Notes: Pirates come away injury free

03/23/2006
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Manager Jim Tracy could exhale finally. He'd gotten his Pirates through a game where rain made keeping his players on the field too long a dicey proposition.
So Tracy wasn't disappointed Thursday one bit that the Pirates didn't bat in the ninth inning of a 6-2 loss to the Reds.
"Nobody got hurt -- bottom line," he said. "I feel bad about the fact that you have to take players out of the game in the fourth inning, but, you know, there are so many things when you get moisture like that, and you leave other people [hanging] around and [playing] and somebody ends up pulling a groin.
"That's the last thing you want to see."
As Tracy tries to shape his 25-man roster, he doesn't want to see players end up on the disabled list with Opening Day two weeks away. He says he can't afford that, not with the progress the ballclub has made this spring.
"The last thing you wanna do is lose somebody to an injury you could have prevented by simply taking 'em off the field, which is what I did," Tracy said.
He wasn't saying that he'd rather not have restarted the game after the rain delay in the fourth inning. Far from it, Tracy said. In continuing to play, he saw a couple of things that pleased him.
One thing that stood out, he said, was the play of Jose Bautista in center field. Put in to replace Chris Duffy, the 25-year-old Bautista displayed the kind of glove that drew raves from Tracy.
"He went and got a ball out there toward the wall in deep left-center field and made it look easy," Tracy said. "Effortless -- pretty intriguing to me."
Rough showing: Left-hander Paul Maholm used an appropriate word for his outing Thursday against the Reds. As he put it, the outing was "rough."
It's hard to quarrel with his critique. For in four innings, Maholm gave up six runs on six hits, including Tony Womack's two-run homer.
"I made some good pitches," he said. "Womack, I threw it where I wanted to and he hit it out. So, it's just one of those days, and I can put it in the back of my mind and just carry on toward the season."
No doubt he can, because his task isn't so much to impress Tracy as it is to get his stuff sharp for the season. Maholm (2-2, 8.50 ERA) has made the team, a situation that was so unlike what he faced last Spring Training.
As camp winds down, his plans are to work on command and get his pitch count up. He hopes to reach the 90-pitch mark before the team leaves for Pittsburgh.
He's back: Tracy put third baseman Freddy Sanchez back in the starting lineup Thursday. Sanchez had sat out the last few games with tightness in his groin.
Tracy also had plenty to say about Sanchez, who went 0-for-1.
"He's a very headies player," Tracy said of Sanchez. "He's got talent, and he knows the game. He understands the game. He understands offensive situations as a hitter. He has a terrific glove. ... a winning player."
The question is: Who holds the Pirates record for most hits in his rookie season?
Quote 'em: "One night in Pittsburgh, thirty-thousand fans gave me a standing ovation when I caught a hot dog wrapper on the fly." -- Pirates first baseman Dick Stuart, whose shaky glove earned him the nickname "Dr. Strangeglove".
Did you know: Triples remain a rare hit in the Major Leagues, but did you know that a Pirate holds the Major League record for the most triples in a season? In 1912, Chief Wilson collected a whopping 36. The next highest total in a season is 26, held by three (Sam Crawford, Kiki Cuyler and Shoeless Joe Jackson).
Numbers game: For the first time since Feb. 26, the Pirates saw rain here. That's a span of 25 days.
Grand expectations: Maholm didn't want to share what his goals were for 2006. He called them "personal."
"I'm not gonna throw any crazy numbers out there," he said.
Pushed to do so anyway, Maholm did.
"Thirty wins," he said, smiling.
Trade bait: If utilityman Craig Wilson is headed elsewhere, elsewhere isn't likely to be Baltimore.
The Orioles like the 29-year-old Wilson, who can catch. But they aren't interested in Wilson's $3.3 million salary, unless the Pirates develop an interest in catcher Javy Lopez, whose contract is an even bigger contract than Wilson's.
Odds and ends: With a double Thursday, Jody Gerut has five hits in his last 10 at-bats. ... Going into the game against the Reds, Nate McLough ranked second in the Grapefruit League in stolen bases (five). ... Ian Snell ranked sixth among pitchers in the league in innings pitched (17 1/3), and Zach Day was tied for third in strikeouts (14). ... Marty McLeary leads the Pirates in wins with three. He has a 3.00 ERA to complement his five appearances this season. ... Right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, who seemed destined for a long-relief role, worked two scoreless innings against the Reds.
And the answer: In 1927, Lloyd Waner, brother of Hall of Famer Paul Waner, collected 223 hits as a rookie, a Major League record that stood until 2001 when Ichiro Suzuki collected 242 hits in his rookie season.

Source: http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/