Wednesday, July 31, 2013

With each victory, the Pirates are redefining what a collapse would look like

Two seasons ago, the Pirates were 53-47 on July 25th and tied for first place in the National League Central division. After finishing with just 57 wins the year before, they were the surprise of baseball. Unfortunately, instead of breaking 18 years of losing, Pittsburgh went on to lose 43 of its final 62 games and, not only fell well out of contention, finished with a losing record for a record 19th straight season.

In 2012, the Pirates started out even better.

On August 6th, after a 7-6 victory over the Diamondbacks at PNC Park, Pittsburgh was 63-47 and only two and a half games back of the Reds in the Central. Furthermore, they were a major player in the wild card race, along with the Cardinals and a few other teams.

From that point on, however, the Pirates went 16-36 to finish with a losing record for the 20th straight season. It was the latest that any team had ever been that many games over .500 before finishing with a losing record--in other words, the collapse was historic.

Thanks to the very depressing end to each of the past two seasons, Pirates fans, already beaten down by the first 18 losing seasons, are walking around with a sense of paranoia, waiting for the other shoe to drop--a shoe big enough to fit another historic collapse.

The only problem for Pirates fans is the team is so good right now (the best record in baseball at 64-42), it would take a 16-40 finish to have a 21st straight losing season.

I know the Pirates have been bad, but NOBODY's that bad. If Pittsburgh has that kind of finish and breaks its own historical record, the players in that clubhouse should all just retire because they would obviously have mental problems. Furthermore, every member of the front office--including gm Neal Huntington--should be fired on the spot and banned from baseball for life.

I may be knocking on wood as I type this, but I feel as if ending the losing streak is all but assured.....but that doesn't mean another collapse isn't possible.

The Pirates only have 56 games left. With 64 victories already in the bank, anything short of 85 wins would have to be considered a collapse. Think about it. In order to finish with 85 victories, Pittsburgh would have to go 21-35 the rest of the way......not exactly a great finish. Heck, if the Pirates simply play .500 ball down the stretch, they'll win 92 games.

Even if you would be happy with 85 wins (something we all would have signed up for in April), would you be happy with missing the playoffs?

I'll give you that winning the division at this point is far from a done deal (Pittsburgh is one and half games up on the Cardinals as of this writing),but a wild card seems all but assured. The Pirates currently lead Arizona by 10 games for the National League's second wild card spot.

If Pittsburgh finishes the year at 26-30, the Diamondbacks would have to go 36-20 just to finish in a tie. If the Pirates close the year by going 30-26, Arizona would have to go 40-16 to catch them.

While I want a division title above all else, at the bare minimum, I want at least on of those wildcard spots.

Sometimes, all a kid wants for Christmas is a toy under the tree. It doesn't matter what the toy is, or how much it costs, it's just what it represents. I know, at this moment, if the Pirates finish with a winning record but miss the playoffs, I would be very disappointed.

Forget about breaking the losing streak. It's playoffs or bust" for the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates.


No major deals at baseball's non-waiver trade deadline

Looks like it really is a "seller's market. Baseball's non-waiver trade deadline came and went at 4 p.m EST, Wednesday afternoon, and no deals of note were made. There had been many discussions in recent weeks about teams placing a higher value on their own young players and how the sellers were asking for a king's ransom, especially now that two extra wild card spots have been added to the postseason.

More teams are in the race (or think they are, anyway) and are less likely to want to sell at the deadline. And the teams that are really out of it--the Marlins and Astros of the world--have more leverage because more teams are shopping for the piece that will put them over the top.

Regarding the Pirates and what they would do at the deadline, many wondered if gm Neal Huntington would make a minor move or a major splash. A major splash like acquiring Miami's Giancarlo Stanton. But Stanton, 23, is one of the fastest players in baseball history to reach 100 home runs, and he'll be a free agent at the end of the 2014 season.

It would be very unlikely that Pittsburgh could re-sign Stanton, especially with Andrew McCutchen's contract extension set to kick in, and players the caliber of Pedro Alvarez approaching arbitration in the near future.

It would be one thing if Miami was willing to accept mid-to-lower level prospects for Stanton, but the Marlins wouldn't part ways with their superstar for anything less than one or both of Pittsburgh's top prospects, which would more than likely be pitcher Jameson Taillon and outfielder Gregory Polanco.

Both prospects are highly thought of and in the top 15 of MLB's top 100 prospects. In fact, both players have a chance to be with the big club next season. If Polanco even approaches the talent of a McCutchen, he's going to make the Pirates outfield one of the best in baseball.

The Pirates have done such a wonderful job of restocking  their once barren farm system, and to trade two of their top prospects away for a player that would be around for little over a season would make little sense.

Other players mentioned as possibilities for the Pirates were outfielder Alex Rios of the White Sox and pitcher Bud Norris of the Astros--two nice pieces but probably not game-changers. But, again, because it's such a seller's market these days, Pittsburgh would have had to overpay for them.

Honestly, I don't know why any team would want to sell off its future for "now" anymore. In the 70's, 80's, and early 90's, when only four teams made the playoffs, and clinching a World Series meant winning two "best of" series, it made more sense to sell off the future for the present. But today, with the playoff field expanding by 60% since 1995, it makes more sense for a team to keep its homegrown talent and develop as much of it as possible.

It's quite conceivable that the Pirates will wind up with the second best record in baseball and still have to settle for a wild card. Would it really make a lot of sense to mortgage so much of their future and chance the outcome of a one-game playoff?

A team like the Pirates, with their young core and rapidly improving farm system, has a chance to remain contenders for a long time, especially with an extra wild card added to the mix.

The fact that very little happened around baseball at the deadline tells me that more teams are going to try to keep their young prospects, and I believe that levels the playing field for the small market teams.

If you can't buy a championship anymore, and you can't raid another organization to get one, you must develop from within.

Maybe I'm just being overly optimistic and a bit naive, but perhaps the gap between the large and small market teams is narrowing very rapidly.

A Pirates/Rays World Series? It never seemed more realistic than it does right now.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Pirates sweep double-header, take first three games of epic five game series against St. Louis

Am I dreaming? If I am, don't wake me. In what must seem like a "pinch me" moment for Pirates fans everywhere, the Buccos swept a double-header over St. Louis at PNC Park, Tuesday night, to not only take the first three games of a very important five game series, but also take first place in the National League Central division by one and a half games.

After winning in dominant fashion over the Cardinals, Monday night, Pittsburgh won the first game of Tuesday night's double-header, thanks to a one-out single by Alex Presley in the 11th inning that drove in Russell Martin for the 2-1 victory.

Veteran pitcher A.J. Burnett pitched seven outstanding innings, only yielding one run on three hits in a no-decision. The Pirates' bullpen continued its dominant ways, contributing four scoreless innings, as reliever Vin Mazzaro picked up the win.

In the night-cap, Brandon Cumpton, a call-up from triple AAA Indianapolis, pitched seven shut-out innings in a spot-start, as Pittsburgh dominated the Cardinals in a 6-0 victory.

Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run home run in the win, as Pittsburgh improved to a season high 22 games over .500 at 64-42--the first time the Pirates have been that many games over .500 since 1992. Not only does Pittsburgh now hold a one and a half game lead in the NL Central, in terms of the wild card, the lead is now up to 10 games, thanks to Arizona's loss to the Rays.

Before the series, any Pirates fan would have been happy with taking three games and gaining a game in the standings. Now, it's time to be stingy. A split in the next two games would assure gaining three games on the Cardinals in just four days.

So far in the series, the Pirates have outscored St. Louis, 17-3.

Just another "pinch me" moment in a "pinch me" kind of season for the Pirates.

Pirates start epic series off with a bang, ground the Cardinals, 9-2, in opening game

Francisco Liriano, this year's A.J. Burnett but without the actual acknowledgement, pitched seven innings, striking out eight and walking two, as the Pirates defeated St. Louis, 9-2, Monday night, to open the important five game series at PNC Park.

Liriano improves to 11-4 on the season and has been one of the most incredible (if mostly under the radar) additions to the team in quite some time. There was much made about the acquisition of Burnett a season ago, and the contributions he made to the team, both on the field and in the clubhouse.

The fact is, Burnett was a Godsend, going 16-10 and mentoring many of the young Pirates players as they learned how to be professional major leaguers and compete in a pennant race.

However, as good as Burnett was a year ago, Liriano is even better this season. In addition to his 11-4 mark, Liriano also has a 2.16 ERA. And believe it or not, the experts on ESPN were actually including him in discussions for the National League Cy Young award.

In all fairness, pitching is often about luck and what your offense does the day you're on the mound. Speaking of Burnett, his ERA this season is 2.96, or over a half a point lower than it was in 2012. Unfortunately, he's been pitching on the days when the Pirates often anemic offense is really, really anemic. And if it's not the offense, it's the defense, like in Burnett's previous start in Washington last Thursday, when the defense committed three errors in a four run first inning in what would be a 9-7 loss. Burnett (4-7) didn't take the loss, but he sure deserved a better fate.

No, sometimes, it's all about being fortunate. Monday night, Liriano benefited from the much-maligned Pittsburgh offense getting off to a hot start. It helped that Jake Westbrook, now 1-8 lifetime against the Pirates, was the mound opponent. Nine pitches into the game, Pittsburgh had a 4-0 lead, thanks to a walk to Jose Tabata to start off the game, a hits batsmen on Neil Walker, a single by Andrew McCutchen and a three run bomb by Pedro Alvarez (now the National League home run leader with 27 bombs).

The Pirates tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the seventh, and the route was on.

The victory pulled Pittsburgh to within a half a game of the Cardinals in the National League Central and four and half games ahead of the Reds, who lost in San Diego, Monday night.

Burnett takes the mound in Game 1 of a double-header, Tuesday afternoon, and if all goes well, the Pirates could find themselves all alone in first place by night's end. .

Sunday, July 28, 2013

First weekend of Steelers training camp is in the books

The Steelers completed their first weekend of training camp without much hoopla, other than the usual fights, conditioning troubles and slight injury tweaks, and I don't have a feel for what the team is going to be all about in 2013, and neither does anyone else.

A lot of what happens for Pittsburgh this season will depend on many things such as injuries, age and how well the rookies and other young and mostly unproven players develop. It's a rather risky endeavor to depend on unproven players, especially rookies, but I've heard it said more than once that the Steelers are hoping that running back Le'Veon Bell, the team's second round pick, hits the ground running (no pun intended) and wins the starting job right off the bat.

That sentiment has merit, considering that most experts will tell you that making the transition from college to the pro game is probably easier for running backs than any other position.

However, it is worth noting that the Steelers and their fans were excited about rookie running backs each of the past three seasons--Jonathan Dwyer, Baron Batch and Chris Rainey--only to be disappointed by injuries, poor conditioning and an overall lack of production. And let's not forget, Bell's selection was seen as an underwhelming reach by many, especially with backs the caliber of Eddie Lacy still on the board.

I hope Bell does well, but I'm more excited about the prospects of receiver Markus Wheaton, the team's pick in the third round. No matter how much we love the ground game in Steeler Country, the NFL is a passing league, and you simply need big play receivers and tight ends in 2013 in order to make an impact on offense.

Fans want to downplay the loss of Mike Wallace and what he brought to the offense, but nobody was doing that pre-contract dispute when he was regarded as the best deep-threat in the NFL and had the body of work to back that up.

Is Wallace a complete receiver? No, but he was probably the best one the Steelers had over the past three seasons, and I really feel that he took the pressure off Antonio Brown, as defenses had to account for No. 17's over the top speed. If Wheaton can come in and be a break-out rookie, it would be HUGE for an offense that will also be missing Heath Miller at the beginning of the season due to the knee injury he suffered near the end of 2012.

With all that in mind, however, I truly believe the Steelers' 2013 season will come down to two things:

The ability to win the close games--Pittsburgh played in eight games where the margin of the final score was three points or less and finished with a record of 3-5 in those games. Bill Cowher used to say there was a fine-line between winning and losing in the NFL, and Mike Tomlin's teams have personified that sentiment. The Steelers won the majority of close games in 2011 and made the playoffs; a season ago, they missed the postseason by a game because they were on the wrong side of the line.

Another factor will be how Dick Lebeau's defense does in taking the football away. It's no secret that the Steelers have had one of the best defenses in the NFL over the past two seasons. But while the defense has been stout, it's been far from opportunistic, taking the football away a total of 36 times over the past two years.

In 2010, Pittsburgh took the football away 35 times in 16 games and made it all the way to the Super Bowl.

The Steelers' defense has been sorely lacking a playmaker. Whether it be a healthier Troy Polamalu, or another player, such as the dripping with potential Lawrence Timmons, someone is going to have to step up to make this defense more dynamic in 2013.

Maybe it'll be Jarvis Jones, but rookies never do well in Lebeau's sophisticated defense, right? Right?

The season kicks off in six weeks. Can't believe the offseason is pretty much over.

The only way the Pirates/Cardinals series will be big is if one team dominates

In what is being billed by many as the biggest series in the history of PNC Park, the Cardinals are heading to Pittsburgh for a five game series, starting Monday night. The Pirates will either be two and a half games behind St. Louis in the National League Central division or one and half back, depending on what happens in the Cardinals game in Atlanta Sunday night.

It's nice that the Pirates are playing in such a high-profile series, but in the grand scheme of things, how big the series is will depend on what actually transpires during the five games. If either team takes three in the series, that team will simply pick up a game in the standings. At the end of September, that would be epic, but in late July/early August, it would be no different than if the two teams were playing in different series and one gained a game in the standings on the other.

However, for instance, if the Pirates take four or five games, it would be an extraordinary development. While a sweep of the Cardinals wouldn't give Pittsburgh a strangle-hold on the division (at the very best, a sweep would give the Buccos a three and a half game lead), it would certainly be a wake-up call to the rest of baseball that these Pirates are for real.

Pittsburgh has been struggling a bit as of late--10-12 since reaching the high-water mark of 21 games over .500 on June 30th--so I'd like to see a great series against the Cardinals this week. Having said that, the St. Louis series is just a part of a long 11-game homestand for the Pirates, so just doing well over all would be huge for the psyche of the team and the fan base.

As most Pirates fans know all  too well, this time of year is when the collapses started in each of the last two seasons, so if we can just get past this little hump and get into mid-August, things could really start to shape up for an exciting finish.

Nobody ever said pennant baseball was for the faint of heart.

Pirates break out the bats in Florida to end two-game slide

After looking sloppy in a 9-7 loss in Washington Thursday afternoon--including three errors by the defense in the first inning and five runs allowed by the usually stellar bullpen over the last two--and listless in a 2-0 loss to the cellar-dwelling Marlins, Friday night--including going 0-6 with runners in scoring position--the Pirates actually looked like a team with the second best record in MLB, Saturday night, pounding out 14 hits (including six in 17 attempts with runners in scoring position) and defeating the Marlins, 7-4, to improve to 20 games over .500 at 61-41.

Back up catcher Michael Mckenry paced the offensive attack by tallying four hits in five at-bats and driving in two runs. Neil Walker and Garrett Jones heavily contributed as well, going a combined five for nine and driving in four runs.

Pitcher Charlie Morton earned the win after giving up four runs in five innings, and the bullpen returned to its dominant ways, combining to shut Florida down over the last four innings.

The Pirates look to take the rubber game of the series, Sunday afternoon, before returning to Pittsburgh for the epic five-game series against division leading St. Louis, starting Monday night.

The win proved to be quite timely for the Pirates, as St. Louis and Cincinnati both lost. Pittsburgh moved to within one and a half games of the first place Cardinals in the NL Central and three and a half games clear of the third place Reds.


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Steelers training camp is just two days away

When you're as big a football fan as I am (yes, I'm unbelievably into the Pittsburgh Pirates right now, but the Steelers are my first love), the offseason is just way too long. Yes, there's always plenty to talk about in March, April, May, etc., but it's just not the same as the actual season.

While I don't exactly "mark out" for training camp these days, it certainly does denote the end of the offseason, and the official start of  optimism for every team's fan base. Alright, not every team, but certainly the fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After a disappointing 8-8 season, fans are chomping at the bit to see if Pittsburgh can rebound and make it back to the postseason. And as I wrote about the other day on Behind the Steel Curtain, it wouldn't exactly be a shock if the Steelers found themselves back in the playoffs this year.

However, while I'm optimistic, I'm certainly looking toward the upcoming 2013 season with a bit of a cautious eye.

There's no denying the problems Pittsburgh has faced in recent years, and there's no hiding the very real possibility that the Super Bowl window could be closed and locked for the next few seasons, as the team struggles just to be respectable.

When a team has as many veteran departures as the Steelers have had in recent years, along with as many underwhelming recent drafts, I can certainly see a mediocre-stretch coming on the horizon.

But, to repeat, the NFL is the ultimate parity league, and you just never know how things will unfold.

Either way, we'll begin to find the answers in just two calender days.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The 2013 Pirates are the new 2008 Penguins

For years, I wanted the Pirates to build a young core of players who could take the team out of its perennial doldrums and lift it to the top of the major leagues. In fact,  five years ago, when the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL were building a young nucleus that would eventually lead them to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals and a championship in 2009, that was the kind of young core I envisioned for Pittsburgh's baseball team.

Today, in 2013, I feel as if the Pirates have their own talented, young nucleus, and judging by their current record (59-39), they now have one of the best teams in baseball.

Every young core needs a leader, a face that fans, both locally and nationally, can identify with. In Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh's top pick in the 2005 draft, they have that man. Is Cutch on par with Sidney Crosby in terms of national and even international fame and accomplishments? No. But he's certainly doing fine for himself. As the 11th overall selection in '05, he didn't make the immediate impact of Crosby, who was the number one over all selection in the 2005 NHL Draft and came to Pittsburgh already anointed as one of the best players in the NHL before even playing in his first game, but No. 22 has been his team's best player since being called up to the majors in the summer of 2010.

Is Cutch the same kind of fiery personality as Crosby? No. But a year ago, when Aroldis Chapman gave him a shot to the ribs with a 90plus mph fastball, McCutchen was reportedly overheard exclaiming, "Blank that motherblanker!" That certainly sounds like Crosby.

Will the Pirates win it all this year? Maybe. Maybe not. But I wouldn't be surprised if they made a deep-run in the postseason. In-fact, right now, in this very article, I'm predicting your 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates will make it to the World Series. Why do I think this? Because I feel as if history has a tendency of repeating itself, and there are many parallels I can draw between these young Pirates and the Penguins of five seasons ago, a once proud franchise that rose up after many years of struggles and competed for a championship.

The Cutch/Crosby comparisons aren't the only ones I can draw between Pittsburgh's baseball team and its professional hockey club.

The Pirates also have a young slugging third baseman named Pedro Alvarez, a player picked second overall in the 2008 draft who, when he's on, looks like one of the best power hitters in baseball, but his lapses in productivity are almost as noteworthy and often frustrate fans to the point of rage.

Doesn't that remind you of a certain Penguins second-line center who was drafted second overall in the 2004 draft? That's right, I'm talking about Evgeni "Geno" Malkin, a former regular season and playoff MVP. A man who often looks even more talented and dominant than Crosby when he's on, but when he's struggling, he disappears, and you wonder if he's been kidnapped and taken back to his native Russia.

Yet another core player is a hard-nosed second baseman who hails from Pittsburgh. His name is Neil Walker, the team's number one pick in the 2004 draft. And while he'll probably never win a league MVP, he's certainly capable of driving in the key run and making the critical defensive stop when called upon.

Sound like a native Pittsburgher who played for the Pens during their Stanley Cup run in '08? I believe it does, and his name was Ryan Malone. Malone wasn't the greatest winger to ever play in Pittsburgh, but he sure knew how to get the job done, and often did the dirty work in front of the net. While his goals were rarely of the highlight variety, they counted just the same. In 2008, Malone contributed 51 points--including 27 goals--for the eventual Eastern Conference champions.

Who else do the Pirates have that's similar to players from the '08 Pens? Let's see, they have a flighty and often misunderstood starting pitcher in one Charlie Morton, a man who sometimes looks totally dominant, and other times looks like he doesn't have a clue out there on the mound.

Remind you of a certain Penguins goaltender? That's right, I'm talking about Marc Andre Fleury.

Who else? Ah yes, A.J. Burnett, a veteran pitcher with World Series experience who was traded to Pittsburgh a year ago and has become a clubhouse leader and has shown the young players what it takes to win a championship. In addition, he doesn't take crap from other teams. Whether he's telling Hanley Ramirez to sit the blank down" after striking him out, or motioning to the Cardinals dugout to  please be quiet, Burnett is the kind of guy who won't just sit back and allow the Pirates to be treated as doormats any longer.

Sounds an awful lot like Gary Roberts,  a former Penguins winger who won a Stanley Cup as a young player before coming to Pittsburgh in the twilight of his NHL career and contributing to the '08 team with his leadership and wisdom. In addition to that, "Scary" Gary Roberts didn't back down from a fight and refused to allow the young Penguins to be intimidated.

How about Starling Marte, a five-tool outfielder who has every bit the talent of a McCutchen and could someday surpass him in career accomplishments if he ever truly puts it all together.

Kind of puts you in mind of Jordan Staal, just 20 years old in 2008, he was already considered one of the best third-line centers in the NHL, complete with the talent to perhaps become a superstar center on par with Crosby.

What about the Pirates constant quest to find more production from their corner outfielders/corner infielders? While Marte and Alvarez have certainly solidified left field and third base, respectively, guys like Gaby Sanchez, Garrett Jones, Jose Tabata and Travis Snider are journeymen players who leave a lot to be desired in terms of production in right field and first base. Fans are always clamoring for the team to go out and find "a bat" to add production to the lineup.

Sounds an awful lot like the Penguins and their infinite search for "a winger or two" to play along side Crosby and Malkin. That certainly was the case back in 2008, when Chris Kunitz, Petr Sykora and Georges Laraque were just some of the average-to-decent forwards who played next to the aforementioned superstar centers.

The Pens did finally pull the trigger on a trade for a star winger when they brought in rent-a-player Marian Hossa at the deadline. Hossa proved to be a valuable contributor to Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup run before leaving as a free agent after the season.

Will the Pirates bring in a rent-a-right fielder/first baseman at baseball's trade deadline next week? Perhaps. Perhaps he'll actually be a vital contributor. Heck, maybe he'll leave for another team in the offseason, and we'll all hate him as much as Pens fan hated Hossa for signing with Detroit.

There's also the eye-candy factor for the fairer sex, at least when it comes to Jones. While the Penguins probably had more players who made the ladies squeal back in '08, Garret "Freakin" Jones certainly has his fair share of female supporters around town. If I had a dime for every time I heard a woman say, "All I know is Garrett Jones is hot!," I'd probably have a few dollars by now.

What about Russell Martin and the upgrade and steady presence he's provided to the catcher-position since signing with the Pirates in the offseason? Whether it's working with the pitching staff, throwing out would-be base-stealers (a rarity in recent years for the team), or coming up with a clutch hit, Martin is all business, and he's got "postseason baseball" written all over him.

That all kind of reminds you of Sergei Gonchar, a talented veteran Penguins defenseman, who not only acted as a mentor for young players like Malkin but was one of the best power-play quarterbacks in the business and, with Pittsburgh facing elimination in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals, scored the game-winning goal in triple-overtime to keep the Penguins alive.

The Pirates bullpen even has a catchy name--the Shark Tank--and just about every NHL team has a catchy name for one of its lines. Didn't the Penguins have a name for one of their lines back in 2008? I'm sure they did, or at least they tried to come up with one.

I really do think this is the year for the Pirates to, not only make it to the postseason, but make a deep-run once they get there. Like the Penguins in Crosby's first few seasons, the Pirates suffered some disappointments in Cutch's first few years--including a 57 win campaign in his rookie year and two-consecutive late-season collapses--but you have to learn to walk before you can run.

Right now, the Pirates are in a dog-fight with St. Louis for the NL Central Division. But since the Cardinals have the experience and the "know-how," I wouldn't be surprised if they managed to outlast the Bucs for the title. However, the Pirates do have a comfortable lead for one of the two wild card spots, and any postseason berth for this once proud franchise would be just fine by me.

Since hockey fans love to tell you how difficult it is to win a Stanley Cup (boy do they love to tell you about that), wouldn't it be neat if the Pirates were the first team to take the longest route to the World series by winning the NLDS play-in game, the NLDS and then the NLCS?

The play-in game would be especially sweet if Pittsburgh faced the Reds and defeated them at PNC Park like the Penguins defeated their fierce rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, at the old Civic Arena five years ago.

As for the World Series, the obvious opponent would have to be the Detroit Tigers, if only to complete the parallel that the Penguins followed in '08 when they faced the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final. In fact, it's quite realistic, considering the Tigers have been one of the most consistent teams in baseball over better part of the past decade--including three playoff appearances, two division titles and two World Series appearances. The Red Wings were one of the most consistent and dominant teams in the NHL when they took on the upstart Penguins five seasons ago.

Of course, a Pirates/Tigers World Series would bring Jim Leyland back to Pittsburgh. How fitting would that be, considering Leyland was the last skipper to guide the Pirates to the postseason? Heck, for a sportswriter like me, that would be such a great story line, I'd probably ask it to marry me.

The Pirates might lose the Series, heck, they might even get shut out in the first two games like the Penguins did in the first two games of the 2008 Finals (if any lineup is vulnerable to being shut-out for 18 straight innings, it's Pittsburgh's), but it would still be pretty awesome, and heck, maybe Morton stands on his head and pitches shut-out ball in a "must-win" game, and Martin comes through with an extra inning homer to keep the Pirates alive.

Yes. A loss in the World Series would hurt, but if you could look at things in a future hindsight, wouldn't you take that right about now? Besides, not only do you have to learn to walk before you can run, once you learn how to run, you have to get faster before you win the ultimate race.

The Penguins answered their 2008 run by winning it all the following year.

While I won't go all the way and predict a runner-up season for our 2013 Pirates, I'm going to say right here, right now they'll be facing Detroit in the Fall Classic.

Remember this day.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Ryan Braun suspended for remainder of 2013 season after admitting to using PEDs

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, the 2011 National League MVP, was suspended by Major League Baseball for the remainder of the 2013 season after admitting to past use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).

Braun, one of several MLB players linked to the Biogenesis lab in Florida, tested positive for PEDs prior to the 2012 season and was suspended for 50 games. However, due to a technicality involving the collection and storage of Braun's urine sample, the ban was lifted and he was allowed to play the entire season.

Braun's suspension will be without pay and he'll lose $3.85 million, or roughly a third of his nearly $10 million salary he was to earn this season.

Braun followed up on his MVP season by having an even better 2012 campaign, including 41 home runs and 112 RBI. Braun seemed rather defiant in the face of the scandal a year ago, so it's unclear as to whether or not he continued using PEDs in 2012.

Braun was having a down 2013 season for the struggling Brewers, with nine home runs and 38 RBI in 61 games.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Pirates defeat Reds to salvage final game of weekend series in Cincinnati

In his first outing since being shut-down for the All-Star game thanks to tightness in his lower back, Pirates starter Jeff Locke pitched yet another solid game on Sunday, going six innings and allowing one hit, while walking four and striking out six batters as Pittsburgh salvaged the final game of the weekend series with a 3-2 victory over the Reds after dropping the first two in Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark.

Despite another pedestrian performance by the Pirates' chronically struggling offense, Locke (9-2) actually managed to pick up the win, thanks to some rare clutch-hits. Pittsburgh's hitters came into Sunday afternoon's game one for their last 26 with runners in scoring position. However, in the top of the seventh inning, in a 1-1 tie, Jordy Mercer singled to drive in Michael Mckenry with the go-ahead run. Later in the inning, Jose Tabata drove in the eventual winning run by singling home Mercer to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead.

All-in-all, Pittsburgh only tallied seven base-hits on the day, but when two of those hits are of the timely variety, that can make a world of difference for a team with the kind of pitching the Pirates have.

There's no question the Pirates have been scuffling a bit lately (just 6-9 since the nine game winning streak), but as I've said before, baseball teams scuffle over the course of a 162 game season, but good baseball teams know how to scuffle and tread water while they wait to get hot again. Salvaging one win in Cincinnati was important because, not only did it prevent the Reds from gaining three games in the NL Central/Wild Card standings, it was only the third game of a pretty long 10-game road-swing, and in my opinion, the longer a team goes without picking up its first win on a road trip, the greater chance that road trip has of becoming a disaster.

The Pirates now head to Washington for a four game series against the Nationals, a team that's 11.5 games back of Pittsburgh in the wild card hunt. Taking three of four would be nice, but  this time of year (yes, it's only July 21st, but it's getting pretty late), just splitting the series would be beneficial as it would prevent the Nationals from gaining any real traction in the standings.

After the Nationals, Pittsburgh finishes off the road-trip with three games against the Marlins, a team that's sporting the second worst record in baseball.

The Pirates have been scuffling, but if they can do some damage over the next seven games, they can turn that weary scuffle into a confident shuffle.

Friday, July 19, 2013

We're never going to stop worrying about a Pirates collapse until they stop collapsing

Ever see the movie "Enter the Dragon," starring Bruce Lee? Near the end of the movie, Lee fights LITERALLY dozens and dozens of henchmen during his quest to bring down the henchmen's boss, Han. Lee fights off one henchman after another, as they come in wave after wave. As you might expect, Lee, the baddest man who ever lived, defeats every single bad guy, including the main one at the end.

As the Pittsburgh Pirates begin the post-All Star Game portion of their 2013 season, there is great angst in Bucco Nation about how the team will finish and if a third-straight second-half collapse is even possible with a 56-37 record.

I haven't the foggiest idea--just like everyone else--but I know I won't rest until the season is over and I know once and for all if there will be a great finish to celebrate or another awful one to mourn. Just like Lee in the movie, I'll always be looking over my shoulder for the next great worry. Will the pitching hold up? Is Neil Walker's latest injury enough to keep him out for a lengthy period of time? Even if he does come back early enough, will his bat ever wake up? Will any other Pirate suffer a serious injury? What moves will Neal Huntington make at the trade deadline? Will those trades ruin the team chemistry? What if Huntington doesn't make any major trades, but the Cardinals and Reds do? Will those moves make those teams so much better than Pittsburgh?

The fear of the unknown may be the greatest fear of all. In the case of the Pirates, most fans under the age of 25 have no idea what it's like to cheer on a postseason team, so until it happens, it's going to be kind of hard to believe it'll actually come to pass--up until now, all they've witnessed is failure.

Heck, even fans who were old enough to witness postseason baseball in Pittsburgh (Yours truly) aren't going to believe it until they can party like it's 1992.

And, no matter what they say, the players themselves won't truly believe it until they close the deal. To paraphrase Steelers Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, "You never know if you have the team to win a championship until you actually do it."

No, we don't know, and yes, we do have fear. But like Lee fighting off those henchmen in Han's dungeon, we're going to keep moving forward because we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Happy second half, Pirates fans!

Suspect in Adams' stabbing says second-year Steeler instigated incident on June 1st

As reported by Behind the Steel Curtain and various other news outlets, Michael Paranay and his lawyer claimed on Thursday that Mike Adams, the Steelers second year offensive lineman, was the aggressor in a June 1st confrontation on the South Side that resulted in Adams being stabbed two-times--including an abdominal wound that required emergency surgery. Paranay, along with Duquay Means and Jarrell Whitlock, have been arrested and charged with assaulting Adams.

It's no surprise that the suspects are claiming Adams was the bully. After all, isn't that what most criminals do? Didn't Aaron Hernandez just plead "not guilty" to the murder of Odin Lloyd even though there appears to be sufficient motive and evidence to place Hernandez at the scene of Lloyd's death?

Of course Paranay, Means and Whitlock are going to try to spin it around and place the blame on Adams. However, even if Adams did start trouble with the three suspects, was that enough to justify Adams being stabbed.........twice? I've talked with several people about the Adams' situation, and believe it or not, some people have said that they could picture a scenario in-which the stabbing was justified

I just don't see it.

You take an unarmed man, albeit one who is a rather large NFL player, and put him up against three guys. Even though the three guys are much smaller than the larger man, I find it hard to believe they wouldn't have an upper-hand in any sort of confrontation.

What could Adams have possibly been doing to these three guys that would have warranted a retaliation strong enough to potentially kill him? After all, when a person gets shot or stabbed, especially in a vital part of the body, the usual intention of the shooter or stabber is for that person's life to end........right?

Anyway, that's a whole different blog entry that I just don't want to get into.

Call me biased, but in cases like this, I have a tendency to believe the victim with no prior felony convictions and not the suspects with multiple felonies to their names.


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Alvarez doesn't win Home Run Derby, someone else does

After all the controversy surrounding the initial omission of Pirates' third baseman Pedro Alvarez from the 2013 Home Run Derby, I was wondering how things would unfold when he actually participated. I feared  a shut-out akin to Jason Bay's the year he participated. I also highly anticipated Pedro actually winning the thing which would have been a great story (Pittsburgh may even have held an official ceremony similar to the one that was held for Hines Ward when he won  Dancing with the Stars).

Alvarez didn't put of the big 0, and he didn't win, he simply finished with six dingers, didn't advance to the second round, and then called it a night.

I can live with that. Can you? If you clicked on the link to Alvarez's Derby performance, you'll see that ESPN was ACTUALLY interviewing another player while it was going on--oh the humanity. I kid. I kid. I know people were upset with ESPN for doing something similar a season ago when Andrew McCutchen participated in the Derby.

In all seriousness, A Derby is nice and all, but I just want to see a Pirates' player do something noteworthy in the Midsummer Classic. I'm talking something on par with Fred Lynn's Grand Slam or Reggie Jackson hitting one off the transformer.

I've been watching the All Star Game for nearly 30 years, and I have never witnessed a Pirates' player truly impact the game. You might say it's because Pittsburgh has been pretty awful over the past two decades, which would mean mostly token Pirate players getting invited to the game and not having many opportunities to shine. And while that's mostly true, from the late 80's into the early 90's, Pittsburgh's baseball team was represented quite nicely at the All Star Game, with the likes of Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke and Bobby Bonilla making annual trips. However, they did nothing in those games (a nice prelude to how they would perform in the NLCS later in the fall). And after a bit of a resurgence over the past three seasons, the Pirates have been represented quite nicely in the exhibition game--five Pirates were named to the 2013 squad--but nobody wearing the "P" on their hats has taken advantage of the moment and given the nation a glimpse of the new and improved Bucco baseball.

Maybe it will happen Tuesday night. If not, I'm sure I'll be writing a similar piece next July.

Monday, July 15, 2013

The Pirates should be given credit for their consistent improvement

The Pirates have reached the 2013 All-Star break with a 56-37 record, it's their best start to any season since 1972. One would think that would make for a great story in Pittsburgh, complete with feverish excitement. And for the most part, there has been great excitement surrounding the team this year. Most fans have Bucco Fever and are really into the players, the games and even everything else that's going on in the major leagues--"What did the Cardinals do?"

However, there's still that underlying and very real fear for most Pirates fans that the team will disappoint again and suffer a third straight collapse--last season's collapse was historic, so MLB may have to open up a special wing in Cooperstown if the franchise goes ahead and "three-peats."

As I've said many times on this blog, I can certainly understand the trepidation among fans. And for many, they simply won't be able to enjoy what's going on until the Pirates finish the job and, at the very least, finish with a winning record.

But, in the meantime, what about giving the Pirates' ownership group and front office a little credit for the consistent improvement over the last three seasons? Two years ago, Pittsburgh was 47-43 at the break. A year ago, the record stood at 48-37.

A 56-37 doesn't just show marked improvement for a third straight season, it tells me that the plan put in place when owner Bob Nutting became a more prominent figure and hired team president Frank Coonelly who in turn hired gm Neal Huntington is actually working.

When Huntington was put in charge of the baseball operations five seasons ago, the farm system was almost completely barren of talent, save for Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker and a few others. In fact, Stan Savran, a long-time Pittsburgh media personality, said that an anonymous baseball executive told him that he felt sorry for Huntington because he had virtually nothing in the system to work with.

Things weren't working. Players like Jason Bay, Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez were productive and fan favorites, but the team was still in last place, and something had to be done--the organization had to be re-built from bottom to top.

Huntington has done that. Not every trade and acquisition has worked out--the Pirates have nothing of note to show for the Bay trade in the summer of 2008 even though he was their top trading chip at the time--but a good deal of them have.

Today, not only do the Pirates have a talented major league roster, with McCutchen, Walker, Pedro Alvarez and A.J. Burnett leading the charge, they have a much more respectable farm system--Gerrit Cole and Starling Marte are just two of the latest examples of players who Pittsburgh acquired, developed and are now making significant contributions to the major league team.

For reasons that only they really know, a lot of fans still resent Nutting and have held him to mistakes that he and former majority owners once made. But sometimes, it's nice to just forget about the past and concentrate on the present, and hopefully the future.

Whatever mistakes Nutting and Gang made in the past is the past. It has nothing to do with what's going on at PNC Park today.

Speaking of the Pirates' beautiful ballpark, the most significant team accomplishment since the building opened was when Sanchez won the 2006 National League batting title. Even though Pittsburgh was a last place team, many fans followed the batting race all throughout the summer because they wanted something, anything to be proud of.

The past three seasons, especially 2013, the fans have been paying attention to the division and wild card standings, and for me, that's much better than a batting title.

And the reason we're able to do that is because the plan is working.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Pirates defeat Mets, 4-2, for third win in a row after week-long slump

When the Pirates were in the throes of their biggest slump of the season last week--six losses in eight games--I said that it was normal for any baseball team (even a good one) to struggle a time or two or three throughout the course of a 162 game campaign. The 1990 Pirates, division winners, lost eight out of 10 at one point. The 1991 Pirates, division winners, lost eight in a row and 13 of 15 at one point that summer. The 1992 Pirates, division winners, dropped 11 of 12.

Stuff happens. 

At the height of the team's struggles following a second consecutive 2-1 loss to Oakland last Tuesday, Pirates' manager Clint Hurdle basically told reporters that anyone would be crazy to think a baseball team isn't going to face a bit of adversity during the course of a season. I don't know about you, but I could listen to Hurdle talk all day long. He brings a calming presence and a matter of fact attitude to Pittsburgh's clubhouse that I haven't seen since the days of Jim Leyland. 

Even after the Pirates dropped their fourth game in a row to fall to 53-36, they still had one of the top three records in the major leagues, and despite falling a game and a half behind St. Louis in the National League Central division, they still had a very healthy seven and a half game lead in the wild card standings. 

Today, Pittsburgh has caught the slightly scuffling Cardinals in the division and has an even healthier nine and a half game lead in the wild card standings. The Pirates are also tied with St. Louis for the second most wins in baseball, along with the highest winning percentage. 

As far as I'm concerned, the Pirates can leap-frog with St. Louis all summer long, but I'm keeping a closer eye on the wild card race because I think, this late in the season, if they fail to make the postseason at all, that would be a tragedy. 

I realize getting to 82 wins would be paramount, but right at this very moment, in order for Pittsburgh to finish with its first winning record in 21 seasons, it would have to go 26-44 down the stretch. I'm sure there would be a celebration and some t-shirts printed up for the occasion, but an 82-80 final record would seem like an even bigger collapse and a bigger disappointment than the last two seasons combined. 

No, the Pirates have even bigger fish to fry. They're too good; they're too talented; and they're not going anywhere. 

Please disperse, no collapse to see here. Please, people, disperse. 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Alvarez will be in the Home Run Derby

After days of gnashing of teeth by Pirates fans and the local media, slugging third baseman Pedro Alvarez (and his 23 home runs) was picked by David Wright to replace leading home run hitter, Carlos Gonzalez, who will miss the event due to a sprained finger.

It will be interesting to see how well Alvarez does at Citi Field on Monday night. The last two Pirates to participate in the Derby--Jason Bay and Andrew McCuthen--weren't exactly ideal for a Derby despite their all-around abilities, but Alvarez and his style seem to be taylor made for this contest, as he's known for hitting home runs of the tape-measure variety.

I wasn't as upset as others were when Alvarez was originally passed over, but now I'll at least have a reason to watch something I really only watch when a Pirate is involved--so mostly never.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Now we're up to six losses in eight games for the Pirates, still no time to panic

There's an old saying in sports: "No team is as good as it appears when things are going well, and no team is a bad as it appears when it's sputtering."

Two weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates had everyone in the city dreaming of "We Are Family" after a nine-game winning streak--including sweeps of the Angels, Mariners and Brewers--and when a baseball team is playing that well, as a fan, you can't wait to turn on the radio/TV or even head down to the old ballpark to see the magic unfold.

I know, personally, I started pulling out every old VHS baseball tape I had stored away and watched them over and over. I felt like a little kid again. And  to me, that's what is so great about being a fan of a team that hasn't won in such a long time--a great season just feels so much more magical.

However, as I'm sure you probably know by now, things have taken a bit of a nose-dive for the Buccos as of late. Pittsburgh has lost six of its last eight games, including back-to-back 2-1 losses at the hands of the Athletics at PNC Park.

Right now, the Pirates are 53-36 and a game and a half back of St. Louis in the National League Central. That record just seems so ordinary now after a cool spell, doesn't it?

But a few weeks ago, we would have been ecstatic with being 17 games over .500. When the Pirates were in Seattle to play the Mariners in late June, fans were discussing the final 17 games before the All-Star break and handicapping how many times the team would win. Most people said they would be happy with 10 or 11 victories. Here we are two weeks later, and Pittsburgh is 6-6 in the past dozen games. Is sure doesn't seem as magical as a nine-game winning streak, but it's still better than it was three weeks ago, when the Pirates fell to Cincinnati and were 42-30.

If Pittsburgh can get hot again and win three of four before the break, the team would be 56-36--who wouldn't take that mark?

The Pittsburgh Pirates aren't the team that won nine games in a row, and they're not the team that's currently having trouble scoring more than a run a game. They're the team that went 41-25 over the course of 66 games BEFORE the Bucco Fever truly took off.

Being hot is one thing. Being cold is quite another. However, it's what you do in the middle that truly counts.

The Pirates have a nice foundation (and still the second best record in MLB, believe it or not).

It would be wise to keep the faith.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Pirates drop four of six--sometimes, baseball teams lose

The Pirates dropped a tough game in Chicago, Sunday afternoon, losing 4-3 in 11 innings to the Cubs. Pittsburgh lost two of three in Wrigley over the weekend, and the loss on Sunday was the fourth in six games for the Pirates since their nine-game winning streak--including a 2-1, 14 inning victory over Milwaukee last Sunday that pushed their record to a season-best 21 games over .500 at 51-30.

That's baseball. I know some Pirates fans are probably feeling a bit uneasy with the recent hit to the win/loss record, but as cliched as it sounds, a baseball season really is a marathon and not a sprint. And sometimes, when you're running a marathon, you hit a wall or two.

I did some research, thanks to baseball-reference.com, and even though I pretty much knew this already, I discovered that those famed Pirates teams of the early 90s that won three-straight division titles had their share of ups and downs over the course of a season.

The past has a way of making us forget about the struggles, as we only hold on to the good times. When we think of those Pirates teams from two decades ago that were led by Barry Bonds, Doug Drabek, Andy Van Slyke, Bobby Bonilla and John Smiley, we only remember the exciting wins and rarely the losses (at least in the regular season). However, even the very best baseball teams lose 60 or more games a year, so a slump or two or three is probably expected throughout the course of the season.

The 1990 Pirates, a team that made us believe in baseball again after the dreadful decade of the 80s, won 18 out of 22 games from April 19th-May 13th. It was the kind of run that made Pittsburgh the talk of baseball (that certainly sounds familiar). Unfortunately, soon after that run, the Pirates dropped eight of 10 games. Much like this season, I'll just bet Buccos fans, many of whom were far too used to the bad times, were just waiting for a complete collapse. There was no such collapse, as Pittsburgh won 10 of its next 12. Were there more slumps throughout the rest of the season? Absolutely, but the Pirates managed to win 95 games and their first division title in 11 seasons.

The 1991 squad was regarded as the best and most complete team the Pirates had during their three-year run. Sure enough, Pittsburgh won 98 games that season and won the NL East by a whopping 14 games.

But that '91 edition did hit a bumpy road or two, along the way. After winning nine games in a row from May 24th-June 2nd (sound familiar?), Pittsburgh lost 12 of 20. Later that summer, the Pirates lost eight games in a row and 13 of 15.

The 1992 edition surprised many by winning the East for a third time despite not having the services of stars Bobby Bonilla and John Smiley. Early in the season, the Pirates, once again, won nine games in row. Immediately after that run, however, Pittsburgh dropped 11 of 12 games. Later in the summer, on July 29th, the Pirates had a very ordinary 53-48 record and were tied for first place. But starting on July 30th,  Pittsburgh won 11 games in a row and never looked back, winning 96 games overall and outpacing the rest of the division by seven games.

It's almost inevitable that a team that's hot will cool down for a spell. Like any marathon runner, the 2013 Pirates have just hit a wall.

If they can replenish their fluids and make it to the postseason, 20 years from now, we'll probably only remember the good times.


Friday, July 5, 2013

Liriano pitches his (and team's) first complete of season in 6-2 win at Wrigley

One thing I find neat in baseball is a complete game, shut-out by a starting pitcher. Short of that, any complete game is pretty cool in my book. Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, Francisco Liriano pitched a complete game in a 6-2 victory for the visiting Pirates.

Not only was it Liriano's first complete game of the season, it was the team's, as well. Pittsburgh's staff, from the starters to the relievers, might be the talk of baseball, but those relievers need a rest every now and then.

In Thursday's loss to the Phillies, many fans were critical of manager Clint Hurdle for his quick hook on rookie pitcher Gerrit Cole despite only throwing a minimal amount of pitches. Turns out, the move back-fired, as the bullpen gave up five runs.

Friday afternoon, there was no such hook for Liriano, as he shut the Cubs' lineup down most of the afternoon.

I won't get into anymore specifics about the victory (mainly because it's late, and I'm tired), but I continue to be excited about this Pirates team. I think, after such a long winning/playoff drought, fans are more apt to panic in the sight of a couple of losses. For example, fans were getting pretty testy on blogs and message boards after Thursday afternoon's loss to Philadelphia, which gave the Phillies two victories in the three game  series at PNC Park, and I think most of the reason for the anger was because of the whole "winning series" thing people like to focus on.

However, would it really matter that the Phillies took two of three in Pittsburgh, if the Pirates sweep the Cubs this weekend? It would still be four wins in six games.

The only series I'm worried about are the ones with direct playoff implications. Right now, the Pirates are on an 11 out of 13 run, and if they can keep having runs like that, they'll have some REAL series to worry about in October.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

If Paul Chryst is in it for the long haul at Pitt then closing the door on Rushel Shell was the right move

When it was reported that Pitt prized recruit Rushel Shell, the WPIAL's all-time leading rusher, would be leaving the program to transfer elsewhere, it was a feeling of "Here we go again" for Panthers fans who have had to deal with a lot in recent years, from a revolving door at head coach, to numerous player arrests.

For a football program just months away from joining the ACC, it seemed like a rather demoralizing turn of events.

However, last week, it was rumored that Shell was having second thoughts and wanted to return to the  football team, and my thought was, "This guy is talented, and Pitt needs all the talent it can get right now." I figured it would be a no-brainer that Shell would be welcomed back to the team with open arms. Turns out, Pitt head coach Paul Chryst not only folded his arms, he closed the door on the possibility of Shell ever returning.

I was stunned, but then when I thought about the quote that I always hear associated with Chryst, "I'm trying to build a program here and not a team," it made more sense.

If that's Chryst's mantra, consider me on board. Fact is, the Panthers have had some pretty decent running backs in recent years--LeSean McCoy, Dion Lewis, Ray Graham--but that hasn't gotten the program anywhere other than the Sun Bowl and a few BBVA Compass Bowls.

Larry Fitzgerald and Darrelle Revis, two of the most productive players in the NFL, both played at Pitt within the past decade or so, and the football team still didn't get anywhere near an elite level.

My point is, no one player is bigger than the team, and as the past three decades of Pitt football have shown us, no one or two players is going to get it where the fans have been clamoring for it to get back to since the days of Jackie Sherrill and Dan Marino: An elite level.

College football is all about coaches and recruiting. Chryst proved he could recruit and develop players when he was an offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, and if he can have that same kind of success as the head man, that's Pitt's best bet to finally get to the next level.

Unlike his predecessor, Chryst appears to be a man of integrity. I believe he showed that when he didn't even entertain the thought of taking the head coaching job at Wisconsin (his alma mater and the state in which he was born), and he proved it again with the Shell decision.

The decision to not bring Shell back might not be the most popular move, and it might backfire if Shell goes on to have a stellar college career wherever he ends up, but sometimes, you have to break a few "Shells" in order to make a tasty omelette.

I believe the Panthers finally have the right man doing the cooking for the football program. Hopefully, the end result will be quite delicious.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Pirates lose to Phillies to halt nine game winning-streak

All good things must come to an end. It's been a fun ride for the Pirates over the past 13 days as they won nine games in a row, built a nine game lead in the wild card standings and even built a two game bulge in the National League Central Division over St. Louis. All the while, the hype and excitement surrounding the team grew with each victory, including sellout crowds at PNC Park to witness a weekend sweep of the Brewers.

Pittsburgh built a 51-30 record, the best start for the franchise since 1972.

Tuesday night, before another great crowd at PNC, the Pirates finally dropped a game, a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Phillies, and now they look mortal again.

It was a loss you could see coming from miles away. After defeating Milwaukee, 10-3, Friday night, the Pirates offense struggled in the last two games of the weekend series, scoring only four runs over the final 23 innings (Sunday's game went 14 innings), but thanks to the team's dominant pitching, the sweep was achieved, and the excitement continued for another day.

It was the Pirates longest winning streak since their 10-game streak back in the summer of 2004. Of course, the difference between then and now, is that streak only brought Pittsburgh to within seven games of .500.

My, how times have changed.

The great thing about baseball is you can go get'em tomorrow!

Here's to a new winning-streak and a bigger bulge in the standings.

Let's Go Bucs!

It feels good to see the Pirates turn the tables on Milwaukee

I remember it well. It was NFL Draft Day 2010, and the Steelers selected center Maurkice Pouncey out of Florida with their first round selection. I found it appropriate that Pittsburgh selected a center because earlier in the day, at PNC Park, someone needed to block the Brewers from ever touching home plate again after their 20-0 butt-whipping of the Pirates before what I'm only guessing was a pretty sparse crowd.

If ever a game was a microcosm of the Pirates' struggles against Milwaukee in recent years, it was April 22nd, 2010. To say the Brewers have owned Pittsburgh would be a huge understatement. From 2008-2012, Milwaukee went 63-18 against the Pirates--including 14-1 in 2008 when the Brewers clinched their first playoff spot in 26 years.

If ever there was a tormentor the Pirates had to vanquish on their way to (hopefully) clearing the Clint Hurdle, it was Milwaukee.

The Pirates' struggles with the Brew Crew are very reminiscent of the problems Pittsburgh had with those nasty Mets' teams back in the mid-to-late-80s. From 1986-1988, the Pirates went 13-41 against New York--including 1-17 in the Mets' '86 World Series season.

According to Bob Walk on an old FSN production of Spotlight: 1990 Pirates, the Mets not only liked to beat up on Pittsburgh, they loved to talk about it. And boy did they have  a cast of characters you loved to hate, including guys like Lenny Dykstra, Darryl Strawberry and Dwight "Pirates are like a little league team" Gooden.

A cast of loathsome baseball players who were obnoxious and loved to kick you to the ground and then rub dirt in your face? That certainly sounds a lot like some recent Brewers rosters that included Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks.

Back to those 80s Mets teams. Even though the Pirates still struggled a bit with New York in 1990, going 8-10 that season, Pittsburgh swept the Mets in a three-game series in early September to extend its lead in the National League East from a half a game to three and a half. This ultimately proved to be the difference in the Pirates winning the division that year, as they clinched the title with three games left in the regular season.

Pittsburgh soon turned the tables on the struggling Mets' franchise, going a combined 26-10 against New York the following two seasons on the way to winning two more division titles.

Unlike those early 90s Pirates teams, it remains to be seen if the 2013 edition has truly turned the corner in general, but they may have turned the tide against Milwaukee. So far this season, Pittsburgh is 9-4 against the Brewers--the Pirates hadn't won more than five games against Milwaukee in any of the past five seasons--and it sure feels good to kick some dirt in an old tormentor's face.

It was a great weekend at PNC Park, as the Pirates swept Milwaukee for the first time since 2009, including a blow-out victory and a couple of 2-1 triumphs that had to leave the Brewers players shaking their heads in frustration--that sure sounds like how a lot of recent trips to Miller Park have gone for the Pirates, doesn't it?

If the Pirates have truly turned the corner, I will relish the next season or so, because, in edition to Milwaukee, they have a lot of bullies to pay back.

You hear that, San Diego Padres? We're coming for you!