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Let us pause before we begin today to acknowledge the sheer brilliance of your shortstop.

Not for the sensational double play he turned Monday, one that would have made the national highlights if he were wearing just about any other uniform.

Not even because he drew two walks as part of his never-ending battle to raise that on-base percentage.

No, this acknowledgement comes in this Q&A forum -- possibly at the shortstop's request -- of the remarkable foresight of his and others' prognostication in the Monday morning Post-Gazette that none other than Nate McLouth would emerge as the Pirates' breakout player for 2008, just hours before McLouth would go 3 for 4 with a three-run home run, four RBIs, a walk and a sacrifice bunt out of the leadoff spot.

It was Wilson who voted for McLouth in every available category. But I should add that Ian Snell pushed hard, too, to the point he was lobbying others as the immensely informal vote was being conducted in the McKechnie Field clubhouse.

Congratulations to one and all.

Now, before we get bogged down in the concept of there being 161 more games, we move on ...

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Q: Can we exhale yet?

Wow, what a disaster the PBC avoided Monday night, only to be bailed out again by Xavier Nady in the clutch.

Speaking of Nady, with the news that contract talks with Adam LaRoche have stalled, do you think Nady should be kept and Steve Pearce moved back to his natural position at first base after LaRoche leaves?

The thinking was that LaRoche was blocking Pearce, but that may not be the case anymore.

Nady is one strong man, has power to all fields and a penchant for hitting clutch home runs. His health is a risk, but I would like to see the Pirates keep him. Plus, he is still relatively young.

Kayvan Ilkhanipour of San Diego

KOVACEVIC: The next time I hear LaRoche being firmly discussed as a possible trade candidate will be the first. Sure, he and anyone can go, even those signed to long-term contracts. In fact, one could argue that such contracts can, if drawn up favorably, make a player more valuable through trade than if he does not have one.

But no, there is no indication of that.

Moreover, since a few of you asked about Pearce, all I can say is that I did not get the impression management will bounce him back and forth. He is being instructed now as a full-time outfielder, and that is where he will stay. In general, shifting prospects to multiple positions back and forth -- at least prospects projected to play every day -- is not done by the teams that are most successful in developing talent.

One other point: LaRoche is left-handed. Do not underestimate how much the Pirates are eager to build a lineup that gives them a home-field advantage, now and in the long term.

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Q: Hi, Dejan, please elaborate on the answer you choose. The fly ball to left-center that dropped between Jason Bay and Nate McLouth in the ninth inning was:

A. Inexcusable

B. A typical Pirates miscommunication

C. Opening-day jitters from a center fielder making his first opening day start

D. Other

Bill Pulkownik of Wind Ridge

KOVACEVIC: I will take from your choices A, part of B, none of C and a whole lot of D.

First, of course, that play is inexcusable in any situation, much less the one the Pirates faced Monday.

Next, I will agree it was "typical Pirates" from the simple standpoint that, if you try to imagine such a scene happening to other team, it is difficult. It was one of my first thoughts, actually, upon witnessing.

Bottom line: There is a reason I pick the same ending to this annual piece every year.

As for C, that seems crazy. McLouth had an outstanding offensive night out of the leadoff spot. If he was going to be jittery about anything, it might have shown there.

But D is the one that gives the greatest license, so I will start by referring back to the description given in the actual game story, then try to shed a little further light based on more discussions and a little more time to look at the video.

Each outfielder was well off from where that ball landed. The Atlanta TV feed actually made a prescient point of illustrating that just before it happened, as I was able to see in my hotel the following afternoon. Bay is way back by the track, McLouth clear over near right-center because that is Brian McCann's power alley (and where he homered earlier).

That was the point the Pirates made, too, that each had a long way to go.

But, as the game story, pointed out, each was there in ample time to catch it. In fact, Bay actually overshot it.

What does that tell you?

As John Russell put it, there was "miscommunication." Plain and simple, as McLouth described the whole thing, each guy thought the other had it.

No other way to describe how both of them simply stopped reacting, even as they were looking skyward. There was no panic, no indication they had lost it, and even Wilson seemed to think one or the other was camped underneath as he sprinted out.

No one did, of course.

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Q: Dejan, I loved the approach the hitters took in the opener against Tom Glavine. I don't remember a Pirates team that was so patient and made a pitcher work like they did against the Braves. They chased Glavine after five innings, and he threw 97 pitches.

Is this something we can get used to under Don Long?

I really hope so.

Jeremy Zalacca of Rochester, N.Y.

KOVACEVIC: Much more on this in the regular coverage today, including the eye-popping statistic that 18 of Glavine's 22 batters drew ball one.

The Pirates have been patient in brief spells in the recent past, even under the previous coaching staff that placed almost no emphasis on the value of this approach. But this group has been pushing this all spring, and even players such as Xavier Nady and Luis Rivas -- each with a long history of free swinging -- took 10 walks each while in Florida.

That said, before we overstate the specific importance of walks, Nady dug himself an 0-2 hole three times last night and still had a reasonably productive showing in the box score.

The point?

Be selective for the best pitch to drive.

On the winning home run, Nady took two balls before Atlanta's Blaine Boyer did the one thing no sane pitcher would have done, given the way Nady was driving the ball the other way all night: He threw a fastball up and over the outer half of the plate. And there it went.

If Nady hacks at those first two pitches, either one of them, the count changes, the situation changes and he might never get that pitch he could drive.

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Q: Dejan, a few more days like this, and Nady will be traded by May.

Josh Keaton of Rochester, N.Y.

KOVACEVIC: One would not bet against that.

But then -- and being careful not to overstate one game here -- this is why a team hangs onto Nady, even if it means blocking Steve Pearce for a spell. His value increases, and a better return comes.

By contrast, this is one why does not trade Oliver Perez at lowest possible value. Sure, Perez got the Pirates Nady, which hardly makes it a terrible deal. But imagine the return for Perez if he had been straightened out while in a Pirates uniform rather than with the Mets, especially at that age and experience level.

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Thing No. 84 that makes Pittsburgh great, by Ron Bisbee of Hopewell:

It's people like you, and me, I guess, people who love this city, this area. It's more than just that.

There's more money elsewhere, for sure. There's more glitz, more status, more whatever, but Toto, there's no place like home.

Dejan, thanks, you remind me of that all the time.

KOVACEVIC: Actually, I have had nothing to do with it lately. When was the last time I wrote one of these myself?

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Until tomorrow, a couple reminders with the new season underway:

One, submissions without a full name and current city of residence are not even read, much less considered for the forum. If our readers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan can give their full names, so can you.

Two, because the Q&A is written during the afternoon for the next day, the most likely Qs to make the cut are those that deal with a general topic rather than something super-specific from a game ...