates were 17-64 on the road. No pitcher on the team won more than nine games. The team had a 12-game losing streak, four seven-game losing streaks and eight five-game losing streaks. Do you get the idea that the Pirates were awful against the online gambling baseball odds at SBG? Russell is not the only problem. The Pirates kept general manager Neal Huntington although there is no reason why. He has made some rotten trades and done nothing with the roster. Russell was not a good manager but Huntington is an even worse GM.
Macha Let Go – Another change happened in Milwaukee as the Brewers got rid of manager Ken Macha. He was 157-167 in two years with the Brewers. In a similar situation to Pittsburgh’s, the fault was not all Macha’s for the Brewers lack of success. General manager Doug Melvin has done a rotten job and Macha is getting the blame. The Brewers will start next season with their fourth manager in just two years. Milwaukee made the playoffs in 2008 so they are not as bad as the Pirates and they have some talent. This year was a bitter disappointment though as the Brewers were thought to be a team that could make the playoffs. Milwaukee finished this season at 77-85 against the baseball odds at Internet gambling companies.