Kipper : It's Time For #Pirates Fans To Give Bob Nutting The Credit He Deserves

Sometimes even a title to a Blog Article can cause a commotion. Afterall, It's Bob Nutting and speaking of him in a positive light. A topic that is still not done in Pittsburgh. It's not done by the fans nor most of the media. When the Pittsburgh Steelers or Pittsburgh Penguins are winning and doing well, the fans and media are singing Mario's and The Rooney's graces. When those teams are doing poorly, blame the coaches!
The Pirates?
It's always been blame Bob Nutting, even when Kevin McClatchy was making all of the decisions and driving the organization into the ground with bad decisions.
It was Bob Nutting's fault.
The Pirates have turned things around not just at the Major League level but across the entire organization. It is one of the deepest organizations in all of baseball. The Pirates aren't just built to win in the present and near future, they are built to win for many many years (I said that in my head like I was Cmdt. Lassard). Credit has rightfully been given to GM Neal Huntington and President Frank Coonelly for the job they have done sticking to their plan through animosity. They never gave in to media scrutiny and pressure like their predecessor. They remained focused knowing it was going to be a long process and we are now seeing the results of their work over the past couple of seasons.
Yet there's one man, that got it all started.
Bob Nutting.
While Kevin McClatchy was still making Baseball Decisions (which should never have happened), Bob Nutting took over the majority and went around to various MLB teams, talking to different Owners, Presidents and GM's to learn about Baseball's operations. If people weren't pegging Bob Nutting to payroll, they were pegging him to the horrible state of how the organization was run, something that wasn't entirely his fault. For that 2007 season, Bob Nutting learned a few things about baseball and when Kevin McClatchy was "nudged" out, that was when all of the changes occurred.
The dire state of the Pirates Dominican facilities didn't get addressed until Bob Nutting made a trip to actually see them. Many in some circles believe that it was this trip to the Dominican Republic that set stage for the control takeover from Kevin McClatchy. It took roughly half of a year from the time it was announced that Bob Nutting was taking the expanded role of Principle Owner before Kevin McClatchy left the same way Dick LeBeau left the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Matt Morris trade probably didn't help matters either.
Spending a year talking to executives from various MLB organizations while looking for replacements for Kevin McClatchy and Dave Littlefield, Bob Nutting chose Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington. Neither were a sexy choice, but most people accepted Frank's hiring considering he at least had an MLB background compared to his predecessor.
Neal Huntington?
Most people wanted home town Jack Zduriencik and blasted the choice of Neal Huntington who was essentially a #3 guy in Cleveland and received ridicule in some circles for reportedly being demoted in organizational ranks. 7 seasons later, the decision to hire Neal Huntington looks genius.
Bob Nutting deserves credit for that.
Nutting hired men that were going to carry through and execute his plan of winning from within. Men that have done exactly that with the sort of stubbornness that was needed to fix a ship that had sunk many years ago. Sadly, Bob Nutting is only associated to the Pittsburgh Pirates when it comes to payroll, when its been his vision and leadership that has been the catalyst for this organizations turn around.
It's a shame that one man can receive so much ridicule and be overlooked so because of dollar figures. When compared to the other owners in town, Bob Nutting is viewed as the villain, when its been unfair to compare him. People only look at the Dollar signs, but he has built a consistent Playoff caliber team and ridiculously deep organization without the luxuries of a Salary Cap to aid him like Mario and The Rooney's have. The Pens were at or near the bottom of the League in Payroll for the first couple of seasons there was a Cap until Consol Energy Center was built. The truth of the market is that the Pittsburgh Penguins would be in the lower half of the league in payroll even with the new arena revenue if there weren't a Salary Cap in the NHL. The Steelers dont have owners with deep pockets. Imagine the NFL without a salary cap and competing against the Kraft's, Snyder's and Jones'?
Despite the lack of a Salary Cap in MLB, Bob Nutting has turned this organization around from being a perennial loser and laughing stock of all of sports and made it a winner.
It's time that Mr.Nutting is given the long overdue credit he deserves for leading the organization back to prominence