I'm still looking for something, anything that commends new Pirates skipper John Russell.
"We knew going into last season that our strength in the minor leagues was going to be from [high Class A] down," Arbuckle said, "and that our weakest team was going to be at [Class AAA] -- and it certainly was.
"But when I was there in August, John still had his team getting after it and competing with nothing to play for. You've got to be a pretty good manager to get a team to do that. John did a great job with a team that was extremely thin talent-wise."
The Lynx finished 55-88, the 55 victories being the lowest in the International League. They were last in the league in runs scored (553), home runs (59) and team earned run average (4.77).
Russell, a former major-league catcher with Philadelphia, Atlanta and Texas, ended his playing career in 1993. He successfully managed for eight seasons in the Minnesota minor-league system before being picked by then-general manager Dave Littlefield to join the Pirates' major-league coaching staff as third-base coach after the 2002 season.
Then-manager Lloyd McClendon yesterday declined to comment on Russell.
He can take losers and turn them into high-energy losers. Terrific. Can't wait.
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