All hail Chuck Tanner

The Bucs appear set for three hires next week. They have hired Chuck Tanner as special assistant to the GM, and the 2007 team was disgusting to Coonelly, Rob Biertempfel reports.

Tigers acquire Renteria

Sounds like they couldn't persuade Jack Wilson to come and work for them.

Season over

Pirates to hire Alex Rodriguez as player/manager later in the week.

Ah, just kidding. My money's on Joe Randa for player/manager.

NFL Week 8: Steelers at Bengals

Another loss would drop the Steelers to 4-3, where they'd be in a tie for first with the idle Ravens. I smell a smackdown simmering on the stove. Game on at 1pm. Elsewhere, the Browns are at St. Louis as road favorites.

World Series

Any thoughts about the World Series? I expect the Rockies to get blown out, maybe swept; they sat a long time waiting for this series to start.

But ... no doubt I am rooting for them. All hail the underdog.

ZiPS for 2008

Last week, Dan Szymborski posted ZiPS projections for the 2008 Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates have five players poised to hit better than a league-average catcher (~720 OPS) centerfielder (~785 OPS): Bay, Doumit, and the three first basemen. Ian Snell eats more innings than Matt Morris, and Romulo! lives large with a 5.92 ERA.

NFL week 7: Steelers at Broncos

The Steelers' game does not start until tonight, so we can all go back to bed and sleep late.

Elsewhere in the AFC North, the Ravens play in Buffalo, and the Bungles host the Jets. The Browns are on bye. All of Cleveland can focus on the team's third and last chance to win a game and go to the World Series.

No anxieties

Neal Huntington tells the Post-Gazette the Pirates are ready for "action."

The Flying Dutchman himself

Long, bizarre piece by Myron Cope on the Nuttings, meeting Honus Wagner, and the 2007 season. (Link via BBTF).

Memo to Neal

NH- Huzzah for all the pink slips. Keep 'em coming. A few friendly unsolicited suggestions on talking to reporters and keeping it honest:

1. Avoid using the word "struggle" in the first person for four consecutive sentences, like you did to Paul Meyer:

"I think ethically I struggle with that," Huntington said. "An individual's involved in a playoff run, it's probably one of the most exciting times of their lives, and I struggle with trying to distract them. I struggle with pulling them out of that environment. I struggle with that step in the process."

This just makes it sound like you're, uh, struggling. A lot. There will be more worthy struggles than the ethics of when to pester other teams.

2. Avoid describing 28 year olds as "young kids", as Jenifer Langosch quotes:

"I think Kevin is a young kid with a lot of pop in his bat who will bring great depth to our Minor League system"

Kevin Thompson is a man. Maybe a young man. Definitely not a young kid. Also, avoid suggesting that one man could possibly bring "great depth" to the wasteland of Creechlings. Or, if the quote is inaccurate, sternly reprimand whoever's responsible and/or work more pink slip magic.

Snatch it back and hold it

So when we are not sleeping here at HW HQ, we are drinking beer and wine and listening to the blues.

Is there a better blues album than Junior Wells' Hoodoo Man Blues? This is a serious question. The answer I think is no. Some may be as good, but none are better.

So what else is there to do, besides watch the Indians beat up on the hapless Red Sox?

Huntington hardly sleeps

Information executive Neal Huntington incrementally rebuilds the Pirates, reports Tom King for the Nashua Telegraph. One pink slip at a time, we'll get through this. All hail the new GM!

Meanwhile, John Perrotto suggests that Boston pitching coach John Farrell, ex-Florida pitching coach Rick Kranitz, and Colorado scout Dave Holliday are candidates for the manager, pitching coach, and scouting director jobs, respectively.

Huntington sleeps in

Paul Meyer reports that the new GM is getting lots of sleep.

Midweek bunch o' nothing

So what's new and exciting? I'm about all done trolling YouTube for Hee Haw clips.

Swoopage

This past week saw some curious results in our pigskin.com ATS pick 'em pool.

Lovullo

Cleveland AAA manager Torey Lovullo is a top candidate for new manager, reports John Perrotto.

If he gets the Pirates' job, Lovullo should have some pull to bring some top classic country-western acts to PNC Park. His father, Sam, was the executive producer of the television variety show Hee Haw for 25 years.

The Hee Haw acts could run between innings to break up the Benny Hill music.

Thtand up thtwait

Neal Huntington addresses an angry mob in Scene Two of Bucdaddy's play (read Scene One here).

NFL week 5: Seahawks at Steelers

The Penguins have the day off, so we will have to amuse ourselves with that lowly football team.

Tracy, the day after

(Scene: the unemployment line. A content Jim Tracy and his staff stand in place.)

T-bone (holding Post-Gazette): Trace, Dejan wrote a long piece about you today.

Tracy: Is the manager of the 2004 NL West Champions intrigued? Yes.

T-bone (skimming aloud):

Before Tracy had donned a Pirates uniform, in the winter of 2006, he met with center fielder Chris Duffy and told Duffy he should play like Dave Roberts, the Dodgers' leadoff man ... Tracy told shortstop Jack Wilson, a three-time runner-up for the Gold Glove, that he did not like his approach to ground balls, that it should be more like Cesar Izturis of the 2004 Dodgers ... Jose Castillo was told to be like Adrian Beltre. Bench players were told to be versatile like Jose Hernandez, who also was acquired.

Manto: That's pretty messed up. Your obsession with the '04 Dodgers seems hurtful and kind of pathological. Is this why you always tell me to look and act like Tim Wallach?

Tracy: Look, Tim, is it wrong for a man to project the greatness of a division champion onto a group of lesser men in hopes that the latter would in essence realize that projection? No.

Cox (laughing): And then Ronny says to me "Coach, I don't practice catching throws from the outfield?" And I say "Ronny, I need to know these things."

T-bone (reading aloud): Paulino never was seen addressing that play in an on-field workout all summer.

Colborn: Damn, Ronny dropped a lot of balls.

Tracy: Lo Duca had only three errors all year.

Cuellar: Look, DL is way the hell up there in line! Man, he looks tired, like he's been standing for awhile.

Tracy (smiling): Our general manager was terrific. (Cranes his neck and spots DL far off in the distance) They should get him a chair. If our GM stands too long, you take the legs away from him, and in essence you've lost the GM.

Tracy fired

The Pirates have scheduled a press conference for 3:30 today.

Tracy still waiting

Decision today "doubtful", by Dejan Kovacevic. Tracy and his staff continue to wait and talk.

Manto: Any word yet, boss?

Tracy: Has our manager received any communication from our new general manager regarding our employment status? I'm not saying that.

Cox (laughing): What the #*@! is taking so long?

Tracy: Does the commissioner of major league baseball want an announcement made during the series of October games once played by myself and Cesar in 2004? No. Does our new general manager need more time? Yes.

Cuellar: Sounds like there's gonna be a big shake-up. (reading from the Post-Gazette): Huntington confirmed that his announcement could involve more than just the manager and coaching staff. "There is a series of decisions to be made," he said. "Is there a possibility that other personnel could be involved there? Yes." (laughs out loud) Trace, he's interviewing himself, just like you!

T-bone (whispering to Manto): Uh oh, maybe Neal is infected.

Tracy: If the manager is intrigued by "a series of decisions", which in this particular case, it would appear that the answer to that question is yes, than the "series of decisions" intrigues the manager.

Colborn: Tell 'em, Trace.

Manto: Go on, skipper.

Tracy: Of course our new GM needs more time. Is this man going to come in and rashly decide all of our fates, or by his action bring about the events indicative of how that action might come to be with regard to the coaching staff? No.

Tracy waits

No decision still, Dejan Kovacevic reports. No discussions between upper management and Tracy and his staff since Monday, leaving them to sit around and talk amongst themselves:

Tracy: We have some people who, resume-wise, wouldn't be suggesting that we have some guys in that lineup that are doing what they're doing right now offensively.

Manto: Like Ronny Ballgame.

Tracy: I've used the words 'consummate professional' about this guy. I've used the term 'warrior.' We've seen all of that here. For two years he was basically the guy. Maybe not on paper, but as the year unfolded and you went out there between the lines and played your 162, he in essence was the guy for two years.

T-bone: Yup.

Tracy: He can really catch. He can really throw. And he really cares.

Cuellar: Uh huh.

Tracy: I think we realize exactly what it is we have to do. I also think redundancy time after time gets to the point where you've heard it before and don't want to continue to hear it. You just want to go out there and do it.

Manto: Damn straight.

Cox: Nady's hammy is barking.

Tracy: Hamstrings are a very tricky thing. This one is very tricky due to the individual because if you push the envelope too quickly and you take his legs away from him, you've in essence lost a player.

Colborn: C'mon, Trace, we're done. We failed.

Tracy: We didn't fail. We just didn't succeed as much as we'd have liked. (long pause) If we get beat, it's because the opposition went out and beat us.

Cox (laughing): Maybe you should've gotten thrown out a few more times.

Tracy: For what reason? For being ejected for what you don't feel, due to the action that took place, is indicative of the fact of action that's solely the player? I saw things out of the ordinary out there.

Manto: So will we still get paid?

Tracy: Why should this year be any different? Because it's the last year of the contract? So what? If I had two years, would there be any more job security? What difference does it make?

Colborn: Neal and Frank didn't ask about our philosophies. We will be canned.

Tracy: You always try to create the best scenario, but if that's not completely available, we won't use it as an excuse. The uneasy part is that decision-making on the other side is fairly simple.

(All Tracy lines are verbatim quotes from: Dodger Blues, Prisuta via Billy, or Kovacevic.)

Tracy very likely done

Decision by Friday, Dejan Kovacevic reports. So far, Frank and Neal have mostly only asked Tracy and his staff questions about player evaluations. I imagine this wrapping up something like:

Huntington: Castillo?

Tracy: Who?

Huntington: Jose Castillo.

Tracy: Big, powerful-looking, big man.

Huntington: Anything else?

Tracy: Real big. Not as nimble as Cesar. Now there's a player for you, Cesar Izturis. Even before I coached Cesar to win the division in 2004 - this isn't my first rodeo, you know? - I knew I'd found my #2 hitter. Offensively, he does a lot of hitting. Soft hands too, that Cesar. Does the man carry himself in every way like a big league baseball player? Yes. Does the man truly understand every facet of how this game is played? Yes. Is he versatile enough to play every infield position? Yes. Could he pitch in middle relief? I don't know.

Huntington: Please let me ask you the questions, Jim. (turning to staff): Anything else?

Colborn: I don't really pay attention to velocity with anyone. You just gotta stand up straight. Like Shawn.

Manto (with marker, at white board): So you see, [(R+RBI)-HR]/games played = "runs produced". It's as important as on-base percentage or any of your "nu skool" numbers.

Cox (laughing while raspily wheezing): Armas never told me he didn't slide!

Coonelly (stands up and stretches): OK, guys, let's call it a night.

Tracy likely done

Dejan Kovacevic reports that a decision could be made as early as today.

NFL week 4: Steelers at Cardinals

It's the other Pittsburgh team.

Game 162: Cardinals at Pirates

The Pirates have momentum as they finish their quest to force a one-game playoff and sneak into the playoffs as a wild card.

Game on at 1:35pm. Be prepared to see some guys playing at the peak of their abilities.

Game 161: Cardinals at Pirates

Gorzelanny and Wainwright, just underway. 1-0 Pirates. Gorzo going for his 15th win.

New scouting director

Ed Creech will likely be relieved of his duties, Dejan Kovacevic reports:

Two team sources said that, although general manager Neal Huntington has just begun his new job, the evaluations of Creech's work from upper management -- including ownership -- are negative enough that he is a virtual lock to be replaced.

Game 160: Cardinals at Pirates

Wellemeyer and Duke at seven.

On Tracy

Dejan Kovacevic asked some questions and got some answers from the players.

It's hard to see why he should be coming back.

Game 159: D'backs at Pirates

Owings and Armas in relief of JVB. In progress. We may have to wait another day for win #68. It's 4-0 Arizona.

Game 158: D'backs at Pirates

Hernandez and Morris at seven.

Game 157: D'backs at Pirates

Osoria and Pena now in the seventh. Bucs lead 2-1.

We will win 67. One of these days. Maybe tonight.

GM day

UPDATED. Huntington hired.

No word on whether or not he accepted the slot money for the job. Not that I care either way, mind you.

As WTM writes in the comments, "that feeling of abject hopelessness is lifting like a fog on a sunny morning."

Go forth and celebrate.

Off day

I got two pair, sixes and sevens.

What do you have?

Huntington

The conflicting reports have resolved themselves. John Perrotto reports the Pirates got a chorus of "hell no" on that Huntington will be hired. Paul Meyer reads the tea leaves and says Huntington remains the man.

Game 156: Pirates at Cubs

Gorzelanny and Zambrano at 2:20pm. The Pirates will continue their late-September tour of the NL Central as equal-opportunity patsies.

NFL Week 3: 49ers at Steelers

Somehow or other, the 49ers are 2-0 as they step into Heinz Field this afternoon. They are led by Akili Smith (??), who I thought would be playing in the CFL this year. And - here is the craziest part - former Vice President Al Gore (?!) starts at running back. He'll try to be the first player to rush for 100 yards against the Steelers since the early days of the Cowher era. Call me overconfident--I think the Steelers can stuff this guy, no problem.

Fire up the Jimmy Psihoulis and Bill Yeager.

Game 155: Pirates at Cubs

Duke and Hill at one. The Pirates make their eighth straight attempt at win number 67.

We will hire Huntington

Neal Huntington will be the new GM, Paul Meyer is now reporting.

No decision yet on GM hiring

Alan Robinson reports for the AP. NTNGod posted this at Primer a few hours ago. Those guys are Primer sure are smart.

We'll know soon enough. I'd have more energy to focus on this GM search if I could get over the suspense involved with the Pirates attaining their 67th win. You could call this excitement, my way of maintaining the integrity of the game.

Game 154: Pirates at Cubs

Maholm vs. Marquis, starting soon. The Bucs have reclaimed the basement with only nine games left to protect the integrity of the travesty.

Neal Huntington, new GM?

The Bucs will soon name Neal Huntington the new GM, John Perrotto reports. Huntington is currently a special assistant to the general manager with the Cleveland Indians.

Game 153: Pirates at Padres

Morris and Tomko this afternoon, starting in about ninety minutes.

The Pirates are making their sixth attempt to win their 67th game of the season.

No love for losers

Dejan Kovacevic reports that Armas, Chacon, and Izturis will not be back in 2008. He also reports that Carlos Guillen has told the press that he hopes Detroit, in their possible search for a new shortstop, can do better than Jack Wilson.

Game 152: Pirates at Padres

Ian Snell vs. Chris Young, starts now.

GM announcement soon?

The Post-Gazette's Paul Meyer relates some speculation:

There was some speculation yesterday that the Pirates could have a short interview list and could make the announcement about a new general manager Monday, an off-day for the team before it begins its final homestand of the season Tuesday.

Meyer throws Logan White's name into the mix. Any short list would seem to include at least LaCava, Zduriencik, and Bernazard (but not Amaro, who Meyer suggests will be named Astros GM shortly). Another candidate for Bucs GM could be Mike Rizzo, who Meyer reported has interest in the job (read Vlad's bio of Rizzo at Bucs Dugout here).

Game 151: Pirates at Padres

Gorzo vs. Maddux in an hour.

Zduriencik

Will interview for the GM job, says Doug Melvin via mlb.com.

Game 150: Pirates at Padres

JVB vs. Jack Cassel soon. Stakes are high, as JVB is running out of chances. The Bucs trail the Padres by 15.5 games in the wild card race.

A good thing

Tim Marchman of the New York Sun likes the Coonelly hire:

One doesn't have to like the idea of quasi-collusion to admit that the most likely explanation here is simply that Coonelly, a powerful and effective baseball man, has agreed to try and turn around perhaps the game's least effective franchise.

Game 149: Pirates at Astros

Maholm vs. Backe, top of the first.

NFL week 2: Bills at Steelers

Steelers take the ball, start the drive down the field.

15

Dejan Kovacevic writes it up and the PG provides a nice photo (not good for drinking room wall) of Morris and Tracy.

Game 148: Pirates at Astros

Morris and Wandy Rodriguez starting soon.

Frank Coonelly in uniform. He'll stand in as the first-base coach. He'll help Ronny call the game, he'll steal the signs, he'll high-five all the players rounding first, and he'll try not to mix it up with the umpire calling the balls and the strikes.

Bernazard

John Perrotto on emerging GM candidate Tony Bernazard. Perrotto's source indicates that no GM interviews have taken place.

Coonelly goes to work

Frank's first CEO move is removing Armas from the rotation, Dejan Kovacevic reports. Coonelly is also the topic of the latest Q+A, in which Dejan finds the new CEO to be "loud, clear, and confident", and not your average bean counter.

Bay never met McClatchy?

New CEO Frank Coonelly boarded the team bus and introduced himself, mlb.com's Jenifer Langosch reports:

"He came on the bus and said hi before he left and wanted to show his face and meet everybody," outfielder Jason Bay said. "He said that he was going to be around more early on, to feel his way around."

Contrastingly, Bay said he has never met outgoing team CEO Kevin McClatchy.

How could the CEO in charge of day-to-day operations of the franchise never meet the franchise player?

UPDATE: sludgeworm found this nice picture of Bay and McClatchy chatting from an earlier story (by Jenifer Langosch).

Game 147: Pirates at Astros

Snell vs. Oswalt. Jack Wilson vs. Wiggy, round 2. Starts soon.

Bernazard and LaCava

Mets assistant GM Tony Bernazard and Blue Jays director of player personnel Tony LaCava have already interviewed for the GM job, SI.com's Jon Heyman reports.

Antonetti and Hahn have declined to be interviewed.

New GM will decide on Tracy

So says Paul Meyer.

After the general manager is hired, that person and Coonelly will take a hard look at people employed by the Pirates.

"I have a lot of contacts within the game who know who's good and who's not good and I've already begun that process," Coonelly said. "... We will figure out who the people are who are going to help us move forward and who the people are who have been holding this organization back."

My gut feeling is that Frank will find more not good people than good people.

Coonelly Era starts now

Today the Pirates will officially announce Frank Coonelly (pronounced COON-lee) as their new CEO, the P-G's Paul Meyer reports.

The Trib's Rob Biertempfel has a nice pro-Coonelly piece with quotes from Keith Law and an agent:

One prominent agent who has sat across the table from Coonelly during hearings described him as intense, shrewd and well organized.

"He's a barracuda," the agent said. "Very aggressive. He's not just throwing stuff at the wall to see if it sticks. He does his homework. In that regard, he's a great choice for the Pirates."

I'm willing to give Coonelly a chance, at least until he announces his new GM. All hail the new CEO!

Game 146: Brewers at Pirates

Gorzelanny vs. Bush in twenty minutes. Bucs need one more loss to clinch.

GM update

Paul Meyer mentions Amaro, LaCava, and Wren but also says Amaro hadn't heard from the team as of yesterday and Frank Wren was a "stretch".

Still no official Coonelly announcement. Maybe Nutting wants to wait until after the Bucs clinch losing season #15.

New Dominican academy

Dejan Kovacevic reports. Overdue, but still a positive development.

Game 145: Brewers at Pirates

Bullington vs. Gallardo, starting now.

Pirates hire Coonelly

Paul Meyer reports, via Chuck Greenberg.

Amaro

Nutting is not the only one courting Ruben Amaro Jr., Jim Molony of mlb.com reports. (read Vlad's bio of Amaro at Bucs Dugout here.)

Game 144: Brewers at Pirates

Villaneuva and Armas in half an hour.

GM candidates

Perrotto's list. Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News claims that Ruben Amaro Jr. might be the frontrunner. Paul Meyer suggests that the 30-year-old D'backs Assistant GM and former director of baseball operations for the Red Sox Peter Woodfork is also a candidate. From the Arizona Republic:

"Woodfork has carved out an expertise in all matters financial and technical, including arbitration, contracts and the fine print in roster shuffling. But he says he still has a lot to learn, including honing his player-evaluation skills.

"It's definitely something I'm going to need to improve on in my game," he said.

Doesn't sound like the proven talent evaluator that Cory wants to see.

Vlad at Bucs Dugout has excellent GM candidate bios on Logan White and Chris Antonetti.

On Coonelly, don't miss Pat.

I'm fine with a Bean Counter CEO. Expert Bean Counter who loudly and nastily argues? Better yet. If, and only if, there's a Baseball Guy who can evaluate talent as new GM.

Game 143: Cubs at Pirates

Veteranosity abounds: Trachsel and Morris.

NFL week 1: Steelers at Browns

It's nuts how much the NFL changes Sunday. Last week I slept long and late. This morning I get up at eight feeling like Party Boy.

Here we go Steelers.

Game 142: Cubs at Pirates

Zambrano and Snell starting now. Here's hoping that Snell has all the powers of Snell at his fingertips tonight.

Coonelly in as CEO?

In what might be -- as sludge suggests -- a Grimm Tribune moment, Ken Rosenthal proclaims that Nutting will make the "phenomenal" choice of Frank Coonelly for CEO. Link here.

Paul Meyer hedges for the Post-Gazette.

Vlad jumps the gun -- the fat ladies have not sung in the Pirates' front office. (They are not fat, I'm sure, but very beautiful ... I mean this rhetorically.) Do read his post, however, and click on those crazy links he dug up on Zip "he's a larned skoller" Frank Coonelly.

Littlefield era post-mortem

Dejan Kovacevic offers his analysis of the Littlefield era here in the Post-Gazette.

It's strongly worded, and it's pretty damning. I also think it's fair.

And I cannot think of anything significant that Kovacevic has left out.

Game 141: Cubs at Pirates

Hill and Gorzelanny at seven.

LITTLEFIELD FIRED!!!

Finally. Official announcement here. P-G story here. All hail Bob Nutting! Beer me!

Game 140: Pirates at Cardinals

Bullington vs. Maroth, starts now. McLouth back in CF. Phelps at 1B, Pearce in RF, Maldonado catching. Ronny on the bench, calling the game and stealing signs.

UPDATE: start of game delayed by rain again. Game on (3:35 PM).

Game 139: Pirates at Cardinals

Armas and Mulder, starting real soon. Tonight's wrinkle is Izturis at third, Bautista in center, Pearce in right.

UPDATE: Start of game delayed by rain. Game on (9:00 PM).

Honest Wagner NFL pick 'em pool

Get in the pool:
FREE PigPool at Pigskin.com.
poolname: Honest Wagner Pick 'em Pool
password: 51yardparker
If you did this in years past, you're still in the pool and you can simply login and make your picks. For more info, see Rowdy's post from last year.

Game 138: Pirates at Cardinals

Morris vs. Pineiro starts now. Morgan and Pearce starting again.

Bullington, JVB, and Davidson

Three pitchers called up, reports Dejan Kovacevic. Bullington will try to protect the integrity of the rotation, but all three are unlikely to make the postseason roster.

Game 137: Pirates at Cardinals

Ian Snell vs. Kip Wells. Kip, 6-15 but hitting .340, is batting eighth, in front of 3B Brendan Ryan. For the Bucs, Nyjer Morgan leads off and plays CF, while Steve Pearce bats sixth and plays 1B.

Pirates prospects

The Trib's Rob Biertempfel reports on Pirates prospects, with a few zingers added by BP's Kevin Goldstein.

Under "mixed results", the summary at the end lists: Yoslan Herrera, Jonah Bayliss ("The skinny: Spring training success might have been a mirage"), Brad Lincoln, and Pedro Powell. Although Powell hit only .241/.320/.304 in his second full year at Lynchburg, this profile by mlb.com's Lisa Winston reports:

Powell was slowly but surely starting to learn how to play the "little man's game."

Game 136: Pirates at Brewers

Gorzelanny vs. Suppan at two eastern. Bucs need a win to stay in contention.

Game 135: Pirates at Brewers

Youman vs. Bush in fifteen. Batting sixth and playing RF, Steven Pearce.

Tracy on integrity of the game

Don't expect all of the Indy call-ups to start regularly. Jim Tracy (via mlb.com):

"You don't foresee a lot of days where you are going to have the liberty to run four or five guys out there -- who were playing baseball in Triple-A or Double-A -- in a big league game," Tracy said. "You need to protect the integrity of the game and your situation in relation to the other competitors that you're playing against."

I'd hate to see what Pirates baseball without integrity would look like.

Pearce, Morgan, and Perez up

1B Steve Pearce, OF Nyjer Morgan, and LHP Juan Perez have been called up from Indy, Paul Meyer reports.

Game 134: Pirates at Brewers

Armas vs. Gallardo soon. Jack returns, freeing Izturis to work in the dugout.

Game 133: Reds at Pirates

Morris vs. Belisle, starting now.

Duffy surgery

Chris Duffy will have surgery on his left shoulder tomorrow, Dejan Kovacevic reports. Duffy will miss the playoffs, but should be ready for spring training 2008.

Game 132: Reds at Pirates

Snell vs. Harang, starting now.

Torres to return

No structural damage to Sully's arm, John Perrotto reports. Sully is expected back in time to pitch in the playoffs.

Game 131: Reds at Pirates

Maholm vs. Arroyo, second game of the doubleheader underway. Irate Fans and Pirates Fans for Change congregating in Section 140.

Game 130: Reds at Pirates

Gorzelanny vs. Ramirez in the first game of the doubleheader, starting now. Nady's back in RF.

Wilbur on DL

Wilbur Miller tries to steer Bob Nutting clear of the Kool-Aid, in a two-part series for OBN: Part 1. From Part 2:

After more than six years with Littlefield at the helm, there isn’t a single position player on the major league roster who was originally signed under Littlefield.

Don't drink it, Bob. Please. (Links via Bucs Dugout.)

LaCava

John Perrotto and Keith Law like Tony LaCava for CEO. Sounds great to me. In addition to being a top-notch scout with an expertise in evaluation, LaCava has experience in firing people, an absolute prerequisite for this job.

Off day

As you were.

exhibition: Eagles at Steelers

Eagles lead 3-0 after the first quarter.

Game 129: Pirates at Astros

Armas and Wandy at two.