Peter Diana, Post-Gazette First baseman Daryle Ward has been swinging a hot bat since being called up from Nashville. Click photo for larger image. More Pirates coverage Stats Geek: The sacrifice bunt has not worked out too well for the Pirates Pirates Report: 5/25/04 Cook: Boone here? Be serious

On Sunday, the dudes in charge of the Daryle Ward, er, Stinks Web site posted a note of contrition.

Considering the depths of their derision -- these Los Angeles Dodgers fans heretofore labeled him "Steel City Sloth" and "worthless tub of goo" -- it was as much contrition as could be mustered at short notice.

Okay, so everyone has been waiting for this Web site to change. Daryle Ward has been on a tear, and everyone has noticed. They are wondering to themselves. 'The world most certainly must be coming to an end!' "

Sarcasm aside, the part about the new Pirates first baseman's hitting tear is accurate.

On Sunday, Ward went 1 for 4 against Milwaukee to drop his batting average to .333. He has hit safely in eight of his 10 starts since being summoned from Class AAA Nashville May 11. He has bopped five home runs and driven in 10 runs in his 11 Pirates games.

Most of all, he has not only altered his perception since his banishment to the minor leagues two months ago, but also altered the perception of his abhorring public.

The anonymous Web masters suggested, in a slightly more off-color fashion, a name change: to the Daryle Ward Is Kicking Butt, So It Stinks To Be Randall Simon site.

"It's been great," Ward, 28, said of what he calls his baseball rebirth. "I'm not satisfied with what I've been doing. But I'm enjoying it."

This could be a telling week for Ward, who has seven major-league seasons under a belt that tightened after he lost 15 pounds off his 6-foot-1, 245-pound frame.

Simon, originally platooning at first base with Craig Wilson, ends his 20-day rehabilitation assignment in Nashville this week. His creaky hamstring has healed but his batting stroke is ailing. Simon had no homers, one RBI and a .231 average entering a game late last night in Fresno. The Pirates must make a move with him Friday.

"We haven't made any final decisions on that," general manager David Littlefield said.

So Ward's Pirates audition continues the next three days in St. Louis, and it could land him a full-time gig.

"He's swinging the bat like he did with Houston when he played against us, that's for sure," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said.

Ward once was a power-hitting top prospect with the Astros, clouting 49 homers in bits and pieces of four seasons there. The Pirates long coveted the services of this left-handed hitter in PNC Park, where, in 2002, he crushed the only homer to land on the fly in the Allegheny River. (Or, as Wilson explained, "I had a nice seat out there [in right field] when he decided to put the ball in the river.")

His promise never fully delivered in Houston, the Astros traded him in January 2003 to Los Angeles. Ward, after having his wisdom teeth removed and then going on the disabled list with tendinitis in his right wrist, struggled to a career-low .183 with Los Angeles last season. That spawned page after page of the venomous Web site. Another online place, DodgerBlues.com, likewise tortured Ward by calling him a "sperm whale." It didn't help that he failed to homer for the Dodgers or in a minor-league rehab assignment in Class AA Jacksonville.

When the son of former Twins-Rangers-Yankees-Tigers slugging outfielder Gary Ward became a free agent in the offseason, the Pirates signed him Jan. 7 to a minor-league contract and tried him as a reclamation project. In 22 at-bats in spring training, he hit no home runs and produced one RBI and a paltry .136 batting average. He was optioned to Nashville March 23.

Initially, Ward angrily reacted by packing his belongings in his truck, grousing publicly about his lack of at-bats and taking time to ponder whether to report. That's when the rebirthing process began. He talked to Shannon, his wife and mother of their four children. He talked to his father. He quit grousing.

He went to Nashville. He starting losing weight thanks to a workout program and diet orchestrated by Sounds strength and conditioning coach Ty Hill. He batted .306 with five homers and 14 RBIs in 17 games for Nashville.

When the Pirates first placed Raul Mondesi on the restricted list, Ward was the direct beneficiary. He was called up May 11 and went 2 for 4 with a double at Colorado. That was followed by a 3-for-6 day in Coors Field, a 4-for-14 stretch in San Francisco, a 5-for-12 series against San Diego that included three homers and four RBIs.

There are all kinds of other intriguing numbers that surround him: a .348 on-base percentage, .733 slugging percentage and, perhaps most important, a 7-3 Pirates record when he starts.

"It was a learning experience for me," Ward said Sunday, before donning his "Pirates strength" T-shirt and heading for a workout barely a half-hour after a 2-1 loss to Milwaukee. "It was just something that had to happen, and I'm glad it happened. It was kind of a wake-up call. It was like being born again.

"I feel so much better about playing. It has nothing to do with the playing time. Even if it wasn't going the way I want it to, I can still enjoy myself because I can only live one time."

Added McClendon, "It's nice to have him bounce back and play the way he's played. I don't see any reason why he couldn't continue to be productive."

Even his most ardent detractors have come around.

Somewhat.

Web masters John and A.J.W., as they identified themselves in e-mail yesterday, still monitor his Pirates exploits.

"We're quite amused and astonished by Ward's early success in Pittsburgh," wrote A.J.W. "We wish him the best, even though the end of his [stinkiness] could wreak havoc on our Web site's material."