WE WILL: Jack You Up

Cardinals 6

Pirates 4

fangraphs.com game chart

Just as the trade deadline of 4:00 approached, Dave Littlefield consumated the trade of Rajai Davis for Matt Morris and no cash. As soon as he hung up with Giant's GM Brian Sabean he got another call. This one came from Chris Berman.

Who bought you that hideous jack, Chris?

DL, exhausted and voice horse from all of the wheeling and dealing he had done over the last 48 hours, weerily answered. Chris Berman's unbridled enthusiasm exploded out of the receiver, "Dave Littlefield, you just got JACKED UP!"

This pictured filed in the dictionary under "jacked up"

DL wanted a veteran pitcher so bad that he over paid for a player that a team wanted to dump. He has experience in know what a team who is looking to dump a player is willing to take just to get rid of the salary. One would think he would use that to his benefit. But he got sucked into the deal and forgot to work out any other deals.

Meanwhile, JackWilson sat stewing at home. Phone calls the day before, most likely from Vanilla Ice who calls on occasion to remind JackWilson he is a loser, informed Jack he was not long for the Pirates.

Cold as ice and still makes your mom melt

But then the deadline passed and DL, who was crying from the Chris Berman's mocking, never called JackWilson. Littlefield's vagisile moment cost him the trade with Detroit and made him have to handle a skinny, white bald man who was set on revenge.

You can see the anger in his eyes and hunger for revenge

The jacked-up JackWilson channeled that anger into two key run producing at bats early in tonight's game. If no one wanted his love then he could, at the very least, get Vanilla Ice off his back quicker than his DJ could revolve it.

Cross JackWilson and you lose a finger

Paul Maholm set out to take care of the rest, but ran into trouble in the 6th inning. That trouble was Ronnie Paulino as his catcher. Paulino dogged it on a very catchable pop fly behind the plate. A catch would have been the third out of the inning. The batter then drove the next pitch over the centerfielder's head and brought the go-ahead run towards the plate. Jacked-up JackWilson delivered a perfect relay that hit Paulino in the mit, waist high with the runner still 2 steps from the plate. Paulino dropped the ball and the game for the Pirates.

This guy would be less of an idiot and less of a mess
behind the Pirates at this point in the season

Solomon Torres, jacked-up over DL "lying" to him, has gone into operation shutdown mode.

Torres at work in the top of the 7th

Torres, some weak outfield arms and an ill-advised throw tacked on all the insurance the Cardinals would need.

The fans are even more jacked up now that the Pirates can't get a third win since the all-star break, even with a jacked-up JackWilson.

He's smiling because hockey season is almost here

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MLB Trade Deadline Day!

Last Updated: 6:55 PM - updates at the bottom of the post.

Viagra doesn't come close to doing what the MLB Trade Deadline day does for me. The Pirates don't have much to offer besides bullpen help, but today's PG brings us a delicious nugget that the Tigers are interested in JackWilson. IF the Pirates deal him, they better pick up some of his contract so that they get something respectable in return.

Your prom date is what we are defining "respectable" as

All indications illustrate DL is looking for MLB ready talent. You know that greatly limits the skill level of what he will get in return. If he was aiming at AA hitters the last couple of years at the deadline, we would not be in as bad of shape we are in now. But DL still has hope for 2008, so he wants MLB ready talent. Remember, the only way he could get that last year was to deal possibly the best relief pitcher available in the market and a promising, hard throwing lefty starter.

The only player Detroit has that might meet that requirement AND a position the Pirates would want in return in Ryan Raburn, at 27 year old OF. Not exactly a young prospect. It is possible that DL will complete his attempt to correct the Rule V mistake by getting Chris Shelton, the only talent at AAA, back. Shelton has not faired well since his hot April in the bigs last year. At AA they have a 22 year old OF who is showing some power and decent average... but he is not MLB ready.

As the Pirates trades go down today, I'll toss some comments up in this post. Check back frequently once they go down.

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UPDATE: Several key media outlets in both Pittsburgh and Detroit are announcing that the Pirates and Tigers are still discussing a deal for Jack Wilson and that nothing has been consummated.

MLBtraderumors.com has the Pirates asking the Yankees for AA starter Alan Horne. Horne is 22, right handed and is 9-3 after starting 20 games at AA. In his 114 IP he has struck out 125 with a 2.36 ERA

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The Pirates have acquired Matt Morris from the Giants for Rajai Davis and a player to be named later. This trade is the the veteran RHP DL tried to sign to a 2-year free agent agreement this offseason. Morris has been declining as the season wears on. Morris, who is making $10M this year, started off the first two and half months of the season with an ERA under 3.00. In his last 9 starts his ERA has ballooned to 4.35 as he has given up less than 4 earned runs only twice in those starts. He has given up more than 5 ER four times over that span.

Davis never stood a chance under Tracy. Over the past 2 weeks the Pirates have faced at least 4 left handed starters, left handed Nate McLouth got 3 of the starts. Even if DL was tossing aside a spare part, he picked up a multi-million dollar contract for no reason in return.

Davis had the game of his career at Pac Bell last season. That experience must have stuck with Giants GM Brian Sabean... or he was just looking for a sucker to take Morris' contract. It appears the Pirates will take all of the $9M owed to Morris next year, which makes you think they greatly overpaid for him. Why? Sabean was probably offering Morris to other teams that actually needed him for depth come the post season. The Pirates did not and certainly did not need to make this trade now. This could have waited until the offseason.

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WE WILL: Become a Knock Knock Joke

Phillies 5

Pirates 1

fangraphs.com game chart

DL: Knock Knock

Another team's GM: Who's there?

DL: Dave Littlefield

GM: Dave Littlefield, who?

DL: Come on. You know me. I'm the idiot who has had more practice at the trade deadline than any other GM in baseball. We talk 50 times in a week this time of year. Remember last year you told me that I was your favorite GM b/c I always have the part you need to get your team over the top and I never ask for much in return?

GM: Oh, you're still in baseball? I didn't think the Pirates would fire you, but I thought by now MLB would have contracted them.

The Pirates have become even more of a joke since their "leadership" meeting where they decided to make a run at 82 wins. DL is now trying to figure out if the team he put on the field this year can "find it" and be a winner next year. Once you stop laughing at that sentence I will continue.

Even Elmo is programmed to laugh at the Pirates

The fact that this team, as it is currently comprised, is not going to be a winner next year is more obvious than the whole "is Ellen gay" mystery. In a post comment I made the other day I stated that its the coaching staff that needs an overhaul. I don't see Littlefield being able to pull off a Tracy for Cox, Leyland or Torre trade anytime soon, so its got to be the players that go. DL has got to find a 3B. I like Bautista and he might start to hit next year, but the window for opportunity with the current team might expire next year. Unfortunately, the kind of player DL needs for 3B he is not going to get from a contender and he certainly is not going to get him with the few trading cards he has.

I hate to say it, but any moves made at this deadline will not make the team better next year. Maybe they will have 2009 implications, but definitely not 2008. Get ready for some more AA middle relief in return, IF a deal is made.

I think it might be time to start talking about trading JBay.

Yes, I said it!

Had Bay not had such a horrible June/July I would be writing a whole post on why to trade him now. But his value is pretty low. If he rebounds in the second half of the year, expect a post about it in October.

As for now, I'm hoping for some nice weather at Pirates games so I can enjoy the relaxation that comes from being at PNC Park on a summer night. That and the good jokes that come to mind while watching the team.

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WE WILL: Show Brotherly Love

Phillies ∞

Pirates 1

fangraphs.com game chart

The lack of pitching depth was on display tonight in Philly. The result? Much love for the Phillies' hitters. To recap in pictures:

Dave Littlefield in 2001 when the Pirates had the #8 over all pick

John VanB's attempt at pitching. He knows what he's supposed to
do, but there really is no hope. Its amusing, but in a sad, sick way

Jim Colbourn is about as clueless about JVB and Armas as
W is about words with more than 3 syllables.

Phillies put bigger numbers on the board tonight than
you find at most gas stations.

Old man Jamie Moyer during his pre-game stretching

The Pirates offense looked as good as these guys while facing a pitcher
that throws as hard as a 15 year old boy.

Knowing no one is paying attention anymore, pirates.com decides to
not update the main image and leave it as a great sarcastic statement

God could not take any more and stopped play with rain in the 7th

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WE WILL: Flush the Season Away

Mets 6

Pirates 3

fangraphs.com game chart

Tonight's game in Flushing, NY started with the same optimism we all had for this year's Pirates team... full of promise only to be flushed away.

Future hall-of-famer Tom Glavine had as much control as a Tourettes Syndrome patient.

Mike Johnston
Career: 5.70 ERA, 0-3, 12 swear words/ip

Glavine walked the bases loaded with only one out. It didn't matter that Glavine had 298 wins going into this game, anyone on the mound would have looked like a HOF candidate when facing the Pirates offense. If you really are so dense to not expect what was about to happen, let me break it down for you pictorial style.


Gorzellany followed in the bottom of the first by attempting to impersonate Glavine. Three runs later we are reminded that Gorzy is no hall of fame pitcher. If you turned the game off at this point, you were far smarter than I.

To quickly summarize the rest of the game:

The Pirates no longer have any bright spots left in this season as Gorzy left with shoulder stiffness after giving up 6 runs.

Don't put Tony Armas back in the rotation!
Anything but that! We've suffered enough.

It certainly appears Jason Bay is heating up:


Highlight of the game was the seldom used behind and above home plate camera view. Why don't all stadiums install the "goal cam" like the NHL has mandated?

Without that view the world would never fully appreciate
the greatness that was "the save"

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WE WILL: Trade Somebody

The poor performance this home stand put the nail in the coffin for those wishing the Pirates to reach .500 this year.


Now's it is time for the Pirates to concentrate on the second part of their season, the one they have been getting really good at the last 14 years, the rumor mill season. Players will be talking to everyone and anyone who might know what is in store for their future. The Tribune Review printed a list of Dave Littlefield's deadline deals since taking over the helm of the sinking Pirates ship:

2006
Acquired: Brian Rogers, Tigers
Gave up: Sean Casey

Acquired: Shawn Chacon, Yankees
Gave up: Craig Wilson

Acquired: Xavier Nady, Mets
Gave up: Roberto Hernandez, Oliver Perez

Acquired: Jesse Chavez, Rangers
Gave up: Kip Wells

2005
Acquired: Jody Gerut, Cubs
Gave up: Matt Lawton

2004
Acquired: Ty Wigginton, Jose Bautista, Matt Peterson, Mets
Gave up: Kris Benson, Jeff Keppinger

2003
Acquired: Freddy Sanchez, Mike Gonzalez, Red Sox
Gave up: Jeff Suppan, Brandon Lyon

2002
Acquired: Darren Lewis, Cubs
Gave up: Chad Hermansen

2001
Acquired: Armando Rios, Ryan Vogelsong, Giants
Gave up: Jason Schmidt, John Vander Wal

Acquired: Tony McKnight, Astros
Gave up: Mike Williams

Acquired: Mike Fetters, Dodgers
Gave up: Terry Mulholland

Looking back at these deals, the infamous Jason Schmidt deal aside, Littlefield has not faired too poorly at extracting some warm bodies. The other trades in 2001 sent over the hill relievers away and got a very suitable reliever in Mike Fetters and a "projection arm" in Tony McKnight. Littlefield thought he was getting R&B singer Brian McKnight in exchange for Williams so he would have someone to perform at his daughter's super sweet sixteen party. When he screwed that up for her, she put a "loser" curse, declared herself a free agent, and ran away to live with her role model, Miss USA.

Miss USA knows how to rear young women.

The 2002 trade is not even worthy of mention so we move on to the blockbuster that went down in 2003. DL almost screwed this deal up initially, but thanks to Brandon Lyon's arm trouble, he got reconciliation in the form of Freddy Sanchez. Suppan was one of the top names at the trade deadline in 2003, and it should be noted that DL signed him for a measily $500,000 before the season as a free agent. He turned that 500k investment into an everyday infielder who is an NL batting champ and an all-star that I like to call "dirty".

Screetch paid more than 500k for his sanchez

DL tried to rectify his biggest mistake, the 2004 rule V draft, when making his 2004 deadline deal for Ty Pigginton, Jose Bautista, and a minor league disaster Matt Peterson. The Pig hit like Adam LaRoche in April for the remainder of the 2004 season. He showed some promise in 2005, but was limited to less ABs than he saw in 2004 after coming to the Pirates. Not given a real change to succeed, Pigginton was released. He's been putting up X-man like numbers for Tampa Bay the last two years. Bautista came back to the Buccos in the deal which ended up making this trade a wash. Had he not panned out, this deal would be DL's second worst because of the hype that surrounded Kris Benson. Unlike Suppan, who was the talk of the trade market the year before, Benson was not healthy for all of his Pirates' 2004 campaign. Combine that with DL's insistance that some form of pitching be returned in the deal and the names of Scott Kazmir, Hank Blalock, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, David Wright, and Justin Morneau. Yes, all of those names were being tossed around, and all, Blalock aside, were still in the minors, or not starting at the time. I believe I broke some things in my apartment when I learned that none of those eventual all-stars would be wearing black and gold.

If DL was ever on the Lifetime hit game show
Supermarket Sweep, he would go straight for the cheapest
aisle he could find and fill up his cart...
oh, and he would get pitching.

2005 he traded a player on steroids for a player who needs steroids to rehab his many, many knee injuries. The money aside, talent and production wise this was a wash.

The 2006 deals will need some time to be evaluated, but two of them are already looking like steals. Getting anything for Kip Wells was a major win. Derek "operation shutdown" Bell produced more than Kip Wells has since his trade from the Pirates. He got only 2 starts in with Texas before hitting the DL for the rest of the year. He performed so badly with St. Louis, a team desperate for pitching, that he was removed from the starting rotation. Chacon for fan favorite "Oh Craig" Wilson has turned out to be a gem of a deal too. "Oh Craig" hasn't hit a curveball since, and is currently trying to find his way around the minors.

Susan Sarandon played Craig Wilson in the
1988 movie Bull Durham

I don't know of many who liked seeing "Lots of Heat" Perez go and his stats this year exemplify why:

Tune in Thursday for a reminder of what made his "lots of heat" commercial so good

Nady's strong performance this year makes the trade a lot more palatable... but young, hard throwing, left handed pitching is so tough to come by. Colbourn could not get Perez back on track the way Mets' pitching coach Peterson did. One has to wonder if Duke should be traded to the Mets for him to find success again. One also has to wonder if the Peterson Littlefield thought he acquired in the Benson trade was the pitching coach and not the minor league pitching washout.

The Pirates don't have much to shop at this year's deadline. If history is any indication what they should get back, one shouldn't be too depressed if we make a deal or two. Serviceable, but not exemplary major leaguers should be coming back this way

... of course, that's how you lose for a decade and a half. D'Oh!

.

Aaron Burr eat your heart out

Mr McClatchy/Mr. Littlefield,


We, the Pittsburgh Sports Guys hereby challenge the 2007 Pittsburgh Pirates Ball Club to a slow pitch softball game. After this weekends 1-0 loss, we feel confident that despite our only having 8 team members we can still win. If rules dictate that we must play with ten players, please provide us with two players from Amazing Kids Way and they can play 1B and SS. Or maybe we could just borrow Jack since he's leaving anyways....

We submit that should we win, we will be allowed to become the new CEO of operations for a term of 2 years. Should said term show marked improvement, we will renegotiate at that time for an extension.

Should we lose, well, good job?

The state of sports in Pittsburgh - Part 1

My purpose for this post is to give everyone my own personal view on the state of sports in Pittsburgh. It's a slow time right now until the fall so I hope you enjoy this and comments or rebuttals are more than welcome.

Steelers

Points to ponder going into the season:

Coach Tomlin - Lots of uncertainty on how he is going to handle the job, the fanatical press following, and establishing his tone of play and getting his system in place.

O-line - Make or break part of the team. Could be the difference between 7-9 and 10-6 because of how they hold up and how they mesh together with a new center (should have been Ryan Khalil (or even Nick Mangold from the 06 draft) but I digress...)

Bruce Arians and Ken Anderson - lumping them together because I think how they make the most of what they are working with will be a tough task. Rothlis-cyborg (made of more steel than Robo-Cop at this point) liked Whipple so we'll see how he bonds with the former Bungle. Arians nation (I would like credit for this term if anyone ever uses to describe his offense) looks to be moving towards a single-back 3 receiver set. I weep for Dan Kreider, my unsung hero of the offense.

Obviously the Steelers will always be the biggest draw and unfortunately the biggest news story in town. They could go 2-14 the next ten years and it would take 2 or 3 Cups or 10 straight World Series wins for the Pens or Bucs to even consider themselves on par with the Steelers, as far as overall fan priority is concerned. This however is my biggest gripe with the city of Pittsburgh. Moreso than Luke the Boy-Mayor and Dan "I don't think the State Constitution exists" Onorato. Well, actually that's not true, I can't stand those two jokers. So my second biggest problem is that anything anyone does that even remotely ties to the Steelers is a headline story.

Breaking News: Troy Polamalu can be traced to Kevin Bacon in 4 degrees.. Story at 5!

As far as the team is concerned, I think we're in a period of transition where the team is not quite strong enough to contend next year and perhaps with the loss of Faneca and moving to a 4-3 it could be a few years until things are back to where they should be. The truly great thing about the NFL is that due to the financial system that is in place, every team (except the Browns and Cardinals) has a chance to excite their fanbase every year with the possibility of being successful.

Penguins

I could be 10x the mayor that sissy-boy Ravenstahl is..

First a point about Ray Shero. I don't think Shero could do anything wrong right now. I mean he could knock your grandma over at the grocery store when she yells at him for taking twenty items in the '8 items or less' line and come away clean. When he took the GM job prior to last season he could not have walked into a better situation. Even so, he has made what appear to be prudent moves and smart decisions thus far so he is earning his stripes. Plus, without him who knows if Pittsburgh would have been blessed with getting to see Gary Roberts in person. That alone makes Shero the man. Just an interesting dichotomy when you compare it to all of the ill-will generated by the Pirates and the uncertainty around how the Steelers will be this season.


Ok now that we have our small bout of man-love out of the way..

Points to ponder.

1. Rising to the top - It will be interesting to see how the Pens perform this year. After last season's amazing run, it's entirely possible that the team will regress some. It's also possible that they will do better. I know, earth shattering analysis there. Point is, it's hard to believe that they can duplicate last season now that they will become a targeted team to beat. At the same time you cannot take anything to the bank with a team that has Sidney Crosby on it.

Somewhere, Stan Savran's head just exploded after that Mark Madden-like statement above.

1. Therrien - Now that he has two more years to build on, it will be interesting to see how he progresses as a coach. Up to this point he has been teaching young teams how to work in a system and work together, both in Wilkes-Barre and with the Pens. I feel that how he progresses from a teacher of boys to a leader of men will be crucial for the Pens to perform as well as they did a season ago. You may counter that this team is still full of young players, and I agree, but I feel going forward that now that almost all of the roster is set and the system is in place, how he best maximizes the talent in that system is the key to further success.

1. Le-tang, french for "the tang" - Much has been written and said about the young right-handed defenseman. Interesting to see how having a right handed defenseman will increase the number of options on both ends of the ice. I don't expect him to be a major force for another year or two at the earliest, judging by the general rule for defenseman. But just the ability to try to clear the zone with a right handed stick as opposed to trying to back-hand it out for our lefties will make a difference this season.

As for the general state of fan-dom in Pittsburgh, things could not be better for the Pens. They sold out a record 13,500 season tickets and had to cap the number to keep seats open for walk-up sales and student rush. They keep appearing to, at least on paper, make all of the right moves. Bringing in Sydor and Sykora at reasonable rates, resigning Crobsy and Lord Therrien, and just everything that Ray Shero touches turns to gold. Seriously it does, I saw it happen to a stray dog who tried to hump his leg. Ray has the new gold statue on his mantle at home.

And you thought I made that up....

To recap, I feel the Pens are riding high right now. They are slowly capturing more and more of the market in terms of both fans and media coverage. Pittsburgh will always be a football city however, so there is little chance they will ever take over the Steelers position as priority #1. This could change down the road though seeing as how Pens fan base is younger than any in the city. Provided those fans stay in town, things are looking up for Pens.

The Steelers probably have the talent to make the playoffs, but I think there are too many question marks and not enough stability on the O-line to make a run.

Playoffs?! Not without fullback Dan Kreider blockin the way!

Regardless of what happens, practically everyone in the city will drool over every 10 seconds of news regarding the team 24/7/365. Look, I'm as huge a fan of the Steelers as any, so please do not misunderstand frustration towards coverage as a lack of passion. I just wish that it wasn't a news story for something like the one year anniversary of Rothlis-cyborg's crash. Although, I wouldn't HAVE that nickname for him if it wasn't for the crash, but I digress.. Big deal, it's been one year... what's the point? I mean, if he had been injured to the point that maybe he missed all of last year or he PERSONALLY called a press conference or something to warn about the dangers of riding helmetless.. ok I could see that. But no, it was a story because he wears the black and gold.



The Pirates.... well they get their own post, tomorrow.

We're Still Here

Unlike Neil O'Donnel in the brilliant spoof Jobbers over at The Pens Blog, I do not have omnipotent powers. Men's genitalia do not fall off at the sound of my name, usually the opposite happens as they feel more manly than ever when in my presence. I can not be everywhere at once and because of that the blog has suffered.

Please excuse me for my lack of posts over the past 2-3 weeks. Anyone who has coached a baseball team in the summer knows how demanding it can be come tournament time. Factor in games forced into the schedule because they were canceled due to rain earlier in the season, and I have not had a free night in a while. All excuses aside, the madness should end in about a week or two and I fully intend on hitting the blog hard then.

We are embarking on my second favorite time of the year, MLB trade deadline. I'm usually all over the net looking for the juicy tips that might show what will happen come July 31. ESPN.com's INsider Rumor Central is no longer worth visiting. You can get all of the information contained there from two free sites: MLB Trade Rumors and Pro Sports Daily. While the links I have provided take you straight to Pirates only news, its best to read what each team is considering. This gives you the best of idea of who fits with whom. Trust me, you won't be as surprised by the deals that happen "under the radar" by taking this approach.

A good rule of thumb is to read only what the team is willing to give up and what they are looking for, but not the players involved. In the past I have read where teams were looking to unload player X and the Pirates were a good match as they wanted to get Bay or Duke (before he sucked) in return. The guy reading this in Seattle might have believed it, but anyone around here knew it wasn't going to happen.

At this point I hit the team's minor league websites to see where potential trading partners have depth. Dejan reported last year at the deadline about the Rockies AAA 1B Ryan Shealy, who was eventually traded to the Royals. What goes overlooked in that discussion is who the Rockies had at AA playing 1B (Joe Koshansky) and his numbers. Also overlooked were the numbers the AAA 1B was putting up away from his extremely hitter friendly home field, which was once described as "Coors Field on steroids". Shealy's numbers very impressive, but he was a rather old "prospect" at 27 and playing at a home park that's extreme elevation allowed infield pop-ups to clear the fence. Shealy's hitting .221 with 3 HRs for the Royals this year. Koshansky is 3 years younger than Shealy and last year had better numbers than Shealy, while playing in a normal elevation ball park. Koshansky was the player the Pirates should have been targetting, not Shealy.

Do your homework, get to know the teams' needs and strengths. Not only does it make the trade deadline a lot more interesting, you'll be amazed at how much better you will be at fantasy baseball when these players make it to the show.

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Sidney, We Love You!!!!!

In times when dog fighting allegations surround Michael Vick and juries award $260,000 to victims of beatings handed out by associates of Allen Iverson(notice two big stars of their respective sports), it is refreshing to know what kind of a man we have in Pittsburgh playing for the Penguins. Today, Sidney Crosby signed a 5-year contract extension. In a day-and-age when greed and selfish attitudes prevail among athletes, this signing gives me the idea that there is still some hope.

If anybody deserves $43 million for playing a sport it is Sidney Crosby. Crosby will average $8.7 million a season, but he could have demanded $10,060,000 a season under the NHL terms of the collective bargaining agreement. However, being the type of player, man, leader, and role model that he is, Crosby did not demand the maximum available money from the Pens. Crosby wants to win more than anything and on top of that, he genuinely likes the city of Pittsburgh and its fans.

Penguins fans and Pittsburgh were even luckier than we thought when we won the draft lottery that gave us the chance to select Crosby. Crosby's talents were obvious, but the other intangibles that we got with this player were unrecognizable at the time.

And just to think in January we all thought the team was leaving town. The future for this Pittsburgh franchise is exciting to say the least.

McClatchy Strikes Out

The PG is reporting that following the 2007 campaign Kevin McClatchy will step down as CEO of the Pirates a, thus severing his ties to the day-to-day operations of the team.

It was the walk out that caused this!!!

If you believe that, you are as useless as Britney Spears. Speculation about his involvement past this season started this previous off season when he refused to comment on staying with the team past this season.

McClatchy did a few good things during his time running the Pirates organization, but unfortunately none of them had anything to do with the product on the field. His obvious legacy will be PNC Park and the 2006 All-Star game. Don't over look his efforts in getting greater revenue sharing in baseball. While its still not perfect, it was a step in the right direction.

The person most concerned about this news is David Littlefield, who was McClatchy's direct report. No news on who will replace McClatchy, but that person will be responsible for whether DL stays employed with the team. Loyalty will be gone and past performance will be the one fact that will remain in the new CEO's eyes. The only way to make his impending departure more obvious would be for McClatchy to take out a buildboard on the parkway that reads, "Sorry I took you with me, Dave, but I'll be there to comfort you when you are fired"

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WE WILL: Play Like a Real Team

I can just hear Littlefield now talking to his staff, "Look everyone! we're a real team! They're finally playing like a real team"

DL should consider signing Pinocchio as a starting pitcher.
A wooden arm should not wear down.

I am as surprised as anyone that the Pirates were able to take three straight from the Brewers. Especially since it followed a game where they were thoroughly demoralized by just 1 inning of ineffective relief pitching. Most Pirates teams would lose a couple following a game like that. Fortunately for this team, the Brewers gift wrapped the 6-2 win Tuesday with a 4-error performance that even the Pirates could not screw up, which the 27 men they left on base suggests they did try.

The papers have been mentioning that Tracy gave the team a speech before the series, but I have to believe he gave one before the game Wednesday as well....

We won yesterday. If we win today, that's two-in-a-row.
If we win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak; it has happened before

I beg to differ, Jim, it hasn't happened to this team before... at least not when they were facing a team over .500. It took the Pirates more than half a season, but they finally took a series from a team that is playing over .500 baseball. Looking back at how the games unfolded, it isn't that surprising which team won, however. The way the Pirates have won these games are just the way Littlefield and Tracy envisioned this team coming together over the offseason.

• Strong Starting Pitching - in 6 of the last 7 wins the Pirates' starter went at least 7 innings and gave up no more than 3 runs.
• Solid Defense - the Pirates are without an error during this stretch
• Power from the left side of the plate -Doumit and LaRoche have combined for 8 HRs in the last 10 games

Strong pitching and solid defense is how championships are won. The Pirates have had several stretches of both this season. The one thing missing though was Adam LaRoche treating the NL opposition like Japan circa 1945.

WWII would have lasted 7 months had they let LaRoche send an Adam bomb
at Hitler. Of course, they would have had to wait until July before letting
him loose on the Nazis.

The Pirates are 7-3 in their last 10 games. The ONLY team in all of MLB who has more wins in the last 10 than the Pirates are the Pirates next opponent, the Chicago Cubs.

We've seen spurts like this from the Pirates over the last 14 years. Typically they take a homestand like this, 6-2, and finish it off at 6-5. Let's see if this team is truly playing like a real team that can build momentum. If they keep this pace up Captain Jolly Roger will have to go see Dr. James Andrews due to the sore arm he's gotten from raising the flag in centerfield so much.



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Stand-up Ownership

One can always find something that could be done better when an organization is fading away amongst 14-year losing streak. Should have signed Bonds in '92. Should have traded for an impact player in '97... Shawn Dunston does not count. Should have gotten more for Jason Schmidt. Should have kept a better 40 man roster than expose it to rule 5 draft. All of these "should haves" have made being a Pirates fan entertaining over the last 14 years, as the product on the field has been less than entertaining.

Should have pulled the plug on the Pirates long ago

Nothing can make the 14 years of pain go away, but the one thing the Pirates Organization could have easily done to minimize the damage was to stand in front of fans and be upfront and honest. It takes us months, if not years to find out through the media the real reason some of these moves were made, even though, at the time they were made we are fed some PR line about "making the club better" and the move being "exactly what we wanted". The most bitter part of the recent drafting of Moskos is that management had the stones to tell us he was the player they wanted and finances did not play a factor in the choice.

DL wore a Jim Carrey mask when he was in this movie

Today the local papers demonstrate the correct and incorrect way to handle these situations. The Associated Press ran an article, that was picked up in both the PG and TR, detailing how the ownership and GM of the Buffalo Sabres called a press conference to face questions about losing their two best players to other teams in free agency. The Sabres were coming off of 3 straight seasons where they failed to make the playoffs when these two players sparked a 2-year run that made the Sabres one of, if not the best team in the league. The press conference was not to address another topic and reporters forced the topic of losing key team players. The conference was called specifically to state what the team did to try and retain the players and what they could have done better. They did not mince words. They admitted mistakes made in the past and outlined how they tried to correct them. They owned their actions.

You can also find on the PG's site a column by Bozo the Columnist where he actually claims Littlefield is standing up and answering fans questions. Bozo comments that Littlefield does not get confrontational when accused of being a bad GM, and really, he shouldn't, but is still feeding the masses his line about young pitching. Be honest, Dave, admit where you went wrong. When you do, don't follow it with a "but". A famous phrased used in deciphering what a politician meant during a debate is, "He doesn't believe a single word he said before the word 'but'". The PR coming out of the Pirates offices have been nothing but the same spin that comes out of a debate... "in the past we might have... BUT..." They don't want to say anything negative, they want to put a positive spin on everything, and they are quick to toot their own horn. None of which likens them to a city that still has a blue collar mentality, even if most of the blue collar jobs are gone.

The fans showed with their actions last Saturday that they do not believe in walking out on the team, but they are fed up with the ownership group. All hope and trust may be gone because the front office never built neither with their fans. Add this to the long list of "should haves"... they should have stood up and owned their actions.

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WE WILL: Protest

Seeing how I am three days late on this post, its as relevant now as what Marv Albert was jailed for... remember that? exactly my point.

I believe I definitely qualify for the term "die hard Pirates fan". I am a partial season ticket holder and watch approximately 80% of the games each season. That number would be higher but I coach a boys baseball team and I'm married... two things that get in the way of anything I want to do. Just re-reading those last 3 sentences makes me believe I am a masochist. That's a topic for me and Dr. Phil to work out... back to the topic at hand.

Ah yes, I love the Pirates. I have been an upbeat Pirates fan too. Teh 14 years of losing have not gotten me down for I tried to hold out hope. The first round selection and subsequent lies, er, spin that came out of the front office changed all of that. I now wanted blood and the protest that occured last Saturday seemed like it was the answer. I thought it was dumb to pay for a ticket to protest that you are done paying for losing, but I was angry!

"Let's make ownership pay!"
"They should know we are angry"

But the more I thought about it, and the more in depth my discussion about it got with Petey Pab, I realized that a protest was stupid. The obvious "protest" here is to stop buying tickets. My response to that is I love the Pirates and should not have to stop going to games because ownership sucks. Petey Pab and I debated this back and forth and finally came to the conclusion that there is no good protest for the real fans.

Then he hit me with a moment of insight that only Bob Walk (who was referred to as a "baseball genius" by a caller to the DVE morning show this very morning) could have thought up. Baseball is entertainment. It is no different than a movie, a play, or a concert. When you buy a ticket for one of those events, you know what you are getting and you can not protest if a member of the band didn't play that night due to illness. You enjoy your show.

At that point it was clear any protest is out of the question. I still stand behind those who walked out for doing something to demonstrate to ownership we are unhappy. I was very confused by how many green shirts never got up. I was even more confused by how many people booed those who did leave.

At the end of the day the protest was successful for one reason. Nut job showed it respect by going on camera and answering questions about the team's success and his commitment to success. Sure, it was the same old spin, but it elicited a reaction from the ownership. It showed ownership was willing to listen and respond to its fanbase.

Let's see if they do that where it counts, with the check book.

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Pablo's Misc Corner - Mid-Season Report

Well folks, we've made it half way through this season and to be honest, it has been a disappointment. At 35-45, the Pirates are well on their way to their 15th consecutive losing season. Fan discontent is at an all time high. Players may not be doing their all on the field... yet, there may be hope. The Pirates have 8 games before the All-Star break. If they could find a way to win to go 5-3 over that stretch, then at least we'd have 40 wins by the break. Another good second half and....

Enough has been said in recent posts about the state of the club, so lets just get to the awards...

1st Half Starting Pitcher MVP: Ian Snell. While he has been neck and neck with the Gorgonzola for the best player on the team all season, I give Snell the edge because of his comments in Anaheim a week ago. That showed the leadership this team has been lacking for years.

1st Half Offensive Player MVP: Xavier Nady. He's hitting for average, and power. Nady is starting to turn into the clutch power guy the team needs. Oh if only he was a lefty....

1st Half Bullpen MVP: Matt Capps... who else?

Best game of the first half: 6/30/07 vs the Nats.

Worst game of the first half: 5/19/07 vs the D-backs, when a 7-2 lead was squandered.

Heres to 46 wins over the next 3 months. Thats 15 1/3 per month for three months....

Petey Pablo OUT!!!