Steelers' LeBeau has plans for draft picks

By Scott Brown
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 10, 2007


Napkins, envelopes, random pieces of paper -- none have been safe around Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau lately.

It is hardly uncommon for LeBeau (or any coach for that matter) to commit the ideas that are constantly swirling around his head to paper -- or whatever happens to be the closest thing on which he can write.

But LeBeau said there has been one significant difference between the creative impulse that followed the NFL draft and countless ones that preceded it.

The Steelers' taking outside linebackers Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley with their first two picks has really brought out the mad scientist in LeBeau.

"This particular time I started drawing, and I didn't quit," LeBeau said Wednesday. "It always looks good on paper. We'll see how it looks on the field."

LeBeau will get a look this weekend, as the Steelers hold the second of two mini-camps at their South Side practice facility.

The linebacker corps, which is to LeBeau's blitzing defense what oxygen is to breathing, will look radically different from when the Steelers convened for five practices a couple of weeks ago.

That is due in large part to the additions of Timmons and Woodley with whom the Steelers became so smitten because of their potential as pass rushers and their versatility.

Timmons, the 15th overall pick of the draft, and Woodley will give LeBeau flexibility if the Steelers were correct in evaluating the two players.

Perhaps that is why LeBeau found himself scribbling like crazy in the days that followed the Steelers using their top two picks to address the same position for the first time since since 1987 (they drafted cornerbacks Rod Woodson and Delton Hall in the first and second round, respectively).

He devised 15 new plays with Timmons and Woodley in mind and stopped himself there, LeBeau said, since "I thought 'Hey, this is enough. Let's see if any of these are any good.' "

The Steelers also have to see how smooth of a transition Timmons and Woodley make from college to the NFL before those plays are worth more than the scraps of paper on which they were initially written.

They are converting Woodley, who starred at Michigan, from defensive end to outside linebacker. The learning curve also could be a steep one for Timmons since he started only one season at Florida State.

The two are slated to play different positions (Timmons at right outside linebacker and Woodley at left outside linebacker), but part of their appeal to the Steelers is that they won't be confined to one position.

That is why mini-camp will serve the dual purpose of getting Timmons and Woodley familiar with LeBeau's defense and LeBeau getting a better feel for what all they can do.

If the two are as athletic and versatile as the Steelers have pegged them to be, LeBeau might find himself writing new plays on everything but his hand before the start of training camp.

"Our task is now really to see what the best fit for these young men within the scope of our defense is and what is best for the Pittsburgh Steelers," LeBeau said. "So it's going to be an interesting couple of years figuring out what they do best and where they can best help the Steelers return to a championship team."


Scott Brown can be reached at sbrown@tribweb.com or 412-481-5432.

Gene Collier: Pirates' pitchers need to be more like Maglie, Drysdale

Matt Capps

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

At Don Drysdale's funeral, an emotional Bob Uecker began telling the assembled mourners about "the first time Don touched me." Then, he interrupted himself.

"Well, here, I can just show ya," the former catcher said. "See this mark right here?"

Yeah, that's where Drysdale drilled him, right in the neck. Fastball that "got away."

Drysdale hit 154 batters in his brilliant Dodgers' career, very, very few of them by accident.

The alleged relevance of all that is only a modest attempt at dragging some historical pitching perspective to the situation regarding Pirates reliever Matt Capps, who now finds himself facing a four-game suspension for stinging Milwaukee slugger Prince Fielder with a pitch Saturday night in Wisconsin.

Though both were ejected, Capps and Pirates manager Jim Tracy are now on record as saying Capps was not trying to hit Fielder with the pitch.

Well, I'm sorry to hear that.

Fielder should have been purposely and purposefully plunked, as the Brewers were well into a third night of a series in which their hitters were imperceptibly less comfortable than in batting practice. When opposition hitters are happily digging in with impunity, consistently putting violent, measured strokes on pitches like the one J.J. Hardy launched for a three-run homer off Capps to build a 6-2 lead, that's the time when someone needs to be spun with a pitch.

It happened to be Fielder.

Though it now gets feverishly debated and ridiculously adjudicated, this kind of behavior used to come under a simple heading. I believe it was, umm, baseball.

(Capps' suspension, for the record, is ludicrous. Would baseball suspend a starting pitcher for 20 games for the same transgression? That's the impact of a four-game suspension on a top reliever.)



From the standpoint of sheer competitiveness, the only thing more deflating than the notion that Capps hit Fielder accidently, at least from the Pirates' perspective, is that the Brewers did not retaliate in Fielder's name. That calls for the inference that Milwaukee manager Ned Yost found the Pirates so non-threatening as a competitive entity that there was simply no point in defending anyone's honor.

Maybe this is what comes from being so far removed from a winning summer, a lingering unfamiliarity with the winning's more subtle dimensions. More likely, what we saw in Milwaukee is just another example of the way the primary dynamic between pitcher and hitter has changed over the years. The primary dynamic used to be fear.

"You have to make the batter afraid of the ball, or anyway, aware that he can get hurt," Sal Maglie told Roger Kahn for his book, "The Head Game." "A lot of pitchers think they do that by throwing at a hitter when the count is two strikes and no balls. The trouble there is that the knockdown is expected. You don't scare a guy by knocking him down when he knows he's going to be knocked down. A good time is when the count is two and two. He's looking to swing. You knock him down then and he gets up shaking. Now curve him and you have your out."

Maglie pitched in the '50s and earned the nickname "The Barber" for the close shaves his pitches offered. A generation later, while hitters might no longer have "expected" the knockdown, a pitch that created substantial discomfort was still a highly useful method of intimidation.

In the 1980 World Series, with the Kansas City Royals leading Game Four, 5-1, and fully capable of leveling the tournament at two games each, Philadelphia Phillies' reliever Dickie Noles screwed American League batting champion George Brett into the Missouri dirt with a high fastball of obvious intent.



1954 Bowman

Seventy-two hours later, Phillies manager Dallas Green, analyzing the first world championship in the history of the franchise relative to unheralded Dickie Noles, said, "All I know is that after that pitch, the Royals only scored four runs in [the remaining] 22 innings [of the series]. You figure it out."

Today, of course, hitters are a lot harder to intimidate.

Barry Bonds, already built like a guest house through highly dubious means, was seen getting ready for a pinch-hit appearance on Sunday Night Baseball this week by strapping on enough armor to make him an extra in Braveheart II. Body armor is common among batters, as is the movement toward the plate in mid-swing rather than toward the mound. Today's hitter is highly insulted by the inside pitch, which doesn't mean that a well-placed insult isn't occasionally called for. This Pirates' pitching staff, to its detriment, remains annoyingly polite.



(Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1283.)

Bucs' Wilson among talented No. 2 hitters

By Rob Biertempfel
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, May 8, 2007


CHICAGO - Look at the boxscores, and you'll notice some unusual batters in the No. 2 spot around the majors this season.

The Cincinnati Reds occasionally put slugger Adam Dunn behind leadoff hitter Ryan Freel. Toronto has used Lyle Overbay in the two-spot. Cleveland has tried outfielder Trot Nixon. The Los Angeles Dodgers experimented with catcher Russell Martin in the two-hole, and lately have found success with Juan Pierre batting after Rafael Furcal.

Whatever happened to the conventional No. 2 guy -- a smallish middle infielder without much power whose specialty is bunting rather than bashing and who won't strike out a lot?

"There's nothing wrong with having a power hitter, especially a left-hander, hitting second," former Pirates manager Chuck Tanner said. "It just depends upon the makeup of your ballclub."

When Tanner was managing the Chicago White Sox in the early 1970s, Dick Allen and Bill Melton usually batted fourth and fifth. One day, for a road game against the Boston Red Sox, Tanner put Allen in the leadoff spot and Melton No. 2.

"That way, I got them both an extra at-bat," Tanner said. "I figured that at Fenway Park, the more at-bats I can get those guys, hitting to that short wall, it gives us a little edge."

With two outs in the ninth, Allen whacked a game-tying home run. Melton followed with a solo shot to win it. Anyone who scratched his head when the lineups were announced thought Tanner was a genius.

"Chuck would do some tricky stuff," former Pirates outfielder Dave Parker said, with a chuckle. "He would even hit Willie up in the two-hole."

Willie Stargell?

"I did whatever I thought would generate runs," Tanner said. "Especially if things weren't going good and we needed to get some runs, I'd throw Stargell up there or another left-handed power hitter. I wasn't afraid to do anything."

Last season, Pirates manager Jim Tracy filled out 123 versions of his lineup. However, shortstop Jack Wilson batted second in all but 35 games.

This year, Wilson, a right-handed batter, has hit No. 2 in all 29 games. He has a .288 batting average, a .323 on-base percentage and is the fourth-toughest player to strike out in the National League.

"Jack is able to bunt the ball, hit the ball in the (second base) hole or pull the ball in the (shortstop) hole, he can hit with two strikes so (Chris) Duffy gets a chance to steal," Pirates hitting coach Jeff Manto said. "It's a very unselfish spot. When you find a good No. 2 guy like we have, it a tremendous asset."

Wilson is an old-school two-hole hitter. In seven-plus seasons, he has hit 45 homers and 76 sacrifice hits/bunts.

"He's done a terrific job," Tracy said.

Even with the Pirates struggling to score runs this year, Tracy has been steadfast about keeping Wilson in the two-hole.

"To me, that's a misconception of numbers," Tracy said. "What part does the player play in the success of the club? What is his role, and is he fulfilling it?"

After all, Tracy noted, nobody complained much about non-power threat Jay Bell batting -- and mostly bunting -- second while the Pirates were winning division titles in the early 1990s.

Tracy could put lefty slugger Adam LaRoche, switch-hitter Ryan Doumit or right-hander Jose Bautista into the two-hole. But simply sticking a power guy into that spot is not the right fit for everyone.

"It's different for every team," Wilson said. "I don't consider Juan Pierre a perfect two-hole hitter, but for (the Dodgers), it works. I might not be a two-hole hitter on someone else's team, but for this team it might be the best situation.

"It depends upon the manager. It depends on what the team's in need of. It just depends on the team."


Rob Biertempfel can be reached at rbiertempfel@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7811.

Gorzelanny springs ahead for Pirates

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

By Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny delivers against Reds at PNC Park last month.


CHICAGO -- Overlooked in fans' frustration -- perhaps even their furor -- over Adam LaRoche's slow start in his first season with the Pirates is the fact that there is another left-handed hitter who's doing even worse offensively.

But nobody boos him. Ever.

And that despite the fact this left-handed hitter -- well, left-handed batter -- doesn't have a major-league hit. Not this season. Not ever.

This guy is 0 for 32 lifetime. With 19 strikeouts.

Pathetic.

Shouldn't this guy be receiving some boos by now?

"When he comes to the plate? Absolutely," LaRoche said. "I mean, 0 for 32? I don't know how you could be that bad. This is a guy we count on to drive in runs for us, and he's not doing it. The poor guy."

LaRoche paused. He couldn't continue the setup for this story. He shook his head.

He laughed.

Tom Gorzelanny, sitting a few feet from LaRoche in the Pirates' clubhouse with his cover blown, smiled.

In his own way, Gorzelanny is feeling the same pressure as is LaRoche. It has just gone unnoticed outside the clubhouse because of his success on the mound.

After all, Gorzelanny will take a 4-1 record and a 2.97 earned run average to the mound at Wrigley Field in his hometown tomorrow night.

Pitching is his job. Hitting is LaRoche's job.

But that hasn't stopped LaRoche from making a mysterious bet with the offensively challenged Gorzelanny.

The stakes?

"I'll tell you when it's over," LaRoche said. "He has four more starts to get a hit."

Which could be a tall order.

"I've been working with him a little bit -- as you can tell," LaRoche said with a grin. "That's why he's still 0-for. But I told him, 'Honestly, I hope I lose. I want to see you start getting some hits.' "

Getting one -- that elusive first one -- tomorrow night in Chicago would be something for Gorzelanny.

"It would be awesome," LaRoche said.

For his part, Gorzelanny isn't particular.

"It would be a cool to get a hit in any town," he said. "I don't care where I am. I just want to get a hit. It's very frustrating for me. A lot of guys say, 'Aw, don't worry about it.' And I don't worry about it. I don't take it out on the mound or anything, but it's just one of those things where I want to do my part at the plate as well.

"Plus guys kid me about it all the time."

Gorzelanny came close to getting his first hit in his start in Milwaukee Thursday night. Twice he hit decently struck bouncers to second base. A few feet to the left or right and -- bingo!

"His bat path is fine," Pirates hitting instructor Jeff Manto said. "I think his timing is fine. He'll ask, 'How did that look? Did that look all right?' I say, 'Yeah, fine. Just keep on swinging.'

"Something's going to fall. I know this -- he's not going to retire without a hit."

"It's a work in progress and I'm getting better," Gorzelanny said. "My last few games I've had better at-bats."

Sounds a bit like LaRoche, who was 5 for 11 in Milwaukee to hoist his batting average from .132 to .167.

But the difference between LaRoche and Gorzelanny is only one of them has been productive throughout the first month of the season.

Gorzelanny has pitched at least six innings in all six of his starts except his first. And he has yielded three earned runs or less in all of them except his fifth.

He and Ian Snell, tonight's starter, have been the Pirates' most consistent starters by far.

And in Gorzelanny's case, that consistency has been there despite a spotty spring.

In fact, there were some people who thought left-hander Sean Burnett, whose spring numbers were much better than Gorzelanny's, should have made the season-opening rotation.

But Gorzelanny never had to fear for his spot -- primarily because of what he did in his final nine starts for the Pirates last season. In those, he compiled a 3.25 earned run average.

"We saw a guy come up here [from Class AAA Indianapolis] and compete extremely well, throwing three pitches for strikes," manager Jim Tracy said. "He has a real feel for pitching.

"And there was his competitive nature. From what I've seen of Tommy, he takes it as a personal challenge each time he goes out there. He does not like to not do well."

But the Burnett factor?

"Something I was told a long, long time ago," Tracy said, "is that when you have an opportunity to compare and contrast things you see during a championship season vs. what you're looking at in spring training, there are a number of times where if you allow yourself to be led in that direction, you can be fooled very, very badly by things you see in spring training.

"[Gorzelanny] did not have a good spring, but in assessing the situation, you know one guy [Burnett] is going to pitch for us probably at some point this season, but he's one year removed from [rehabbing from] a couple surgeries and had a season you'd expect that first year back."

Last season with Indianapolis, Burnett was 8-11 with a 5.16 earned run average in 24 starts.

"You're going to get this," Tracy said, moving his left arm up and down, "a roller coaster-type effect. You're going to get a good start, a couple bad ones, then another good one, and that's exactly what we saw last year with Sean. This year, you're hopeful that it levels off and you see an extreme measure of consistency."

But was there ever a point in spring training where Tracy even remotely considered picking Burnett over Gorzelanny?

"It was intriguing," Tracy said. "But the thing that always grabbed a hold of me is, this is a player that a year ago went through ups and downs that you'd expect and you're just going to say that he's completely ready to go after 112/3 innings pitched in spring training?

"Why not allow the process to continue and let him put together a string of real consistent starts and continue to see him throw the ball where it's coming out of his hand like you remembered it when he was a rookie [in 2004]?

"See that on a regular basis and then move on it instead of being too quick on the trigger and end up bringing him up here [out of spring training].

"You wonder about this, too -- what would have been the psychological effect if he comes up here and those 112/3 innings end up going in the complete opposite direction and now you have to call him in and send him out?"

And bring up Gorzelanny, who might not have been in the best of moods had he begun the season with Indianapolis.

"Exactly," Tracy said. "You show the confidence in the Tom Gorzelanny you saw in the regular season instead of just pretending like you didn't see what you saw for a number of starts last year and potentially mentally lose him. He loses faith -- 'They don't trust me.'

"So you get a very good Tom Gorzelanny, who knows that even if he didn't get it done in the early part of the 2007 season, well, 'They gave me the opportunity to right myself. And I'm aware of that so if I had to go back, it's because of me."'

But what about Burnett's mood when he was told late in spring training that he'd begin the season with Indianapolis?

Burnett was highly upset the morning he got that message in Tracy's McKechnie Field office.

"You expect that," Tracy said. "But one thing you feel pretty good about is that you are upfront with your players and you tell them exactly the way it is, and that's exactly what we did with Sean.

"During the conversation, I said, 'Hey, you're upset. You don't like it. And you know what? I'm OK with that right now. But at some point in time, get over it. Figure out a way to get over it and get done what you need to get done and force our hand and force us to be in a position where we say, 'Hey, we've got games to win at the major-league level and this guy can help us. Let's get him up here.'

"You're hopeful you end up with two very brilliant projects here eventually."

Gorzelanny can empathize with Burnett, who's 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA in six starts for Indianapolis.

Gorzelanny had a decent spring in 2006 but didn't make the rotation.

"I knew I wasn't going to make the team," Gorzelanny said. "I just wanted to show them that I'm ready to make a statement. I wanted to show them who I am -- tell them who I am -- and [then] go to Indy and have a good year there and get called up as soon as possible."

"He was kind of in a similar boat last spring," Tracy said. "He was pitching great. He was a little bit disenchanted when we sent him out.

"I told him, 'Hey, you go down there, you do your thing, you come back up here and maybe this will be the last time we have to sit down and talk about something like this.' "

Gorzelanny followed that script perfectly.

In 16 starts for Indianapolis, he was 6-5 with a 2.35 ERA. The Pirates brought him up June 30.

Burnett can only hope something similar happens with him.

Ron Cook: A sorry situation

It was an especially tough weekend for Pirates fans, who watched the team's fortunes sink once again, while the rising Brewers clearly display that it's not impossible for a small-market team to succeed

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The right words always are so hard to come by at a difficult time like this.

All I can say is you have my deepest sympathy.

There can't possibly be anything worse than -- and we're talking sports now -- being a Pirates fan.

That is especially true this morning, now that the lousy events of the weekend have fully sunk in.

It's bad enough that the Pirates lost three out of four to the smaller-market Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park, making it five losses in six games against the Brewers this season. The primary difference between the clubs is clear: The Brewers' ownership group has a clue. Milwaukee took a major league-best 21-10 record into its home game against the Washington Nationals last night. The Pirates are 13-17, 71/2 games behind the Brewers after the loss Sunday, looking very much like they always do, a bad team headed toward a staggering 15th consecutive losing season.

But that's only half of it. About the time the Brewers' Prince Fielder was rubbing the Pirates' Matt Capps' nose into it Sunday, attention was called to the owner's box at Yankee Stadium. There, Roger Clemens announced to the world he was rejoining the New York Yankees. Imagine being among the 52,553 on hand, thinking you had shown up to see a win against the Seattle Mariners and getting that sort of bonus surprise. Then again, if you were a Yankees fan, you would be used to it.

"The sole mission of this organization is to win a championship," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement after the signing of Clemens.

It must be nice.

"I believe that winning is the most important thing. A baseball team has to win baseball games," Pirates owner Robert Nutting said earlier this year.

Doesn't quite mean the same thing, does it?

Hang in there, Pirates fans:

Bryan Bullington could be on the way!

I know, I know. It's not exactly a breaking story that the system is stacked against teams such as the Pirates. To fill their needs, they must look within. When the Yankees need a pitcher after their rotation crumbles and they fall 51/2 games behind the hated Boston Red Sox, they go out and sign the great Clemens for $4.5 million per month, which is more than any of the Pirates but shortstop Jack Wilson will make all season. Steinbrenner doesn't even mind the additional $7.4 million in luxury tax he must pay because of Clemens. He just figures it's the cost of doing business the right way.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be envious.

You should be downright green, actually.

Not so much of Steinbrenner. There's only one New York after all.

Of the Brewers' ownership. The Brewers' payroll is about $20 million more than the Pirates' payroll even though the team plays in a city two-thirds as big. So much for that small-market excuse that always seems to be heard around here a little more often than it is in Milwaukee, Oakland and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The Brewers' owners don't appear to be pocketing all of their profits. On the contrary, the money they get from baseball's $3 billion television contract, its new Internet and international revenue streams and from the Steinbrenners of the game in revenue sharing seems to be going back into their product. They actually are trying to win.

What a concept.

And what are you stuck with?

You know the sad answer to that question:

The worst ownership in sports, one that has shown no signs of the accountability that Nutting promised when he emerged from the shadows last winter to replace Kevin McClatchy as the face of the franchise, even as the losses are starting to mount again and the same silly mistakes keep happening on the bases and in the field and the lame offense continues to produce virtually nothing.

At least Nutting was honest about one thing when he publicly took charge in January.

"There's really no change in how we're doing business," he said.

Lucky you.

Poor, poor, pitiful you.

Condolences hardly seem like enough at a moment like this.



(Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.)

Pirates' Doumit shows defensive strides

By Rob Biertempfel
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, May 7, 2007


MILWAUKEE - It's just a matter of time before word gets out about Ryan Doumit.
It's no secret Doumit can hit. Last year, he clubbed six home runs in 149 at-bats with the Pirates. This year, he is hitting .441 with two homers and seven RBI.

However, Doumit is making the biggest strides with his defense. Saturday night, Doumit turned in a solid effort in right field in just his eighth career appearance there.

"I watched him run a ball down in the gap and cut down the distance with a sense of certainty that strongly (showed) he's more comfortable," manager Jim Tracy said Sunday. "And what about that throw he made?"

The catch came in the third inning, when Doumit sprinted back to smoothly snag Bill Hall's deep fly ball at the wall.

The throw happened in the first inning. J.J. Hardy was at first base when Prince Fielder bounced a single to right field.

Hardy rounded second hard and went for third. The ball -- straight from Doumit's hand to Jose Bautista's glove -- beat Hardy by more than a step.

"Obviously, I'm new out there, so third base coaches don't quite yet know what I'm capable of doing," Doumit said. "Hopefully, I sent a little message (Saturday) night."

Friday afternoon, the Pirates held an early pregame workout -- extra batting practice, bunting drills and such -- at Miller Park. Tracy saw Doumit coming up the dugout steps. But the hottest hitter on the club wasn't there to work on his swing.

"He runs out to right field to practice taking balls off the bat," Tracy said. "Give the kid credit. He's working at it. And when you work at it like that, you will get better. And the same is true for his catching."

Yesterday, Doumit was behind the plate when Tony Armas uncorked a wild pitch. Craig Counsell ran to second base, then kept going when he saw the ball roll back to the screen.

Doumit threw out Counsell at third with ease.

Good with the bat and improving with the glove, Doumit ought to be a fixture in the lineup, right? Not quite.

"It's very tricky," Tracy said. "We're trying to (play) him as much as we can. The hard part is, trying to get other people going (offensively). The way they're going to get going is to get them out on the field."

Doumit can play at catcher, first base and right field. The regulars at those three spots each are wrestling with issues.

Catcher Ronny Paulino got off to a rough start and has just two hits in his past 14 at-bats. First baseman Adam LaRoche is in the deepest batting slump of his life. Right fielder Xavier Nady has a tender hamstring.

Doumit has started nine of 11 games since April 26, when he was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis. Five of those starts came in right field. Yesterday afternoon against Milwaukee, Paulino was given the day off after catching the night before, so Doumit was behind the plate.

Tracy indicated that Nady, LaRoche and Paulino will be in the lineup Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs.

It might be tempting to sit LaRoche, a left-handed batter, since the Cubs will start lefty Ted Lilly. But Doumit, a switch-hitter, is better from the left side, and LaRoche is showing signs of getting it together at the plate.

LaRoche had a season-high three hits Friday. Yesterday, he stroked a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning.

"It feels better, I can tell you that," LaRoche said. "I'm seeing the ball longer, taking some close pitches. Getting back to normal."

Pirates knock off Brewers, 4-2

Bautista, Paulino hit back-to-back homers to fuel victory against NL Central leaders

Friday, May 04, 2007



Pirates' Jose Bautista, second from left, receives high fives from his teammates after his two-run home run in the seventh inning against the Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee.


By Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


MILWAUKEE -- The Pirates last night did something they had not done in 224 innings. They had a big inning.

Held to two hits by right-hander Dave Bush over the first six innings, the Pirates scored four times in the seventh inning and beat Milwaukee, 4-2.

The four-run burst matched their largest inning of the season. They also had a four-run rally in Houston in the fifth inning April 4.

It would not seem, though, that staging a four-run inning once every month is going to do much for the Pirates.



Brewers' Bill Hall is tagged out at home plate by Ronny Paulino in the fourth inning last night.


"Offensively, we have a whole lot of mountains to get over," manager Jim Tracy said, mindful his team has scored three runs or less in 14 of its 27 games.

Freddy Sanchez opened the seventh with a double into left-center field. Jason Bay's pop-fly double into short right field on a 3-2 pitch got Sanchez home, halving a 2-0 Milwaukee lead.

"Jason Bay battled through a tough at-bat and flipped it into right field," Tracy said.

After Ryan Doumit bounced to third and Xavier Nady lined softly to first base, Jose Bautista drove a 1-1 pitch into the seats in left field for his second home run.

"A terrific at-bat," Tracy said.

Two pitches later, Ronny Paulino sent his third home run over the right-center field wall.

It was the first time the Pirates had hit back-to-back homers since Aug. 13, when Bay and Joe Randa homered against Jason Marquis of St. Louis.

"Our opportunity to win was a direct result of a couple of good at-bats," Tracy said. "But what put that together was the job our starter did. If [the Brewers] put up any more runs, I don't think that opportunity has a chance to happen."

Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny battled the Brewers well in his seven innings, allowing six hits and two runs and earned his fourth victory.

"Just another terrific performance," Tracy said.

After Matt Capps pitched a perfect eighth, Salomon Torres brushed aside a two-out walk to pinch-hitter Geoff Jenkins in the ninth and pocketed his ninth save.

Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the third when Bush's one-out bouncer rolled down the left-field line for a double. After Rickie Weeks popped to shortstop, J.J. Hardy walked on five pitches. Prince Fielder, however, bounced a 2-2 pitch past a diving Sanchez and into center field for a run-scoring single.

On the first pitch to cleanup hitter Bill Hall, the Brewers inexplicably tried to "steal" a run. Fielder broke for second, and Paulino threw to second as Hardy charged for the plate. Sanchez's return throw nailed Hardy.

Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said Fielder ran on his own.

Whatever, the Brewers could not get another runner in from third base in the fourth.

Hall's infield hit -- on a smash behind third base on which Bautista made a fine stop -- and a wild pitch put a runner on second with no outs. Hall moved to third on Johnny Estrada's ground ball to second.

With the Pirates' infield playing in, Kevin Mench bounced sharply to Wilson, who threw out Hall at the plate. Milwaukee scored a second run in the sixth after Hardy's leadoff double to right-center field that extended his career-high hitting streak to 14 games. Fielder's fly to right moved Hardy to third.

The Pirates again brought their infield in, but it mattered not. They had nobody playing behind Paulino. Gorzelanny's first pitch to Hall was high and outside and skipped off the lunging Paulino's glove, permitting Hardy to score.

The victory was just the second in the past six games for the Pirates.

"I think we're doing a tremendous job of weathering a situation that we know is not yet where we want it to be," Tracy said. "There are some inconsistencies with our game right now. We've done a nice job of keeping our heads afloat. I'm very anxious to see what we look like as a ball club when we get a few guys untracked offensively. We haven't seen much of that.

"Pitching-wise the past week, we've had some ups and downs. We've had a few bumpy starts."

That the Brewers are a solid team is no surprise to the Pirates. And shouldn't be to anybody else.

"You saw it coming the last couple years -- that they were on the verge of doing some good things," Sanchez said.

"Obviously, they're a much-improved team," Tracy said. "But we feel our team has improved some, too."


(Paul Meyer can be reached at 412-263-1144.)

Bucs' Sanchez working way out of slump

By Jim Rodenbush
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 3, 2007


Pirates hitting coach Jeff Manto thinks Freddy Sanchez is getting back on track.
The second baseman showed why with his first at-bat Wednesday afternoon.

Just minutes after Tuesday night's suspended game resumed, Sanchez lined a 3-2 pitch from Chicago Cubs reliever Bob Howry into center field for a single.

"With Freddy, it's all about his approach," Manto said. "When he squares the ball and hits it hard up the middle, you know the roadblock he's faced is about to end."

Sanchez has started to work his way out of a prolonged slump. He went 6 for 13 in the three-game series against the Cubs and, in the process, raised his batting average 44 points.

"Freddy has shown signs of breaking out," manager Jim Tracy said. "He's getting close."

Against the Cubs, Sanchez said he did a better job of recognizing pitches.

"I've felt a lot better," he said. "The main thing was, I wasn't seeing the ball very well. That affects everything. It affects your swing, your mechanics, everything."

For Sanchez, who had five hits in 40 at-bats prior to the Cubs series, regaining the form that helped him win the NL batting title in 2006 has been a frustrating process.

First, there was his sprained right knee, which cost him most of spring training and the first five games of the regular season.

Then, he was bothered by blurred vision caused by a small piece of metal lodged in his right eye.

"It's been one thing after another," Sanchez said.

The time Sanchez missed in spring training has had the biggest impact.

Sanchez said he doesn't hit in the offseason and uses the at-bats in the spring to recognize pitches and work on his timing.

"That's a big reason why Freddy has struggled," Manto said. "There's a routine that was messed up. It took its toll, as far as at-bats and his approach."

Because of his knee injury, Sanchez said he knew there would be some struggles in the first month of the season. But he never anticipated dealing with an eye problem.

Sanchez said his eye started bothering him during the Pirates' series April 18 and 19 in Milwaukee. He had the metal removed from his eye April 25 and missed that night's game against the Astros -- a 16-inning win.

"The doctor had to scratch the cornea to get the metal out," Sanchez said. "There's still some irritation. It's better now, but it's been a big problem."

As far as those hitting problems, Manto said Sanchez is "well-equipped" to fix his struggles.

"The good part about Freddy is that he was never given anything," Manto said. "He's used to working hard."


Jim Rodenbush can be reached at jrodenbush@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7937.

Gene Collier: Pirates don't get into swing of things

Right fielder Ryan Doumit just misses making a running catch on a foul ball hit by the Cubs' Aramis Ramirez yesterday at PNC Park.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Given the indifferent results coming from the less than novel practice of just taking 'em one game at a time, the Pirates awoke yesterday to an unusually hopeful set of opportunities, including an experiment with taking 'em 1.277 games at a time.

With at least two innings of Tuesday's suspended game remaining to be completed and another full novella of day baseball against the Chicago Cubs scheduled as the wrap-up to their homestand, May 2, 2007 veered suspiciously close to what could be described as a big day of baseball on the North Side.

A relatively robust sun-splashed crowd, heavy with young voices chanting "Let's go Pirates!" turned out mostly by coincidence, but the stage was nonetheless deftly set.

Crumpling to the occasion, the Pirates essentially stunk for more than four hours, eventually sending the adult portion of the audience muttering toward happy hour.

Between 12:36 p.m., the start of the suspended game, and 4:38 p.m., the end of the regularly scheduled fray, they scored two runs, matching the number of games they kicked into the loss column. So instead of putting some emphatic, momentum-cooking cap on a lusty 7-2 homestand and heading for Milwaukee to make a run at first place in the National League's so-called Comedy Central, they settled for 5-4 in the nine home games that ended in a feckless display of what looks almost like irredeemably flaccid offense.

"We're not going to continue to hit like this," manager Jim Tracy said after his team failed to send a runner as far as third base after Ryan Doumit's second-inning homer off Chicago starter Jason Marquis.

He's right, of course. Nobody can continue to hit like this.

Certifiably awful offensive teams -- and right now, this one's only a candidate for such a distinction -- score eight or 10 runs in a game every other week just by accident. Nowhere in the game's semi-mystical numerology is there a major-league team that never, ever, scores eight runs in a game. But that's what we're looking at. The Pirates have, on occasion, scored seven. On one occasion. In the first 26 games. Fifteen times as often, they've scored three runs or fewer.

No Jim Tracy team, which includes the 2006 Pirates edition and five versions of your Los Angeles Dodgers, has made it to May without scoring eight or more runs at least once. No Pirates team of this depressing millennium has done it, either.

"We're not stringing hits together," said third baseman Jose Bautista, one of five Pirates regulars who went hitless against Marquis. "We get our share of hits, but we don't put them together. That's what's been happening to us all year long."

Marquis is a redoubtable National League starter, but all he did yesterday was pitch well enough to beat the Pirates, which is not to be confused with pitching well right now.

"He wasn't all that great," Bautista said. "For me, it was a matter of swinging at pitches out of the zone."

At least Bautista was swinging, which separates him from too many critical components of this alleged offense. Tracy is loathe to put his finger on it, but Pirates hitters are simply not aggressive enough in hitters' counts.

Jason Bay, representing the tying run with two out in the ninth of the suspended game, took a called third strike to end the game. Adam LaRoche, hitting with Bay on first and the Cubs ahead by a run in the fourth inning of the regularly scheduled game, took a 3-1 fastball from Marquis right down Broadway at 93 mph, the perfect remedy for a struggling slugger to slug his struggles away. On the subsequent 3-2 pitch, LaRoche waved indifferently at strike three. LaRoche has 32 strikeouts and 12 hits.

Adam, sit.

"We'll get to the point where we have to talk about it," Tracy said regarding the possibility of benching the club's premier offseason acquisition. "But you can't sit him down for long because he's not going to get any better that way."

Though LaRoche remains the poster boy for hot Pirates disappointment, there was no shortage of suspects on the matter of who curdled this rare baseball opportunity yesterday. Both LaRoche and Paulino got caught flat-footed as the Cubs' Jacque Jones rounded third and scored the critical seventh Cubs run on an infield hit in the eighth inning of the suspended game. With Bautista on second in the bottom of the inning, Paulino jogged to first on his two-out grounder to deep third. Bay's game-ending at-bat was atrocious long before he took a called-third strike. He took a perfect 2-0 pitch from the never intimidating Ryan Dempster rather than attack the ball in a critical situation. The instances are not exactly rare when Bay looks quite content to be a good player rather than a great one.

"We'd have wanted the homestand to be a heck of a lot better than it was," Tracy said. "Still, we went 5-4. You can't fault the effort."

Maybe not, but I can get awfully close.


(Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1283.)

Bob Smizik: Looking at the two sides of Pirates' .500 April

Ian Snell

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It was a heartening opening month for the Pirates. The team that had been 42 games under .500 in April since 1995, finished with as many wins as losses. In most places 12-12 isn't reason for excitement. In Pittsburgh with the Pirates it is.

There were highs and lows as the Pirates opened well, staggered and then righted themselves. There were plenty of explanations.

The five biggest reasons the Pirates won 12 games in April:

Ian Snell: Manager Jim Tracy gets so carried away with his ultra-optimism he sometimes leaves his listeners quietly chuckling. No one cracked a smile yesterday when Tracy compared Snell to the great Pedro Martinez -- because of their comparatively small size and the sensational stuff. Snell has been that good. He only has two wins but should have a couple of more. The league is batting .197 against him. His earned run average is 1.59. Left-handed batters roughed him up for a .305 average in 2005. That number is down to .254 this season. He keeps getting better.

Chris Duffy: He has been all that anyone could ask for in center field, playing the position like it hasn't been played for the Pirates since Andy Van Slyke was annually winning Gold Gloves. That was pretty much expected. What was less expected, but hoped for, was the offense Duffy is providing. He went into last night's game batting a middling .264, but that wasn't the number that counted. His on-base percentage was .352. He drew 10 walks in April in 91 at-bats. Last season he drew 19 in 314 at-bats.



Jack Wilson

Jack Wilson: He declined appreciably in the field last season, a dangerous trend for an average offensive player. But he worked hard in the offseason, took off some weight -- which he incorrectly thought would help him last year -- and is back as one of the top National League shortstops. Offensively, he's also picked it up a notch or two. His career on-base percentage was a lowly .305. It is up to .330 this season. Not great, but a definite improvement. His batting average, .290 going into last night's game, has not dipped below .273 all season.

Matt Capps: He has been as dependable a reliever as there is in the league. His ERA is a microscopic 0.63. Opponents are hitting .184 against him. He has allowed two walks in 14 innings and been scored on only once in 15 games. As good as Capps has been, Tracy should resist the temptation to move him into the closer's role. Capps needs more success and closer Salomon Torres deserves a longer rope.

Tom Gorzelanny: After a horrendous spring training, he has bordered on the exceptional and has built on the moderately successful final three months of last season when he was 2-5 but with a team-best (by far) ERA for a starter of 3.79. He's not as far along in his development as Snell, or even Zach Duke, but he has shown he knows how to pitch and might have the stuff to be a successful starter for a long time.



Tom Gorzelanny

The five biggest reasons the Pirates lost 12 games in April:

Adam LaRoche: Yes, he has always been a slow starter, but not this slow and never this unproductive. He was expected to upgrade the offense. Instead, he has downgraded it. His batting average was .133, his slugging percentage .265. He has five extra-base hits in 83 at-bats. The few times it looked like he might be breaking out of his slump, he fell right back into it. Tracy has him batting where he belongs: seventh.

Salomon Torres: He has lived up to his reputation of being a slow starter in his first season as a full-time closer. His numbers are plug ugly. Opponents are batting .306 against him. He has allowed three home runs in 12 innings and has blown three of 11 save opportunities. Tracy is staunchly sticking with him, as he should, but if the Pirates have serious thought of being a winning team Torres has to get better quickly or be replaced.

Ronny Paulino. After a .310 rookie season and a sensational spring training, much was expected. Little has been forthcoming, although he did hit his second home run last night. He continues to do a good job handling the pitching staff and throwing out runners. But, at times, he is clueless defensively, as was the case Saturday when he had a runner hung up between third and home but threw to second base as the run scored.



Freddy Sanchez

Freddy Sanchez: The National League batting champ was hitting .224, although showing signs of snapping his season-long slump. What is particularly alarming is his .067 average with runners in scoring position. That number was .386 last season. He has been a bit of a disappointment at second base, although he is having to relearn the position after playing third most of last season.

Paul Maholm: He took his lumps last season -- 8-10 with a 4.76 ERA and it was hoped he would profit from that experience. It hasn't shown. He has had one brilliant start in five, but also three awful ones. His ERA is 5.28, which says it all.

Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Therrien among finalists for NHL awards

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Sidney Crosby is a finalist with goaltenders Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo for the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player.

Center Sidney Crosby moved a step closer to becoming the third player in Penguins history to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player when he was named a finalist for the award yesterday.

Crosby also is a finalist for the Lester B. Pearson Award, which goes to the NHL's top player as voted by the players.

The Penguins permeated the list of finalists. Forwards Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal are finalists for the Calder Trophy, honoring the league's top rookie. Michel Therrien is up for the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year.

Winners will be announced June 14 in Toronto.

Crosby, 19, became the youngest athlete to win a scoring championship in major sports history, wrapping up the Art Ross Trophy with 120 points. He will receive that award at a luncheon during the Stanley Cup playoff final.

He is the youngest Hart Trophy finalist since Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky won his first at 19 in 1979-80.

Hall of Fame center, Penguins co-owner and Crosby landlord Mario Lemieux won the Hart three times (1988, 1993, 1996) and winger Jaromir Jagr won it in 1999 while with the Penguins. Lemieux won the Lester B. Pearson Award in 1986, 1988, 1993 and 1996. Jagr won it in 1999 and 2000.

The other Hart finalists are goaltenders Martin Brodeur of New Jersey and Roberto Luongo of Vancouver. In the past 50 years, a goaltender has won the Hart four times.

Malkin, 20, and Staal, 18, are two of the three Calder finalists. The other is Paul Stastny of Colorado.

Malkin could become the second Russian player in a row to win. Washington's Alex Ovechkin beat out Crosby last season for the Calder and predicted Malkin would succeed him.

Malkin, playing left wing as well as his natural position of center, led all rookies in goals (33), assists (52), points (85) and power-play goals (16) and was 18th overall in NHL scoring.

He was the second overall pick in the 2004 draft behind Ovechkin but was delayed in joining the Penguins because of contractual issues with his Russian Super League team, Metallurg, in his hometown of Magnitogorsk. He slipped away from that team under trying circumstances last summer and signed with the Penguins.

Malkin became the first NHL player in 89 years to get at least one goal in each of his first six games.

Staal, the second overall choice in the 2006 draft, was something of a long shot to stick with the Penguins all season, but he ended up leading the league with seven shorthanded goals (a rookie record) and a 22.1 shooting percent while also switching between center and winger.

He had 29 goals, led the Penguins and was tied for second among all rookies with a plus-minus rating of plus-16 and became the youngest NHL player to get a hat trick when he scored three goals against his childhood favorite team, Toronto, Feb. 10.

Lemieux, in 1985, is the only Calder Trophy winner in Penguins history.

Therrien, 43, was promoted from the Penguins' minor-league club in December 2005. In his first full season, he guided the team to 47 wins, 105 points and a berth in the playoffs for the first time since 2001. The team's 47-point improvement over 2005-06 was the fourth-best turnaround in NHL history.

The other Jack Adams Award finalists are Lindy Ruff of Buffalo and Vancouver's Alain Vigneault.

No Penguins coach has won the Jack Adams Award.

Two other trophies will be awarded June 14. The Bill Masterton Trophy goes to the player who best shows perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication. The King Clancy Trophy goes to the player who shows the best leadership and humanitarian contribution to his community.

Voting was conducted at the conclusion of the regular season by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, NHL general managers and the NHL Broadcasters' Association.



NOTES -- Rick Curran, who represents Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts, said he has "had a couple of conversations with [Penguins general manager] Ray Shero" about the two veteran wingers re-signing. Both are unrestricted free agents. "The team has expressed an interest in having them back, and both players have expressed an interest in coming back," Curran said. Shero, part of USA Hockey's national team advisory group, is in Moscow at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships but said before he left that he might work on deals for Recchi and Roberts while he was traveling.


(Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.)

Steelers' NFL Draft Board, Day 2

Monday, April 30, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A look at who the Steelers picked on Day 2 of the NFL draft.


Daniel Sepulveda
Punter Baylor Ht: 6-2 1/2 Wt: 229




Scouting report: Big, strong punter who boots them deep with plenty of hang time. Two-time Ray Guy Award winner as best punter in college game. ... First punter the Steelers have drafted in 22 years. ... Traded their sixth-round pick to Packers to move up seven spots in fourth round. ... Averaged 46.5 yards per punt last season, 42 net on 66 punts. Averaged 45.2 yards per punt in four-year career, 40.3 net. Had four blocks at Baylor, all in his freshman year of 2003. ... Born in Austin, Texas, but grew up in Dallas.

No. 112 overall



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan McBean
Defensive lineman Oklahoma State Ht: 6-4 1/2 Wt: 285




Scouting report: Jamaican native who overcame a rough childhood. He moved at age 14 to Brooklyn and later to the Dallas suburbs, where he first played football as a sophomore at Trinity High in Euless, Texas. ... Started the past two years after transferring from junior college. ... Coaches believe he can add weight up to 305. ... Had 7 1/2 sacks in past two years with 23 starts. ... Can play either nose tackle or DE but considers himself an end in the Steelers' 3-4 scheme.

No. 132 overall



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cameron Stephenson
Guard Rutgers Ht: 6-3 Wt: 306




Scouting report: Played right guard last season, defensive tackle in 2005 and offensive tackle in 2004. ... Solid fundamentally, not very fast but can pull and run and is strong. ... Australian native (mom is from Tonga, dad from Australia) who moved to the U.S. when he was 8 and settled in California. ... Helped beat Pitt in 2005 with a fumble recovery. ... Steelers also want him to practice at center. ... Steelers' two starting guards enter final year of their contracts.

No. 156 overall



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William Gay
Cornerback Louisville Ht: 5-10 Wt: 187



Scouting report: Three-year starter for the Cardinals; started three games as a freshman. ... First team All-Big East last season. ... Intercepted a pass against Pitt last season. ... Ran a 4.48 40 at his pro-day workout. ... Good leaping ability. ... Undersized, yet rarely beaten in his college career. ... Likely will have to make the Steelers as a special teams player first and could replace Chidi Iwuoma in that role. ... Native of Tallahassee, Fla.

No. 170 overall



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dallas Baker
Wide receiver Florida Ht: 6-3 Wt: 209



Scouting report: Two-year starter for national champions with good size. ... In 59 games for Florida, caught 151 passes for 2,236 yards and 21 touchdowns. ... Led team last season with an average of 65.7 yards and 4.3 receptions per game. ... Nephew of Wes Chandler, former Gators star who was first-round draft choice in 1978 of New Orleans Saints and currently wide receivers coach with the Cleveland Browns.

No. 227 overall

Steelers' Timmons embraces rarefied status

Steelers first-round pick Lawrence Timmons speaks to the media on the South Side, April 30. 2007.

By Scott Brown
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, May 1, 2007


Just as when he visited the Steelers about three weeks ago, Lawrence Timmons met with coaches and got a better feel for the team.

There was one significant difference between Timmons' pre-draft interview April 11 at the Steelers' South Side facility and Monday.

This time, Steelers president Art Rooney II and coach Mike Tomlin presented him with a black-and-gold jersey with the No. 1 on it.

Less than 48 hours after the Steelers made Timmons the 15th overall pick of the NFL draft, the outside linebacker from Florida State met with reporters -- and got at least a glimpse into how much his life has changed.

"I've never been through anything like this, all the cameras, just being in a big city like Pittsburgh," said Timmons, who won't turn 21 until May 14. "I think it will be just a hard change altogether because this is the NFL.

"It's just a challenge I'm just going to have to take. I know I'll be all right."

Timmons proved to be as quiet and soft-spoken as advertised, and at times, he struggled to be heard over the clicking of cameras.

But Timmons became the first linebacker the Steelers have drafted in the first round since 1991 because he is much better in front of cameras on the field than off it.

He no doubt had them focused on him last season.

Timmons recorded 18 tackles for losses in 2006, the only season he started at Florida State, and had five sacks. The 6-foot-1, 234-pounder also blocked two punts and scored three touchdowns on either defense or special teams.

"He's got exceptional burst to the ball," Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler said, "and he arrives angry to the ball."

The Steelers will soon get to see some of that attitude.

Timmons says he will spend the next two weeks working out at home in Florence, S.C., before returning for Steelers' minicamp, which will be May 11-13.

His ties to Pittsburgh now go beyond having a father who played one season of college basketball at Duquesne and knowing Levon Kirkland (Timmons grew up about 10 minutes from where the former Steelers linebacker hails).

And the number on the jersey given to Timmons yesterday doesn't just signify his status as a first-round pick, but also the lofty expectations that come with such status.

The Steelers took Timmons to compete with James Harrison for Joey Porter's old spot at outside linebacker and boost their special-teams play.

His appeal as a player also lies in his versatility.

Timmons played in a 4-3 defense at Florida State and proved to be as adept as dropping back into coverage as he was at rushing the quarterback.

The Steelers will almost certainly use him in a number of different ways, since they seem intent on showing teams multiple looks on defense next season.

"I just try to play anywhere that helps the defense win games," Timmons said. "I think my versatility is what makes me such a great player."

Scott Brown can be reached at sbrown@tribweb.com or 412-481-5432.

Mike Prisuta: Steelers' Timmons, Woodley will have ripple effect

1st Round Draftpick Lawrence Timmons

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, May 1, 2007


Whether you loved or hated the Steelers' draft, you're a long way from being done with dissecting it.

At least that's the current projection.

• The revelation that Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley will substitute at defensive end as situational pass rushers and will play special teams is yet another sign of the changing times on the South Side.

In the Bill Cowher regime, Joey Porter and Clark Haggans rarely, if ever, came out of the game.

Now that Cowher's gone, coach Mike Tomlin, defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and linebackers coach Keith Butler are in agreement, Butler reported, that starting outside linebackers James Harrison and Haggans won't have to rush the passer on every passing snap.

By not asking Harrison to do so, the Steelers can keep him available for special teams and throw a pair of fresh pass-rushing legs at the Jonathan Ogdens of the world every so often.

That'll improve the pass rush and the special teams.

The Steelers could have used such enlightened thinking last season.



2nd Round Draftpick Lamarr Woodley

• You can't complain about trading up in the fourth round to draft a punter if you truly believe special teams are one-third of the game.

Did the Steelers spend too much for Daniel Sepulveda? Not if Sepulveda and his "Aussie style" prove as effective as the Steelers suspect.

And if he doesn't, it was still worth a shot.

Ike Taylor (2003), Larry Foote ('02) and Aaron Smith (1999) were recent fourth-round picks. So were Orien Harris (2006), Fred Gibson ('05), Mathias Nkwenti ('01) and Danny Farmer ('00).

The pursuit of restricted free-agent punter Andy Lee showed the Steelers' desire to replace Chris Gardocki.

Now that they've done so, they have one less problem with which to contend.

• Three tight ends at the same time?

The Steelers have traditionally done that only in short-yardage/goal-line situations, when an extra offensive tackle would report in as a third tight end.

But new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians spoke with a straight face late Saturday night when he said, "I like having three tight ends on the field a lot of times."

It remains to be seen how much Arians practices what he's suddenly preaching, but the drafting of Matt Spaeth is a clear indication the Steelers are shifting philosophically from a power running game (not that they had one in theory or practice last season).

Multiple-tight end formations, especially those featuring Heath Miller and Spaeth, should afford the flexibility to throw out of what might appear to be running sets, particularly on first down.

And, as Tomlin observed, spreading the field will "create gaps along the line of scrimmage that you have to defend."

Willie Parker ought to enjoy trying to exploit those.

• Fifth-round pick Cameron Stephenson, a guard from Rutgers, addressed a problem the Steelers might have next season.

"We have uncertainty there next year once free agency hits," director of football operations Kevin Colbert said. "Everybody knows that situation."

That situation involves All-Pro guard Alan Faneca's unhappiness with his contract or the state of the Steelers as a franchise in transition, or both.

It doesn't sound as if Colbert is expecting to sign Faneca to a contract extension prior to the upcoming season.


Mike Prisuta is a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at mprisuta@tribweb.com or 412-320-7923.

Hockey News names Crosby top player

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Sidney Crosby, who secured the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer with 120 points and is a front-runner for the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player, picked up the top two annual honors from The Hockey News as the Penguins dominated the publication's awards list.

Crosby, 19, was named the league's best player and MVP and was selected as the center on the first-team all-star lineup by The Hockey News. Teammates Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal and coach Michel Therrien also were honored.

Malkin, a forward who led all rookies with 85 points, was named best first-year player and selected to the all-rookie team. Staal, who was sixth among rookies with 42 points and led the NHL with seven short-handed goals, finished in the top five among best first-year player and top penalty killer ratings.

The publication named Therrien best coach after he led the Penguins to 105 points in his first full season with them.

Finalists for the NHL's annual awards will be announced today.

Bay's late home run propels Pirates, 3-2

Several struggling players contribute in upending Cubs

Tuesday, May 01, 2007



Jason Bay is congratulated by teammates after hitting the winning home run against the Cubs' Michael Wuertz in the eighth inning last night at PNC Park.


By Dejan Kovacevic

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Strapping on his cowboy boots in a nearly empty clubhouse late last night, Adam LaRoche found perhaps the perfect description for the Pirates' 3-2 upending of the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.

"Now that," he said with his inimitable twang, "was a pretty good momentum-builder right there."

It certainly had that feel of one that someone could ride, from a team and an individual standpoint.

There was Jason Bay, who has struggled in tight situations for more than a year, belting the winning home run in the eighth inning.

There were big hits, too, from LaRoche and Ronny Paulino, who have struggled in ... well, all situations since opening day.

There was Zach Duke delivering a quality start -- two runs in 6 2/3 innings -- for the second consecutive outing, burying deeper the memory of those two implosions earlier in the month.

And, in the end, there was Salomon Torres, so shaky for so much of April, protecting the one-run lead for his eighth save.

"This was a nice one to have," Bay said. "We've been on the back end of a lot of those kinds of games, so it's nice to be on the front end."

For the better part of the evening, the scene looked terribly familiar: The Pirates were getting good pitching, the other team had a slight lead, and the offense was doing next to nothing.

"We battled back," manager Jim Tracy said. "Give these guys credit."

Duke gave up a run in the first and second innings, then held Chicago scoreless until being lifted with two outs in the seventh. The telling number: 13 ground-ball outs.

"I felt like my focus was in the right place," Duke said. "I'm just pitching like myself, and this is what happens."

He had help. With bases loaded in that seventh, Jonah Bayliss was summoned to face Aramis Ramirez, and Bayliss went right at him, getting a lazy flyout.

"Terrific job," Tracy said.

Bayliss has inherited 10 runners this season. Not one has scored.

It took the offense a while to get going against Rich Hill, Chicago's slick left-hander, and that was no fluke: Hill owns a 1.91 ERA and has held opponents to a .191 average since July.

But the Pirates halved the Cubs' lead to 2-1 in the fifth when Ryan Doumit doubled down the left-field line, then scored on LaRoche's two-out shot up the middle.

"I'm getting closer," LaRoche said, his average at .133.

The Pirates tied the score at 2-2 in the seventh against Hill. Jose Bautista drew a leadoff walk and, one out later, Tracy put the runner in motion. Paulino made it look prescient by bringing Bautista all the way around with a double hammered to the track in left.



Ryan Doumit is hit by a pitch thrown by Cubs starter Rich Hill in the first inning last night at PNC Park.


"That felt pretty good, especially against a pitcher like that," Paulino said, his average at .216.

Michael Wuertz relieved Hill for the eighth and retired the Pirates' first two batters, bringing up Bay.

Would he swing for the fences?

"That's the last thing I'm thinking," Bay said. "It never works out."

Maybe his mind-set changed a bit when he saw Wuertz's 1-0 offering, a splitter ... or was it a cutter? It neither split nor cut, so it was hard to tell.

Whatever it was, it stayed flat and high, right in Bay's wheelhouse, and he sent it into the first row above the left edge of the Clemente Wall, to the delight of the 11,437 in attendance.

"It wasn't mammoth, by any means," he said, grinning. "I tried to give it a little extra oomph as I was going around first base."

It was Bay's fourth home run, his 100th with the Pirates. He is the 20th player in franchise history to reach that mark.

It also, in Tracy's eyes, might have represented a step forward for a middle-of-the-order man who batted .246 with runners in scoring position last season and seems capable of more than his annual 100 RBIs.

"One thing with Jason that is so pleasing is that type of at-bat in that situation, where the game is tied or close and he looks for a specific pitch to drive," Tracy said. "He was in kind of the learning stages last year when we talked about other plateaus that this guy can reach for to become a very, very special player. This can be one of those plateaus."

Bay has a team-high 17 RBIs, 10 of those in the past eight games.

Matt Capps pitched his usual scoreless eighth -- one earned run in 15 appearances now -- and Torres came out for the ninth.



Starter Zach Duke hangs his head before being taken out by manager Jim Tracy in the seventh inning last night.

He found two quick outs, and it looked like he might have his first 1-2-3 inning since April 8. But he walked Ryan Theriot to bring up Derrek Lee, one of the game's great hitters.

Lee would not disappoint, driving Torres' 1-1 pitch to the gap in right-center. It appeared destined for a tying double, but center fielder Chris Duffy had an excellent jump and ran it down with ease.

"He probably helped win the game," Tracy said. "I'm not sure how many center fielders would make that look easy."

The key?

"I was able to see where Sully threw the ball," Duffy said. "Derrek Lee's the kind of guy who hits the ball where it's pitched."

So, when the pitch was a little outside ...

"I started moving to my left."

The Pirates snapped a two-game losing streak and returned to .500 at 12-12.


(Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@post-gazette.com.)

Ron Cook: First Colbert-Tomlin draft is a real puzzler

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin poses with first round draft pick Lawrence Timmons after he was presented a team jersey Monday afternoon at his first Pittsburgh press conference.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Does anyone have a cell phone number for Bill Cowher?

Is it too late to try to talk him out of retirement?

How about bringing back Tom Donahoe as well? He and Cowher didn't speak at the end of their time running the Steelers, but, even in that uncivilized state, it's hard to imagine them having a worse NFL draft weekend than Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin had this past weekend.

OK, so that's an intended exaggeration, offered strictly for effect. Everyone knows Colbert has done a superb job with the Steelers' personnel department, so good that he had a huge role in the franchise's Super Bowl XL win. As for Tomlin, who can say? It's way too soon to judge the new coach. He hasn't lost a game yet. Of course, he hasn't won one, either, but you get the idea.

It's just that it's pretty hard to like what Colbert and Tomlin did during the NFL's 72nd annual Player Selection Meeting.

It's not so much their sexy picks, the top two picks. There's nothing wrong with those. Florida State junior outside linebacker Lawrence Timmons might have been a bit of a reach at No. 15 in the first round, but it's forgivable if he was. The Steelers had a screaming need at the position. Joey Porter is gone. Clark Haggans probably will be gone after the '07 season. No one is sure James Harrison will get it done as Porter's replacement. Colbert and Tomlin were smart to take not just Timmons, but outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley in the second round. Woodley, a dominating player at Michigan, looks like especially good value.

It's the third- and fourth-round picks that are troubling.

A tight end and a punter.

Really, has anyone seen Cowher's number?

While you're looking for it, see if you can find a running back, will ya?

You know, the one the Steelers had to draft but didn't.

There's only one thing dumber than a franchise that long has under-utilized its tight ends drafting a tight end in the third round. That's trading up in the fourth round to take a punter.

A punter!

Donahoe is out of work and available, isn't he?

All right, enough of that.



Matt Spaeth

At least it's comforting to know new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is flexible. He emerged from a bunker at the Steelers' South Side headquarters Saturday after the team drafted Minnesota's Matt Spaeth in the third round and allowed he really might like to use three-tight end sets from time to time. Earlier, he had said he hopes to use four wide receivers on some first-down plays.

Here's the kicker:

(No, not that blasted punter.)

Arians could end up doing both a lot more than he had planned. He might not have a running back to line up before the '07 season is very old. There's Pro Bowler Willie Parker. And there's ...

Well, there's Willie Parker.

The Steelers want you to think Najeh Davenport is another Jerome Bettis, but it's OK to be a nonbeliever. They also have hopes that Verron Haynes will work his way back into the mix, but he wasn't very good when he was healthy. Now he's trying to come back from a major knee injury?

That's why it made no sense for the Steelers to pass on a running back in the third round. They could have had Penn State's Tony Hunt. He would have looked good giving Parker the occasional break, wouldn't he?



Dan Sepulveda

Certainly, the Steelers could have gotten a running back in the fourth round. They gave away their sixth-round pick to move up seven spots to take Baylor punter Daniel Sepulveda. Why not move up a little further and take Louisville running back Michael Bush? Oakland got him with the first pick of the fourth round. Bush could end up being the steal of the draft if he's able to come back from a serious leg injury. Or how about Ohio State's Antonio Pittman, a productive player at a big-time football school? He went to New Orleans just four picks before the Steelers took Sepulveda.

But, hey, look at the bright side.

The Steelers will get a lot of use out of Sepulveda if they can't run the ball.

We're talking about a team that lives or dies with the run. It's the only way to go. The Steelers play in the Northeast, often in cold, wet, unforgiving weather that isn't conducive to throwing pass after pass. But even if they were a dome team, they should want to ease the load on Ben Roethlisberger. You might have heard, Big Ben is coming off a 23-interception season.

Tomlin is supposed to continue the Steelers Way. No problem, he says. From day one, he has talked about football being a game of toughness, a game of attrition, how his team will be the one standing after running the ball and stopping the run all day.

Therein lies the contradiction.

Sepulveda makes the Steelers tougher?

He had better have 4.3 speed.

He could end up at running back if Parker goes down.


(Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.)

Steelers had their reasons for TE pick

New Steeler linebacker Lawrence Timmons meets with the Pittsburgh media

Tuesday, May 01, 2007



Steelers coach Mike Tomlin looks on as first-round draft pick linebacker Lawrence Timmons speaks to the media for the first time at the Steelers' offices.



By Ed Bouchette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On a day in which the Steelers introduced top draft choice Lawrence Timmons at a news conference, the debate surrounding their No. 3 pick remained thick with dissenters.

It's not a question of Matt Spaeth's talent or production or character, but what in the world the Steelers were doing drafting another tight end on the first day?



At 6-7, Matt Spaeth is the tallest target for Ben Roethlisberger.


This is a team that has relied on its ground game more than any team in the NFL the past three decades, that has a new coach who said his primary goals are to win by attrition (to run and stop the run), one that drafted a pretty fair tight end in the first round just two years ago, and hasn't drafted a running back in the top three rounds in this century.

None of that mattered when it came the Steelers' turn to pick 13th in the third round and saw Spaeth sticking out like a 6-foot-7 tight end in a dwindling crowd. Spaeth's credentials include winning the Mackey Award as the college football's best tight end, an honor that also went to Heath Miller, drafted by the Steelers in 2005.

"We were ecstatic that he fell to us," said the new impresario of the Steelers' offense, Bruce Arians. "We had three names; they were popping off like firecrackers right there and we just held our breath that he'd stay there."

Fans and other draft experts have said more things under their breath ever since. But, of course, the Steelers did have their reasons for drafting another tight end. And, upon closer look, some of them even make sense:

It may have been a draft deep in wide receivers, but none at that point whom the Steelers felt were any better than their top four and none with the value they put on Spaeth.

Same with the running backs. The Steelers did not like what they saw at that point.

Arians wants to use more tight ends and wide receivers in various formations and more one-back schemes.

Tight ends are getting harder and harder to find as teams go more to spread offenses.

Also, at 6 feet 7, Spaeth runs a 4.85 in the 40 and should be able to run down the middle and drag a linebacker and maybe a safety with him. In theory, that would open things up more for other receivers, including Heath Miller, and also for halfback Willie Parker.

"He is big, tall and fast," Arians said. "He can block. He is an outstanding, prototypical tight end. At 6-7, he can help stretch the field and he can also handle the point of attack.

"He gives us good flexibility to take Heath and move him around a lot more. Also ... I like having three tight ends on the field a lot of times."

Spaeth, a four-year starter at Minnesota and first team All-Big Ten the past two years, becomes the tallest target for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and certainly not his most humble.

"I'm a physical, blocking tight end," Spaeth said. "I can run routes, catch the ball. I'm a four-down guy. I can stay on the field and we don't have to make a sub for a running down or a passing down."

He and the Steelers believe he slipped a little in the draft because of a shoulder injury last year that has since healed. The Steelers felt the same way when they drafted Miller near the end of the first round in 2005 after he had surgery to repair a sports hernia.

Spaeth caught 47 passes for 564 yards last season. He started 45 games in four years and caught 109 passes for 1,291 yards and 12 touchdowns.

"Like Heath, I think he slid because of not being able to work out until late, missing most of the combine," Arians said. "And when he did work out, he got back pretty early. I think we got a steal."


(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com.)