Notes & Links

While Francisco Liriano and Jeff Samardzija prepare to get it on tomorrow, we have a lotta links; the daily sports pages have cranked up the coverage today.

• Don't let the morning snow fool ya; it'll be baseball weather (or at least what passes for it in March in Pittsburgh) tomorrow for the Opener. It will hit almost 60 with the sun shinin' away.
• Travis Sawchik of the Tribune Review has a piece on the increasing velocity of today's pitchers and how it's changing the game.
• Dejan Kovacevic of the Trib examines the new Pirate dynamic on the field, in the locker room and in the stands.
• Joe Guzzardi has a look at the Pirates quick experiment with a Havana-based camp and Cuban baseball in the fifties in the Post Gazette.
• John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times has a way-back machine look at former Buc catcher and current announcer Joe Garagiola.
• Ron Musselman of the BCT takes us back to the days when America's favorite crooner, Bing Crosby, was an active and passionate Bucco owner.
• The Bucs cut minor-league OF'er Quincy Latimore. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians last year for Jeanmar Gomez after six years in the organization, and was signed again in the off season by Pittsburgh after being dropped by the Tribe and playing for the Washington Wild Things. 
• The guy the Bucs were supposed to be on, SS Didi Gregorius of Arizona, will start the year in the minors. We also wonder if the Bucs have any interest in the recently released C George Kotteras as Russ Martin's temporary caddy, allowing Tony the Tiger to get his innings in Indy.
• Ex-Bucs: Xavier Nady, 35, will break camp with the Padres.