Pablo's Misc Corner - Gameday Report

On a night that was much talked about and much debated, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals 7-2 on one of the most gorgeous nights of the year.

First off, the protest must be addressed. It was not nearly as well supported as I had thought. I would estimate somewhere between 500-1000 folks actually walked out, most of them returning to their seats after the 4th inning. I also noticed that there were a few fans in green shirts who did not leave at all. Really the protest blended in quite harmlessly with the normal crowd of people who would exit to the concourse for bathroom or concession runs anyway.

When I got to the seats, Leyland mentioned that he was not going to protest. I told him I wasn't either and I felt pretty good at doing what Leyland did. One thing that was discussed on the radio on the way home was the fact that the season ticket holders for the most part did not walk out. I was made to feel by the protesters that the true die hard fans who really cared were the ones that walked out. I disagree. The die hard true fans are the ones that plop down their hard earned cash in December on season ticket plan or a partial season ticket plan. We can decide for ourselves if we are going to walk out, and if we feel that we need to cancel our plans because we don't like how things are done, maybe we will.

Another thing that disturbed me about the protest is that I saw alot of green in the seats that nobody buys for a season ticket plan. There are certain sections, like the GA and the $16 Grandstand seats that nobody buys, unless its a walkup. I saw alot of green shirts in those sections. If those folks walked up and bought tickets to walk out, well, thats just dumb.

Interestingly, the Pirate half of the 2nd might have been the most exciting inning of Bucco baseball on the year, as the PBC scored 6 and sent 10 men to the plate. I looked around and saw folks in green with smiles on their faces, enjoying the game, enjoying the evening, enjoying the runs. They were into it and having fun. Isn't that what its all about? Having fun and getting good entertainment value? Frankly, thats what the games are about. Its just entertainment. Its supposed to be fun, and its more fun when we win. I just think that some of the protesters lost sight of the big picture.

I am happy to say that most of the regulars in 307 did not protest. "Superfan" did protest... walking out after the 3rd, only to resurface an inning later with a fresh Coors Light in his hand. Genius, sheer Genius.

That being said, it was an awesome night at the game. Best weather on the year, fantastic win and alot of fun. Gorzalanny won his 8th game of the season and the 10th of his career. Do you realize that he only has 10 career wins? Yes, 10. And we are ready to crown him king of the Burgh... Hope we aren't rushing to conclusions on him.

Highlight of the night, besides seeing the protest fail had to be a moment between innings. Ryan Doumit was warming up in RF when one of the fans in the Clemente stands dropped a plastic beer bottle down on the warning track. Doumit hustled over and I figured he'd give it to an attendant or somebody to toss out. Instead he made eye contact with the owner of the bottle and threw it 21 feet up to the accepting hands of the guy that dropped it. Awesome moment and may I say that Doumit is the man.

Pablo's Corner has improved to 3-7 on the year.

Petey Pablo OUT!!!

Nothing to Fear but Fehr himself

Ted Saskin, former NHLPA executive director, was the clear loser of the heavyweight boxing match the NHL and NHLPA held a few years back. As you all know, he was eventually relieved of his duties. I was indifferent to this decision. I no longer am.

The Hockey News has a story today that the NHLPA asked MLBPA executive director, and Bob Nuttin's personal anti-christ, Donald Fehr to speak with them on how he runs his union. the MLBPA is the strongest union in all of sports. Its the only union that does not have a salary cap. Its the only union where the players don't care about the greater good of each other, let alone the good of the game.

The NHL has the greatest character individuals in all of sports. Donald Fehr should not be allowed to snake his way into their organization and corrupt these players. The article goes on to explain just how good of a deal for the NHLPA the current CBA is and how much money is rolling back in.

The NHL may not have the popularity in the US as it should. That problem falls to the NHL for negotiating a poor TV deal that gets them very little exposure. If that is ever corrected the NHL should flourish by putting their plain spoken, honest players in the spotlight. If Donald Fehr left any of his legacy behind after speaking to the NHLPA there will be no innocent players left to be in the spotlight.

The MLBPA controls its players through fear. Players do not speak out against the union or any decision the union may have. Why? Augusta National aside, MLB is the last "old boys club" left in sports. The team concept is not encouraged as much as the idea of "just do your job" is. Why? $25M a year to A-rod, that's why. He's a loser who has never won a championship, but that does not matter in how much money he makes. As long as A-rod takes care of A-rods numbers during the season, he will get more than $25M when he opts out of his upcoming contract.

That's motivation every baseball players sees and embraces. Rookies are quickly reminded of this when they make the show. Why are teams like Florida and Milwaukee able to build a team concept then? There were little to no veterans left when they brought a huge crop of youngsters up.

The Penguins lockerroom is stuffed with players 25 years old and younger. This is the "next generation" of hockey player, the one that is working under a salary cap and looking for a new union director. Let's just hope they stay innocent like the players that have come before them and are not corrupted by the Fehr that drives the baseball union.

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Pablo's Misc Corner - 6/26/07

Raise the Jolly Roger my good friends.

A win. A real tangible win. Wow. Actually forgot what that was like, considering it had been an entire week since we last felt the thrill of victory. The win came from the most unlikely of sources, Paul Maholm, who somehow lasted 7 2/3 innings and got the W. At one point he retired 15 in a row. It was a 3 hit effort and quite efficient at that, as Paul threw just 95 pitches. Chacon and Capps finished things up uneventfully as the Bucs got their 32nd victory of the year.

The Florida Marlins. A team with way worse fan support than we have. A team who seemingly should be the laughingstock of baseball. If there were 5,000 folks in attendence tonight there were 50,000. I mean I haven't seen that type of attendence since the Youppi!!! was still patrolling the extreme north at Expos games. Just checked 11,044 at the game tonight. In other words, there were 2,000 more tickets sold than some of the Pirates games in April. But hey, at least we're #28 in the league in seats sold!

Now the Marlins are a team I could get behind. Sure there have been some disgraceful firesales, but at least they know how to reload. I think I could name 4 Marlins that are better than anybody in the Pirate organization. Cabrera, Ramirez, Willis and Uggla. Ok, maybe Uggla is a bit of stretch, but not by much. Why don't we have anybody like these guys on our team? It makes no sense.

I really cant' stand Armando Benitez. Never have liked him. Who has he played for over the years... quick name em... Florida, Mets, Orioles, Giants, Florida again.... lets check retrosheet.org..... Baltimore, NYM, Seattle, Florida, Giants, Florida. Now why can't I remember Seattle in 2004?

Laugher of the night came when the FSN cameras panned the "crowd" and found two faithful Bucs fans brave enough to enter the "firepit" that is the Fish Tank. Wehner actually had the nerve to refer to them as part of "Pirates Nation." More like Pirates Hamlet if you asked me.

THIS DATE IN 1997:

The Pirates (35-41) were off

Petey Pablo OUT!!!

WE WILL: Always Be This Close

Greater Southern California Angels - 3 games

Pirates - swept

The spin that comes out of series like the one just finished against the Angels are what has keep Dave Littlefield in a job the last three pathetic seasons. Check the Post-Gazette's write-ups for the two extra inning games this weekend and you will see in both that some disillusioned Pirate said something along these lines, "We went toe to toe with what I think is the best team in baseball. We've got what it takes, we just need a break." You only need a break? Give me a break from that bull crap! There are idiots in this world that will believe the stupidest of things, I've accepted that, but are they really stupid enough to believe this stuff?

Someone was stupid enough to think that hairy
turd looked like a real living creature

I came to the conclusion they had to say these things to keep hope alive. It would be downright painful to come to work each day knowing things were so bad that the next 90 days would be meaningless, right? Dave Littlefield quickly corrected me on that thought when he came out and admitted to believing in magic, "It's not like you can just sprinkle some magic dust to make it better". Why do you think he mentioned magic dust specifically? Because he has tried it!

Tinkerbell, not Doug Strange, is DL's assistant GM

I know you think I am crazy for saying it, but can you think of any other reason why he has kept this job this long? He must have some kind of spell over ownership. He's obviously not sold his soul to the devil to keep his job. If you are going to lock yourself in the eternal damnation cell, you might as well do it to be incredibly successful during your blink of an existence.

The Devil is not as accommodating as the European
Union. All of the charity in the world won't buy you
out of this deal, Bill

It has been known for years that the Pirates did not have much in the minor leagues. Yet, when Duke, Paulino, Maholm and Duffy got called up, they shined. Now that they all have come back down to earth it is easier to see what all of the "experts" were talking about when they said we didn't have the talent. Magic is the only explanation for how these misfits played so brilliantly when first called up. 2009 is no longer an option if the magic dust doesn't stick on these key players.

Petey Pablo has been asking for this team to be blown up for a while now. It might finally be the time... starting with upper management. There has been no team improvement from last season. There current .413 win percentage is even .001 less than what they finished with last year. I hate to see him go, but JBay should be traded now while his value is at its highest. Turning some of our starting pitching into minor league positional talent also would be a good idea. Unfortunately, there is nothing to take their place at the MLB level.... if only there was some of the magic dust left.

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Pablo's Misc Corner - 6/24/07

Last night could quite possibly be the lowest moment I have personally witnessed in all the time I have been following the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Bucs were completely obliterated by one of the best teams in baseball. In so doing they looked nothing short of pathetic.

I caught the game from the 7th on, the Pirates already down 6-0. Ian Snell must have cooked up a chicken breast before the game in his hotel room on a George Foreman or something because it was one of his worst outings of the year. I saw the Pirates score their lone measly run in the 8th, only to give up a 4 spot in bottom half of the inning en route to a 10-1 loss.

I think that last night stands out as a low moment because of the timing. 2001 was a really bad 100 loss season, but the novelty of PNC Park opening helped to ease the pain. 2005 and 2006 were both huge disappointments, but the gleam of the All Star Game loomed. All that is gone now. The fans are in an outrage unlike many teams in pro-sports have ever had to endure. The culmination comes next week when an unknown number of people will walkout on the team during the June 30th contest against the Nationals. Oh, and guess what. We now have the same record as the Nats, so we might actually be lower in the standings than that AAA team at game time.

Ian Snell should be applauded. I mean, big time. I have never been much of a fan and I have felt he was overly cocky at PirateFest last year, but he scored alot of points in my book by the way he boiled over after the game yesterday. He went out there and said what we all feel. The losing is ridiculous and there is nothing else to say about the subject. This is something that has been missing from this team from the minute Lloyd was fired at the end of 2005. Finally someone to stand up and say what needs to be said. You don't hear it from Jason Bay or Adam LaRoache or Jim Tracy. Occasionally Jack will voice something, but nothing as complete or "out there" as what Snell said. Perhaps Ian is the leader this team needs to say, "We are tired of being jokes. The losing is unacceptable and if you aren't with that, we don't need you on this club no matter who you are."

Core groups of players coming up together is a great concept. Its a winning concept and one the Bucs should continue to explore. However, there comes a point when you have to decide if all the core players you have chosen are right for the team. If they are not with the winning idea, or are content with the status quo, they have got to go. Look at the Cleveland Indians. They have a core group that were all brought up together to win. But some of the pieces are no longer there (Coco Crisp and Milton Bradley). They were moved for one reason or the other, early in the rebuilding process. Maybe the Bucs should look for more fire in their players like Snell has.

THIS DATE IN 1997

The Pirates won 8-3 against the Houston Astros at the Astrodome. Kevin Polkovich went 3-4 with a run. Jon Lieber gave up no ERs going 7 innings and picking up the win. The Pirates improved to 35-40.

Petey Pablo OUT!!!

The NHL Draft Started? Penguins Draft Angelo Esposito

At 9:26pm last night I received a text message that exclaimed the Penguins had drafted Angelo Esposito with their first pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. This was a real shocker for two reasons. The first reason, because I thought the draft was on Saturday and I actually had tickets to go to the draft in Columbus, Ohio. I wasn't able to go, but it would still be nice for the NHL to hold the draft over the weekend to accomodate travelers. The second reason, Angelo Esposito was regarded as the #1 overall prospect in the middle of the season and the #8 overall prospect at the end of the season. The Pens were able to draft him with the 20th pick and didn't even have a name plate to put on the back of his Penguins' jersey because they figured he would be long gone before their pick. I'm sure there is a reason Esposito dropped, but there is no question this kid is talented, just adding to the talent level this Penguins team is amassing.

The stats on Esposito say he is very fast with good skating skills and talent for passing the puck. Esposito needs to play more physical and be more consistent. In 60 games last year Esposito had 27 goals and 52 assists. Esposito patterns his game after Vincent Lecavalier.

"It was a long wait there(referring to his fall in the draft) but once your name gets called and my name got called by the Pittsburgh Penguins- I couldn't say it before, but it was a team I would love to play on and I am happy I am here. Once they called my name I was happy and forgot about anything else." - Angelo Esposito

WE WILL: Show Compassion

Jeff Weaver 7

Pirates 0

fangraphs.com game chart

When an organization shows its players they do not care about winning, what do the players have to play for? The men who wear the black and gold have decided to use the opportunity as Major Leaguers to help out the less fortunate. Sometimes they do this by holding a team autograph signing at Dick's Sporting Goods or a team bowling night. Then there are nights where all they have to do is show up for work to help out those in need.

"We Don't Hit So You Can Keep Getting Paid"

Here's a list of pitchers who the Pirates Charities have reached out to this season. When you read this, please think to yourself, "how can I help too?"

Kip Wells

Here's a charity case we know all to well. Mr. Well's brought his 1-8 record and 6.75 ERA to the park to face the Pirates. No man wants to see a fallen teammate and even though Wells is now wearing a different uniform, his former mates had to help him back up to the tune of just 1 earned run over 7 innings. Wells doubled his win total that night and lowered his ERA to 6.10. He hasn't won since and his ERA is up to 6.93. This run support starved right hander does not know where his next win will come from. Will you help him out?

Kyle Lohse

Lohse entered his May 28 battle against the Pirates at 1-6 with 5.31 ERA. His career ERA was 4.83, something had to give. Fortunately for him, its the Pirates Charities duty to give. And they gave Mr. Lohse his second victory in the form of a complete game shut out. This touted, yet never proven, talent had been traded the season before because the Twins had given up on him coming around. Now thanks to facing Pirates Charities three times a year, he may never be traded again. They gave this man a home, how can you help?

Kameron Loe

This poor, unfortunate young right hander did not even know the eighth inning existed in baseball games. The 7.40 Earned Runs per game he was giving up did not allow him to stick around that late into games. Pirates Charities was there to help. The Pirates gave Loe eight shutout innings and his second victory of the season. Thanks to their support Mr. Loe now knows what its like to win. How can you help someone feel like a winner?

Jeff Weaver

Spurred on by the success stories above, the Pirates Charities took on the most unfortunate pitcher in all of Major League Baseball last night. Jeff Weaver sold his soul over the off-season for $8.3M dollars when he left a great situation in St. Louis for a bleak one in Seattle. The baseball gods never forget when players do this (see Richie Sexon and Adrian Beltre). They cursed him never to win again. After eight starts this year, it appeared he never would. He never made it past the sixth inning, often departing before he had enough innings to be considered for a win. Had it not been for the $8.3M Seattle was paying him, he and his 10.97 ERA would have been sent to Japan. Fearing for the deportation of one of their own, Pirates Charities stepped in. They accumulated only 4 hits and no runs against Mr. Weaver, who was giving up almost 2 hits per inning prior to this game. In giving Mr. Weaver his first victory of the year, Pirates Charities not only spared him from a life amongst small people who eat too much raw fish, but they also broke a curse inflicted by the devil. If you reach out and help those in need, you two can be more powerful than the devil.

Pirates Charities have been able to help out many fine, struggling young men in their 71 games this year. In the cases detailed above, the Pirates gave only 1 earned run to a group of four pitchers that were allowing a combined 30 runs. That is unselfish. That is compassion. That is love. That is why the Pirates take the field each day.

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WE WILL: Say Bay, Eh!

The Almost Great North 3

Pirates 5

fangraphs.com game chart

The Seattle Mariners entered last night's game 2 games over .500. I say that to encourage all of us die hard baseball fans. The Mariners looked just like the Pirates we have seen all season: give up cheap runs early off of a miscue or a bonehead play, struggle to score off of the starter, and finally make a late inning surge against the bullpen. So how do the Mariners own a winning percentage over .500 and the Pirates don't?

It must be the exchange rate!

FSN treated last night's game like Canada Day as Seattle is as close as the Pirates will ever play to JBay's hometown of Trail, BC Canada. It was cool to see all of the interviews with his family and the support group that followed them down to the game. There were so may there, and FSN pushed the Canadian connection so much that I started to doubt what Mrs. Smith taught me in 2nd grade geography.

If Washington is not really a state, then why did I have to learn how to spell Olympia?

FSN got into Brady Quinn Sister territory by showing JBay's mom and sister incessantly during the broadcast. In their defense, I think we all can agree that JBay's sister is MUCH better looking than Quinn's sister who may or may not be playing linebacker for both Notre Dame and OSU next season.

Here neck is bigger than most men's egos

It looked like FSN put a lot of effort into the production of their JBay lovefest by brining each family member into a studio for sit down interviews. This all paid off when FSN broke the story that JBay's sister has a stronger throwing arm than JBay. Raise your hand if you are at all surprised by this.

yeah, I didn't think so

As for the game, Gorzy struggled and got only one 1-2-3 inning, but held a mediocre Mariner offense in check. LaRoche continued to show he can only hit with men in scoring position and Paulino still can't hit, regardless of the pitch being inside or out. Hits came from almost everyone in the lineup, which is a great sign. The flip side is we stranded almost enough men to field both sides of a football team.

If they were a pee wee football team they would certainly
score more, and maybe even hit harder

The Chernobyl bullpen tried to meltdown but Homer Simpson, er Jim Tracy, woke up in time to summon Chacon to save the day. I'm still waiting to hear why Homer-Tracy brought Marte in to face Ichiro, who has a better lifetime average against lefties than righties. My guess is Homer-Tracy never read the scouting report on him, opting instead to take a nap at the control panel.


Greg Brown delivered a "Jolly Roger" that was so creepy it freaked even Michael Jackson out.


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Pablo's Misc Corner - 6/20/07

Well, don't look now but the Pirates are putting together a nice little run as of late, going 5-2 over the last 7 games. Granted, much of that was against struggling competition, but there is no shame in the Bucs beating Seattle, a team that has been hot as of late. With last nights win, the Bucs have improved to 31-39 overall, and 5-5 in interleague play. I think a 5-4 road trip against such competition would be great, and lets hope this is the start that gets them there!

THIS DATE IN 1997:

The Pirates lost to the Mets 1-0 at Shea. Bobby Jones went 8 2/3 innings for New York. John Franco pitched 1/3 of an inning for the save, getting Jose Guillen to ground out to end the game. The Bucs fell to 33-38 on the year.

(All stats courtesy of retrosheet.org)

Petey Pablo OUT!!!

Pablo's Misc Corner - Supplemental

Ok, just couldn't wait to throw this one up here. I have been doing a bit more research into the whole protest/walkout for June 30th. Again, I'd like to state just how opposed to the idea I am, but I still understand the frustration driving it.

This is a link to a youtube video with the basic messsage that the Pirates stink and urging you to participate in the June 30th walkout. While I completely do not condone the message in the video, I was absolutely thrilled to see "Coke Here" featured in the video, if but for a brief second. At exactly 1:00 into the video, "Coke Here" (selling Lemonade) appears.

Check it out, its pretty funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM1QLEA5oUA

Pablo's Misc Corner - 6/19/07

Some apologies are in order.

First of all, I'd like to apologize to ALL those loyal Pablo fan(s) out there who haven't gotten any content for over a week. That is all my bad. I was even down at the game on Friday and no post-game notes were given. This week I seek to remedy that. A second apology goes to Tenacious J who is still waiting on his Bucco tickets from me. Tenacious... you have my word you will have them by the end of the week.. sorry for the delay.

Negativity is the name of the game. GQbed and I were chatting about it. Plenty of it surrounds this team so miserable, so mired in losing, so irrelavant and poorly run. The jokes about the Pirates stinking went from an afterthought to nauseating. Its sometimes hard to remember that this was a once proud franchise that would go toe to toe with any in the league. I can understand the frustration and what is prompting some to protest this team June 30, perhaps even with a walkout if necessary. I have already stated I think this move is wrong, but I do understand why its happening. What kinda stinks is that on the game against the Nats when the protest is supposed to go down, I will be taking an out of town friend to his first ever Pirate game. Not only is this his first game in Pittsburgh, its his first big league game! I'm sad that his first exposure to my beloved Pirates will be a game that is being protested.

On another note completely, I'd like to address the current state of the team. We sit at 30-39, which is bad, but not as bad as the 30-60 start from last year. (Unless of course we lose our next 21 games, which is not out of the question) Remember the hype the entire winter about 37-35? Tracy couldn't go 30 seconds without mentioning it. Well, for the fun of it, lets assume the Pirates will get another 37 wins after the All Star break, unlikely as that is. In order for this team to achieve 81 wins, it has to win another 51 games. Thus, over the 19 remaining games before the All Star break, the Pittsburgh Pirates must go 14-5. Don't hold your breath, but 2 1/2 weeks of .750 ball could completely turn this season around.

I want to start a new feature on the Corner. A "This Day in 1997" portion that will highlight what the 1997 Freak Show Bucs (my personal favorite Pirate team of all time) were doing on the date in question. This is a leadup to a July 12 column commemorating the last Pirate team that put up a fight.

THIS DATE IN 1997:

The Pirates lost 7-6 to the Mets at Shea. The Bucs entered the bottom of the 9th down 6-3 and facing John Franco. Dale Sveum hit a 3 run shot to tie the game, but the Pirates lost in the bottom half of the 9th. Pittsburgh fell to 33-37 with Ricardo "Pontiac Grand Am" Rincon taking the L.

Petey Pablo OUT!!!

NBA Finals- Game 3- Get Out LeBroom

If you look closely you can see Cleveland's hopes and dreams of finally winning a championship fading in the distance.

Lebron James, Mr. Clutch, also misses a late opportunity to tie the game. But he played so good in one game against the Pistons?

Baseball Tonight

I'll keep this to the point.

Baseball Tonight sucks now.

Steve Phillips is worthless.

I want the three man desk of Ravech, Gammons and Reynolds.

Anything less is unacceptable.

Pablo's Misc Corner - 6/11/07

There is a comments post on PSG today urging all to participate in a rally against the current ownership of the Pirates. I'd like to comment on this....

There have been other rallys like this in the past... There were the Irate Fans from last years and others have tried to organize walk outs.

While I am as frustrated as the next guy at the current state of the Bucs, I have never wanted to be involved in a demonstration or rally against the Bucs. In my opinion, true fans would not do something like that. But thats only my opinion, and I respect your desire to see something done by Pirate management.

I agree Pirate management must change things for us to have a chance at winning. However, no rally, walkout or demonstration will convince this group of owners to change. The only thing that will affect them is bottom line. If you don't like the way things are run, the only way to get attention is to stop spending your money on the team. Stop watching them on TV. Stop listening on the radio. Those are the only things that the team will understand.

I am not ready to do those things. I will continue to purchase tickets, memorabilia, etc and support the club, because I am a loyal Bucs fan.

NBA Finals Game 2- Who Won?

I've decided to be nice to Cleveland fans for a change. I've decided I won't rub-it-in and say who won Game 2 of the NBA Finals. I will, however, give some hints to those of you who don't know who won the game Sunday night.
*Lebron James tried to guard Tony Parker, ends up with 2 fouls in the first 3 minutes of the game, and sits out the rest of the first quarter.
*In the second quarter, Lebron sets up for a free-throw and shoots an air ball.
*San Antonio flirts with history as they enjoy the third largest halftime lead ever in an NBA Finals game.
*Tony Parker stated during a halftime interview, "It's still an NBA team we're playing." Honestly Tony, thanks for the reminder. After what I "WITNESSED" in the first half, I needed that pointed out.
*Cavs play better in the fourth quarter, but how can you play any worse.

WE WILL: Alienate every fan we have

I went into this weekend on a down note as it was, seeing as how the Pirates decided to make any remaining fans of the team realize they don't care about winning. But the series in New Jack City made it even worse. Losing due to inferior talent, a bad bounce, luck of the irish, a magic genie.. any of these are acceptable reasons to at least avoid embarrassment. However watching the Pirates play worse fundamentally than my 1986 tee ball team for almost the entirety of 3 games was just bloody painful.



By the way, John Perotto of the Beaver County Times reported that a source told him that internal talk is that Moskos could be in Pittsburgh as early as August.. Thank the heavens! Now instead of being 25 games under .500 we'll only be 23 by the end of the season. The capper was the Pirates own press release stating that baseball america ranked him as the 5th best pitching prospect in the draft...And they took him as the 2nd pitcher off the board. Way to admit to bowing to signability!



Before I get too far let me preface my notes above as well as my recap of the weekend action below by stating that I do in fact love the Pirates. I have been a fan since my formative years and would like nothing better than to go to PNC one night and actually have the game mean something for the home team other than avoiding a sweep or blowing a game in the late innings. Problem is 14 years of providing horrible draft picks, curious at best trades and a lack of concern for anything but making money from the new ownership group will jade anyone but the most idiotic of fans. And I mean that seriously but not maliciously. At this point no matter how big of a fan you are, and I used to count myself among them, I just don't see how you can support the team. Going to games, buying apparel, watching the broadcast.. all of this reinforces that we will give them money no matter how bad the product is. None but the most idiotic (or laziest) businessmen in the world would not pour additional capital into an investment to further increase his potential for profit. (I do have to say though that if you told me I could run a business for a profit and do nothing to achieve that, I can't say that I would say no)



Ok on to the action, and not the random floozies that A-Rod picks up.



Friday June 8th.

Yankees-more -- Pirates-less, 10 innings



Actually the only game we appeared to want to win all weekend. I feel bad for Gorzy, he would have probably 8 or 9 wins now the way he's pitching on another team. Regardless, we still lost in extra innings. Bummer. I will say it was an entertaining game to watch. Seeing Duffy hit an inside the parker at Yankee Stadium was nice. Also let me announce that I think my favorite Pirate at the current point in time is Xavier Nady. Quietly putting up solid numbers despite missing some games.







Saturday June 9th.

Yankees-more than last night -- Pirates-still less



This is where the Pirates reached the end of the leash, so to speak, for me. As I stated above losing due to normal circumstances (damn you Genie!) is one thing but to not even belong to be on the field is wholly unacceptable. JBay lollipopped throws to the plate, Jack missed some balls, Paulino needs to grow a pair. . All of this exemplified on one play! Sharp liner over SS and Jack jumped too late. Jeter rounds third base AS BAY GETS THE BALL IN SHORT LEFT. Jeter is quick but he's no Willie Mays Hayes. So Jeter has to make it a full 90 feet in the time it will take JBay to get the ball out of his glove and to home plate.. Should be an easy out I'm thinking as I watch it live. JBays throw bounces almost 3 times and when it finally gets to home Ronny "I slide for no one" Paulino still couldn't handle the ball that was moving as fast as Cecil Fielder trying to get out of the batters box. Jeter safe, game turned off. Seriously I couldn't watch it anymore at that point.







Sunday June 10th

Yankees - 14345987.2 -- Pirates - negative 2



Of all the players on the roster, the one who showed me he might actually care and give 100%, at least for a day, was Jose Castillo. He played a pretty damn good game filling in for Jack. Other than that we sucked for the most part. I would like to say congrats to Masumi Kawata for making it to the bigs at 39 years old. This inspires me to put GQbed on a training regimen so we can get him in the league for the pirates 27th straight losing season so he can break the record.

NBA Finals Game 1- Was That What I Was Suppose To Witness?

Lebron James, the player anointed King for winning nothing and being compared by Cleveland fans to Michael Jordan and Jesus Christ, had a game that lived up to my expectations. ZERO field goals in the first half. 4 of 16 from the field. I thought Lebron was too physical to be guarded by Bowen? I thought James' decent games in the regular season against San Antonio were somehow suppose to carry over to the NBA Finals? I thought this was a new era in Cleveland with Lebron James and the (I'm laughing so hard I can barely type this) recent drafting of Brady Quinn?

What was I suppose to witness? If I missed it somebody let me know.

WE WILL: Always Look to the Future

Nationals 2

Pirates 3

fangraphs.com game chart

Positive baseball talk in Pittsburgh never happens in the present tense. It's always "when so-and-so gets it together..." or "in 2009 when...." or "when this prospect gets here...". Following yesterday's loss everyone started looking towards next season as this one appears to be gone. This revelation perfectly coincided with the MLB Amateur draft which forces everyone around baseball to look toward the future, regardless of how futile the present may be in each city.

Image found on Littlefield's computer under "future prospects"
I'm hoping he means for the Pirates and not his priest

As the current roster battled the Nats at 2 in the 6th inning, Dave Littlefield was demonstrating for the world that the organization has no backbone and is not willing to fight with super agent Boras or put up big bucks for real talent. With the fourth pick he selected the second pitcher taken on the day, Daniel Moskos from Clemson. He was rated as the fifth best pitcher in the draft.

WTF? A pitcher!?!?!
Not even the best pitcher available!?!?

This pick personifies the Pirates organization. The 411 on Moskos is he has reached max potential and will not get any better. He best projects as a reliever. Everything I'm reading says the Pirates really wanted the high school 3b California, Vitters, but the Pirates were 1 pick too good last year to get him as he went just before us to the Cubs. So not only are we bad at winning, but we are bad at losing.

The reigning loser of the year just before he
handed over his title to the Nutjobs

The Pirates brass started the PR machine by calling Moskos a polished pitcher who will contribute at the Major League level in the near future. At best they got a bullpen arm with the 4th best pick in a first round that was said to be filled with talent.

Why can't the Pirates put their heads together and
draft a decent player?

Jim Tracy seemed determine to show Littlefield he didn't need any more relievers as long as he had Matt Capps. Capps finished off the final two innings of the game and probably would have pitched until next season if needed. He is, after all, one of the few relievers that can be counted on when the game is on the line.

David Hasselhoff showed up in the ninth for a Baywatch and the Pirates go home with the W, but not winners. Today's draft proved that they are still losers. But hey, we can start looking forward to next year's draft.



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Birdie Droppings - 06.07.07 DRAFT SPECIAL

The MLB Amateur/First year player, or whatever they call it, will be held today for the first time on television. One not so insignificant change was made to the draft format to better fit television; teams now have 5 minutes between picks in the first round. This will make the first round two and a half times longer. "So what's that matter", you ask. I picked this nugget up from Baseball America:

Because of the extended first round, Major League Baseball could elect to halt proceedings as early as the fifth or sixth round on Thursday... In the past, the draft would typically break for the day sometime after the 15th-19th round, making the second day somewhat uneventful. However, players who might have gone undrafted after the first day based on signability typically field phone calls from teams that evening, and scouts reassess their desire to sign. If the draft is postponed after the fifth or sixth round, Thursday night and Friday morning is going to see a free-for-all phone frenzy, as dozens of players who have not been drafted before the end of the first day will be weighing offers from teams considering drafting them on Day Two, and paying them more than slot money.

So players who claimed they were going to college and were previously taken in much lower rounds, read Zach Duke, will now become highly sought after commodities who may get a higher signing bonus than a "Day 1" guy. Not good news for the old Pirates.

But then again, when draft day comes along it is never good news for the Pirates. Opened up my email a couple of months ago and, to my delight, A Little Birdie dropped this little jewel of a website on me. He also gave me his thoughts on our inability to draft, which I will edit for our younger readers into, "frick these fricken idiots. They are all donkey holes". This list shows you almost all you need to know about why the Pirates have been in this 14-year skid. I'm going under the typical baseball assumption that you do not see the results of a draft until 5 years later. So with that said.....

Since the 1987 Draft (the draft that should have produced the prospects to replace Bonilla, Bonds, Drabek), the Pirates have seen only TWO (Benson, Kendall) legitimate major league players come from their first round picks. If you want to be generous, I'll include the young Maholm and call it 3. Notice, I said legit major league players, I am not even holding the Pirates to the standard that a first round pick should become an everyday player in the show, like most teams expect. The book is still out on most first round picks from 2000 on, and I still have hopes for the young Burnett.

So I will now expand that list of failures to include every player taken in the top 5 rounds. This brings the total number drafted to 106 players. Now we have a whopping SIX (Benson, Kendall, Chris Young, Bronson Arroyo, Paul Maholm, Gorzy) players become legit major league players. There are a couple of "fringe" players that made the show, but never did anything. Tike Redman and Ryan Doumit top that list. So in the last 20 years the Pirates have drafted only 6 MLB quality players, and saw the fruits of their labor in only 4 of them. That is maddening!

The website I referenced above did have an in depth listing of all drafted players, but it appears it no longer has it. Fortunately, I copied the list before the website fell apart. The full list shows that from the top 5 rounds the Pirates had FOUR years (1988, 1994, 1998, 2002) where not one player made it to the majors with any MLB team. In 1990 and 1991 they had 1 player from each group have a "cup of coffee" in the bigs, but nothing more than a handful of games. So that is SIX years where they failed to draft a legit major leaguer. Are those questions about why we have been losing for so long starting to become more clear?

Before you start running to jump from the West End Bridge, help is on the way. MLB installed a rule starting in this year's draft that each team must have drafted players signed by August 15. If a first rounder is not signed, the team will be compensated with an additional draft pick the following year, in the same slot as the one they used to select the player they could not sign. So if the Pirates, who own pick #4 today, fail to sign their pick, they will get the "fifth pick" in next year's draft. The team that finished the 2007 season in 4th to last place will have the 4th pick and the Pirates will draft immediately after them with pick 4A. The player who does not sign then goes back into the next year's draft. Want it in simple English? Teams can now select whomever they want, for the most part, and not worry so much about the economics required. Agents now have less leverage to score the big pay day. Teams now have an "out" for not getting the contract signed.

This draft class is said to be rather weak. The Pirates would be best off if they drafted the best player, regardless of that player being a Scott Boras puppet, and not sign the kid if they deal isn't right. Next year they would be assured of two top 10 picks, if they continue down the path they are on this season.

Curious how teams do with multiple first round picks? Check out this article on four teams who have 4 or more first round/extended first round picks. How did they get so many picks and what Kool-aid should Littlefield drink to get into such an elite club? A well known and well practiced rule allows for teams to receive compensation picks for losing free agents as long as they offer the free agent arbitration. Now the Pirates are not losing the Barry Zito's of the world year in and year out, but would it surprise you to know that had they two players last year that would have landed them compensation picks? Jose Mesa and Jeromy Burnitz provided very little to the team last year, but both would have helped its future in the form of a extended first round draft pick had the Pirates offered them arbitration. To the best of my knowledge, Littlefield has not yet offered arbitration to any leaving player and, thus, has not received any extra picks.

I guess he knows how bad his predecessors have been at drafting and knew those extra picks would only be wasted.

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* If anyone is interested in viewing the complete list of top 5 draft picks from 1987 on, make a request in the comments with your email address and I will be sure to send it to you.

We Will ALL Be Witnesses

Tomorrow, we will all be witnesses. For all of the millions that will be watching the NBA Finals, be prepared to receive subpoenas. What the San Antonio Spurs are going to do the Cleveland Cavaliers is going to be considered nothing short of murder.(Actually, with some of Bruce Bowen's antics this may be literal) The Eastern Conference will be exposed for what it truly is...WEAK.

Predictions:
*Cleveland fans will ask for the firing of Mike Brown after Game 2.
*Cleveland will win one game, Lebron will have a good game, and Cleveland fans will claim he is better than Jordan and refer to him as such things as Lebron Christ. (Which I honestly saw on another website)
*Cleveland fans will blame the refs.
*Cleveland fans will continue to root for a team and city that hasn't won a major championship in "Lebron Christ" only knows how long.
*The Browns will still be horrible.

***Be sure to read my game-by-game, unbiased, no Cuyahoga County goggle wearing blog on each and every game of the NBA Finals.

WE WILL: Be Pathetic

Nationals 6

Pirates 7

fangraphs.com game chart

Tonight's game matched two of the worst teams in the National League against each other. Both teams could play intrasquad games and still lose. So which team is the most pathetic?

Washington ranks last in the league in runs scored. They average 3.7 runs per game. Shawn Chacon gave them 4 runs in only 5.1 innings because he, like a high school girl with low self esteem, is a giver.

Which of you will give it up if I take you to prom?

In the third, with 2 strikes and only 1 ball on the #8 hitter (who is hitting .156) Chacon and Paulino discuss just pitching around him. This would bring up the pitching with two outs and men on second and third. They do and the pitcher starts a 2-out rally that plates 2 runs.

Chacon and Pedro Cerrano have no marbles

The Pirates were sneaky tonight, though. They dressed the people who have the real power in the Paulino and Wilson households, the wives. And Washington, who trotted out a lifelong minor league starter, allowed both women to hit homeruns. Mrs. Wilson's man had only 2 Jack-Jacks going into tonight's game. Mrs. Paulino, who was filling in for her husband who was depressed after being kicked off the View, hit the game winning home run like she usually hits the other women on the view who fight with her man.

Kick him off the View and he resorts to
high school slut tactics to get back on TV

Both teams are so pathetic that I just can't determine which is worse?! So I will give the trophy for "Most Pathetic" to the Umpires. They blew two obvious "safe" calls on the bases. In the 6th Tony Bautista was called out home when he clearly got his foot under the tag of Spanky Levallier... nooooooooo! Get that image out of my mind! In the 8th first baseman Dimitri Young clearly trapped a throw against his chest and did not gain control of it until Jack Wilson was two steps across the bag. So congrats umps, you were the most pathetic team on the field tonight.


Torres bounced back with a good outing and its great to see Grabow coming back to form. Until Matt Capps programs Dr. James Andrews number into his cell, he is still the man and the flag bearer for this team. Check out the Britney pic above, Matt, and get that flag up the pole.

Rajai Ruling in Center?

The Pirates may have finally gotten tired of Duffy's offense in center and Humberto Cota is the one "paying" for it. Last night they brought Rajai Davis back up from Triple A Indy and designated Cota for assignment. Davis was producing down at Indy the way the Pirates want their lead-off/CF guy to produce. Good average, lots of steals.

This also signals the team's understanding that Doumit was not going to continue being the .400 or even .300 hitter he was when he was first brought up. Dropping Cota places Tracy in a bind for when Doumit can be in the game if Paulino already is or was in the game. Doumit's ABs should drop off now... or will it be Paulino who will see decreased playing time? Of course, there's still emergency catcher Don Kelley, who hasn't seen the batter's box in a week, on the bench.

Cota will almost be assured of catching on, no pun intended, with another team. Catching is always something teams are looking for and Cota is still a relatively unproven commodity.

I like this move now because of where the Pirates are. They are coming off of a home stand where they will look back and say "yup, there's were the season got away", but at 7.5 games back they are still, somehow, in range of the division lead. Tracy and company can take a look at Davis now and if its not good and the team loses then they were just doing what everyone expects. However, if Davis can hold his own, Littlefield now knows that he may have a trading chip in one of his young CFs. With a series against the triple A team in Washington up next, there is no better time to get Davis ABs than now.

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The Stats Geek would like to take a minute to remind us all just how inconsistently bad the Pirates are playing these days. Gee, thanks. Always good to see in the stats what we already know to be true.

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Pablo's Misc Corner - 6/4/07 - Postgame Notes

I can say this much. I went from pure despair to near elation, and then right back to despair all within about a 30 minute stretch tonight, watching our Buccos in action. The Pirates mounted a comeback attempt at the visiting Dodgers, only to fall short 6-5.

First and foremost, I'll say I was entertained. When the Bucs were down 5-0 without yet having a hit to their credit, I was absolutely sure the game was over. I was pleasantly surprised to see some spark, some energy in the club to at least make it interesting at the end.

I have to say the play of the game may have been Chris Duffy's non-catch of a double by Rafeal Furcal that scored 2 runs and made the score 5-0 in the 7th. It seemed relatively inconsequential at the time, as it seemed just a few more nails in the proverbial coffin but they turned out to be huge. The catch was by no means routine and no error should have been ruled, but Chris Duffy usually makes that play. And one of the reasons his .296 OBP is tolerated is because he is generally a lock to make that play. Those two runs ended up being the game.

Again in the 7th Jack Wilson was unable to cleanly field a Brady Clark grounder. The ball was not particularly sharply hit, but took an unfortunate bounce on Wilson. It was an error in my book all the way, but was ruled a single. Either way, a run scored.

Interesting base running conversation from Walk and Brown regarding the importance of baserunning and how not just the Pirates have baserunning problems these days. In the opinion of those analysts, its a problem throughout baseball, and I agree. Walk wondered why the players didn't take it more seriously. I guess thats a valid point, but I would ask, why aren't more managers stressing it? Why isn't it being hammered into the players head in the minors? Are the players just forgetting the lessons learned in younger days? Hard to know, really.

Tonight was at least the 3rd time this season an opposing pitcher has had a no hitter against the Pirates late in the game. I was at 2 other ones (Chuck James of ATL on May 12 and Matt Belisle of CIN on April 28). This is just playing with fire on the Bucs' part as its only a matter of time before this team gets no-hit. And you never like to get no-hit by a guy that sports the Scull-et, thats for sure.

Josh Sharpless is not a major league calibur reliever at this point. I don't think the team can rationalize sending him out another time.

Petey Pablo OUT!!!

Pablo's Misc Corner - 6/4/07

On behalf of Pablo's Corner, I'd like to give a shout out to them Boys in C-Land.. hope you do the Spurs bad in this series.

I'd also like to say that the views expressed in the "article" below do not reflect the feelings of all of us. I have been to 6 Cavs games in my life (including Lebrons first W in the NBA) and always have had fun visiting the Gund. Keep it real and go Cavs.

Petey Pablo OUT!!!

What Comes Around, Goes Around.

After many years, not quite as long since Cleveland has won a championship of any kind, but still a lot of years, I graduated from college Friday night. Two and a half years ago, I could not have envisioned myself ever going back to school or doing anything productive for that mater. I remember about the only thing going good in my life at that time was the Steelers and their 15-1 season. I lived in Columbus, Ohio at the time, and a few friends and I went to BW3’s in German Village to watch the AFC championship game against the Patriots. I had despised Cleveland before, but this night would be the night that spawned me into a complete Cleveland loather and a person that wishes Cleveland teams the worst. Because their own team had displayed another horrendous season and once again been the laughing stock of professional football, a number of 20 Browns fans or so cheered wildly all night for the Patriots. It wasn’t just friendly, respectful cheering either. It was ignorant, injury-wishing, in-the-face-of Steeler-fans-faces, cheering. The typical type of antics one can expect from fans that gave death threats to a former Browns owner, fans that showered refs with beer bottles, and fans that have an all around reputation of ignorance and disgrace. Not to mention, a reputation of cheering for losers.

Just as most Pittsburghers support all three teams of the city, most Clevelanders support all three teams of Cleveland. This is the reason I have become a big Spurs fan. I hope the Cavs are crushed in front of the nation. I really don’t have anything against the Cavs in general. I think Lebron James is a decent human-being, but he still represents Cleveland and that to me represents the type of individuals that were rooting against the Steelers the night of my awakening 3 years ago.

I find it ironic that my roles and that of Cleveland fans have reversed at the same time. I was in a pretty bad situation and all I had to cheer for was the Steelers. Now, on my graduation night, the Cavs go to the finals and I have accomplished something. Hopefully, the Cavs end up the same way as the Steelers did that night.

So, in the spirit of Art Modell, Ernest Byner, Jose Mesa, Michael Jordan, and John Elway, I wish for the humiliating demise of the Cavs in the NBA Finals. Worst of luck to you and your fans.

WE WILL: Torres-ment You

Dodgers 5

Pirates 4

fangraphs.com game chart

Solomon Torres is quickly becoming a synonym for loser the way previous Pirates relievers have...


The Pirates offense was exactly what everyone was hoping for once LaRoche joined the team. Multiple RBI and HR threats in every game from him and Bay and the Pirates ride that solid bullpen to victory. With Chacon now in the starting rotation, we have no way of knowing what will happen once the starter hands the ball over.

The fangraph for this game really says it all. Nearly 90% chance of winning entering the 7th. Gorzy was good again today and probably was in there a little longer than he should have been. Tracy has been sticking with his starters, something I like, longer in games than he (and McClendon) used to. Is he trying to build confidence in them or just avoid giving the ball away to someone who will give the game away?

The Pirates fortunes on this home stand should be reversed if not for Torres. 4-2 was very close to being the reality that 2-4 now is. For a club trying to find itself its becoming impossible to find what the problem areas are. Is it the offense? Is it the CF position? Is it the middle relief?

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Pablo's Misc Corner - Gameday Edition

First of all, I'd like to apologize for there not being a Pablo's Corner in so long. I'm sure all my loyal readers (or maybe reader is the more proper term) are quite peeved about not getting their regular dose of random information...

Pablo's Corner hit the game last night and finally got to see a win, improving our record to 1-7 this year!

Snelly pitched beautifully, allowing only 1 run on 6 hits and lasting 8 innings. I was wondering if he was going to come out for the 8th inning, as Tracy is in love with his setup man - closer routine. Perhaps the Torres meltdown of Friday night (and his eventual demotion in favor of Matt Capps in the closer role) caused Tracy to rethink his normal strategy and let Snelly pitch the 8th. His pitch count was reasonably low (93 pitches, I think) so why not? Snell did not disappoint. After allowing a 4 pitch walk to start the inning, he hunkered down and got his last 3 outs, exiting to a spirited cheer from the partisan Pittsburgh crowd. Thank you Snell! On pretty much any other team, your ERA would have earned you at least 7 wins by now.

One thing I did not mention in my last Gameday report was that on the way into PNC Park last time I was down there, I noticed that the Jolly Roger hoisted after wins was lying on the ground. Yes, it was a tangled mess, crumbled and in a place of utter disgrace. I wish I had taken a picture of this offense. I am pleased to report that as of last night, the Jolly Roger was off the ground, and neatly hanging about halfway up behind the batters eye.

Adam LaRoche played reasonably well, taking a walk to score Duffy in the 1st and slicing a nifty double to left field off Brett Tomko (yes, hes still playing!). He was not too good on the basepaths however and heard about it from the crowd.

Don't look now, but Freddy and JayBay are seriously heating up. FredEx is now batting .286 and even after a 0-4 evening Bay Day is batting .308. Get out those all star ballots folks!

Some new animations on the scoreboard I noticed. One time through the lineup, they did a player animation involving the player being an action figure in a box... They would show the box, then the player would "break out" of the box and start moving around. They then showed the back of the opened action figure box and it contained the vitals for the player that was currently batting. Really cool. They also did a new thing where they showed the player's face and put up some of the stuff he was into. (Freddy's had the USC Trojan, the logo for the band Creed and a few other things). Now if only they could get rid of the finger painting stuff.

Was able to name a new vendor tonight folks. This is something that is quite rare. There is a beer guy that is the spitting image of Hank Williams Jr. Dark glasses and all. I was this close to asking him if he was ready for some football. I think introducing a new vendor means that we should give a shout out to past and current vendors:

Past Vendors of Fame:

High Pitched Guy
Beeee-er
Ape Guy

Current Vendors of Fame:

Lefty
Bob Sagat
Craig Biggio
Coke Here
Hank Williams Jr.

Petey Pablo OUT!!!