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Former Saluki baseball standout Derek Shelton lasted over five seasons as the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates before the franchise fired him last week.

In his latest edition of Reading Baseball, Pete Peterson explains how Shelton faced an uphill battle in getting the Pirates back on track.

Reading Baseball is a series of essays and commentaries by Richard “Pete” Peterson, co-author, with his son Stephen, of The Slide: Leyland, Bonds and the Star-Crossed Pittsburgh Pirates and the editor of The St. Louis Baseball Reader.