Meet the Undertaker

My new favorite Steeler. Check out the Max Starks Personality Profile:

PERSONALITY PROFILE

Father, Ross Browner, was a two-time All America defensive end at Notre Dame who received the 1976 Outland Trophy, the 1977 Lombardi Trophy, placed third in the 1977 Heisman Trophy balloting and was a first-round selection in the 1978 NFL Draft (Cincinnati). He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame Friday, August 11, 2000

Six of his relatives have played in the NFL (father, Ross Browner, played for the Bengals; uncle, Jimmy Browner, played for the Bengals; uncle, Joey Browner, played for the Vikings; uncle, Keith Browner, played for Tampa Bay; uncle, Johnny Davis, played for the 49ers and the Browns; cousin, Steve Wilson, played for the Rams)

Treasurer of 2001-02 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee

Student-Athlete representative on the UF Intercollegiate Athletic Committee

A former student senator and associate justice on the school's Honor Court

Was named to the 2002 SEC Good Works Team for volunteer work at local elementary schools, Shands Hospital and with the Gator Literacy program.

Wears size 19 shoes- according to former equipment manager Tim Sain, the largest shoe a Florida player has ever worn

Enjoys music, Broadway plays and concerts

Could not play Junior Midget League football because of his size in junior high and didn't start playing the sport until he was a freshman in high school

Hobbies/interests include art, photography, video games and computers

Models his game after Orlando Pace

Lists South Florida attorney Willie Gary as one of his heros because he takes on big companies without backing down.

Starks' ability was questioned because he attended a small, private high school.

Is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha and is an event coordinator for the fraternity

Elected as a freshman senator

Parents owned a funeral parlor while he was growing up, and Starks is the former President of the Florida Junior Morticians Association, which probably helped him earn the nickname "The Undertaker"

Wears a wrist band with his family's name on it every game

Was a ball boy for the Orlando Magic for four years

Is the vice president of marketing and communications for CentsforRelief.com, Starks helps friend and fellow UF student Anup Patel gather funding for AIDS victims in India.

If the Steelers produce a 1,000-yard rusher this year, our back can take the line to Cats.

Max Starks

This guy looks like a winner. Reading his bio, I have no doubt he'll be a better pro than he was a college player. Here's a guy who knew, coming out of high school, that he would play some college and turn pro. He's smart and has some serious football experience in his family. Not known as a tremendous pass blocker, but looks like an all-world run blocker. And holy shit, he's HUGE. Bigger than Casey Hampton HUGE. So HUGE you can't write put HUGE in lowercase and express the same thing.

He comes from a major school and has all the professional credentials you could expect from a college junior. That's going to look real good next to the Colclough pick. Nice set of picks. Man I love being a Steelers fan.

One-inning starter

The Reds lifted their one-inning starter after one inning.

Simon left the game with the bum hammy. J.J. Davis got into the game in his place and promptly bobbled a ball in right field. Calm down, brother.

Roethlisberger

Works for me. Ron Cook nailed it yesterday, didn't he. I don't see why you need to use a #1 pick on a guy who should be handing the ball off 2 out of 3 plays, but I do understand that you need to get top value for your picks. The Browns paid too much to move up one pick to get Winslow (this will not play well in Cleveland: bwa-hahahaha). So OK, the price for the Steelers to move up to get that top OT was much too high and they were looking at this QB or an OL that evokes comparisons to Jamain Stephens. It's pretty clear they played their hand as well as they could with that first pick.

Here's another thought. How many area restaurants will have a "Roethlis Burger" on the menu a year from now?

The "'Burgher" jokes will be endearing too.

...second round ... with the burger we get a Colclough (COKE-lee) ... I wonder if there is a Fryes out there for the third round ...

...damn, Ben wore black and gold to the event today:

Also, Roethlisberger had the presence of mind to wear Steelers colors -- a black suit with gold tie -- to Madison Square Garden for the Draft.

"Yeah, no one knew I was going here. But I knew. I thought I looked good in black and gold," he said.

Duh, Ben, everyone looks good in black and gold.

The Worst Pinch-Hitter Ever

What a joke.

T Jones relieved J Riedling. C Stynes struck out swinging. A Nunez hit for J Grabow. A Nunez struck out swinging. T Redman grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CINCINNATI 5, PITTSBURGH 4.

Nunez was 11 for 104 as a pinch-hitter from 2001 to 2003. The full numbers are .106 / .174 / .154. That's an OPS of 328. Bob Smizik wasn't kidding when he called Nunez "amazingly inept" as a pinch-hitter. I knew he was bad, but I didn't realize he was that bad until I looked it up.

Is Abraham Nunez the worst pinch-hitter ever? I'm serious. I think he could be.

...John Mabry is a good suggestion by Steve of Mariners Wheelhouse but Abe has Mabry beat. We need to use three-year splits or broader periods of time to screen out one-year wonders. From 2001 to 2003, Mabry was 19 for 94 with numbers of .202 / .267 / .245. Abe had more appearances, then, and Mabry's 512 OPS represents a 56% improvement over Nunez's 328 OPS.

Johnston vs. Dunn

Two of our favorite players. Bases loaded, two outs, Johnston runs the count to 3-0. Dunn takes two strikes. 3-2 pitch, Dunn pops out.

Bobby Hill, John Grabow

Bobby Hill reminds me of Marcus Giles. He just turned in an awesome defensive play. Once you get a rep for being a bad D guy, you have to make a ton of great plays to lose that rep.

John Grabow is sharp tonight. Hard not to like this guy when he pitches like this.

Adam Dunn

Why didn't the Dodgers take him for Edwin Jackson and a propsect? The whole NL Central will be asking that all year.

See Jack bunt, see something happen

This doesn't happen as often as fans of the bunt think, but it does happen.

T Redman doubled to deep left center. J Wilson reached on bunt single to third, T Redman scored, J Wilson to second on throwing error by third baseman R Freel. J Kendall singled to right, J Wilson scored.

Bottom of the third tonight. Game here.

Here come the Reds

Assuming we aren't rained out some time this weekend, the Reds and Bucs will play four starting tonight. They throw Paul Wilson in the opener. He was once a highly-touted prospect and I've always thought him one of the better breakout candidates from the collection of retreads. He'll be huge for the Reds this year if he can keep his roll going. We counter with Kip Wells.

Tomorrow, it's Jimmy Anderson Haynes, someone I love to see on the mound for the other club. The Pirates have had some success against this one-inning starter. His three-year splits make Josh Fogg look good. We counter with Kris Benson, who has absolutely owned the Reds over the last three years. As they say in the mutual fund business, however, past performance does not guarantee future results.

On Sunday we'll put Oliver Perez out there against Jose Acevedo, who is looking really good this year, and on Monday it's Ryan Vogelsong against Aaron Harang.

The Reds are a dangerous team when everyone's healthy, as they all seem to be right now. The Honest Wagner roadmap to an 83-win season calls for the Bucs to stay at or just around .500 until the All-Star break, so I'll be happy if the Bucs can manage a split.

Mike Johnston

Here's to hoping the Bucs have a lead late this weekend. I'd like to see more of Mike Johnston. If the name means nothing to you, go read this great John Perrotto story about him from early in the spring.

Craig Wilson not bad at first

Those of us who saw what he did in the first inning of Wednesday's game may disagree. He made some bone-headed plays. Mac talks like he's not afraid to start him now:

McClendon believes Wilson has improved defensively at first since 2001, his rookie year.

"He's made great strides until that play yesterday," McClendon said. "I don't consider him a liability over there anymore."

That from Joe Rutter's notebook.

More evidence that Mac doesn't plan on using Wilson's defense as an excuse to bench him when Bay returns. So take heart, Craig Wilson fans.

Fogg remains

All the papers are talking about Mac sticking with Fogg, for now. See here, here, and here. All reports quote Mac:

"There is a little bit of a track record there with Josh and he's done fine over the last couple of years. But the fact is you've got to produce every year," said McClendon.

"Everybody in that locker room has to produce, not just Josh. If you don't produce, you're not going play. It's just that simple. Eventually, you have to find somebody who can do it. That's not a threat. That's just the way this business is.

And Joe Rutter has a little more:

"I don't know what that leash is," he said. "I know this: I want to continue to make progress. This team is starting to turn the corner and I don't want to go backwards."

So Fogg is still in the rotation. If Fogg is left in the rotation, he will turn in a quality start here and there. Blind squirrels, nuts, etc. Fogg didn't produce at the level the team needs last year, he's not doing it this year, and he's never shown a consistent ability to be effective the second time through a lineup. Fogg will be fine no matter what happens. All signs point to him having a long and useful career in relief pitching. He's a lousy starter, but he's still a good pitcher. Point to the record of his production, tell him that, and get him to the bullpen where he could do some real good.

Nobody will ask me, but my leash for this guy would be two or three more starts at most. At some point you run the risk of him getting lucky, turning in two quality starts, and then scuffling for four more. One step forward, two steps back is not progress. I can understand not removing him now since his replacement is at Nashville. We want to haste slowly with the addition of minor-league talent to the big-league club.

Simon to DL

Another possibility that would make room for Bay would be putting Simon on the 15-day DL. Another player could get hurt in those two weeks and it would give the team a little insurance.

Smizik on coming roster moves

Bob Smizik has a good assessment of how the Bucs ought to consider the next round of roster moves. Parts are a bit melodramatic, but he's right, and he could strengthen his case by pitching it not so much as a sacrficing now for the future but as doing the smartest thing for winning now. It's not true the team has no present. The moves he advocates would be best for winning now and for winning later.

I'm not down with pollyanna calls for hari-kari as if losing big now is the quickest way to win big soon. Smizik's not making that case though it does partake of a bit of that sentiment. There's no way I'll be convinced that the Bucs have to lose 100 games before they will win 100 again. No friggin' way that makes sense.

Anyway, I searched all over the majors for a team that could start Simon and can't find one. If he's not good enough to start on the other 29 teams, that ought to say something in big, blinking letters. He strikes me as a potentially useful pinch-hitter. That's not something we can say about Nunez. As much as I love his radio ads, Nunez doesn't bring anything that we can't get from younger guys with greater potential.

Vogelsong tipped pitches?

This on the AP wire: someone called Ryan and told him the Cubs knew what was coming. This was either an act of good sportsmanship or something designed to mess with him even more. Considering that the Cubs have not left town, you have to wonder why anyone associated with the Cubs would give this information now and not in twenty-four hours. So I'm suspicious.

On the other hand, it does explain how he could be so good against the Phillies and so bad against the Cubs. Either way, Vogelsong is in the rotation for the distance as far as I'm concerned. If you get sick of 8-run first innings, point the finger at Josh Fogg. I don't give a damn how many games Fogg won and lost as a Pirate the last two years. He wasn't good last year. And he has shown us nothing so far in 2004. The Bucs may leave both guys in the rotation for another month, but any impatience with the starting pitching has to be directed at Fogg before Vogelsong.

Back to this AP story. What kind of quote is this:

"I've known Vogey since he was a Giant, he was one of my favorite guys ... but I don't know nothing about it," Baker said. "If I did, I wouldn't tell you. But, honestly, I don't know about tipping."

How can you tell someone you'd lie if your honest answer was yes, and then say honestly, my answer is no? Whatever. Maybe Baker is alluding to knowing something about something else - stealing signs, perhaps. This part is just as good:

Moises Alou, among several Cubs, said they prefer not to know what a pitcher is about to throw. Baker said it takes an experienced hitter -- he mentioned former major leaguers Reggie Smith and Joe Carter -- to be able to adjust to the information and react to it.

This is an important point that Alou makes. When I was taking exams in high school, I preferred not to know what the questions were going to be. I could never do as well on the exam if I knew the questions in advance. And since Baker never stacks his team with experienced hitters, we can be confident that Moises Alou and the other rookies would honestly prefer not to know the pitches in advance since they lack the experience to handle such information.

Assuming that something was going on - and I thought Vogelsong was just plain sucking - then it's not the "crime" so much as the cover-up that makes the Cubs look like a bunch of weasels.

Mondesi trade rumors

Paul Meyer writes today in his Q&A that the Bucs have 8,000,000 reasons to deal Mondesi before the deadline. I agree. I'll get to work on making up some Mondesi trade rumors. San Francisco? Feel free to make some suggestions here in the comments.

Simon trade rumors

Let's start some trade rumors. When Bay comes back, he plays left. Mondy plays right. Wilson starts at first. Let's assume that Randall Simon is going to hit at his three-year averages starting now, and all GMs recognize that. Who might take Randall Simon off our hands?

Atlanta - Simon knows Atlanta from his John Rocker days. Adam LaRoche looks overmatched at the plate and only did half a year at AAA.

After running through every team in the bigs, I can't find another team that might need Randall Simon for something more than bench depth. We don't need him as bench depth; Rob Mackowiak and J.J. Davis can back Wilson up at first. What will Atlanta give us for Simon? Any chance we can get them to deal for him?

Vogelsong and Fogg

Vogelsong has to learn to pitch with his new strength. He's throwing harder and better than ever. Tommy John surgery seems to have improved his arm. Even when he's getting hit hard, he's still striking out a man an inning.

Playing fantasy baseball, I learned years ago to bench your starter if he's scheduled to start against a team that just rocked him. Vogelsong has had three outings. He dominated one team (Philadelphia) and rolled over like a lapdog for the other (Chicago).

Josh Fogg might be good for three innings tonight. The Reds destroyed him and the Cubs just destroyed him, so it's hard to be optimistic about his chances against the Cubs tonight. Just because I don't expect much, that doesn't mean I won't be pulling for Fogg. The back half of the bullpen has been OK lately so there's no pressing need to make our three-inning starter a three-inning reliever. With Vogelsong pitching like this, I'm less anxious to replace Fogg, a relative veteran, with someone with even less experience than Vogelsong.

It's early still. If the Bucs can win 11 this month, I'll be happy.

Tonight's lineup

Craig Wilson is in right after Raul Mondesi cut down so many from right in Shea. Lanny Frattare on KDKA noted that Mac indicated to him before the game that he doesn't care to shuttle Mondy back and forth from right to left, but he does not want Wilson playing left field at PNC (which is more spacious and difficult to play than right field at PNC).

Simon is now behind behind Wilson with Mackowiak in the five hole. Mac will play R-L-R with 4-5-6. Simon's demotion behind Wilson should encourage Wilson fans who think Mac plays favorites in the Simon/Wilson derby at first base.

Vogelsong threw 32 pitches in the first inning and got hit hard. He came back with a quiet second. He must figure out how to keep the ball in the park if he wants to limit the other team to less than five runs per start.