Moving

Wait 'Til Next Year will be quiet for at least the near future. I am joining Cory Humes and Randy Linville at Pittsburgh Lumber Co., a blog on the MVN network. I am excited to be working with two writers that I have great respect for, and honored to be part of a network that is growing so rapidly.

I have not yet decided on future plans for this site, but for now I will be focusing on this new endeavor. Thank you all for reading during the past year. See you at PLC.

August success causes mixed emotions

Matt Capps celebrates a Pirate win on Tuesday night - AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

On July 31, the Pirates’ season was lost. They were 42-62, 14.5 games behind first place Milwaukee, and sitting in last place in the NL Central. Suddenly they got hot. The Bucs are now 17-11 in the month of August, and despite last night’s loss to the Reds, only 8.5 games behind first place Chicago.

This sudden surge has produced two different viewpoints for players and fans. The first is that the Pirates have a legitimate opportunity to reach the postseason. The Cubs are currently in first place with a mediocre record of 67-64, and nobody seems interested in winning the division. With 23 of their final 30 games against NL Central teams, the Pirates are not dead yet. Sorry, but this is not going to happen. If the Pirates could somehow win 20 of 30 games, they would still be relying on other teams to fall apart. Simply to finish tied for first place, the Pirates would need the Cubs to finish 12-19, the Brewers 13-17, St. Louis 15-18, and the Reds 18-11. Considering NL Central teams will be playing the majority of their remaining games against other NL Central teams, this is very unlikely. I thought about going through each team’s schedule to determine if it is even mathematically possible, but I do not have the energy for that sort of research. (Keep in mind, I am dreaming about some sort of miracle finish too.)

The other point of view is that a strong finish will hurt the Pirates in the end. If the Pirates approach .500 by the end of the season, it might convince management to keep general manager Dave Littlefield. The team would actually benefit by falling apart over the final month of the season, as it would force ownership to clean house. I agree that the team must fire Littlefield if it ever wants to become a quality baseball club. But I am not sure the Pirates final record in 2007 will have a large effect on the decision. The most important factor will be ownership’s choice for the CEO position. Any quality baseball mind can see that Littlefield has done a terrible job as general manager. If the new CEO decides to keep Littlefield, based on any reason, we have much larger problems in Pittsburgh. That will be the new CEO’s first true test.

So what does this mean for Pirate fans? Do not get your hopes up for a potential playoff berth. It is extremely unlikely. But we do not have to root against our Bucs. Enjoy every win that we can get.

Weekend adventures in Houston

Adam LaRoche finally ends the party early Saturday morning - AP Photo/Pat Sullivan

Making the five-hour drive to southern Michigan Friday evening, I expected to catch the Pirate game on the radio and still have some free time before my arrival. There was little indication that the game would last nearly five hours itself, well past the time I arrived at my destination. There was nothing I could do but sit alone in my car, listening intently to the Houston broadcast on the trusty XM radio. The call of Xavier Nady's home run was beautiful. Severely paraphrased: "Brad [Lidge] said Nady will occasionally be fooled by the slider. In fact he struck out Nady on a check swing in Pittsburgh to end a game." After a pause, Milo Hamilton says softly, "He didn't fool him there. Nady just tied the game." Even with the loss yesterday, it was a good weekend for Pirates baseball.

But why do the Pirates insist on forcing Nady onto the field? I understand he is a gamer. I understand he wants to play. I love players like that, as I would assume many people do. That was great when he pinch-hit with a partially torn hamstring and tied the game with a ninth inning home run. But the largest concern should be having him ready for the beginning of 2008. This is a player that the Pirates are counting on to be in the middle of the lineup next year, and there is no reason to risk serious injury in an effort to reach 70 wins this year. It is one thing to start Tony Armas over Shane Youman (stupid, but I won't lose much sleep over it), but it is completely different to risk the health of a player you need in the future. This is a lost season. Nady should be shut down for the year so he can get ready for spring training.

Pirates roll in Denver

Nate McLouth circles the bases again - AP Photo/David Zalubowski

The Pirates pulled the bats back out last night in Denver. Six home runs and a decent start from Tom Gorzelanny were the difference, and the Bucs took the game by a score of 9-2.

Nate McLouth continued his power display, hitting two more home runs to highlight a 3 for 5 night. Chris Duffy injured his ankle on June 27, providing McLouth with regular playing time in center field. From June 28 to the present, he has hit .276/.351/.566 in 152 at-bats. He has hit nine home runs, or one every 16.9 at-bats. Seven of those home runs have come in the past 19 days. Nate has clearly taken the lead in the competition to be the Pirates' starting center fielder in 2008.

Also hitting one home run each - Jack Wilson, Xavier Nady, Jason Bay, Freddy Sanchez

I did not get to see any of this game, so that is all you will get from me. Here are a few notes:

• With less than two weeks remaining in the season, I felt it was a good time to order the MiLB.TV package. I watched some of the Indianapolis Indians game in Toledo last night. These guys are definitely being groomed to be Pirates. John Van Benschoten labored through the second inning. According to the Toledo announcer, he had thrown 44 pitches when I walked away to get some food. I am not sure how many he had thrown by the end of that inning, but he did face two more batters. 5-1 Mud Hens after two. In the fifth, the Indians loaded the bases with nobody out. Andrew McCutchen popped out and Brian Bixler hit into a double play to end the inning. The Mud Hens won, 8-4. It was kind of depressing to watch.
• The Rangers scored 30 runs last night. Holy crap!
• Paul Meyer of the Post-Gazette is reporting that Dan Duquette may be a candidate for the Pirates' CEO position. I will not claim to be an expert on Duquette's history, but he was an integral part of the Expos' rebuilding process in the early 90's. Those teams are one of the main reasons that the Expos remain my second favorite baseball team to this day. Vlad posted a detailed Dan Duquette history over at Bucs Dugout.

The Pirates finish their series in Denver today at 3:05 PM. Paul Maholm (4.53 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) throws against Franklin Morales (1.69 ERA, 0.94 WHIP).

This, that, and the other

Freddy Sanchez is going to San Fran - Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Sanchez an All-Star

Freddy Sanchez was surprisingly named the Pirates' 2007 All-Star representative, his second consecutive trip to the game. There are some possible reasons why he was chosen:

• Tony LaRussa is playing to win, and he felt having a versatile infielder on his bench could be helpful. Also, Freddy can be pretty clutch, making him a decent option to pinch-hit in a crucial situation late in the game.
• LaRussa wanted a legitimate reason to leave the Pirate representative on the bench all night.
• LaRussa took into account the second half of 2006, making Freddy a much more deserving player.
• LaRussa did not put much thought into the team and simply picked players based on name recognition.

Clearly there were several Pirates more deserving than Freddy this season. But it is a nice honor for the Pirates' second baseman, so congratulations Freddy.

Duke to DL

Zach Duke joined Chris Duffy on the disabled list due to elbow tendinitis, and Shane Youman was called up to take his spot in the rotation. Youman was not all that impressive in Triple-A, so I would not expect much from him at the Major League level. But he did perform pretty well for the Pirates late last season, so who knows?

By the way, the Pirates replaced Duffy on the roster with someone named Matt Kata. I am not really sure who that is, but welcome to Pittsburgh Matt.

Pirates welcome Brewers

The Brewers will visit Pittsburgh tonight to start a four-game series. This will be the first time the two teams have met since the series in which Matt Capps hit Prince Fielder. That was the weekend that showed us just how far the Pirates are from being a good team. We looked like children playing an adult's game, as the Brewers took three of four. Keep an eye on Capps and Fielder, as there may still be some bad blood from that series in early May.

If you don't recall, Adam LaRoche took the first game of that series off. He spent the night working on his swing. Since that break, he has hit .276/.350/.480 with seven home runs. Not quite what we expected before the season, but still far better than the .132/.245/.253 line he had on May 3.

John Van Benschoten throws for the Pirates, Jeff Suppan for the Brewers. Gametime is at 7:05 PM.