Downs and ups

I haven't picked on the Pirates recently. They have enough problems.

But after watching last nights game vs. Colorado, I felt I had to break my silence.

Once again, a starting pitcher was throwing a gem of a game. And once again, he had to leave the mound.

Paul Maholm rebounded from a series of mediocre starts by tossing seven scoreless innings Friday, giving up just five hits and one walk. The Pirates weren't doing much better against journeyman Rockies pitcher Jorge de la Rosa, but they had managed to scratch out a run.

Tyler Yates and John Grabow managed to contain Colorado in the eighth, but there might have been a collective groan around PNC Park when Matt Capps walked to the mound to being the ninth.

Sure enough, Ian Stewart led off the inning by bouncing a ball over the fence, then Brad Hawpe put one in the seats. (The photo above is Capps after the home run.) The Rockies tacked on an insurance run, then Colorado closer Houston Street struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth.

Capps now is 0-3 with an 8.18 ERA. Next time manager John Russell brings him in to close a game, he'll have some 'splainin' to do!

De la Rosa, by the way, has put up a stellar 3.16 ERA so far, but has an 0-3 record to show for it. For all the Coors Field effect, the Rockies aren't the bombers they used to be.

---

Up: You might not know to much about Zack Greinke, seeing as how he pitches for the Kansas City Royals. You might not even have known they still have a team in Kansas City. The Royals haven't made the playoffs since winning the 1985 World Series.

But the emergence of Greinke as the American League's best pitcher has sports commentators mentioning KC and baseball in the same sentence once again.

Greinke was loaded with potential when he arrived in the majors at age 20 in 2004. He put up respectable numbers as a rookie, and entered '05 with plenty of expectations.

What resulted was a 5-17 season and some personal issues that shelved Greinke for most of 2006. He came back in '07 to split time between the bullpen and rotation, and last year he put up some spectacular numbers for a Royal: 13-10, 3.47 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 202 1/3 innings.

Last night, Greinke beat Baltimore, 8-1. The run was earned, the fourth he's surrendered this season. In 60 innings. That gives him an ERA of 0.60.

His record went to 7-1 (his only loss, of course, was 1-0). So far, he's struck out 65 batters and walked 10. He has yet to give up a home run.

Anything can happen between now and October, but if Greinke remains healthy, Kansas City just might continue to play baseball longer this season than they have in the past 24 years.

---

Down: I stopped rooting for the Red Sox when they started paying out semi-Yankee-esque payrolls, but I always kind of liked David Ortiz.

So I'm sad to see Big Papi hit what looks to be the end of the road.

Sox manager Terry Francona reluctantly benched Ortiz after he took an 0-for-7 collar and left an incredible 12 runners stranded during a 12-inning loss to the Angels on Thursday.

That performance left Papi with a .208 batting average for the season. He has yet to hit a home run in 130 at bats.

Ortiz is 33, which on the surface doesn't seem that old. But his statistics have declined so precipitously since the middle of 2008 that observers can't help but wonder if he'll ever be more than a spot player again. He already is a designated hitter, and there's really no room in a starting lineup for a DH who can't hit.

The excuse usually given on Ortiz's behalf is that he doesn't have Manny Ramirez in the lineup to protect him anymore. But should that really be enough for Papi to lose his power stroke totally? For crying out loud, the man hit 142 home runs in the span of three seasons to become one of the most feared hitters in baseball.

There's been conjeture, considering Manny's recent problems ... well, you're not going to read it here.

Perhaps after a rest on the bench, Ortiz will get back on track. But that will come as a surprise.

---

Up: The San Diego Padres play in one of the worst ballparks for hitters, but that hasn't fazed Adrian Gonzalez.

The Padres' first baseman cracked his 15th homer of the season last night, in a 5-3 win over the Reds, extending his major-league lead in that department. Baseball fans love to extrapolate, so he's on a pace to hit 67 bombs for the season and make San Diego fans forget all about Nate Colbert.

Predictably, Gonzalez has done most of his damage on the road, hitting 11 home runs in just 21 games. If he played his home games in, say, Cincinnati's Great American Bandbox, he might be making baseball fans in general forget all about B. Lamar Bonds.

We'd sure like someone to do so!

All about the Deacon

Dean Phillippi, originally from Washington, Pa., and now living in Jacksonville, Fla., was kind enough to send us this writeup about his relative, Charles Louis "Deacon" Phillippe, one of the greatest pitchers in Pirates history and a man who has received serious Hall of Fame consideration.

Charles Louis "Deacon" Phillippe was the winner of the first game of the first World Series in 1903 against Cy Young. Deacon set iron-man marks in the Series by pitching 44 innings of the eight game series and completing five games. Twice, he started consecutive games and he is the only pitcher in baseball to win three series games for a losing team.

In 1969, Pittsburgh fans voted Deacon Pittsburgh's all-time right-handed pitcher. Incredibly, Deacon never had a losing season in his 13 years of Major League Baseball (1899 with Louisville; 1900-11 with Pittsburgh).

He was born Charles Louis Phillippi near the small rural town of Rural Retreat in Wythe County, Virginia, on May 23, 1872, a son of Andrew Jackson and Margaret Jane (Hackler) Phillippi.


Career highlights

• Lifetime record of 189-109 with a 2.59 ERA


• Five seasons with 20 or more wins


• Completed 242 of the 288 games he started over his career, while striking out 929


• His best ERA was in 1902, when he posted a 2.05 mark to go with a 20-9 record.


• Over a four-year period (1900-1903), he pitched 1136 1/3 innings.


• He is near the top of the Pirates' all-time pitching list in innings pitched, wins, strikeouts, shutouts and completed games.


• Best year: In 1903, he was 24-7 with a 2.43 ERA. He struck out 123, walked only 29 and gave up 265 hits in 289 innings.

---

Note: Information for this story below was compiled by Tom Bralley of Wytheville. Bralley is a vice president and branch manager at Premier Bank and is a baseball historian.

Rural Retreat man pitched in the very first World Series

There have been a lot of excellent athletes who have come from Rural Retreat. Many residents of Rural Retreat and Wythe County are no doubt aware of people who have done well at the high school level and gone on to achieve notoriety in college sports.

But probably few people are aware that one of the greatest Major League baseball players in history was born in Rural Retreat. Charles Louis Phillippe was born May 23, 1872, in Rural Retreat. Phillippe pitched for 13 years in the Major Leagues. Perhaps the highlight of his career was pitching in the first World Series in 1903. In that Series, Phillippe, who was nicknamed "Deacon" because of his mastery over batters, and his family would not let him play baseball on Sundays as well. In the World Series, he pitched five complete games and won three for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Phillippe died in 1952, but in 1969 Pittsburgh fans voted him Pittsburgh's all-time right-handed pitcher.

Phillippe signed his first professional baseball contract in 1897 with a team in Minneapolis. He was drafted into the National League by Louisville in 1898. The next year, he finished the season with a 20-17 record which included a no-hitter against New York.

Phillippe joined the Pittsburgh team in 1900 and was one of its leading pitchers for the next 11 years. He led the Pirates to pennants (league championships) in 1901, 1903 and 1909. Probably his most successful season came in 1910, when he finished at 14-2 and had a 7-1 record as a relief pitcher.

But his moment in the spotlight was the 1903 World Series when he carried the team that had an injured and decimated pitching staff. Although Pittsburgh eventually lost the Series to Boston, Phillippe won his first three games (the Series then was the best-out-of-nine games) which prompted a local newspaper to write in a headline: "Deacon Phillippe has the American League Champions at his mercy."

Phillippe completed all five games he pitched in the Series, but lost the last two mostly because of pitching with very little rest. And a definite lack of support at the plate from his teammates.

He finished his career with an overall record of 186 wins [Harry's note: Baseball-Reference.com credits Phillipe with 189 victories] and 108 losses. He finished with an ERA of 2.59 over 372 games and 2,607 innings.

While Phillippe's complete game mark was noteworthy, pitchers back then were expected to pitch more. According to Abby Mendelson in "The Birth of a Classic, "a pitcher was "expected to last nine innings - not because he was stronger, but simply because he wasn't supposed to overpower a hitter. By and large, pitches were meant to go over the plate so that a batter could hit the ball and put it in play. Therefore, a 1903-style moundsman threw more easily and less often in a game (which consequently made a contest shorter than we're used to)."

"On top of that, new balls were rarely brought into a game, and the pitcher worked with a scuffed and welted ball. That he made it dip and slide with less arm exertion than today is an understatement," he continued. "Pitching, in short, was much like tossing batting practice today. Pitchers, from their looks in old photographs, threw standing fairly straight, using only a short step and a lot of arm movement to get the ball humming."

Two of the hitting leaders for that 1903 Pittsburgh team were the great shortstop Honus Wagner and left fielder-manager Fred Clarke. Both ended up in the baseball Hall of Fame.

Wagner finished the season with a .355 batting average; it was one of eight years in which he won that title. Clarke finished the year batting .351.

Wagner said that Phillippe was always eager to pitch. "He wanted to hurl against the other team's best pitcher and often worked out of turn to do it."

The first game of the 1903 Series was played in Boston. Phillippe pitched the entire game as Pittsburgh won 7-3. "Much of the credit belongs to Phillippe," said Clarke. "The steady man had delivery that was most difficult to solve ... The Deacon was never in better condition, the way he cuts loose with his benders is a caution."

And the Boston manager [future Hall of Famer Jimmy Collins] also praised the Deacon. "Phillippe pitched in masterly style."

And the Boston pitcher who lost the game was none other than the immortal Cy Young.

Boston came back and won the second game 3-0.

Phillippe returned to pitch the third game with only one day's rest and led the Pirates to a 10-3 victory. Manager Clarke told Phillippe, "You stood them on their heads the last time, Deacon, you can do it again."

The Pirates went back to Pittsburgh with a 2-1 game lead. When the train pulled into the station, however, Phillippe was not on it. Anticipating the huge crowd gathered there, the shy man got off the train at a previous stop and took a street car to his home.

Phillippe also pitched game four and won, 5-4. According to Mendelson, "Phillippe allowed only four hits in the first eight innings, but was touched up for five more in the ninth. A newspaper account of the game reported that the Deacon "never turned a hair and finished without a tremor." Phillippe also wowed the crowd, said Mendelson, "with some fancy base running, scoring a tally himself."

In the fifth game, Boston came back with Cy (short for "Cyclone," because fastballs were called that then) Young and Boston won to close the gap to 3-2. Boston also won the next game to even the Series at 3-3. Phillippe was back on the mound for game seven. He was matched again with Cy Young. Boston won 7-3 to take a one-game lead. Young was called "invincible" by a newspaper.

Mendelson said, "The Sunday Post ran a photo of Phillippe with the accompanying comment that he 'went to the rubber too often.' The game, according to the paper, was 'sad, chilly and tedious.' Both teams were exhausted, players slid all over the muddy field, and the stalwarts on both sides committed a total of seven errors. It was, in short, a disaster."

One of the few positive notes for Pittsburgh came in the third inning, when Phillippe came to the plate. A fan walked up and gave him a diamond horseshoe stickpin, paid for by the fans, as a token of their appreciation.

Phillippe thanked the fans and then belted a clean single off of a Cy Young fastball. News accounts said the ovation was deafening.

The Deacon was called on one more time, but his arm didn't have much left. Boston won the game 3-0 and thereby won the Series, five games to three. But the Pirate fans gave the team a warm welcome on its return home. Manager Clarke received a raise to make him the highest paid player-manager at that time. Phillippe was given 10 shares of stock in a nearby business.

After he retired from baseball, Phillippe worked in a Pittsburgh steel mill and then as a bailiff in a local court.

Phillippe died at the age of 79 in 1952. Mendelson described Phillippe as a shy man who stood over six feet tall and weighed a muscular 180 pounds. "He avoided the limelight because of modesty. A handsome man, Phillippe had a sturdy oval face, lantern jaw, and dark hair parted a shade left of center."

Mendelson prefers to remember Phillippe after he won his third game in the 1903 World Series. "This, after all, is one of the great tales of World Series heroism," he wrote. "A story of a man who pitched because he had to. The image that best sticks in the mind of the quiet man with the bewildering curveballs is from the victory celebration after Game four. After Phillippe's first home victory, and his third straight, the crowd hoisted the sweating pitcher to its shoulders and carried him all around Exposition Park. Deposited in the Clubhouse, Deacon proceeded to shake hands with everyone in sight.

"Let us remember him that way, joyful, flushed with victory, confident in his team's future and surrounded by a host of Pittsburgh fans in the early autumn of 1903."

The Great Drought

The Pirates' 17th straight loss to Milwaukee eerily coincides with the 17th straight sub-.500 season Pittsburgh is about to suffer.

As the 82nd loss inevitably approaches, growing mention will be made of the team the Pirates will supplant in the record book: the 1933-48 Phillies.

What might not be so widely reported is that the Phillies of that era preceded their losing-season streak with a single year in which the team registered a 78-76 record. Prior to that had been 14 consecutive under-.500 seasons.

That makes 30 out of 31 losing seasons. Can even the Pirates ever approach that sustained level of futility?

Perhaps this will make the remaining Pirates fans feel a bit better: Let's take a look at the Great Drought that afflicted National League baseball in Philadelphia for three decades.

---

It begins

Grover Cleveland Alexander already was a star pitcher when he went on a three-year period of absolute domination. From 1915-17, the man known as "Pete" won 94 games for the Phillies. In 1915, he pitched 16 complete-game shutouts to spearhead the team to its first NL pennant. He also earned the only World Series victory for the team until 1980.

After the 1917 season, Phillies owner William Baker took a look at Pete's salary and, using the specter of World War I as an excuse, traded Alexander to the Cubs, getting a couple of marginal players and $55,000 cold cash in return. Alexander went into the service in 1918 after pitching just three games, so it would appear that Baker got the better end of the deal ... except that Philadelphia tumbled from second place all the way to sixth.

Manager Pat Moran jumped ship to Cincinnati for 1919, leading the Reds to the pennant, while his former team plunged into the basement for the first time in 15 years. It was going to be a long stay.

---

The '20s

The Phils began the new decade with no less than three players who now have plaques in Cooperstown: Dave Bancroft, Eppa Rixey and Casey Stengel. But in 1920, Bancroft was traded to the Giants after driving in just five runs in 42 games; Rixey went an abysmal 11-22 on the mound; and Stengel wouldn't earn his Hall of Fame credentials for another 35 years. And the Phillies finished last again.

The team also began the decade by going through a dizzying array of managers: Gavvy Cravath, Bill Donovan, Kaiser Wilhelm, Art Fletcher and Stuffy McGinnis all manned the helm between 1920-27. Only Fletcher managed to bring the Phillies home as high as sixth place.

McGinnis, a former mainstay at first base for the crosstown Athletics, compiled a 51-103 record in 1927, his only season. His replacement was former St. Louis (Browns and Cardinals) outfielder Burt Shotton, who did even worse: The '28 Phils bottomed out at 43-109. One bright spot was the debut of a 23-year-old Indianapolis native named Chuck Klein, who hit .360 with 11 home runs in 64 games.


In 1929, Klein was joined in the outfield by a failed pitcher, Francis "Lefty" O'Doul, who not only hit .398 but set an NL record with 254 hits. Klein didn't do badly, himself, leading the league with 43 home runs, edging out Mel Ott of the New York Giants. To ensure Klein's title, Philadelphia pitchers walked Ott intentionally each time he came to the plate in the season finale.

Best of all for long-suffering Phillies fans, the team won 71 games and managed to creep into fifth place. With Klein, O'Doul and fellow offensive threats Don Hurst and Pinky Whitney in the lineup, there seemed to be reason for optimism as a new decade dawned.

---

The '30s

In 1930, Phillies' batters set an NL record by belting out 1,783 hits, as the team hit a collective .315 and scored 944 runs.

And the team finished last.

Writer Jack Orr summed it up when he titled his 1953 article for Sport magazine "The Pitchless Wonders." For example:


"The Phils played in the old Baker Bowl, with its famous [just 280 feet from home plate] right-field fence. Often, the story went, young infielders would pick up grounders and throw to Klein in right instead of Hurst at first. And though the Philly thunderers were rocking the opposition pitching at the remarkable clip of 6.8 runs and 11.4 hits a game, Philly pitchers set a record which probably will never be broken: they gave up 1,199 runs, a breathtaking 7.7 a game. ... Opposing hitters smaked the right-field wall as if it were a gong and Klein, who had his work cut out for him, set a record that still stands, 44 assists by an outfielder."

More about the Phillies of that era was written by former pitcher Kirby Higbe in "The High Hard One":

"The man who owned the ball club, a Mr. Baker, had died [in 1930] and left the club to his secretary, but he didn't leave any money to run it with. So Gerry Nugent, the husband of the secretary, sold promising players every year to stay in business. ... When a good player went to the Phillies, he would hustle and bear down in the hope he would be sold to a good ball club."

Somewhere in there, the team managed that 1932 season above .500, riding the success of Hurst, who drove in a league-leading 143 runs, and Klein, who was voted the league's Most Valuable Player after topping the loop in hits, runs scored, home runs and, believe it or not, stolen bases. The pitching staff wasn't particularly stellar, but it did feature six double-digit winners.

Klein hit his pinnacle the following year, winning the next-to-last NL Triple Crown. But with the Phillies sliding back into seventh place, he finished second to Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell in the MVP voting. Then he was gone to Chicago, with the Nugents getting $65,000 and three warm bodies in return.

Other stars emerged in Klein's place. Dolph Camilli hit 80 homers in a three-year span before he fetched $45,000 from Brooklyn, where he won an MVP award. Bucky Walters successfully converted from the infield to pitcher's mound, then brought $50,000 from Cincinnati ... where he won an MVP award. Higbe eventually went to the Dodgers for a cool hundred grand.

On a logistical note, the Phillies finally abandoned the half-century-old Baker Bowl in 1938 to become tenants at the A's Shibe Park, later Connie Mack Stadium. Everyone hoped the change of scenery might help.

---

The '40s

The Phillies entered another new decade hoping to avoid a third straight cellar finish, with Klein back in the fold. Unfortunately, he hit only .218 in 1940, and pitcher Hugh Mulcahy lived up to his nickname, "Losing Pitcher," by racking up 22 defeats. He subsequently become the first major-leaguer to be drafted for service in World War II, which he just might have counted as a blessing.

The team's story was the same in 1941, and even worse in '42. That year, Philadelphia went 42-109 and finished last in the league in, among others: runs, hits, home runs, stolen bases, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases, earned-run average, complete games, shutouts, saves, runs against and fielding percentage. Klein, relegated to a pinch-hitting role, had exactly one hit in 14 at-bats.

After creeping into seventh the following year, the Phillies finished wartime baseball with two more cellar dwellings. With the exception of Vince DiMaggio, the least-remembered of the three famed baseball brothers, the team boasted little in the way of talent. About the most interesting occurrence was the acquisition of legendary slugger Jimmie Foxx in 1945; to draw some kind of fan interest, Foxx toed the rubber in nine games, winning his only decision while posting a 1.59 ERA.


There were a few signs of better days to come, though, including the first full season for catcher Andy Seminick and the debut of 18-year-old shortstop Wesley Garvin "Granny" Hamner. Joining the team the following season was outfielder Del Ennis. Pitcher Curt Simmons debuted in '47. And pitcher Jim Konstanty, third baseman Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones and two future Hall of Famers, Robin Roberts and Richie Ashburn, came aboard in '48.


Those men formed the nucleus of the so-called Whiz Kids, the collection of talent that finally led the Phillies out of the wilderness and to the National League pennant in 1950, just a year after the team ended its record (for now) streak of consecutive sub-.500 seasons.

---

Aftermath

The Whiz Kids proved to be a one-hit wonder, and with the exception of the near-pennant of 1964, the Phillies never were really competitive until the likes of "Lefty" Steve Carlton and Michael Jack Schmidt took control in the '70s.

And the collective baseball world thought it never would see the likes of the 1918-48 Phillies.

Until now?

The youngest of 'em all

He was 18 years, four months and 25 days old when he first pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates, a post-1900 record as the team's youngest player.

Members of the Forbes Field chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research were fortunate to hear him speak on Saturday about his experiences with some of the sport's immortals.

Who is he? Find out in my column in Wednesday's Observer-Reporter.

Miller time (to lose)

Unless you're a beer drinker, Milwaukee might not seem like the world's most exciting destination.

For the Pittsburgh Pirates, it's become a trip to dread. Big time.

With its 6-5 loss to the Brewers last night, Pittsburgh now has lost 17 games in a row at Milwaukee's Miller Park. That probably isn't a record – the old St. Louis Browns seem to have gone through most of the 1930s without winning a game at the original Yankee Stadium – but it adds one more item to the Pirates' long list of negatives.

The team has an opportunity to end the streak this afternoon before returning home Friday. And even if the Pirates lose, they're still one game above .500. So that's good, at least.

Miller Park wasn't always an automatic defeat for Pittsburgh. The Pirates won the first game they ever played there, with Jason Schmidt and two relievers combining for a 3-0 shutout on May 11, 2001.

And the following year, the Pirates swept the Brewers in an early-season three-game series, immediately after which Milwaukee fired manager Davey Lopes. And on the next visit to Miller Park, in July 2002, Pittsburgh won the first three games of a four-game series.



On July 9, 2003, then-Pirate Randall Simon whacked one of the Brewers' sausage mascots with a bat in what he thought was a humorous gesture. He ended up being arrested, fined and suspended.

That incident doesn't seem to have jinxed the Pirates, at least not right away. The team's Miller Park record after that was a decent 12-13 through the end of 2006.

On May 3, 2007, Tom Gorzelanny outdueled Dave Bush in a 4-2 Pirates victory. The next day, the Brewers won, 10-0, starting a losing streak that persists to this day.

At least, it persisted through yesterday. We'll see if the Miller Park curse ends today.

In the beginning: Allegheny

References to the Pittsburgh Pirates usually have the franchise dating back to 1887, and if you recall, the team officially marked its centennial in 1987.

Technically, the history starts in 1882, making Pittsburgh tied with Cincinnati and St. Louis for the third-oldest continuous franchise in Major League Baseball.

Those first five seasons generally aren't recognized because the team played in the American Association, which operated as an acknowledged major league from 1882 through 1891, in competition with the National League. When the Association went out of business, its memory was submerged in the depths of baseball history, to be unearthed by researchers generations later.

Pittsburgh's first major-league team actually played in the city of Allegheny, now the North Side; hence its nickname, the Alleghenys. In fact, the American Association was founded during a meeting held in Pittsburgh.

For a squad that came together for the first time, the Alleghenys did well in 1882, winning 39 and losing the same number, good for fourth place in the six-team league.

The star of the team was outfielder Ed Swartwood, who, at 23, was the youngest regular. He led the Alleghenys in most offensive categories, including a .329 batting average, 107 hits and four home runs.

Pitcher Denny Driscoll, one of baseball's first successful lefthanders, had a 13-9 record with a stellar 1.21 earned-run average, the lowest ever in the Association. But that figure is purely retroactive; the concept of the earned run didn't develop until the early 20th century. Research has shown that a whopping 46 out of the 73 runs Driscoll gave up that year were unearned! Even in an era where teams averaged three or four errors per game, that's an unusally high percentage of unearned runs.

Whatever the case, Driscoll wasn't nearly as effective in 1883, slipping to 18-21 on a team that finished 31-67. Swartwood again led the way at the plate, with his .357 average nearly a hundred points higher than the next-best batter on the team.

The Alleghenys did even worse in 1884, with a 30-78 record in a league that had doubled in the number of teams from its inaugural year. Swartwood slipped to .288, but the next best mark among Allegheny hitters was just .231; as a whole, the team batted only .211. The top pitcher was Florence – yes, he was a man – Sullivan at 16-35.

In 1885, the Alleghenys righted the ship to finish 56-55, primarily through the efforts of pitcher Ed Morris. The 22-year-old lefty won 39 times in 63 starts, all complete games. Back then, management considered pitchers a disposable commodity, good for only a couple of years.

But a late arrival to Pittsburgh that season broke the mold: James "Pud" Galvin's career lasted 15 season, and he was the first pitcher in history to win 300 games. He also was the first future Hall of Famer to play in Pittsburgh.

Galvin and Morris led the way to the Alleghenys' most successful season: an 80-57 record, good for second place behind the St. Louis Browns, today's Cardinals. The tandem combined for 70 victories, while the team batting average of .241 wasn't that far off the league mark of .243. (On the other end of the spectrum, the Baltimore AA batters combined to hit .204, the lowest team average in history.)

Meanwhile, Allegheny management had developed a contentious relationship with the American Association hierarchy, and Pittsburgh jumped ship to the National League for the 1887 season. And that's where team history starts.

But there was a prehistoric version of what became the Pirates, even if the team didn't have all that much success in the American Association.


Trivia #13: Who was the second future Hall of Famer to play in Pittsburgh? For the answer, scroll down and look to the right.

Time for 'Bucco fever'

An e-mail came from a friend today asking, "Anyone else have Bucco fever?"

That's what an 11-7 start will do for a victory-starved fandom.

The second-place Pirates will return to Pittsburgh Friday with an above-.500 record, even if they fail to win any of three games in Milwaukee. And the Brewers aren't exactly lighting it up so far, starting the season 8-10.

The Pirates' hot start is attributable mainly to a starting rotation that's been stellar so far. Zach Duke, Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Ian Snell and Jeff Karstens have combined for a 10-5 record and a stingy 3.02 earned-run average. Duke, Maholm and Ohlendorf have particularly helped the cause by walking a cumulative 2.18 batters per nine innings.

Can the pitchers possibly sustain the good work?

Sabermetricians, as baseball-statistic geeks like to be known, come up with all kinds of numbers to explain the nuances of the game. One of the newer stats to catch on is BABIP, which stands for batting average for balls in play. It's meant to measure a "luck" factor for pitchers; in other words, whether batters who hit fair balls end up on base. A low BABIP usually means you've been getting a lot of breaks, and sooner or later those balls are going to start skirting between infielders or dropping in front of outfielders.

The way to avoid BABIP being a huge factor is to strike batters out, something the Pirate pitchers don't do as often as they should. Snell, at 6.1 strikeouts per nine innings, leads the starting staff by a wide margin; Maholm, Ohlendorf and Karstens all are under 4.

By comparison, the Cubs' Rich Harden has struck out 35 batters in just 21 innings, a National League-leading average of 15 per nine. The Pirates' starting five hurlers have fanned 55 in 113 1/3 innings, fewer than one for every two innings.

Read into those numbers what you'd like, but don't be surprised if the runs allowed start piling up as the season progresses.

But perhaps the Pittsburgh hitters will step it up, too, and "Bucco fever" will persist well into the summer.

---

Trivia #12: Name the player who, in his only season as a Pirate, hit 31 home runs and stole 15 bases. For the answer, scroll down and look to the right.

Who are those guys?

Let's take a look back at the 2008 season, specifically the performances of the Pirates pitchers.

As a whole, the team compiled a 5.10 earned-run average, which ranked last in the National League by almost a quarter of a run. And the second-worst team was the Colorado Rockies, where pitchers still are susceptible to getting crushed despite the baseballs being stored in humidors.

Between hits and walks, the Pirates allowed more than a baserunner and a half per inning. They walked 657 batters, the most in the league, and struck out 963, just six more than St. Louis, which ranked last in the category.

With a few exceptions - Paul Maholm, Matt Capps, John Grabow and Damaso Marte, before he was traded to the Yankees – Pittsburgh's hurlers were substandard by just about any measure.

Tom Gorzelanny posted a 6.66 ERA, which earned him a trip to Purgatory (also known as the minor leagues). Franquelis Osoria and Denny Bautista both posted ERAs over 6 while pitching in 35 or more games. Matt Morris earned an eight-figure salary while posting a 9.67 ERA in five starts before management had sense enough to cut bait.

And onetime top draft pick John Van Benschoten managed to win a game but topped out at 10.48, giving him an historically awful 9.20 ERA for his 90-inning Major League career.

OK, enough of 2008. How about Pirates pitching in '09?

If you've caught some baseball in between hockey playoffs and NFL draft talk, you may have noticed that Pittsburgh leads the majors with four shutouts already, including three in the past four games. Zach Duke blanked Houston while going the distance, only the fourth time he's done that in more than 100 career starts. Maholm so far has shown that his decent '08 season was no fluke, with a record so far of 2-0 with an 0.87 ERA. Even Ross Ross Ohlendorf has shown that last year's trade with the Yankees might pay some dividends, as his ERA is 3.00.

Meanwhile, the Pirates are leading the league in earned-run average while playing over .500.

Who are those guys?

Yeah, I know. It's early.

But Pittsburgh baseball is so starved for good news, we'll take it, even if we're still in April.

---

Trivia #8: What was the first team to finish in last place despite leading the league in earned-run average? For the answer, scroll down and look to the right.

Man of many talents

We'd all love to be able to say we excel in one high-profile field of endeavor.

For Bernie Williams, make that two.

Unlike many athletes, the longtime Yankeee center fielder had another career waiting for him once his playing days ended. Then again, he's still playing, guitar instead of baseball.

I'd caught Williams performing occasionally on TV shows and thought, man, I'd love to play like that! And I heard him once again this morning on ESPN's "Mike & Mike in the Morning," finger-picking a jazzy version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

Bernie was promoting his second CD, "Moving Forward," which was released Tuesday on Reform Records. According to his Web site:

"The Puerto Rico native and five-time All Star is a classically trained musician who developed his love for playing guitar alongside baseball, while listening to salsa, merengue and '80s rock. 'Moving Forward' embraces those early influences, while also reflecting a unique mixture of classical and jazz guitar topped-off with additional Latin rhythms."

One of the CD tracks is a live performance featuring Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Springsteen, who, being from Jersey, probably have some affinity for the Yankees.

I can't stand 'em personally, but I love Williams' guitar playing and am willing to overlook his tenure in pinstripes!

---

In a previous post, I mentioned several candidates to have their major-league careers span four decades, the 1980s through the 2010s.

Among them was Tom Glavine, the Braves' lefty who joined the 300-win club last year and was targeted to be in Atlanta's starting rotation this season.

But as Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend." CBSSports.com reports:

"Tom Glavine may retire if his sore left shoulder doesn't improve in two weeks. Glavine was told Tuesday he must rest for at least two weeks after inflammation was found in his left rotator cuff. The 43-year-old had an MRI and was examined by Dr. James Andrews, who advised treatment and rest."

If we've seen the last of Glavine on the pitcher's mound, here's a tip of the baseball cap to one stellar career.

---

Today, Pittsburgh acquired switch-hitting outfielder Delwyn Young from the Dodgers for two minor league players or for cash. Didn't they learn their lesson when Andy LaRoche came over from LA?

The skinny on Young: a .267 average in 110 games over three major league seasons; 14 pinch-hits for the Dodgers last season while hitting .246 with one home run and seven RBI in 126 at-bats.

He'll turn 27 in June, and that sometimes marks the point when hitters start reaching their potential. Let's see if he's still in Pittsburgh by then.

A younger generation of researchers

They say the “younger generation” has no interest in baseball anymore, especially people who have grown up around Pittsburgh.

There’s at least one exception, though. My oldest son has the vaguest of memories of the last time the Pirates played winning ball. But he’s a big fan of the sport in general, including its storied (and not-so-storied) history.

Last weekend, after a couple of hours of helping me with yard work while we listened to the Buccos lose another one, he said he was going to do a bit of research. He emerged with a list that I found so interesting, I’d love to share it with you. ...

... and I will, in my column in Wednesday's Observer-Reporter. Pick up a copy at your local newsstand!

---

Trivia #5: Besides Willie Stargell, who is the last Pirate to hit 40 or more home runs in a season? (For the answer, scroll down and look to the right.)

Just say 'no!'

By Brant Newman

I've been a Pirates fan since the 1960s. I went to sleep at nights with a transistor radio under my pillow, listening to the Gunner and Nellie King. When
the Pirates won the World Series in 1971, I ran through the streets of Claysville as if it were V-E Day. I've remained a faithful fan through the decades,in good times and, for the past 16 years, bad.

But at age 50, I have my doubts about whether I'll ever see another Pirates game in person again. The reason: I refuse to be played for a dupe, and that's what anyone who goes to PNC Park these days is. The Pirates' current ownership, led by the Nutting family, is charging major-league prices for Triple-A baseball.

They talk a good game about a new era, new leadership and prosperity being right around the corner, but they're sure not putting their money where their
mouths are. The Pirates are consistently among Major League Baseball's bottom feeders in terms of payroll. They have based draft picks on whether they could sign them on the cheap, and when they have signed veteran free agents, they've spent unwisely, for the most part.

The MLB business model, which allows teams like the Yankees to spend as much on two players (A-Rod and Derek Jeter) as the Pirates do on an entire roster, is part of the problem. But the Nuttings' refusal to spend money on quality free agents who could help the team is another.

Fans are growing tired of watching rebuilding plan after rebuilding plan. With the exception of a handful of players, the minor-league system is not exactly brimming with talent, and we've seen what the current roster of major-leaguers has accomplished the past couple of years.

I'll continue to watch as many Buccos games as I can, but until team owners show a true commitment to the fans, I'll be doing so from my easy chair, saving a lot of money by eating my own hot dogs and drinking my own beer.

---

Trivia #3: From which other team's farm system did the Pirates draft Roberto Clemente?