Pirates fire GM Littlefield

Baseball Betting Lines

09/07/2007 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates fired general manager Dave Littlefield, the club announced Friday.

Littlefield, 47, took over the Pirates' general manager position in July of 2001, but has been unable to stop Pittsburgh's string of losing seasons during his tenure. The Pirates are on their way to their 15th consecutive sub-.500 season. His contract was slated to run through next season, but the Pirates brass decided to move in another direction.

"After eight months of listening and analyzing the situation, it has become clear that this decision was necessary to move our organization forward," said Pirates chairman of the board Bob Nutting. "While there are many bright spots for us to build from, I am not satisfied with the overall performance and progress that has been made. I'm committed to building a successful organization and this is an important step in that process."

Littlefield took the helm of Pittsburgh's front office in the midst of the Bucs' 62-100 campaign in 2001. Their best finish under Littlefield was 75-87, in 2003.

"I felt the time was right to announce my decision to ensure that the organization is in the best possible position to attract the very best general manager candidates," Nutting said. "In addition to allowing us more time to search for a replacement, it should allow more time for our new general manager to make the necessary evaluations and staffing decisions."

Senior director of player development Brian Graham will serve as interim GM until a replacement is found.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.