Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh, 29 August 2006

by Charlie Wilmoth on Aug 29, 2006 6:46 PM EDT in News

Zambrano, Maholm (MLB.com)

7:05 PM

FSNP, KDKA (and, for you out-of-towners, WGN)

Carlos Zambrano (14-5, 3.31) vs. Paul Maholm (6-10, 4.82).

Zambrano has faced the Bucs only once this season - he allowed five runs against them on August 4. Despite his being a Cub, I like Zambrano a lot. It's amazing that he's barely 25 - he's already excellent, and despite toiling for several years in the Dusty Baker Pitcher Abuse Factory, he still has a bunch of headroom - he could become even better by limiting his walks. Like C.C. Sabathia, Zambrano became a workhorse at a surprisingly young age.

Here's a list of some Pirates and Pirates farmhands who are actually older than Zambrano:

Chris Duffy
Jose Castillo
Ronny Paulino
Ryan Doumit
Jose Bautista
John VanBenschoten
Bryan Bullington
Jonah Bayliss
Josh Sharpless
Adam Boeve
Brad Eldred

Amazing, isn't it? The comparison puts into perspective just how young Zambrano is, and how old the Pirates' "young" players are.

Box Score: Ryan Doumit starts at first again; Jack Wilson is still out.

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Is anyone...

Listening to the interview going on in the Pittsburgh broadcast right now? Geez.

by Charlie Wilmoth on Aug 29, 2006 7:43 PM EDT reply actions

What's it about?

by WTM on Aug 29, 2006 8:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Nothing very interesting,

just absurd. They had some guy from New Zealand in there holding Jim Tracy's dog and pimping his website, the name of which I've already forgotten. It had something to do with dogs. The guy must've repeated about five times that dogs are members of families, so it made sense that dogs were allowed to be at the stadium, since baseball is a family game. Or at least that's how I remember it. I've heard some weird interviews on Pirates broadcasts, but this one was especially strange.

by Charlie Wilmoth on Aug 29, 2006 8:49 PM EDT up reply actions

That interview....

....just went on, and on, and on. I have no clue what the guy was talking about most of the time. Greg, of course, did his best to stay on topic (about the dogs) and not focus on the primary task at hand (a baseball game). I can't imagine the amount of scrubbing that will be going on after the game on the flight deck. Poor stadium employees didn't know this was in the works when they got hired I bet.

by jeremy @ Bucs Dugout on Aug 29, 2006 9:21 PM EDT reply actions

This game, btw . . .

is one of the most poorly played I've seen in a while. Pirate pitchers repeatedly getting hurt by walking leadoff hitters against a team that draws almost no walks. Bautista, Doumit, Castillo, and Paulino chasing pitch after pitch far out of the strike zone, several times with runners on third. Paulino not blocking pitches. Cota failing to reach second when he could've walked there. Just awful baseball, matched only by their opponents.

by WTM on Aug 29, 2006 10:37 PM EDT reply actions

pirates win

but not playing wilson is killing my hacking mass team

www.royalsreview.com

by Freneau on Aug 29, 2006 10:40 PM EDT reply actions

P-G news

From the P-G:

"Starter Brad Lincoln, the Pirates' first-round pick in the June draft, will not pitch again for Class A Hickory because of a strained oblique that shelved him Aug. 6. His next starts will come in the Florida Instructional League, which opens Sept. 17.

Lincoln is expected to make side sessions with Hickory until the Crawdads' season ends Monday."

"Ian Snell felt some "tightness" in his shoulder late in his start Monday, Tracy said, but Tracy dismissed it as insignificant. Snell engaged in the usual casual tossing yesterday, and he is expected to pitch as scheduled."

by Greg Schuler on Aug 30, 2006 7:53 AM EDT reply actions