Smizik: Play Davis, bench Simon

His argument makes a lot of sense. I'm not sure I'd like to see that exhibition spirit in the middle of the season, however. Usually if a guy can't press his way into the lineup, then he's not worth starting. And it undermines morale across the team when some favorite son has a starting job and hasn't earned it the good old-fashioned way.

For sure, give Davis a start per series. The last time he played - or the last time I remember him playing - he was so bad, he would have cleared waivers eight hours later if every club had seen the tape of that game. It was bad out there in right field. Doug Frobel bad.

If Davis can't press for more time, don't give it to him. I may not be right about that, but that's the way I see it.

Home sweet home

As the Bucs come home, why not remind everyone that our home field is super-swanky.

Paul Hagan of Philly News toured them all and likes ours best. Jim Caple said the same thing, only louder some time ago.

I know I agree. I haven't even been to all the parks.

Pirates score 14

After tonight's game, they are on pace to score 727 runs, which is just what we expected. But they are also on pace to allow 833 runs, which is about 100 runs worse than we expected. The Orioles had a similar scored/allowed split last year and they finished with 71 wins. If the Pirates keep up the .403 winning percentage they'll finish with 65 wins.

Last year, they scored 753 and allowed 801. And they won 75 games.

Revisiting the Giles trade

Oliver Perez, Jason Bay, and the work-in-progress PTBNL Cory Stewart for Brian Giles.

A lot of writers said Littlefield made a "horrible blunder" there because he couldn't get San Diego to take Jason Kendall. One website asked, "This makes us wonder, what was the point on the Pirates side of dealing Giles, if they can't also get rid of Kendall's contract?" The transactions expert for another prominent website wrote that "Stunt Chimp" could have made a better trade. After some false graciousness on the impossibility of Littlefield's situation, the conclusion was this: "That said, clearly, on the surface, Dave Littlefield blew it, not getting an awful lot" for Giles.

As usual, the people who were most wrong (and negative) about the current Pirates franchise were national-audience writers who pay little attention to the Pirates. Take Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci, for example, who wrote that the trade demonstrated "misguided thinking" and that Littlefield acquired "a whole lot of mediocrity" that "won't bring this franchise back to respectibility." (If you read that link, notice that Verducci leads with a letter from a San Diego fan who writes to gloat confirm his notion that the Padres made out well with the deal.)

Pirate fans live with such nonsense twice. First, we have to endure it as it happens. Then, we have to listen to it as it is recycled by people who know even less of the subject than the "expert" who fed them that line in the first place. Since a majority of all baseball fans are flattered when a guy like Tom Verducci goes negative on any one losing franchise, it's no surprise that such ideas spread and endure. Unless you are a Pirate fan, such essays provide another reason to feel good about your attachment to your team. (I.e., "at least I'm not rooting for that team.")

The thing is, despite the negativity of a lot of writers, most of the fans liked the deal well enough when it went through. Certainly the majority of Pirate fans were willing to wait and see, I think.

It's not wise or possible to evaluate fully any trade until three or four years have gone by. In the meantime, however, the trade is looking OK for the Pirates, and it's pretty safe to say that many analysts rushed to judgment.

Game 72, Josh Fogg at Paul Wilson

This is a day game after a night game, so look for a wacky lineup with a mainstay or two getting a day off.

Paul Wilson is a good work-ethic guy who gets the most out of mediocre stuff. STATS tells me his fastball rarely touches 90. Yet he's had a lot of success this year, perhaps because he's been more of a groundball pitcher this year. He doesn't strike many guys out and he gives up some walks. He's a finesse guy. He has no meaningful record against the Pirates.

Josh Fogg hasn't had a really good start since June 4th, with disasters in two of his last three. Griffey, Casey, and Dunn have four homers off him in 28 combined at-bats.

'79 Pirates looking up at Expos

It's Sunday, so the Trib has their feature on what the '79 Pirates were doing this time that year. They were four games above .500 and six games back of Les Expos.

Jeff Keppinger

Kevin Gorman has a full report on this guy hitting .396 for the Curve.

Huzza Tom Vilsack

The Kerry people are looking at Iowa governor Tom Vilsack as a potential veep choice. Vilsack, raised in Pittsburgh, also appears to be something of a baseball fan. From a NYT bio running tomorrow:

His great-grandfather founded Iron City Beer, the Iowa governor's mansion has a "Pittsburgh room," and Mr. Vilsack says he wants to be buried in a Pirates shirt with Willie Stargell's number and signature on the front and Roberto Clemente's number on the back.

Right on, Governor Vilsack.

Huzza roster moves

In the car an hour or so ago, I heard Mac on the pregame show with the news that Vogelsong will pitch out of the bullpen for now. Burnett will stay up. The team has more patience than me with Josh Fogg & his Jimmy Haynes impersonation. That's a good thing I suppose; the GM has to be one of the most patient people in the organization.

Vogelsong will add a right-handed power arm to a bullpen that needs help. He's been pitching better lately. Here's hoping he comes through in the new role. Maybe he can do a creditable Brad Lidge impersonation for us.

Hooray for it looking like Burnett is here to stay with a chance to show us a dozen or more starts.

If the Bucs play their cards right, they can develop the organization's tremendous young starting-pitching depth into a $4M pitching staff. If they re-sign Kip Wells, I suppose that would be more like a $6M staff. Call these guys up one at a time, give them a half-season or more to show their stuff, and then fan them out around the various roles.

Another move that surprised me was Ward's transfer to the DL. Tony Alvarez gets another chance in his place. For more than a year I thought he was the future in CF. Tike Redman stepped it up with Mateo pushing him. Perhaps Alvarez can keep Redman honest too.

Alvarez is another right-handed outfielder. He hits for decent average, has moderate power, good speed, and while he doesn't walk much, he doesn't strike out much either. He turned 25 a month ago so time is on his side, too. Welcome back, Tony.

...Jeff Wallner of MLB.com reports the Vogelsong move now. Vogelsong's reaction is great, positive, upbeat, and both pitchers sound pleasantly surprised. Good solution to a nice problem to have.

..Bob Dvorchak's report indicates Vogelsong may be on standby to return to the rotation if/when the 'pen settles down and if/when Benson is traded.

...Rob Biertempfel also reports Vogelsong's role as long relief. He'll do some work that would otherwise go to Meadows or Torres.

Game 71, Oliver Perez at Aaron Harang

Ten games from the half-way mark, people. The season is flying by.

Of the Reds' big 3, only Sean Casey has done much against Oliver Perez in his brief career. Oliver threw a complete-game shutout against the Reds in late April.

Aaron Harang starts tonight against Kip Wells. Harang is coming off the DL. He was disabled for a sore right elbow in early June after two starts in which he gave up beaucoup hits and runs, and then he got roughed up in a rehab start for Louisville. The stiffness is gone from his elbow or was a few days ago when they cleared him to start, so he'll be throwing free and easy against our Bucs. Let's hope he fails to do anything about his 1.69 WHIP, his .325 BAA, or his 5.43 ERA. He's a huge guy (6'7", 240 pounds) but he doesn't strike out a ton (6.64 per 9 innings this year) and he gets an average groundball/flyball mix.

Craig Wilson has Harang's picture hanging in his locker. Jack Wilson and Randall Simon also have some hits off him.

Simon comes through in the clutch

From Bob Dvorchak's report on last night's game:

Rob Mackowiak got locked inside the lavatory in the visitor's dugout in the top of the eighth, with him due to bat. The door slammed behind him and wouldn't open. While maintenance men scrambled to find a key, Randall Simon grabbed a batting practice bat and whacked the door open after four or five tries.

Jeff Wallner at MLB.com adds this quote:

"I had to hit the door real hard to get Mack out of there," said Simon. "He was getting frustrated. He didn't know what to do."

Everyone who thinks Chulo isn't contributing, dwell on this tale for a minute. Such intangible clubhouse qualities don't come through in the statistics.

More on J.J. Davis.

Steve Novotney has a report on the decision. Rob Biertempfel has an entry in his notebook.

Bautista on waivers

Rule V secret agent Bautista is on waivers right now. Now that Tampa Bay is winning big and gunning for their first division championship, they've decided they can't carry him. He could be coming back.

Six-run seventh = six-buck fifth

Uhh. The bullpen has been a weakness lately.

Ray of light: Bobby Hill was first man off the bench to pinch-hit. He struck out against Danny Graves. I wonder if he can maintain his good pinch-hitting numbers if Mac starts calling on him first. Only one way to find out.

Ruben Mateo was designated for assignment which means, if I understand this right - and nothing is more complicated than this stuff - (a) he's on waivers and it could take nearly a week for him to clear, or (b) the team needs written permission from him to send him to Nashville, and he's thinking about it. He's in his sixth season so he should be out of options. Players with five full years have the right to refuse an assignment to the minors - this is the "five" part of the five-and-ten rule for veteran players - but it's not clear to me if Mateo's 250 games over five and a half seasons qualify him as that kind of veteran. I doubt it. Either way, there's a good chance he won't play again for Nashville. Who would claim him off waivers right now? Kansas City? It's hard to believe someone wouldn't take a flyer on the centerfielder.

I don't know why the Pirates didn't expose him to more right-handed pitching to see if he could hit well enough to be a viable alternative to Tike Redman. That said, he came cheap, and the Bucs have a lot invested in J.J. Davis. And Tike Redman has been a better player later. It was a lose-lose situation for the front office.

Game 70, Kip Wells at Jose Acevedo

Here are the 2004 Reds. Half way through the season, they have three guys on pace for 100 RBI seasons: Sean Casey, Ken Griffey, and Adam Dunn. All three of those guys are left-handers so it's too bad we won't get a chance to hit them with Oliver Perez and Sean Burnett this series.

Tonight, if Adam Dunn comes to the plate with a big smile, maybe it's because he's 9 for 21 off Kip with four extra base hits. Those numbers don't indicate much, except that Adam Dunn is Adam Dunn vs. Wells, but I'd come to the plate with a smile if I was remembering all my extra-base hits.

Pitching-wise, the Reds have had excellent work from their bullpen. With a lead John Riedling, Todd Jones, and Danny Graves have been outstanding. The starters have been so-so.

The steady diet of right-handed starters continues for the Pirate lineup. Earlier in the week it looked like Aaron Harang would start, but now I see it's going to be Jose Acevedo, who has struggled for a month or so. He's a little guy for a pitcher (6'0", 185 pounds) with a much better K/BB ratio than Aaron Harang. His 5.31 ERA probably has something to do with the fact that he's given up 17 home runs in just under 80 innings. OUCH. That's not good. Project that over 200 innings and you'd have 43 dingers. Yeah, he's a league leader in that category. Only Matt Morris of the Cardinals has given more joyrides (23). FWIW, Milwaukee's Wayne Franklin led the bigs in HR allowed last year with 36. Acevedo has also given up 23 doubles; opponents are slugging .517 off him. Here's hoping he forgot to eat his Wheaties this morning.

Kip Wells is a power pitcher, of course, who gets a lot of fly balls, so we may see the all-hands outfield - if the Bucs have such a thing these days. Watch his pitch count tonight. If he can get through three innings in 45 or 50 pitches, that's progress; if he's thrown 80 after four, he's the mystery Kip we've been seeing all year.

Jack Wilson on being an All-Star

Steve Novotney interviewed Jack Wilson about the improbability of Wilson being elected an All-Star. There's no doubt about it: he deserves to be an All-Star this year. I've heard that at least a dozen times from play-by-play guys covering other NL teams in their broadcasts of non-Pirate games. Some will disagree, but it's fair to say that a lot of people think Wilson should represent the NL at short this year.

Wilson sees it as a small-market thing. He may be right, but I think he's laboring under a greater disadvantage, namely, the losing team disadvantage. Due to their long and distinguished history as a National League franchise, the Pirates are one of the more popular teams around the country. Most Pirate fans are slumbering with the "wake me when something good happens" look on their faces. (Exceptions can always be found, however.)

Pirate fans have never enjoyed teams of "lovable losers." Losing is not comfortable with us. Look at our mascot - since when has this team based its appeal on being cute? Even gutsy doesn't do it when it's not backed up with BOOTY I mean W's.

When the team starts to win more than they lose, many old fans will be back, and many new fans will join the crowd. When the Pirates put together back-to-back 90-win seasons, we can expect some of their better players to win All-Star elections. In the meantime, it sucks for Jack. But if you don't win with this franchise you can't expect the fans to get too sentimental about all the double plays you turn.

Tipping pitches

Chris Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune has this dissertation on tipping pitches. Print a copy and give it to J.J. Davis. Maybe it will help as he studies the game from the bench.

Roster move today

J.J. Davis will join the team in Cincinnati and the Pirates will have to move a position player off the roster to make room. My guess is Ruben Mateo will head back to Nashville. I won't like it, but it makes sense that Davis would displace the last outfielder recalled.

...maybe not today. In his notebook, Joe Rutter explains they could keep Davis on the DL a bit longer, too.

Burnett good

The Bucs just lost to Roger Clemens and Brad Lidge, but Sean Burnett was good tonight. 109 pitches got him through seven. Except for the high walk number (4), he was just as we expected - five hits, one K, no home runs. Burnett passed this test, on the road, against a lineup that includes more than one future HOFer. The best thing for Burnett's development would be to leave him in the rotation and see what he can do in 13 big-league starts. Something would have to give for this to happen.

Read Bob Dvorchak's report for more & better.

Joe Rutter's report suggests McClendon will make the decision on Burnett's immediate future after Friday night's game. Sounds like plan A will proceed if Wells is healthy and pitches well. Question, then: what the heck is plan A?

Dave Williams, PCL All-Star

Found a press release here.