Game 102: Pirates at Phillies

Durbin vs. Youman, starting now.

Delaware Athlete of the Year

Kevin Noonan writes about Snell for all them adoring Delawareans. The bit at the end suggests that Snell would, uh, welcome a trade.

Who wouldn't?

Game 101: Pirates at Phillies

Moyer vs. JVB in ten minutes.

HW poll: DL in 2008?

Do you think Dave Littlefield will be GM next year?

(Friday update: Opinion is evenly split so far, so I'm moving this up in hopes of getting more predictions.)

Trading Torres

Sully's grievance complicates any trade, Dejan notes. Torres' charges of duplicity against DL could end up costing the Bucs 1.5 million or even prevent a trade.

Dangerous drinking

The Centre Daily Times Midday Report has DL's visit to the Spikes as less newsworthy than "dangerous drinking", which in part involves a man with a BAC (.426) higher than DL's winning percentage this year. I wonder if this .426 guy had been watching the Bucs earlier that night. Anyway, this falls far short of the BAC record. As far as I can tell, the BAC record for a conscious person is .914, for a driver is .545, and for a comatose person is 1.5 (also in last link). Don't try this at home.

Game 100: Pirates at Mets

Oliver Perez vs. Paul Maholm at 12:10 PM EDT.

Game 99: Pirates at Mets

Glavine vs. Gorzelanny in an hour. Castillo gets the start at third.

Game 98: Pirates at Mets

Maine vs. Snell, starting now.

"... this team is like an open sewer, it's full of filth and scum. Sometimes I can hardly take it. Whoever becomes the new CEO should just ... really clean it up, know what I mean? Sometimes I go out and I Snell it. I get headaches, it's so bad."

Ricciardi not interested

Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi denied the recent rumors about interest in Jack Wilson, the CP reports:

"We have absolutely no interest in Jack Wilson," said Ricciardi. "None."

Maybe J.P. is bluffing here, trying to lower Wilson's value, but it's hard to have any confidence in DL at this point. Will Carroll noted:

Dave Littlefield has set himself up poorly on this one. Teams are treating Wilson as if he's been DFA'd, and are offering little if anything.

The Outmaker

Brian O'Neill details the Neifiistic weakness of Cesar Izturis.

Polamalu signs

Troy signs five-year extension, the P-G's Ed Bouchette reports. For 33 million dollars, the highest-paid Samoan warrior ever wears black and gold through 2011. All hail Troy!

Off day

Try to remain calm.

Game 97: Astros at Pirates

Williams and Youman at one thirty.

Trade 'em all

Dejan Kovacevic reports the Pirates could trade them both one of these days.

In other news, Jim Tracy tries to blame the losing streak on Ian Snell:

"It's been Snell. You know that?" Tracy said in a stark tone seldom heard. "That's what it's been, this frustration, for all of us. With the progress we had made leading up to the All-Star break, and we come out and, with one exception, completely sputter offensively."

I did not know that, Jim.

Game 96: Astros at Pirates

Rodriguez and Maholm at seven-fifteen.

Game 95: Astros at Pirates

Oswalt and Gorzelanny at seven.

Yes it is about the Jack

After considering Littlefield's comment that the Izturis acquisition "has nothing to do with Jack Wilson," Dejan Kovacevic predicts Jack Wilson will be traded at the deadline.

John Perrotto wonders how this might happen.

The Pirates may have a hard time trading Wilson. The only contender that could use an upgrade at shortstop is Toronto, which starts veteran Royce Clayton at the position. But the Blue Jays are only on the periphery of the American League East and wild-card races.

Boston shortstop Julio Lugo is struggling, but it would be highly doubtful the American East-leading Red Sox would bench a player in the first year of a four-year, $36-million contract to take on Wilson. Wilson is due to make a combined $13.75 million in 2008 and 2009 in the final two years of a three-year, $20.2-million contract.

The Red Sox are much more interested in some Pirates relievers, particularly left-hander Damaso Marte, and, to a lesser extent, right-handers Salomon Torres and Shawn Chacon.

Jack Wilson will also be compared to this winter's shortstop-playing free agent class. It is possible that a non-contending team might want to acquire him for 2008.

Welcome Cesar Izturis

Jim Tracy's pipe dream of .618 the rest of the way is one step closer to reality.

Dejan Kovacevic writes that this might portend the trading of Jack Wilson. Certainly that was the first thing through my mind.

The second thing was: how much of Jack Wilson's salary will the Pirates pay in 2008 and 2009?

The third thing is: what kind of beer should I have to celebrate the acquisition of Cesar "82, Baby!" Izturis?

... 3:20pm ... no Jack Wilson trade forthcoming, Dejan Kovacevic reports in his update.

So this really is about doing whatever it takes to field a .618 team the rest of the season.

(Long pause)

Rob Biertempfel wrote this amusing interview for the Trib.

[Bob Nutting:] ... We have a very solid core of people. I have faith in the team we have in place.

Q: Does that include the team management staff -- general manager Dave Littlefield, manager Jim Tracy and his coaches?

A: Long pause.

A good follow-up question might have been: "Mr. Nutting, among your important papers, do you keep a 'shit list'?"

Game 94: Rockies at Pirates

Far in the deep where darkness dwells,
The land of horror and despair,
Justice has built a dismal Snell,
And laid her stores of vengeance there.

Francis and Snell starting soon.

Game 93: Rockies at Pirates

Fogg and Youman at seven.

Lashing continued horses poor

The blog stats are rarely interesting.

But yesterday, they show that Honest Wagner received not one but two hits from this URL.

That about sums it up, eh.

Game 92: Rockies at Pirates

Buchholz and JVB at seven.

Integrity of the game

Sally Jenkins gets lyrical about the "integrity of the game" for the Washington Post.

Not a large percentage of fans visit Cooperstown; many fans ignore the All-Star game; most fans could not say who won the Cy Young last year; the majority of fans give up on the season and turn to football, or yardwork, or whatever, when their team is eliminated from the playoffs. Bonds is after an individual record in what most people enjoy as a team sport.

So why should we care about the home runs in a career record? Over and over we are told we do, we must, we will care about such things. The Giants stink this year, and they challenge no one for nothing in the standings. I don't care about the math about that team's obnoxiously talented and over-the-hill clean-up hitter. But I will get out of my seat to ask this question because I do not like to see so many heads exploding.

Baseball writing has its own stories, and they are not always much like the stories most often experienced by the fans of the game. No baseball writer in the country thinks Jack Wilson is a great shortstop, yet he's pretty much adored by the people who pay to enter PNC Park. There are many disconnects between the revellers and the bards who sing about them, and this Bonds thing might be a big one.

The Phillies lost 10,000 games. Is that not a more significant - yet still insignificant - bit of trivia? I feel bad for the Philadelphians who have most lived through that. Well, no I don't, but I could if I thought more about it. Somewhere there is an 85-year-old secretary or clerk who has persisted through some bad luck at listening to games on the radio.

Why does Bonds matter? Do that many people care so much? Is it wise or good or useful for writers about a team sport to express such concern about statistics that have nothing to do with wins and losses, or with the pursuit of a championship?

I also smirk at the suggestion that this game has (or should have) some kind of integrity that all do (or must) respect and keep holy. "Integrity" is more important to hundreds of more important American institutions. There must be integrity in government, for example, and in the courts, and in law enforcement. Why is the integrity of baseball a high priority?

What's next? The integrity of video games? The integrity of hamburgers? It's laughable to assert that baseball has, or should have, some kind of "integrity" that compels all fans to entertain such serious attitudes about a pretty trivial statistical milestone.

Bugs

Nuts.

In ten years, MLB will have some kind of plastic/composite ash substitute for the bats. They will tout it as superior to wood, call it "performance lumber," and charge everyone a lot of money for it.

Game 91: Pirates at Braves

Maholm and Carlyle at one.

Game 90: Pirates at Braves

Gorzelanny and James at seven.

Kip Wells for Ryan Howard

Dan Dunkin writing for phillyBurbs.com:

Despite all the bone-headed, short-sighted things the Phillies have done en route to the brink of 10,000 defeats, give them credit for one thing: At least they didn’t trade Howard for Kip Wells.

Actually give credit to Pittsburgh Pirates GM David Littlefield. That discussed deal in the summer of 2005, near the end of the disastrous Ed Wade administration, didn’t happen because Littlefield wasn’t enamored enough of Howard. Friday night the Phillies’ potent young lineup shelled Wells — previously 5-0 against them, but 3-11 this season.

It's been denied that Ed Wade offered Howard for Wells (or Benson, the year before), though it was rumored (scroll down, 7-18-2005) that Wade "dangled" Howard before Littlefield's eyes. Also, I never saw a report suggesting that Littlefield asked for Howard or otherwise expressed any interest in him.

This story won't die because, in July 2005, both the Phillies and the Pirates were at the center of trade speculation, and their needs appeared to match well. Howard demanded a trade in early 2005 because he was blocked by Jim Thome. The Pirates needed a left-handed power bat, and Howard's profile reminded some of Willie Stargell. But, like Brad Eldred, Howard struck out "too much." And his success in the minors was discounted for him being a bit old for his level.

Howard had vocal doubters until he proved himself at the big-league level. For example, Ken Mandel reported (for MLB.com) that no one wanted Howard, though his future lay "with another organization," in July 2004. That same month, Chuck Hixson wrote that the Phillies would be "lucky" to get someone like Kris Benson for Howard. In mid-2005, the Pirates had Brad Eldred looking about as good as Howard.

So, to be honest, I can't remember anyone being unreservedly enthusiastic about Howard's future -- this was more the tone of Howard speculations. He was regarded not as a slam-dunk sure-thing but as a chance the Pirates would do well to take.

Game 89: Pirates at Braves

"Unhappy men, what is it that ails you? There is a shroud of darkness drawn over you from head to foot, your cheeks are wet with tears; the air is alive with wailing voices; the walls and roof-beams drip blood; the gate of the cloisters and the court beyond them are full of ghosts trooping down into the night of Snell; the sun is blotted out of heaven, and a blighting gloom is over all the land."

Hudson and Snell at seven-thirty.

Some midseason grades

John Perrotto offers his. They look fair to me.

Also, it is impressive how he justifies the grades without the use of profanity.

Xavier Nady

Nady is on pace for a pretty good season, as Dejan Kovacevic notes here.

Enjoying the 40

Alan Robinson, AP man, wrote this piece on the state of the Pirates. He notes what should be obvious: the comparison of this team (40-48) to last year's team (30-60) makes for a cringe-worthy assessment of "progress."

The 30-60 first half of 2006 challenged records for baseball futility. That record was truly horrible. But it does not make the current record look good. If anything, it makes it look worse than it is.

Say that a man goes out and commits ten felonies. The next year, he commits eight misdemeanors. Would you be persuaded if he cited those numbers as evidence he is reforming?

Say another man lives far beyond his means. He charges $30K to various credit cards in the first half of 2006. With no increase in income, he charges $9K to various credit cards in the first half of 2007. Is this "progress"?

I doubt too many fans are persuaded the team is "better" when they are reminded of how mind-numbingly bad the team was just one year ago.

The team won some games in the week or two before the break. Eight games under still stinks, however. They remain a bunch of Losers.

If they want to say otherwise, let them say it in the win column.

Pittsburgh native Jack Zduriencik

Tracy Ringolsby writes the phrase "extreme makeover" and foresees the departure of Littlefield and Tracy.

This could be an interesting year ahead.

All-Star Honus the Alpaca

We take advantage of this lull in Pirates baseball to raise our cups to honorary HW mascot, Honus Wagner the Alpaca, for his recent flurry of ribbons. All hail Honus!

This male in first place is the complete package. He has overall balance and presence, fine soft fleece with excellent brilliance. You could see when he walked in the ring that he has a good attitude. He was saying “Look at me.”

Off day

Take it easy.

Game 88: Cubs at Pirates

Zambrano and Youman at one-thirty.

Figureheads and baseball men

The P-G's Bob Smizik on Bob Nutting's upcoming hiring decision:

"The only way Nutting is going to get a respected baseball man to take charge of this franchise is to give him a large measure of control. Someone the stature of MacPhail, Alderson or Lucchino is not going to come aboard as a figurehead. Such a man will only come if he can make all the baseball calls. And that means having the power to fire the general manager, the manager or both.

Dave Littlefield and Jim Tracy have contracts that run through the 2008 season and their combined value is about $1.7 million. Unless Nutting is willing to buy out those contracts, and such a move does not fit the limited profile we have of his business practices, he's not going to get his man."

Littlefield could work in long relief.

Game 87: Cubs at Pirates

Ted Lilly and John VB pretty soon. Give 'em snell, flash boy.

Brandy mohito

I tell you what, this is a good drink: a. lemon juice, b. sugar, c. ice, d. mint (lots of it -- fresh from the garden), e. brandy. Lime juice is better, yes, but lemon juice will do. And some San Pellegrino -- that is good, but if you run out, regular water is OK too. OR just let the ice melt. And of course you want to use rum, but if you run out of Appleton's, like I just did, the brandy leftover from Thanksgiving and Christmas works good too. Cheers! Here's to me!

There's going to be a baseball game somewhat soon. The Pirates will play ... I forget. I am sure, though, there will be no Ian Snell or Tom Gorzelanny.

This Bixler is a prospect

John Perrotto says so.

Nutting does homework

Dejan Kovacevic on the new, quiet leadership of the master fly-fisherman:

Nutting is not the type, his acquaintances inside and outside the Pirates' organization say, to make business decisions without first-hand information or experience. Although he has been the Pirates' chairman of the board since 2003, it was not until January that he supplanted McClatchy as principal owner. And it is from that point alone that he considers himself to have been in charge.

Since then, in addition to a surprising trip to the Dominican Republic in May to examine why the Pirates have fared so poorly at producing Latin American talent in the past decade, some close to Nutting say he has become deeply -- albeit quietly -- engrossed in many aspects of the team's operations, asking questions and seeking accountability along the way.

It does not sound like Nutting is much upset with Littlefield or Tracy, but Kovacevic does hint here that Nutting might find a qualified mentor and follow his advice. You know what that means ... FAX in your resumés. Sludgeworm's long career at the wastewater treatment plant will be hard to challenge, but you never know who will make what cut in the process.

Full story here.

Game 86: Cubs at Pirates

Marquis and Maholm at seven. I will look for exiting CEO Kevin McClatchy behind home plate. Those big sunglasses will shield our view of his tears, I imagine.

McClatchy to resign

At the end of the year, the P-G reports.

Beer dream

If I was the coach of this team, I'd take that 3 of 4 from Milwaukee and give the team the worst ear-blistering they've ever experienced. I'd make them sorry they chose baseball as a career. How do you take 3 of 4 from the best team in the National League and then wind up nine games under .500?

There would be a lot of profanity in my ear-blistering.

Game 85: Brewers at Pirates

Gorzelanny vs. Sheets, starting soon. LaRoche bats third.

Get Michael Bourn?

There are reports the Phillies might trade rookie centerfielder Michael Bourn for pitching help. For example, there's Steven Miller for the Morning Call Online. Ken Rosenthal also reported Bourn could go to leverage their glut of quality outfielders.

The Pirates got some love from the fans for acquiring Adam LaRoche. If the Phillies would part with this good-OBP small-ballin' basestealer for pitching help, I'd guess the Littlefield would be sitting around, waiting for the Phillies to return his calls.

Bourn or no Bourn, I wonder what other later-July expectations, predictions, or recommendations you might have.

And for the record, I am pro-Bourn and think he'd make a good addition to this team.

Game 84: Brewers at Pirates

Bellowing there groan'd
A noise as of a sea in tempest torn
By warring winds. The stormy blast of Snell
With restless fury drives the spirits on
Whirl'd round and dash'd amain with sore annoy.

Vargas and Snell at four.

Burnett to see Dr. Andrews

For a second opinion, the P-G reports.

Game 83: Brewers at Pirates

Youman vs. Capuano, starting now.

Torres calls DL a liar, demands trade

Salomon Torres is mad as hell, Dejan Kovacevic reports:

"... I'm just tired of being treated like this. I'm tired of the lies. I gave this team everything. I bought a house in Pittsburgh to be part of the city. But, if you're going to lie to me, trade me."

Strange story. Sully charges DL duped him into signing a cheap contract by "strongly suggesting" the Bucs would rent one of Torres' Dominican baseball academies. The Bucs declined, and Torres filed a grievance in March. Now Sully claims the Bucs have delayed his rehab longer than necessary to retaliate.

It's hard to sympathize here with Torres, who did not have an agent for these negotiations, got nothing in writing, and apparently took the word of a well-known Master Liar. Furthermore, I can't see why the team would unnecessarily delay Torres' return, given the dire situation in the bullpen where Kuwata and Wasdin are trotted out in high-leverage situations.

Fallout: Torres is alienated and has probably just diminished his trade value, thanks to DL.

Duke to see Dr. Andrews

For a second opinion, the P-G reports.

Honest competition

The Mighty MJD on honest competition, jerkwheats, institutional loafing, and the threat to baseball's integrity that is Bob Nutting (link via WHYGAVS).

Game 82: Brewers at Pirates

Van Benschoten vs. Suppan, 7:05 PM EDT.

Haloscan has been having problems all day, so comments have not been working.

Duke's elbow

No dye leakage on the arthrogram, so Duke's elbow ligaments are not torn, the P-G reports. Duke will rest for two weeks and could be back in early August.

Duke and Duffy on DL

Tests on Duke's sore elbow will be done tomorrow, the AP reports. Youman will start in Duke's place. Duffy was also placed on the DL, replaced by utilityman Matt Kata, the P-G reports.

Game 81: Nationals at Pirates

Maholm vs. Bacsik, starting now.

Protest 1, Nutting 0

Only about 100 people actually left PNC, the AP reports, confirmed by Pat (who was one of those ~100). The PG's Robert Dvorchak estimates about 1,000 left their seats. Pat's summary at WHYGAVS estimates 2-5,000, in which Pat declares Nutting victorious.

While I'm disappointed more people didn't walk out or at least get up for an inning, I think the protest had already accomplished its primary goal before the game even started: increasing awareness of the front office failure. Without the protest, Baseball Tonight doesn't devote several minutes to discussing the front office incompetence. Passan would have never written the "Nutting on MLB's teat" piece, and an AP story on the protest and the McNutting/DL losing streak doesn't run nationwide. Charlie wouldn't have written his pre and post protest thoughts, and Pat's uncle wouldn't have sat him down and set him straight. Bottom line: Pirate fans win, Nutting loses. Nutting might be an all-world fly-fisherman and businessman, but in any discussion involving baseball and with his current track record, Bob Nutting is a Loser.

Game 80: Walkout Night

For a change, I will find delight in shutting off the game early. I expect to do so right after the first pitch of the third inning.

I've tried this turn-it-off stuff, in disgust, about 300 times over the last three seasons. Every time I turn it back on, the Pirates still suck.

I doubt the TV or the radio people will pay any attention, even if the entire stadium is cricket-chirpin' empty for twenty minutes. And since I will turn it off myself, I'd have no way of knowing how it went down myself.

So all you fans at the game--please document what you see and hear. Expect mad web traffic to the best collection of photos and anecdotes.

Big toast for Dock Ellis around five.

Then it's Bergmann and Gorzelanny at seven.

Nutting on MLB's teat

The protest has already succeeded in attracting national media coverage: AP story here. And Yahoo's Jeff Passan:

Pirates fans have every reason to be mad, and what stings so much is their limited options. Stop buying tickets? Nutting will just stay on MLB's teat – and, with the decreased local revenue, have an excuse for doing so. Force a change in upper management? Littlefield should have been canned two years ago.

Dock Ellis joins protest

The 1971 World Series champ to speak at the pregame Fans for Change protest: Dock Ellis. The Trib's Rob Biertempfel reports.

Game 79: Nationals at Pirates

Chico vs. Snell, 7:05 PM EDT.

"Pssst...
Hey Chico we got a message for ya...
Vamos Vamos Muchacho
from Alphabet City all the way A to Z, Dead, Head

Go straight to Snell."

All hail the protest

The Pirates have responded to the media interest in Saturday's protest by instructing employees to not mention the protest, not televise it, and to delete comments about it on pirates.com. Bob Smizik relates and opines on the Pirates efforts to black out the walkout. Charlie at Bucs Dugout has an excellent post about his thoughts on the protest.

I'm pro-protest. I think the good of attracting more local and national attention to the record-setting mismanagement of the Bucs outweighs the bad of protesters having to actually pay a small fee to protest.

This is Dave's Team Now

Wilbur Miller at IrateFans on DL's "myopic focus on the bullpen."

Game 78: Pirates at Marlins

Olsen vs. Duke, 12:05 PM EDT.

Game 77: Pirates at Marlins

Mitre vs. Van Benschoten, starts now. Doumit catching, so Ronny will have to call the game from the bench.

Smizik on Tracy

Bob Smizik is most disappointed in Jim Tracy and offers advice for Bob Nutting:

Nutting, we've seen, is a man slow to act. He sees the Pirates as a business, one that is making money. But, for the good of the franchise -- for the good of his investment -- it's time for Nutting to think seriously about who he wants as his general manager and manager.

Snell on where to put your pessimism

Dejan Kovacevic's notebook today has more good Snell quotes. Ian, when asked what he thought of the viewpoint that the Pirates were not underachieving, but simply lacking in talent:

"Seriously, you can tell anyone who says that to go shove it. This team is underachieving."

Game 76: Pirates at Marlins

Willis vs. Maholm, starting soon. Maholm is 3-10. Josh Phelps plays 1B and bats sixth. Good news from the Yahoo game preview:

"You're not going to see us physically lay down," first baseman Adam LaRoche told the Pirates' official Web site.

We will not physically lay down. That's all I ever ask for.

Niji

Means rainbow, as in rainbow curve. Dejan Kovacevic explains the Kuwatamania. Leave it to Littlefield to find a middle reliever who can (temporarily) excel by throwing a baseball ultra-slow.

Bayliss down, Wasdin up

Dejan Kovacevic notebook item: Bayliss bussed back to Indy, and ... Wasdin to return.

In 13 IP for the 2007 Bucs, Wasdin has given up 21 hits and 7 BBs, for a 6.92 ERA, 2.15 WHIP, and .382 BAA. At Indy, Wasdin's numbers are freaky: in 28.2 IP, he's given up 35 hits (9! HR) but walked none and K'ed 33. Wayback can still throw strikes, but they are still often hit very far.

Perrotto on protest

The BCT's John Perrotto on the upcoming fan protest and the embarassment-proof front office:

We're going to find out in the next few months if Nutting is truly embarrassed by this mess of a franchise. If he is, then he should make a clean sweep of management and show the foresight to bring in people who are smart enough and dedicated enough to make the Pirates a winner again.

Game 75: Pirates at Angels

Colon vs. Gorzelanny at 3:35 EDT.

Is Bob Nutting evil?

Smizik on Bob Nutting:

Nutting is not a bad person. He is not dispensing social injustice. What he is doing is not illegal, unethical or immoral. What he is guilty of -- in the eyes of most people -- is running his business in a fan-unfriendly manner. He does not deserve to be boycotted and most certainly the people who work for him, be it at PNC Park, Seven Springs or his many newspapers do not deserve to have their jobs placed in jeopardy because the Pirates stink.

Smizik makes lots of good points, but I'm not sure I buy this part. Isn't it unethical and/or immoral to reward proven failure (e.g. extending DL's contract) and thereby knowingly subject hundreds of thousands of Pirate fans to watching awful baseball? If it's not fair to Lefty the beer man for a fan to stay away from PNC in protest of the baseball team, wouldn't it follow that it's not fair to Lefty that the owner and GM field a crummy team year in and year out and threaten his livelihood with the resultant general fan disinterest? And if so, then wouldn't Nutting's actions and inactions qualify as unfair, unethical, and/or evil?

Angry fans

Bob Smizik on Andy Chomos and the June 30th protest. More information can be found at Irate Fans, which is back with several recent posts.

Angry Ian

LL Insane pops off, Dejan Kovacevic writes it down:

"I [expletive] hate this," he said at his stall, his voice rising. "And you can put that in the paper. I [expletive] hate losing. I hate when the team doesn't bring out its full potential. And if they fine me, fine me. I don't care. Because this is getting stupid. We're better than what we're showing."

Game 74: Pirates at Angels

Escobar vs. Snell at nine. Eldred sent down to make room for Phelps. Duffy's back.

Which way I fly is Snell; myself am Snell; And in the lowest deep a lower deep Still threat'ning to devour me opens wide, To which the Snell I suffer seems a Heav'n.

Josh Phelps

Bucs claimed 1B/C Josh Phelps off waivers from the Yankees on Friday to bolster the anemic bench, Dejan Kovacevic reports. Phelps will be in uniform and available for Saturday's game.

Game 73: Pirates at Angels

Saunders vs. Duke at ten. Rajai Davis plays CF and leads off, Brad Eldred DHs and hits seventh. The Bucs haven't scored a run in 20 innings.

Kolb down, Eldred up

Kolb designated for assignment and Eldred recalled, Dejan Kovacevic reports. In other news, Snell's burned finger is OK, and he'll start tomorrow. Torres might not be back until after the ASB.

Game 72: Pirates at Mariners

JVB and Hernan at ten.

Game 71: Pirates at Mariners

Maholm and Weaver at ten.

Kuwata and Ichiro

Ken from the comments found this picture of Kuwata and Ichiro.

I thought it was pretty interesting until I saw the picture of the lady with the beaver sign in the second row. Then I got confused.

Game 70: Pirates at Mariners

It will be Gorzelanny and Batista at ten o'clock tonight.

Off day

The Pirates play in Seattle tomorrow night.

Game 69: White Sox at Pirates

Vazquez and Duke at one-thirty.

Game 68: White Sox at Pirates

Buehrle and JVB at seven.

Game 67: White Sox and Pirates

Hard to believe there's still almost 100 games left in this season.

Tonight it's Garland and Maholm at seven.

White Sox bring dirty feet to Pittsburgh

Rob Mackowiak recalls the learned helplessness in this Chicago Tribune report by Mark Gonzales. Gonzales describes the White Sox as at a crossroads. Desperately seeking "momentum," the team can expect to be disbanded at the trade deadline if they cannot compete with "perennial National League Central doormat Pittsburgh."

Breaking up the Sox's core for the distant future comes at a cost. Moving potential free agents could create a losing situation similar to the one Mackowiak coped with in Pittsburgh for five seasons.

"Sometimes there were no expectations, which is a little different than over here, where there are expectations to win," Mackowiak said. "Over there you played, had fun and expected to lose anyway. Over here, we're expected to win."

Is this fun? Or do the Pirates have their fun off the field?

Game 66: Rangers at Pirates

Loe and Gorzelanny in half an hour. Tweedledee and Tweedledum are not in the lineup tonight.

JVB to start

Chacon out, Van Benschoten in, the P-G reports. JVB will start on Saturday. (For those keeping track, Chacon's ERA+ is currently 99.)

What will come of Castillo and Wilson

Dejan Kovacevic's game recap focuses as much on Castillo as on Snell.

It's good to see that various Pirates have realized that Jack Wilson is not irreplaceable.

After Snell and Gorzelanny, actually, I'm not sure any of the Pirates are terribly essential. Even Jason Bay's left-field defense has been more and more Matt Lawton-like since that shoulder surgery. I could see the Pirates start giving him the Brian Giles treatment.

The team's still a mile below .500, the minor-league cupboard is bare, and the trading deadline will be upon us soon. The Pirates have hoarded money to re-sign a collection of guys who have been nothing but proven Losers, and we all know how they flinch when it's time to lay the hoarded money down.

On one hand the players might want out and wish for a trade. On the other hand, it's not like other teams want Losers much. And further, the guys the Pirates have traded at the deadline have not, for the most part, gone on to be so great for other teams. If players want regular playing time and plenty of patience from management, they can find no better job than the one they have in Pittsburgh.

Fire sale on the horizon? What do you think? I don't trust the Pirates to get good returns on their better players, so this is much more a prediction than a wish on my part.

All hail Ian Snell

He just pitched a pretty good game. And he laid down a nice bunt there too.

See if you can find some Dogfish Head to toast up Delaware Dante.

Game 65: Rangers at Pirates

Snell vs. Tejeda, currently delayed. Castillo starts again at SS in place of Wilson.

I swore that one day, I'd be El Presidente.
But down in Snell, it's really caliente.

Perrotto on draft

The BCT's John Perrotto thinks that Moskos might have to save DL's job too:

"Taking Moskos smacks as the short-sighted work of a GM who realizes his job security is tenuous, regardless of the votes of confidence he gets from Nutting and McClatchy...

While McClatchy has shown an incredible amount of blind faith in recent years in continually extending Littlefield's contract, you would hope Nutting is cognizant of the fact his GM hasn't appreciably improved the club in a half-dozen years."

Game 64: Rangers at Pirates

It's Hit the Cutoff Man Night at the ballpark. Should be spectacular.

Millwood and Duke at seven.

Bob Smizik, voice of reason

It's hard for me to disagree with anything in this column.

Bryan Bullington pulled from start

Rotoworld reports that Bryan Bullington "was pulled out of his start for Triple-A Indianapolis after just one inning with shoulder discomfort."

I was looking forward to seeing his cheerful, Joe Randa-like mug on the mound at PNC this season.

(Bryan. Joe.)

Game 63: Pirates at Yankees

Chacon and Clippard at one. My hunch is the Pirates win this one.

But the Pirates are ten games under .500. The competitive season is over. They have bumbled themselves far away from contender status. There's very little chance they play so far above .500 that they make up those ten games. And there's no chance they go to the playoffs with a sub-.500 record.

So now the silliness begins. Actually, it appears to be well underway. I expect the team to alternate between truly horrific games - such as the one they played yesterday - and games in which they are more disciplined. They will surprise some teams. Any talk of the Pirates being "a good young team" who "always plays tough" will just be the polite thing to say. The news is out. The Pirates stink. They are a joke. Again.

They will win some series, and they may even play .503 ball the rest of the season. They could finish with 77 wins. None of this will mean they are a good team.

My advice to other Pirates fans: do not be afraid to turn off the game when they begin to play to the Benny Hill music. The more punishment you can spare yourself today, the more likely you will still be a fan next year.

Credit where due dept.

Dejan Kovacevic explains how well Jim Colborn has done his job.

He also notes that the Cleveland Indians want no part of their schedule dedicated to the Pittsburgh Pirates. After a little thought, I can see why. It's a lose-lose situation for them. If they beat the Pirates, no one will care. The Pirates are awful. The Pirates will not sell tickets in Cleveland. If they lose to the Pirates, then they must endure comparisons to the Cleveland Browns, who lose twice a year to the Steelers.