Pirates score twenty-eight runs today

How often can you say that?

Perez and Vogelsong

For the PG, Paul Meyer reports on the difference between two bad performances. Ollie was not so effective last spring. He can screw around all he wants this month. Don't downgrade him or worry unless he talks about feeling somewhat injured. Vogelsong had his velocity but no command. I sure hope we don't have to use him before he's ready--if that time ever comes.

Pirates at Tribe

Leeeny, if you get up to Winter Haven, stand near the radio booth and holler some distinctive comments into the lulls. I'll be listening for you. Something like, "Joe Randa where are you?"

the Spin

Enjoyed Ed Eagle's focus on Spin Williams this morning.

True or false: the Bucs should have more coaches. On the one hand, all the players are young and need instruction. Some of the praise lavished on Jose Mesa amounted to thanking him for reminding them to tie their shoelaces. It made me wonder (as did some of the recent reports on Santiago) if it really made sense to pay so much money for player-coaches if a large part of the rationale for their hiring comes from the fact that they coach. Why not hire more coaches?

On the other hand, too many cooks spoil the broth. And perhaps the last thing some of the players want is more coaching. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.

Command, velocity, tempo

Paul Meyer has the news on Kip. Hopefully there's no undue soreness or pain today and/or tomorrow.

I still wonder if he's throwing all his pitches. Spin says all Kip's stuff was plus but what exactly is all his stuff right now? Fastball - slider - change? We hear detailed information about a pitcher's arsenal, for example, when he's using some "new pitch" in an attempt to revive a sagging career. Sometimes we learn that so-and-so's fastball is 86-88 when it used to be 91-92 five years ago.

But fastballs and velocity are not the whole of the story. I'd like to know more about how our different starters are progressing this spring with each pitch in their repetoire. Who is throwing the best curveball? Who is throwing with sick command? I would appreciate more detail like that.

Pirates 1, Braves 0

I love beating the Braves. The best part of the MLB.com report, though, was this:

Kip Wells appeared healthy while holding the Braves hitless over three scoreless innings.

Is he throwing all his pitches now? Everything full speed?

Mostly Sunny

Should be no problem with today's game, not from the weather at least. Paul Meyer has some news about it.

McLouth and Grieve

For the TR Joe Rutter reports that McLouth could get an extra look with Bay out:

Nate McLouth, who is ticketed for Class AAA Indianapolis, could get a longer look in camp. Ben Grieve, who hasn't exactly displayed Gold Glove defense this spring, but is 5 for 9 with two doubles at the plate, also could see more action in left.

"I'd be hard-pressed to say I'm impressed with what (Grieve) has been doing in the outfield," McClendon said. "He's got to play better there, obviously. We're going to take a look at him. He's gotten some big hits so far."

Defense was my first concern with this guy. With Lawton having a weaker arm, Craig Wilson still learning the position, and the possibility of Jason Bay getting on-the-job training in center, defense should make a difference. With Bay out and time opening up for McLouth, now I wonder if losing Bay for some period of time wouldn't also hurt Daryle Ward's chances. He's no great fielder and he only pushes Wilson into full-time outfield duty. Maybe the team has to carry at least one corner outfielder who is above-average in the field--especially for left-field in PNC.

Happy 140

The AP recaps the running for the fifth starter spot. No Zach Duke? No Albie Lopez? According to that report, it's Williams, Vogelsong, or Ritchie.

Craig Wilson gave a "Happy 140th Birthday" cake to Benito Santiago. Details at the end of that report and here in a report for MLB.com by Ed Eagle.

Spring training stats

They don't mean much of anything, but they are fun to look at.

Bitter old man

Dejan Kovacevic devotes more than half the Q & A to going over the contract hullabaloo and coaching us on how to respond to it. I'm more and more of the opinion that this was none of our business. Players and owners poison the well when they go to the fans with their problems. Don't ask us to help you accomplish your business goals. This isn't politics, and neither the players nor the owners serve themselves by going to the fans like we have some responsibility to write to our Congressman and get so-and-so a raise or so-and-so a new CBA.

Baseball is an escape for the fans. We go to the park or tune into the game to get away, mometarily, from the duties and responsibilities and circumstances of our lives. We may be perfectly happy people with full lives; everyone needs that downtime in the stadium. Ask the fans to shoulder some responsibility for the labor problems or the payroll disparity and you accomplish nothing. It's like asking families to pick up garbage at the State Park before they enjoy their own picnic. It won't happen and it drives the fans away.

This has to be fun or it doesn't work.

The final paragraph of Kovacevic's column shows the letters are wearing on him. Send the man some jokes. His patience has worn thin. If he didn't have such high expectations of us, perhaps he wouldn't be so disappointed.

Not everyone has the time or the inclination to revise their rants so they are not so hyperbolic or bitter. And besides, if you watch much television or listen to much talk radio - even sports talk radio - then you can understand why most people would think that hyperbolic and bitter sounds smart and impressive.

My guess is that the problem he's experiencing with the fans is not one that has much of anything to do with the Pirates. Rather he's seeing how the average person writes about a subject he cherishes but never has enough time to enjoy properly. I bet if DK talked to other beat writers doing regular Q & A assignments, he'd find that fans everywhere are pretty much the same.

I'm not buying his line of argument, which he often repeats, that Pirate fans are especially bitter or angry, in part because he seems to mention that like it's a shot across the bow of management. It's true they are on thin ice. It's true that all the enthusiasm the team appeared to be building a month or two ago could disappear overnight. But I don't think there's anything unusual in the fact that most letters from fans adopt an exaggerated sarcasm or striking bitterness. That's the level of public discourse these days, on almost all matters.

Fillin DeBlank

From yesterday, Brian O'Neill's Stats Geek. Who is this DeBlank?

There's always a chance one of the C-grade pitching prospects will emerge as an ace. Remember what John Sickels wrote about Ollie about a week ago. It's nothing to take to the bank, but the Bucs are loaded with C-grade pitching prospects.

No season in 2007

Paul Meyer raises that possibility in his PG notebook.

Bay hurt and House

AP report here. Sounds like no big deal. People are going to get hurt. It's part of the game.

One thought about the release of J.R. House. Set aside the question of whether or not the big-leaguers "earn" their dough. I think they do, but that's not the question. The big-league minimum is still a lot of dough. For what they were going to pay House, the Bucs could hire eight secretaries to sit on their ass and do nothing but throw pencils at the ceiling. Or they could hire two pediatricians. Or they could hire three lawyers. Or they could hire a University president and two professors of statistics. Or they could skip the president and hire like twenty-five graduate students in statistics and have them model projection systems. Or they could make a movie starring the GM of a team that hasn't had a winning season in a decade, and put it on HBO. It's a lot of dough. Just because some teams spend $100M on their payrolls, that doesn't make 300K funny money. 300K goes a long way if spent wisely.

Given that Littlefield was, shall we say, pretty skeptical that House could make the team before the surgery, it's no surprise the team cut House after the surgery showed more damage than they expected to find.

Health all around

Paul Meyer reports that Kip, Ollie, and Jack are better today than they were yesterday. Joe Rutter focusses on Kip.

Meyer also notes that Sanchez appears scheduled for Abe Nunez's job and not for AAA. He's 27.

Five pesos a week making wallets

This is a Phillies item, but a good one. Donald Bostrom of the Morning Call asked the Phillies about the jobs they've had before baseball. I was under the impression that more of the American players were like Mike Lieberthal and never had another job. A bunch of them worked as umpires in Little League. The South American players, on the other hand, have some real stories.

I'd be interested to see a similar feature on the Pirates. Pittsburgh fans get pretty surly when the players behave like prima donnas. I guess the players have dug some share of ditches in their past, too.

Feels young

Lawton talks to some Minnesota people.

Ken Rosenthal rumor

Clay sends this link to Ken Rosenthal's rumor rag:

The A's and Pirates scouted each other last week, preparing for a trade that could send OF Eric Byrnes to Pittsburgh, possibly for RHP Ian Snell. The A's, however, still would prefer to trade Byrnes to the Mets in a three-way deal that would land them Astros 2B Chris Burke, with the Astros acquiring the Mets' Mike Cameron to play center field. The A's already have Mark Ellis, Keith Ginter and Marco Scutaro at second, but GM Billy Beane has been fixated on Burke ever since the infielder was at the University of Tennessee.

Burke is 25, older than our own Jose Castillo, but widely regarded as a good prospect still. My guess is that John Perrotto's inside dope is more fresh. See the link a little down the page.

Reds-Pirates 1:05pm

Box score gonna be here. If I can get Joe Pass off the stereo, I'm going to tune in.

Mark Redman

Perrotto's Mark Redman report.