Maholm strikes out Crystal

I don't have a lot of time to post tonight, but I had to note that not only did Paul Maholm pitch very well today, he did manage to strike out Billy Crystal and preserve the last remaining shred of dignity for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I saw the at-bat on Sportscenter and it seemed to me like Maholm played it right, give Crystal a change to hit the ball, don't actually let him hit it, and smile after the game when he makes jokes about young you are.

Anyways, I know some people have a problem with teams' doing stuff like this in spring training, but I really don't. Some day, Paul Maholm is going to be able to tell his kids he struck out Billy Crystal, and then ensure them that it was a bigger deal when he did it after they have no idea who Billy Crystal is. But really, these games don't count for anything and stuff like this is what separates them from the regular season. Crystal taking a few futile hacks at Maholm's pitches is a lot more in the spirit of spring training than Shelley Duncan spiking a Ray, then getting speared by Johnny Gomes.

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