Chris Young and why he is not a Pirate.

The Padres send Chris Young to the hill tonight vs the Pirates.
Young, a former basketball player at Princeton,was a Pirate at one time.
In fact,I even saw him pitch here as a Hickory Crawdad vs the Hagerstown Suns.
Why is this stellar hurler not in Bucco Black and Gold?
Because Captain Dave Littlefield traded him to Montreal (now Washington) for veteran reliever Matt Herges.
Now trades of promising minor leaguers for serviceable veterans happen all the time.
Sometimes the prospect turns out well,just as often it does not.
But you pretty much know what you will get from the proven player,so you take the gamble moving the prospect.
But here is where good ol' Captain Dave makes his brilliant move.
Herges reports to camp with the Pirates and is RELEASED 2 weeks later.
The Pirates thought he had nothing left.
So you gave up a prospect to have a veteran throws 2 weeks of batting practice?
But Herges is shot,so you take the hit of losing Young and move on.
Except for one small thing-Herges is not finished.
He is signed by the Giants after being released and has a 2003 that is the best of his career.
Then saves 23 games in 2004 and still is in the league today with the Rockies,although his production has dropped off.
Young ,meanwhile,becomes a quality pitcher in a tough ballpark in Arlington and now pitching in a pitchers paradise in San Diego has become a high level pitcher and the type that Pittsburgh hopes that Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny can become.
Plus Young then nearly no-hits Pittsburgh last year,holding the Bucs hitless for 8 and a third,in what would have brought huge media attention to the incompetence of Littlefield.
Of all the dumb Littlefield moves-this was,In my opinion the dumbest.
Think about that during tonight's game.
Chris Young could be a Bucco and 1 numbskull traded him for literally nothing.

Bullpen Notes

In a real shocker-Kobe Bryant has demanded a trade from the Lakers...
He wanted to be the focus of the team,so he could be the star and shoot the ball 50 !@#$%^& times a game.
He got his wish and his team is average.I hope he either has to stay in LA or if he gets traded,he goes to a crap team like Atlanta for example.
Bryant can never be pleased-if he is on a championship team,he wants to be the star.
If he is the star,he wants to be on a winner....
Not hard to figure why fans are turning the NBA off in droves...

Congratulations to The Ohio State University for its athletic dominance in the 2006-07 season.
Buckeye sports programs won 12 Big 10 titles in 9 different sports.
Another season like that will be very hard to duplicate,but one never can count out OSU.

In distressing news-The Hamilton Tiger-Cats signed retread(read crummy) Quarterback Shaun King.
King was an awful quarterback for 4 teams in 6 NFL seasons,most notably with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
You will be able to follow King here as we cover the Hamilton Tiger-Cats here this season.

My drafting for the Pirates at John Sickels site is this Sunday.
If anyone wants to express ideas or offer advice,you can reach me either here in the comments or at John's site.My nic there is Count Vertigo.

Back later with game reports.

Photo Credit
Chris Young-unknown