Committee of One

Paul Meyer on Bob Nutting's top-secret CEO hunt, this time with no huge picture.

Didn't like this part:

And one National League front-office person thinks that, at the end of the day, Littlefield -- whose contract runs through 2008 -- could remain the team's general manager.

"Why else do you allow him to take on $15 million for next season at the trading deadline [July 31] if he isn't coming back?" that person said, referring to the $9.5 million owed to pitcher Matt Morris and the $5.45 million club option for shortstop Cesar Izturis in 2008.

Dejan mentioned that Nutting approved of the Morris trade in part because Nutting liked Matt Morris as a pitcher. As for Cesar, although he's not a good baseball player, he brings other things to the table.

Game 127: Pirates at Astros

Snell vs. Albers, starts now. Batting second, Kata is poised to attack.

Wilson to stay for now

Talks with Detroit about Jack Wilson are dormant, Dejan Kovacevic reports. So no Omar Infante, at least for now.

Biggest Stories in the Steeler Universe

Epic Deadspin Steelers Preview by Mondesi's House.

Game 126: Pirates at Rockies

Maholm vs. Morales, starting soon. Kata starting at third.

Craig Monroe has been traded to the Cubs.

Baseball Guy, CEO

Nutting says new CEO will be Baseball Guy, Paul Meyer reports. (Warning: superhuge picture of Bob Nutting precedes story in above link). Crossing off Bill Nutting and Bean Counter, today's new CEO Odds are:

Dan Duquette: 3:1
Walt Jocketty: 5:1
Joe Garagiola, Jr.: 20:1
Chuck Greenberg: 20:1
Other Baseball Guy: 3:1
Dave Littlefield: zero

Game 125: Pirates at Rockies

Tom Gorzelanny and some guy, dunno who he is, never heard of him, Joseph Fogg. Starting in half an hour.

Looking good

Thumbs up for the new PG webpage redesign.

The book

It sounds to me like Jerome Bettis has out now a fun book. Ed Bouchette summarizes on that link.

Dan Duquette, CEO candidate

Pirates CEO candidate Dan Duquette has met with Bob Nutting, the BCT's John Perrotto reports. For no other reason, Dan becomes the early favorite in today's HW CEO Odds:

Dan Duquette: 3:1
Bill Nutting: 4:1
Chuck Greenberg: 4:1
Joe Garagiola, Jr.: 10:1
Walt Jocketty: 50:1
Bean Counter: even
Baseball Guy: 3:2
George W. Bush: 1,000,000:1
Mark Cuban: 10,000,000:1
Dave Littlefield: zero

Is Dan Duquette evil, stupid, or neither? Who's missing from the list?

Duffy's shoulder

Duffy's having an MRI on his shoulder today, which we now learn has been bothering him since spring, Dejan Kovacevic reports.

Game 124: Pirates at Rockies

Armas and Dessens at nine our time.

Good times are just around the corner

John Perrotto writes about Pearce, Bixler, McCutchen, and Walker.

Not sure how the times could get any better. I'm still floating from Skyblast. But you can read it and see for yourself.

Movin' on up

Three game winning streak has the Pirates riding high.

Game 123: Pirates at Rockies

Matt Morris vs. Ubaldo Jimenez at 9:05 PM EDT.

Monday chat

Dejan Kovacevic in today's chat thinks upper management will be the first focus of the new CEO. The update on the CEO search: Paul Meyer will be reporting the search for the P-G and "there is a process in place".

Game 122: Phillies at Pirates

Snell vs. Lohse, who has a three hitter so far. Bucs down 4-0 in the seventh.

A cold rain

I am not too confident the Pirates will play today.

Game 121: Phillies at Pirates

Moyer and Maholm at seven. Skyblast again, so I expect a full house with lots of fans arriving around the eighth inning.

Craig Monroe

Dejan Kovacevic reports that Craig Monroe has cleared waivers.

Game 120: Phillies at Pirates

Durbin and Gorzelanny at seven.

Durbin has been in the bullpen, and he's not expected to go too many innings tonight.

Coming off a shutout, Gorzelanny is due to get bombed. I'm hoping he's better than that, but I've developed that expectation over the years. It seems to me that a lot of starters get blown out in starts after the All-Star game and starts after complete-game shutouts.

Pirate news

Dejan Kovacevic's P-G notebook has something to say about Littlefield's contract extension, Jack Wilson clearing waivers, and that prospect guy who wanted "$10 million and a major-league contract." (The nerve of that guy ... thinking the Pirates have $10M in payroll to throw away.)

Game 119: Mets at Pirates

Brian Lawrence and Tony Armas. The Benny Hill music starts at seven.

After the game ... Skyblast. And Styx in concert. Yes ... Styx.

Skyblast + Styx = sold out Pittsburgh baseball stadium.

Game 118: Mets at Pirates

Maine and Morris, starting soon.

67.8

The Pirates are on pace for 67.8 wins.

Game 117: Mets at Pirates

Snell vs. Hernandez, starting now without Kuwata, who has been released, and Doumit, who was put on the DL, Dejan Kovacevic reports.

Armas and Morris, Doumit and Paulino

Brian O'Neill makes some comparisons.

Phelps to catch

Dejan Kovacevic reports that Tracy says give him credit, Phelps looks good catching the ball.

Games 115 and 116: Giants at Pirates

Cain and Maholm, Lowry and Youman. Game one at five.

I'm off to scout Latin America, but I hope to be back in time to catch the second game.

God to punish Pirates

Great, just great.

Salomon Torres explains in Post-Gazette report from Dejan Kovacevic.

God's wrath will surely end the Pirates' long run of winning seasons.

It was fun while it lasted.

Game 114: Pirates at Giants

Gorzelanny and Zito at three.

Preseason football: Packers at Steelers

Steely McBeam to play quarterback in the second half.

Game 113: Pirates at Giants

Armas and Lincecum sometime later this afternoon.

Low-cost talent

Dejan Kovacevic notes the Pirates have signed Victor Zambrano and inserted him into the Indianapolis rotation.

Ronny Ballgame

Ronny did a good job catching the ball last night. From Dejan Kovacevic's Post-Gazette recap:

Ortmeier was between Bautista and Paulino at home plate, and the throw would have to go inside the runner.

"I was expecting it to come to the other side," Paulino said.

Because of that, Paulino had to dramatically change his glove position to backhand the ball and, as he did, Ortmeier was beginning a hook-slide to elude him.

But Paulino, as he had earlier in the game on a similar play at the plate, swept his tag and banged Ortmeier in the back of the helmet.

"All I tried to do was to find a way to get the ball to Ronny," Bautista said. "He made the better half of the play."

The view from the other dugout was half-and-half in that record.

"That was a heck of a play, and it ended up being the ballgame," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "Their third baseman did a heck of a job to get to the ball and make the throw, and the catcher made a really good tag."

. . .

For Paulino, that tag and the previous one- on Ryan Doumit's excellent throw from right field that gunned down Pedro Feliz in the second -- might have represented vindication for a catcher who has struggled all season with plays at the plate.

"Give credit to our catcher," Tracy said. "He had a terrific game."

Unlike Paulino, Matt Morris did not play well, except, in my opinion, for the part when his veteranosity induced a double play after beguiling the Giant hitters with seven consecutive balls. "That's not how I pitch," he said.

Game 112: Pirates at Giants

This does not start for about four hours, but I am already drinking beer and tailgating somewhat around the old radio.

Matt Morris and Russ Ortiz tonight.

Tonight it's part two in the ongoing series, "Is Matt Morris a better bet, going forward, than freely available low-cost pitching?"

Morris was tagged for four earned runs in his last start, so he's still looking for his first quality start as a Pirate.

Friday afternoon

Any outrage du jour on the menu, or is it just the usual fare?

Game 111: Pirates at Diamondbacks

Snell and Davis starting soon.

Steely McBeam

The football gods were frowning, Robert Dvorchak reports.

Game 110: Pirates at Diamondbacks

Paul Maholm and Byung-Hyun Kim in fifteen minutes.

Kim has made 14 starts this year. He's averaged 5.64 innings per start. He's gotten 8.05 strikeouts per 9 innings to 6.39 walks, 7.69 hits, and 1.30 home runs. He's earning $2.5M this year as the option year after a one-year, $1.5M contract signed with the Rockies before the 2006 season.

For those of you who read the previous comment thread, Matt Morris has made 22 starts this year. He's averaging 6.5 innings per start. He's gotten 4.84 strikeouts per 9 innings for 2.52 walks, 10.76 hits, and 0.75 home runs. He's making $10M this year as part of a three-year, $27M contract signed with the Giants before the 2006 season.

Paul Maholm has made 22 starts for the Pirates this year. He's averaging 6.27 innings per start. He's gotten 5.28 strikeouts per nine innings to show for his nine-innings averages of 2.54 walks, 9.52 hits, and 1.11 home runs. He's making 403K in this, his third year of major-league ball.

Perrotto on the Morris signing

John Perrotto is still scratching his head over the Morris deal.

On one hand, I suppose there is a lot of head to scratch.

On the other hand, the rationale behind the trade looks clear enough to me. The same kind of bad things we might predict about Morris's future performance could also be said about the future of Jeff Suppan.

It is crazy that reliable starters command so much money. It is crazy, too, that pre-arb players make so little. But that is the way it is these days.

A starter was, I think, a need and not a want. And when you need something, you cannot complain persuasively about the price. This is especially true if you get what you need for less than the going rate. And I think that, in the Morris deal, the Pirates acquired a veteran starter for much less than they would have paid in the off-season free agent market. After all, they were able to acquire his expensive skills for only 1 1/2 or (if they pick up his option) 2 1/2 years. No starter like Matt Morris would settle for a one- or two-year deal.

Littlefield may negotiate like a fantasy-league jerk--as Dejan Kovacevic's report might suggest--but he has made some good trades.

P.S. I'm not suggesting that a number of good trades should be enough to save his job. We can give credit where it is due and still be disappointed in his performance as GM.

Game 109: Pirates at Diamondbacks

Gorzelanny and Owings, starting in twenty mintues.

Winners and losers

Early in the year the Arizona Diamondbacks (63-50, first place in the NL West) ranked as the youngest team in the NL. So I've considered them proof that age was not the problem with the 2007 Pirates (44-64, last place in the NL Central).

These days, the Pirates are a bit younger overall (27.8 to 27.9), but the Diamondbacks have an impressive list of players who are 24 or younger: Edgar Gonzalez, Micah Owings, Miguel Montero, Stephen Drew, Mark Reynolds, Carlos Quentin, Justin Upton, Chris B. Young.

The kids of Pittsburgh are Matt Capps and Zach Duke.

There must be a lesson in there somewhere.

Snack business thriving

Sitaua Faala'ula'u has repaid $6.26 of my $25.00 loan to her.

Eldar is also doing well.

Enjoy your off day.

exhibition football: Saints and Steelers

NFL Network ball-hogs the exhibition opener. I make a point of ignoring exhibition football, but with the new coach and whatnot, I will follow the events of this game. And perhaps there will be some good reading about it tomorrow.

Game 109: Reds at Pirates

Gorzelanny vs. Arroyo, delayed by rain. Cesar starting at third and batting second.

UPDATE (4:30 PM): Game postponed until Aug. 28th.

Game 108: Reds at Pirates

Bobby Livingston and Matt Morris, starting shortly.

The crowd of 22,874 booed most of the night

The Pirates have all kinds of problems, as Dejan Kovacevic's Post-Gazette report describes.

Game 107: Reds at Pirates

Belisle and Snell at 7:05pm. I'm curious to see how the arrival of Veteran Leadership affects young Blue Hen boy.

What is the goal here?

Pirates are 44-62 and on pace for 67 wins.

Game 106: Cardinals at Pirates

Youman vs. Reyes, scoreless in the second.

Morris and meanings

As usual, I woke up and read the Post-Gazette Pirates coverage. There are two things about it today that bothered me.

First, we are skeptical of David Littlefield and the stories we hear from him and his employees. So why do we regard the Brian Sabean crew as a collection of spin-free truthtellers? The story about the Pirates riding in like moronic knights to lift the spirits of a depressed San Francisco conference room strikes me, at first glance, as Sabean et al posturing before the San Francisco public. It's not that they traded away Matt Morris in a brazen salary dump: they got a great deal! Well above market price! And look -- we're not dumb like other guys!

Why else would Sabean tell these stories to reporters? If he's not out to save face, then he's guilty of pretty unprofessional conduct.

The story could be true. It does fit the narrative we're usually told about Littlefield. And maybe no one lies or spins the truth in San Francisco. A lot of nice people live out there.

Second, there is a common misconception that the rest of the season is "meaningless." The 2008 Pirates, no matter who is the GM, will mainly consist of the 2007 Pirates. When I talk about wanting to see a winning team on the field, I am talking about tonight, tomorrow, and next year. No amount of money spent on building a school for 16-year-old Dominican children will help the Pirates win games now or next year. It's true the Pirates need to do such things, but such things can not be confused with the things they need to do win more games now and next year.

Dejan Kovacevic rants that Morris will now get paid for "meaningless starts for an utterly meaningless final two months." As fans, we may not care to watch these starts. Here we go Steelers and so on. But if the 2008 Pirates are going to win games, the 2007 Pirates better improve. They need to study, practice, concentrate, develop patience, and figure out what it is they need to know to win more games. So the rest of the season has a lot of meaning for the players. I may not watch these games, but I sure hope the team uses them well to better grow whatever bit of talent these 2007 Pirates might have.

There are no meaningless games.

Game 105: Cardinals at Pirates

Armas vs. Looper, starting soon.

10 reasons I like the Matt Morris trade

For a bunch of reasons, I like the Matt Morris acquisition.

1. Morris has been very good. The main reason the Pirates continue to lose is talent. They do not have much talent. A player that has been very good has a better chance of performing at that level than a player who has never been very good. So there is hope for him.

2. Morris is not old.

3. Morris has been dependable and durable, even when not very good.

4. Morris has already had Tommy John surgery.

5. I have not witnessed the recent struggles of Matt Morris. Ignorance is bliss. He comes to me with a clean slate.

6. In the short term, this is good theater. To some extent, that's all the game is: theater. This sort of thing sells tickets.

7. The team has not thrived with cautious and predictable leadership. A more creative and aggressive style of leadership can only help.

8. The acquisition suggests that the front office has money to spend. (blinks, as though stunned) Have the recent and excessive profits been saved for future payroll? Such arguments sound a little less bogus.

9. The Pirates need talent to win, and they have little talent on the roster and little talent in the minor leagues. They will have to buy some talent to put a winner on the field. Talent is expensive. And when I look at recent free agent signings, the expensive thing is not the annual rate but the number of years. Two years for twenty million dollars is much wiser, I think, than six for seventy-five or eight for one hundred.

First-tier free agents are not going to sign for two years. If a lower-payroll team shops for a promising free agent who will sign for two years, they can only explore the scratch-and-dent bin. Since these higher-risk, higher-upside second-tier free agents aim to complete a short-term deal only for leverage on a later, long-term deal, they are not inclined, if they have any talent and choice, to sign a short deal with a perennial loser. They want to showcase their talent. Players like Randy Wolf sign with the Dodgers; players like Tony Armas sign with the Pirates.

I've long argued this point. Somewhere in the archives, for example, I argued that the Pirates should trade for Manny Ramirez near the end of his contract.

I would have preferred that the Pirates acquire a slugger. Why not Adam Dunn? The Reds asked for a lot for the privilege of assuming the tail end of his contract. The Giants wanted next to nothing for Matt Morris and his remaining contract. There's no doubt this team also needs starting pitching, so the fact that Morris is not a slugger is not much of a strike against the deal for me.

10. I'm a huge fan of Dogfish Head beer. If Dave Littlefield is extended by the new "baseball man" CEO, Bones owes me a six-pack of Dogfish Head beer. I believe my chance of acquiring this free beer has improved. I can't say why, for sure, this is evidence that Nutting's new man will retain Littlefield, but I can say that I sense that the beer is out there, wanting me and drifting my way.

All that said, Morris must be effective. Nutting and Littlefield are not off the hook for this. If Morris bombs, I will not shrug and say it was still a good idea to get him. So I like the acquisition, but it's not my job to know for sure if Matt Morris will be an effective pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That is Littlefield's job. If Morris is just another loser, this was an expensive mistake and another line in the incompetence book.

Game 104: Cardinals at Pirates

Wainwright and Maholm at seven.

Let's see. Overwhelmed by the opposition, demoralized and apathetic, the Pirates appear to be fighting a hopeless and ineptly-managed battle to escape 2007 with 82 wins. General Littlefield, stubborn and contrary, recommends a surge. President Nutting approves it.

. . .

Is that a terrible comparison or what?

Regardless, when will The Surge first start for us?

Matt Morris

Bucs trade Rajai Davis and PTBNL to SF for Matt Morris, mlb.com is reporting. Why?

Non-waiver trade deadline

I'm up early, waiting for the magic of Dave.

Jack Wilson to Tigers?

The Bucs and Tigers have been talking, the P-G's Dejan Kovacevic reports:

Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield's return will be negligible if Detroit assumes most or all of Wilson's contract, which pays a $5.25 million salary this season and $14.5 million for the next two. Industry observers say it is enormously unlikely the Pirates would find any team to take all of it.

OK, so lower the bar for expectations here. Looking over the Tigers' roster and pretending I'm DL, and thus hell-bent for versatile infielders who can't hit worth a damn, I see Omar Infante has played seven positions and Neifi Perez's suspension will be over soon. Maybe Jack could fetch both?

On the super cheap

Rob Biertempfel summarizes and follows up on Jim Heyman's SI.com ranking of Bob Nutting as the fifth-worst owner in MLB.

"They're not trying their hardest," Heyman said. "They're being cheap. It's a cheaper route to begin with, when you go with a long-range plan based on the farm system. But they're taking an even cheaper route on the cheap route.

"When you're that cheap, you've got to make it up by being brilliant -- and they don't have Billy Beane running the team. I don't blame (general manager Dave) Littlefield; they don't give him money to work with. They can't expect to win with one of the lowest payrolls in baseball. The owner is very cheap. Cheap owner, cheap team."

S.Zielinksi posted this at Primer. Jim Furtado is gathering information to better persuade high-payin' advertisers; if you are a fan of Primer, today would be a good day to visit and take the survey, which involves ranking all of your favorite beers and wines and spirits.

No trades for Bucs?

"Odds are the Pirates won't do anything else before the deadline," wagers Jim Molony for mlb.com.

Makes sense, I guess. The NL-worst Bucs have at least three relievers to trade and virtually no offense, while most of the other teams want relief help. Better to hold now and wait for the new GM.

R.I.P. Bill Robinson

We are saddened by the news that Bill Robinson, Pirate from 1975-1982, died Sunday at the age of 64.

We'll remember Robinson in part for his single in the top of the sixth in Game 7 of the 1979 World Series. Down 1-0, Robinson started the rally that put the Bucs up for good, by singling before Stargell's jack. All hail Bill Robinson!

Game 103: Pirates at Phillies

Ian Snell and Kyle Kendrick at 1:35.

Game 102: Pirates at Phillies

Durbin vs. Youman, starting now.

Delaware Athlete of the Year

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

Who wouldn't?

Game 101: Pirates at Phillies

Moyer vs. JVB in ten minutes.

HW poll: DL in 2008?

Do you think Dave Littlefield will be GM next year?

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

Trading Torres

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

Dangerous drinking

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

Game 100: Pirates at Mets

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

Game 99: Pirates at Mets

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

Game 98: Pirates at Mets

Maine vs. Snell, starting now.

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

Ricciardi not interested

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

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

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

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

The Outmaker

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

Polamalu signs

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

Off day

Try to remain calm.

Game 97: Astros at Pirates

Williams and Youman at one thirty.

Trade 'em all

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

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

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

I did not know that, Jim.

Game 96: Astros at Pirates

Rodriguez and Maholm at seven-fifteen.

Game 95: Astros at Pirates

Oswalt and Gorzelanny at seven.

Yes it is about the Jack

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

John Perrotto wonders how this might happen.

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

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

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

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

Welcome Cesar Izturis

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Long pause)

Rob Biertempfel wrote this amusing interview for the Trib.

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

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

A: Long pause.

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

Game 94: Rockies at Pirates

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

Francis and Snell starting soon.

Game 93: Rockies at Pirates

Fogg and Youman at seven.

Lashing continued horses poor

The blog stats are rarely interesting.

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

That about sums it up, eh.

Game 92: Rockies at Pirates

Buchholz and JVB at seven.

Integrity of the game

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bugs

Nuts.

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

Game 91: Pirates at Braves

Maholm and Carlyle at one.

Game 90: Pirates at Braves

Gorzelanny and James at seven.

Kip Wells for Ryan Howard

Dan Dunkin writing for phillyBurbs.com:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game 89: Pirates at Braves

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

Hudson and Snell at seven-thirty.

Some midseason grades

John Perrotto offers his. They look fair to me.

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

Xavier Nady

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

Enjoying the 40

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pittsburgh native Jack Zduriencik

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

This could be an interesting year ahead.

All-Star Honus the Alpaca

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

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

Off day

Take it easy.

Game 88: Cubs at Pirates

Zambrano and Youman at one-thirty.

Figureheads and baseball men

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

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

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

Littlefield could work in long relief.