Game 136: Pirates at Cardinals

Chacon and Weaver, 7:15pm.

Rare!! One of a kind!! Superbowl t-shirts

Mark sends us the link to this interesting item on Craigslist.

...post was deleted by the author. on the seattle craigslist, dude was selling "seattle seahawks super bowl champions" t-shirts that he claimed to have smuggled out of detroit the day of the super bowl. wanted $50 per shirt, and wrote some funny stuff about "we all know the seahawks won anyway" too.

That starter we need

So the Oswalt contract looks to drive up the price of top-notch starting pitching. Hard to see how this would help the Pirates' quest for a right-handed ace this offseason--unless of course the market for young relief pitching goes through the roof. Joe Sheehan at Baseball Prospectus figures this sets the price for top-quality starting at $15M per year -- on multiyear deals. A team would have to pay more for shorter deals.

... Gabe Lacques has more.

Game 135: Pirates at Cardinals

Duke and what's-his-name tonight at 8. Duke's 5.01 ERA has been a big surprise for me. ERAs are up across the board this year, or so I think, and I expected some regression. But an ERA over 5? It doesn't look right next to his name.

So did the Pirates call up a bunch of dudes today, or does DL prefer to leave the 40-man roster at 37 so, you know, he can sign free agents?

Steve Novotney speaks

So I head over to OnlyBucs this afternoon and find this interview with Steve Novotney. Good reading. He always had a different perspective on things, and I think his take was underrated because of his job on the team paper.

Burnitz and Randa

They hang out together, Paul Meyer reports. I wonder what they talk about. I picture them laughing hysterically, throwing huge piles of cash at each other, and talking about what a freaking idiot DL is.

DK Q+A

Dejan answers questions and admits he'll be "surprised and impressed" if the Bucs avoid losing 100.

Hidden vigorish

Pat at WHYGAVS breaks down the second half stats and concludes that the Bucs haven't really been playing that much better, but have been getting lucky. While at WHYGAVS, look in the upper right, and vote for whether you'd rather see the Bucs lose a bunch more and get a top two draft pick or win enough to pass the Cubs and avoid the cellar. Tough call. At first I leaned towards winning (to beget more winning) with the assumption that DL would tank a top pick, but later decided that I'd love to see what DL's replacement will do with the second pick and voted for losing.

7 days

Like Rowdy, I intentionally ignore the largely meaningless NFL preseason. This year, however, with the final preseason game being tonight and Game 1 vs. Miami being only a merciful 7 days (!) away, I am suddenly attentive. Dan Rooney, take me away! Gary Dulac lists the questions for tonight's game: FS: Ryan or Tyrone? 2nd-string HB: Duce?, 3rd-string QB: Omar or Shane? I'll guess Tyrone, Yes, Omar. News affecting the 2006 season and years to come: Willie Parker signed a four-year, $13.6 million contract. Chukki is not only OK, but he's ready to play. Same link downplays Deshea's broken thumb.

Game 134: Cubs at Pirates

Underway. Santos provided three runs to the Cubs in the top of the first. Chris Duffy leads off with an infield single and takes another base on a throwing error. Jose Bautista drives him home with a single off Juan Mateo and it's 3-1 Cubs.

DL to be fired?

Or so hints Perrotto. DK has recently implied otherwise. Perrotto doesn't name his source for this rumor, but let's just pretend this will happen. (Both links via Billy, who in case you've missed it, is back with excellent posts on forbearance and elitism).

Game 133: Cubs at Pirates

Zambrano and Maholm starting now. The Bucs try to avoid clinching consecutive losing season #14 on Pup Night: "For 20 dollars, you and your dog can watch the Pirates battle the Cubs!" For 100 dollars, what can my dog and I watch?

Snell a 12-game winner

The Pirates' last 12-game winner was Oliver Perez in 2004. FWIW, the most recent Pirate seasons with 13 wins or more belong to Jason Schmidt (13 wins, 1999) and Todd Ritchie (15 wins, 1999). The 1999 Gene Lamont team finished with a record of 78-83; fifteen of seventy-eight in 19%. Twelve of fifty-one is 24%. What I'm trying to say is, Snell's 12 wins in 2006 are more impressive than Ritchie's 15 in 1999. Even if it's just luck, it's still impressive.

Congratulations, Ian Snell.

Gonzo, Gorzo to DL

Bayliss and some other guys called up.

Game 132: Cubs at Pirates

Angel Guzman and Honest Wagner favorite Ian Snell at seven. Don't pitch like a little girl, Ian.

... uh-oh, rain.

Plenty of money

Dejan Kovacevic reports for the Post-Gazette that the Pirates failed to set a four-game attendance record (Shawn Chacon + rain = 19K fans). No worries -- "Kevin and Bob," Littlefield says, will make sure the Pirates have "plenty of money" for the 2007 payroll.

All hail Kevin and Bob!

Game 131: Astros at Pirates

The season is truly winding down in Pittsburgh. Young Jason Hirsch and Shawn Chacon at 1:35pm. The sight of a rookie starter would have me optimistic, if the Pirates did not have a tendency to make rookies look like future Hall of Famers. We could get into exactly why recent Pirate clubs have been vulnerable to rookie pitchers. Or not.

"Let them watch fireworks"

Bob Smizik looks into futurity.

McCutchen hits at AA

Dejan Kovacevic records McCutchen's performance for Altoona. Are you watching, Leeeny? At 19 years, 10 months, McCutchen is the youngest Curve yet.

DK also notes the Pirates need 22,523 or larger today to set a PNC attendance record for a four-game series. Not bad for a 50-80 team. All the marketing people deserve ginormous raises.

5-7-3

Casey grounds out to left field, and other stuff in Paul Meyer's Sunday funnies.