Bob Smizik: King Barry's visit will stir the pot Monday night

Friday, August 10, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

How appropriate that, in his first venture away from the cozy adulation of San Francisco, the much-detested home run king is coming back to the place where they hated him before it was a national craze.

That's Pittsburgh. Always ahead of the curve.

Barry Bonds, not the greatest Pirate but the greatest player to wear a Pirates uniform, will return Monday to where it all began. It is intriguing to ponder how many will buy tickets for the twi-night doubleheader at PNC Park, which was not on the original schedule and was caused by two postponements in April.

It will be more intriguing to see how he is greeted.

Bonds is now an historic figure, and not because he failed to throw out Sid Bream at home in the seventh game of the 1992 NLCS. His name will live as long as they play baseball. In discussions of the all-time greatest players, his name is near the top of the list. No one denies him that.

It would be nice to say we saw this level of greatness coming. Few, if any, did. When he arrived in Pittsburgh in late May of 1986 after less than a year of minor-league ball, it was with little fanfare. Sure, he was a first-round pick, but back then, as now, the Pirates had miserable luck with such choices. From 1965, the first year of the draft, until Bonds was selected in 1985, the Pirates' only first-round choice to have any kind of major-league career was Richie Hebner, an above-average third baseman. Ten of the picks never made it to the majors. The remainder were bit players.

Why would Bonds be different?

His first start was May 30 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He led off against Orel Hershiser and popped up to shortstop Mariano Duncan. He would go hitless in five at-bats that day. His first hit came in his first at-bat the next day, a double off Rick Honeycutt. He was 4 for 20 and once had been pinch-hit for by Mike Diaz before a June 4 game against Atlanta. In the fifth inning, he hit his first homer in what was to become a 12-3 Pirates victory.



There barely was any stopping him after that, except, of course, for those postseason flops. That's something Pittsburgh can't get past. But let's take another quick look.

He was awful, no question, in three consecutive playoff series. But, in two of those postseasons, he was facing the Atlanta Braves, which meant there were three future Hall of Famers pitching against him -- Greg Maddox, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Beyond that, it's such a small sampling. The beloved Willie Stargell was a combined 6 for 54 in the 1971 and 1972 postseasons with no homers and two RBIs.

As for the play on Bream, it was a good one -- not the massive failure his critics suggest. Bonds, a great defensive outfielder, did everything right. He just did not have a strong enough throwing arm. It would have taken a great throw to get Bream. Bonds made a good one.

Combine his failure to hit in the postseason, the misunderstanding of the Bream play and the fact he is not a nice person and what you have locally is an intense dislike of Bonds that manifests itself in loud booing every time he plays here.

Brazenly overlooked in these calculations is the fact he won two Most Valuable Player titles with the Pirates, twice as many as any player in team history, and that there would have been no playoffs -- not a chance -- without him.

Nationally, it is his chemical enhancement that most makes him so unpopular, although his personality is a close second. In breaking Hank Aaron's all-time home run record, he has been excoriated by the national media. That is certainly their right, but it seems a bit off since the 350th win of Roger Clemens, another player who may well have used chemicals to achieve his late-career success, received no such scrutiny or anger.

Nor is Bonds the only player who allegedly has used steroids. There's no way of knowing, but a good estimate would be 30 percent of the major-leaguers were using and maybe some still are.

And, while it is virtually indisputable that the success of the 1970s Steelers and many other NFL teams of that era was aided by steroids, those lapses in judgment are conveniently overlooked.

As for those wishing an asterisk, that is laughable. Bonds has hit the most home runs in major-league history without breaking the rules. Why should there be an asterisk?

If you want an asterisk, consider this: The most prolific home run hitter in history is Mark McGwire, who homered every 10.6 at-bats. Babe Ruth is second at 11.8 and Bonds third at 12.9. Aaron is 36th, homering every 16.4 at-bats. This puts him behind, among others, Jim Gentile (16.3), Jay Buhner (16.2) and, my favorite, Ron Kittle (15.4).

Maybe it's Aaron who should have had the asterisk.

But Aaron is deservedly revered and Bonds greatly despised.

When his name is announced Monday at PNC, you can be sure there will be plenty who will stand and cheer. And you can be just as sure there will be more who sit and boo.

Bonds would not have it any other way.


Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com

Gene Collier: Debate on Bonds has just begun

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Very often, when Barry Bonds steps on home plate to punctuate another of his signature homers, he jabs at the heavens to thank God. Let's now point with him, literally or figuratively, and say together, "Thank God that's over!"

Of Bonds and his now unparalleled home run numbers, of the count up to the countdown, of the inescapable arguments they engendered thanks exclusively to the man himself, the Great Scambino, the Sultan of Stanozolol, the Colossus of the Cream and the Clear, the Terror of Trenbolone, let us agree at the minimum that Henry Aaron's 33-year-old career home run record of 755 has finally and irredeemably been, umm, surpassed.

Broken?

Not sure I can go there.

Wrecked?

Certainly.

This is the point in this essay where a lot of predictors will exit, identifying it as another blossoming screed against poor Barry, just because he is black, just because he does not like the media, just because he is misunderstood, just because he is not as palatable as Aaron to the broader white audience, and just because of whatever other amateur psycho-social palaver in which they care to traffic.

Sorry, I'm not playing defense today, except to point out the following:

Bonds and his numbers have been stripped across the front page of this sports section every single day of the summer, every single day since May 14? Just Barry and his relevant newsworthy numbers. Counting up. Counting down. And it's 100 percent syringe free. No context. No irony. No sarcasm.

Just the man and his numbers.

Maybe you noticed that yesterday, hours after Barry surpassed The Hammer, the front page of this newspaper proclaimed, "Home Run King." Not an asterisk in sight, nor should there have been.

In other words, here and in most media outlets, we're cool with all this on the surface. Because we dig immediate facts, sometimes even at the expense of some larger truth.

So don't be bringing me your bias theory.

But the truth is, alas and again, Greg Anderson is in jail for a third time on contempt charges. He was Bonds' personal trainer. He was Bonds' go-between to the perverse doping underworld that was BALCO, whose founder has been to prison and back for distributing designer (undetectable) steroids and human growth hormone. Anderson, whom Bonds reportedly underpaid, won't talk about it, which is why he is in jail. If Bonds is innocent, why is his head bigger than Mr. Met's and why doesn't Anderson just say so?



And the truth is, alas and again, that Bonds told a grand jury he took the stuff, but did not know what it was. If you believe someone who is making $17 million annually based just about exclusively on his musculature can ingest something without knowing what it is, something from an obscure laboratory, well, I can't help you.

In a sense, we're all at fault for the magnification of things that should be left to trivialists.

Too often we confuse baseball history with real history, mostly because the mileposts of too many lives, including my own, are marked with ball scores and numbers that probably should not matter as much as they do. I remember where I was when the Philadelphia Phillies lost a 12-game lead with 61/2 games left, where I was when Pete Rose punched the daylights out of Bud Harrelson, where I was when Aaron took Al Downing aboard Flight 715, where I was when the ball went between Bill Buckner's legs, where I was when Sid Bream beat Spanky LaValliere's swipe tag to the plate in Fulton County Stadium, even where I was, for God's sake, when Randall Simon whacked Milwaukee's sausage.

When Bonds surpassed Aaron, I was in bed watching "Frazier" with my eyes closed, something I probably would have been capable of forgetting by the end of this column had not my older son come in at 10 past midnight to see if I was awake.

"Did you hear Barry did it?" said the 22-year-old.

"Yeah?"

"You know it's sad," he said. "I'm supposed to love baseball, and I didn't come home early to see it or anything. It's just, so what?"

"Yeah."

"Sherry Niles?"

It is terribly sad, if not so much for us, as in the little understood way in which the highly privileged and the immensely gifted seem to find sadness in spite of themselves. Barry never felt respected enough. Never. No matter the topic.

In the Pirates' dugout at Three Rivers Stadium, circa 1989, I was in a meandering pregame conversation with Bonds, another writer, and some stadium staffers, too long before game time. The conversation bumped up against guns at one point, causing Barry to blurt, "All my friends have Uzis!"

Nobody wants to be framed by reflexive, intemperate things they said when they were 25, but Bonds was so promising in the baseball sense that he already had been grown a sense of entitlement the size of Delaware. When Mark McGwire, himself now a recluse without sympathy, won the nation's adulation through much the same depressing methods in 1998, Bonds simply could not deal with it, despite telling then girlfriend Kimberly Bell, "they're just letting him do it because he's a white boy." It was Bell who told "Game of Shadows" authors Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams that when a flight delay caused her to be late for a meeting with the eventual Home Run King, Barry said, "If you ever #$%@!pull some #$%@!like that again, I'll kill you, do you understand?"

No one wants to be framed by intemperate things they say when they're 37, but this was long after Bell started taping Barry's phone messages for fear that no one would be able to figure out why she was dead.

But for now, I guess it's long live the king.

Five or six or seven years from now, a Hall of Fame ballot will arrive at my house. On the instructions, it will tell me to base my vote on every candidate's "playing record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to his team."

That's a whole lot more than just the man and his numbers.


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

Catching up with their competitors, the Steelers christen a mascot

Say hello to Steely McBeam

Thursday, August 09, 2007

By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The name and the character may take some getting used to. But move over Stevie Steeler and The Terrible Fan: The mascot named yesterday as part of the 75th anniversary season of the Steelers is ... Steely McBeam.



Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
Steely McBeam -- a hard hat and a jutting jaw.
Click photo for larger image.

It almost felt like the football gods were frowning yesterday at the Steelers' training camp on this break from tradition -- What's next? A steel-toed drill team? -- but it turned out to be nothing more than a few raindrops and the rumble of distant afternoon thunder.

In fact, while some disparaging remarks have been heard from a fan base that resists change and doesn't think the Steelers need a mascot -- even though most National Football League teams have one -- Darnell Drewery of Wilkins has warmed to the idea.

"My first reaction was that if they didn't have one for so long, why do it now? But I've come around. I think it's really good for the new generation of fans," Mr. Drewery, 35, said at the announcement of the name following afternoon practice at Saint Vincent College. "I took pride in the fact that the Steelers didn't need anything but their hard-core fans. No cheerleaders or gimmicks. No Hollywood stuff. Pittsburgh is all about old-school. But now I think this is a good idea."

He would, however, have preferred the name Man of Steel.

For the record, Steely McBeam's reaction was steely silence. But that's because the mascot doesn't talk when wearing his costume of a plaid gold shirt, black bib overalls, a hard hat and a jutting jaw.

The winning entry was chosen from a pool of 70,000 suggestions submitted by fans around the world after the contest to name the mascot was announced in April.

The name was submitted by Diane Roles of Valencia, who receives a VIP package for four to the Steelers' Sept. 16 home opener against the Buffalo Bills. She will also get an authentic Steelers throwback helmet and jersey, just like those that will be worn by the team that day.

"We've been ecstatic all day. I am just so thrilled, I don't know what to say," said Mrs. Roles, a grandmother of five.

She said she picked the name because of Pittsburgh's steel history, the Irish name McBeam because of the Rooney family name and "beam" for the city of Pittsburgh.

The mascot, a steel worker who represents Pittsburgh's legacy as an industrial furnace, is a modern version of a logo that the Steelers used during the 1950s and '60s. Mr. McBeam will be visible at all home games and participate in the team's charitable programs and other club-sponsored events.

The continuity of generations is a hallmark of a franchise with such a rich history. When the team changed its name from Pirates to Steelers in 1940 by holding a contest, founder Art Rooney made the announcement. Yesterday, his grandson and namesake, team president Art Rooney II, served as master of ceremonies when the mascot's name was revealed.

"We've had mascots in the past. We just felt it was time to have an official one. We felt it would add some excitement and fun to our 75th season. It was a good way to try and reach out to the young folks a little more," said Mr. Rooney.

Mr. McBeam's jutting jaw conjures up memories of former coach Bill Cowher, he of the steely glare. But any resemblance is purely coincidental.

"It's been mentioned a couple of times that there's somewhat of a resemblance," laughed Mr. Rooney. "There was no effort to replicate Bill."

Debbie Townsend of Avonmore mentioned the resemblance, saying that the "highlight of my life" was getting an autograph from the former coach. She was at training camp yesterday with her husband and two children trying to get the autograph of new coach Mike Tomlin. And it's the new chapter in team history that makes the mascot appealing to her.

"I love it," she said. "I think this is the year to do it. It's a new beginning. A new book."

Longtime fan Pete Ringus, 66, of Arnold, didn't feel hidebound by tradition. While trying to keep track of two grandchildren who were with him at practice, he gave a thumbs-up to the idea.

"I think it's cool. Fans are interested in the Steelers anyway, but it gets them more and more involved, especially the new generation," said Mr. Ringus, a union carpenter for 38 years.

The honor of saying the name for the first time in public fell to Takara Corbett, who made the journey from Hawaii to St. Vincent College to see the Steelers up close. Her father, Kevin, is a native of Monongahela who bought a satellite dish and the $380 NFL TV package to keep up with the Steelers, even if he has to get up at 7 a.m. on Sundays to watch his team.

Miss Corbett, wearing a Willie Parker jersey, carried a hand-made sign that read:

Plane tickets: $5,000

Rental car: $500

Official jersey: $300

Getting an autograph from the Steelers: Priceless.

"I think the mascot is a very good idea," she said. "It's somebody that the kids can go up to when they're at the games. I like it."


Robert Dvorchak can be reached at bdvorchak@post-gazette.com or at 412-263-1959.

Crosby has many accomplishments on his resume

Loses his teenager tag today

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
Sidney Crosby is no longer a teenage phenom. As of today, he is 20 years old.
Click photo for larger image.

Late July, early August bring the slowest weeks of the hockey calendar. Players, management and staff take vacations and perhaps begin to think about training camp.

There is one issue facing the Penguins today, however.

Can superstar center Sidney Crosby still be Sid the Kid at age 20?

"Good question," general manager Ray Shero said with a slight laugh yesterday.

"I don't know. It's a nice handle. And 20 years old is still pretty young."

Crosby's whirlwind career so far has been defined not only by what he has accomplished but also by what he has done at such a young age.

As of today, he is no longer a teenage phenom.

Born 8/7/87 -- begetting his uniform No. 87 and the average salary of $8.7 million on his five-year contract extension that kicks in next year -- Crosby wakes up this morning to his 20th birthday.

"It does make me step back a little," Crosby said. "Just to have the opportunity I've had, I feel fortunate.

"I'm not sure [what it means to turn 20], though. I've always been the young guy, even before I got to the NHL. I don't know that being 19 years and 366 days is going to be any different."

Well, perhaps it will be better, considering most athletes are at their prime in their 20s.

During his two seasons in the NHL as a teenager, Crosby became the youngest ...

* To win the Art Ross Trophy, ringing up 120 points in 2006-07, and first teen to win a major pro league's scoring championship.

* Other than Wayne Gretzky to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP.

* To win the Pearson Award that goes to the top player as voted by his fellow players.

* To make the postseason first-team All-Star squad.

* To be voted into the starting lineup for the All-Star Game.

* To reach 100 points in each of his first two seasons.

* To be named team captain.

"Not too many players in any sport can do what he's accomplished already," Shero said. "He's special. Very mature. His greatest days are ahead. It will be interesting following his career on and off the ice over the years."

Crosby has been as low-key off the ice as he has been high-octane on it.

His birthday celebration has been no different.

Saturday, he got together with his extended family in his hometown of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.

"With my birthday being midweek, I just decided to do it [Saturday]," he said.

Sunday, the party continued with a fishing trip.

And today?

"I'll just relax," Crosby said. "I might have a few friends down."

Although his multi-day birthday bash didn't seem to include much more exertion than it takes to blow out 20 candles on a cake, Crosby hasn't gotten away from his discipline for training.

He has been running, working out off the ice and skating a couple times a week. He said his left foot, which was broken March 16 and he played on until the Penguins were eliminated from the playoffs by Ottawa in the first round, is fine, "but the real test will come when I get hit there, not that I'm going to ask anyone to test it."

Crosby, the first overall pick in the 2005 draft who put up 75 goals and 222 points in his first two NHL seasons, is part of a rebuilt Penguins team that repeatedly has been defined as a young group with tons of potential.

Turning 20 on the heels of a season in which the team improved by 47 points to 105 and challenged for home-ice advantage in the playoffs has compelled Crosby to think of the team a little differently.

With the likelihood of just one teenager, forward Jordan Staal, on the roster for 2007-08 and many core players at or approaching their mid-20s, perhaps it is time to matriculate from being a young team with potential into a solid team ready to hit its stride.

"I think we have to set the standard high with [Staal] being the only teenager, but we are a young team," Crosby said.

NOTES -- Staal, his brother, Eric, and 12 others arrested July 21 when Eric's bachelor party got too loud are scheduled to make their first court appearance tomorrow morning in Grand Marais, Minn. All were charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process, and Jordan Staal, 18, was additionally charged with underage drinking. Eric Staal plays for the Carolina Hurricanes. ... Shero hasn't decided whether to explore a contract extension for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who is slated to earn $1.6 million this season, the second of a two-year contract. ... Shero said the Penguins will not exercise their right to sign goaltender Bobby Goepfert before an Aug. 15 deadline for college seniors. Goepfert, who played at St. Cloud State, was a third-round draft pick in 2003.


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

Bay's backward step a multi-part mystery

Pirates' franchise player has few explanations for decline

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Lake Fong, Post-Gazette
Jason Bay is hitting .260 this season with 104 hits, 17 home runs and 71 RBIs.
Click photo for larger image.

So, Jason Bay was asked shortly after belting his 17th home run Saturday night against the Cincinnati Reds' Todd Coffey: What was the pitch?

"Slider," he replied.

Really? Pretty impressive, considering it landed in the visitors' bullpen, 420 feet away.

"Yeah. Same pitch I missed by a foot just before that. I was setting him up."

Really?

"No. I wish."

How, then, to explain someone looking so formidable on one swing, so fooled on the one right before it?

The answer to the former is easy: Bay has averaged 33 home runs per full season since joining the Pirates in 2003, and he has a hearty 17 so far this season. This is a power hitter of some pedigree.

But the part about missing so badly?

Hard to say.

And that might be the core explanation for why Bay, a two-time All-Star, a National League rookie of the year and the unquestioned anchor of the Pirates' present and future, has taken such a dispiriting step backward this season:

No one knows.

Yes, his home run total should look fine by summer's end. So will his RBIs, as he has a team-best 71.

But his average, .292 for his career before this year, is at .260. His on-base percentage, .391 for his career, is at .335 thanks to a 20 percent dip in walks. His doubles, averaging 37 for his career, are at 17. He recently went a month without one.

Bay, true to his straight-shooting personality, minces no words when asked to assess it.

"I set the bar pretty high for myself those first three years, and I know that," he said. "Everyone has the down years, too, and I know I haven't been as good offensively as I've been before. Believe me, I know."

He paused.

"But I also take a little bit of solace in that, if I look back at the end of this year and drive in close to 100 runs or more ... hey, if that's my bad year, that might say something, too. I'm not trying to beat myself up too much over it. I just want to finish strong."

Bay answered a host of questions aimed at delving deeper ...


The glove


Start with his health.

All through 2006, Bay concealed an injury to his left knee, never citing any physical reason for why he had stopped trying to steal bases after doing so effortlessly in 2005. In November, he had minor surgery on the knee.

Lately, he has been lugging large packs of ice on his knee again. Only it is his other one.

The Pirates' short-term diagnosis is that it is nothing serious, merely fatigue from the compensating it had to last year.

Again, Bay dismisses it.

"I don't really know what it is but, believe me, it's not hampering me that much."

He added that his surgically repaired knee is fine.

At the same time, he freely acknowledges he has lost a stride or two.

"The bottom line is that I'm not as fast as I was three years ago. That's not an excuse. That's just how it is. There are some balls I'm not getting to in the field, and there isn't that push on the basepaths."

That has been painfully evident, especially in left field.

Bay has been plagued by poor jumps, dubious judgment and a failure to be aggressive, the sum of which has caused some to accuse him of looking tentative or even lacking passion.

Given Bay's history, the latter seems unlikely, as it would represent a stark departure in attitude.

His take, simply, is that he has not performed well.

"I don't feel like I've regressed to the point where I'm some terrible outfielder. But I can say that I know I've played better."

The Pirates' management quietly has taken steps to address Bay's shortcomings. For the past month or so, he has been positioned closer to the left-field line, the better to cut off doubles. He also has been moved a step or two back -- as have other outfielders -- to make it easier to go back on deep balls.

This would explain Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia's assessment in late June that the Pirates' outfield was playing "soft on doubles."



Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
Jason Bay misses a ball hit by the Reds' David Ross on April 24.
Click photo for larger image.

There even has been discussion at upper levels of the Pirates' management that Bay might wind up in right field, which has far less ground to cover than PNC Park's mammoth left-center gap.

Bay sounds amenable.

"A few years ago, I really felt like left field was best suited for me. And I think it still might be, but there are a lot of balls where I'm just a step or two off."


The arm


Bay's nine outfield assists rank fifth in the National League.

Never has a statistic been more misleading.

Beginning in full force with that series in Anaheim, when the Angels turned just about every poke to left field into extra bases, teams have run liberally against Bay. Even a shallow popup to left is cause for tagging up.

Bay never had a strong arm, even before a torn labrum in his right shoulder was repaired in late 2003, a procedure significant enough that it often derails a pitcher's career. But it never seemed so clear a liability until this season.

He has only one explanation there.

"My sister got the arm in the family," he said with a small laugh. "How about that? She's a world-class left-handed pitcher."

Lauren Bay has been a mainstay on the Canadian national softball team.

"Look, I'll be the first to admit I don't have the best arm in the majors," he continued. "I'm sure when teams are in scouting meetings, they're talking about that just like teams talk about Juan Pierre. But different guys have different traits. Pierre is a great player in other ways."

Asked if the shoulder has hindered him, he replied flatly, "It's never been better since the surgery than it is now, actually."


The bat


Most mystifying -- and costly -- to the Pirates has been Bay's diminishing offense. Manager Jim Tracy has confessed to losing sleep over it. Hitting coach Jeff Manto no doubt has done likewise.

Bay, to be sure, is handling it even harder.

"Anyone who knows that young man knows that this hasn't been easy for him," Tracy said. "He's accustomed to performing at an elite level and, even though this happens to the best of them, it doesn't make it any easier to take."

Bay has emerged from that six-week coma at the plate by batting .339 -- 19 for 56 -- his past 15 games. There have been four home runs in that span, too, and there could be more beginning tonight in Phoenix, where Bay traditionally has torn apart Chase Field.

But the lack of confidence, as was clear with the strange sequence of sliders Saturday, still creeps in there.

"It's not like I feel overmatched," Bay said. "It's more like a feeling where you're 0-2 before you get in the box, where there's no rhythm with the count or anything about the at-bat. Even from game to game ... I go out there and get three hits and think, 'Oh, I'm back.' And I go out the next day feeling like I haven't gotten a hit in two months."

Some have tracked a drop in his pull power.

Anything to that?

"No, it's nothing like that. I've just been fighting myself. For me, it's all about that comfort factor. I've had times this year where I went to the plate not thinking about anything other than just making contact. You can't really play that way."

Is it getting better?

"No question. You can see that."


The heart


It has been seen so many times in Pittsburgh: A talented player says all the right things, does all the right things, then wants out when the losing becomes too much. Brian Giles. Jason Kendall. Now, Jack Wilson would eagerly join Detroit.

Bay is entering that tenure territory, so it might be reasonable to ask if he, too, is getting engulfed by a franchise headed for its 15th consecutive losing season.

"There have been times where it's been tough. I'll admit that," he replied. "You endure it, whether you like it or not. All of us weren't here for the first 14 years, but we've inherited it. It's there. I know the fans in Pittsburgh are frustrated, but we are, too."

Last year, Bay universally was recognized as the clubhouse leader, but that role seems to have been assumed more by a few others this season. Given the somewhat spread-out dynamic of that group, it is difficult to detect what that means for Bay.

This much seems certain: He still is longing for success at a team level, something evident in his upbeat body language after Pirates victories.

"I want to turn it around. I'd love to see it happen. But everyone's looking for some overnight answer. How do you do that? How do you just flip the wall switch? That's the tough part. Here we are, after all this time, still trying to find that."


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

Tomlin Wins Debut

Calmer, with less chin and spittle, Mike Tomlin coaches his first Steeler win

Monday, August 06, 2007

By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Peter Diana, Post-Gazette

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin shouts instructions at Hall of Fame game.
Click photo for larger image.

CANTON, Ohio -- The new guy donned his customary mental-warfare black outfit, paced the sidelines with a relatively quiet purpose and failed to spit on any of his players.

So went Mike Tomlin's Steelers head-coaching debut last night, having broken camp in Latrobe -- site of America's first professional football game -- for a first game in the birthplace of the National Football League.

Even if it was only a meaningless exhibition, in the Hall of Fame Game, a new head coach must start somewhere. Inside a high-school stadium next door to pro football's hall, Tomlin watched his starters outplay second-year coach Sean Payton's defending NFC South champions, the New Orleans Saints, when the game mattered at least a whit. Ben Roethlisberger connected twice for 73 yards with Cedrick Wilson, who days earlier publicly complained he wasn't an intended target often enough, and the heavy-pressure Steelers' defense made that 7-0 lead stand for more than a quarter in a 20-7 Steelers triumph.

By the second quarter, Tomlin settled mostly into a midfield lurker at Fawcett Stadium and remained nowhere near as animated, or moisture-imparting, as predecessor Bill Cowher, who resigned in January to become a full-time dad and part-time CBS analyst ... for a year or so anyway.

Easily three-fourths of the roughly 22,302 patrons inside Fawcett Stadium -- more of a Faucet during the two-hour pregame rain -- came garbed in black and gold to watch their favored Steelers. They were intrigued to see the new approach, the new coach.

"A good first step," Tomlin said afterward.

"He'll be good," said Jim Fragasse, a Jack Lambert jersey-wearing Steelers fan from Dover, Ohio, south of the Pro Football Hall and about equidistant from both Cleveland and Pittsburgh. "He's got a good team. We're pulling for him." Son Gabe, 10, on his shoulders and wife Laurie beside him nodded in agreement. But eldest son, Cody, 14, was reserving judgment on the new guy.

Brenda Simmons of Canton, the mother of a Browns son even though she has faithfully followed the Steelers for three decades, talked from underneath her soggy Steelers cap about the legacy of sideline consistency into which Tomlin treads.

She talked about him being the third Steelers head coach since 1969, not about him being the eighth fellow African-American to lead an NFL team onto a field, though she expressed pride in that latter fact. "I think we're going to do well with him," she said.

For pure viewing pleasure, Cowher long was a favorite among a Steelers Nation that foamed at the mouth almost as often as he did on a sideline. This, after all, was a 15-year coach who stuffed a photograph in an official's pocket, nearly tackled a Jacksonville returner, jutted his famed jaw, cried in front of the cameras and otherwise wore his rampant emotions openly.

Like Cowher before him a defensive coordinator named Steelers head coach at age 34, Tomlin is nevertheless a stark sideline contrast.

"You know, I really kind of took myself out of it," Tomlin said of the first-game equation. "I just wanted to create an environment for players and coaches to get what they needed out of it. When you do that, you kind of get your job done in the process."

Tomlin emerged onto the field at 6:57 p.m., harbinger or not, just as the slate skies opened with a sturdy rain once again. The new guy wore a Steelers waterproof jacket and windpants, still in the black he regularly wears on the steamy St. Vincent College fields at training camp (prompting his remark this week relating that to "mental warfare" with his players).

As fate would have it, the Fawcett Stadium videoboards were playing the 2006 Steelers' highlights film. Two minutes after he took the field, Tomlin was sharing a laugh with receivers coach Randy Fichtner and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians because the visage on the big screen was the new guy. There he was as the Minnesota Vikings coordinator. There he was as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers secondary coach.

Coincidence wasn't done with him just yet, either.

For then a fellow former Bucs assistant tapped him on the shoulder, ex-Browns center Jim Pyne.

"We knew he would be a head coach," offered Pyne, out of coaching and living in the Cleveland area. "Good guy. Hard worker. Smart. Intelligent. Great with people. Great teacher."

By game's start, Tomlin had changed into a Steelers sweatshirt -- black, of course -- and took his sideline spot at midfield, strolling back and forth between offense, defense, special teams.

Give the new guy credit: When it came time for the national anthem, he positioned himself, black Steelers ballcap over heart, among the on-field officials.

By the end of the first quarter, after a play in which Wilson appeared to be a victim of interference, he was working those same officials gently. "Nothing new. I did that as an assistant," Tomlin said. But, heretofore, "I had a coach who would tell me to shut up."

As for sideline demeanor, he opened the game walking up and down the bench shaking hands, giving embraces and patting both behinds and helmets. He poked his head into the kickoff-return huddle before that opening kickoff. He pointed in praise at Roethlisberger after that 55-yard pass to Wilson on the exhibition's second play from scrimmage. He rubbed Wilson's helmet in congratulations after the 80-yard drive to the inaugural touchdown, by running back Najeh Davenport. Later, he stayed mostly removed, a manager at work.

"You know what," nose guard Chris Hoke said. "Coach Tomlin is doing a great job. Coach Cowher was an icon. Coach Tomlin, he's his own man. His philosophy is, we're here, we're professional athletes, we can get ourselves ready to play."

Added offensive tackle Max Starks, "Coach Tomlin definitely demands that respect. He's a great guy. We look forward to playing for him."

The debut difference? A pre-kickoff interview with the NFL Network's Deion Sanders.

"That was unique," Tomlin admitted. "That was about the only thing new and exciting that happened to me, giving an interview 30 seconds before kickoff.

"Maybe I'll be more excited next month. I'm sure I will when we open in Cleveland."

In 35 days, he and his Steelers will return to northeast Ohio and start for real.


Chuck Finder can be reached at cfinder@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1724.

Bucs had their reasons for befuddling trade

By John Shea

San Fransisco Chronicle

Sunday, August 5, 2007



Pirates starter Matt Morris pitches during the first inning Saturday night against the Reds at PNC Park.

What makes a team post losing records 15 straight years, the second longest streak in baseball history?

What makes fans organize a one-inning walkout to protest ownership's frugality?

What makes a general manager feel satisfied about trading for Matt Morris and inheriting his $13.7 million contract?

What makes the Pirates the Pirates?

It's suggested that decisions such as Tuesday's Morris trade have buried this team year after year, and it's hard to disagree. The Pirates, in a money-saving move, gift-wrapped future All-Star Aramis Ramirez to the Cubs but also wasted $10.7 million on over-the-hill free agents Jeromy Burnitz and Joe Randa.

The Morris trade raised eyebrows all over baseball because last-place teams just don't take on salary with two months remaining in a lost season. Last-place teams don't buy; they sell. Last-place teams are supposed to dump Morris - as the last-place Giants did - not welcome him.

"I understand the criticism," Pirates GM Dave Littlefield said in a phone interview. "I understand this isn't commonly done. But we believe he's a good fit. We look at it as an opportunity to fill a need."

Littlefield pulled the trigger on Morris, agreeing to inherit his entire contract - minus a $2 million signing bonus owed at contract's end - agreeing to do what two contending teams (believed to be St. Louis and Seattle) wouldn't. The others wanted the Giants to eat some of the contract. Littlefield said he'd take it all.

Here's his explanation:

-- He wanted a veteran starter to lead an otherwise young rotation, a reason the Giants gave when they signed Morris to a three-year, $27 million contract on Dec. 12, 2005.

-- He wanted a pitcher similar to the starters signed in the offseason - the Brewers gave Jeff Suppan four years and $42 million, and the Royals gave Gil Meche five years and $55 million - but wasn't excited about committing for that long.

-- He wanted someone to help the Pirates improve in a division that's not deep. The Pirates went 2-14 after the All-Star break to post the league's worst record at the time of the trade, but they showed life before the break by winning four straight series.

So Littlefield got Morris, who turns 33 Thursday and is signed through 2008 with a club option for 2009. The Giants received Rajai Davis and a player to be named, but the main thing in their rebuilding preparation was shedding the contract.

"The last couple of winters, we wanted to acquire a starting pitcher who's durable and still performing at a solid level, to fill in as the lead guy for our younger starters," Littlefield said. "We have not been able to acquire that guy. No disrespect to clubs who (committed four or more years to a starter), but we're looking at the shorter term. We have to look at what guys will look like in years three and four. Sometimes, the last couple of years get pretty hairy."

It was pretty hairy for Morris in his final eight Giants starts. He went 0-4 with a 7.94 ERA, giving up 80 hits over 451/3 innings. Of course, Littlefield would prefer the Morris who started the season 7-3 with a 2.56 ERA and was considered an All-Star candidate.

If Morris is to be considered a staff leader, he can't pitch as he did the past six weeks. It was hardly an example for Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Noah Lowry, and now the Pirates have young pitchers looking for someone other than the pitching coach to lead the way.

The Pirates are the only big-league team to use four homegrown starters in their rotation all season. Tom Gorzelanny (9-6, 3.55 ERA), Ian Snell (7-10, 3.91) and Paul Maholm (7-13, 4.50) haven't missed a start. Zach Duke (3-7, 5.79) was shelved with elbow tendinitis and replaced by Shane Youman (2-3, 4.76), another pitcher who came from Pittsburgh's farm system.

A fifth homegrown starter, John Van Benschoten (0-5, 9.76), was sent to the minors and replaced by Morris.

"Obviously, performance is the key, and consistency is what we're striving to get better at," Littlefield said. "I realize Matt Morris isn't at the peak of his career, but I'm confident with our scouting staff and the things I know about Matt Morris that he'll get back on track."

By agreeing to pick up the $13.7 million due Morris - $3.2 million this year, $9.5 million next year, plus a $1 million buyout on the $9 million club option - the Pirates were able to outbid other teams before Tuesday's trade deadline and can avoid the lunacy of overpaying for a starter in free agency.

"You're in competition," Littlefield said. "There are only so many pitchers in the market. We had to find a way to separate ourselves a little bit."

Morris was the first veteran the Pirates have acquired before the deadline in 10 years, since Shawon Dunston in 1997.

E-mail John Shea at jshea@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 6 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Tomlin ready for his much-anticipated debut

Saturday, August 04, 2007

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On national television, next to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and its special exhibit in honor of the Steelers' 75th season, 35-year-old Mike Tomlin steps onto the field and into a world he long anticipated.


Peter Diana, Post-Gazette.

Mike Tomlin steps onto the field as a head coach for the first time tomorrow night in the Hall of Fame exhibition game in Ohio.
Click photo for larger image.

Tomorrow night won't count as Tomlin's first official turn as the third Steelers' third head coach in 39 years, but it's not just another first exhibition game, either.

"I've sat in the backseat and passenger seat enough," said Tomlin, an assistant coach at one place or another the previous 11 years, "and you always talk about, 'Boy, I'd like to do that.' We'll see, won't we, on Sunday night?"

Yes, at least those in Pittsburgh and New Orleans and those who can get the NFL Network. Before now, only those who have made the trek to Saint Vincent College have been able to see Tomlin in action.

Like any other NFL coach, he will play his starters for only about a quarter tomorrow, although quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will get less time and rookie outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley and some others more. Unlike most NFL coaches, he will have his two coordinators on the sideline with him.

Traditionally, one or both coordinators are in the press box, usually the offensive coordinator with the Steelers. Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau has been on the sideline, and new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians will join him there.

"You can't cook from the living room," Tomlin said. "I coordinated from the field. I coached secondary in Tampa from the field. I think there's value to being able to look a man in the face and being able to communicate."

Tomlin said he will let his coaches coach and won't interfere with their play calls.

"No, I believe that my job is to game manage. Once I become a play-caller, I lose a little sense of what's going on with all 53 if we're talking about a regular-season situation. I'm going to game manage. I'm sure there may be instances where I am involved in that, but I'm going in it with the mentality that I'm a game manager."

That's how Tomlin has been at training camp, allowing his coaches to do their thing as he walks around and observes. With a whistle and his room key hanging around his neck, Tomlin walks around to different stations over the various fields at Saint Vincent. If he misses something, either the coaches or videotape will catch him up. A few afternoons ago, he was asked after practice about what he saw in a passing drill.

"I didn't," Tomlin said as he stood on a field away from where that particular drill was held. "I was down here watching the big boys work, because that's where the game is played."

He does not micro-manage and he has not raised his voice. For a franchise and fans used to seeing the emotions pour out of the Steelers' head coach rather evidently for 15 seasons, things might seem a lot calmer on the sideline tomorrow night.

Tomlin cares a lot less about how he looks and acts in his maiden exhibition voyage as Steelers coach than he does about his team, 1 1/2 years removed from a Super Bowl victory and seven months after a disappointing 8-8 season, looks against the Saints.

"I expect them to compete," Tomlin said. "I expect them to play with great energy. I expect them to be very physical because that's what they've shown me thus far.

"But I want to see what this team's about. Again, I try to go in without any preconceived notions like I've said before, so I'm just kind of excited to see what this team really is about."

There is no pressure to win a first preseason game, of course. Chuck Noll lost his first one in 1969 to St. Louis, 27-12, in Norfolk, Va., a short pass from Hampton, where Tomlin was born almost three years later. Noll's teams would go on to win four Super Bowls. Bill Cowher's Steelers lost his first exhibition game, 35-33, to the Philadelphia Eagles in Three Rivers Stadium in 1992, while Tomlin was a sophomore receiver at William & Mary. Cowher's teams went to two Super Bowls and won one of them.

Now it's Mike Tomlin's turn. Even if tomorrow night is one of five dress rehearsals for the real start at Cleveland Sept. 9, it's his first chance to walk the sideline during a game as the boss.

It's not just another preseason game, unless you happen to be part of Tomlin's household. His wife, Kiya, and children won't be in the stands tomorrow.

"My wife's not big on preseason football," Tomlin said. "She has a tough time remembering the names in the second half."


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

Steelers honor Noll with field dedication

By John Grupp
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, August 3, 2007

From left to right, Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, John Rooney, Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney, Art Rooney Jr., Steelers President Art Rooney II and St. Vincent College President Jim Towey during the dedication of Chuck Noll Field at St. Vincent College, Aug. 2, 2007.

Back problems kept Chuck Noll from attending the dedication Thursday of a football field named after him.

Still, he remained in everyone's thoughts.

"It's fitting for him," former wide receiver Louis Lipps said. "This is where it started."

Noll, 75, did not attend the 20-minute ceremony at newly named Chuck Noll Field before Steelers practice at St. Vincent College, near Latrobe.

The only coach to win four Super Bowls, Noll is coping with severe back pain and arthritis. He is walking on two canes.

"He's not doing very well," his wife, Marianne, said by phone Thursday. "We just talked to the doctors. There's not much we can do about it. It's very difficult for him to get around."

Chuck and Marianne Noll are in Virginia, with their son Chris and two grandchildren. They also have a home in Sewickley.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin (left) bows his head during the dedication of Chuck Noll Field at St. Vincent College, Aug. 2, 2007.

Noll sent along a message for the thousands of sun-baked Steelers fans who crowded into the 1,050-seat stadium at St. Vincent, which has hosted the Steelers' training camp for the past 41 years.

"It was the perfect summer home," Noll said in the statement. "The successes we enjoyed started there. I am very touched and appreciative of this honor."

An Archabbot read a prayer and blessed Chuck Noll Field, originally built in 2003. A 3-by-5-foot photo of "The Emperor" was unveiled. It will hang in the press box at the field where St. Vincent will renew its Division III football program this fall.

Steelers chairman Dan Rooney, who hired Noll in 1969, team President Art Rooney II, and former Steelers players Dick Hoak, Tunch Ilkin and Lipps were among those on hand.

From left to right, Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney, Art Rooney Jr. and Steelers President Art Rooney II during the dedication of Chuck Noll Field at St. Vincent College, Aug. 2, 2007.

Noll held his first training camp at St. Vincent College in 1969.

"I was here in camp that first year," Rooney II said. "He brought a new discipline that we were not accustomed to. To be honest, my first feeling about Chuck Noll was fear. But fear began to turn to respect."

Said Ilkin, who played for Noll for 12 seasons, "The older I get, the more I appreciate Chuck. On this field right here, I came here as a boy and I became a man. Chuck taught me lessons for life. I can still hear his voice booming across the field. I think it's really neat that they did this."

Noll took over a losing franchise and directed the Steelers to 209 victories, nine division titles and four Super Bowls. He coached the Steelers from 1969-91.

"He changed the course of the franchise and it was great to be able to give him this honor," Rooney II said. "He's up there with the Bill Walshes and the Vince Lombardis. No question about it. He's one of the legends."


John Grupp can be reached at jgrupp@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7930.

Needed: Exorcist for Pirates' woes

Forget about the CEO, what Pirates need most is an exorcist

Friday, August 03, 2007

By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Newly-acquired Pirates pitcher Matt Morris (left) talks with pitching coach Jim Colborn in the dugout during Thursday's game against St. Louis at PNC Park.


The most difficult challenge facing the Pirates' next CEO will not be upgrading the team's current talent level or expanding the Latin American base of operation or persuading owner Bob Nutting to increase the payroll significantly.

Those are only secondary issues to what makes the Pirates perennial losers.

The primary and most difficult job for whomever succeeds Kevin McClatchy will be to erase the pervasive culture of losing that has brought down almost everyone who has been connected with the organization for the past 15 years.

The Pirates, understandably, don't know how to win. But that's not the half of it. They don't know how not to lose.

Every season, brave words come out of spring training. Every season, they ring hollow. Managers, coaches and players join the organization full of confidence and inspired by the belief that they can alter this culture of losing. No one has. And there are legitimate doubts as to whether anyone can.

Good men have tried and failed.

Jim Leyland, arguably the best manager in baseball, had a sense of being overwhelmed by the defeatism that infused the organization and got out with his reputation intact in 1996, but not before four consecutive losing seasons.

Gene Lamont, an astute baseball man and with a previous stint of managerial success with the Chicago White Sox, simply couldn't handle it.

Lloyd McClendon confronted it as well as anyone and, even in the end, seemed to be battling, as opposed to giving in. But fighting the good fight against this foe isn't enough.

We can only imagine what Jim Tracy is thinking. He arrived believing this was a challenge he could handle. He understood the problem was a culture of losing but believed he could create a winning atmosphere. As he nears the two-thirds point of his second season, he's overwhelmed by the immensity of the task. He doesn't say it, but it's clear he never has seen anything like this. He won't leave with his reputation intact and could well follow Lamont and McClendon into a lifetime of coaching, but not managing.

Nor have players been immune from the beating down of steady defeat.

Who was more mentally tough than Jason Kendall? Not many. But even he was trampled by the losing. He arrived in Pittsburgh a rookie with a veteran mind-set and ready to take on the world. He left sullen, bitter and often a bad teammate because he could do nothing to alter the tradition of defeat.

Who thought Jack Wilson would get crushed by this? But he has. Wilson can't wait to get out. Every time the phone rings he's hoping it brings official word of the much-reported trade that will send him to Detroit and the promised land of a winning team and an upbeat atmosphere.

When the Pirates announced their only trade Tuesday, the last day a non-waiver deal could be made, there was one joyous player and 24 unhappy ones. The player smiling, Rajai Davis, had been released from the prison of defeat that is the Pirates' clubhouse. His 24 teammates were left wishing they could join him in departure.

This isn't to suggest the Pirates have a clubhouse of losers. They just have a clubhouse full of players who can't overcome the losing.

The culture of losing does strange things to how the game is played. Is there any other way to explain the team's ridiculous failure to execute the most basic fundamentals? Techniques they should have mastered as Pony Leaguers, if not Little Leaguers, are too often beyond these players. Even Nate McLouth, who for a time looked like a moderately talented player but at least one who knew how to play the game, has succumbed. All of a sudden, McLouth is throwing rainbows to home plate from center field when he has to know that's not how it's done.

The losing just eats away at focus, which is so vitally important to staying sharp at the highest level of baseball.

Players like Kendall and Wilson resisted the losing culture to the end. By all indications Joggin' Ronny Paulino isn't as mentally strong. How else to explain his plunge from rookie-of-the-year candidate to second-season flop. Sure, he might have played over his head in 2006, but that doesn't explain his current steep decline, particularly in catching the ball.

What a jolt this atmosphere must have been to Adam LaRoche. He came from a situation where not just winning but championships were expected to one where defeat is ingrained.

It's not always all downhill. There are peaks, like the current two-game winning streak. But there are far more valleys, like losing 14 of 16 after the All-Star Game. In the end, the tradition of losing prevails and grows stronger.

There's not even a clue as to who Nutting will hire as his new CEO. He needs to be a man familiar with all facets of baseball and sports administration. It also wouldn't hurt if he knew a thing or two about exorcism.


Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.

Castillo delivers in clutch

Eckstein's error in 11th sets stage for Castillo's winning hit, Pirates' second win in a row

Friday, August 03, 2007

By Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Usually reliable David Eckstein -- the Most Valuable Player in the World Series last year -- gave the Pirates two chances to win their game against St. Louis yesterday.



Teammates celebrate with Jose Castillo after he hit a two-out single in the 11th to lift the Pirates to a 5-4 victory against Cardinals.
Click photo for larger image.

They managed to capitalize on the second gift, but it took some doing before they claimed a 5-4 victory in 11 hot, humid innings.

"A great game to win," manager Jim Tracy said.

With the Pirates 18 games under .500, any game would be great for them to win, but this one gave them a series victory against the Cardinals.

Small steps, don't forget.

Anyway, Eckstein dropped a bouncer hit into the hole by Ronny Paulino with one out in the ninth, but pinch-hitter Xavier Nady, whose strained left hamstring kept him from starting, struck out and Cesar Izturis flied to center.

It was a different story in the 11th.

This time, Eckstein fumbled Jason Bay's leadoff ground ball for another error. Ryan Doumit lined a single to right that sent Bay to second.

Tracy had Paulino bunt, and the catcher bunted right to charging first baseman Albert Pujols, who began a first-to-third-to first double play.

That should have taken the wind out of the Pirates' sails, but little-used Jose Castillo found a way to get them quickly and safely to port.

Castillo lined an 0-2 pitch from right-hander Brad Thompson for a pinch-hit single to right-center field that scored Doumit.

"It was exciting," Paulino said. "He comes off the bench and ... it was amazing."



Jason Bay makes a diving catch on a ball hit by the Cardinals' Aaron Miles in the first inning yesterday at PNC. Park.
Click photo for larger image.

"A great at-bat," Tracy said. "It looked like on the two-strike pitch they were trying to expand the strike zone and they didn't get the breaking ball far enough outside. If Jose tries to pull that ball, it's a ground ball. For him to stay with that pitch was terrific."

The Cardinals, who Tuesday night seem poised to make a run at first place in the mediocrity-laden National League Central, grabbed a 3-0 lead in the fourth.

After Pirates starter Shane Youman allowed only one hit in the first three innings throwing nothing but well-located fastballs, he walked Pujols on a 3-2 pitch with one out in the fourth. Juan Encarnacion's ground ball crawled into center, allowing Pujols to reach third.

Scott Rolen's slow bouncer, on which the Pirates could only get a force at second, scored Pujols.

Youman then walked Ryan Ludwick on five pitches and Yadier Molina on a 3-2 pitch. Aaron Miles' double into left-center field scored Rolen and Ludwick.

"My Achilles' heel is nit-picking, and I fell into that in the fourth inning," Youman said.

"He tried to be too perfect and forgot about being aggressive," Paulino said.

The Pirates picked up Youman with three runs in the fifth.

Paulino lined a one-out double off the right-field wall and eased to third on Anthony Reyes' balk.

Jack Wilson drove a 2-2 pitch down the left-field line for a double that scored Paulino. Josh Phelps, batting for Youman, fell behind 0-2, then walked.

Nate McLouth spanked a 2-1 pitch off the first-base bag and into right field for another double that scored Wilson. Jose Bautista's sacrifice fly to center tied the score.

Masumi Kuwata wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, then found himself in position to pick up his first major-league victory.



Jason Bay breaks his bat against Cardinals pitcher Randy Flores in the eighth inning yesterday at PNC Park. The Pirates won, 5-4.
Click photo for larger image.

Paulino, continuing to rebound from his Tuesday night debacle, smoked a 2-2 pitch into the left-field seats with two outs in the sixth to put the Pirates ahead, 4-3.

That lead lasted three pitches.

In the seventh, Pujols pummeled a high 0-2 fastball from Shawn Chacon into the bullpen behind center field to tie the score.

Thereafter, though, the Pirates' bullpen was, in Tracy's word, "terrific."

Chacon used a double-play ball from Rolen to begin finishing the seventh.

Left-hander Damaso Marte, virtually unhittable these days, replaced Chacon with a runner on third and one out in the eighth. Marte struck out switch-hitting Scott Spiezio, batting for Jim Edmonds, and Eckstein.

"Absolutely huge," Tracy said.

Marte, who sliced his ERA to 1.30, also struck out Gary Bennett to begin the ninth before giving way to Matt Capps.

"Marte has been terrific," Tracy said. "To this point, he's had a terrific season. He's throwing strikes with all his pitches. He's throwing quality fastballs to get ahead in the count early, and that opens doors for him later in the count."

Capps retired his only two batters in the ninth.

Salomon Torres allowed two base runners in the 10th, but he struck out Spiezio looking for the third out -- a called strike that got Spiezio ejected by umpire Bob Davidson.

Torres then breezed through a perfect 11th inning and wound up the winner thanks to Castillo.


Paul Meyer can be reached at pmeyer@post-gazette.com

Marte helps to save day in Bucs' win

Pirates starter Shane Youman pitches against the Cardinals during the first inning Thursday at PNC Park


By Rob Biertempfel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, August 3, 2007


A year ago, Pirates reliever Damaso Marte sometimes seemed like one of the most confused pitchers in the National League.

This season, he has evolved into one of the most dominant left-handers in the game.

Same guy, same stuff. The difference? More experience, more confidence.

Lefty batters do not have a prayer against Marte. He has held them to a .080 batting average and has set down the past 30 he's faced.



Home plate umpire Bob Davidson argues with St. Louis' Scott Spiezio during the ninth inning of Thursday's game against the Pirates at PNC Park. Davidson ejected Spiezio after calling him out on strikes to end the inning. The Pirates won, 5-4, in 11 innings.

Right-handers do not have much hope, either.
Thursday afternoon, the St. Louis Cardinals sent up three righties in a row against Marte -- the first two batted with the potential go-ahead run on third base.

Strikeout, strikeout, strikeout.

"I tried my best, throwing the ball outside and inside, and I won," Marte said, simply.

So, eventually, did the Pirates.

Jose Castillo's two-out, pinch-hit single in the 11th inning lifted the Pirates to a 5-4 victory. The Pirates took two of three games against the Cardinals, their first series win in a month.

"A great game to win," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "Our bullpen was terrific."

Five relievers held St. Louis to a run on four hits over six innings. Salomon Torres (1-3) got the final six outs.

The only damage against the Pirates' bullpen was done by Albert Pujols, who mashed a game-tying solo homer off Shawn Chacon in the seventh.

In the eighth, Chacon yielded a leadoff double to Yadier Molina. Aaron Miles bunted him to third.

In came Marte. Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa called back Jim Edmonds -- a longball threat, but a lefty -- and sent up switch-hitter Scott Spiezio. Spiezio has hit two of his three homers and gotten 21 of his 27 RBI against left-handers.



The Pirates' Jose Castillo is mobbed by teammates, including Ian Snell, after driving in the winning run Thursday against St. louis at PNC Park. The Pirates won, 5-4, in 11 innings.


"That's a difficult situation," Marte said later. "I tried to strike him out because if (Spiezio) had hit a fly ball, we could have lost the game."

On a 2-2 count, Marte froze Spiezio with a perfect slider.

David Eckstein, a pesky slap hitter, was next. Marte got him swinging. Inning over.

"Absolutely huge," Tracy said. "We had to stay there because if it Eckstein ends up reaching base, you know Tony (La Russa) was sitting there, waiting to unload (lefty slugger Chris) Duncan. Having Marte out there negated that."

Marte began the ninth by blowing three strikes past Gary Bennett, then gave way to right-hander Matt Capps.

The perfect day lowered Marte's ERA to 1.30. It was his 13th consecutive scoreless outing.

"He has a long, loose arm and he just slings the ball," Pirates left-hander Shane Youman said. "It comes out of nowhere. He's aggressive, challenges guys with his fastball and pretty much finishes them off with his slider."

Marte was outstanding in 2002 and '03 as part of the Chicago White Sox's bullpen. He picked up 31 saves there as a part-time closer.

Last season was Marte's first time back in the National League since appearing in 23 games for the Pirates in 2001. He struggled last summer, going 1-7 with a 3.70 ERA and allowing 51 hits in 58 1/3 innings.

"One year you have a good year and the next you have ... you know," Marte said. "This year, I know the (National League) hitters better. Right now, I feel good. I feel comfortable."

When he takes the mound, Marte carries with him an aura of invincibility.

"The confidence that we see in this kid, that's what we were trying to get last year," Tracy said.

Marte, 32, is signed through next season with a $6 million club option for 2009. The Pirates listened to plenty of offers for him at the non-waiver trading deadline, but none was deemed good enough.

Wise choice.

"I feel good here," Marte said. "If they trade me, there's nothing I can do about it. But if they don't, I'm happy here. No problem."

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

Bucs clobber Cards

Ronny Paulino circles the bases after hitting his first career grand slam in the first inning of the Pirates' victory over the Cardinals Wednesday.

By Rob Biertempfel
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, August 2, 2007

With one swing of his bat Wednesday, Ronny Paulino chased away some of the dark clouds that had gathered around the Pirates.

One day after being jeered for his defensive blunders, Paulino swatted a first-inning grand slam to propel the Pirates to a 15-1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park.

"After (Tuesday), I saw there are a lot of people who still believe in me," Paulino said. "It made me a little more motivated today to show that I can get my confidence back and play hard."

Paulino's grand slam, the first of his career, was a reminder of his enormous potential. It was a payoff for the faith manager Jim Tracy showed by putting Paulino back in the lineup.

"Ronny bounced back from a very tough night and showed his mettle," Tracy said. "We believe in the guy."

Paulino's home run sparked the Pirates' biggest scoring binge of the season -- they banged out 20 hits for the first time since Aug. 30, 2006 -- and gave them just their third win since the All-Star break.

It also helped ease the mental burden on pitcher Tony Armas, who finally notched his first victory as a Pirate.

Armas (1-3), who was signed as a free agent over the winter, was awful in his first seven starts. The right-hander was removed from the rotation May 18 and banished to a mop-up relief role.

In 6 1/3 innings, Armas gave up a run on four hits, walked one and struck out five. He lowered his ERA by a half-point to 6.31.

"I'm just happy I got into a groove," Armas said. "I'm more confident in my mechanics. I feel like I can throw my pitches where I want to. I just want to keep it going."



Pirates pitcher Tony Armas returned to the starting rotation with a solid start, pitching into the seventh inning and giving up one run against the Cardinals Wednesday.


However, Armas' stay in the rotation will be short-lived. He will return to the bullpen today, when Matt Morris, acquired Tuesday in a trade with San Francisco, joins the team.

Cardinals right-hander Braden Looper was brilliant in two previous starts this season against the Pirates. He won both, allowing just one run in 13 innings.

Yesterday, however, Looper (8-9) struggled from the start. He got two easy outs in the first inning, then allowed five consecutive batters to reach base.

"He was a little bit off," Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson said. "We got ahead in the count and got on him."

Jason Bay's single scored Freddy Sanchez for the game's first run. Ryan Doumit walked to load the bases.

Paulino then yanked a 2-1 pitch to left field, and the ball slipped over the wall. Not a titanic shot, but it was enough.

"I hit it pretty good, but it was a line drive," Paulino said. "I wasn't sure if it would make it."

It was the Pirates' first grand slam this season. Only three teams in the majors -- Kansas City, Atlanta and the New York Mets -- have not hit a slam in 2007.



Ronny Paulino (center) is congratulated after hitting his first career grand slam in the first inning of the Pirates' victory over the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday.

With one out in the third, Adam LaRoche smacked a solo shot to right-center. The Pirates are 15-5 when they hit two or more homers in a game.

Bay, who's slowly rebuilding his batting average after a monthlong slide, followed with a single to left. With runners at the corners and one out, Wilson blooped an RBI single to left.

Wilson went deep in the fifth against reliever John Thompson.

Might it have been Wilson's last homer as a Pirate? Although the non-waiver trading deadline has passed, Wilson could still be dealt by the end of the month.

The Pirates scored seven runs in the eighth off Mike Maroth.

Sanchez finished with four hits for the seventh time in his career.

Bay crushed his first double since June 26.

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

Paulino, Armas, offense come alive

Pirates ride rare contributions to 15-1 rout of Cardinals

Thursday, August 02, 2007

By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Closer Matt Capps, center, celebrates with catcher Ronny Paulino after closing down the ninth inning of a 15-1 win against the Cardinals last night at PNC Park.
Click photo for larger image.


Worst to first?

No team or individual achieves that in a few hours, of course, but the Pirates' 15-1 clobbering of the St. Louis Cardinals last night at PNC Park had plenty of that feel.

The worst offense in Major League Baseball erupted from its month-long malaise for the team's greatest run total in two years, along with a season-high 20 hits.

The team's worst everyday performer in the first four months, catcher Ronny Paulino, rebounded from a lifetime low Tuesday night to belt a first-inning grand slam.

And the team's worst regular pitcher to this point, Tony Armas, took the mound as a starter for the first time since May 17 and turned in 6 1/3 solid innings.

What was that all about?

"Hey, man, things happen," Armas said. "All I know right now is that it feels pretty good. I'll take it. We'll all take it."

Paulino above all, to be sure.

He was summoned to manager Jim Tracy's office yesterday afternoon, perhaps fearing the worst after his two miscues cost the Pirates the game Tuesday and brought some of the loudest boos all summer.

As it was, Tracy sought simply to pump him up, asking him to "try to remember what it felt like last year, the way you carried yourself."

No one could know if that had any direct impact, but there was no mistaking the impact of Paulino's bat on the game's decisive blow.

After two outs, Freddy Sanchez, Adam LaRoche and Jason Bay singled, the latter driving in a run. Ryan Doumit walked to load the bases, and Paulino lined Braden Looper's 2-1 not-really-a-cutter just over the fence in left field for a 5-0 head start and the Pirates' first grand slam of the season.

It was Paulino's sixth home run, his first since June 5.

All that, and the 17,041 in attendance cheered loudly as he returned to the dugout.

Did those boos motivate him?

"Actually, last night made me see how many people believe in me," Paulino said, referring to Tuesday. "There are a lot of people who tell me I can play, so that got me a little more motivated to show the next day that I can come with my confidence back and play hard."

"Ronny bounced back from a tough night, really showed some mettle," Tracy said. "I'll tell you this: We believe in this guy."

Still, Paulino's comeback paled next to that of his battery-mate.

Armas probably was close to being released in June after failing as a starter, then as a mopup man. But he finally delivered the first return for general manager Dave Littlefield's $3.5 million investment, limiting St. Louis to a run and four hits while striking out five.

The latter might have been most impressive, considering Armas was having trouble getting simple swings and misses until the past month.

"Quite an effort," Tracy said.

Armas, like Paulino, was embraced by the crowd, getting a standing ovation after Tracy lifted him in the seventh.

"That meant a lot to me," Armas said. "I've battled through a lot here this year, and I never got the sense that anyone in Pittsburgh gave up on me."

LaRoche and Jack Wilson each slugged solo home runs, LaRoche's off another Looper cutter in the third, Wilson's a stunning blast to left off a Brad Thompson fastball that made it 8-0 in the sixth.

There was more: Sanchez went 4 for 5. Bay continued his revival by reaching base four times, including his first double since June 26. And Wilson, despite being distracted by the Pirates' ongoing trade talks with the Detroit Tigers, went 3 for 4 with two RBIs.

"It's just one of those nights where everything goes your way," Wilson said. "We had the pitching from Tony, and everybody was hitting. That's a great sign, hopefully, of things to come."

There was one other facet, as Wilson quickly amended.

"Freddy was just awesome for us defensively."

Sanchez made four superb plays, twice ranging well onto the outfield grass for rollers, once diving to his right to stab a liner and, finally, stretching beyond second base for an Albert Pujols bouncer, then throwing violently across his body to nail him in the sixth.

Sanchez's .988 fielding percentage ranks third among National League second basemen, and his five errors are tied for the fewest. He has committed only two errors since May 13.

"He's done nothing but get better at the position," Tracy said.

The Pirates' run total was their greatest since an 18-2 rout of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays June 11, 2005. They previously had 20 hits Aug. 30, 2006, in beating the Chicago Cubs, 10-9.

The victory last night snapped a four-game losing streak.



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

Bob Smizik: Littlefield reveals his desperation

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Don't call the Pirates cheap. Don't you dare.

You can, however, continue to call them clueless.

With the acquisition yesterday of starting pitcher Matt Morris from the San Francisco Giants, the Pirates told the world they are willing to spend big-time money. Even if it's on the wrong player.

Morris, a one-time ace with the St. Louis Cardinals, will be the highest-paid player in team history, bringing with him a contract that pays him about $10 million this year and next. He is expected to start this weekend against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Giants, a last-place team like the Pirates, were so eager to unload Morris' contract all they asked in return were Rajai Davis and a player to be named. Davis projects as a fourth outfielder, at best. The player to be named will be a minor-leaguer. The Pirates will be responsible for all of Morris' contract, which, including this year's prorated salary of $3.66 million, next year's salary and various bonuses, will come to $15.7 million.

Manager Jim Tracy spoke enthusiastically of Morris, describing his track record as "pretty impressive" and calling him a "workhorse."

What else was he going to say?

Although Morris is 7-7 with a 4.35 earned run average, he has been on the wrong side of awful for more than a month. In his past eight starts, he has pitched 451/3 innings and allowed 80 hits while compiling an ERA of 7.94. With those numbers, Morris will fit comfortably into the spot in the rotation previously held by Zach Duke and John Van Benschoten.

Nor is it just his recent starts that make the acquisition of Morris questionable. Dating back to the second half of the 2005 season, Morris is 21-30 with a 4.85 ERA.

By making this trade, general manager Dave Littlefield has accomplished the seemingly impossible. He made the Pirates a buyer instead of a seller at the trading deadline. Perhaps, Littlefield missed the part where the Pirates lost 13 of their first 15 after the All-Star Game and went from a team with a glimmer of hope to one careening toward another 90-loss season.

It's a move that reeks of desperation and of Littlefield, who has yet to produce a winning season in six years, making a final attempt to keep his job, which is widely believed to be in jeopardy.

What's particularly scary is that in acquiring such a contract, Littlefield clearly had to get permission from owner Bob Nutting and that such permission was forthcoming.

It again brings into question, as have so many other moves in the past, whether anyone in the Pirates' organization knows what they're doing.

For example: The deal comes two days after Leo Nunez made a second consecutive strong start for the Kansas City Royals. In 10 innings, in his first two major-league starts, Nunez has allowed one earned run.

Nunez is a prime example of the player personnel decisions of the Littlefield era. In December of 2004, the Pirates traded Nunez to Kansas City, although he was registering upwards of 95 mph on the radar gun while pitching in the low minors. They dealt him for Benito Santiago, a veteran catcher who was so far past his prime that the Pirates released him May 8. He never played for another major-league team.

In other words, the Pirates were dead wrong in their evaluation of Santiago and dead wrong in their evaluation of Nunez.

In an organization still trying to develop pitchers who are 26 and 27 years old, like Bryan Bullington and Van Benschoten, Nunez is only 23.

Morris will be 33 in eight days, and the Pirates see him as a veteran presence to stabilize an otherwise young rotation. In theory, that sounds great. In practice, particularly when the veteran is having trouble getting batters out, it doesn't necessarily work.

In 2005, the Pirates added Mark Redman, a veteran starter, to the rotation and paid him $4.5 million. That was the same year the career of Oliver Perez began a downward plunge that did not stop until he left the organization. This isn't to suggest Redman was responsible for the decline of Perez. It is only to show veteran presence is vastly overrated.

Even if Morris reverses this recent career decline, the wisdom of such a trade must come into question. His salary next season will be $9.5 million, but it could go slightly higher as it did this season. That would represent about 20 percent of the team's payroll. It is not considered a wise policy to pay that high a percentage of the payroll to one player, regardless of the size of the payroll.

But the 2008 payroll does not figure to be a problem Littlefield will have to face.