Questions Answered and Grading the Pirates

Here at Bucco Central, about a month ago, I wrote a post asking if Pittsburgh could ever be a baseball town again? Now that we're sitting smack dab in the middle of the dreaded All-Star break, I can say this:

Question. Answered. In the affirmative. 

Just one quick example:

--  Attendance at the Pirates game against the Cubs, the Friday before the All-Star break:  37,140.

--  Attendance at a comparable game in 2010, also right before the all-star break, also against a division rival (the Milwaukee Brewers), also on a Friday night:  27,767.

Where'd those extra 10,000 fans come from?

Winning. It's such a simple formula. Nobody goes to a baseball game because they can hear .38 Special and all of their hits like, "Hold on Loosely," and "Hold on Loosely," and, er, um, "Hold on Loosely." (Okay, this is Pittsburgh, so probably some people go to a baseball game to see .38 Special, but not that many.) I've been to  four sellouts this season -- four -- which, I think may be more sellouts than they had all of last year.

Behold, the power of winning.

Back in March, had you told me the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates would be 47-43 and 1 game out of first place in the division, I would have very kindly given you detailed directions to the Western Psych Step-Down Unit.

I also would have assumed that the Pirates built a record like that around Pedro Alvarez' bat. Going into the year, I figured the best way the Pirates could win would be with Alvarez generating a lot of instant offense. Get Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen on base in front of him and watch Pedro jack the ball into the PNC Park topiary.

But the Pirates, as you may have heard, have done it with pitching, more pitching, stellar bullpen pitching, and a shut-down closer who gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when the Pirates are nursing a lead going into the 9th. Joel "Warm Fuzzy" Hanrahan. But most people just call him "the Hammer."

Let's grade it out, position by position:

Starting Pitching:  A. If I'm grading the pitchers individually, it has to look like this:  Karstens - A; Correia - A; Maholm - A; Morton - B; McDonald - B. But as a group? Definitely an A. Using the formula of 7+ innings with 3 or fewer runs as a quality start, they have 19 such quality starts. Using 6+ innings as the cut-off, they have 45 such starts. Like I said, starting pitching -- A (leaning towards A+ if Morton can find his groove again.)

Relief Pitching:  A-. Though the starting pitching has done such amazing work, the bullpen has been great, as well, if a little less steady. Chris Resop shows flashes of complete and utter dominance, but when he's off, he is off. Same with Jose Veras. Daniel McCutchen has been steady Eddie for the team though and, the kid, Tony Watson has been good with occasional signs of great. Daniel Moskos is a lingering headache from the David Littlefield era (you don't use your No. 1 pick to get a middle of the road, middle reliever), but at least Ray Searage and Clint Hurdle are getting some decent innings from him.

Closer:  A+.  What can I even say about Hanrahan? In addition to the saves, I think his confidence, the way he works on the mound, his presence, gives the whole team an emotional lift. You can't tell me that going into the 7th and 8th innings of games, Andrew McCutchen isn't always thinking, 'If I can just get us ahead by one run, the Hammer will close it out ...'

1st Base:  C.  I know, I know, Lyle Overpay. I get the joke. But I still like the guy, for some reason. Clearly, the Pirates signed him to get more from his bat and he hasn't lived up to his reputation as a great glove guy with 8 errors this season. They need more from him. At the bag and in the batter's box. Period.

2nd Base:  B. Neil Walker's 59 RBI's lead the team, but I'd like to see that average up. Way up from where it is at .264. The good news is that, in the last 7 games before the break, he hit .475, so maybe he's turned a serious corner in terms of making contact. He's turned 59 double plays in the field, and I really like his presence on the field more than anything else. I think he's just a good, steady leader for this team.

Shortstop:  B-. Ronny Cedeno's a vacuum cleaner in the field and I really enjoy watching him work out there, but he's got a 10 cent head at the plate. We've seen Chase d'Arnaud out there for 9 games and he's less steady in the field, but a much better batter. Yeah, he's only hitting .221, but I've never seen d'Arnaud try to bunt with the bases loaded. Just saying.

3rd Base:  Incomplete. The Pirates did not use their #1 pick on Pedro Alvarez in order to test out guys like Brandon Wood, Josh Harrison and d'Arnaud at this spot., so I'm not going to grade them, just Alvarez. He was not performing well (at the plate at least) before his leg injury, averaging 1 strike out for every 3 at bats. I know that home run hitters whiff more than contact guys, but with only 2 home runs for his 42 strike outs, something is rotten in the state of Pedro. That said, I think Alvarez knows how to hit minor league pitching. He has to learn how to hit major league pitching and how to weather slumps, etc. When he comes back, he has to play every day, even if Hurdle has to move him to 7th or 8th in the batting order.

Catcher:  B. This was a hard grade to give out, given that the Pirates have had 7 different catchers behind the dish through the first half of the season. Based purely on performance (both defensively and offensively), I'd have to grade the position with a lower grade than a B, but ... that the Pirates have managed to raid the trash heap and keep chugging along is impressive. Okay, I admit that the grade did get a little bump upwards based on Michael McHenry's dinger last week against the Cubbies. It's hard not to root for McHenry.

While we're here, I'm not a fan of Ryan Doumit. God, it feels good to just get that off my chest. He just reminds me of the bad-old days of Jim Tracy and John Russell and David Littlefield. That is probably unfair to him, I know. And I also know that he's a better hitter than McHenry, or at the very least, has much better power numbers. But McHenry's defensive ability is exponentially better than Doumit's; moreover, let's not overstate Doumit's bat -- he ain't exactly Stan Musial at the plate. When/if Doumit's healthy, I'd still rather see McHenry as the regular catcher, with Doumit giving him a rest and being used in pinch-hitting situations. Or bundled in a trade and sent away, but that is for another post.

Left Field:  B+. I'm a big Jose Tabata fan. I just am. I'd like to see the strikeouts come down and the stolen bases go up, but I think the guy is an exciting player who has only begun to mine his potential. His speed in the field creates outs for the pitchers. In equally exciting news, the same can be said for his replacement, the 10 year-old Alex Presley. (Just kidding. Presley's 14 years-old.) I was looking forward to seeing the kid, mostly because I like to get a look at some of the prospects, but he is making a strong argument to stay with the big club even when Tabata returns. I probably would have graded Tabata by himself as a B, but Presley's been so fun, I had to bump the grade up slightly.

Center Field:  A+. That was easy. He hits, he flies, he makes spectacular catches. The kid is electric. He is the most exciting player I've seen around here since Barry Bonds was lithe. I'm not kidding.

Right Field:  C-. This is a disappointing spot. Well, I guess disappointing isn't the right word because I didn't expect all that much from the platoon of Matt Diaz and Garrett Jones. Right field is a spot where you need some pop in the bat. Jones has it, but his hitting is so inconsistent. Diaz is on my rat's ass list, which is to say, if he leaves, I don't give a rat's ass. I love Hurdle swapping them out to put the speedy Xavier Paul in there late in games, but Paul is a contact hitter and a speed guy, not a power hitter. I think he has value to the team, but I think that's more as a utility outfielder and a defensive stopper late in tight games.

If the Pirates are in the market to bring on some talent at the trade deadline (and Ogden Nutting says that they may be), this is clearly the spot they need to upgrade, more than catcher, and even more than 1st base. But, again, the question of whether the Pirates should buy, sell or stand pat is grist for another post, one that I feel coming on very soon.

[Photos:  topiary -- countingbaseballs.mlblogs.com; Veras -- bleacherreport.com; Walker - sports.yahoo.com; McHenry -- timesonline.com; McCutchen -- post-gazette.com]

Jeff Karstens Leads the Way to 2nd Place for the Pittsburgh Pirates

More random thoughts from Bucco Central:

Last night, Wandy Rodriquez brought his 3.25 era and 7-2 record into PNC Park and the Pirates laid 5 runs on him, none bigger than Brandon Wood’s 2-run dinger in the 2nd inning. Your battling Buccos added on more runs, but really, Wood's homer would have done it because Jeff Karstens was,once again, masterful.

As we round the bases into the All-Star break, consider these facts about these Pirates:



-- Wandy Rodriquez has been a huge pain in the private parts for the Pirates. From 2008 up until last night, his career record against the Bucs was 5-1. From the ‘08 season through the ‘10 season, his era against the Buccos was a microscopic 1.85, having given up only 7 earned runs in 5 games.

-- In recent memory, conferring an MVP award on any member of the Pittsburgh Pirates seemed a bit like putting Serge Lutens lipstick ($75 per tube) on a honey badger. But this year, there are several strong contenders, and I’d argue that you could give Jeff Karstens an MVP award right now with a strong case to lean on. He was wonderful again last night.

One of the things I love best about Karstens is that he makes teams beat him, which is to say, he doesn’t issue free passes. He’s got just 18 walks all season (and a handful of those are intentional, I think). His era is the 10th lowest in all of MLB. Of the nine pitchers in front of him with lower era’s, only Roy Halladay has issued fewer walks (17.) Kids at home, take this as a lesson: make hitters hit because there's a good chance they'll make an out.


-- I was at Sunday’s game, the opener of this series versus the Astros. Afterward, starter Paul Maholm said it was the kind of game they typically lost in the past. I had the exact same thought walking back to my car that day. After giving up three runs, only two of which were earned runs (really, all three came across the plate as a result of fielding blunders), the Pirates battled back. The Astros put up a flukey run in the 1st inning, but Michael McHenry singled home Lyle Overbay to answer in the 2nd. The Astros put up 2 runs in the 3rd (both on errors), but Chase d’Arnaud, Andrew McCutchen and Overbay answered in the bottom half of the inning. Like I said, the club had zero ability to counter-punch last year. You don’t win many games like that, as they proved.


-- The franchise won a total of 16 series in all of 2010. With the win over the Houston Astros last night, the Pirates have clinched that series (regardless of the outcome tonight), giving them 17 series victories in 2011.


-- Two of those series wins came against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox, respectively. The Phillies rolled into town in first place in the NL East, sporting a 34-23 record. Then promptly lost two to the Pirates. The Red Sox came to town three weeks later, in first place in the AL East, with their garish 41-31 record. They promptly lost two to the Pirates.

I would point out that, according to the USA Today, the Phillies have the 2nd highest payroll in MLB at nearly $173 million and the Red Sox are right behind them with the 3rd largest payroll at nearly $163 million. The Pirates go to battle with the 3rd lowest payroll at about $45 mil.


-- Just a quick reminder, but the Pirates won a total of 17 games on the road last year. Seventeen, like the friggin’ magazine. By June 14th of 2011, the Pirates had 18 road wins. I don't know what it means, but I like it.

More later.

Andrew McCutchen, Joel Hanrahan and the Great All-Star Snub of 2011

Random thoughts from Bucco Central.

Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan is headed to the All-Star game, a well deserved honor. Center-fielder Andrew McCutchen should be going with him, but the All-Star game is an honor conferred largely based on reputation and McCutchen is still building his. [Although a quick stroll through the stats would reveal these facts:  McCutchen is 3rd among all National League center-fielders in OPS (.892), 3rd in Slugging (498), 2nd in RBI (after today's win over the Astros he has 46), and 3rd in stolen bases (15.) It doesn't take a nuclear physicist to figure it out.] However, there's a bright side for Pittsburghers, which is, in the two games since his All-Star snub, he's gone 4-for-9 at the plate, with a two-bagger and three RBI's. Let's hope he stays motivated by The Great All-Star Snub of 2011. (tm)

Back to the Hammer. Earlier this year, I heard some radio jocks suggesting that the Pirates might package Hanrahan to get a big-bopper for right field or an upgrade at short-stop. Here's why that's phooey. Hanrahan shortens the game by a full-half inning. Teams pretty much know they'd better score within their first 24 outs, because the last three outs, in the 9th inning, are locked up.

Not that he's perfect. He gave up one run in DC the other night, but still got the save. I love the way he goes after hitters. It doesn't matter who it is; whether its the 7th, 8th and 9th guys in the Washington Nationals line-up, or the great David Ortiz, Hanrahan doesn't dance around the strike zone, nibbling here, nibbling there. He just goes up there with a rocket launcher attached to his right shoulder and dares batters to hit him. His success speaks for itself, to say nothing of the psychological lift I think that he gives the team.

Not to mention, the Buccos aren't exactly blowing teams out. The hitting just has not come around as much as we (and skipper Clint Hurdle) would like it to. As Bill Cowher used to say, it is what it is. And given that it is what it is -- 22nd in the league in runs scored and 5th in MLB in strike outs (with a whopping 644 to date) -- having a hold card like Hanrahan, a closer who can almost guarantee you three outs is a huge advantage. To think that you can trade the best closer we've seen in these parts since the great Kent Tekulve, well, that's just asinine. Unless you're getting something like Jose Bautista in return. (I had to. Sorry, Mr. Huntingdon.)

While we're here, I didn't believe in the Pirates when the season started. Why, really, would I? Why would anybody?

But Neal Huntingdon said he was building from the ground up, re-stocking the woeful farm system. I'd heard that old saw before so many times, I was sick of it. I didn't believe he would do it because, nobody had before. The Pirates were terrible when they had their best players on the field. If one of them got hurt, they were even worse. I don't know exactly what that is, but whatever is worse than terrible, that's what the farm system was. They weren't the 'not ready for prime time players,' they were the 'never ready for prime time players.'

This year, the injuries just keep mounting, and the young guys keep performing. The list goes on and on, but the two who stand out most are, of course, Alex Presley and Chase d'Arnaud. They've both performed so well that they may have earned permanent spots with the big club. When Jose Tabata comes back from his injury (get well soon, Jose), I think we may be seeing Presley in right field on a steady basis. (I would like that outfield a whole lot, if anybody wants my opinion.) When Pedro Alvarez comes back to play 3rd base on a day to day basis, d'Arnaud should remain at shortstop. When Ronny Cedeno's healthy, I think he may be spending a lot of time on the bench, watching d'Arnaud in the field.The kids have performed so much better than anybody could have expected and, frankly, the contributions of the Indianapolis kids deserve their own post. Maybe over the All-Star break.

In the meantime, there is reason to enjoy this moment -- Pirates fans, please do enjoy your existential moment, the feeling of being 44-41 on July 4th. Drink deep, let yourself become intoxicated with the winning. Life moves pretty fast and you never know what might happen. But, with guys like Chase and Presley coming along, there's reason to hope that the Pirates can continue these winning ways. Heck, maybe they can even get better. In the words of that legendary philosopher Kent Tekulve, the future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.




[Photos:  McCutchen -- NESN; Presley -- bleacherreport.com; Tekulve -- ESPN.com]

Here's What .500 Looks Like, the June Edition

I don't think we're going to see that same, ugly implosion we saw last June. No sireee.

Is everybody else having fun with this? Because I sure as hell am.

On Paul Maholm, Balks and Missed Opportunities

I like the unusual occurrences, the kinds of screwball plays that don't happen all that often -- like a great run down, the use of the infield fly rule or the triple play. This is why I love balks. Love. Them. You don't see them very often. They're tricky, slippery little suckers, nebulous movements that happen in a blink of an eye. So I usually revel in the rare balk.

But I was not at all happy yesterday to see my friend the balk arrive at Citifield in the bottom of the 8th inning. Jose Veras' balk moved pinch-runner Willie Harris over from 1st base to 2nd base, which then allowed Mets Skipper Terry Collins to insert Josh Thole mid-at-bat for Chris Capuano. It was like dominos falling. Capuano was there to bunt Harris to second, but with Harris already at second, Collins was freed up to put a real hitter in there. With Thole at the plate, and after having committed a balk, Veras went temporarily insane, threw a wild pitch that put Harris at 3rd and then walked Thole. Instead of a man on 2nd and one out, the Pirates were up against men on 1st and 3rd and no outs.

The Deadliest Balk.


But, as deadly as all that was, in all honesty, the Pirates should never have been in that situation with the game tied in the 8th inning after building a 7-0 lead and chasing Mets starter Mike Pelfrey after just five innings.

The problems really started for the Pirates, not in the ill-fated 8th, but in the bottom of the 5th inning when Paul Maholm was still on the hill.

I have been critical of Maholm in this space, some of it is probably unfair, but some is justified. If I'm being completely fair, he's not a bad pitcher and, in fact, when he's good, he can be very good, a very sturdy starting pitcher. That said, Maholm goes from reliable lefty to bum in about one hot second. When he has his stuff, he's a good ground ball pitcher, but when he loses his stuff -- and it happens in a blink -- he's tossing grapefruits up there like Fat Jimmy Anderson.

I think this is why it's so easy for me to pick on Maholm. When the wheels come off for him, he gives up huge innings. Not one and two run innings, but four and five and six run innings. He seems to be a good guy. He wants to pitch well. He wants to carry the team. And his coaches want to believe in him. I get all of that and I think it's why every skipper who has come through here has made the mistake of sticking with Maholm too long and having it come back to bite the team in the ass.

Some pitchers can battle through a rough stretch and come out the other end. Not Maholm. When he gets in trouble, his curveball doesn't just hang, it positively dangles. As soon as opposing batters start hitting the ball in the air -- even for outs -- he's done. Which is why Clint Hurdle's spidey-sense should have been tingling in the bottom of the 5th -- as all three Mets' outs came on fly balls. Deep fly balls, too, not pop ups. As soon as you start seeing that from Maholm, don't think 'Paul Maholm,' think 'Fat Jimmy Anderson,' because you don't have much longer before he's going to flame out spectacularly.

After Maholm opened the 6th by giving up a double to Carlos Beltran and then walking Jason Bay, it was already too late for him.

So I'm reconsidering my criticisms of Maholm, trying find some balance. This one is on Maholm and Veras, but equally so on Ray Searge and Hurdle (both of whom I greatly love already). Know your pitcher.

Maholm doesn't battle out of trouble.

He pitches great.

Or he pitches like ass.

There's just no middle ground. First sign of trouble? Get the bullpen humming. It's just that simple.

What really frosts me about it was that it was such a great opportunity to take three out of four from the Mets, a franchise in complete disarray, but instead they lost a gut-punch game and now have to face the mighty Phillies. I would have felt a lot better about this weekend's series with that extra win under the Buccos' belts.



[Photos courtesy of mlb-baseball-blog.com and mlb.com]

Up and Down, and In and Out, with the Pittsburgh Pirates

Last night, in front of a sparse New York crowd (just about 25,000, of which 24,000 must have been in the upper decks, because it was mostly empty behind home plate and along the baselines), your Pittsburgh Pirates won their 17th road victory over the Mucking Fets -- as many road wins on June 1st, 2011 as they had throughout the entirety of the 2010 season. Per this morning's Post-Gazette story, the players are downplaying it, but I think that 2010 road trips must have felt like extended funeral corteges. Scratch that, I actually have been to funerals that were more fun than watching the Pirates on the road last year.


Not only have they equaled the number of road wins from last year, they actually have a winning record on the road (17-14, good for a winning percentage of .548.) They've got to find a way to replicate that kind of performance at home, but, you know, inconsistency is a hallmark of a young team. I think William Jennings Bryan said that first, but he was a hopeful guy and after watching 54 games of Pirates baseball this year, I am strangely hopeful, too.

After 54 games last year, the Pirates were 22-32 and while they have just four more wins this year (because I'm not stupid, I do understand that 26-28 is a losing record), they are a little package of possibility. In years past, it felt like they were putting band-aids on amputations, when they weren't self-mutilating shamelessly. This year feels like they're actually building towards something, and they have a legit core of talent -- if they keep them together, ... and if they nurture them, ... and if they add just a few more parts, ... and if the hitting comes around, ... and with a little seasoning ... you can see what they might become. There are flashes of greatness, even now.

Oh wait. I have to go sit down and fan myself, not because the air-conditioning is broken, but because I used the phrase "flashes of greatness" in the same sentence with "Pittsburgh Pirates."

It's way too early for that. I realize a lot of things have to tumble into place. And of course, a young team has to learn how to win, to a large degree.

Take the McCutchen brothers for instance.

Mid-level reliever Daniel McCutchen much better than expected out of the gate, allowing just one earned run in his first eight appearances, but in his last two appearances, he got lit up like Tara Reid, speaking of wasted youth.

Twin brother Andrew McCutchen was went 0 for seven, striking out five times in the first two games versus the Mets, then last night, he was three-for-five, with a run scored, plus he made a magnificent catch in the outfield. It's not just 'Cutch, of course -- the Pirates' bats have been the biggest source of inconsistency and disappointment. I have to warn you, the numbers are ugly:

** 13th in the NL in runs scored (208).

** 14th in the NL in team batting average (.236).

** 15th in the NL in OPS (.667).

** Dead last in the NL in total hits (420). Ouch.

** Dead last in the NL in total bases (632). Major ouch.

** They have the 2nd most strike outs in the NL with 433. That one, for some reason, just pains me more than the others. Like the kind of pain that you call 9-1-1 for.

"9-1-1. What's your emergency?"

"I'm having severe chest pains. It's hard to breathe."

"Ma'am, I have to ask this, are you watching the Pirates game?"

"What!? I have a really deep, sharp pain in my chest!"

"Yes, ma'am. I know. But I see that Lyle Overbay just whiffed for the 35th time and I have to ask if you were watching the Buccos game. We've had an on-slaught of calls due to the Pirates propensity to strike out."

"Oh, well, I guess I'll just go get a beer and finish watching the game. Sorry to bother you."

"No problem, but you might want to take aspirin before every game. Have a good night."

And yet, with all the strike outs and wildly variable hitting, the Pirates are only minus one in run differential and are becoming a tough team to beat, because of the pitching. Check out these wonderful numbers:

** Kevin Correia -- tops in MLB with wins with eight.

** Charlie Morton -- fourth best ERA in the NL at 2.51

** Joel Hanrahan -- sixth in the NL in saves with 14.

** Fifth in overall Team ERA at 3.45.

** 28 Legit Quality Starts from Correia, Maholm, Morton, McDonald and Karstens (by my count -- but your mileage may vary slightly.)

The quality of the pitching is a testament to Ray Searage, of whom we should all be penning folk songs and heroic odes. They are so much better than anybody expected and, I would guess, even Searage himself is probably surprised at how well they are performing.

Of course, the Pirates had a bad winning percentage through April and May last year (.403), then managed to go completely in the tank -- 6-20 in June, 9-16 in July, and 8-21 in August. A winning percentage of .287 has to be some kind of record, doesn't it? Just as my way of saying -- beware the dog days, kids.


[Photo credits: mysanantonio.com].

Pittsburgh Was Once a Baseball Town -- Can It Be One Again?

On Saturday night, I went to the Pirates game, a 6-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. Also, notably, it was a sell out, with the last 7,000 or so seats sold in walk-up traffic. Heck, I can't remember the last time I was at a sold out Pirates game. [Oh, wait, I can. It was opening day a couple of years ago, but before that, honestly, it had to be 1992 -- a late September game against the Mucking Fets at Three Rivers. I can actually picture my seats in the old concrete toilet on the third base side.]

The extraordinary drought since that 1992 season makes it easy to forget Pittsburgh's storied baseball history, perhaps the richest history you might find in a market this size, particularly when you factor in the amazing Negro League teams fielded by the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Home to Honus Wagner. Site of the first World Series ever. Pie Traynor. Josh Gibson. And, of course, the great one, Roberto Clemente. It's a veritable murder's row of baseball luminaries.


But as much as baseball thrives on its past, it doesn't actually live in antiquity. After a while, the youngins' tire of hearing stories of the great 'We Are Family' team of my youth. They want heroes of their own, memories of their own. Of heroes and memories that build loyalty, we have lived in shameful want. Because of inept ownership, unwilling to spend money and seemingly unable to spend it wisely when they did open the purse strings, fans turned away out of frustration and boredom in equal parts. We justifiedly turned to other pursuits, other distractions; the Pirates were something to do if it was a give-away night, a fireworks night, or a particularly nice evening and it wasn't too inconvenient, and there wasn't a really good rerun of 'House' on.

As to the team itself? We all knew what to expect from the team -- more fire-sales of talent, inert and ineffectual skippers, more trades for a useless 'player to be named later,' more free-agency idiocy, and more signings of washed up locker room cancers. (Personally, I like my serving of locker room cancer served on a boat named Operation Shutdown.) Even on the rare occasion when things looked remotely optimistic, you could count on ownership to do something stupid.

No wonder this is a football town and a hockey town. The Steelers certainly did their part in worming their way into our hearts. Four Super Bowls in quick order will do that to a fanbase, and they managed to tread water, even during the leanest years in the 1980's. Then along came Mario and this became a rabid hockey town, too. The timing could not have been worse for, at the moment Mario was just starting his second date with Lord Stanley, the Pirates were falling into prosaic monotony.

What both of those teams give the fans consistently is hope. And hope, not bobbleheads or beach-towels, not fireworks or Steve Miller Band appearances, sells tickets.

Putting your faith in the post-1992 Pirates is not for the faint of heart, a bit like watching a slasher flick while nursing a case of food poisoning -- every moment is fraught with trepidation, watched through your fingers as you cover your eyes, and just when you think the worst of the nausea has passed, another wave of bilious queasiness crests.

Enter the 2011 Pirates. Right now, May of 2011, I sense a sea change in the mood around Pittsburgh these days. Sure, sure, the battling Buccos are two games under .500, but fans are starting to show just a bit of interest. You can almost smell it -- the faintest traces of hope. Perhaps applied obliquely, or just around the edges, but we are cautiously hopeful. Something just feels different.

The numbers only show part of the story -- their record is just two games better than they were at the same time last year; the team batting average is slightly improved (up to 24th from 29th); and slugging percentage is also moderately improved (up to 24th from 27th). The pitching, however, is much improved with the team ERA up to 15th (at 3.64) from dead last (at 5.00) in 2010. They have 25 quality starts in 46 games. If they continue at that pace, they would finish with upward of 95 quality starts over the season. Last year, they finished with just 71 quality starts all year. Wow.

You can't see it in the numbers, even though quality starts have been like hen's teeth around here, but it's something more than that. Watch a handful of games and something feels different and like pornography, I know it when I see it, sabremetrics be damned. I think a large part of it is the mindset of Clint Hurdle -- a refreshing combination of competence and charisma. His hitting, pitching and position coaches actually seem to, er, coach. So that's a start right there. He's instilled an aggressive mindset in his players. Last year, not one of the Pirates pitchers threw inside with any confidence. This year, they are taking ownership of the inside part of the plate. He has his guys running the basepaths like crazy, testing other teams constantly. Honestly, I saw a game last year, when the Buccos had a guy on 2nd base and he didn't score on a double. How is that even possible? What was he doing on 2nd base? Texting?

For the sake of argument, let's say that Hurdle is getting everything that you can get from the talent he has, that what we're seeing is the upper limit for this collection of players. And let's say he is consistent enough that the rest of the season plays out like it has so far -- that the Pirates neither improve appreciably, but neither do they decline. With a winning percentage of .478, that would amount to 77 wins for the season and I think the fans can live with that. Actually, I think the fans would be thrilled with that. Heck, if they go into the final series of the season with say, 75 wins, I think the town will rename Fort Duquesne for Hurdle (I like the sound of 'Fort Hurdle'), erect statues of Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen, and possibly elect Joel Hanrahan to the Mayor's office (actually, he might be an improvement.)

Not that 75 or 77 wins are the long term goals. But compared to what we saw of the Jim Tracy and John Russell eras, that is an epic improvement. More to the point, mightn't this be the season you could possibly point to and say, "that was the turning point." Dare we even hope for that?

In fairness, it must be pointed out that it is usually right around this time when management makes a tragically bone-headed move, but if Saturday night was any indication, I think the fans are ready -- ready to give these guys a chance. Hurdle's doing his job. McCutchen is doing his job. Kevin Correia is doing much more than any of us anticipated. So now? Now is the time that management has to find a way not to screw up a good thing -- the hope of Pirates fans is more fragile than an orchid, more delicate than a Ming vase.

Tread lightly, he who lives in hopes of increased attendance.


[McCutchen photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Hanrahan photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Tribune Review.]

One Game Over .500

Here's what 18-17 looks like kids:

What in the World Is Wrong with Pedro?

More thoughts from Bucco central.

Since the days of Honus Wagner, a third baseman is supposed to be, by design, a serious bopper. It's truism because it generally works -- good baseball teams have a a big stick, or a reliable stick (or both) at third base.

All of which made suffering through the Andy Laroche era an especially painful indignity. Understandably, much rejoicing ensued in places as far flung as Carrick and Millvale, Bloomfield and East Liberty when the big club called Pedro Alvarez up from AAA ball. Word was that Alvarez was the draft pick that the Pirates finally got right -- a can't miss prospect, a prospect so coveted, in fact, that the Pirates drafted him second overall, even knowing they would have to deal with his agent, the noxious Scott Boras, in contract negotiations. Alvarez was so good as to be worth that. They, and we, expected to get some bang for our trouble.


I don't mean to call out Alvarez, given that pretty much every hitter in the Pittsburgh line-up has struggled sporadically through the first month of baseball and nobody in the starting line up has a batting average over .300, [except Chris Snyder and Xavier Paul, but those guys have fewer than 50 at bats per, hardly a significant sampling.] Still, the only guy in the lineup whose struggles seriously concern me is, you got it, Pedro Alvarez.

Every hitter slumps sometimes, beyond which, we all knew that Pedro couldn't hit a curveball when he was still in AAA ball. (We should all be lighting candles and leaving delicious, fruity umbrella drinks for Jobu on Alvarez' behalf.) So his struggles against major league curveballs isn't at all surprising, but what is alarming is his approach at the plate. I don't want to say he's timid, but he's certainly apprehensive up there. He has yet to meet a first pitch he won't watch blow by him.

Last night, in a typical at bat, he struck out looking. Is anything more frustrating than watching a guy strike out while standing there like a statue? In 28 games this year, he's had 99 at bats and in that time, he's struck out 34 times -- good for 1.2 strike outs per game. Or one strike out every third time to the plate. Depending on how you want to slice it.

Worse yet, he's faced an 0-2 count 40 times in those plate appearances. Forty! And every time, every single time of those forty 0-2 counts, he's made an out. Never once has he battled back from that count to somehow hit a grounder up the middle, or work a pitcher for a walk.

It seems to me your third baseman, the guy you drafted to bat clean up, should be a guy who is able to battle through disadvantageous counts. At least some of the time. And, more to the point, that hitter should feel like he's the man in the batter's box. If not aggressive, he should at least be confident. I'm seeing none of that right now. On the other hand, if my batting average were as anemic as Alvarez', I might look less than confident, too.

We all rush to judgment so fast with athletes. Players are declared busts before the All-Star break. That kind of reaction is ridiculous, but his start has been disappointing, has it not? Clint Hurdle has tried everything, and, in an effort to take the pressure off him, has moved Pedro to the seven-hole in the line up. Last week, he even had him attempt a bunt.
Alvarez has a long road in front of him to be a legit major league hitter and the thinking goes that you can teach a guy to hit, if he has power. We know Alvarez has power. When he's feeling confident and when he gets a fastball, he can hit it out of any yard, but still it seems to me that is a lot to teach a guy -- to (a) recognize pitches, (b) adjust to them, and then actually (c) swing at them.

Hurdle has already turned this team from downright unwatchable to moderately entertaining, enough for canonization in my opinion. If he can turn Alvarez around, we'll be re-naming streets for the guy. And frankly, I feel like if anybody can do it, it's Hurdle and hitting coach Gregg Ritchie.

But Pedro's struggles put Hurdle in a tough position. In the long-term, the team needs Alvarez if they want to actually turn the whole thing around. Still, Hurdle has to win and he has to win now. I'm thinking last night's minor injury, assuming it is minor and will just afford him a few days off, might be a good thing for everybody involved.

Pirates Pitching, Jeff Karstens Reconsidered

I had this job once. Over time, it became more and more frustrating. Looking back, I think I was too easy to get along with, I didn't complain much and I didn't mind doing any tasks that others avoided or refused. It's just not a big deal, I thought. I have perspective, you know? It's just a job and, moreover, I'm a good team player. But it never paid off in ways that were beneficial to me. I'm sure that my easy-breezy style benefited other people, but not actually me. It didn't mean more money. It didn't mean better assignments. It didn't mean better treatment. No it meant that I always got stuck with unpleasant, boring, or otherwise unfulfilling assignments.

Because I was willing to do the shit work, I was always stuck with the shit work. And once you establish yourself as the person who will shovel shit, nobody else is going to offer to shovel the shit. The lesson to be learned is what I like to call the Shit Shoveling Syndrome (tm) -- if you offer to shovel shit, you had best love shoveling shit because nobody is going to relieve you of the shoveling of the shit out of sense of fair play or kindness. You are always going to be the one doing it. So get used to it.

On Saturday night, in attempt to wash the bitter taste of the Penguins performance out of my mouth, I turned on the Pirates game. Good god -- Jeff Karstens was masterful. He limited the Washington Nationals (or, Natinals, depending on which jerseys they wear) to just two runs through six innings and left his team with a comfortable five-run lead, having thrown just 87 pitches, 51 of them strikes. It was an homage to Ray Miller's mantra: Work fast, throw strikes, change speeds. It was a joy to watch Karstens on the mound. (I can't believe I just typed that, but it's true.)

I don't think you can reasonably expect much more from your fourth or fifth starting pitcher, even on teams with top-price, top-flight pitching.

I hope that Karstens is rewarded for his efforts, that he doesn't fall prey to the Shit Shoveling Syndrome, too.

On April 13, Colin Dunlap wrote this for the Post-Gazette:

'Such is the life of the swingman of the staff, a function Karstens has mastered brilliantly. ...

Manager Clint Hurdle views Karstens as the perfect guy to have the responsibility of sometimes-reliever, sometimes-starter, all-the-time competitor.

"He doesn't have an agenda," Hurdle said of Karstens, who hasn't allowed an earned run in 52/3 innings of work this season. "Most players have an agenda.

"His dream is to be on a good ballclub and be a part of it. And that is refreshing. And then to back that up with action is more impressive."'

When Ohlendorf suffered an injury in just his second start of the year, Karstens stepped into the starting rotation. He has performed quite well in his two starts, and frankly better than anything we've seen from Ohlendorf since the 2009 season.

Point being, just because Karstens would likely be willing to go back to the bullpen, I think he's earned his spot, which is to say, far away from the shit shoveling detail.

Ohlendorf is on the 15 day disabled list, but it's likely he'll be out for an entire month. He was wildly ineffective before the injury. When/if he comes back, Karstens has shown (so far) that he deserves a spot in the starting rotation and he shouldn't be punished because he would be 'willing to take one for the team' as it were. He looks to be at least as good as Ohlendorf and, I think, a better option for the team. Here's hoping that Karstens continues the way he has been, and also that Hurdle breaks the Shit Shoveling Syndrome by keeping Karstens in the starting rotation.

[photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

The Pittsburgh Pirates: Playing Baseball Like They Care

But still -- it's not enough.

It would be nice to believe that grit and effort will get you through to the promised land with a bunch of has-beens, never-weres, and never-shoulda-beens because they just want it more than the other guys. What a wonderful world it would be if you could simply 'Braveheart' your way into the MLB playoffs.It would be grand if it were actually possible to just "win the whole fucking thing," as Tom Berenger says in 'Major League,' out of spite and sheer bull-headedness. But those are movies and it's a fantasy to believe that you can win a World Series (or even your division), just because you want it more. Sure, you need desire, will and resilience. You need guys who believe and who put in the effort necessary to win.

But you also need starting pitching, relief pitching and a shut-down closer. You need speed on the basepaths and power in the batters box. You need a bunch of guys who can actually, you know, hit a curveball.

And you need a skipper to pull it all together.

The Pirates have the last element, I believe. I believe Hurdle is a good manager. I believe he might even be a great one. At the very least, he's interesting, awake, seems to give a shit, is willing to take some chances and, also, is a guy who stressed fundamentals in spring training. These are all good things. Hurdle is a monumental improvement over John Russell. Hurdle is both engaged and engaging; Russell was comatose. On his best days.

But, really, without a significant improvement in on-field talent, how many wins can a manager account for? I'm saying seven, maybe 10 at the outside. If you put Hurdle in the Pirates dugout last year, that roster might could have won 64 games (maybe 67) rather than 57. They were a bad team. That fact was exacerbated by the presence of a bad manager.

But, aside from the coaching improvement how much different, how much better are these guys? Let's look at the bats first, then the arms.

This is last season's opening day line up: 1. Aki Iwamura (2B), 2. Andrew McCutchen (CF), 3. Garrett Jones (RF), 4. Ryan Doumit (C), 5. Lastings Milledge (LF), 6. Jeff Clement (1B), 7. Andy LaRoche (3B), 8. Pitcher (in this case, Zach Duke and yes, Russell had so little confidence in his short-stop that he had him batting 9th), 9. Ronnie Cedeno (SS).

Of course, even the inert Russell had the sense to sit Iwamura (and his knee-brace, and his .182 batting average. Face of futility = Iwamura) after a while and bring up guys like Alvarez and Tabata. But even with those mid-season moves, the Pirates ranked 29th in runs, 29th in batting average, 28th in on-base percentage, and 27th in slugging percentage.

This year's batting order is much improved if for no other reason than the absence of Iwamura. The 2011 opening day batting order looked like this: 1. Jose Tabata (LF), 2. Neil Walker (2B), 3. McCutchen (CF), 4. Lyle Overbay (1B), 5. Pedro Alvarez, 6. Doumit (C), 7. Jones (RF), 8. Cedeno (SS), 9. Pitcher (in this case, Kevin Correia).

This year's line up should rank much higher in all categories. But even though they are better, are they that much better? Today, they are 29th in run, 25th in batting average, 26th in slugging percentage, and 24th in on-base percentage (that increase might be due solely to the great play of Tabata in the lead-off spot.) Hurdle thought they'd be better than those stats. Heck, we all did. Not that we expected the 1933 Pittsburgh Crawfords mind you, but we did expect to see more lively bats and more runs. The bats may yet turn a corner, crack into the middle percentages for runs scored and on-base percentages. Let's hope so.

Even if the bats wake up, even if Alvarez can actually hit a breaking ball once in a lunar cycle, will it make that much of a difference in terms of record? Unless Clint Hurdle can go out and pitch, how many more wins can we expect him to generate?

Kevin Correia, with his career 4.52 era is expected to anchor the Bucco rotation. Well, he's an improvement over having Zach Duke as your staff 'ace,' and, except for his last outing against the Brewers, he's looked pretty good, which is to say, he'd be a great acquisition if he were your #3 or #4 pitcher. That would be fantastic. That he is the staff ace, tells you something about the rest of the rotation.

Paul Maholm. Well, enough said, enough seen, enough. Enough of Paul Maholm.

The best thing that may have happened to the Pirates is an injury to Ross Ohlendorf. Journos who were at spring training report that Karstens looked better than Ohlendorf anyway, so Ohlendorf v. Karstens in the line-up? What's the difference? It's just an arm to put out there every five days and probably not an arm that should be in an MLB uniform, other than as a long-reliever anyway.

The interesting guys are the four and five pitchers: Charlie Morton and James McDonald. Folks seem to be excited about the potential of both of these guys. And even though I haven't quite seen what those folks are seeing, I'm going to reserve judgment on both of Morton and McDonald until I see more from them.

So, to break down the starting pitching: we have two guys we know are pretty bad but show just enough that the team doesn't quite want to give up on them (Maholm and Ohlendorf); one guy we know is pretty good -- not great, but good (Correia); two guys who are question marks (McDonald and Morton); and one guy who is a long-reliever dressed up as a starter (Karstens).

I think Hurdle will get everything he can from these guys. I love the way his staff handles base-running. I love the aggressive attitude. But when you have to rely on guys like Maholm and Meek, Crotta and Karstens (I assume he'll pitch in Ohlendorf's absence?), the team would have to score upwards of eight runs every night.

On opening day, I predicted 64 wins, which would be a seven game improvement over last year's finish. Even though they've hit a pretty rough patch in the past week, I'm going to upgrade that to 66 wins, just based on my opinion of Hurdle and what I've seen from Tabata as a lead off man. Is that enough improvement for Pittsburgh fans? What kind of record would satisfy you?

The Pirates Just Be Like That

I don't want to bog anybody down with higher mathematical algorithms and formulas, but a quick check of Baseball Almanac, MLB.com and Wikipedia reveals that Eric Wedge's record while managing the Cleveland Indians was Crapass and Suck, a tad better than the record of the recently departed Pirates skipper John Russell. (Official record of: Steaming Pile of Bear Scat and Vortex of Despair.)

In fact, a straight up analysis of the records of Wedge versus Russell is not fair, considering the talent Wedge had on his staff. The Indians had C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee as their aces, while the Pirates named Paul Maholm and Zach Duke their aces. (I guess, but those guys are more like Jacks. Or maybe a 10 of clubs.)

Through complex analysis and adjustment for pitching staff, turns out both Russell and Wedge stink sideways. It is fairly evident that the corpse of Danny Murtaugh would, right now today, a better skipper than either of them.

Yet, Pirates management thinks Wedge might be their man.

If you think that a skipper doesn't mean that much to the on field product, drive on down to Baltimore, grab a crabcake and ask the fans how they feel about Buck Showalter, and if they think their team, the team with a winning percentage of just .303 when Showalter was hired, would have finished as strong as they did (winning percentage of .535 after the Showalter move.)

The Pirates front office feigns indignation when fans and media assert that the organization does not care to win. Oh, they get all self-righteous and somehow manage a straight face when crying that they are unfairly picked upon. But in Pittsburgh, and in other places where people care about baseball, sane people have come around to the belief that the Pirates, like the owner in "Major League," actually run their organization with the goal of losing.

No matter what the evidence staring them in the face, the Pirates will hire a proven loser just days after they fired their AA affiliate Altoona manager. Yeah, the one who won the Eastern conference. The nerve of that guy going out and winning and stuff. You wouldn't want a guy like that in your organization.

Why Eric Wedge? Well, why do the Pirates do anything they do? Because that's how the Pirates do things.

As Jason Kendall once said, welcome to hell.

As Long Suspected, Pittsburgh Pirates Make Profit with Perpetual Cellar Dweller

For the last 10 years or so, I've been hollering, howling into the void of pain and ignominy that has become the lot of Pirates fans, clambering to see the Pirates' financials. Well, not for me personally to see them, but for somebody who can actually parse the ledgers of a Major League Baseball team to have a look-see. I believed that would never, ever happen and that, in fact, the Pirates were more likely to win a World Series than open their books.

Wrong!

'The Pirates made nearly $29.4 million in 2007 and 2008, according to team financial documents, years that were part of a streak of futility that has now reached 18 straight losing seasons. The team's ownership also paid its partners $20.4 million in 2008.

The documents offer a rare peek inside a team that made money by getting slightly less than half its income (about $70 million) from MLB sources -- including revenue sharing, network TV, major league merchandise sales and MLB's website. The team also held down costs, keeping player salaries near the bottom of the National League, shedding pricier talent and hoping that untested prospects would blossom.
...

"The numbers indicate why people are suspecting they're taking money from baseball and keeping it -- they don't spend it on the players," said David Berri, president of the North American Association of Sports Economists and the author of two books detailing the relationship between finances and winning. "Teams have a choice. They can seek to maximize winning, what the Yankees do, or you can be the Pirates and make as much money as you can in your market. The Pirates aren't trying to win."'

The full story at ESPN here.

The Pirates claim there is nothing nefarious in their financial practices. Nefarious? No. That's the wrong word. Indifferent is the word. Indifferent to the fans. And indifferent to even the mere notion of winning.

ESPN reports that the Pirates 2010 opening day payroll was just $2 million more than their opening day payroll in 1992. An increase of only two million dollars in 18 years would be bad enough, particularly given that baseball inflation is to regular inflation as dog years are to people years.

But according to the Baseball Archive database, the Pirates 1992 outlay was $36,228,647.00 and according to CBS Sports, the 2010 payroll was $34,943,000.00, actually about $1.3 million less than it was in 1992.

The 1992 Pirates were right in step with MLB. I've taken a look at the salaries of all the teams currently in first place (except Tampa Bay, which franchise didn't exist the last time the Pirates posted a winning record, so I substituted the second place New York Yankees for them in the AL East.) Read 'em and weep:

Yankees 1992 Payroll = $ 34,902,292.00
Yankees 2010 Payroll = $206,333,389.00

Minnesota Twins 1992 Payroll = $27,272,834.00
Minnesota Twins 2010 Payroll = $97,559,167.00

Texas Rangers 1992 Payroll = $26,228,500.00
Texas Rangers 2010 Payroll = $55,250,545.00

Atlanta Braves 1992 Payroll = $35,853,321.00
Atlanta Braves 2010 Payroll = $84,423,667.00

Cincinnati Reds 1992 Payroll = $35,429,559.00
Cincinnati Reds 2010 Payroll = $72,386,544.00

San Diego Padres 1992 Payroll = $27,689,604.00
San Diego Padres 2010 Payroll = $37,799,300.00

Except for the Padres, every one of those teams at least doubled their 1992 salary outlay. As to the Padres, every couple of seasons, some freak accident of a team with a tiny payroll and with a rabbit's foot up their collective butts comes along and contends. Meet the 2010 Padres. Sames as the 2003 Marlins. Or the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. And every time it happens, it sends the Pirates talking heads into a frenzy of denial. Denial that good players come at a price and, most of the time, the teams willing to pay that price end up playing meaningful games in September.

Beyond which, the Pirates never are the Marlins or Rays or Padres.

In baseball, as in life, most of the time you get what you pay for. And what fans get is what the Nuttings want to pay for. A team that, even if they were to win every game remaining on their schedule, would post their 18th consecutive losing record, an organization that is unmoved by years of losing and impervious to ridicule, so long as the money rolls in.

Update for all the late comers. Here's the NPR story on this.

Parsing the Pittsburgh Pirates Trade Deadline Moves

Despite assurances that this year would be different, that there would be no salary dumps, no last second flurry of activity, the Pirates were particularly active yesterday, a veritable cacophony of roster moves, dumps, shifts and maybe even a couple of good trades. (Hey, they have made some good trades in the past. I remember how hot I was about them sending Nyjer Morgan to the Nats for Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan. Milledge has given the Pirates as much as Morgan did (at least), while Hanrahan (when coupled with the below move) is the Pirates best reliever. So they get some things right. Sometimes. Ignore the knee brace in the corner. Thanks.)

First, there was the depressing move and let's go there first. According to the great Dejan Kovacevic at the Post-Gazette, the Pirates sent Octavio Dotel to the Dodgers.

What'd they get for Dotel? Two minor leaguers, James McDonald and Andrew Lambo.

McDonald is a right-handed pitcher and, according to Baseball Reference, he was drafted in 2002 and is now 26 years old - downright decrepit for a "prospect." I know we're all too quick to judge players these days and some guys take time to develop, but really? A guy who has been in the system since 2002, with an ERA this year of 8.22? C'mon. I don't even want that guy to toss me a soda at a picnic, let alone come into an actual major league baseball game.

Lambo is a left-handed outfielder and though he's only hitting .271 in Chattanooga this year, he looks to be a legit prospect. At the very least, he's only 22 years old, so you know, the Pirates have that going for them.

Maybe one of those guys will work out, but I really liked Dotel. He will be missed around here. Along with Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker, he was among the most reliable guys on the team. And as we all know, "Buccos" and "reliability" have feuding for nearly two decades now.

Second, they sent relief pitcher D.J. Carrasco, outfielder Ryan Church, and infielder Bobby Crosby to Arizona. What'd they get from Arizona?

Most importantly, the Pirates picked up catcher Chris Snyder which means that there will be very few opportunities for Dr. Strangeglove, Ryan Doumit. This, I believe is a good thing. First of all, Doumit is one more concussion away from playing shuffleboard for the rest of his life and second, there's something about him that just bugs. He puts me in mind of all those guys who played here who were just so listless, so nonchalant, so above it all. Doumit is not roaming around in Operation Shutdown territory, but seems to live the second coming of the Pat Meares Experience (tm) (#7 on the countdown). So, less time for Doumit is going to be a good thing for the Pirates. I've been screaming for a better, more seasoned catcher around here and this is a good first step in that direction. That said, Snyder is no Manny Sanguillen.

They also got minor-league short stop, Pedro Ciriaco. Meh.

And, most importantly, they got $3 mill in cash money.

Lastly, they sent relief pitcher Javier Lopez to the San Francisco Giants. What'd they get for that? Two more minor leaguers.

Joe Martinez, a right-handed starting pitcher who is (are they serious with this stuff?) 27 years old with an ERA of 4.91 this year. Oh well, he looks to be better than the guy they got from the Dodgers. Maybe.

And they got John Bowker, another old (by baseball standards for a prospect) outfielder. I'll be kinda surprised if they get anything from either of these guys, but even a blind pig gets an acorn sometimes. I have zero inkling what was going on for them with this deal. It's not like Lopez made a lot of Bucco bucs.

Perhaps the most interesting move of the day was a non-move. The Pirates didn't move left-handed pitcher Paul Maholm, which I think that was a good sign. Moving Maholm have been an obvious salary dump. Unless they were gonna get Jose Bautista back. (Don't remind me.)

Are the Pirates Getting Better? And by Better, I Mean Tolerably Mediocre?

From True/Slant on July 22, 2010:


Okay Pittsburgh Pirates, You Got My Attention

Okay, Pirates, I am engaged. I am rapt. Plugged in. Enthralled. Well, maybe not enthralled, but you do have my attention so: now what?

Since the All Star Break, the heretofore pitiful Pittsburgh Pirates have played six games, winning four of them. It’s a nice number of wins versus losses, but it’s no great shakes. It’s how they’ve won that grabbed me by the throat, slapped me around and said, “Hey, dummy, wake up!”

In those games, the Pittsburgh line up, the same one which posted a winning percentage of .341 at the break and which had scored just 284 runs in those 88 games, have scored 50 runs in the past six games. They scored 86 runs in the entire month of May and just 80 in all of June. They were drubbed by the score of 20-0 in April. Ouch.

And yet, in less than one week, 50 Pirates crossed home plate, a pace which they cannot keep up over a long stretch, of course, but considering how moribund they’ve been at the plate, this is like watching the Bizarro Buccos.

Of course, management kept promising things would get better. Just wait, they said. The young guys are good, they claimed. Seriously. We know you’ve been hosed in the past, but we mean it this time. Really. They’re coming. And they’re gonna be good. Don’t tune out yet. Please.

I had heard that song and dance before. Andrew McCutchen is the real deal, but one guy does not a major league franchise make.

But the cavalry is here. Neil Walker, Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez. And they are really good.

Which leads me to believe that either:

(one) these guys are as promised.

Or,

(two) this is a blip. Or a bloop. Or a bleep. No. Scratch that. The last 17 years have been a bleep. So a blip or a bloop. Basically, this could be a fluke is what I’m getting at, because it’s hard to believe that this isn’t just a case of a blind pig finding an acorn, which I am told, happens from time to time.

It’s not like the management team are the most credible guys around. After all, they brought on Aki “Knee Brace” Iwamura to play 2nd base, paid him $4,850,000.00, and in return got a guy who had 30 hits in 54 games. (If you watched closely enough, you could almost see the bat move off his shoulder, so infrequent and glacial was it’s movement.)

This is the franchise that has strung together more consecutive losing seasons than any team in the history of professional baseball. And that’s saying something cousin.

You’ll pardon me if I haven’t drunk the Bucco Kool-Aid just yet.

But at the risk of being a Gulla Bull, it feels different this time. Which has to mean something, even if all the runs and these few wins don’t mean anything practical for this year. 2010 is a wash and will be another (record setting) losing season.

The way this team is playing now, this could be a portent of actual good things to come. Can they finish strong in August and September? And if they do, can they translate that into success in 2011? If they keep these guys together, and if they can get a few key elements (wily, veteran catcher anyone?), they could be a team with playoff hopes still alive in August of 2011.

What looms larger than Pedro Alvarez’ OBP is the trade deadline (July 31st). Is the Pirates front office dealing in good faith this year or will they be up to their usual tricks of sending young talent away, only to receive a bag of batting practice balls and some summer sausages in return.

So I’ve poured myself a Dixie Cup of that Bucco Kool-Aid, but I’ll wait to drink it until the returns are in from any trade deadline moves.

Washington Nationals' Ace's First Start

From True/Slant on June 9, 2010:

Strasburg-Mania Sweeps Through D.C.

94 pitches. In the end, that was what more than 40,000 fans queued up to see. 94 mostly great pitches from the biggest name in Washington baseball, one Mr. Stephen Strasburg, late of Harrisburg, now of the nation’s capital. It was quite the do, the most electric Nationals Park has ever seen.

The great bog of the east coast was already buzzing after the Nats drafted Sports Illustrated phenom Bryce Harper on Monday. Then, last night, they were treated to the much awaited debut of their own personal $15.1 million dollar man. I’m not sure he delivered $15.1 million dollars worth of delivering, but still, this has to be the best week the Nationals have ever had, from both a baseball and a publicity standpoint.

But back to the actual baseball. Strasburg’s four-seam fastball hit 99 mph with regularity, his sinkerball sunk, his changeup froze hitters like deer in the headlights, and the pitch he calls his slurveball, well, it slurved, I guess. His velocity was impressive. His control even more so. He had zero walks on the night. Yup. 14 strikeouts and 0 walks.

It was a wildly successful opening act wherein Strasburg struck out at least one Bucco in every single inning except the 4th. Lastings Milledge went down swinging in the 1st inning; Garrett Jones, Delwyn Young and Ronny Cedeno all went down swinging in the 2nd. Jaramillo was frozen with the bat on his shoulder for a called third strike in the 3rd and then the Pirates pitcher went down swinging, too. He got both Cedeno and Karstens again in the 5th. Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker and Milledge all went down helplessly flailing at Strasburg’s pitches in the 6th. Then he did the same to Jones, Young and Andy LaRoche in the 7th.

Strasburg struck out the last seven batters he faced, needing only 29 pitches to do so. Of those, 10 were swinging strikes (two fouls) and 10 were strikes that froze batters in the box, rendering them less mobile than Lot’s wife leaving Sodom. Sure, it was against the pitiful Pirates, so it all needs to be taken with some of that salt, but the fact is that as good as he looked in the early innings, he looked even better as the game wore on, which is the best news of all for Nats ownership, giving fans a reason to come to the ballpark. Once every five days, that is.

Can the Pittsburgh Pirates Even Get Worse?

From True/Slant on April 23, 2010:

Pittsburgh Pirates notch new low in futility annals

In 1886, Burma was presented to Queen Victoria as a birthday gift. Ma Rainey and Al Jolson were born. Ty Cobb was, too. The Impressionist art school was in full bloom. And a little baseball club which would eventually come to be known as the Pirates took the field in Pittsburgh.

Since that time, two American Presidents were assassinated and one resigned in disgrace. Train travel was replaced by cars. We survived two World Wars, a Cold War, a Great Depression and a few smaller ones, and even survived the turgid oratory of President Warren G. Harding. Prohibition was instituted, repealed and then California Chardonnays became all the rage. A little thing called the internet revolutionized daily life.

America’s game, baseball, underwent changes as teams moved, sprung up and folded. Grudgingly, Major League Baseball integrated racially. One league even adopted a designated hitter, in contravention to all that is sacred and holy.

It’s been a busy 124 years for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The franchise played in and lost the first world series in 1903 (a best of nine affair versus Cy Young and the Boston Americans), won five other World Series, showcased the grace of Roberto Clemente, embraced the soul of Willie Stargell and set loose upon the earth the scourge of ego known as Barry Bonds. On September 1, 1971, the franchise fielded the first all non-white line up.

It’s been quite a run. Through all those years, spanning the days when Carnegie’s mills belched black smoke into the air through the present day, baseball has been played in the shadow of the University of Pittsburgh or on the banks of the Allegheny River.

And in all that time, through veritable oceans of time, the Pirates had never lost a game like the one they lost to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, April 22, 2010.

On that day, with the sun shining and temperatures at 62 degrees farenheit, the final score was 20 to 0. An unprecedentedly lopsided score. Even for the team with the most consecutive losing records in MLB baseball. Quite an accomplishment. Bob Nutting must be so proud.

We need a new word for ’suck.’

Pirates. Killing Me. Not Very Softly. Not at All.

So, yeah, I got a call from the Buccos. I guess I'm playing 2nd base on Friday night. Who the hell else is going to start there?

Penned last night for True/Slant. Of course, fewer than 24 hours later, the Bucs traded Gorzelanny and Grabow, too. No huge loss, but you know, that blue light is only on for a few more hours, Pirate-Mart shoppers!

trueslant.com/jodydiperna/2009/07/30/how-to-kill-a-sports-franchise/

From True/Slant on July 30, 2009:

How to Kill a Sports Franchise.

Are you one of the millions of Americans who would like to kill a sports franchise? You’re in luck. For this special offer, at the low, low price of simply logging on, here’s a handy eight-step how-to guide for killing a professional team, courtesy of the brain trust at the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1. Trade All-Star, Gold Glove centerfielder Nate McLouth, making just $2.5 mil a year (Wal-Mart pricing by baseball standards) to Atlanta. In return, receive several prospects, including left-handed pitcher Jeff Locke (2nd round draft pick in 2006) currently pitching single A ball; Charlie Morton, right handed pitcher who has made eight starts since arriving in Pittsburgh, with a 2-3 record, a 3.72 era and averages 4 2/3 innings per start; and Gorkys Hernandez, an outfielder currently playing AA ball with the Altoona Curve, where he’s batting .257 with two home runs.

2. Wait for the fans to settle down from this dust up. About three to four weeks should do it.

3. Trade wildly popular, fleet of foot, energetic, engaging left fielder, Nyjer Morgan to the Washington Nationals. Be sure to cite his lack of power hitting. In return, obtain pitcher Joel Hanrahan, a right handed pitcher with a 6.7 ERA; and, of course, known headcase Lastings Milledge, who started the season so slowly (batting .167 with 1 RBI) that even the lowly Nats sent him down to AAA ball. Milledge was rehabbing from an injury at the time of the trade. Since returning from injury, Milledge has played 17 games with the Pirates AAA affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, where he is batting .333 with zero home runs. Whups. So much for that need to get a power hitter in left field.

4. Bide your time. Wait. A craptacular offer is bound to cross your desk on the eve of the trade deadline.

5. Trade Jack Wilson. Yup, the 2004 All-Star rep, the winner of the Silver Slugger for shortstops in 2004, the guy who is one of the five best fielding shortstops in the league and who, as of July 17, helped to turn 100 double plays, most in the majors. Send the guy who willingly took on the tremendous burden of this accursed franchise and actually wanted to remain in Pittsburgh to turn things around to Seattle for shortstop Ronny Cedeno (batting .167), first baseman Jeff Clement (batting .227) and pitching prospects Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock. Oh, last thing, tell the fans that this wasn’t a salary dump.

6. As news of the Wilson move is burning up the internet machines, even causing the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website to go all wonky (not that that’s anything new), quickly orchestrate a trade that sends the other key element of that middle infield to the San Francisco Giants. In return for three time All-Star 2nd baseman Freddy Sanchez, receive Tim Alderon, pitcher who was selected third in the 2005 draft and is currently working in double A ball. Aldereson seems to be a superb pitching prospect, but by this point, the fans can’t even see straight, let alone read this breakdown per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick:

“The Giants paid a big price for Sanchez in surrendering Alderson, who was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 4 prospect in the San Francisco organization entering this season. Alderson, 20, is 6-foot-6 and 217 pounds. He has a 7-2 record and a 3.65 ERA in two minor league stops this season. The Giants selected Alderson with the 22nd overall pick in Major League Baseball’s first-year player draft two years ago and gave him a $1.29 million signing bonus.”

7. Act indignant over widespread media indifference to your team while everybody obsesses about the Steelers, who aren’t even practicing in shorts and t-shirts yet. Act perplexed when irate fans start staying away from the ballpark in droves.

8. Blame the media and the fans for an historic 17 year run at suck.

Oh, and would the last fan out of the ballpark please turn off the jumbotron? Thanks.

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Meanwhile, my virtual buddy the Sports Noter said in one quick paragraph what it took me 600+ words to say:

All right, settle down, I think we're all here so let's take seats. I'd like to welcome you all to the Pittsburgh Pirates Mid-Summer 2009 Strategy Meeting. Item No. 1 on the agenda ... The Steelers open up training camp in just a few days. What do we do? Okay, let's see some ideas, people. Trade Adam LaRoche to the Red Sox? Didn't we send Jason Bay to them last year? Never mind, it's brilliant. I love it. Make the call. Okay, next ... Trade Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez? Wait, aren't they our double play combo? Whatever, I like it. Do it. Wow, I'm getting goosebumps here. You guys are on fire. What else you got?

Here's Bob's real blog. He's a panic. And quick. Man, is he quick:

thesportsnoter.blogspot.com/2009/07/sports-noter-version-4-volume-1-issue_30.html