The Reds vs. Joe Sheehan

I'm trying to catch up on all the baseball news I've missed since I fell into that cheering-induced stupor.

What the heck are the Reds doing in first place? That's been the big question every day when I've looked at scores and standings in the newspapers. I've always been a big Adam Dunn fan, but it doesn't seem like he's been going off.

They just dropped two of three to the Marlins. Looks like the difference between first place and .500 is winning seven in a row at home. They are still being outscored.

Thank god Joe Sheehan took up this subject over at Baseball Prospectus's pay archive. This is going to make my post on the Reds that much easier. While I share his disbelief, he overstates his case that there's nothing real about the Reds as a first-place team. Hyperbole is Joe's real weakness, as we've seen with his Pirates writing, and it's fun to pore over his essays since they tend to fall apart in revealing ways as you examine them.

Another huge flaw in Sheehan's game as a writer is the fact that writes shit like this:

You have to understand: I want to believe that the Reds can keep this up. They were my uncle's favorite team, for one, and while the city's blind spot for Pete Rose is a mark against it, it is a great baseball town, one that will fill the park if given any reason to do so.

Why do this, Joe? Of course we don't believe that he "wants to believe" or duh, he would be seen believing. His uncle's favorite team? Are we to think that his hold on objectivity is so thin? No--Sheehan's not someone who routinely claims that he has a flimsy grip on objectivity. Are we to be grateful that he can overcome the genetic bias he feels whenever he ponders that Pete Rose-loving Reds team? What's the point then? What kind of style points is Joe going for here? Is he conceding a point - "I really like the Reds" - in hopes that this will make his case against the Reds stronger? WTF? Either way, this is no way to mask your disrespect for a ballclub.

This is a major flaw in most of the baseball writing done for a national audience. Writers who are closet partisans of some team, bandwagon fans for a few teams, or worse, generic fans of the game with little attachment to team play, are often claiming to be your best friend right after they insult your girlfriend. Compounding the insult of such a statement is the fact that the author seems to believe that making such statements strengthens his case. Note to Joe: next time you want to bash a team and throw around some paragraphs to prop up your naysaying disbelief, restrain yourself from inserting the gratuitous paragraph in which you claim to really love the team in your heart of hearts. Or, when you are claiming to really love a team, restrain yourself from mentioning the "serious flaw" about the team that makes your love so heroic. If you translate this paragraph into one about a girlfriend, it would read, "You know what, friend, I'm sorry I had to point out that there's reason to believe your girlfriend Mabel is running around with Tom, Dick, and Harry while you are working nights at the tavern. I really want to like Mabel, so it hurts me to tell you she's a slut. My uncle had a thing for tall blondes and I like them too even though they are always really stupid. The other great thing about Mabel is that when she makes herself available, lots of guys will crowd around and cheer her on." Thanks a lot, Joe.

Back to Joe on the Reds. He explains the recent parity in the NL Central by noting that "the NL Central just hasn't had exceptional teams." OK, maybe, if "exceptional" means something more than "better than average" and is a word you reserve for just one or two teams. I sure thought the Cardinals were one of the top teams in 2002, but maybe Joe saw Arizona coming all the way.

What about this year? Is the parity in the NL Central the result of all the teams being average? Looks to me like the Central is 38-24 (.613) against the NL East and 35-28 (.556) against the NL West. To put that in persepctive, the best teams in the NL have a .574 winning percentage. Am I doing the math wrong, or does it look like the NL Central has been been beating the crap out of the rest of the league? If one team has a 27-20 record and plays against some terrible teams in a weak division, is that as impressive as another team that routinely plays against the best teams in the league and also arrives at a 27-20 record?

Joe writes that the Reds are "not contenders in any real sense of the term." What the hell does that mean? The only "real" sense of the term is the "real" standings. The Reds are contenders in the only real sense of the term. Unless the NL East and NL West grow some exceptional ballclubs, the winner of the NL Central should be the odds-on favorite to represent the NL in the World Series.

Dave Williams's labrum

In a free piece at Baseball Prospectus, Will Carroll plugs Dave Williams as someone to cheer for. He's coming back from surgery on his labrum.

...what the heck does he mean when he alludes to himself as "talking politics"? Is the abuse of college pitchers a partisan issue?

Mondesi as free agent

Really I could care less what happens with Mondesi. He cleared waivers so we know he's not going to sign for some sick sum - he's a useful player at position where useful players are not scarce. The Bucs had him for one year at $1.8M with a 600K buyout or a second year at $8M. He'll probably sign for two years at less than Reggie Sanders money. As something to trade, he was only good for the remainder of the year with the buyout. No one would deal for him and want to keep him for the second year on the contract the Bucs negotiated, so don't think his trade value was the same as the value he'll now command as a free agent.

Mondy played with the Bucs long enough for Jason Bay to come back. The team stayed right around .500 with him around. He left just in time to make it easy to save J.J. Davis's job. At least three-quarters of the Pirates nation was scandalized by the notion that Littlefield might put Davis on waivers. (Seeing Davis as a very raw corner outfielder, I wasn't among that number.) So let the general love for keeping J.J. Davis around temper the outrage about the timing of Raul Mondesi's departure. (J.J. Davis fans, read this.)

Mondesi served his purpose as helped the team at a low cost for a short while. No one times all their stock-market trades so perfectly that he only buys at the lowest low and only sells at the highest high. That's a ridiculous standard by which to judge a GM, too. On the whole, the price and timing of the Mondesi signing and release were excellent and clearly improved the fortune of the team. Littlefield gets an easy pass from this critic for not holding onto Mondesi on some restricted list so that he could flip him for another B-grade middle infield prospect in a few months.

Laugh at anyone who argues the Bucs would have been better served by not signing Mondesi in the first place, and giving all of his PT to J.J. Davis or some other raw scrub as a part of some sinister and/or stupid plan to sacrifice wins so the young guys can have more at-bats and more on-the-job training in the field. And raise your glass to the fact that this person is not running our ballclub.

...Mondesi just signed for one year with Anaheim at a little less that he was owed on his Pirates contract & a lot less when you factor in the buyout. So with multiple teams bidding on him, he still wasn't worth the contract the Pirates could have traded with him. It's not that the Pirates were overpaying him so much as his childish behavior with the Pirates negatively affected his market value.

Eleven big ones

Tonight starts a key stretch for the Bucs. The team is playing well lately. Despite some shaky starting pitching, they are two games under .500 and on schedule, I think, for their first winning season in ages. (The formula for this, outlined in the preseason, is stay right at or around .500 until August and turn it on down the stretch.) They finished 2003 at 49-48 and stand now at 20-22 so that's 69-70 over the last 70 games. With so many players on the rise, this team will only get better as they play more games. I'm looking forward to seeing more stability in the lineup and rotation as Mac and the team settle into a groove. Also, unlike some of our rivals, the Bucs are well-positioned to deal with any injuries. Our top 10 players may not be as experienced as the top 10 of other NL Central teams, but our 40-man is as strong as any 40-man in the division.

The upcoming schedule should have the Bucs licking their chops. Up next is seven games against the dread Cubs and four games with the Cardinals. Division games count twice, of course, since a win against a division rival is also a loss for a division rival. On June 7, when the Bucs head to Texas to play twelve games against the AL West, they won't have anything to say about how many wins the Cubs and Cardinals add to their totals.

I'd like to see them win six of the next eleven.

Huzza for D. Ward

If you squint enough, Daryle Ward looks a little like Pops Stargell.

I'll be all the way back from this stupor in a day or two. Huzza for Bones and Scoop.

And oh yeah, let's go Bucs.

Cycle

WOW. Hat's off to Daryle for becoming the 23rd Pirate to hit for the cycle. We knew this guy could rake but honestly weren't expecting too many stand-up triples. Fun to see Reggie Sanders crash into the wall too. Don't believe the the cicada hype.

Although Jack Wilson DIDN'T WALK, 4 for 6 with 3 runs scored is acceptable in our book.

RV vs. Suppan tomorrow. A Bucs win would bring us to .500 (!) and drag the Cards down into the cellar with us.

There's a rumor going around that Daryle's daily flights after driving Mondy's kids to school have made our gentle giant/hero late for pre-game stretching...

To the Cardinals

May they play well and lose to a better team.

With that toast, I'm moving to the corner. I'll be getting horizontal on that bench. Don't worry if I drool as I sleep the next few days.

Meanwhile, maybe Bones will be around to make comments on the ongoing series with the Cardinals. Maybe he'll instruct us in how to choose a good wine. Or maybe Scoop will drop in and regale us with song.

Help yourself to the punch. See you late Thursday or Friday.

Daryle Ward fan sites

The PG runs down the recent history of Ward and the internet.

Go Reds

The Reds are working on a sweep of the Astros. I love to see the "big 3" taken down by the "little 3" in the NL Central, and something about the Reds makes me root for them in other situations as well. That said, I'm a little disappointed they removed Jimmy Haynes from their rotation.

Doubleheader spot-starting

There's talk that the Bucs will call up someone from Nashville for a spot-start in the weekend doubleheader against the Cubs. This strikes me as a great chance to get a look at someone in a low-stress situation. Provided that his schedule can be massaged so that he is starting on regular rest, and hasn't had to fly across the country and land two hours before the first pitch, any of those guys should relish the chance to come up and make an impression. If he does real well, then perhaps you think about keeping him around and making a change with the roster. When grafting players onto the roster, nothing makes them stick better than success. If the spot-starter flops, it's no big deal when he's returned since he was called up with the news that this was a one-time gig.

Freddy Sanchez

Don't hold your breath waiting for Freddy Sanchez. Here's more. As always, please use the comments to correct us where we're wrong.

Minnesota and Oakland

From the man himself:

On his pregame radio show, general manager Dave Littlefield defended the club's plans to allocate a reported $13.3 million in revenue sharing. "It's a balancing act. We're funneling money to both [the minor-league system and the big-league budget]. We're going to continue to invest in our minor-league system. We've got to balance the short term and the long term. There's a great deal of frustration over the last decade [on the fans' part]. They'll be back when we get to winning." But there will be no quick fixes anytime soon, he added. "It's going to be a rare circumstance when we get the above-average free agent. We've got to have our young players grow to become above-average players. The model is out there that I point to continuously: the Minnesota Twins and Oakland."

If I was DL's assistant, I'd recommend that he says that he hopes the fans will be back when the Bucs return to winning. He's right but he's in a position where he doesn't want to be seen as taking anything for granted. The fans are impatient.

I gave the idea of using the whole $13M to sign seven Cabrera-type prospects from Latin America, and while I'm sure this isn't how they will use the money, the more I thought about it the more attractive the idea seemed to me. Even better would be using the money to sign five such prospects and the world's greatest set of scouts. The first round of the draft is too useful for taking college starters, and the Bucs should not bank on having a #1 pick anytime soon.

Day off, looking ahead

Day off today. The Bucs are playing the Cardinals this week and then host the Cubs this weekend. We trot out Benson, Perez, and Vogelsong to face Suppan, Marquis, and Carpenter. That's a pretty even matchup.

The Cardinals are going to score their runs. Reggie Sanders will probably go off and Jim Edmonds will throw someone out at third or at home and Tony La Russa and Mac will make a dozen consecutive roster changes. Watch, one of these guys will put a pitcher in the outfield for an at-bat or walk the bases loaded on intentional walks to face the other guy's pitcher. It's always interesting when these guys get together.

The Bucs are working their way toward a most-productive and semi-regular lineup. My guess is Bay will settle into the three-slot nicely. It's hard to argue with Kendall-Wilson-Bay-Wilson at the top of the lineup. One of these days things are going to click as most of the positions settle into stable platoons or become the clear job of one player. We'll have to score some runs in St. Louis to keep the games close.

The Cubs don't seem to know who will pitch this weekend. With the day off today and a day off Thursday, they are being OK in the short run. It's doubtful that my fantasy will come true. Jimmy Anderson probably won't be called up in time to start against the Pirates. Meanwhile I'm sure Jim Hendry is on the phone with Seattle inquiring about Freddy Garcia.

RISP

Pirate fans spill more ink about hitting with RISP than most other subjects.

Focussing on this stat is a lose-lose situation. If the team is hitting well with RISP, and you call attention to it, everyone will think we're due for a correction. If the team is hitting poorly, the only thing attention to this stat will do is stress out the guys. No doubt they'll be giving it their all and being as focussed as they can etc. when they go up with a runner on second and third. Who doesn't want to hit with RISP? It's like going into a bar as a bachelor and finding it crowded with available ladies. If the Pirates can "score" 30% of the time someone goes to the plate with a man in RISP, they will be jumping for joy when the season ends. Focus on the positives. Attention to a hitless streak with RISP is only going to make the situation more difficult.

The other important thing is that RISP is a meaningless stat, especially if you sample it just over one series. It's like walking downtown, asking 45 people who they are going to vote for in the next election, and thinking the election is over because you got some kind of lopsided result. Over the course of a season or over the course of a career it means something for sure, but not over the course of three games.

Focus on the positive. The Bucs got a bunch of runners into scoring position yesterday. If they do that every game, they'll score a bunch of runs and be happy in short order. All the focus on the inability to score runners in scoring position is going to look foolish if/when the Bucs struggle just getting them into scoring position.

Bucs trailing Brewers

As I head out to a family picnic, the Bucs are trailing the Brewers 1-0 with three innings to go. Thing #2 has come on in relief of Kip Wells, who was brilliant today.

It's been a frustrating game. If the Bucs can't pull it out somehow in the end, I'm sure Mac will be tempted to talk about not getting the big hit. On the other hand, the Bucs did an OK job getting runners into scoring position. It's not like they were one-hit today. If they can keep that up, the hits with RISP will come eventually.

Reggie Sanders and the Cardinals later this week.

Cubs pitching depth

We're watching the situation with the Cubs rotation with no little amount of interest. From today's papers:

Pitcher Sergio Mitre saw his ERA balloon to 5.82 in a 7-6 loss Friday, but manager Dusty Baker said he had no choice except to keep the 23-year-old in the rotation.

"Yeah," Baker told reporters. "You got any better choices?"

Yes sir, yes. We recommend this guy.

In five innings, Mitre allowed seven runs on 10 hits, walked one batter and threw two wild pitches. He also gave up a base after he ignored a runner on a comebacker to the mound.

"This was a young man who was 7-9 in Double A," Baker said. "For his lack of experience and lack of success, he's 2-3 in the big leagues. Not many kids could come up from Double A and done what he's done. This is on-the-job training in the big leagues in the heat of a pennant race."

I can see the steam escaping from his ears as Baker contemplates the fact that he has to go with a pitcher who couldn't win in AA at the end of the pre-Memorial Day leg of the pennant race. Meanwhile our man is is winning at AAA. Something tells me the Cubs will deal for a starter or two during the July leg of the pennant race.

Revenue sharing

Some things are very right and some things are very wrong with the great Bob Smizik's latest.

Wrong: the Bucs are violating the "spirit" of revenue sharing. The teams are free to do whatever they want with this money, and there is no longstanding tradition (what we usually mean by "spirit" in baseball) dictating how to use the money. That's overwrought.

Right: The Pirates are in need of short-term solution to repair the dwindling fan base.

Wrong: The costs of scouting and player development are relatively fixed. This report by Joe Starkey explains how the Pirates are routinely outbid for the best Latin American prospects. Even with millions invested in Latin America, and as long and as distinguished a history in Latin America as any other team, the Bucs still pony up only $5K to $100K for signing bonuses. The best players command much more. Miguel Cabrera, for example, got $1.9M.

I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense for the Bucs to spend $2M of their revenue sharing money to sign a dazzling high-school-aged Latin American player, but I would bet that this is a better bet than using the same money to sign a first-round high school player like Jeff Allison.

Regardless, there is plenty more money to spend in scouting and player development.

Finally, Smizik's right that the money will burn a hole in the pockets of fans who have fallen in love with Jack Wilson or Craig Wilson for the way they handled their daughter's autograph request. It's going to be hard for the Bucs to let these guys go and have nothing to show for $13M invested in the minor leagues. Clearly the Bucs are taking a path to major-league success that compares to the ones taken by the Athletics and the Twins. I think it's the right way to go. But the Bucs could have a serious PR problem on their hands if both Wilsons are traded or allowed to leave and Littlefield cites money as one of the reasons the Bucs decided not to keep them.

The power of Josh

So yeah, Josh Fogg outpitched Ben Sheets tonight.

Mac shows his intention to get the most of his bullpen by bringing in left-handed Thing #1 to face Ben Grieve in the seventh. He'll empty the bench trying to win this one tonight.

...biggest win of the year. Big, big win. Good work, men.

Gambling

Someone put the fear of Fogg into Danny Sheridan who now has the Bucs as 3:2 favorites tonight. Same pitching matchup. Either way, I think this Bucs team is about to go off on some fools this week or next.

Opportunity of the day appears to the Blue Jays at Boston as 13:5 underdogs. What's up with 13:5? This is major league baseball. That's an over/under of 117 wins in a season of Jays at Red Sox. Is it Terry Adams starting in a pinch against Pedro? I don't know much or care to know much about the AL, but that number strikes me as something like an NFL team being 28-point underdogs.

Improving Baseball Tonight

Watched some Baseball Tonight last night. In case you missed it, this is what they reported:

A-Rod A-Rod A-Rod painful cliche A-Rod A-Rod A-Rod affected exuberance A-Rod A-Rod commercial break A-Rod A-Rod A-Rod commercial break A-Rod Los Angeles A-Rod A-Rod A-Rod commercial break Angels A-Rod A-Rod commercial break A-Rod terribly painful cliche A-Rod commercial break A-Rod A-Rod this guy hit a home run commercial break A-Rod A-Rod A-Rod another home run commercial break A-Rod A-Rod A-Rod more painfully affected exuberance A-Rod A-Rod commercial break A-Rod A-Rod commercial break A-Rod commercial break A-Rod A-Rod A-Rod commercial break A-Rod more grown men humiliating themselves through affected exuberance commercial break A-Rod A-Rod commercial break A-Rod A-Rod commercial break A-Rod A-Rod

I would improve the show by doing two things. First, devote 3/4 of the screen to abbreviated box scores and snapshots of the current standings. Second, have the children in suits make balloon animals. They can honk a bicycle horn when they feel like talking. Together, those two changes would make Baseball Tonight a much more enjoyable show.

On Tap

Ned Yeast's Yost's Brewers come to town. The matchups are interesting. Tonight it's Ben Sheets against Josh Fogg. Obviously we have the better of that one so I'm scratching my head about the 13:10 line favoring Ben "Not a Strikeout Pitcher" Sheets. That translates into a projected 92-70 record for a full season of "Three" Sheets vs. Fogg at PNC. Tempting.

Tomorrow, Wes Obermueller vs. Kip Wells and Sunday, Doug Davis vs. Kris Benson.

Should be fun. Hope to see you at the park.

Kendall top catcher arm in NL

Kendall booers, put this in your pipe and smoke it.

They are in the Pirates-doubting business, so forgive the saucy cynicism in the write-up of Kendall's contribution below the rankings. When you are currying favor with a national market, you have to beat up on one or two teams. Otherwise you'll be exposed as used car salesmen and your cheerleading gets suspicious.

Go at it harder

As a Pirates fan, something about this end of Bob Dvorchak's article pleases me:

A turnout of 11,029 that was booing lustily in the first inning stood and cheered for Mesa and the Pirates for the happy ending of what could be called the Good News Bears.

McClendon dismissed any notion the Pirates' psyche was battered after falling behind by six runs, especially after an ugly start to the homestand.

"I tend to tighten up the belt buckle and go at it a little harder," McClendon said. "If you start feeling sorry for yourself, you're going to get your [butt] kicked even more."

Hell yeah we'll boo when you embarrass us on the field. We pay attention and we want to win. We'd be a little more patient if we were coming off a 90-win or even an 83-win season. In the meantime the team has to live with our impatience and know that we wouldn't be in the stands if we weren't dying to support a winning team or at least a team that plays like it's going to win tomorrow if not today. No one on the team should take it personally or get their panties in a wad about it. Play the game as well as you can and the everything will fall in line eventually.

Jack Wilson

Get well Jack Wilson. Good thing we have depth up the middle. If Wilson misses time, it will be interesting to see Jose Castillo at short with Bobby Hill at second.

There's a lot of talk about Wilson deserving a spot on the All-Star team. I dunno, he doesn't walk as much as Albert Pujols. What do you think?

About last night

It was good for me. Was it good for you?

One of these days this team is going to start a streak in which they pound the ball, score a ton of runs, and win a lot of games like this. I can live with scoring in every inning.

More PT for this guy and this guy.

Wood to DL

Not long before Jimmy Anderson enters the Cubs rotation.

Adios Raul Mondesi

All's well that ends well. Bob Smizik is right today when he notes that the Pirates are in good position to take advantage of the opportunity created by Mondesi's departure.

I wouldn't go as far as to criticize Littlefield for signing him in the first place, however. A team can never have too much depth. The Bucs rented Mondesi for a few weeks at a very reasonable cost and he helped the team win some games. There was no harm done by signing him. In hindsight it's easy to say we could have done without him but going into the season we didn't know if Kendall would be here, we didn't know if Craig Wilson would hit well enough to atone for his boneheaded defense, we didn't know if either of the second base options (Hill or Castillo) would sink or swim, we didn't know if Redman could hit enough to play center every day, and we didn't know who would play third base every day. A lot of those situations are unresolved, but some are resolved, and having that additional stability gives the Bucs the chance to platoon and tinker in the other positions. Mondesi brought some stability in a chaotic lineup.

There has to be a balance of veterans and rookies, full-timers and platoons or a "rebuilding" team is going to lose 100 or 120 games. That's not an option: there is no such thing as "losing to win," there is no heroism in losing, and losing only tends to further losing. If someone starts telling you that the Pirates can only win again by doing things with the roster that would cause them to lose 100 or 120 games, laugh in his face until he stops talking because if that's not stupid coward talk it's evil dissembling. No doubt the Cubs-loving national media thinks that losing 120 games today is the best way for the Pirates to win later. And when that debt company calls you and says you can only get rid of your debt by giving them $1000 (and thus going into more debt), double down and give them $2000 so they work twice as hard to restructure your debt.

There are other reasons to be glad Mondesi was with us. When he finally got paid, he spent a bunch of his salary on gifts for our players. So a good portion of his relatively small (by baseball standards) salary actually went to augment the relatively small (by baseball standards) salaries of the other players. That's great. I'll miss his arm too, that's for sure. When you play a bunch of close games, outfield assists are huge and provide an enormous lift for the team and the fans.

That said, I look forward to seeing what Rob Mackowiak and/or Ruben Mateo and/or J.J. Davis can do with some additional PT in the outfield.

Why 4-12?

Not too many teams play .450 baseball at home. Last year only the Mets, Reds, Brewers, and Padres managed to do this in the NL. The Bucs were 39-42. 4-12 is .250 baseball. Even last year's 119-loss Tigers went 23-58 at home. That's .284 baseball.

The prevailing theory about why the Bucs are 4-12 at this point seems to be this: the Bucs have played good teams. Quid 05 runs it down here. "Playing good teams" is no excuse for going 4-12 at home. Yeah, so what, they played Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Diego. These Pirates are capable of .450-.500 ball against the better teams in the league, especially at home.

The important thing is that the Bucs don't need an excuse to explain the record. All they need to do is admit they played some crappy ball. A lot of the mental and coordination errors will go away as the Bucs settle into a more regular lineup. That's a large part of the experience advantage teams like the Astros have on the Pirates: they have been playing the same people in the same positions for game after game, month after month, and year after year. We still don't know who is the starter at what, two-to-four of the eight defensive positions?

I expect the 4-12 record is just the result of the usual ups and downs being coincidentally timed with coming and going from PNC. At some point they'll rip off a string of home victories, maybe even against better teams, and the home record will better reflect the team's ability to compete. In the meantime let's not indulge in defeatist talk about it being silly to expect the Pirates to play .500 ball against teams like the Padres.

the Sounds

Looking at the numbers for the Sounds this morning, we see that Chris Truby continues to hit. In the preseason we said we'd want to see at least a half-season of AAA rakery before we believed this was a new man. We're hoping it's the case but we're not optimistic. J.R. House continues to paste the ball, too, and so does Luke Allen. Tony Alvarez is making his case for another crack at the Bucs' starting centerfield job. Randall Simon has hit for no power in ten games. I'm beginning to doubt we'll see him again on the big club.

On the pitching side, Mark Corey has been an effective closer. None of the starters look ready to me. Dave Williams and Cory Stewart have some nice numbers but are giving up too many home runs to inspire a lot of confidence.

...what was I thinking. Simon's on a rehab assignment at Nashville and can only stay down there until May 27. Don't ask me what we'll do with him if Ward continues to hit well. It's not like anyone is going to want Simon in trade.

Les Expos in the east

The latest news about probable relocation locations suggest the Bucs will probably stay in the NL Central. There was talk of returning them to the NL East should the Expos wind up on the west coast.

Grrr

OK, swept. Try again tomorrow. One of these days the Bucs will have another shot at .500 or better and get the most of it. Not tonight though.

Mateo up, Davis disabled

This move signals what we all expect: the Pirates will probably void Raul Mondesi's contract. Mateo is up to pinch-hit and play every now and then. If he doesn't hit, he won't play, and anything he contributes right away will be gravy.

Nyargh Pirate round

Joe Gennaro has a new Pirate round for your edification. As I read it, I found myself nodding in agreement a lot, which was nice since it was my turn to make up the punch.

Home love

There's some talk, what with the Bucs 4-10 at home this year, about the effect playing at home might have on the players when the crowds aren't so large.

A few PG readers spoke up in Paul Meyer's Q & A about the stupidity of blaming the fans for staying away from the park when the team is going on 12 losing seasons. They are absolutely right. There's nothing worse than shelling out a lot of dough and going to see your boys get humiliated. Every time the Bucs win big or win a squeaker, the fans leave the park wondering how soon they can make it back. It's a beautiful park and the Bucs are going to sell more tickets because of that, but it is winning or losing that determines the overall quality of the experience. Especially here in Pittsburgh.

Meyer talked to the players about playing at home in his article today. It sounds to me like the team on the whole has the right attitude. Keep playing hard at home and the wins will take care of themselves. This team has a lot of talent and they are going to win their share of games so long as they gather experience quickly by scrapping day after day after day.

Giles naked

Interesting quote from Mac on Brian Giles:

"I miss him walking around naked - in a manly way,'' McClendon joked.

Apparently walking around naked was one of the "clown acts" Giles was known for in the Pittsburgh clubhouse. You know what they say about guys with big clown feet - they always have a fat, stubby red nose.

Oh geez, how low can we go. I lifted the quote from Steve Novotney's latest which otherwise focusses on the decent guy Mondy was in the short time he was with the team.

Pure college arms

According to Baseball America, pure college arms appear to "pan out" better than the most polished college arms and the rawest, best-stuff prep school arms. Articles like this make me wonder about the time frame in which these players contribute. It's naive to think a team like the Pirates can look at the overall picture and draft whatever produces a player with the best career. It's not that the Pirates need the player to succeed or contribute right now, but sooner is much better than later. How do these respective groups fare after two years? After four? After six?

Right now the Bucs could afford to go with a prep arm if they thought he'd be ready in three years the way Kerry Wood was ready in three years. There was no good prep-arm gamble in last year's draft. I'm sorry but Jeff Allison is not what the Bucs need and the Paul Maholm pick was smart.

And what about the relative risk of traumatic injury, traumatic immatuity, or traumatic inability? The Bucs can not afford to take the most high-risk, high-reward prospects the way the Yankees can.

I'm sure DL and staff are light-years ahead of me on this trail of thought, and I don't think of myself as lecturing them or even hoping to influence their opinion. What I would like to see though is a more intelligent or at least more lively debate among well-informed fans as to what the Bucs should do with their #11 pick come June 7. My vote is for left-handed college starter.

Bucs win something

Hey, this is good. John Perrotto argues the Bucs should easily win the Giles trade. Not the smartest thing to publish the day that Giles arrives (couldn't it wait until Friday?), but he's right on. Giles is an expensive and aging corner outfielder. We got or can get them cheap. Bay can play some center, and Oliver Perez is a left-handed power pitcher. Cory Stewart is also a left-handed starter and it looks like we'll be seeing him soon enough, too.

I caught all kinds of abuse for defending this trade and the Aramis Ramirez one. Bobby Hill can still win the Aramis Ramirez deal. People have to remember that the Bucs weren't re-signing Aramis, and the Bucs can play Hill for cheap for several years provided he continues to make the grade.

Boyd gone

Not long after his charming Q&A with Ed Eagle, Jason Boyd was passed out the lower end of the roster.

I'd guess that no one would claim him off waivers, but you never know how such media coverage will impact a player's value on the open market.

The Bucs added another lefty, Mike Gonzalez. He's been lights-out at Nashville. Welcome to the Show bro.

Gammons: SP is precious

We rarely read Peter Gammons because the rumors are never realized and he almost never talks about the Pirates.

So it's understandable that I just caught his May 10 article tonight. (Oh yeah, I was out on the high seas too.) Anyway, he says that starting pitching is the most precious resource in the big leagues right now. Tell me why they abuse the Pirates for drafting starting pitchers? I hope the Bucs do it again, too. Don't buy into that bullshit peddled by half-interested and condescending cynics who claim that the Pirates need to draft some high school kid who's gonna make the bigs at 20, be tantalizingly below average for many years, and have his prime in post-arbitration-eligible years the Bucs won't want to afford. And that's the best-case scenario. Stay the course, Dave Littlefield, and get us another left-handed starting pitcher - preferably someone who keeps the ball in the park.

Like you care dept.: I got drunk and ranted about this six weeks ago. Scoop was face-down and drooling and Bones was sleeping beneath the table when I finished.

P.S. Get well Paul Maholm.

Giants 1, Cubs 0

Yet another NL Central rival went down tonight while the Bucs kicked it on the couch studying game tape of select Friar starters.

Former Buc Jason Schmidt did his thing in a complete game shutout. This fragile and oft-injured pitcher threw 144 pitches for Dusty Baker Felipe Alou. Bwa-ha-ha-ha. Maybe he was "coasting" half the way.

Aramis Ramirez went 0-for-3.

the Latino Mark Fidrych

Brian O'Neill's latest is real good. (FWIW, more on Craig Wilson / Jim Thome here.) Stats Geek is on a roll lately. I read the previous week's essay in hard copy (shudder) as I had no access to the internet. The PG sports page does look good though, doesn't it.

Oliver Perez better be economical with his pitches after his exploits as a Tomato Grower in the offseason. Huzza for Oliver. Spin Williams for NL Coach of the Year.

Les Expos 3, Brewers 2

The it-girl Brewers lost at Montreal. Keith Ginter, hitting third in the lineup, had three hits. So did Geoff Jenkins. Chad Moeller went 0-for-2 but drew two walks so don't think bad of his .235 average. Lyle Overbay now has a hit streak of 18 games. This guy is having a monster year so far: .369 / .414 / .638. Walks and power. Damn. And we gotta see this guy on Friday. He hits left-handed and we'll see him in PNC. Not cool. Maybe Mike Johnston will buzz his tower and put the shake in him before he breaks out with a Sean Casey impression.

Mets 5, St. Louis 4

The Cards (20-19) lost in the ninth to the Mets (19-20). They play two more. It would be mega-freaky if the Mets sweep and the Cards head to Chicago under .500.

Scott Rolen had another big day (yawn) and is now hitting .331 with 13 walks in 135 at-bats. The next time someone tells you that Jack Wilson is off to a good start this year, look 'em in the eye and say this: "Yeah, but Scott Rolen has 13 walks in 135 at-bats." That will shut 'em up.

Reggie Sanders went 0-for-4. This guy is streaky. When's he due? Looking at the log, I guess he picks it up two weeks from today. Oh great, that would be at Pittsburgh at the end of the month.

For the Mets, the great Ty Wigginton went 0-for-3 but he drew a walk so his .205 average isn't so bad as it looks. Izzy, pitching in his upteenth every-other-day appearance, got roughed up and blew his second save of the year. Yawn.

Colorado 8, Cincinnati 3

The Reds got outscored some more and run their record in that department to 175-191.

Matt Holliday had another monster Larry Walker impersonation night. Jeromy Burnitz is having a good year again. Both those guys hit two homers. Shawn Estes pitched well again.

For the Reds, D'Angelo Jimenez went 1-for-4 but NO WALKS. That's sad since he's only hitting .210. Wily Mo Pena was the star of the hour with a nice 2-for-3, solo-HR performance in the losing effort. He jacks his batting average to .213.

Cory Lidle got pounded - eleven hits, six earnies, two jacks in five innings. I wonder if we get to face him soon.

Houston 9, Florida 2

No Pirates game tonight & none yesterday so I'll look around the rest of the NL Central.

The Astros beat up on the Marlins in Florida tonight. Hee Choi went 2-for-4 tonight with a double but NO WALKS. No good buddy since you're only hitting .235. That's not going to to do it. Maybe Dusty Baker was right about Choi.

Ramon Castro went 0-for-1 and dropped his average to .145. I seem to vaguely remember someone telling me he could be the next Carlton Fisk. Maybe I was drunk at the time.

The other Abraham Nunez - get your own name, buddy - went 0-for-1 pinch-hitting. Sounds like the Abraham Nunez I used to know.

The Astros have a good team. Mac said, last time we saw them, that they had more talent than us. This stuck to me. I don't believe it. I think they have more experience. We have a lot of talent and little experience. They have a lot of talent and a lot of experience. Either way, Astros win their NL-most 23rd game.

Smizik on Jack Wilson

We like Bob Smizik's latest on Jack Wilson. Readers of H. Wags aren't astonished by the strong start - not unless they were face-down and passed out at the table when we went over Jack's chances for improvement this spring.

Just because a young player posts near-identical stats in his 23rd and 24th year doesn't mean that is his plateau or "true level" of play. It was a coincidence, that's all. Jack will only maintain his high slugging percentage if he continues to hit a lot of triples, but the rest of the performance is not that far "above" or away from a level we think he can maintain.

As for drawing walks, we maintain that you don't need to draw a lot walks if you hit .350 or even .300. A lot of walks only matter when a player is hitting .230 or .250. The point of "plate discipline" - that ability to draw walks which arises from good strike-zone judgment and pitch recognition - is to hit pitches hard. If a walk is as good as a hit, it's only as good as an infield single. It's beyond stupid to expect that all hitters - regardless of batting average - draw one walk per ten at-bats. If a player can hit .400, obviously that player has outstanding plate discipline, regardless of whether or not he draws walks. There should be a sliding scale with walks per at-bats. A player that hits only .210 or .230 - Hee Choi, Adam Dunn of a year ago, and D'Angelo Jimenez come to mind - better walk a ton if they want their performance to show evidence that they have good plate discipline. A player who hits .270 should walk a good amount, a player who hits .300 doesn't need to walk quite so much, and a guy that hits .350 or .400 doesn't really need to walk much at all. There's a hare-brained superstition that players hitting .350 with few walks are "less likely" to keep up that .350 BA which is as bold as predicting that teams with a 14-2 record with many one-run wins are "less likely" to finish 140-20. Duh, no one is likely to finish the season with a .350 BA.

The test of Jack Wilson's improved hitting is not how many walks he draws while he is hitting .350. It's whether or not he draws enough walks during stretches of .250 hitting to maintain a .340+ OBP.

...rainout update: AWT's comment shows I'm not being clear or coherent. Here's my point with Wilson's lack of walks to date. Look at his projected stats for this year. He's on pace for 50 doubles, 19 triples, and 19 home runs. What can we say? The little guy is hitting the ball hard. Anyone who second-guesses his performance to date as anything short of awesome is looking at a gift Z4 and saying yeah, but my '86 Toyota Corolla was bigger. No doubt that, all things being equal, a high-walks .349 hitter is better than a low-walks .349 hitter but we are way at the top of the curve here, approaching the limit which is HOF level. And sure a high-walks .349 hitter is more likely to hit .349 all year than a low-walks .349 hitter. And a high-walks .349 hitter may actually be likely to finish the year at .349. Think Albert Pujols. Now, remember we are talking about Jack Wilson. The guy hits .349 with a .372 OBP and we're going to say yeah, but he's not Albert Pujols? I don't think so. If Jack Wilson goes 20-for-his-next-100 with four walks then I'll agree he's not walking enough. In the meantime, so long as his OBP is 370, everyone line up and take your turn saying Jack Wilson has had spectacular OBP so far this season.

Redman, Davis

Good thing the Bucs are being patient with Tike Redman and J.J. Davis. I didn't expect Redman to stumble quite like this and it makes sense to give him 300 or 350 at-bats, anywhere in the lineup, before you write him off as Adrian Brown. It's ironic that he's hitting like Adrian Brown after Brown's shoulder surgery. J.J. Davis, who might go on the DL with a whack pinkie, reminds me of Chad Hermansen.

Q & A with Jason Boyd

MLB.com has an interview with third-linesman Jason Boyd. Paintball, police officer, none of that surprises me. It's always fun to read stuff like this with peripheral players.

got my big sippy

While I was out on the high seas bossing about the children before the mast, my order from Cafepress came to the low hovel charming cottage we call home.

The two t-shirts rule. Love them Hanes Beefy Tees and the printing is first-rate. The fabric for the baseball jersey is a little thin. Not heavyweight like the baseball jerseys I wore when I too was before the mast. That may be better for hot summer days but I was a little disappointed. I dunno why I thought it would be beefy-T quality. The shirt ordered for my little Rowdietta looks a little small. We'll see what it looks like after it's been through the washer and dryer pounded between two rocks down by the brook and hung in the sun to dry.

The mug is the best of all. This thing rocks and is gonna hold the mega-sangria soon. In the meantime it jumps to the head of the line as the best latte f'n grog cup in the house. The diameter is the regular size but it's taller. Rowdietta would call it the "big sippy".

Hydrargyrum

We're honored to hold down the Hg spot on Humbug's genius Periodic Table of Blogs.

And it's appropriate. Mercury is one bad-ass fluid:

Mercury has been known since ancient times. The origin of the name comes from the Latin word hydrargyrum meaning liquid silver. It is heavy, silver-white metal, liquid at ordinary temperatures. Stable in air and water. Unreactive with alkalis and most acids. Gives off poisonous vapour. Chronic cumulative effects.

Esp. note the last two sentences and don't say you weren't warned.

Here come the Pad people

The Friars come to town and will be hoping to convert the saucy Pirates. Note to team: don't expect more than 2,000 people to come to the stadium. That way you won't be disappointed. Honus Wagner was a happy man when five thousand souls came to watch him swing his gorilla arms.

Runs scored, runs allowed

Fans of these numbers will like to see that the Bucs have outscored their opponents this year.

Can't say that about the Reds or the new darling of the Heathers, your Milwaukee Brewers.

Play-for-play basis

In my previous career as a Strat shark I kept a running patter as we rolled the dice and filled out the box scores. The game's no good unless both players provide the necessary color and play-by-play. The story of one memorable team - led by "Deltoid" Lloyd Moseby - was that the players were on a "strictly pay-for-play basis" as in if they didn't perform well they didn't get paid. We had one rotten fourth starter (1985 Matt Young?) and every time he came to the mound I'd comment in my best Harry Kalas voice on the filthiness and disrepair of his uniform "seeing as he hasn't received a check in five weeks, and has only this one uniform to his name." He finally won a game and showed up for his next start with a new pair of shoes.

Obviously no one runs a big-league club this way. But Mac has been telling us for years now that he fills out the lineup card on a strictly play-for-play basis: if you play well, you get more playing time. If you embarrass yourself, you ride the pine.

Check out Bobby Hill's last 7 days and season to date. Give the man some PT.

Rob Mackowiak

Last 200 at-bats, dating back to about the ASB last year: 31 for 200, 60 hits, 23 xb hits (incl. 12 homers), 21 BB, 48 K, 8 SB, 31 R and 34 RBI for a tidy line like .300 / .369 / .555 / .924.

Them was good at-bats. More like that please.

Is that 59 on Mack's shirt in honor of the fact that he was something like a 59th round draft pick?

... hold on there. 53rd round draft pick.

Nyargh

I return from the high seas to find that Abraham Nunez hit a pinch-hit homer and Rob Mackowiak hit like Barry Bonds by the bay. Josh Fogg won a game? Nyargh indeed. And what's this about Bobby Hill playing third?

Getting the big hit

Drove home last night and caught some of the game (the 5-3, 6-5, 8-6 part) as we pulled into the area. Lanny of KDKA was going on about Craig Wilson not getting the big hit with runners in scoring position. During the losing streak Mac went on a couple times about we didn't get the big hit when we needed it, etc. etc. It's friggin' demoralizing to play every game like the Bucs can't win if they don't bat .800 with RISP. Wilson had two strikes and it was looking dark and darkest before dawn dark again etc. etc. etc. Bucs will never win another game etc. etc. etc. That kind of dark. And Wilson crushed the next pitch for a three-run homer.

When reporters asked Coach Cowher about the Steelers' struggles in the red zone, he said that he thought those problems would straighten themselves out so long as the Steelers kept getting into the red zone.

The Bucs should take the same attitude. The runs will take care of themselves if the Pirates worry more about getting into scoring position and less about getting an RBI every time they bat with a RISP.

No more posts from me until Monday next week as I'm back out the door. Scoop's gonna put Honestwags on his back and carry us Craig Wilson-style.

Roster moves

Chris Kahrl's right about Bobby Hill.

Put Hill in the same category as Hee Choi: he was an uberprospect before Dusty Baker got a hold of him. He's also thriving under Mac's play-for-play platoon system. He's made the most of limited time, so he's earned all the PT the Bucs can find for him.

Paul Meyer notes today that J.J. Davis would have to stay on a big-league roster if claimed off waivers. That makes it less certain he'll be claimed if he's waived. If he can't make a push for more playing time in Pittsburgh, where half the starting spots are pretty wide open, where else could he go? Still, that won't stop a team that needs help yesterday from making the claim and giving him a chance. Odds are he would get claimed, and odds are he'd get waived again, and odds are he'd bounce around and not do much of anything for anyone.

Hearing Ward at 1B last night as I swung home surprised me a bit; I imagined Mateo would be up to replace Mondesi. On second thought, it makes a lot of sense. It tells us that the Bucs would like to find more PT for Craig Wilson in the OF. Rivera had a chance for a 1B job. Now Ward gets it. Odds are he won't set the world on fire and he can be returned to Nashville when Simon's ready.

Gildon vs. Rocket?

Sweet extra inning win. Man, the Bucs needed this after the last week. The losing streak is ended at 6 and Bucs improve to 13-17, only 4 games back of .500. Again, Craig Wilson carried us on his back with sick line of 5-4-4-7 with 2 HRs and 2 BBs. Mesa closes it out with a flawless non-save opp. Mackowiak gets the GWRBI hitting fourth.

So who needs Mondy? With Simon coming off the DL, the OF logjam, and Mateo poised in AAA, there are other options. What hurts is the vanishing option of trade booty for basketcase.

I've been thinking a lot about ways the Bucs can manufacture a few wins here and there. This idea is admittedly out-of-the-box, but why don't MLB teams hire goons like in the NHL? Picture this: Bucs sign Ty-Domi-type-expendable-thug (I keep picturing Jason Gildon). In first inning of crucial NL Central match-up, leadoff hitter Gildon leans into a Rocket heater then rushes the mound. (Or Rocket angrily and unexplainedly scoops up piece of Gildon's broken bat and murderously chucks it at Gildon) Gildon rolls on the Rocket's ankle, then in the ensuing melee manages to strain Bags' back and spike Biggio. Before the MLB fines+suspension land, in the next series Gildon rolls on Kerry's ankle. The Pirates apologize, fire Gildon, pay fines, and rake in increased ticket sales and win an extra 6 games down the stretch, taking the NL Central by half a game.

Mondy takes the money and rests

Breaking news says Mondy will take the rest of the year off. Mondy's quote to AP:

`I won't play another game this season. I can't concentrate well enough to play baseball. I don't want to become a distraction for the team. This is the best for the Pirates, for myself and my family...I've played 20 straight years of baseball all year round. I deserve a rest even if it's only a few months. Today I took my children to school for the first time in my life. It was an amazing feeling.'

Have fun with the family, Mondy. Good luck supporting them in a few years when you're out of work and begging Carlos Rivera for that watch you bought him.

Meanwhile, back on Earth: Wells vs. Elarton tomorrow - favorable matchup to stop the bleeding.

Haynes on R & R

Guess who just arrived for the beach party ... Jimmy Haynes. Looks healthy, too. I'm raising a drink to that as I speak.

Growing up

Five straight hurts, but note the silver lining:

RV rebounded nicely from the first inning Green jack: 'I threw the pitch I wanted to against Green,' Vogelsong said . 'I wanted to go inside on him and he still got to it. It's one of those things where you just tip your hat to him...I felt I learned a lot about myself tonight on the mound. I think I grew up a lot tonight. The rest of the night I was just trying to locate my pitches, trying to keep the ball down.' After the jack, RV two-hit the Dodgers for 6 innings and left with the game tied. Nice work RV.

In other good news: Mac finally acknowledged that Craig has earned the right to play everday. And the 20 inning scoreless streak at PNC is over, thanks to Tike's first jack of the year.

Of the loss Mac said:'This hurts. Certainly we had some opportunities to push that go-ahead run across and couldn't get it done.' I don't know if I'd call Nunez and Tike vs. the Beast (73 for last 73) 'opportunities' but the pain is real: The Dodgers have pistol-whipped us at PNC, taking 12 of 14.

Fogg vs. Odalis Perez today, could be a tater-fest.

Funkytown

Ouch. At least Stynes capitalized on Riggleman's brilliant defensive shift to avoid the ultimate humiliation. Nice effort by class-act Alvarez, who after the game commented `If they want me in the bullpen, I'll do it. I just want to win'.

'He threw a good ballgame, but we just didn't swing the bats at all,'McClendon said. 'It wasn't much of an effort on our part. He hit his spots, but we can hit the ball better than that. The fact is, we're in a funk right now.'

Tonight the Bucs hitters looked like E.T. in the creek- all weak and sickly. We've lost four in a row and are in the basement. BUT Perez looked good again and Bay is back, and we still believe in our .500 prognostication.

We hope everything's OK with Mondy and his family. Come back soon, big guy, your Pirate family needs you too.

Vogelsong vs. Nomo today, look for Bucs to rebound big.

Later date

Business and some pleasure has me on the road the next ten days & it's doubtful I'll have the time or the access to do any blogging. Scoop and Bones will keep up the rowdyism & generally elevate the quality of thought and writing about these parts. These should be exciting days for the Bucs and who knows, maybe there will be some long-anticipated and over-analyzed turn in the QB situation for the Steelers. Take care.

Hill pinch-hits

Sure, we're down 5-0, but Bobby Hill crushed a double leading off the eighth.

Lanny just pointed out that the Pirates only have eight pinch-hits. Hill has five of the eight. He's 5-for-11 with two walks as a pinch-hitter.

Down 5-0 late in the game.

This sucks. Makes me long for the day the Bucs return to the NL East.

D'Angelo Jimenez

Compare D'Angelo Jimenez and Jack Wilson. Jimenez has 21 walks and 102 at-bats for .216 / .343 / .352. Wilson has two walks and 102 at-bats for .363 / .377 / .549. Both bat at the top of the lineup. D'AJ has 17 runs and 12 RBIs; JW has 14 runs and 12 RBIs. The Reds have scored 130 runs and the Pirates have scored 102 runs, so percentage-wise D'AJ has scored 13% and driven in 9% of his team's runs. With JW the numbers are 14% and 12%.

Who has shown better plate discipline?

Priorities

It's a full-on rush for the honor of Man Who Protects Baseball:

U.S. Rep George Nethercutt, a Washington Republican who is a former part-owner of the Greensboro Bats and the Michigan Battle Cats minor league teams, sent a letter to Selig protesting the decision.

"Little Leaguers deserve to see their heroes slide into bases, not ads," wrote Nethercutt, who is running for U.S. Senate.

They do not. Little leaguers, like all children, deserve good shelter, healthy food, clean water and air, lots of love from the grownups, high-quality medical care, and plenty of educational and economic opportunity. They do not "deserve" to watch baseball on television. They do not "deserve" to go see Spider-Man. If they "deserve" a trip to the ballpark, they do not "deserve" to see their heroes sliding into "bases, not ads." It's absurd that members of our government would take time off from our real problems to participate in such distractions. Do Pee-Wee League football players "deserve" to see their heroes run across a football field that does not have an ad at the fifty-yard line? This is vote-mongering, pure and simple. It's free to complain, right, and the media will lavish attention on politicians who make such complaints. Why can't we have a better media?

...did anyone blow his horn and rally the sheep to protest the painting of ads on the fifty-yard-line during bowl games? If little leaguers deserve to see their heroes sliding into bases not ads, don't pee-wee leaguers deserve to see their heroes crossing 50-yard lines not ads? Don't big wheelers deserve to see their heroes driving cars not ads?

Happy Mondy pt. 2

From Joe Rutter's article in the Tribune-Review:

To celebrate his good fortune, Mondesi went on a spending spree at Louis Vuitton yesterday. He bought a watch for left-handed reliever Mike Johnston as payback for Johnston giving up his No. 43 in spring training to Mondesi.

Mondesi also bought Louis Vuitton gifts for Tike Redman, Carlos Rivera and J.J. Davis.

"I have my money," Mondesi said, playfully jumping up and down.

That was all Mondesi would say about the matter.

"I really want to concentrate on baseball now," he said.

What a goofball.

Davis probably out of here

Read between the lines. If Mac says can't play both corners, he's buried very deep on the depth chart. Davis understands the situation. He's even whining about it:

"I don't think they like me over here," said Davis, who is hitting .100 with two RBI in 14 games and who has struggled in the outfield.

Nothing against you personally, J.J., but your outfield play has been sad and you've been lost at the plate and we have a half-dozen guys who can do your job better than you.

A lot of teams could use him as AAA depth. On another team, if given the chance to play everyday, Davis could surprise people. I'm sure Littlefield's on the phone this week.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Does Roger Clemens always work this slowly?

Happy Mondy

He'll get his dough.

That high school guy

At the end of March we did a long rant about criticism of the way Littlefield has drafted and esp. with the Paul Maholm over Jeff Allison pick which embodied, for a lot of critics, the college vs. high school options. That long post may not have been our most shining moment, but there are some good points in there. FWIW, Allison is out of baseball again. At Lynchburg, in five starts and 30 innings, Maholm has allowed zero homers, eighteen strikeouts, nine walks, and 24 hits for a 1.29 ERA. He may never make the big leagues but he looks like a better prospect than Allison.

Flat Earth Society

Jay Jaffe has a nice full-on rant about some people at ESPN and their idiocy on OBP. There's a lot of good stuff there, like a run expectancy chart, and Jaffe's right.

I enjoy the anti-sabermetric backlash. We need to debate these things, and having all kinds of views on the new ideas is the quickest way to weed the weak ones from the strong ones.

FWIW, I rarely watch Baseball Tonight. It doesn't interest me. I haven't seen it since last season, and Jaffe's article does nothing to convince me that I'm missing anything. Give me games, games, and more games, and give me box scores to read and beat writers to read.

Bucs on Old Time Radio

Anyone know of any recordings of Pirates games from the mid-20s to the mid-50s? Not necessarily famous games but typical ones. Were they recorded? Do collectors trade them as they trade other old-time shows? I'd like to hear a few. If anyone knows how that could be accomplished, send me an email. The link is on the right. Thanks.

Ed Eagle's Q & A with Dave Littlefield

Ed Eagle asked some good, specific questions about players and got some nice answers from David Littlefield.

Littlefield is saying all the right things about Kris Benson. More than anything, we want him to pitch well and we want him to pitch well for us. It sounds like Sanchez is a ways from playing everyday and it sounds like Bay is going through a very cautious rehabilitation schedule.

Meyer on Davis

Great Q & A with Paul Meyer today. He knows things. One thing of interest to the discussion here: J.J. Davis, if claimed on waivers, can be assigned to AAA and stay there forever. In other words, there's zero chance that he'll slip through waivers. Putting him on waivers will be the same thing as giving him away.

It would be unfortunate but nothing that would sink the ship. Quality corner outfielders are easy to come by, and we have Ruben Mateo mashing it up for Nashville. The Bucs need to focus on developing up-the-middle players who hit the ball often and hit the ball hard. Our future success depends more on Jack Wilson, Jose Castillo, Bobby Hill, Freddy Sanchez, and Tike Redman than it does on the less graceful guys who field at the positions which don't command enormous salaries on the free agent market. Say Jack Wilson keeps this up and finishes the year .280 / .340 / .400. The Bucs would be out $4M-$5M per year to replace that production if they don't have an in-house option. Say they lose all their right fielders. For $2M per year they can sign a guy like Reggie Sanders.

Supporting your man vs. making excuses

Mac on Fogg:

"I thought Josh threw the ball extremely well," said McClendon. "That's a tough lineup over there and in this ballpark you are probably going to give up some long balls from time to time. He certainly kept us in the ballgame and gave us an opportunity to win the game."

It's one thing to support Fogg and to believe he can make another step forward as a starter. It's a totally different thing to excuse his propensity for home runs. Every time he starts, he gives up home runs. Fogg giving up home runs is as recurring a thing as Barry Bonds hitting them. You can't excuse them on a case-by-base basis every single time. That's sticking your head in the sand. It's weak and makes Mac look like he's playing favorites. Is he going to excuse Craig Wilson's boneheaded plays at first? "It's hard to play on the road and in the first inning, often your head isn't in the game." Will he excuse Chris Stynes's inability to hit for power? "The opposing pitchers are very good. One of those foul balls went a country mile. I think he's swinging the bat really good." Standing up for your guy is one thing, making excuses for him is another.

The Bucs have scored 100 runs in 24 games. That's 4.16 runs per game. If your starter is going to "keep you in the game" and your offense only scores 4.16 runs per game, your starter can't allow more than 3 runs in seven innings (well, 3.24 runs) without leaving the game in a such shape, as Fogg did yesterday, that the bullpen has no margin for error. How many times will the Bucs be "in the game" after the starter gives up four runs? Are you really giving your team much of an opportunity to win if you give the ball to the bullpen in a position where they can't allow a single run more? If Mac honestly thinks that it's the starter's job only to not get blown out, he needs to re-examine his priorities. Do we play the game to win, or do we play the game to lose by just a few runs?

We support the decision to stick with Fogg a little while longer, but we're not buying the half-truths. Josh Fogg will be just fine in or out of the rotation, and he'll make plenty of money as a big-leaguer, and he has a long career in baseball ahead of him if and only if his managers recognize his abilities for what they are. They need to put in him in a role where he can be effective.

Speaking of making excuses, Mac doesn't have them for J.J. Davis:

"It didn't look good out there [in right field] tonight," McClendon conceded. "I don't know if it was the wind or what it was. It didn't look very good. [He was] not very confident out there tonight."

No excuses - that's good. J.J. Davis is a big boy. You don't have to be Dusty Baker to say the truth about poor play. If you'll do it for Davis, you gotta do it for Fogg.

One last thing. Ed Eagle quotes Mac as summing up the loss this way: ""We just didn't get the big hit when we needed it," McClendon said." Every out could have been a big hit, of course, but let's not piss on Bobby Hill and Abe Nunez. Both those guys came through as pinch-hitters. The game wouldn't have been close at all if Hill didn't drive in Castillo and later, make it home to score just ahead of a tag at the plate. The only starter to leave more than two on was Jason Kendall, and we're not going to listen to people run that guy down for not getting the hits when the team needs them most. In the rush to make excuses for Josh Fogg, don't pin blame on the hitters.

It was a subpar start from Josh Fogg - two homers, four earned runs. It may be good by Josh Fogg standards, but it's not good if winning is your standard. And it was an average performance for the hitters.

If you don't speak the truth, you compound the problems which make the truth difficult to speak.

Davis vs. Hill

Here's some idle speculation to start a new day. Should the Bucs risk losing Davis on waivers? The answer might be yes.

Davis's play has been shaky in all aspects. The Bucs have a number of AAA outfielders who have earned big-league playing time. Ruben Mateo, for one, and maybe even Tony Alvarez. Luke Allen could be serviceable. It's not like they don't have depth in the outfield in the high minors. With Wilson, Mondesi, Redman, Bay, and Mackowiak, it's not certain the Bucs would have to tap that depth unless there was a trade or a plague of injuries.

The extra bench players should be good bench players. I've heard speculation that the "loser" of the 2B derby will be the first to leave the roster. That seems very wrong to me. Jose Castillo is doing too well and is too young to move to a lower level of competition. Bobby Hill has been dynamite in his part-time play. A case could be made for demoting him so he can play everyday and work on his defense. If the Bucs lose Jack Wilson in the offseason, Jose Castillo could start at SS and Bobby Hill could start at 2B next year. Hill is a little old to put back in the freezer, I think, and his upside with the bat is too appealing to not explore more fully at this level.

There's more. For the purposes of winning now, building attendance, and thus giving the team a chance at higher payroll numbers, Bobby Hill is a guy to keep on the bench and in the lineup several times a week. The Castillo/Hill platoon is working well now. Why fix what isn't broken? They should take Stynes, Nunez, Davis, and maybe Carlos Rivera off the big-league roster, and not necessarily in that order, before they return Bobby Hill to the minors. What has Stynes done as a hitter? His strong defense at 3B makes him a valuable defensive replacement. There's no good reason to keep both Stynes and Nunez on the bench.

If Bay is ready to play the field every day before the next random injury makes room on the roster, the strong play of Ruben Mateo may make J.J. Davis expendable. Davis is definitely not worth keeping just for the sake of keeping. The value of a player is relative; every guy on the big-league roster is worth only as much as he's an improvement over the guy who would replace him. If Davis stays and Hill goes, Davis better start walloping the ball as a pinch-hitter or the team will be more of a loser.

What the Pirates could really use is a trade, but what could they get for J.J. Davis? A draft pick? Money? A low-A left-handed slugger? Who could use Davis right now?

Better than Haynes but still a loser

The hits and walk numbers were OK tonight but the man gives up too many home runs. This isn't a new or fluke thing. It's recurring, it's consistent, it's been part of Fogg's pitching profile since the very start. He's easy to hit hard. That's a serious problem. Tonight it was two homers and four earned runs in seven innings. And the Bucs lose 4-3. Fogg's an innings-eater when he's good but when he's good he's still below average. He lets the other team score too often. Home runs will do that. I guess he's buying time for the minor league guys to get it together.

If you want to be positive, you can also note that he was better than Jimmy Haynes tonight.

Tike walks

Work it, Tike, work it.

.378 OBP = poor plate discipline?

Idly touring about different basball sites, in two places we find writers expressing cynicism about high-BA, low-walk-rate hitters this year. Adrian Beltre and Jack Wilson are the objects of "enlightened" skepticism (as though enlightenment and cynicism ever go hand-in-hand). Both are hitting in the .360s with just a few walks. Since there's no risk in predicting that both players will finish the year with lower batting averages, it's absurd to venture that argument like a prophet, even if you come bearing evidence of low walk rates.

Sure, no one expects either hitter to keep up that batting average. But here's what I don't get. If you are hitting .360, how can it be said that you have shown poor plate discipline? The point of plate discipline is hitting pitches with authority. A guy who hits .220 with few walks is a fair target, but anyone hitting in the .360s has shown great plate discipline in my book. You can't hit in the .360s without being selective and judicious at the plate.

Another thing to consider is that the prototypical high-BA, high-OBP slugger (e.g., Albert Pujols) draws a lot of walks because teams pitch around him or refuse to give him anything good to hit. Jack Wilson doesn't have the power to draw those kinds of walks. Over the last 21 days, he's hitting .338 with one walk in fifteen games. Only five of his fifteen hits have gone for extra bases. If he does that all year, the man has awesome plate discipline. That .358 OBP considerably exceeds our hopes and dreams for the little guy. He won't be Albert Pujols but he will be a big plus in the number two hole if he can maintain this kind of production. If the walks don't pick up when the hits fall off, then we can start to question his approach at the plate. Until then, let's not be fools and whine that he's not walking as often as Albert Pujols or Manny Ramirez.

Tike Redman is a good example of a guy who should be encouraged to show more patience at the plate. He's hit .216 with one walk in his last 74 appearances. This guy is pressing and the few walks don't suggest he's just going through a spell when he's not getting pitches to drive.

...8pm update: Steve Novotney at the Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register reports that Jack Wilson has a .400 OBP as a goal this season. Don't tell me he doesn't want to draw walks when he doesn't see a pitch he can crush. And speaking of crushing pitches - holy crap - Jack Wilson just crushed a monster home run off Andy Pettitte. Wow.

Sitting on deck is the Bay

Bay's playing at Nashville:

Rehabbing outfielder Jason Bay ripped a sixth-inning RBI double into the left-field corner to plate pinch-runner Luis Figueroa and record his first hit of the 2004 season. Figueroa pinch-ran for Shumpert, who suffered a left hamstring strain while stealing second during the frame. Bay exited in the top of the seventh, finishing the contest 1-for-3 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts, one swinging and one looking.

Sure will be interesting to see how he gets into the lineup.

...8pm update: Bay's not in the Nashville lineup tonight. Check that link later for the box score.

So he pinch hit. The hitting has been fine, it's the fielding that is shaky. Shoulder surgery is serious business. I can't believe Bay is close to being able to play centerfield at PNC if he sat tonight because he was sore from playing the field the day before. There is no rush, of course, to bring him back. We'd hate to lose him for a longer period of time because he came back too early.

Wow, Ruben Mateo hit his ninth homer.

Politicians and baseball

Ralph Nader blew a gasket over the ads on the MLB uniforms. In a letter to Bud Selig, Nader wrote that the ads "ambushed fans across the country and left them shaking their heads at this obscene embarrassment."

Uh, no. Fans complained about a lot of things but the ads were hardly near the top of the list. Does Nader think he can make a good name for himself by defending baseball from advertising? "This overcommercialization," he also wrote, "is sapping the fun out of being a fan of major league baseball."

Note to Nader, and note to President Bush, who spoke in the SOTU address like he couldn't wait to score points off the BALCO investigation: the danger is not overcommercialism but overpoliticization. Stop monkeying with the games we play for escape. Get to work on the more urgent problems that make the games necessary.

...Weds update: Dave Pinto is talking sense on the question.

Pirates take on Space Cadets

The Buccos start a three-game series with the Astros tonight at Enron Minute Maid park. The park has a strange footprint and the field is kinda square and appealing for right-handed hitters. It's the anti-PNC.

Tonight it's Josh Fogg (no comment) against Andy Pettitte. Since the Astros moved into Enron, they've only had a few left-handed starters - Jeriome Robertson, Ron Villone, and where-is-he-now Carlos Hernandez. In the off-season I had a premonition that Pettitte would struggle at Enron. I dunno why or if it's a smart thing to premonate but his one start at home this year was pretty bad. He's obviously a cut above those other lefties.

Tomorrow it's Kip Wells and Roger Clemens, who needs only a few Ks to reach some kind of milestone. Hopefully they'll stop the game, give him a plaque, and get everyone distracted so the Bucs can sneak a victory at the end. Day after tomorrow we'll see Kris Benson against Wade Miller.

No one said a winning season would be easy.

Craig 'Triple Crown' Wilson and Jose 'That Rolaids Guy' Mesa

Hats off to Craig Wilson for carrying us around on his back. In case you're chained in the cave with Chris Kahrl, Wilson had 2 GWRBI in Beertown and is stroking it to the tune of a 1.154 OPS, third in the NL to San Francisco OF and that beefy Ned Beatty-looking guy. Nice work giving Craig the love he deserves, Rowdy, but Brian Meadows for MVP? Esteban's been great, but Fabio gets my co-MVP vote.

The other half of the MVP goes to a guy I've always respected and who deserves some major props right about now. Jose Mesa is 9 for 9 with a 0.79 ERA, giving up 1 ER, 6 H and 2 BB in 11 2/3rds with 7 Ks. Think about that for a second. The Bucs have won 12 games, and Mesa is 9-FOR-9. (At this rate, when the Bucs take the division with 92 wins, Mesa would have 69 saves.) Where are all the Mesa-haters now? Pretty damn silent. Meanwhile, Mesa has crept into 20th place on the all-time saves list. Mesa earned my eternal respect a long time ago, with his justified opinion of show-off/Salsa-jar-painter/tattletale Omar Vizquel. You have to respect hatred when it predetermines the future of baseball: 'If I face him 10 more times, I'll hit him 10 times. Every time.' By the way and for the record, Omar stunk in the 1997 world series. So keep keepin' it real Jose, and if you get an 11th chance, bean Omar for me.

Chris Kahrl latest victim of dread IHOP virus

In his most recent Transaction Analysis (won't link to it or quote it since it's "premium" content), Chris Kahrl of Baseball Prospectus shows symptoms of IHOP infection.

For those of you in the dark, the IHOP virus - Irrational Hatred of Pirates - has been particularly vicious the last six months. Some trace the outbreak to the false delicacy and outrage shown when the Pirates lost a minor-league DH and others in the Rule V draft.

Kahrl notes that Randall Simon has gone on the DL and uses this as an opportunity to complain that Mac is not playing Craig Wilson every day. We hope a friend will tell Kahrl that Fabio has started every game this year. Craig Wilson has more plate appearances than Jason Kendall. All IHOP sufferers should also be dosed with the truth that Wilson's strongest defensive position is the outfield.

Get well, Chris Kahrl. We wish you a speedy recovery from this painful, sometimes paralyzing illness.

Quotes of the day

Robert Dvorchak collects some good quotes in his Pirates report:

"That guy's Randy Johnson. I didn't know who he was. I had to look him up and saw he came in the [Brian] Giles deal. He's filthy." -- Geoff Jenkins on Oliver Perez. (Jenkins struck out twice and had a two-RBI single off Perez last Saturday.)

"The hardest job in baseball is a bench player, and it's certainly difficult for a young player." -- Lloyd McClendon

"I know my time is coming. When it comes, the world is going to know. Now that I'm here, I'm going to stay here. When you don't play, you have to work harder." -- J.J. Davis

Quotes from other places:

"Hey, if he keeps hitting like that, he can grow it all the way down to his knees if he wants. It's gotta be the hair." -- Lloyd McClendon on Craig Wilson's hitting

"Who's Fabio?" -- Craig Wilson, in response to the taunting he received in Milwaukee

Here's the photo of the day: a nice shot of Wilson's mane.

The tough decisions of Andy Pettitte

Dear Shelly Anderson: Andy Pettitte made $46M during his years with the Yankees. For a little context, at $40K per year, your average Methuselah would need 1150 years to make $46M. It's hard to argue that it requires much heroism to put home before money when you already have more money than most people could spend in a lifetime. Andy Pettitte is a great guy and we wish him well, but let's not lose ourselves in some fantasy about the sacrifice he made to play for the team of his choice.

More on the new color line in Western PA baseball

Go read Chuck Curti's latest piece.

Face it, people: baseball has gentrified. The owners, the managers, the players, the fans, and even the advertisers have never been more well-off or even downright aristocratic. (I don't begrudge Derek Jeter one dime or one adoring look, but just want to point out that the man, like many ball stars, is revered as royalty. And when Jeter graduated from high school, he was "torn" between becoming a doctor (like his pop) or becoming a baseball player. This is a guy who knew, at fourteen, that he would make some money as a grown-up even if his career as a baseball player didn't work out.)

Baseball is no longer the sport of choice for the working, lower-middle, or even middle classes in this country. Pro basketball owners, fans, and players may be just as aristocratic (e.g., "King James") but there's a common perception that more basketball players embody the classic rags-to-riches story that gives this wealth and high position an ironic and alluring edge. A huge reason basketball and football appear to offer more opportunities for economic advancement lies in the fact that they do, in fact, offer more opportunities for economic advancement. Education is the surest path of upward mobility, and today's colleges and universities focus on basketball and football and thus offer many more scholarships for those sports. Youngsters with plenty of dough don't regard their sport of choice as their best chance to attend college. From Curti:

Emphasizing one sport usually means that the goal is to gain a college scholarship. Football and basketball offer many opportunities for athletes to get into college - and perhaps get noticed by pro scouts - via full scholarships.

Baseball, however, does not have the same luxury. The NCAA permits Division I baseball teams to have a maximum of 11.7 scholarships, hardly enough to fill out a roster of 25 to 30 players.

Garrido says most college baseball players are on one-half to one-quarter scholarships. And many colleges don't even get the full 11.7 to offer. Duquesne University, for example, gets eight.

"There's just not much incentive for African-American athletes," says Garrido.

These guys are looking for financial incentive and baseball does not provide it. No doubt many African-American athletes won't attend college without some kind of athletic scholarship. Until more African-American families live in affluence, not so many pre-teen African American athletes will choose baseball. College athletes who fail to make the NBA or NFL can at least graduate with a college degree. College-aged baseball athletes who are good enough to warrant the support of a pro team are going to play in the low minors. Last I checked, four years at Williamsport, Hickory, and Lynchburg will not qualify a young man for other lines of work as will four years at State College.

Bucs in third place

I like the way the standings look tonight.

Now that the Pirates (.522) have a better winning percentage than Secret Agent Shelton's Tigers (.520), do you think they'll get any love as the feel-good story of the hour?

I should be feeling pretty good in about an hour. We'll be raising the Jolly Roger around the old sangria well.

Cleaning up today

Doing a little spring cleaning today. First I picked up all the dirty laundry in the bedroom and bathroom. Then I gathered up all the stray dishes - mainly wine-stained cups and mugs. Then I GOT OUT MY BROOM AND SWEPT THE BREWERS the second floor. All this with KDKA cranking through the 2270. Lanny just did a hilarious "Raise the Jolly Roger" thing to toast the sweep.

Bucs have won six straight on the road and run the record to 12-11.

Secret agent Jeff Bennett served the game-winning home run to Jim Thome Craig A. Wilson. He'll get plenty of high fives when the Brewers return him later this season.

Brian Meadows for MVP.

Vogelsong good today

Doesn't matter what happens if he comes back for the seventh. Vogelsong pitched out of a huge jam (bases loaded, no outs) in the sixth and has been solid all day.

Imperialism

We love the Derby and planned to post some bets but forgot in the rush of other things that we do when we're not parked in front of the computer. My horse was Imperialism, who showed, but I wouldn't have made enough on the race to pay for all the exacta boxes I'd have placed with him. We've been gambling on Kent Desormeaux since the mid-80s. I forget if it was Delaware Park or Pimlico, but he was winning 25% of his races - easily better than the rest of the jockeys - and there was nothing better than Desormeaux on a 6-1 horse.

Complete game victory

Bob Smizik tossed a gem for today's PG. I dunno what the Bucs will do if they expect to win, grow the fanbase, and keep the payroll as low as it is right now.

Steve Blass and Tom Seaver

Now on KDKA (yeah I'm working Gameday audio), Tom Seaver and Steve Blass are talking about pitch counts. Some of it is harmful macho bullshit, and some of it wily veteran wisdom. You decide which is which.

Seaver says a pitcher only has velocity, movement, and location, and that he must maintain at least two of those three weapons to be effective.

Seaver says that if these radar guns are accurate and today's kids are throwing 95, then he was throwing 105, 110 and Nolan Ryan threw 120.

Seaver says that it is a "huge mistake" to develop pitchers "that go five or six innings."

Seaver says he used to go 12 innings, and Spahn used to go 14 innings.

Seaver says his pitch count was 135. He knew his pitch count when he left the dugout to pitch the seventh inning and wouldn't use eight pitches on a number eight hitter. 135 is where he ran out of gas so he worked hard to stay under that number.

Seaver says that every pitcher should have a different pitch count.

Someone ask Seaver what adjustments he used to make when he was pitching to a lineup full of home-run hitters on a windy day with the wind blowing out. Did he nibble more, or did he smoke it down the middle the same way he did against teams of utility infielders playing in huge parks?

Someone should also ask Seaver if he thinks the lack of foul territory in today's ballparks means that today's pitchers have to throw more pitches to get through an inning.

The Bucs pay Steve Blass to coach the fans on KDKA. It's obvious that he has tremendous respect for Tom Seaver, but someone should sit down with Blass and let him know that it would be OK to disagree with - or at least temper - some of the dramatic exaggerations that drop from Seaver's mouth. I shudder to think that some ten-year-old in the back of a minivan thinks that Oliver Perez is a wuss because he only throws 100 pitches and leaves after five innings.

Ned Yost thinking in terms of pitch counts

On the pregrame show coming out of Milwaukee, Ned Yeast Yost (Brewer's manager) noted that the Bucs pitchers are very young, throw very hard, and very tough to hit "when they're on." He said yesterday with Perez "throwing 94-96 MPH with that big breaking ball," they were only able to hit him by hanging in there and "getting his pitch count up." If that's the opposing manager's strategy - get the pitch count up - Mac should do what, tell Vogelsong to throw strikes? Shit I think the manager better say that before every game.

Chuck Curti on the "re-drawn" color line in baseball

The first of three articles by Chuck Curti on the shifting demographics of baseball playing has appeared in today's Times.

All the hand-wringing about the few African-American teenagers interested in baseball may be misguided. I can relate to people who are interested in diversity for diversity's sake, and think a baseball team is best if the players look different and talk different and think different and thus bring people together. Historically, that's been one of the major contributions of baseball (and later, all pro sports). The MLB playing field has never been so diverse, however, as the major leagues draw in players from all corners of the globe. We have South American players, Korean players, Japanese players, Mexican players, and so on.

So the "problem" outlined in Curti's piece is not one of growing homogeneity at the big-league level. No top-quality players are systematically excluded from professional rosters because of the color of the skin. No one can complain that the big-league teams are turning qualified players away for such foolish reasons these days. That's why the state of baseball today does not compare so well with the state of baseball before the integration of Negro league players.

The "problem" is the growing homogeneity - described as "whiteness" here - of baseball players on the American sandlots, Pony league fields, high school, and college teams. It's not that high schoolers aren't playing baseball. It's that not too many African-American high schoolers are playing baseball. Plenty of people of color are playing ball in their teenage years - but not so much in this country.

I've noticed a trend among ballplayers that echoes the broader trend responsible for the whitening described by Curti. The problem is not race but economics. It seems like every other hot prospect is the son of a millionaire former ballplayer and that every front-office heartthrob has come from the Ivy Leagues. Baseball was once the great sport of immigrants. Sure, there was Christy Matthewson, but it was Honus Wagner who popularized the sport for most of the people in the stands. The cheap seats are gone and now every seat is a luxury seat. Compared to the "good old days" of the deadball era, baseball games today are terribly expensive events (so are movies). Over the last fifty years, the disposable income of the lower and middle classes has been evaporating as a combination of factors (e.g. the stagnation of wages, the rise in property and commuting costs) has forced a growing percentage of lower- and middle-class families to be supported by two or more full-time jobs. The lower and middle classes not only have less money to spend for baseball tickets that are relatively more expensive, they also have less time to attend games. As the mass of park-going fans has trended upscale, it's no surprise that the sport has lost most of its lower-income fans. The move from day to night games and from radio to television broadcasting has also compounded the problems which have driven away the poorer fans. How can you follow the game when you can't afford to go to the ballpark, and almost all the ballgames are at night, on television, up against other kinds of programming that you prefer to watch? Before 1960, the average baseball fan listened to games on the radio if they couldn't go to the park. Football and basketball make more compelling television, for whatever reason. If you want more fans among poor people, baseball should do more to market their product on the radio so working people can follow the team while they do their jobs. Why not rebroadcast games at 1pm every day? Many people would prefer to listen to baseball at work than the same old classic rock station or the same old right-wing rantfest.

Of course, since poor people have less money, not too many big-money entertainment businesses instinctively cater to (much less sympathize with) their needs. The truth is, major-league baseball does not want to grow their fan base among the immigrant, the poor, the lower middle classes. At least I see no evidence that this is the case.

Until baseball recaptures the imagination of the working poor, no one can expect the demographics of teenage ballplayers to match anything other than the upscale demographics of the modern fan. I've always found the bean-counting diversity standards (how many whites? how many blacks?) economically oppressive. I've known many "elite" people who were proud of the racial diversity they lived in, but, at the same time, harbored the most offensive prejudice against poor people. My guess would be that a majority of the African-American high school and college players are just as well-off as their white teammates. Baseball has been gentrified and the process of gentrification shows no signs of slowing down.

In the end, though, we have to remember that baseball is a game. There's no great moral imperative for diversity and balance on the playing field the same way, for example, there is for diversity and balance in government. Why should a baseball purist care if high-school baseball is becoming something like golf, tennis, or polo in America? There is no shortage of local and international talent to stock our professional leagues. This really isn't a grave issue. It doesn't hurt a community terribly to have no black American baseball players on the diamond at City High. It does hurt a community terribly to have no black American politicians down at City Hall.

Doug Davis's facial hair

This guy needs show more self-respect and stop playing games with his face. WTF? How is that going to help with the ladies, or intimidate your opponent? When I see a guy with shit like this on his face I think he lives in some kind of aristocratic cocoon, like he's some kind of trust-fund college boy who can afford to be cheerfully oblivious of the snap judgments most people make when they see this. Try showing up for work at Cracker Barrel with this kind of Raul Julia skate-rat look.