Lance Berkman’s line drive smashed into the head of the veteran right-hander, striking him just below the right ear. Jakubauskas suffered contusions and a concussion.

Chris hopes to return to pitching in the next two-to-three weeks. He was making his first start in the majors of the year, having been called up only the day before.

He had allowed two runs through two thirds of an inning when struck.

The franchise with the longest string of losing seasons in the majors has started a respectable 7-5 and sits only behind the Cardinals in the NL Central.

Led by a young, talented outfield and a scrappy infield the Pirates have put up some runs. But perhaps even more surprisng is their pitching so far.

Zack Duke looks like his old self. The lefty ace is 2-0 and has thrown 19 innings over 3 starts and allowed just five runs. In fact it was his best start of the year when he did not even record a win, though the team did.

Paul Malholm has been a solid #2 so far and the bullpen has been excellent.

Brendan Donnelly has looked like his Angels self (or lsat years Marlins version) rather than the one that labored in Cleveland. He provides a veteran presence in the bullpen. Combined with Evan Meek, Ross Ohlendorf, and Jack Taschner the Pirates have been solid in the late innings.

If/how long they can keep this pace up will be a big question mark, but at least the Pirate fans can revel in some early season positives and hope that management will finally keep this core intact for the long haul.

What the league is in dire need of however, is immediate reform to the Revenue Sharing Policy that was established in 1997. The policy was a measure taken by current commissioner Bud Selig to help create a competitive balance between small-market and large-market organizations. The idea of the policy is for the larger-market teams—such as the Yankees—to pay the league a set amount of revenue that will go toward the likes of teams such as the Pirates, Royals, Marlins, Rays, and Blue Jays to help “improve the product on the field”.

Problem is, owners aren’t necessarily using these funds for the intended purpose. Or at least by what is indicated by the numbers. For instance, the Pittsburg Pirates—current laughing stock of the league—received about $40M from revenue sharing, and an additional $35M from the league’s central fund (revenue from licensing, properties, national TV, and advanced media). This puts the club with already $75M in the bank, without taking into account the money generated from local networking. Given that the Pirates had a payroll somewhere in the ballpark of $48M, that would leave them with about a $27M profit before the selling of one ticket. Question is: where is this money going?

Yes, granted, the Yankees blow the most money in professional sports, and the amounts the Steinbrenner’s have injected into the franchise could more than likely support a third world country for a generation. But at least they put it toward improving the team and organization for their fans. I have more respect for that than for an owner who does nothing to be competitive and instead makes the claim that they’re losing money and to compensate must trade away all of their best players and start over. In fact, due to the luxury tax—a levy placed on the maximum payroll one team can have—the Yankees are benefitting the MLB and its affiliated clubs with their exorbitant spending; since 2003 the Yankees have paid $174M of the tax’s $190M revenue.

Why not tax the minimum payroll as well?

Prevent teams and owners such as the Pirates from abusing the privilege they have through the revenue sharing policy and tax them if they do not adequately use that money to improve upon the field. This will give incentives to owners who have grown accustom to pocketing the cash and doing with it what they please.

Case and point: do not cry for a salary cap with the basis that the Yankees spend too much money and that it’s “not fair” for teams with smaller markets. The fact of the matter is that the Yankees have been the lifeblood of the smaller market organizations for years now and to blame them would be to bite the hand that feeds. Put the blame on the fraudulence of the owners and call for reform that will negate the corruption behind their methodology.