Don't Let The Door Hit You
By John Mehno

Kevin McClatchy kept the Pirates in Pittsburgh when doing that probably didn't make much business sense.

When he was handed other peoples' money to build a new ballpark, he signed off on the gem that is PNC Park.

Thus concludes this recap of all the good things McClatchy did in his 11-plus years at the helm of the Pirates.

McClatchy's resignation as Pirates' CEO has to be considered good news because of the franchise's consistent deterioration under his leadership.

McClatchy's first team was 73-89; last year's record was 67-95. There was no success in between.

While some reports praised him for getting Major League Baseball to bring the All-Star game here last year, that was actually a tacit acknowledgment of McClatchy's failure.

The Pirates needed the All-Star game to artificially prop up ticket sales for two seasons. If they hadn't gotten it, the downturn in attendance we're seeing this season might have started two years earlier.

McClatchy was as earnest as he was inexperienced. He had never run a business of any kind, much less one as complex and competitive as an under-funded MLB franchise. Fantasy leagues don't prepare you for the real thing.

His naivety was obvious early in his tenure when he promised the Pirates had no intention of trading their good young players like "Jason Kendall, Mark Johnson and Jermaine Allensworth."

Kendall was a valid major leaguer, but the other two were mediocre players just passing through and hardly worthy of untouchable status.

McClatchy transformed himself from savior to villain in short order. After a 100-loss debut season at PNC Park, he authorized an increase in ticket prices. Before that, he peevishly prolonged an argument with customers about their right to carry food and drinks into a park built mostly with public money.

"This is amazing. We're talking about bottled water," McClatchy said.

But it was more than that. It was about understanding and respecting customers. He couldn't grasp that.

He authorized a ridiculously-generous contract for Kendall that is still haunting the Pirates' books.

Things got so bad that McClatchy made sure he was out of the country one year when Pirates officials had their traditional question-and-answer session at the team's fan fest.

McClatchy was always a conspicuous presence in that front row seat, but it wasn't as though he was among the people. He was sitting in a $210 seat to which most fans have no access.

In 11 full seasons under McClatchy leadership, the Pirates were 783-996, a whopping 213 games on the wrong side of .500. That's a lot of losing.

It wasn't because he didn't care or didn't want to win. He did. He just didn't know what he was doing.

It's difficult to believe the Pirates and their long-suffering fans won't be better served by new leadership.

John Mehno's latest book, "The Best Pittsburgh Sports Arguments" will be published by Sourcebooks in October. He can be reached at: johnmehno (at) lycos (dot) com.