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Tuesday, April 09, 2002

David Littlefield knew it all along. Scuttle the Pirates' front-office baseball staff and hire anybody from the for-sale Florida Marlins carrying a "Will Scout for Food" placard. Sign a bunch of veteran free-agent pitchers to minor-league contracts, or the equivalent of "Will Hurl for Food." Fashion a starting rotation of four twentysomethings and a guy who's supposed to hold space for recovering Kris Benson. Change everything in the clubhouse from the morose attitude to the cooler's contents, meaning no boo-hoos or brews.

Do all that, then sit back and watch a 100-loss team transform into a first-place National League Central club after the season's first week.

Yep, Littlefield knew all along he could put these Pirates on pace to go -- is this giddy or what? -- 135 and 27.

"I wouldn't exactly describe it that way," the Pirates general manager said Monday evening in a clubhouse that was as cheerful as it was beerless. His club had just made its PNC Park season opener a victorious one. It dispatched Cincinnati, 1-0, in a four-hit, three-thirtysomething shutout that started with Ron Villone, the castoff keeping Benson's spot warm in the rotation, and ended with the untradeable setup man Mike Fetters and the blue-light closer Mike Williams.

Added Littlefield: "One of the issues we ran into last year was, some of the people we had in the big leagues weren't prepared to compete at the big-league level, or if they had talent, it wasn't developed enough. To bring guys in who are true pros -- Mike Fetters ... Mike Williams ... Villone ... Brian Boehringer ... I think those are secondary parts of it."

The primary parts to the 5-1 puzzle: the defensive security provided by second baseman Pokey Reese (one veteran Pirates pitcher considers him the integral piece) and the young arms Littlefield acquired in the Todd Ritchie deal. Kip Wells and Josh Fogg, both barely 25, continue to impress. Sean Lowe, barely 31, provides ample support in a sturdy bullpen and could adequately jump into the rotation whenever a Pirates starter gets injured, which seems an eventuality with this heretofore accursed club. Add those former White Sox pitchers to a burgeoning Dave Williams, 23 and a lad who crafted a 2.54 ERA in his final eight starts last season, plus Jimmy Anderson, 26, and you have reason to get giddy not just for this season, but beyond.

After eight summers of numbing woefulness, it's nice to finally see encouraging signs, isn't it?

"This is the first time that I've been here in six years when everybody's got everybody's back," said catcher Jason Kendall. "Ah, it's two different worlds. A real positive atmosphere. Winning's a cure-all."

The old heads help. Kendall is the first to credit the GM's wintertime orchestrations. "What Dave did in the off-season, he went out and got six-year free agents, guys who've been there, done that. Guys who can help the young kids come along. To me, that's a big key to the pitching staff. It's fun to catch now."

Littlefield, who replaced Cam Bonifay July 13, first acquired minor-league prospects Ryan Vogelsong (out because of surgery) and Tony McKnight (in Nashville), then went to work resculpting the major-league staff in December. First, he added to the collection of young arms --Wells, Fogg, Williams, Anderson and the surgically repaired Benson, still a month away from his Pirates return.

"They got a lot of composure out there," Kendall said of the twentysomething starters, who this past week went 242/3 innings, struck out 26 Mets and Cubs, allowed just five earned runs, then turned over a four-game winning streak to Villone -- who made it a five-gamer Monday. "Got some good arms. Good futures. They throw strikes. They're smart. They learn from their mistakes. They want to win and they want to get better. And they're like sponges. They ask questions of the veterans."

Those veterans were the second wave of Littlefield's blueprint. He spent the winter trying the see-what-sticks method of acquisition, gathering a bus full of discards: Villone (a February signee whose addition to the media guide appears on page No. 334, the third-to-last page), Boehringer, Scott Service, retired Salomon Torres, Wayne Gomes, Al Reyes, Kevin Tolar, Shaler's Jason Rakers, Gregg Olson and Pat Rapp. The first two joined a Pirates' veteran circle with a re-signed Mike Williams and Fetters, who decided to stay after nobody wanted to trade for him. The next four went to Nashville, where they supply older heads and hands, not to mention a backup plan if Littlefield needs. As for the other guys ... well, we hardly knew ye.

"When you talk about twentysomethings, I'm not included, which isn't fair to me," joked Villone, a old goat of 32 in this rotation. "But I think they're a good bunch of listeners. You need to do that as a young guy. Listening to the older guys is sometimes just as important as going out and getting to pitch. These kids are young and hungry -- for knowledge and winning. If we can keep these young guys focused as we are ..."

It isn't 135-27, but it is indeed a different world, a better baseball place, a glint of .500 hope. If only the fans could believe. Monday's 1,500-less-than-capacity crowd of 36,402 -- paltry for opening day in the major leagues' second-smallest park -- was in a daze most of the afternoon (maybe it was still in shock over that unfunny mullet video on the Jumbotron). The patrons didn't begin to cheer until the seventh inning, and that was in support of an Ozzy Osbourne tune. They came to the feet and made noise when Villone exited in the eighth.

Everybody can appreciate pitching like this. Go ahead and hop aboard this "Crazy Train" early.

"There's still a lot of uncertainty, even after six games," Littlefield cautioned. "Because we don't know what we've got. But it's good to see so far."

Aw, he knew it all along.

In addition to The Big Picture, Chuck Finder writes a general-sports column exclusive to the http://www.post-gazette.com/ every Tuesday. He can be reached at cfinder@post-gazette.com