Pirates' Booty (Kicking)

"You can't stop Nate McClouth, you can only hope to contain Nate McClouth."
- Anonymous

An ugly loss tonight in which Dirty gave up seven runs on six hits (and three walks) in 4.1. True to form, Sanchez was graceful in defeat:

Sanchez wasn't happy with what he said was a too-flat PNC Park mound.

"I was trying to adjust, but I was leaving the ball up a lot the whole game. That's why I got hit," Sanchez said. "That's the worst mound I've ever pitched (on). It was flat."

Of course, graceful is a subjective term.

Brad Hennessey was predictably awful in relief, and prodigal son Jose Castillo did his best Pedro Feliz impression by smacking an utterly meaningless 3 run homer to cut the deficit to 8 in the 8th frame. Oh, and since the indomitable southpaw Zach Duke took the mound, Bruce Bochy decided to play the matchup game and sit team left-handed batting OPS leader (by a large margin) Fred Lewis for the equally indomitable Dan Ortmeier. Note that tonight was the beginning of a string of 6 straight games in which the Giants face lefties - and they only get better. Manager on down, a disgusting display all around.

All of a sudden, the Giants are looking down the barrel of three straight losses (and a potentially disastrous road trip) with Barry Zit0-6 making his triumphant return tomorrow night.

Worst of all, nobody even seems to care about this early May Giants-Pirates game tonight. I mean, it's not like Indiana has a baseball team or anything.

- The MLBPA is up to it's old tricks, as they launch an investigation into possible collusion by owners, citing the cases of future Hall of Famers Barry Bonds and Kenny Lofton, who remain unsigned.

Kenny Lofton is old. And not that good. And also not really a good clubhouse presence. So there's that.

On the other hand, although Bonds is old, he's also still pretty good. So what's the hangup? Let me point to the real world applicability of this situation:

Interviewer: "Well, you seem to have an impeccable track record, quite an impressive resume, indeed. What would your salary demands be?"

Interviewee: "Really, anything. I mean, you would think I'd command a premium salary, but try me. Seriously, lowball me if you like, my response may be surprising."

Interviewer: "That's very interesting to know. Before we proceed, is there anything further that may affect your work that you would like to disclose to Acme Corporation?"

Interviewee: "My teamwork issues aside - off the record, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being intolerable and 10 being totally cool, what's your honest opinion of federal indictees cutting out of work early for their grand jury proceedings?"

Interviewer: "Thanks for stopping by."