GM Dave Littlefield, far left, and the Pirates' staff in the club's "war room" Tuesday. (Ed Eagle/MLB.com)

• Pirates' round-by-round picks

PITTSBURGH -- Less than an hour after completing the first day of his first draft as scouting director for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Ed Creech sat in his PNC Park office wearing the look of satisfaction that often follows a hard day's work.

For most of the day, Creech had occupied a seat at the head of a large table in one of the facility's conference rooms -- surrounded by two huge draft boards, several television monitors, a few laptops and a dry-erase board -- and calmly directed his war-room staff of about 15 members.

Unlike the NFL and NBA drafts, in which teams have considerable time between picks, the Major League's First-Year Player Draft moves forward at breakneck speed. Scouts in the war room make endless last-second calls to scouts in the field to inquire one final time about signability. Prospects appear to come of the board like the sides of an old house caught in a twister. Through it all, Creech coolly led his troops through what he considered one of the smoothest draft days he has ever experienced.

"If you have a guy [in charge] who doesn't panic and understands the plan, then you are not going to have many troubles,' said Creech. "These other guys know their roles, they know what they do and they know how to get the answers if you've got them.

"These guys are pretty good. They do this thing a lot."

Creech modestly downplayed his own impact to the group dynamics, focusing instead on his staff.

"It's a team effort," he said. " If you've got one guy not rowing then you are going in circles."

Creech's serene approach was no doubt one of the reasons that he was hired last November. Having the top pick in the draft can be a mixed blessing, especially in a year when there is no clear-cut overall No. 1 player, and the Bucs needed someone with the ability to handle such a responsibility.

More than six months after accepting the position, despite extensive scouting and research, Creech and the Pirates still remained uncertain about their top selection. Only Monday, after countless meetings, did they finally decide upon Ball State right-hander Bryan Bullington.

		JUNE 4-5 | NEW YORK CITY Draft order | Rules | FAQ FULL COVERAGE: • Bullington goes first • Drafttracker • Complete Draft coverage Round-by-round audio Round 1 Rounds 2-5 Rounds 6-10 Rounds 11-15 Rounds 16-20 Rounds 21-22 Rounds 23-27 Rounds 28-32 Rounds 33-37 Rounds 38-42 Rounds 43-50

"We covered every angle possible," said Creech. "Probably, in the course of the past three days, there were 15 different meetings on just the No. 1 guy alone. Honestly, this was a little more difficult than I had anticipated."

According to Creech, there comes a point where the studying is done and you have to take that final test. He realized that no amount of research would lead to a foolproof decision.

"But the bottom line is that you have to do what is best for your club and be willing to take a chance on that guy," he said. "We were trying to find out the best fit for our club and if it was a risk, then you know what? Sometimes you have to take risks in your life.

"Every one of these kids is a risk. We are taking risks on a young kid's health and makeup. We do as much homework as we can but you can never be sure."

Creech added that the Bucs decided to take that chance on Bullington because he was the best overall fit for the club.

"He can get [to the big leagues] a little quicker and he has more upside," said Creech. "For a year that was thin we were very fortunate to get a good, solid pitcher like Bullington in the draft."

While the No. 1 overall selection will always garner the lion's share of the headlines, Creech has long stressed that the most important aspect of drafting first is not having the top overall selection, but rather being able to choose first in every round. It was with these picks that Creech continued to build upon the solid foundation of the Bullington selection, picking up five players that Pittsburgh's scout had listed among the top 41 in the draft.

Despite landing so many of his coveted players, Creech isn't going to go patting himself on the back any time soon.

"We feel good about that. But there are 29 other teams feeling good about themselves, too." he said. "That's the way you should feel because you've worked hard and we lined these guys up the way we thought that they lined up.

"If you are good then it will show up in the long run."

Creech also knows that there is plenty more work to be done. He will head back into the war room tomorrow with 28 players yet to select.

	PIRATES 2002 DRAFT PICKS
	1	BRYAN P BULLINGTON	RHP	BALL ST U
	42	BLAIR D JOHNSON	RHP	WASHBURN RURAL HS
	73	TABER R LEE	SS	SAN DIEGO ST U
	103	WARDELL D STARLING	RHP	LAWRENCE E ELKINS HS
	133	ALEX M HART	RHP	U FLORIDA
	163	BRADLEY R ELDRED	1B	FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL U
	193	MATTHEW D CAPPS	RHP	ROBERT S ALEXANDER HS
	223	ROBERT R KINGSBURY	CF	FORDHAM U
	253	JOSEPH C HICKS	CF	FOREST BROOK HS
	283	DAVID L DAVIDSON	LHP	DENIS MORRIS HS
	313	ANTHONY S BOCCHINO	RF	MARIST COL
	343	BRIAN T HOLLIDAY	LHP	MOON AREA HS
	373	CHRISTOPHER CUNNINGHAM	C	U ARIZONA
	403	JOHN M SMITH	2B	MIDDLE GEORGIA COL
	433	JONATHAN G SCHNEIDER	RHP	LIBERTY U
	463	JOHN F HUMMEL	LHP	SCHAUMBURG HS
	493	CHRISTOPHER N DEMARIA	RHP	CALIFORNIA ST U
	523	JEFFREY B WATCHKO	RHP	GEORGIA TECH
	553	HERBERT D ANDRES	RHP	W.J. MOUAT SS
	583	RUSSELL BAYER	LHP	MIAMI U
	613	CHRIS A HOLT	RHP	FLAGLER COL
	643	PAUL HARP	RHP	MIDDLE GEORGIA COL
	673	DEAN J DEVINE	3B 2B	U SOUTH DAKOTA
	703	ERON S CHRISTENSEN	1B	U SOUTHERN COLORADO
	733	MATTHEW A CUNDIFF	RHP	COOPER CITY HS
	763	CALVIN R BEAMON	CF	SMOKY HILL HS
	793	GENE C FILYAW	SS	JASPER HS
	823	ANTHONY W STEVENS	SS	SOUTH DOYLE HS
	853	FRANCIS T PONI	C	LA HARBOR JC
	883	CHRISTOPHER G TONEGUZZI	RHP	MARKVILLE SS
	913	WILLIAM A WEBSTER	C	MOON VALLEY HS
	943	ANGEL M COLON	OF	SAN VICENTE DE PAUL HS
	973	NYJER J MORGAN	CF	WALLA WALLA CC
	1003	ADAM M HOWARD	RHP	OOLTEWAH HS
	1033	ERIC A KING	2B	LOS MEDANOS COL
	1063	RICHARD R ALDRIDGE	RHP	WAYNE COUNTY HS
	1093	ANTHONY SNOW	RHP	CASCADE HS
	1123	PHILLIP STILLWELL	RHP	NORTH FLORIDA JC
	1153	CHASE M MOORE	CF RF	ST MARYS COLLEGE HS
	1183	MATTHEW M MAROPIS	SS	FRANKLIN REGIONAL HS
	1213	ROLLIE J GIBSON	LHP	BUCHANAN HS
	1243	CHAZ J LYTLE	CF	U GEORGIA
	1273	MICHAEL B HICKS	LHP	ST STEPHENS HS

Ed Eagle covers the Pirates for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.