Game 30: Pirates at Nats

Paul Maholm and Matt Chico starting soon. The Post Gazette reports the Pirates will wear the Grays uniforms this afternoon.

Game 29: Pirates at Nats

Phil Dumatrait and John Lannan.

Time to get beer. Must ... steer clear ... of Baltika 9.

Game 28: Pirates at Nats

Zach Duke and Odalis Perez at seven.

Pirates are 11-16, sharing last place with the Reds at six games out of first. And they continue to lead the NL in runs allowed by a wide margin (Pirates 160 in 27 games, Reds 139 in 29 games).

Game 27: Pirates 13, Mets 1

Cool box score on this one.

Game 26: Pirates at Mets

Rather than start a new thread, I'll just change the date on this old one.

Snell and Santana tonight at seven.

Pirates are 10-15 and own last place. They've allowed 154 runs, far more than any other NL team.

Steelers got a bunch of good players in the draft, and now they scour the remainder for defensive ends, as Ed Bouchette describes day two.

Game 25: Phillies at Pirates

Brett Myers and Paul Maholm at one-thirty.

More NFL draft thread

Steelers are picking more guys. I like the Bruce Davis pick a lot.

Pirates release Matt Morris

Paul Meyer has the word at the Post-Gazette.

It's sad that Morris can't pitch effectively. He can't. We've seen conclusive demonstrations of this.

The money owed him is staggering, but it's better to pay him not to pitch. This way he only hurts the team once. And the money is a sunk cost. It may still be flowing out the safe, but it's already gone. It's spent. There's no getting it back. Learn from the mistake and move on.

I still like the idea of acquiring top-quality veteran players for a year or two at the end of their big contracts. There are values to be had there. This only makes sense, however, if you are getting what you paid for: a top-quality player.

Here, as elsewhere, the success of the team depends on its ability to evaluate talent at every level of play and in every organization. The more you know, the better value you will get for your payroll dollars. The Matt Morris acquisition was an enormous mistake in the talent evaluation department.

NFL draft thread

Steelers picking guys today. Ed Bouchette guesses Kentwan Balmer of North Carolina.

Game 24: Phillies at Pirates

Kyle Kendrick and Matt Morris tonight at seven.

Game 23: Phillies at Pirates

Adam Eaton and Zach Duke at seven.

Game 22: Cardinals at Pirates

Pineiro and Gorzelanny at seven.

Pirates riding a two-game win streak to lift themselves to three games under .500.

Game 21: Cardinals at Pirates

Todd Wellemeyer and Ian Snell.

Pujols owns Snell, sad to say, so maybe they don't pitch to him tonight.

Game 20: Marlins at Pirates

April is the cruelest month.

Paul Maholm and Ricky Nolasco tonight at seven.

Game 19: Marlins at Pirates

Enough of the Cubs for now. At seven it's Matt Morris and Mark Hendrickson.

There has been a pattern with the starts of Morris lately. All eyes on the fourth inning. Can he make two trips through the Marlins' lineup?

Game 18: Pirates at Cubs

Zach Duke, Ryan Dempster, two o'clock.

Game 17: Pirates at Cubs

This road trip is not going so well. The Pirates need a win soon. Today at one it's Tom Gorzelanny and Jason Marquis.

Game 16: Pirates at Cubs

Ian Snell and Rich Hill for a 2:20pm scheduled start.

The weather forecast looks good enough for Iowa Pirate, who is making the trip to see this one.

One time I went to Wrigley for a 2pm game, and it rained, and there was a six-hour rain delay. That's a long time to eat hot dogs, drink beer, and explore the corners of the stadium with a roof. You can't leave the stadium and return on your torn ticket, so there were not many people left when they started the game around eight.

Off day

Nothing doin'.

Game 15: Pirates at Dodgers

The Pirates will try to walk off the Los Angeles at ten.

Paul Maholm and Brad Penny square off.