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.

Game 62: Pirates at Yankees

Maholm and Clemens at one.

Game 61: Pirates at Yankees

The Pirates ride their one-game winning streak into New York City to play the Yankees. It's Tom Gorzelanny and Andy Pettitte at 7pm.

Almost unthinkable

Angry citizens question Bob Nutting's desire to win. Dejan Kovacevic has no answers.

Game 60: Pirates at Nationals

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Snell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Snell and Chico at one.

Draft

At about 2:20 PM today, the Bucs will be on the clock with the #4 draft pick. The consensus opinion seems to be that the Bucs will take high school third baseman Josh Vitters (if the Cubs don't take him at #3). If Vitters is gone, the P-G's draft preview suggests Missouri State LHP Ross Detwiler, Clemson LHP Daniel Moskos, high school OF Jason Heyward, and Lewis-Clark State 1B/3B Beau Mills. The BCT's John Perrotto agrees, and also mentions high school catcher Devin Mesoraco as a possibility.

John Sickels likes Beau Mills.

Who should they take? Who will they take?

Creech on judging drafts

Disturbing Ed Creech quote, via Dejan Kovacevic:

"The first pick is important [every year]," said Ed Creech, the Pirates' senior director of scouting. "It's more scrutinized. That's the one people judge a draft by."

I thought people judge a draft by the major league talent that emerges from rounds 1-50. Perhaps Creech would like to suggest otherwise to deflect attention from his abominable track record in rounds 2-50.

Game 59: Pirates at Nationals

Duke and Bowie in forty minutes.

Game 58: Pirates at Nationals

Bacsik vs. Chacon, underway. Fresh off the bus from Indy, Rajai Davis starts in CF and leads off.

Gutters

I am totally looking forward to cleaning the gutters tonight. What new hobbies are you starting?

Game 57: Dodgers at Pirates

Maholm vs. Lowe at 7:05, weather permitting.

Game 56: Dodgers at Pirates

Penny and Gorzelanny at 1:35pm.

Nickname for Capps

We put our heads together last night in the game thread, trying to come up with a nickname for new closer Matthew Dicus Capps. There's still work to be done, but so far the favorites seem to be:

A. Bustah Capps
B. Dicus-K
C. Biggus Dicus
D. (Just plain) Dicus

Any other suggestions or comments?