Meet Your (Mandatory) Pirates All-Star: Freddy Sanchez

He of the .301 batting average, 1 home run and 1 triple variety. His name is Freddy Sanchez, and he is your (mandatory) Pirates '07 All-Star.

In all fairness, Sanchez is leading the team with 89 hits, nine more than 2nd place Jason (didn't get voted to the) Bay. Tony La Russa said he picked Sanchez based on his versatility and drive to win. He may not have the power, but he is known as one of the best contact hitters in baseball.

Plus, the team needed a representative. The MLB has the dumb rule of having all teams having one player in the midsummer classic. So horrible teams, like the Buccos, will have an All-Star despite the obvious lack of a marquee/elite player.

PSaMP is not trying to take anything away from Steady Freddy, and he must be applauded for making his second straight All-Star Game. I'm just merely poking at an asinine rule that prohibits deserving guys from making the team, while mandatory representatives fill the roster.


Oh, and you can still vote for Sloth from the Goonies...I mean Tom Gorzelanny, as the final, fan-voted All-Star invitee. The link is on the Pirates homepage. Because nothing says MLB All-Star like Tom Gorzelanny.

What Does Ugliness Get You? A 2.39 ERA

He may be ugly. He may not close his mouth. But Tom Gorzelanny leads the team with a 6-3 record, which puts him only one victory behind the National League lead of 7 wins. Plus, his 2.39 ERA, which he lowered in last night's 4-1 win, is good for 3rd in the NL, behind freak of nature Jake Peavy (who the Pirates miss on this homestand) and hottie-dater Brad Penny.

Read that again if you can't grasp the idea. A Pirates pitcher is 6-3. With a 2.39 ERA. And his name isn't Snell or Duke. That was kinda unthinkable before the season.

Last night's win was due mainly to Gorzo's ability to get outs when he needed. He got major help from Jason Bay, who was just named National League Offensive Player of the Week. It was the 4th time that Bay has been recognized for the award. He homered and doubled, which was really all the Buccos needed to beat David Wells and the Padres.

The aforementioned Jake Peavy will not pitch against the Pirates, which might be the greatest thing I've ever heard. The Pirates have been (sorry for the cliche) a Jekyll and Hyde team offensively this year. Peavy's road ERA is 0.33. The Buccos would have no chance with Peavy on the mound in Pittsburgh.

The Buccos have won 4 of their last 5 after their 5 game losing streak. Paul Maholm (2-6 5.43 ERA) pitchers against Chris Young (5-3 2.70 ERA) at 7:05 tonight. Pittsburgh is now 2nd in the NL Central, only 5.5 behind April/May flare Milwaukee.

The Local Scoop

What could be going on with the local sports scene on a Friday at the end of May? Although it is Pittsburgh, and the Buccos are still stinking it up, the local guys are faithfully plugging away. Here's some notes around the 'Burgh:

- Big Ben is about to get a raise. Tommy Gun got an extension with more than 1 year left on his contract, should Ben get the same treatment. Alan Faneca and Joey Porter say no. Here's Yahoo Sports' take.

- Jim Tracy used the word "deplorable" to describe the Pirates' clutch hitting. I would have used "ass-clownish," but that's just me.

- Not Pittsburgh-related, but congrats to John Smoltz for winning his 200th game. He's the only guy in history with 200 wins and 150 saves, as well as the only pitcher who opened as season as a starter the year after a 50-save season. The guy is a nut. He was a baseball-card-collector's favorite back in the day. That day was Bowman '89.

- Here's a Penguins' Q&A with the PG's Dave Molinari. If he waited a little bit, he could have discussed the Pens signing free-agent defenseman Jonathan D'Aversa. Last year, he was the defense partner of Jordan Staal's younger brother, Marc. And Staal references are a plus.

- Losing to the Redbirds apparently wasn't enough for the Buccos. Tom Gorzelanny, a lone bright spot, left the game after taking a liner off the thumb.

- The Pensblog gives some predictions for the Cup finals. Best part, "Brett Hull says Red Wings in 3."

- Pirates' fan Ron Florian. In the flesh. Thanks to Mondesi's House.

- The Passion (4-0) play (are going to dominate) the Cleveland Fusion tomorrow. Jeff Ogden, former wide receiver for the Ravens and Cowboys, has joined the Passion as Special Teams Coach. As always, stay with PSaMP for stellar Passion breakdown/analysis after the team remains undefeated this weekend.



Read on, Pittsburgh lover...

Bucs Win In 15

Although they have already won a game in 16 innings this season, the Bucs were out to prove that winning long games is no fluke. Jack Wilson admitted that the game was the worst in his career, but his bat atoned for a throwing error in last night's 4-3 win over the Cubbies. The game took 15 innings to complete.

Jonah Bayliss (3-2) pitched 3 strong scoreless innings to get his 3rd win of the season. Bayliss needed a strong outing, after struggling over the past week and a half.

Jack Wilson committed a fielding error in the 7th, allowing Cesar Izturis to reach first. Daryle Ward delivered a pinch-hit single, and Alfonso Soriano drove in Izturis for a 3-2 Cubs lead. Ward looked to be out at 2nd, and Jim Tracy was ejected for arguing the call. Wilson was able to make up for the costly error by delivering a sac fly in the 9th off Ryan Dempster to score Nate McLouth. After unsuccessful attempts to drive in baserunners in the 11th and 12th, Wilson hit another sac fly, which scored the decisive run in the game.

Ian Snell pitched an alright game. He went 8 innings, and struck out 5. However, he allowed 10 Chicago hits. He luckily only gave up 2 earned runs over those 10 hits. No walks issued by Ian, so his control seems to be in the right place.

Tonight's game pits Tom Gorzelanny (4-1 2.97 ERA) against Jason Marquis (4-1 2.09 ERA). Both pitchers have started the season as well as they could have hoped. Marquis has won his last 4 starts, and Gorzo recorded wins in 3 of his past 4 starts. Gorzo or Marquis could tie the league lead with their 5th win tonight.

Bucs Rally in 7th, Hold on to Win

I pretty much gave a recap up to the 7th inning last night that sums up the Buccos' 4-2 win over the Milwaukee "Former best record in the league" Brewers.

Gorzo looked alright early, but started to struggle in the 6th. Ronny Paulino had caught Tony Graffanino in a rundown as he was trying to steal 2nd on a hit and run with pitcher Dave Bush (Why would you use Dave Bush for a hit and run? He showed bunt, then swung through, whiffing on some Gorzo heat). Gorzo seemed to either jam his knee on the pitch, or when he ducked after Paulino began running at Graffanino. He took a couple practice pitches before tossing a passed ball, allowing J.J. Hardy to score from 3rd. The Bucs were down 2-0 at this point, and Gorzo looked finished.

However, a new Pirate offense came out in the 7th.

Freddy Sanchez laced a double to center, and scored when Jason Bay waited on an off-speed pitch, and delivered a fluke shot that fell between 1st and right. Smart base running by Bay allowed him to hustle to 2nd. Ryan Doumit grounded out and Xavier Nady hit a soft liner to Prince Fielder. With two outs, it got to the point where I was talking to my television. "Come on, Bucs. Its the 7th inning. You already got a run, but now we need to get Bay in. There aren't many more chances in this game to tie it up. If we get a third out now, the bottom of the order is coming up in the 8th, and Gorzo is about to get relieved." Pirate's television analyst Bob Walk countered with his, "Bautista needs to work on his power" speech. Bautista absolutely jumped on the next pitch, crushing it to deep left. 3-2 Pirates. Gorzo looked pumped. He still didn't close his mouth. Paulino decided to trot around the bases as well, smacking a pitch to right center. 4-2 Pirates, so Gorzo came up to bat. I was happy, because after the offense showed some life, Gorzo was in like for his 4th win.

He stayed out in the bottom of the 7th, and made a difficult defensive play, diving and tagging out a bunting Tony Gwynn Jr. with the same hand. Awesome. Gorzo sold himself out for the team, and was rewarded with win number 4.

The 13-14 record is good for 2nd in the division, and now puts the Pirates only 4.5 games behind Milwaukee with 2 games left in the series.

Well That Was a Bummer

The Pirates fell to the Cubs twice yesterday. Chicago held on to win the rain-delayed game 8-6, and touched Ian Snell for four runs in five innings in the ensuing, "real" game. The Bucs also lost that contest, 7-1. Ryan Doumit homered, and that was about it. 3 other hits were spread over the game by your awesome Bucs offense.

So after managing to hang on to a .500 record due to postponement, the Bucs suffered 2 divisional losses on the same day, and now sit at 12-14. The Brew Crew (18-9) sent the Redbirds (10-16) to their 5th straight loss, and lead the Central by a full 5 games over Cincinnati (13-14), and 5.5 over Pittsburgh(12-14) and Chicago (also 12-14). Houston (11-15), is only one game ahead of that World Champion bottom-feeding team from St. Louis.

The Brewers have won 4 in a row, so it is only fitting that the Pirates should start a series with them tonight. The Cubs entered this past series on a 4 game win streak of their own, and were able to take 3 of 4 against Pittsburgh. The Pirates send Tom Gorzelanny (3-1, 3.06 ERA) out to face Dave Bush (2-2, 6.23 ERA). Here's an extremely long post about Gorzo, which I first read via Mondesi's House. Nice to see he's getting some love.

7 Reasons to Keep Watching the Bucs This Season

Since the Pirates now have 7 wins on the season, I give you my 7 Reasons to Stick with the Buccos This Season:


1. Tom Gorzelanny. Wow! I never thought he would be reason number 1. The kid is on pace for 25-30 wins! How could you not get behind a young pitcher with a perfect early-season record? His ERA is a more than respectable 2.05 (Take that, Tony Armas Jr. and your 18.90 ERA), and is second on the team in strikeouts. He might (will) flare out. No pitcher in today's game will win 3 of every 4 starts, but it is nice to have that kind of success early on.

2. Ian Snell. He is reason number 2, because he leads the team with 24 strikeouts through 27 innings pitched. His strikeout per innings ratio is a little lower than Gorzo, but he can flat-out make hitters miss. In a sport where games can turn on one bad pitch, I'm relying on Ian to trust his stuff (I never like when people use that expression. Sounds kinda weird and dirty) and keep making batters whiff.

3. Brad Eldred. Yeah, the Pirates are having trouble making room for Big Country. The management seemed to forget Country when they decided to trade for ADD (.105 avg, .281 slg) Laroche this past offseason. The same thing happened last season when the Bucs brought in "hometown hero" Sean (Left fielders can throw me out at 1st) Casey. Neither 1st base pickup brought any life to the Pirates bats (I'm still hoping Laroche will heat up), and Big Country is still forced to look from the dugout. Even though Eldred is sporting a .117 average, he has only been to the plate 17 times. As the season progresses further, expect the Paul Bunyan-esque Brad to get more playing time while stepping in for guys that are tired/slumping

4. We Play in the National League Central. This argument always frustrated me, but it is the truth. While the NL Central isn't the worst division in the bigs, it isn't necessarily a powerhouse. A 7-10 record is only 4 games behind the Brewers (who have played 2 more games), the only team in the Central with a record over .500. If the Buccos can warm up against Woody Williams and the rest of the Astros staff this week, the team has a legitimate shot at reaching .500 and contending for the division lead.

5. Andrew McCutchen. He's not in the bigs yet, but a mid-to-late season call-up is not entirely out of the picture. Citing 14 years of regular season debacles, there is a high possibility that Andrew could be in a Pirates uniform before the active roster expands from 25 to 40 on September 1st. For a team that once employed Adam Hyzdu, having McCutchen on the roster would definitely be a bonus. The Buccos will still be entertaining to watch as the season rolls down even if this year turns out like the past 14, simply because we might get a chance to see Andy face some major-league pitching.

6. Adam Hyzdu is Not on the Roster. While the offense is still finding its groove and the team sits 3 games below .500, there is no reason to believe that this team can't make a meaningful run. Jason Bay is a 2-time All Star and former Rookie of the Year. Freddy Sanchez is the defending NL Batting Champ and an All Star last season. ADD Laroche put up career-bests last year with a .285 average, 30 home runs, and 90 RBIs. Jose Bautista and Ronny Paulino have the ability to be big-time performers in the future, and Chris Duffy is actually looking like a legit leadoff man who can swipe a ton of bases. The roster is good enough to get this team over .500. Let's just hope the motivation and execution are there as well.

7. Its Only April 23! The season is still young. The Pirates have played only 17 out of 162 games. There's no reason to believe (Other than the past 14 years) that the Buccos will play 7-10 ball from here on out. Alex Rodriguez hit his 14th homer in New York's 18th game overall. He tied the April Home Runs record set by Albert Pujols last year. Did Pujols keep up that pace and hit 125 homers last year? Not a chance. What I'm saying is that the season is long, and this is only April. The Bucs have a long way to go, but I'm expecting a vast improvement over the course of the season (Although I've said this for the past 14 years).

Gorzo Gets 3rd Win as Pirates Beat Dodgers 7-5

Go ahead and cheer, Pittsburgh fans. Your Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Dodgers yesterday, 7-5, in Los Angeles. No extra innings here. No walk off grannys. Just good, Pirates baseball. Chris Duffy had 3 hits, scored 3 runs and swiped a pair of bases, while ADD Laroche (I've quit calling him Adam) hit a solo shot. I hope the Pirates offense is coming around, because we can ill afford to get stuck in the Central cellar again.

Before the season started Tom Gorzelanny was the last Pirate pitcher I would've expected to start the season with 3 wins. Ian Snell, if he could find his location, would've been my 1st pick. Zach Duke, if he could keep the opposing team from scoring 8 runs in the 1st inning, would have been a close 2nd. I probably even pictured Tony Armas Jr. with a couple of wins of his own. Paul Maholm...yeah I don't think I even figured him into the equation. But it is impressive that Gorzo leads the team in wins. No other young Pirate arm even has 2 wins.

The team's record is 7-10, which is still 3.5 games behind Milwaukee. I'm just happy that the team didn't lose again.

Paul (great...) Maholm (0-2) is on tap to pitch Tuesday in Houston against Woody (maybe we will have a chance) Williams (also 0-2). Both pitchers are sportin' ERA's over 6, so maybe the Buc's offense will be able to keep the momentum and really tee it off in Houston.

One more thing. Why are the seats behind home plate at PNC called the Lexus Club? Do you have to own a Lexus to sit there? And if the "Lexus" refers to preferred, or exclusive seating, then shouldn't the general admission bleachers be renamed the 1993 Plymouth Duster Club? Just a thought...

Despite Good Play, Pens Drop "Must-Win" Game 4

I'm officially running out of negative adjectives to describe the 3 playoff losses so far. Yesterday's game felt right. The team actually played the 2nd period, but was unable to use to the momentum swing to score more than one goal. Jordan Staal buried a shot right in front of Emery, but the Pens could not find the back of the net again, falling 2-1 in what was viewed as a must-win game.

Its tough to take the loss last night, because the Pens were able to put themselves in a position to possibly win and even up the series. The Senators scored on a fluke goal just over 3 minutes into the game. The Pens battled to tie the score (See? Rebounds, a result of shots on goal, can lead to goals. Amazing!) but were not able to capitalize on having Volchenkov in the box in the 3rd, and that same Volchenkov came back to put the 30 foot winner past MAF.

Is it possible for the Pens to rattle off 3 straight wins? Most definitely. The Senators have just won two in a row, so they have put themselves in a position to win 3 straight games. The Penguins need to go back to Ottawa as a different team in game 5. Reassess game 4, focus on all the positives, and play with some desperation.

Georges Laraque was not in the lineup last night, and the same fate beset Erik Christensen. Christensen being benched was almost a given, seeing how the young forward has digressed lately, and his play has slipped. Laraque not being in the lineup, is a travesty. What was the point in picking up the guy, if he's benched for 3 of the 4 games so far in the series, and only skated for a total of 5 minutes in game 1? Sure, Gary Roberts' contributions have been impeccable, and the 40 year old (soon to be 41 year old) nut has been throwing his body at any Senator he can. However, Big Georges can bring that physical play, while giving guys like Roberts more of a chance to score rather than carrying the bruising load. As much the Roberts acquisition has been applauded by the league and anyone who watches the Pens, the acquisition and use of Laraque leaves more to be desired. Let him play, and skate him alongside Crosby on the first line to start the game. Why, you may ask? Well, its one combination the Penguins haven't tried, and at this point in the series, we need to scrap whatever we've been doing. Plus, guys like Volchenkov and Phillips are constantly on the ice with Crosby, so lets send a message early that the Pens can play physical, too. (I know this will never happen. I also know that Laraque doesn't have the speed, skill or stamina to play alongside the top line all game. I'm just making a point that Laraque needs to play, and more than just 5 minutes.)

Enough with that, time to check back in with the Buccos. Its been awhile since I mentioned the Pirates, mainly because I've been mad about the St. Louis sweep, the Torres blown saves, the Bonds homers, and the rainout of Jack Robinson day in the 'Burgh. With that being said, ADD Laroche hit a homer, and the Pirates beat the Redbirds 6-1. Gorzo got his revenge against the Cards, and lowered his ERA to 1.33. Gorzo had a chance to get the complete game, but was pulled in favor of Matt Capps, who recorded the final two outs. This win comes on the heels of a 3-2 win on Monday, in which Torres was given another chance to blow the game in the 9th, with Pujols on and the bases loaded. King Albert popped out on a well thrown sinker, as Salomon righted the closer ship. So the Bucs have a 2 game winning streak, and are now back to .500, sitting at 6-6. Tonight is an 8:05 start in Milwaukee (What? Are we the Indians or Angels?) and Paul Maholm will try to earn his first win this season. I hope Paul can follow up the two excellent starts by Ian Snell and Gorzo with a quality outing himself.

Some Losses Leave A Bad Taste In Your Mouth

this was one of those losses. leading 2-nill in the 9th inning, "previously 4 for 4" salomon torres decided to emit shades of jose mesa (or mike williams...ew). torres let 2 runs score in the ninth, blowing his first save of the year. the buccos hung around until the 12th, but paulino couldnt hold on to a jason bay throw on a sacrifice fly, and the cards prevailed 3-2. bautista homered, and the pirates squandered a quality outing by gorzo. having never faced pujols before, gorzo got sir albert out 3 times to end innings (read that last line again)! why is this important? uh...take a look at alberts numbers against the pirates entering this season (thanks to albert pujols club). its losses like this that have me wondering if the buccos can take that next step, and actually compete in the central this year. if not, us loyal fans can settle down and take in another long, hard-to-watch season.

enough with the past, and on to the future. the pens are about 7 1/2 hours away from their first playoff game since 2001. i sometimes feel a little weird, because im way too pumped for the second season to start. with the success the pens had this season, as well as the whole arena/kansas city/las vegas ordeal and the maturation of staal, geno, maf and sid, the playoffs are basically the icing on the cake. i do agree with ray shero, though, that the pens cannot be satisfied by simply being in the playoffs, and must be prepared for a long run (get that playoff beard going larrybrownsports! i want pictures...just kiddin). ottawa has been somewhat shaky (im being nice by saying somewhat) in the playoffs in the past few years, and bryan murray isnt necessarily the most playoff-savvy coach (dude has never made it out of the 2nd round, in the pros and in the minors). that doesnt really mean anything this year, but its good to know.

scott burnside of espn.com wrote a story about sid that was both compelling and rich (thanks, ron burgandy). it actually made the front of espn.com (what?...hockey news on espn? you gotta be kidding). this comes only days after scotty picked the sens to win the series in 5 games. way to straddle that fence, scott! (side note: another reason to get angry at espn: the first time i clicked on espn.com today, the site crashed each site i had open, and i had to completely rewrite this entry. looks like espn has changed tactics from bashing sites on espn radio to crashing browser windows.)

thats all for now. mpotd will be coming up soon. i know you cant wait. neither can i.