McClendon regrets base stealing incident but wanted to make a statement

After disproving the notion that you can't steal first base, Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon was plotting an encore performance Wednesday night.

'If it guarantees us a win, I'll steal second base tonight,' McClendon quipped before the Pirates took the field against the Milwaukee Brewers.

One night earlier, McClendon snatched first base and took it all the way to the dugout following his seventh-inning ejection by first-base umpire Rick Reed.

The incident gave McClendon instant nationwide recognition. McClendon's march to the dugout with the bag tucked under his left arm was replayed ad nauseum on the sports highlights shows. It even showed up on Good Morning America.

'I wasn't up to catch that one,' McClendon said with a laugh.

Still, McClendon saw his actions replayed enough times to know that he might never live it down.

'I've gotten quite a few phone calls,' McClendon said. 'I guess it's amusing to a lot of people. But I didn't think it was funny when I was doing it. Now that it's over, I wish I wouldn't have done it.'

McClendon expects to be fined - perhaps heavily - for his actions. But he doesn't think he should be suspended.

'For what, taking a base?' he said.

In 1990, when Lou Piniella was managing the Cincinnati Reds, he removed third base from its moorings during an argument and heaved it. Piniella was fined but not suspended.

McClendon said he wasn't trying to make a statement by toting the base to the dugout, where he heaved it down the steps that lead to the clubhouse.

'I didn't see it as theatrics,' McClendon said. 'I was (ticked) off and did what I had to do. I have every right to go out and stand up for my players.'

Brian Giles was in the on-deck circle when McClendon walked by with the base. He watched in disbelief.

'I thought he was going to throw it,' Giles said. 'I wanted to laugh, but I had to hit, so I had to be serious.'

After the inning was over, Giles had a bat boy retrieve the base from the tunnel. Yesterday, it sat in an empty locker next to Giles' stall and was accompanied by a newspaper picture of McClendon holding the base under his arm.

'We'll decide what to do with it later,' Giles said.

McClendon was upset that Reed called Jason Kendall out on a close play at first base. Replays showed that Kendall beat out the grounder to short.

McClendon's emotions boiled over from the first inning when Abraham Nunez was called out on a chopper to second.

Enhancing McClendon's frustration was that he was dealing with the same umpiring crew that, in his opinion, made a series of erroneous calls in May when the Pirates visited Milwaukee.

Reed was umpiring behind the plate May 12 and called a strike on a pitch that hit Pat Meares in the stomach Meares was trying to pull his bat back during a bunt attempt.

Two days later, Reed and Mark Wegner took a home run away from Meares on a ball that hooked down the left-field line. They reversed third-base umpire Al Clark's ruling that the ball was fair.

McClendon doesn't think Reed's crew is intentionally making unfavorable calls against the Pirates. But he also doesn't think umpires throughout baseball are treating the Pirates the same as, say, the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees.

'Nobody should take us granted or lightly because of our record,' McClendon said. 'Respect us for the way we play on the field and just make a conscious effort to get the calls right. That's all I ask, and any manager would ask for the same thing.'

McClendon's antics might not have earned him any respect from the umpires, but it enhanced his standing with the Pirates players.

'That's the first time in six years that you know someone has got your back,' Kendall said. 'And he was out there quick. That shows he cares. That's why he has full control of this team. He has us in the palm of his hands. I appreciate it, and I'm sure the 24 other guys in here appreciate it.'

First baseman Kevin Young did.

'We love him because he'll fight for us,' he said. 'You look at our record and come to the conclusion that we don't have any fight. But we do, and it's because of him.'Said McClendon: 'It's good the players recognize what we're trying to accomplish here. I'm glad they responded. ... It's nice that the players like me, but it's more important that they respect me and what I'm trying to do in this office.'