Youman's great effort goes to waste

Shane Youman likely pitched the game of his life and what did it get him?
A loss,as the Astros scraped by the Buccos in Pittsburgh 1-0.
Youman now 2-2,pitched 8 innings,allowing just 4 hits and 1 run on short rest,pitched far better than any Pirate fan could have expected.
But it was not enough as an anemic offense could not score even 1 run against the Astros Woody Williams.
The link to the game has Jim Tracy "as beaten down as he has been all season".
Well,when you send a lineup out there that has at least 4 almost automatic outs,it makes it tough to beat anyone.
Imagine how "beaten down" we are watching this!
1 extra base hit!? And it belongs to Matt Kata????
Who keeps hitting leadoff???
To hell with Jim Tracy,I am the one that is beaten down!!
To watch a performance like this from Shane Youman,who is not the new Sandy Koufax and watch it go for nothing makes me furious beyond belief.
To spend the amount of money that it takes to see a game at PNC Park and look at that lineup,
I,for one, better have more than just the game in mind.
Some Pirates sites rag on the people that go to the games just for the giveaways and I see their point.
However,without some of that stuff,many would not go.
Imagine paying 25-45 bucks for tickets,10 bucks to park,souvenirs,food,gas etc and your left side of the infield is Matt Kata and Cesar Izturis???
I have stated long before this blog that I think Pirates fans would support a loser,if their team was obviously young and building,like the Marlins seem to do every few years.
But this team is NOT young,the starting pitchers are,but the lineup is filled with players ranging from above average (Bay and Sanchez) to average (LaRoche and Nady) to below average (Izturis and Paulino) to AAA level (Kata).
THAT is the legacy of failure that Dave Littlefield has "built" in Steeltown.
Keep enough bad veterans around that the P.R. lies can say things are changing,but they never do-Same crap again and again.............
But the Pirates are on the right track.
At least Nickels Nutting and Captain Dave think so,I bet Jim Tracy is not quite as sure as he was a week ago.

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh-OFF.
Maybe they can avoid a loss here.

Bullpen Notes

The death of Tulsa (Rockies AA) coach Mike Coolbaugh from being struck by a foul line drive to the head as he stood in the coaches box should lead to coaches wearing helmets at all levels.
It only makes sense as coaches in the box are the only persons in field without any protection at all.
Fielders have gloves,batters have bats and helmets,umpires have padding.
Don't be surprised if base umpires begin to wear them too.
This is a common sense issue and I feel foolish for not having thought about this before.

The Post-Gazette reports that the Captain asked for Troy Glaus for Jack Wilson.
Of course,this is another in a line of several ridiculous requests by Littlefield.
But assume that that Toronto was dumb enough to take that offer (Littlefield is dumb enough,but that is besides the point).
Glaus wants to play in the West and has a complete No-Trade clause,why on earth would he want to be a Pirate?
Talk about wasting time............

Hickory defeated the Hagerstown Suns yesterday 6-4.
Good news on two fronts-the Crawdads won and didn't rough up Erik Arnesen.
Erik pitched two scoreless innings.

The Cleveland Browns open camp today and all three of their high picks are unsigned.
Joe Thomas and Eric Wright are particular concerns.
Why?
Because they are expected to start at the two toughest positions for a rookie-offensive tackle and cornerback.
The more time in camp,the better chance they have to have an impact in year one.

Photo Credit
Youman-AP Photo-Gene Puskar