I vaguely recall an early-’80s movie about a New York police station coming under waves of attack. “Fort Apache, The Bronx,” I think it was, starring Paul Newman. No soon does one siege get repelled — here came another assault.

Anyway – that’s kinda how I see the Pirates front office in these days following yet another maddening finish to an unsatisfactory season. Frustration to the 20th power? Critics of Neal Huntington, Kyle Stark and Frank Coonelly — and of Bob Nutting, for not doing anything about them — are out of control and venomous and loud.

But are there other voices out there? No one is happy about the Pirates’ morass, sure. However, is there a silent majority of true fans whose disappointment is tempered with reality and whose anger stops short of, say, a lynch-mob mentality? Who weren’t thrilled because another Pirates losing season confirmed their own predictions? Who do not attack with the fervor of Navy SEALS?

I wondered about that a while ago, and got some interesting responses. Caveat: Some of these views are a month old, so may have changed in the interim. But, a sampling:

“The comments and writings of much of the fan base and some of the journalists who cover the team have ruined the season for me at least as much as the play of my beloved Pirates.  Too many people are just way too reactionary.  And they never learn. … and now are blind with rage that we’re finishing pretty much exactly where our talent level and experience indicate we should.  Neil Huntington and everybody else apparently deserve to be fired based on our play over the past two weeks. I get it.  So I can understand why everybody wants scapegoats.  But following the team is so much more enjoyable when your fellow fans don’t form a lynch mob every 30 seconds.” — Corey.

“I am 17 years old and will graduate high school this spring having never seen a pirates winning season! Unbelievable. … I believe in Clint Hurdle as our manager but I must say I’m still not set on Huntington. I think his time is up. I still recall after our mini fire sale in 2007 or 2008, trading away Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson for what so far appears to be absolutely nothing, he said if this team was not a winner by the year 2012, he should be out. And, we are not winners.” — Sammy

“This season was heat breaking. I felt like someone was slowly torturing me and making me watch this collapse but yet I couldn’t look away.  I believe this season of disappointment belongs to Clint and the coaching staff and also our trade deadline moves. … I’m 23 years old and can not remember the Pirates last winning season so these last two years have been hard to watch. But through it all I’m still a Buccos fan and a believer. Go Bucs!!” — Michael

“Way too much blame is being put on the front office/baseball operations staff (Huntington, Stark, Smith, Coonelly to some extent) for this season’s epic collapse and the 2nd in a row. In the wake of the whole Kyle Stark fiasco over player development (SEALS, Hoka Hey, military mindset) and then Coonelly saying that no changes will be made to the upper hierarchy. The fan base went absolutely crazy without even fathoming to think before they react.” — Ross

“The fact that the Pirates are at an unfair advantage with salary and location makes it harder to stay competitive. This year had a different feel to it. … The icing on the cake was when upper management was afraid to make any bold decisions. … Sure the Pirates might be more competitive and talented in the next year or two, but without any changes it’s going to be the same old song and dance.” — Jason

“Excited 4 direction of club but disappointed in slide. Made some moves. Feel we had shot with players we had –more than in past.” — @MikeyHeld

“I wonder what they’ve done to earn my loyalty (and $). Because I have fond memories of a tm that won 33 yrs ago? No more.” — @RiddlerPGH

“I love the Pirates, but it is clear they can’t evaluate talent & Hurdle has troubles with player selection. New blood, please.” — @jimlogrando

“I think … is overreacting & reading too much into NH’s 9/23 radio quote, and his many minions are reliably following suit.” — @MattGrayPgh

“stunned, heartbroken, optimistic. In that order” — @Zach_Vani

“Outrage makes me think people are talking about a team like the Yankees with a large payroll & high preseason expectations. … Yes, I’m upset by the collapse. No, I don’t want everyone fired. I’d prefer a calm, rational approach to solving the problem.” — @marc98116

“feel like there needs to be some form of accountability for end to this season, would like to see ownership/mgmt straight shoot.” — @megseese

“The season was, for the most part, very entertaining.” — @KevinMcEldowney

“20 games better in 2 years is awesome. drafts have been successful. Collapse this year shows its time to spend on the bench.” — @jmohlman

“my opinion may be the minority, but way too much blame is being put on the front office/baseball operations guys.” — @rinsana11

Gregg Ritchie was the world’s worst hitting coach in April and May. Ritchie was the best hitting coach in June and July.

Today, Ritchie is George Washington University’s head baseball coach.

The “worst” and “best” designations are made tongue in cheek. The first two months of the season, the Bucs hit .218 as a team. The next two months, they led the Majors in scoring. So Ritchie’s reputation was as volatile as the team’s fortunes.

His acceptance of the GWU job had been an open secret for weeks. Now that it’s official, the Bucs join a growing list of Major League teams searching for a new hitting coaches.

Ritchie, 48, was a seven-year member of the Pirates organization and the big-league club’s hitting coach the last two seasons under manager Clint Hurdle.

In the week since the end of the regular season, numerous clubs have dismissed their hitting coaches: Seattle (Chris Chambliss), Kansas City (Kevin Seitzer), Colorado (Carney Lansford) and Philadelphia (Greg Gross).

“Coming back to George Washington brings my career full circle as in many ways this is where it all started for me,” Ritchie said in the statement released by George Washington U.. “I met my wife (Kelly) here at GW, and we both made a lifetime of extraordinary memories going to school and competing in the heart of the nation’s capital. To have this opportunity to coach at my alma mater and play our home games in the premier facility in the conference at Barcroft Park is extremely special.”

Drew Sutton, who very briefly was the embodiment of the Bad News Bucs, and 2010 All-Star Evan Meek are among more than two-dozen six-year Minor Leaguers to recently elect free agency.

Sutton’s one-month tenure in Pittsburgh included one of the most thrilling moments of the Pirates’ season: His walk-off homer on July 3 for an 8-7 win over the Astros. It wasn’t so much the home run itself as the expression on Sutton’s face as he was rounding first base: It said ‘Did I really do that?” and seemed to capture the confirmation of  a nine-year professional career, very little of it spend in the Majors.

Sutton acknowledged as much in his post-game comments.

“It’s why we play the game,” he had said. “Even guys like me, who bounce around from team to team, every once in a while you get a moment like that. It’s a bookmark we can look back at.”

In 24 games and 74 at-bats with the Bucs, Sutton batted .243 with seven RBIs. It should be also noted that he was demoted on July 30, as part of the Pirates’ Trade Deadline turnover and at a time the Bucs were tied for the NL Central lead and after having gone 17-11 with Sutton in the starting lineup.

Meek had no ’12 highlights, pitching to a 6.75 ERA in 12 scattered appearances, but was a stud on the 105-loss Bucs of 2010, when he had a 2.14 ERA in 70 outings. Injuries and a consequential drop in confidence set him back but, at 29, the righty can have a big bounce-back in him.

 

Thank you, Pittsburgh.

As I watch the Bucs play the final innings of a promising season that ends in disappointment, I can’t help reflecting on the past six months with a mixture of awe, satisfaction and more than a little sadness that it’s over.

I’m also watching that beautiful skyline against the yellow of the Roberto Clemente Bridge, a sight I could never tire of and will miss.

So thank you for welcoming me to this wonderful city for an unforgettable summer. Thank you for the rolling green hills. Thank you for the breathtaking drive through the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Thank you, as long as this profession demands so much travel, for the most efficient airport I’ve  ever experienced.

Thank you for everything black and gold. Thank you for making the hair on the back of my neck stand with so many thrilling moments. Thank you for letting me hear your cheers, and for letting me feel your frustrations.

Thank you for all the new memories forged. It has been great.

We must do this again. 2013 can’t come soon enough.

GM Neal Huntington and assistants Kyle Stark and Greg Smith will all be retained for the 2013 season, according to a statement just made by club president Frank Coonelly.

A second straight second-half collapse had focused on Huntington’s job status, while Stark and Smith had drawn considerable criticism for some unusual training practices with club prospects.

Coonelly’s full statement:

“For the second consecutive year, we put ourselves in an excellent position to meet our objective of winning our division but did not play nearly well enough during the last two months of the season to accomplish it. Our fans are understandably disappointed and frustrated, as is every individual in the organization. 

As soon as we finish this season as well as we possibly can, we will turn our full and total attention to evaluating why were unable to finish the job and what we must do differently to take the next step to becoming a championship team. There will unquestionably be changes made to the way in which we operate as a result of this thorough critical self-evaluation, but we will not be making personnel changes at the very top of our baseball operations department. Neal, Kyle, Greg and Clint are dedicated and intelligent baseball men in whom I have great confidence. 

Confidence in and support of Neal, Kyle and Greg should not be misunderstood with acceptance of another poor finish at the Major League level. We must understand why the quality of our execution and play deteriorated so markedly in August. Finishing was the focus from spring training but it certainly was not achieved.”

So how can you tell it’s a Saturday afternoon in September?

You walk into the Pirates clubhouse, and everyone is hunched over either their pad or phone following their college football team of choice. …

* * *

Rod Barajas was tracing something totally different on his phone: His kids’ soccer games in Southern California.

“Poor Stacie,” he said about his wife. “She’s got to take the kids to five different soccer games today.”

* * *

All this (warranted) consternation about possible scheduling nightmares in the event of end-of-season ties for playoffs spots has a touch of nostalgia for me. The main worry is that the already-tight postseason schedule would reach a breaking point if any tiebreakers have to be played.

It could result in all sorts of scheduling-travel nightmares since only one off-day is scheduled between the Oct. 3 end of the regular season and the Oct. 5 Wild Card one-game playoffs. People are wringing their hands over the possibility of, say, the Cardinals having to play at home on Wednesday, flying to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers in a Wild Card tiebreaker on Thursday and the winner of that game having to fly to Atlanta to play the Braves in the Wild Card playoff game on Friday.

Rough. But a whole media army tagged along with the Angels on just such an odyssey in 2005.

Here is how that happened:

• Oct. 8, New York: Game 4 of the Division Series between the Angels and the Yankees is rained out.
• Oct. 9, New York: Game 4 is played in prime time, and the Yankees win 3-2 tie knot the Series at 2-games each.
• Oct. 10, Anaheim: Afternoon Game 5, Angels win 5-3 to advance.
• Oct. 11, Chicago: Angels meet the White Sox in ALCS Game 1, and actually sleep-walk to a 3-2 win (then lose the next four).

Living out of a suitcase is one thing. Those three days, we all lived out of a straight-jacket.

Starling Marte is back with the Bucs and back in left field — but not back atop the lineup. Clint Hurdle is keeping Brock Holt there “based on what I’ve seen the last four games — the performance and the production.”

Marte was activated after three rehab games (the last two at Indianapolis) and “has no limitations. He’s physically fit and ready to go.”

So that’s one back, five to go:

• Neil Walker (lower-back tightness) will again try swinging a bat in the cage today.
• Jose Tabata (left foot contusion) again hit in the cage (and I saw him limping back to the clubhouse afterwards) and is doing pre-game shagging in the outfield.
• Travis Snider (right hamstring) got three total down-days, something he didn’t have the last time the strain shelved him, but can pinch-hit tonight if needed.
• Chad Qualls (right big toe) will be activated Sunday.
• Jeff Karstens (right hip flexor) played long toss today and plans to throw a bullpen tomorrow.