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John Russell for Bucs’ job

November 5th, 2007

As expected, John Russell will be hired today as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Several sources have confirmed that John Russell, the Philadelphia Phillies’ manager, has won out over a field, which included the White Sox 3B coach Trent Jewett, Joey Cora, manager of Pittsburgh Class AAA Indianapolis affiliate, the LA Dodgers bench coach Dave Jauss, and Cleveland 3B coach Joel Skinner.

John Russell’s hiring may be an unpopular choice among the baseball fans. John Russell spent 3 years as Pittsburgh 3B coach. He was fired following the 2005 season along with the rest of the coaching staff after Lloyd McClendon, the team’s manager had been let go 3 weeks earlier. However, it would look like Pittsburgh is bringing back a retread.

John Russell, however, has a much better reputation among those who work in the league.

Russell, 46, could not be reached for any comments the past 2 days though he expressed great interest in Pittsburgh job 2 years ago, when it came open after McClendon left.

During the final week of the 2005 season John Russell said that there was no doubt that the Pittsburgh Pirates could be a winning organization.

Apparently, not everyone in the league believes the Pittsburgh Pirates can win. John Farrell, Boston pitching coach, turned down the opportunity to interview for the manager’s position this past week. Assistant general manager Chris Antonetti of Cleveland and Rick Hahn of the Chicago White Sox declined chances to interview for the General Magager opening that eventually went to Neal Huntington in October.

John Russell played in the MLB from 1984-93, primarily as a catcher, with Philadelphia (1984-88), Atlanta (1989) and Texas (1990-93). He hit .225 with thirty-four homers and 129 RBIs in 448 matches. Russel was the Phillies’ 1st-round draft pick in 1982 from the University of Oklahoma.

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