Happy Halloween!

The Pirates seem to have gotten into the spirit of the season, keeping the identity of their new manager a dark secret after masquerading as a major league team through much of 2010.

Ken Macha must feel like he's been spooked after he was spurned as a potential skipper of the Bucs for the second time.

Macha did well managing the low-payroll Oakland A's and has a solid history of successful work with younger players.

He's even from the Pittsburgh area, which adds to the intrigue as to why this guy can't seem to get a shot at this gig.

Hopefully, Jeff Banister doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of getting the job. Nothing against Banister, who has been a loyal company man for years and years, but that's exactly the type of hire the Pirates shouldn't make.

Dale Sveum and John Gibbons pulled disappearing acts right before the team's eyes. Both interviewed for the job and both were considered viable candidates.

Then Sveum returned to Milwaukee as hitting coach — even though there was no manager there yet — and Gibbons voluntarily returned to his job as bench coach with the Kansas City Royals.

Eerie, isn't it?

Then there's former Pirate and current Detroit Tigers first base coach Andy Van Slyke, who was in town, went on a Pittsburgh radio station and declared himself a candidate for the job even though the Pirates never interviewed him.

In fact, the Pirates never planned to interview him.

That's a little spooky.

Former Cleveland manager Eric Wedge was the first to interview for the Pirates job. He wound up taking the Seattle Mariners post.

Maybe the Pirates should consider interviewing Bobby Valentine this weekend. As the manager of the New York Mets, he once wore a disguise in the dugout after being thrown out of a game.

That would be appropriate.

Most Pittsburgh fans want the Pirates to hire a fiery guy, someone who won't hesitate to leave the dugout and get in an umpire's face every once in a while.

They'll settle for a manager who exhibits any personality at all. John Russell could have landed a role as one of the zombies in "Dawn of the Dead," after all.

More candidates likely will be interviewed after the World Series, but let's be honest.

If Gibbons went back to Kansas City and Sveum returned to Milwaukee, does a coach with the Giants or Rangers really leave to take over a 105-loss team?

That would be a mystical decision, indeed.

So where do the Pirates go to find their next field general?

Consult a psychic, get their palms read, find a fortune teller — whatever they have to do.

Maybe the Great Pumpkin has the answer.

Somebody has to.