A Bad Week and Other News

It was not bad enough that the Steelers didn't win the Super Bowl, but then Pittsburgh lost one of it's great managers.

I'll return to the Super Bowl in another article, needless to say it was turnovers that lost the game for the Steelers, but I want to focus on one of Pittsburgh Sports Buzz's favorite managers.

My family was visiting some friends in Virginia during the 1979 World Series. They were big Baltimore Orioles fans. I remember the TV, which was black and white and on a rolling stand. During the games they would pull it out of the corner and put it in the middle of the room. I remember all the great players, Willie Stargell, Bill Madlock, Dave Parker, Omar Moreno, Phil Garner, Bill Robinson, Mike Easler, Manny Sanguillen, Kent Tekulve, Bert Blyleven, John Candelaria, Rick Rhoden.

Then I remember the man that was able to put together all of those players into a championship team. I'll always be a great fan of Chuck Tanner for this one great season. Maybe overshadowed a little by another Chuck coaching the Pittsburgh Football team at the time, he turned me into a baseball fan and a lifelong Pirates fan. I don't know how much he had to do with Willie Stargell having a monster series, but that was not all that went into the Pirates winning that series. Down 3-1 in the series and coming back to win the last 3 was a great feat, plus the last 2 games were in Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. I just hope Pittsburgh will once again find a manager that is able to put it together again like Chuck Tanner. I'm sure he will be missed in Spring Training this year.

LaMarr Woodley designated
With all the unrest in the collective bargaining agreement between ownership and the players, Pittsburgh Sports Buzz was a little concerned about how the LaMarr Woodley situation would turn out. The Steelers laid that to rest this week and designated Woodley with the franchise tag. Most players don't care for this because it keeps them from signing a big multiyear contract with a big signing bonus. But, for Woodley it will give him a huge payday this year. With his talent and when the collective bargaining agreement is straightened out he'll sign his long term contract. He's too good to let go, right?