First place again. The hated Cubs have the day off, so the Pirates could leave St. Louis in sole possession of first place with a win. It's early but it counts, and as a fan, you have to enjoy the season while it's good.
Ohlendorf and Carpenter in a day game, starting around 1:30pm.
From DK's PBC blog, I copy the pitchers:
Starting pitchers: Paul Maholm, Zach Duke, Ian Snell, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff KarstensRelievers: Matt Capps, John Grabow, Tyler Yates, Sean Burnett, Craig Hansen, Donnie Veal, Jesse Chavez
Q. Which starter will finish the season with the most innings? Which reliever?
Deeply entombed in the heavily fortified HW beer fort, we're more than ready to weather out the imminent losing. While the 2009 losing should be epic, in a setting-the-record-for-the-worst-team-ever kind of way, we're hopeful that by September we'll emerge with a breathtaking new lease on life, as some of the kids bum rush the show. For now though, it's 2009 prediction time, so please humor us in the comments:
1. How many games will the Pirates win in 2009?
2. When will the 82nd loss occur?
3. Any other predictions?
I'll start:
1. 62. On paper the team looks awful. Awful pitching in particular.
2. August 30th
3. Andy LaRoche is going to break out offensively. Half of the Opening Day team will stink and be sent down or released.
McCutchen sent down, Dejan reports. At times we've struggled with Neal's struggles. Now we just don't get why McCutchen needs to learn how to bunt better for struggle-insurance:
"We still have to work on the base-stealing, on the bunting, so that, when he does struggle, he can pull that third baseman in and find his way on base."All that said, I appreciate Neal's efforts to strategize for 2016 more than 2009.
Xavier Nady, who played for the Pirates from 2006 to 2008:
When you first got here, what was the most eye-opening aspect of playing with the Yankees?"For me, it's just the tradition of winning. And in the city, there's a lot of emphasis on winning. When you throw on that Yankees uniform, you're expected to play the game right. Coming from different organizations like Pittsburgh, it was just kind of like, over and over getting beat down. When I came over to Yankee Stadium, it was just an honor to put on that uniform. It was a dream come true."
Ouch. Full interview, by Marc Carig for the New Jersey Star-Ledger, here.
Ronny has been traded twice in a few hours, and will now be calling games from the Marlins' bench. Bad news for the Bucs that RBG will be staying in the NL, as his deep familiarity with the Bucs' signs and ability to steal these at will from the bench could be the difference between 66 and 68 wins.
In other news, Chuck Finder reports that proud father hurt and gullible 20-year-old Jose Tabata honestly believed his 43-year-old wife to be pregnant, and that the snatched baby was his. We raise our glass to this Honest Tabata, and wish him the best in getting through this trying ordeal.
Confusing, eyebrow-raising news from Bradenton. Basically, 20-year-old Jose Tabata is married to a 43-year-old woman who has many aliases, has been convicted of arson, fraud, and theft, and has just been accused of taking someone else's baby.
Rob Biertempfel twists the knife, revisiting the free agents.
From the mothership, Nyjer's .173/.211/.250 line doesn't seem to stand in the way of Nyjer being named the team's starting left fielder.
Roster cuts send Gorzo to Indy to work on a more consistent delivery, Chuck Finder reports. Neil Walker also sent down due to the "ugly business side." As opposed to the even uglier baseball side?
Steve Treder for THT strums the lyre about Branch Rickey's 1950-1951 Bucs.
When I first settled in to read this John Perrotto story on the state of the minor-league system, I mis-read the title and thought the system was "talking rot."
In preparation for the 2009 baseball season, the beer fort is now crenelated with monitors looping this tear-jerking Steelers slideshow.
Here's a thread for whatever exhibition action you might want to kibitz about. I am taking it easy with these Pirates, and deliberately trying to stay away from the radio these first few weeks. I'm not sure how much patience I am going to have if these guys start the season on the usual losing bender. The beer supply, however, is coming along well and starting to look good. By opening day, I should have a nice fort I can camp behind.
Pirates and Astros are playing now. The Bucs are up 1-0 on a solo shot from the Prison Baller. Maholm is pitching for the Pirates. Scuffy Moehler is out there for Houston.
Daniel Moskos has started a blog, where he graciously and honestly humors comments. Despite our immediate worry that Moskie watches way too much TV, we are entertained and applaud his efforts. Daniel sees himself in five years as the #2 starter between Morris and Lincoln, and is not sure Rinku and Dinesh have million dollar arms.
With March fast approaching, it's time to start the stockpile you'll need to make it through the season.
I am starting with this guy. What are you laying up for the long, hard season ahead?
The Red Sox owners are down with a salary cap, the P-G's Dejan Kovacevic reports.
In other non-McLouth news, pool sharks Rinku and Dinesh are eating a lot of protein and getting checked for hernias.
Finally, the day is here. Steelers and Cardinals.
With this balmy weather, we can all tailgate in the driveway.
Checking out some NBC Super Bowl coverage tonight, I saw the crew as Bob Costas, Chris Collingsworth, Tony Dungy, Mike Holmgren, and Matt Millen.
I like Dungy a lot, but he mumbles too much when he's on TV. I can't tell what he's saying.
Hey, at least no Dan Dierdorf. And maybe Holmgren can talk about clock management as the half expires.
Gary Mihoces for the USAToday:
Steelers safety Troy Polamalu says it's the players who decide who win games, not the gaming gurus."You guys don’t really know what you’re talking about when you predict victories and losses anyway," Polamalu said. "The last Super Bowl being one, obviously. Them (the Cardinals) even making it there being another one. Us even in making it there being another one. So it just shows how much you guys know.”
But sports reporters don't set the spread. It's oddsmakers such as Sheridan.
No matter, said Polamalu.
"Yeah, but you guys ride that," he said. "They put the little wrinkle in the wave, and you guys ride that wave."
Yeah, sucks when you try to ride a wave that does not have a little wrinkle. Right?
I wish I understood what Polamalu was talking about. Is it a concussion thing or a Hawaiian warrior thing?
In other news, the Pirates are talking about this and that. They will play their first regular-season game in St. Louis at 4pm on April 6th.
I must say I am stoked that the Steelers are hosting the Ravens.
Best possible AFC Championship game.
This is a good weekend for football fans. The snow is a bonus too.
Football + snow = bliss
All hail James Harrison, who joins some elite company.
Ed Bouchette's report notes:
Harrison's demeanor was so menacing that even one of his former position coaches, Mike Archer, was quoted as saying he could not wait for him to be cut. Harrison matured and focused his menacing nature on opponents rather than his own coaches and teammates.
So far, a good weekend for the home team.
Really don't care who wins any of these games. I want to be entertained. And I am rooting for Pyrrhic victories.
The New York Times delivers this article on Pittsburgh's place as "the virtual hub of modern concussion management."
John Sickels has posted his Pirates Top 20 Prospects for 2009. The system is "quite thin, but showing signs of improvement." Bryan Morris comes in at #4 on both Sickels' list and BP's Top 11 list.
Can't sleep with all the excitement about Kansas City at Cincinnati. Holy barnburner. What a slate of games
Dejan Kovacevic reports the Pirates are looking at Rocco Baldelli. Gimpy guys can be a great bargain.
Dejan Kovacevic reports the Pirates have hired a new radio voice, Tim Neverett.
This is big news for those of us who listen to a lot of games.
A little research shows that Neverett is well qualified for the job. He wrote this, for example, about the Rockies in May 2008:
The Rockies might just add to the suffering with their terrible start and shambles of a pitching staff. The injury to Troy Tulowitzki doesn’t matter, honestly, because he was not even hitting the weight of a high school sophomore when he went on the disabled list. Jeff Francis went zero for April in wins and started the month of May the same way. Brad Hawpe is primed to hit only six home runs this season with his one long ball a month pace and the additions of De La Rosa, Quintinilla and Hererra are starting to bring back memories of three and four seasons ago when the Rockies ran out “Todd and the Triple A Team”.
The same editorial concludes:
Settle in, relax, take your time. This summer is going to be a long one for Colorado Sports Fans. Wake me up when the winning starts, OK?
I doubt he'll catch as many zzz's as he'd like this coming summer, but it does look like he's ready to step in and explain the Pirates to us. Congratulations, Tim -- we will listen.
The Bucco blogosphere has suddenly been festooned with much excellent interesting commentary on a Q+A question about free agents vs. prospects in the current market, and whether the Bay trade was wise. For the record, Rowdy and I both liked the Bay trade at the time.
Andy LaRoche has 164 ABs as a Pirate. Sure, those haven't been pretty, but give him a chance at least.
Reliever Chris Bootcheck has agreed to terms, Dejan reports. Bootcheck missed most of the 2006 season after injuring his hammy while running from the bullpen to the mound during an Angels brawl. This reminds me of Bucdaddy's question of why, during a bench-clearing brawl, do the bullpens both sprint in from the OF to join the donnybrook, instead of just sprinting towards each other (and saving their hammys)?
UPDATE: No deal yet.
Dejan wonders how many projects Kerrigan can take on, and what the evidence for turning wild power arms into success stories is. Perhaps in Neal's defense, strikeout rate is a better predictor of future strikeout rate than walk rate to future walk rate, according to this THT piece. As far as specific examples, Ollie comes to mind. His strikeout rate has remained consistent, but walk rate varied wildly.
In other news, Rinku checks his closets for Najeh, and finds nothing.
The Bucs have expressed interest in Wiggy, the P-G reports. Wiggy's breakout 2008 will probably guarantee greener pastures. But if not, management might wish to consider the reverse Wiggy wheel.
Steelers at Ravens with a lot of marbles in the pot.
I've been watching the Ravens with a lot of respect this season. They have been better than most have noticed. I felt nervous about this game early in the week, but today I don't think that's the case. I'm expecting a good game from the Steelers.
I'm also looking forward to seeing what percentage of tickets were consumed by the Steeler Nation. I get a kick out of that every week.
Hot Stove update from Dejan brings news that Kerrigan will pick up some of Ronny's slack, calling games from the dugout and catching when needed. In other news, JR says Nate will lead off, Gorzo is in shape, and Kuwata still wears his Bucs jersey.
We raise our glass to Bob Smizik, who after a long, illustrious, cantankerous career, is retiring. The loss of Ronny Ballgame has led many to drastic measures, and we completely understand.
Starting today, Donald Veal and Andres Santos will attempt to fill the void left by Ronny Franchise. The P-G reports Ramon Vazquez will be signed soon. Vazquez's fourth most comparable batter is Ed Ott. Veal will be entertaining. Neal should hire Kerrigan some Special Assistants.
Ronny traded to the Phils for Jason Jamarillo, the P-G reports.
I've seen them; kids, men, women, worshippers all, hoping to get his name on a torn, dirty piece of paper, or hoping for a grunt of recognition when they said, 'Hi-ya, Ronny.' He never let them down; not once. He was the greatest crowd pleaser of them all.
The Marlins want Ronny but are underestimating his worth, Dejan reports from Las Vegas.
Bruce Reed, Pirate blog connoisseur and former domestic policy adviser in the Clinton administration, writes a fantastic piece on Rinku and Dinesh for Slate.
Meanwhile our new friends appear on CNN and have Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone is just stuffing their heads.
Both the Dodgers and Tigers are in the mix for Jack Wilson, and Jack is willing to renegotiate his contract for the Dodgers, the P-G reports.
A search for a suitable Jack Wilson tribute video on youtube instead turns up one of Tracy's attempts at the longest sentence ever, from the glory days of the DL firing (fast forward to one minute for Tracy and Jack on DL's pink slip). Tracy:
You know I have a job to do here and I can honestly tell you that up to this point I can hold my head very high knowing the fact that where I felt like we were when we began on opening day of 2006 and where we're at right now, this is heading in the direction that a guy, as the manager of this club, would want to see it go.
Dejan thinks he failed to put Rene Gayo into words in Part 3 of his Dominican series. The walking contradiction of Rene Gayo could be simplified into Tracyese: Rene is a big, powerful-looking, big man. Who breaks into tears upon remembering giving away an extra 10K of Mr. Nutting's money.
In other news, Rinku and Dinesh don't yet break the top 5 international Bucco prospects, and Ed Eagle catches up with Dave Parker, who makes his case for the Hall-of-Fame.
Part one of Dejan's Caribbean story (with movie) features Rene Gayo at work signing 18-year-old Sadid Frias for seven times what Rinku and Dinesh got. The story mentions the Pirates used DNA and bone tests to nullify the contract of one of last year's Dominican signees, "Joldi Sierra", who was lying about his name and age. All hail honest young Sadid Frias, and the tripling of Rene Gayo's budget!
Dejan returns with a Hot Stove update. Jack, Grabow, and Ronny are for sale. Neal is "kicking the tires on every 4-A starter out there." The Astros recently expressed interest in JVB as a hitter, but he wants to keep pitching.
Brilliant move by Neal, making history with signing Rinku and Dinesh. Now Neal needs to seal the deal, for the betterment of humanity, and make the continuation of The Million Dollar Arm Blog a condition in the contract.
Dinesh on Barry:
Mr. Bonds sir has the finest house anyone could ever imagine. He has many animals that he has hunted and preserved to display. He has his own real movie theater. he also has many cars and a gym just like the one at USC. He even has a mirror that turns into a TV! GAZAB!Rinku on pork ribs, cops, and healthcare:
Back at home; we had Marty sir and his wife over for dinner. Just like we promised. You’ll know the menu by now. We don’t want to risk making anything but pork ribs. However, I’m not gonna ever handle pork ribs after today. I cut couple of my fingers trying to slice it before serving. Marty sir called the cops. They need to be informed about the smallest incident here. Poor Marty sir came under suspicion initially when the cops got in. They left us with a hospital address once they were satisfied nothing untoward had happened.Walkoff Walk has been following our two new heroes for awhile.I wish I hadn’t gone for any treatment though. I reeled at the bill they produced for some simple bandaging and a tetanus shot. 300 bucks! It’s whooping. They took me to the emergency room for such a clear-cut case (pun intended). I didn’t get any meds and neither did they do anything to ease the pain. To put salt to injury, we had a stack of forms to sign as a procedure. Deepesh sir and I went into hysterics and laughed our guts out. It was crazy. Back home in India, we would’ve gotten treated just fine for a mere twenty rupees. Healthcare here is indecently expensive. I hope I don’t make another visit to a hospital here for whatever reasons.
Are you not entertained?
The Tigers are still looking at Jack Wilson, reports the Detroit Free Press. Matt Capps is potentially available, says ESPN. No word yet on possible McLouth and Freddy suitors, perhaps because Neal has been overwhelmed by near-ubiquitous interest in Ronny Ballgame.
Set for the Rule V draft. Bucs protect Lerud and Uviedo over Romak and Bloom. Bloom has been on fire in Hawaii, but career-wise, is no stranger to the base-on-balls. Romak has an Eldredesque K-rate and has not yet established himself at AA. Assuming Jason Davis does not belong on the 40-man, it seems the Bucs have room for Eduardo Morlan or another Rule V pick.
In other news, we raise our glass and wish the best of luck to JVB, who will be playing for another team next year. All hail JVB!
Starts tomorrow.
Bengals at Steelers, 8pm.
Daytime high in the mid 30s, cloudy, some wind, good chance of snow. Should be fun.
Given this free agent list, which cheap free agents should Neal pursue for a RH power hitter, a veteran starter, and a bullpen guy? I'll start with: Milton Bradley (OPS+ of 153 and 163 the last two years), Josh Fogg, and Julian Tavarez. The 2009 Bucs should not enter the record books without a fight, and a Bradley/Tavarez ticket would fight this fight, with or without Dirty Doug.
... Steelers host the Colts on Sunday at four. The way the Steelers defense has been playing, I almost pity the Colts' offense.
New pitching coach announced today. Kerrigan will try to clean up Jeff Dr. James Andrews' mess.
The Steelers play the Bengals in Cincinnati. Not sure what the Bengals will do to the field this year to try to gain a small advantage -- maybe a ton of sand, or maybe they leave the sprinklers on all night -- but they will probably do some kind of low-class chiseler move since they usually do.
The Bengals are 0-6. Teams that have not yet won a game at home can be dangerous at home, since there is an extra ton of pressure to win for the season ticket holders. And I have friends who worry that the Steelers (at least under Cowher) had/have a tendency to play down to bad teams on the road. I don't remember this happening so much, I say in response, with division games. If they were at Kansas City, I would be more worried.
Anything can happen of course. We all know that. But this one is not making me nervous a few hours before kickoff.
It looks like Casey Hampton, Willie Parker, and Marvel Smith will not play. Hampton might be the most underrated Steeler as the DT in the 3-4. But Chris Hoke is even more underrated as his backup, so the defense should be OK. Moore should start for Parker, who kept missing practice last week with the knee injury, and the Undertaker will start for Smith. Rookie wideout Limas Sweed should make his debut today. All in all, I don't think all this player news amounts to much beyond the fact that such key injuries expose the Steelers. If Hoke is healthy, they will be fine if Hampton sits; but if both those guys are too hurt to play ... etc. etc.
Finally, let's cheer sludgeworm for his 61-27 record against the spread this season. He is blowing away the rest of our pool. All hail sludge!
No game this week for the Steelers. The Ravens are in Indiana, the Bengals are at the Meadowlands, and the Browns will host the Giants tomorrow night on Monday Night Football.
Ever stay up really, really late on Saturday just so you could roll out of bed, Sunday, just in time for the 1pm kickoffs?
The Steelers are dealing with a lot of injuries.
Can they make Polamalu a two-way player? I'd like to see him run the draw. Or get some time on the offensive line.
The P-G's Colin Dunlap was there for Pedro Alvarez's first Bucco dinger:
The power everyone spoke of perked up, when Alvarez hit a prodigious, no-doubter over the fence in right-center that travelled onto the property of an adjacent golf course.Dejan's analysis and grades are in. Ronny Ballgame fails and will "surely will be shopped in offseason to teams that see more." Overall, the grades seem fair. If I had to bicker, Duke's C- seems too generous for his league-worst .304 BAA. J-Mike's Clutch doesn't outweigh his .228/.300/.382 line for a B-, and no way Nyjer's 91 OPS+ and striking out 20% of the time is satisfactory for a starting OF.
Roethlisberger and Flacco run for their lives as the Rashard Mendenhall Era begins.
Maholm and Sabathia at eight.
Maholm is going for his twentieth fifteenth twelfth tenth win.
In other news, the Lions fired Dave Littlefield Matt Millen.
MLB and the union have settled their grievance. Pedro Alvarez is in Pittsburgh and his signing will be announced at a press conference shortly, Dejan reports. Welcome aboard, Pedro.
Pedro and the PBC have agreed to a four-year, major league contract worth a guaranteed $6,355,000, reports the P-G's Dejan Kovacevic. Supposedly the contract will be signed pending a physical, which could happen as early as this week, and the contract would quash the pending grievance. All hail El Matatan!
Game at four. Steelers should beware the staph infection if they get some scrapes in this one.
