Game 7: Pirates at Reds

Victor Santos and Dave Williams at 1:15 eastern.

... any roster move predictions to make? I'd bet if they demote someone to add a pitcher, say Brandon Duckworth, it would be Chris Duffy.

Oh and six

Six games under, in my mind, is pretty much six feet under.

The starting pitching has been shit. Casey, Wilson, and Castillo look as good as I hoped and expected. Randa and Burnitz are looking busty. It's too early to panic about them. If I'm Tracy, however, I'd shamelessly ride Craig Wilson's hot bat.

The pitchers should be better than this. And the bullpen too. But maybe not soon. Bad pitching tends to beget bad pitching; tired pitchers are rarely good pitchers. And they are, more often than fresh pitchers, guys getting injuries. There are going to be many sore arms over the rest of this seventeen-game stretch. A few rainouts would help. Otherwise I expect Jim Tracy will be requesting fresh arms from Indianapolis. He can't slag the arms of our young starters on the excuse that they need to save the bullpen.

My Steelers Tea Set

I recently had a birthday (thank you, thank you) and my favorite gift was a box set of Steelers champion beer mug, coffee mug, and shot glass. Rowdietta - now 4 - chose it for me. She knows the Steelers logo on sight (how could she not?) though she won't remember the Super Bowl--she slept through it, curled up in the Morris chair on top of me.

This boxed set made perfect sense to her. "Look Mom!" she said in the store, "a Steelers tea set!" It was her choice of gifts for me.

Anyway, just a word of advice for younger fans: stockpile your XL gear before it's no longer on sale. Terrible towel, t-shirts, mugs, etc. It may seem hokey or overdone now, but take it from me--it could be another ten years before the Steelers make the Super Bowl, and it could be another twenty-five before they win one. Them's a lot of years. While I doubted it would take so long, I wore thin my Steelers: Super Bowl XXX t-shirt.

The coffee mug is already my mug of choice, narrowly eclipsing this one in overall customer satisfaction.

Game 6: Pirates at Reds

Oliver Perez and Aaron Harang scheduled for a 1:15pm EST start.

Game 5: Pirates at Reds

Game at seven. Paul Maholm and some tater-serving Red. Looks rainy. Will they get this in?

In the meantime, the drinking room has some Baltica Porter (7% alcohol), rowdy red beans with Busha Browne's Pukka Hot Pepper sauce, and Madeleine Peyroux, whose two albums are playing to a mixed but generally positive reception.

10:30 PM EST (Bones): Game on. 5-0 Reds after 3. Maholm is getting knocked around. Meanwhile in Texas, Chris Shelton has hit his FIFTH jack.

2006 Steelers schedule

Here it is.

Sep 7 Miami 8:30pm
Sep 18 @Jacksonville 8:30pm
Sep 24 Cincinnati 1:00pm
Week 4 BYE
Oct 8 @San Diego 8:15pm
Oct 15 Kansas City 4:15pm
Oct 22 @Atlanta 1:00pm
Oct 29 @Oakland 4:15pm
Nov 5 Denver 4:15pm
Nov 12 New Orleans 1:00pm
Nov 19 @Cleveland 1:00pm
Nov 26 @Baltimore 1:00pm
Dec 3 Tampa Bay 1:00pm
Dec 7 Cleveland 8:00pm
Dec 17 @Carolina 1:00pm
Dec 24 Baltimore 1:00pm
Dec 31 @Cincinnati 1:00pm

Looks good to me.

I posted the Steelers schedule not to joke about the Pirates, but because the NFL just released it today.

0-4 sucks but not half so much as say 4-14. Four games under is bad. For some reason, six games under is about my threshold for suckitude. I'm not ready to panic.

Though I do wonder how it is that this pitching staff looks worse than the one we had last year.

But how about that schedule? Lots of late games at the start. Many division games at the end. I like it.

Game 4: Pirates at Reds

Ian Snell and Brandon Claussen tonight at 7 pm eastern. I caught some of the Reds' last series, with the Cubs; I expect there will be many runs scored in this series. The Reds are all healthy, so they are dangerous. Adam Dunn is a monster.

... 6:10pm ... rain and more rain in Cincinnati tonight. Could be April rainout #1.

... 7:10 pm (Bones) Game on. Duffy drilled in the back with first pitch of game.

Game 3: More Brewers

Those guys are getting on my nerves. I don't like them. Zach Duke bumbaye? Tonight we begin to see if he was just putting us on with that "can't find my command" act he performed in March.

Bell's Rye Stout

Beer du jour: Bell's Rye Stout. C'est yum.

Game should be on about now, but no, we wait an hour because the Pirates as always are in another time zone. Not to whine about this, but this is the #1 reason I don't like the team in the NL Central. Let central time zone teams play in the central, and eastern time zone teams play in the east. Games should not start later than 7pm whenever possible.

Game 2: Pirates at Brewers

Santos for us. On the one hand, maybe he'll be motivated to show up them Brewers who exposed him to the Rule 5 draft employed him last year. On the other hand, maybe the Brewers know extra well why he's the kind of guy you the Royals expose to the Rule 5 draft.

We'll see. Give 'em hell, Santos.

Sean Casey homers to deep right as I post this. He's now on pace for 81 home runs.

...hey, Craig Wilson starting in right against the lefty. McLouth in center, Doumit behind the plate.

Ollie bumbaye!

Best news of Game 1 was Flaco returning to form. 9 Ks through 5.1, topping out at 93 mph. All hail Ollie!

On a related note, can anyone explain Tracy's decision to not PH for Ollie with the bases loaded in a 2-1 game, only to leave Ollie in for two more batters (and have C-dub never bat)?

MLB audio

Anyone else have problems with the MLB audio today? Instead of hearing innings 3-8.1 of the Bucs game, I got dead air, and occasionally some guy dictating notes about a NCAA basketball tourney video montage. For awhile they had a notice blaming another entity for the problem, an excuse I found neither believable nor acceptable. The game came back in about 30 seconds before the game-ending double play. Thanks, MLB!

Opening day: Pirates at Brewers

Game on. Ollie, bumbaye! He can throw it 82 for all I care -- just get them out.

Littlefield renewed

Yes indeed -- another year on the end of DL's contract. Congratulations Dave.

Slow is the new fast

Sherlock Kovacevic solves the Case of the Missing Velocity in today's Post-Gazette.

Speaking of Tom Glavine, he's not getting those extra inches off the plate in this afternoon's game against the Nationals. It may not be best to push Randy Johnson as the model for Oliver Perez's future success, but Tom Glavine can't be a good idea in this age of Questec.

And speaking of slow, Livan Hernandez is topping off around 82 mph in his opening-day start.

Opening day: Pirates at Brewers

Two o'clock. Oliver Perez and Doug Davis.

The stopgaps

I don't fret as much as some about the one-year proven veteran signings. This is because, one, I'm not one to fret about much of anything, let alone baseball, and two, most of the recent signings have made enough sense to me.

Yet I have to admit that the Joe Randa signing -- when Freddy Sanchez, at the least, was available to play third -- looks extravagant after three thousand words on what the Pirates can do with money in Latin America, the draft, and player development.

Here's the Kovacevic article with this stretch of paragraphs:

One argument against such spending is that this money, if funneled instead to the developmental level, would create an immense pool for signing amateurs.

"With a team like Pittsburgh, that's what I'd be doing," one National League executive said. "At the lower levels, they can compete financially with anyone. Not in the bigs. You're just throwing the money away instead of continuing to build."

Scouting director Ed Creech disagreed.

"There isn't an unlimited amount we can spend," he said. "We have what we need."

Pshaw, Creech, spoken like a company man. Hire another Rene Gayo, better research the Zach Duke types who will go to college because no team will give them the signing bonus they demand. Don't tell us you can't spend more money getting players.

I know the arguments in favor of stopgap signings - I've made them - but they aren't on the tip of my tongue.

... oh yes, here they are. It starts with, I WANT TO WIN NOW, and includes profanity.

Development

In Kovacevic's development report, we learn that Brian Graham more or less deserves an A for his work. Good job, Brian. You the man. The Pirates more or less do the kinds of things I expected and hoped they would be doing.

If you like your stats, here are the numbers:

Of the 17 players the Pirates drafted in the first five rounds in 2000-03, those that might reasonably have been expected to progress under Graham, eight reached the majors or are on a firm track to do so. That 47 percent success rate is better than the historical norm of 41 percent, as researched by Baseball America.

More impressive, perhaps, seven of the 37 players taken in the 20th round or later have made it or still could. That is 19 percent, double the historical norm.

One moral of this story, coming as it does after the drafting story, is the Pirates might do well to raise the bar in the lower rounds. Zach Duke and Nate McLouth are two of the guys padding those good numbers from the 20th round and later.

White and Creech

Kovacevic's report on the state of the Pirates' drafting more or less confirms what we've all figured out on our own: Littlefield fired an outstanding director when he took over the job. And the guy he hired, Ed Creech, has not done as well.

The surprising news here - good news - is the consensus that the Pirates have not underfunded their drafts. McClatchy was even singled out by MLB for signing "too large" checks for low-round draft picks like Zach Duke, Nate McLouth, and Chris Young. Ownership does not look like the cause for the poor drafts that characterized Littlefield's first few years.

The loss of Mickey White figures large in the more compelling arguments I read for the dismissal of David Littlefield or the replacement of ownership. My guess is that Ed Creech will have his day and, if Littlefield made that poor decision from some wrong principle, Littlefield has probably learned his lesson.

What's more, should the ownership turn over or should we get a new GM, I would expect the new person to more or less make the same mistake: clean house, bring in people that are known, and then as fans we'd be stuck watching another group of people set the team back as they learned the ropes.

Before Wilbur jumps in, one could also argue that there's no reason to think Littlefield or Creech are learning from their mistakes.

Me, I think it's more likely a new regime would blunder from the start, than it is likely that the current regime will not get better with time. I look at the Steelers as the model of the patient franchise. I see the Browns as the model of the franchise with too much scapegoating-driven turnover.

You see it how you like. But read this first, and get up on your facts.

Young Dominican Pirates

Dejan Kovacevic's report on the Pirates' expanding presence in Latin America is worth your time. We blather about this topic on the blog pretty often; here are the facts. The situation appears to have gone from good to bad to good again. Unfortunately, the Pirates are paying right now for that middle bad phase.

This passage names names:

Gayo's most expensive signing was Starlin Cespedes, a switch-hitting shortstop from the Dominican whom Gayo likens to a young Tony Fernandez. That was two years ago, and Cespedes turned 16 at the time. His bonus was $90,000 and, according to Gayo, he took less than he was offered by two other teams.

"I've been following that kid since he was 14," Gayo said. "He wanted to stay with us."

Another favorite signing cited by Gayo was first baseman Alex Vargas, also out of the Dominican. He is a left-handed power hitter who "really can rake," Gayo said, comparing his swing to that of David Ortiz.

"These guys, I'm telling you, are on par with the best I signed with Cleveland," Gayo said. "I realize that's a strong statement, but I mean it."

Rene Gayo was hired away from Cleveland. For the Tribe he signed 89 players; twelve (13%) made it to the majors. Jhonny Peralta and Willy Taveras were his signings.

I'm not sure how percentage compares to players drafted, but it must be similar. Say there's a one in four chance, then, that we'll see Cespedes or Vargas make it. Here's to hoping.

If the Pirates are smart, they'll pay Gayo whatever it takes to sign all the best he can. It can't be much longer that Latin America provides such superior value than the regular draft. The Pirates need to make the most of this opportunity while they can.

Opening day epic

Dejan Kovacevic has about 7000 words in today's PG. Plenty more at the Tribune-Review and at John Perrotto's paper. The Bradenton Herald wraps up their coverage of the team as well.

Torres signing

Salomon Torres signed a two year, $6.5 million extension. I agree with Charlie, Pat, and Billy (who bring up Aramis, burning a big pile of money, and Brian Boehringer, respectively) : very bad idea. Way too much money to lock up a 35-36 year old reliever. Anyway, now that it's a done deal and baseball is set to begin tomorrow (!), all hail future Buc/trade bait Salomon Torres!

... Rowdy here. I don't know what was the big idea with signing Torres for '07 and '08. I won't jump to the conclusion that he will overpaid by MLB standards. I just don't know what's the going rate. I do know it has gone up every year, but beyond that, I can't say. And I don't believe the arguments about there being so much "freely available talent." It's nonsense to assert the team would have success if they took any scrub, paid him the minimum, and gave him the primary right-handed set-up job. We saw those guys in camp this spring. Would you really want one of the players we cut in Torres' job? There will be no better options in '07 and '08, I'm sure. Or would you promote Ryan Vogelsong to that job? Get real, I say. And it would be bad roster management to take some of our starting candidates (say, Ian Snell) and convert them to full-time relief work before we're certain they can not go as starters, which are much more needed on any club. Quality relievers are "fungible" and abundant only in fantasy baseball. But why go two more years? I still don't know. I suspect that the Pirates intend to work with Torres and his baseball academy after he retires, and that may be a factor. They may regard his salary as something like an investment in their international scouting department. If so, that might be smart. It also looks like they are rewarding him for past service, when he was, no doubt, paid less than average. If so, that's probably not smart, but perhaps unavoidable if they wish to prevent mutiny. All in all, I don't know enough about the team's financial state to have anything like an informed opinion of whether or not this signing could hurt the team, as I think the Boehringer contract did. But like the rest of you, I scratched my head when I read about it. Like the Wilson re-upping, it strikes me as out of character, and it's further evidence there has been some kind of shift in their financial planning. It could be about selling the team. It could be about the coming new labor agreement. It could be about the Ghost of Christmas Future visiting G. Ogden Nutting last Christmas eve.

Another beer

This stuff is good, and it comes with pictures of Honus Wagner.

They trade Craig Wilson yet?

25-man roster almost set

Gerut, Duckworth to AAA. Jose Hernandez, Nate McLouth, and that surprisingly mature young man, Matt Capps, make the 25-man roster. Victor Santos will start the second game of the season -- against his old club. Rob Rossi reports for the Tribune-Review.

Right now, they have 27 players for 25 spots. A Craig Wilson-for-SP trade would eliminate one spot if it includes a pitcher or the release of Santos.

The decision to keep McLouth is great news. McLouth has earned it in March. Still, three plausible interpretations come to mind. (1) There's no confidence in Chris Duffy being ready for April, and the Pirates will play McLouth in center because they have no other option. (2) They regard McLouth's centerfield range as adequate, and they now see him as a legitimate starting option in CF for 2006's "pitching-and-defense-first" club. (3) They regard McLouth as a fourth outfielder, and they see no need to start him every day at AAA since the success or failure of his career will depend on him learning to contribute in limited opportunities.

So . . . it's still not clear to me just what the Pirates think they have in Nate McLouth.

Even with Craig Wilson on the roster until July (getting, say, 250-300 PAs for us this year), there's about 800-900 PA available for McLouth and Duffy between CF and part-time work. My guess is they don't know what they have with Nate McLouth. Why should they be too concerned? He has opportunity. With opportunity, he can more or less determine his own present and future role.

If you've never heard of Matt Capps, here's your excuse to drink a beer. He's six-three, right-handed, and throws about 93 mph over the top. All hail Matt Capps!

Readers Poll III: the first 17 games

Enough of predicting the win-loss record for the whole season. Let's hear your opinion of a more certain stretch of games: the seventeen that start the season for the Pirates.

The season starts with three games at Milwaukee. The first game is a day game, the next two are night games.

The Brewers have three starters who the Pirates have struggled against, and we'll see those three guys. The Pirates used to beat the Brewers like rented mules when both teams were bad; I'm not sure what their head-to-head record has been the last two years, but my sense is the Brewers have been getting payback.

Games four through seven are at Cincinnati. They play two night games and then, on Saturday and Sunday, two day games. The Reds will be coming off two day home games in three days, against a familiar opponent (the Cubs), which is more or less a pretty laid-back way to start the season.

The home opener, on April 10, a Monday afternoon affair, starts a ten-game homestand. The Pirates will get the Dodgers for four games. Two are night games; it will probably be cold, maybe wet too. But the Dodgers will be coming in from Philadelphia, so they should be acclimated.

The Pirates then have three games hosting the Cubs and three games hosting the Cardinals. Four of the six games are April night games.

At the end of the homestand, they get a day off and fly to Houston, where the Pirates are something pathetic, say 3 wins and 72 losses, over the last so many years. And then they go to St. Louis for three games.

Come Thursday, April 27, the season will be almost a month old. The Pirates just came back from two of their least favorite places. If they don't get ahead in the win column on that ten-game homestand, they could be six or more games under .500 before the month is over. Uh, not good.

So make your predictions: how many games will the Pirates win of the first seventeen? What will the record be when they get on the plane for Houston?

My guess is 8 wins, 8 losses, one rain out.

Working the bench

Finally read this Jim Tracy disseration by Dejan Kovacevic. There's a lot to digest. It all generally looks positive to me.

Tracy does look like a good guy for this job. The Pirates need to win with cheap players. Cheap players have weaknesses. They can hide those weaknesses by stocking the bench with one- or two-dimensional yet complementary players. Ergo, the Bucs need someone who shuffles the deck, works the platoon advantage, uses the full roster. Jody Gerut hits righties but can't touch the softest-tossing left-handed grandmother. Perfect: that's half the star for one-quarter to one-tenth the cost. Let other teams pay huge money for one player who does everything and the minimum for a fifth outfielder who never plays.

So bench spots are much more important on a cheap team than on an expensive team. The Cardinals or the Yankees may not need to pay much to their bench guys if they have a cast of all-around studs who never come out of the game. A small portion of what the cheap teams don't spend on top-tier veteran talent, then, should definitely go to the bench guys. In other words, keeping Craig Wilson, a player who will be "overpaid" in 2006 if you compare him to other bench players, even on teams like the Yankees, is smart cheap-team roster management.

Seattle

Mark Hersh's comment led me to this article by Art Thiel for the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Wow. WTF? This should win some kind of unsportsmanlike conduct/poor taste media award.

Jim Tracy quiz

Take the Jim Tracy quiz by Dejan Kovacevic. Great, ingenious idea. I knew all the right answers and guess what, Tracy got two of three right.

I'd never walk in the run in the situation described with question one. Mike Gonzalez will saw off Barry's bat. And Tracy nearly bungles the final question. The odds of the double play, even with Sean Casey batting, are not so great that you do anything but turn him loose.

Joel Pineiro for Craig Wilson?

Dejan Kovacevic reports this rumor for the PG.

My reaction: Hey, that Pineiro guy used to be good!

Not sure what he's done lately.

... so I do a little research and I find this by Jim Moore, writing for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

How many will miss Joel Pineiro next year? Another question: Are the Mariners really going to trot this guy out there again this season? Combined, he's 13-24 with a 5.15 ERA the past two years. Personally, I love this guy, too, but have a hard time watching him pitch anymore. With the millions he's making, Pineiro should be a hell of a lot better than he is, and it's perplexing why he's not because we all know he once was.

And then it hits me, I know what happened to him: He's Kris Benson! WTF? And we're going to trade for him?

Then I remember ... Seattle ... that city hates Pittsburgh!

I smell a trap. Don't do it, DL!

It's coming back

Now Alan Robinson reports the velocity is coming back for Flaco.

Of course, he can throw 69 if they swing and miss. There are many reasons, I think, that fans worry about whether or not he regains his velocity. And all those worries will be dispelled if he's as effective as he was in 2004.

... or maybe it never left. Rob Rossi reports:

Of concern to some -- but not Tracy, nor pitching coach Jim Colborn -- has been an apparent lack of velocity on Perez's fastball.

In 2004, he routinely was clocked between 94 and 96 mph. He hasn't approached such speeds this spring, though he said yesterday that his fastball was in the high 90s during his last outing March 24.

High nineties, right on. Like I said, as long as he retires batters, no one will have time or cause to worry about the velocity on his fastball.

Acoustic Ollie

The immortal azibuck, from the comments for the previous thread:

Acoustic Ollie looked pretty good. He may have learned how to pitch. He threw a lot of curves -- not sliders. His change of speeds was good, threw the curve as low as 69. That's a very effective gap. Too bad he wasn't still throwing 95+.

They did hit some balls hard, but they swung and missed a bunch too. Very small asterisk: the strike zone was large today, for he and Schilling.

2006: Ollie Unplugged!

Pirates and Red Sox

This game began at one; it's looks to be available only on MLB.tv. Anyone watch or watching it and have a report on Oliver Perez?

Cuts today

Rob Rossi reports them. Looks like Jose Hernandez is down with the second UT job and the final bench spot.

John Perrotto, Plogger

John Perrotto has a "plog". Not sure if this has been or will be a regular feature. Curiously, it's not linked from the main sports page of the Beaver site. What he'll need, if this is to become a regular web traffic magnet, is his own URL and an RSS feed.

In this installment, he admires Craig Wilson for checking MLB trade rumors on a handheld. We should make up some Craig Wilson rumors and publish them on this site. You know, to see if we can get his attention.

KDKA v. Clear Channel

Bob Smizik reports today on the future of Pirates radio.

Would a move to Clear Channel involve a shake-up of the broadcasting crew, or are these men the employees of the Pirates?

Whatever. I am fond of KDKA for its history, and I regard them as something of a sentimental favorite here. But what I really want is more Pirates on the free radio in more places. Whoever gives the team broader coverage works for me.

Jack Wilson

Dejan Kovacevic reports this fact about Jack's spring:

Just consider this: In 39 plate appearances, he has swung and missed at exactly one pitch, a 3-1 changeup from Cincinnati's Brandon Claussen March 16.

Jack Wilson will have a big year, I think. Some will regard this expectation as overly optimistic, I know.

News Flash

This just in: Jason Bay is good.

Selflessness

So this is the new or current explanation of Perez's lost velocity:

"When you have opportunities to get strikeouts, you feel good. I always was a strikeout guy," said Perez. "Now, I just have to go in trying to help the team. That's the most important.

"You don't think about you. You think about the team. Strikeouts are for yourself. The game is more important."

Perez also doesn't seem to be all that concerned about his velocity dropping from 95-96 mph in 2004 to the 86-89 range over the last two seasons.

"Last year, I was thinking too much about my mechanics and my velocity," said Perez. "This year, I am just working on my mechanics. My arm is good, stronger.

That from Ed Eagle's notebook.

Oliver Perez can be a soft-tossing lefty. Can he be a good one?

I wonder. I'm still a little drunk or just hungover from all the Randy Johnson comparisons. Is it time to let that go? Goodbye, Randy Johnson -- hello, Jamie Moyer?

The question remains: where did the velocity go? Did he only achieve it with mechanics the coaches consider too dangerous to continue? Are his new mechanics that different from his old mechanics? Does anyone expect he'll regain the velocity he once had?

Because it would be easy to make that promise, and because Perez insists he's stronger now, my guess is no, he never expects to regain the velocity.

Readers Poll I : The Team

Only six more days before baseball starts, so last chance for predictions (and last chance for me to subvert Rowdy's overly optimistic message with some healthy preseason cynicism):

1. What will the Bucs' record be this year?

2. Will we finish in last again?

3. Any other random predictions you'd like to share?

I'll start:

1. 75-87. The Bucs were 67-95 last year. They should be better this year, but I'm not too optimistic. Solid defense, a good bullpen, and man-god Jason Bay will not quite be enough to hold the anemic offense and young rotation afloat.

2. No. Bucs will finish above the Reds, who look awful.

3. McNuttings sell franchise in September. New owner Dan Rooney promptly fires DL.

Readers Poll II : Grounds crew and marketing

Inspired by our new motto and the newfound realization that "We are trying to be the benchmark in the sports industry in everything we do -- whether it's the grounds crew or whether it's ticket sales or whether it's marketing," I've raised the bar considerably in my expectations for 2006. I go so far as to ask you, fellow Pirates fans, to raise the bar too and voice your demands to the grounds crew, ticket office, and marketing people so they can get to work WILLing our demands to happen.

1. What can the grounds crew do for you, as a fan, to better your whole Pirates experience?

2. What kind of marketing gimmicks would convince you to buy more tickets and enhance your ballpark fun?

Again, I'll start:

1. First off, the grounds crew better damn well be prepared to bust their asses this year. After all this hype, I want to see them do backflips while running out to unroll the tarp. Plus I'd like some gimmicky lawn art, maybe with the new goofy mascot's face on the infield grass and the beatific visage of Jason Bay on the outfield lawn.

2. Again, primed by all this hype, I'm ready to bust marketing's chops all year long. Especially now that Wiggy's no longer around to bowl people over. I hereby demand a third mascot. And bullpen karaoke. And clowns, with laserbeams attached to their heads. Did I f---ing stutter?

Pirates and D' Rays

Paul Maholm, one o'clock.

Fourth outfielder

McLouth lacks the range to be considered a starting CF, John Perrotto reports. So far as I know, he authors the BA prospect list that he cites in his own article. In other words, Perrotto calls himself "Baseball America." The lack of disclosure there is a strange convention, unless, I suppose, all that work is peer-reviewed and edited by others at the publication.

Oliver Perez

Jim Tracy did not say much when asked about Ollie's velocity. That's a Rob Rossi story for the Trib-Review. Dejan Kovacevic also reports the "not a strikeout pitcher" line.

Absent from such talk is any speculation about when, if ever, Tracy expects Perez to get back into the mid-90s. Have they forbidden him from pitching in the same style he used in 2004?

Littlefield's contract

Dejan Kovacevic returns from his mini-hiatus to write about DL's job security.

Geek Rotation

Brian O'Neill on the rotation.

Pirates and Reds

Make notes.

Jose Bautista's gaudy spring

Take a moment to admire 25-year-old Jose Bautista's numbers this month: 15-for-51 (.353), 7 doubles, 4 home runs (.725 SLG), 13 strikeouts (25% K is acceptable for a power hitter), and 6 walks (the good walk rate, esp. when hitting .353, gets him to a .433 OBP).

He did this while playing all over the field. I heard he's going to pitch before the end of camp, too. I'm looking forward to that.

Nate McLouth has had a good spring at the plate, too. And so did the always-overlooked Ray Sadler, before he was sent down.

Pirates and Reds

Tonight, MLB.tv, seven o'clock.

I've been looking at other teams in the NL this past week. The Reds puzzle me. What the hey are they doing? I see two 600-PA players: Dunn and Lopez. Encarnacion looks great now, but he's a rook. And my attitude with newbies is this: until they play a full 650-PA season, I'll skeptical they can. He'll probably wear down in August and September. Ryan Freel should play a lot, but so will the utility infielders, Rich Aurilia and Tony Womack. If the Reds don't come up with some bodies worth playing often (Holbert? Snyder? Who are these guys?), I don't see how they will avoid Aurilia and Womack combining for more than 800 PA.

At first base, it's hard to see Hatteberg taking the field every day. He's seen a lot of time at DH in his career.

The bigger mystery is their outfield. Even with Dunn playing a lot in left, they have Griffey and Kearns for center and right. Griffey's a 400-450 PA player at this point; it would be imprudent to bank on any more than that from Mr. Hamstring's-connected-to-the-Ass-Bone. Austin Kearns has averaged in the low 300s the last three seasons. He's not durable. I foresee a lot of playing time falling to their backups, who now look to be -- Quenten McCracken and Jacob Cruz? That guy Dewayne Wise? It looks to me like they do not have enough players.

Some teams can afford to get more players any time they please. The Reds aren't one of those teams. The Opening Day lineup will be good, but I pity the Reds fans for what they'll likely see on August or September 1. Unless Griffey and Kearns both prove surprisingly more durable than they've been in the past, I predict we'll see one of the utility players - probably Womack - starting in left field, for a month or more, unless they somehow come up with younger options worth the tryout.

...that younger guy would be Chris Denorfia. JD Arney runs down the in-house options here.

...speaking of Hatteberg, it appears that Cincinnati has yet to embrace him as Casey's replacement. From Hal McCoy's Q & A posted yesterday:

Q — Didn't they trade Sean Casey because he didn't hit for enough power or drive in enough runs for a first baseman? Then why do they plan to play Scott Hatteberg at first base when his numbers are worse than Casey's? Hatteberg's a guy who has never hit more than 15 homers or driven in more than 82. — Gib, Washington, D.C.

A — And you forgot that Hatteberg's career batting average is nearly 35 points lower than Casey's. All this proves is that Casey's trade to Pittsburgh was a Salary Dump — capital S, capital D — because Hatteberg is not the offensive player Casey is. Bob Castellini's baseball people, led by former GM Dan O'Brien, convinced the new owner that the trade was a baseball trade. If it was, Dave Williams better be very, very good.

FWIW, McCoy adores Casey.

164 days

... until Thursday, Sept. 7th, when the Steelers will host the Culpepper-led Dolphins at Heinz to kick off the 2006 NFL season. "I think repeating means a lot to everybody in the organization," says Art Rooney.

In other Steelers news, Verron Haynes agreed to a two-year contract. So now 8 free agents will return (Verron, Deshea, Batch, Keisel, Tuman, Kriewaldt, Barrett Brooks, and Lee Mays), 3 are gone (ARE, Kimo, and Hope), and Quincy is in limbo. "We're still trying to get Quincy," Rooney said.

Pirates and Jays

In progress. Zach Duke works on his rosin bag tricks while Bengie Molina adjusts his cup.

Sheephead

Zach Duke, from his Trib-Review journal:

The most fun I've had down here was, of course, fishing. I've caught some Snook, some red fish and some Sheephead, which actually have human-looking teeth.

Well, actually, they're flat teeth like sheep have, but they kind of look like human teeth. It's very scary.

Sheephead aren't real big, but they kind of get to you. I've heard you can eat them. They probably taste like fish.

They probably taste like chicken.

John Thomson for Craig Wilson?

Paul Meyer reports a Craig Wilson-for-John Thomson deal might happen soon.

more on Nate McLouth

Here's something that is not clear to me: would Tracy consider using McLouth every day in centerfield? Or is he strictly regarded as a corner outfielder? I know his defense is not as good as Duffy's, but when you play a guy in centerfield, fans come to think of him as a centerfielder. It may be wrong to speculate that there's a chance McLouth would start in centerfield, no matter how much center he plays this month.

Same question, put another way: is McLouth competing with Duffy for a roster spot, or is he competing with Jody Gerut?

If Duffy's a lock to make the team and lead off, I hope he gets it together soon. He's striking out in about one-third of his ST at-bats.

Phillies and Pirates

Game in progress. Bautista just crushed one over the centerfield wall.

Nate McLouth

More and more I expect he'll be the opening-day centerfielder. Duffy's just too far behind at this point, and his comments - I forget where they were - about his lack "of adrenaline" did not inspire confidence he'll recover quickly.

Ed Eagle asked the coaches about McLouth for this piece.

... all hail Google. There's no excuse for losing recent news stories these days. The Duffy quote that's stuck with me is this:

"For some reason, last year I played spring training like it was the season," Duffy said. "I had like an edge, like I had a chip on my shoulder. ... This year, I don't feel like I have the adrenaline going. And the thing is, I didn't want to treat it like that. I'm like, 'Whoa! What is this? Where's the adrenaline?' But I know it's there."

And it's from Paul Meyer's March 21 notebook.

Bautista as Mackowiak

Is that the plan? Paul Meyer meditates on the way the Pirates have used Bautista this spring.

89

Why is he throwing 89? If my theory (see below) is right, there might be something to that effect from coaches and teammates. Instead we read that his 89-mph fastball has "much better life." That's a Paul Meyer report BTW.

A pitcher can succeed without the high heat, but still we could know more about what to expect from Perez. Does anyone expect him to regain the velocity he had in 2004? If so, why? If no, why?

...for the Trib, Rob Rossi adds that the coaches have Perez working on a splitter.

Pirates and Phillies

Take notes.

Put San Antonio in the Central

Could there be an opening in the NL East? Note Bud Selig talked, back in April 2004, of moving Colorado to the Central and Pittsburgh to the East if Les Expos wound up somewhere West.

Ollie's velocity

There's been some hand-wringing about the speed with which Perez has been throwing the ball this spring. I see no cause for alarm. Could he be hurt? Sure. But any pitcher could be hurt. This is a different case than, say, when a finesse pitcher suddenly loses velocity mid-season. Why? Oliver Perez is a pitcher who struggles to achieve consistent mechanics. We all know that. He's wild. When he's consistent and in control of himself, he's effective. When he brings the dipsy-doodle deliveries and loses his composure, he's awful. Does it not make sense for him to take something off the fastball, to slow the whole delivery, to help establish good habits? Of course. We all do this; it's a stage in the learning curve. Once he has the good habits, then he can increase the violence with which he hurls that thing. The test will be whether or not he can maintain good, consistent mechanics while throwing with all the force he can muster.

Ollie bumbaye!

We'll spell it right for tonight's game with the Phillies. Thanks, Brian. Oliver "Flaco" Perez and Eric Brito are scheduled to face each other at seven.

One of the many reasons I regret the move from the NL East to the NL Central: the loss of Philadelphia as a division rival. That's just wrong. The friggin' Astros are poor compensation for that loss.

Reds and Pirates

Just started the gameday audio to hear the sound of tarps spreading across the infield. Rain delay. How was Dave Williams?

"Your price is too high"

Fox Sports's Ken Rosenthal:

Two executive says that Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield has waited too long to move first baseman/outfielder Craig Wilson and asked for too much in return.

"(Littlefield) had opportunities to trade Wilson earlier in the off-season, but held onto him — even when he had no playing time available — until all possible suitors had filled their needs," one exec says.

None of the teams reportedly interested in Wilson - the Braves, Blue Jays, Padres, Mariners and Indians — appears to be actively pursuing him.

I'm not buying the "he had no playing time available" stuff. I did the math before Spring Training. It is hard to see how Craig Wilson would start often or reach 500 PA as a Pirate, sure, but crazy things happen and plenty of PT will surely fall to the best pinch-hitter and the primary backup at the right corners.

As for Wilson's price, there's nothing "too high" about his salary. He'd be making the same money on any other team. Since I'm confident he'll get plenty of PT as a Pirate, even if Burnitz and Casey stay healthy and productive, I don't agree with folks who say that's too much to play for a bench player. A team can pay the minimum for a utility infielder, sure, since young, inexperienced non-hitting defensive wonders are common enough. A pinch-hitter with power will cost more. Right now the Pirates can afford Wilson, so I don't see the rush or the urgency to deal him.

Ollie boom ba yay

Tracy named Flaco the Opening Day starter today. Ollie will open April 3rd in Milwaukee, to be followed by Duke, Snell, Maholm, then Santos or Duckworth. This way, Duke starts the home opener. R.V. will swab the deck out of the bullpen.

Craig Wilson for Matt Clement

Not likely to happen now, as the Red Sox traded ex-Pirate Bronson Arroyo to Cincy for Wily Mo Pena. "The rumors were wrong," Wilson said. In other news, the BoSox also signed Juan Gonzalez to a minor league contract. New rumors indicate that these moves augur the imminent trade of Manny Ramirez to the Bucs for a bevy of utility infielders and C+ prospects.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Keep your mouth wet.

Ollie, Boom ba yay

Flaco came up big for Team Mexico: three innings, 36 pitches, one hit, one walk.

Steroids are Kid's Stuff

Deadspin gets to the Pirates in their Four Tiny Tidbits MLB preview series. Although I didn't learn something about the Bucs that I didn't already know like they promised, it's worth checking out just to see the classic Steve Blass and Bob Robertson picture from Game 7 of the 1971 World Series. This image as a poster is worthy of the drinking room wall. I'd rather look at that than, say, this (no offense, Zach, but don't quit your day job). Anyway, I wonder about Deadspin's closing sentence - coincidence, a subtle HW shout-out, or are they biting our style?

Keisel and Clark

Ed Bouchette reports on some of the recent roster moves made by the Steelers. I find it interesting that Clark will step into the defense and right away be calling the signals. In other Bouchette-delivered news, Hartings traded some now for some later. And the Steelers re-signed Tuman.

Pirates and Twins

Victor Santos will bring his curvy junk this afternoon. Pirates.com says gameday audio; not sure if it will also be on ye olde-fashioned radio.

Fun with the lineup toy

Stats Geek talks lineup.

If I had a free moment, I'd enter Bay, Redman, Lawton, Ward, Castillo, Wilson, Wigginton, and Santiago -- and see if the toy does not suggest Tike Redman for the third spot.

Yankees and Pirates

Another baseball game! It will take a few weeks before it's not strange to have a game on almost every day.

Just turned on the webcast ... the split-squad Pirates team leads the Yankess 9-1. The rest of the team plays the Tigers.

Extra! extra!

If you are a newsboy you have googled "knight-ridder mcclatchy" by now. What does it mean for the Pirates? They may not win any more games for it, I joke, but perhaps they'll get better national coverage?

We down with OBP

Rob Rossi writes about OBP, with quotes from Dick Tracy and Mickey Manto.

Man up

Chris Duffy to Curt Schilling.

Roller coasters and resin-bag tricks

Zach Duke.

This Zach Duke journal is really good. First there is this:

There are some strange things that pop into your head when you are on the mound. For no reason, really -- that's the weird part. You name it, I've thought of it: Fishing, roller coasters -- I've thought about all kinds of stuff. I've though about Six Flags in Arlington, Texas. The Judge Roy Scream coaster -- I was, like, 'Why am I thinking about this?' It's just something that pops into my head for no reason. You have to remind yourself to get back to the task at hand.

Then, there is this:

One thing to do on the mound is to play with the resin bag... and it takes years of practice to get it right. The trick with the bounce is having a lifetime of practice. There's definitely an art form to it, tough. Some people can do some strange things with the resin bag; I can't. I'm pretty simple. I'm just trying to get the sweat of my hand.

What I mean is: I'm not really worried about impressing people with my resin bag skills. Even if I had them, which I don't, it's not in my nature to show off.

Some guys, though, they can do so many things, they're sick. Not me. Again, it's all about keeping my hand dry. I'd rub it in the dirt if I had to. In fact, I have. The resin bag just looks cooler, but dirt works pretty well.

Now that he has brought it to my attention, I will definitely be watching when he starts. For resin bag tricks.

He can take his time with the resin bag tricks. It may take years. I can wait.

Devil Rays 7, Pirates 0

After four and a half, the Pirates are getting thumped by Tampa Bay. Jason Bay started. So did Zach Duke. He continues to have trouble with his location. Bob Walk wondered aloud, at one point, if he wasn't having especial trouble with his breaking stuff.

The D'Rays have a real good-looking third baseman starting today, Tyler Something, Willingham, I think, that would fit right into Bones's plans if we could somehow acquire him . . .

Mike Gonzalez

When team officials discuss the best material on the Pirates' staff these days, it is Gonzalez they cite, not Oliver Perez. He has a three-pitch repertoire that leans hard on a 96-mph fastball, and his delivery is deceptive enough to help him conceal it.

That from Dejan Kovacevic's mini-epic on all things Gonzo.

All hail Mike Gonzalez!

Barry Bonds

Ron Cook has this essay.

I read the Sports Illustrated article tonight, and I have a number of now-disconnected comments to make about it. One thing I will say: this is, from the perspective of both SI and the authors, mainly about selling books. They aren't out to get Bonds, and they aren't out to save or reclaim the "purity" of baseball, whatever the dustjacket trumpets. They want to sell lots and lots of copies of this book, just as SI mainly wants to sell lots and lots of copies of this article.

The authors have told the tale as best they can with that in mind. Sports Illustrated has layed it out as best they can with that in mind. They push all the buttons as they go.

Duffy HBP

Dejan Kovacevic describes the shot to the head Chris Duffy took Saturday. The fact that explains Schilling's comment is, according the WEEI broadcasters, Duffy did not flinch or move as the pitch came in. They wondered if he even saw the pitch coming, and they speculated about glare.

Is Duffy one of those players that will take his HBP? It's not the brightest way to fluff your OBP. That said, Schilling lost focus and pitched tired the rest of the inning, and the Duffy's pinch-runner came around to score the first run in a big inning.

Victor Santos

The impression I've had of Santos, limited as it must be, has been positive. Especially since he's a cheap Rule V guy, I'd be stunned if the Pirates don't keep him in the rotation, should he continue to pitch as he has so far. As Dejan Kovacevic describes today, his now-ugly spring numbers, ERA etc., will come down if he keeps up the good-enough work.

If you are not familiar with Santos, and why should you be, here's a description of his pitching style from the above link:

He is not a power arm, leaning hard on a first-pitch curveball, as well as a variety of fastballs, a slider and a changeup. When he is on his game, he keeps hitters guessing.

Santos looks well ahead of Vogelsong, I'd guess, who was awful just an inning ago in the Red Sox game. I have WEEI on. The two crusty guys in the booth, who I guess to be Joe Castiglione and some color guy (not Jerry Trupiano, who just came on) had some terse words. "This guy doesn't have very good command," the one said. A few minutes later, the other adds, "His command is seriously lacking." John Hershbeck is behind the plate; he is, if I remember right, one of the more generous homeplate umps.

Vogelsong came back, just after I wrote the above, and he worked a clean 1-2-3 inning.

Red Sox and Pirates

Real windy down there today.

Pirate beer

With the Twins broadcast rolling and some light office clean-up, I am emjoying one of these brews from Clipper City Brewing Co. of Baltimore. Both the Winter Storm, which I drank up last night, and the Small Craft Warning, which I am having now, come recommended. The first is pretty intense, maybe really yeasty (I could be more beer-articulate, I know), and well-suited for my degenerate taste buds. The second is also good, and not so overstated. It tastes like a Pils. It's good.

Friday game notes

As usual, random notes taken in the random portions of the game I heard with pen, paper, and some attention span to spare.

Jack Wilson played short with Stansberry at second. I thought he was a third baseman.

Victor Santos was good early, with a nice fastball tailing away at the knees, but then tired after the Twins bunted like crazy when the Pirates' minor-league infield showed they could not make a play on a bunt. Then it was falling behind, 2-0 on all the Twins' hitters.

Little Nicky Punto played a corner in the outfield, which is nuts.

Pittsburgh favorite Randy "the horror" Marsh was behind the plate. Both teams were giving the little tyrant the evil eye about the usual arbitrary-bordering-on-passive-agressive ball/strike calls.

McLouth homered early; not sure he stood around to admire the shot, but he was beaned with the first pitch in his next at-bat.

The Twins people were not impressed by the quality of the Pirates they saw. "They are going to have a hard time turning it around with this talent level," one of them said, more or less, at one point.

The broadcast was very good. I like the Twins' #2 guy, John Gordon, who did a solid no-nonsense play-by-play. There were no ads between innings on the commercials--this I just love. What do we hear? It's not dead air. It's more like this, faintly, in a mixed-up ballpark babel:

Program! program! program!
laughing, talking,
the occasional distinct laugh rising above the rest
the sound of warm-up pitches hitting the catcher's mitt
Ice cold beer!

And later, the park emcee doing the ticket lottery, calling the pierogie race. The word for all this is "ambience." This ad-free ballpark mic is what got me hooked on the internet broadcasts. If I'm not in the car or outside, I'll often listen to the web stream when I could be pulling KDKA on the GE Superadio. This, the hope for ballpark noise between innings, is one reason.

Pirates and Twins

Today's game will be at one, and it will be on the internets, maybe on the radio too; I'm not sure.

Victor Santos starts for us. STATS wrote this about him going into last season:

Santos is a finesse pitcher with good mechanics and excellent control. Like Wes Obermueller, he pitched exclusively to Gary Bennett and had the best season of his career. The matchup worked well, as Bennett usually calls for a curve on one of the first two pitches, and Santos' overhand curveball is his best pitch. Santos also throws two- and four-seam fastballs, a slider, split-finger pitch and changeup. In most games, he will use the changeup or the splitter, but not both. Lefthanded hitters tend to hit the ball in the air, while his outs from righthanders come about equally on groundballs and flyballs.

So, is all that still true? He has pitched in some of the worst places in his short career - Colorado, Texas. The Bucs would be nuts to throw him back soon, so I expect he'll win one of the April rotation spots.

The last time Santos pitched, the broadcasting crew had a "first webcast ever" party and forgot to tell us much of anything about what Santos was doing on the mound. I should have the game on today for sure, and hopefully I'll figure out if there's any reason not to think Santos can be as effective as say Josh Fogg.

Catching up

Snell sharp, DK reports.

Grabow sound and good, Rob Rossi reports.

No fastballs in the winter leagues, says Ray Sadler, in another Dejan Kovacevic report, this time on the trio of outfield prospects.

Is Craig Stansberry starting at AAA with those guys, or will that be Jose Bautista's job? Do we know yet?

Jason Bay will be back soon.

Flaco walked three and struck out three in one 35-pitch inning of WBC relief work. The first walk came with the bases loaded.

For MLB.com, Ed Eagle reports that some of the Pirates were discussing a WBC game as one of the great upsets in sports history. Somehow I missed that memo. It's not surprising, though, to learn that the players are following the WBC so much more intently than American fans like myself. John Perrotto wrote earlier in the week and thinks the WBC is here to stay.

Thursday

Busy day today. Bucs lost 2-1. Hope the fans came sleepy. Who pitched? Was Vogelsong back out there with his new delivery?

Pirates and Yankess

Tonight, sevenish, radio.

Up in the day game

The wire says the Pirates are up 5-0 in the ninth against the Reds in the day game. I could get used to winning. Yes indeed.

The Q & A

Not much news, but plenty of good summary, and one good Jose Castillo joke in this week's Q & A.

March strikes me as a strange time for the PG beat writer to be going on vacation, so here's to hoping all's well with Kovacevic and his family. We'd hate to have him on the DL this early in the season ... Nevermind, my bad, he's been recalled to the work the salt mines in Pittsburgh while Meyer prepares (in Bradenton) for the minor-league coverage he'll write this season.

Pirates 5-1

Here are some random notes gathered with half an ear on the broadcast. Zach Duke got roughed up today - 7 hits in 3 innings - but he's just the kind of pitcher, the Maddux thinking-man type, that I'd expect to bomb in spring training. So long as there is no hint of injury, there's about nothing he can do to worry me.

John Wehner talked of former AA, now AAA pitching coach Jeff Andrews' favorable view of Britt Reames. Greg Brown spoke at length of Jeff Andrews' good reputation around the league. And indeed Reames pitched very well this afternoon, throwing three hitless innings. He was sharp.

Many hitters - Craig Wilson, Jose Bautista, and Nate McLouth come to mind - had good at-bats with good results. McLouth hit a monster home run, and he stood at home to admire it before breaking into his trot.

The next radio broadcast is Wednesday night. Paul Maholm, Sean Burnett, Jonah Bayless, and Terry Adams will pitch against the WBC-depleted Yankees (or "Yankess" I think they are now called) in a split-squad game. The rest of the team plays a day game against the Reds.

Pirates and Braves

Just now fired up the broadcast from McKechnie Field. How was Duke?

On contracts

Two new items of interest for fans of the long-term roster planning: Brian O'Neill, as Stats Geek, figures the Jack Wilson contract was about right. Dejan Kovacevic reports the Pirates are considering an extension with Sean Casey. All this reminds me now of the Bonifay era. Once they got "the team" in place, and everyone was feeling good, the front office signed the key, "face" players to long-term deals. This was done with no regard to the success or failure of the team.

Jack Wilson and Sean Casey are A-OK with me, especially in the short term. But why can't the front office wait to see what this current collection of players is worth before signing some of them long-term?

Maybe to answer the perpetual whining about the Pirates not keeping players? (Is this "the curse of Bonds"?) One strain of "fan" whines, "They never keep their good players--why should I care the team? They will only break my heart by letting that heartthrob, Barry Bonds (insert name), go to the Yankees." Such people will cavil their way out of any expectation; they are too cowardly (!?) to admit they have abandoned their loyalty to a baseball team for, say, a video-game addiction or some other use of leisure hours. And they blame the Pirates for the feeling of guilt they experience when confronted with the fact that they no longer pay attention to the team. To them I say, look, it's baseball; fans should come and go as they please. There's no need to feel guilty about not devoting 100 of your summer hours to a team that wins 45% of their games. So don't make excuses and say stuff like, "If only they signed their best players to long-term deals."

All the serious fans, I think, know that the long-term is a phantom. Building a team now for 2008 or 2009 is building castles in the sky. Littlefield should worry and concentrate on 2006. This coming season is three times more important than 2007, and 2007 is three times more important than 2008. Any regular, experienced, long-term fan knows that.

To bring this story to an end, signing the "face guys" to inordinately long-term deals will do much more harm than good if those "face guys" are not the important parts of championship teams. Let's not trash our chances in 2009 for a sunny feeling in 2006. I like the David Littlefield that signs no one for more than the next two years. Who is this new goon, so willing to make impatient decisions about 2008 and 2009? Sean Casey is due for a good year. Let him have it. It's not mean-spirited or evil to see what he does in 2006 before thinking about signing him on for 2007.

Kip's surgical success

DK reports an "optimal outcome" for Kip Wells' surgery today. Transplanting Kip's leg vein into his armpit did the trick, and Kip gets to keep his rib. Recovery could be as short as 2 months. Wow, this is great news for Kip and the Bucs. All hail Robert Thompson! All hail modern medicine!

Mad as hell

Ian Snell. I like that guy.

Chris Duffy

What's up with Chris Duffy? It's night and day, the differing dope we hear on his play. Will Carroll just wrote in a for-pay section of Baseball Prospectus:

I’ve had at least three people tell me the Pirates' Chris Duffy looks terrible in camp, looking down and trying to say the right things. With his shoulder and hamstring taking away the strengths of his game, it’s going to be tough for him to hold onto CF, the position where the Bucs might be the strongest with Nate McLouth and Rajai Davis coming fast . . .

That paragraph is thoroughly laced with language straining toward hyperbole ("at least three," "looks terrible," "might be the strongest," "coming fast"). I read that as a combination of indecision (or imprecision) and general tendency. He's not sure how to spin the reports, so goes whole hog and moves on. Exaggeration is the easiest way to make a little thing big.

Yet with John Wehner, who coached Duffy some the last few years in the minors, now a broadcaster, and myself limited to what I hear on the radio for in-game analysis, I can only get the opposite picture. Wehner's promoting Duffy like crazy; so are the other guys. Wehner said today he's "running without a hint of trouble; free and easy; 100%" out there.

Here are my questions: (1) How does Duffy really look? I don't put a whole lot of stock into Carroll's comment, but let's assume he does have sources saying negative things. He did have to DH last week. (2) Are McLouth and Davis truly "coming fast"? I have not gotten that impression; not at all. Is there any chance either of those guys grabs the starting spot from Duffy before the end of the month? Finally, (3) if Duffy is looking "terrible" in the field, what business do the broadcasters have painting the opposite picture? Clapping harder is not going to influence Duffy's performance on the field. I'm all about the broadcasters being partisan, but they should also be professional, which includes being honest about the performance on the field. If they think it is virtuous or helping the team to do otherwise, I think they are mistaken.

My guess is Duffy looks good and bad; Carroll's sources call the glass half-empty and our broadcasters celebrate it as half-full.

Yet maybe one of you knows better? If so, fill me in.

Pirates and Twins

It's webcast only today. I have it on this computer. The starter for the Twins - LHP Glen Perkins - was awful in the first, throwing forty-some pitches, walking a bunch, and giving up extra-base hits to Jose Castillo and Jeromy Burnitz. It's hard to say how well Victor Santos ptiched; the broadcasters are clowing around, like no one is listening, carrying bullshit inter-inning conversations well into the action. More than once, Wehner had to slip in comments like "Santos takes ball one" because Lanny's head was somewhere else. Pay attention to the game, Lanny. It can suck for listeners, in any sport, when the play-by-play guy has such seniority over the color guys. There has to be at least one person more focussed on describing the action than on providing commentary--and that should be the play-by-play guy. No offense, but none of our broadcasters are that interesting in and of themselves. We tune into to learn not to hear John Wehner get cute with boasts about how he likes to eat cheeseburgers and knows nothing about wine. We tune into to hear the latest from the field.

Kip

Surgery is later today. Expert vascular surgeon Dr. Robert Thompson from Washington University in St. Louis will attempt to repair Kip's clogged axillary vein by replacing the damaged portion of the vein with a vein from Kip's leg. Dr. Thompson doesn't plan on removing the first rib, but will do what he has to once he gets in there. There's an outside chance Kip could be back later this season. Good luck, Kip, we're pulling for you.

Maddox released

In case you missed it, the Steelers released Tommy Maddox on Friday. So long, Tommy. Thanks for the memories. My favorite Tommy Maddox picture might be this one. Ryan chronicles the Life of Tommy here.

Pirates and Tigers

The still-undefeated exhibition Pirates play the Tigers at one Pirates lost this afternoon.

...I had the game streaming through the various computers and stereos around the house ... a few random notes ... not offered as highlights or anything ... just things I noted when near the computer with the open internets browser.

...Duckworth looked OK. Good breaking ball. Before the game, Littlefield did not name him as in the running for a rotation spot.

...Snell was good too.

...Eldred working the count, somewhat. He just went 3-2 and struck out on a pitch he regarded as a ball (he started walking to first). In his last at-bat, he backed away from a pitch that was not inside. He's working on it.

...joggin' Andrew: here toward the end of the game, McCutcheon lollygagged it on a non-infield-fly popup with runners on and two outs. Our KDKA guys duly noted it.

...web-only broadcasts tomorrow and tuesday. Back on the radio on Wednesday, against the Yankees, at 7:10.