Results tagged ‘ Jeff Karstens ’

Just like the chance of rain in Pittsburgh, the Pirates are threatening

By a show of hands, how many people check the weather reports first thing in the morning? 

Obviously I can’t see the response, but I’m certain a grand majority of you readers do. On any given night in the Pittsburgh area, rain is a common theme. I have to be sure to check, re-check and for good measure, check yet again on nights I anticipate going to PNC Park. Nearly every night has been at least a 40-60 percent chance of precipitation. In fact, two games I was all set to go to were rained out. 
My luck changed Saturday.
With a 60 percent chance of rain, 32,298 other people joined me in the stands to witness a  6-1 Pirates victory. 
It was my first win at PNC Park this season. 
The Pirates have taken notice as it jump started a three game winning streak, at home nonetheless. Each game has been relatively equivalent to each other with strong starting pitching, quick defense and clutch hitting late in the game. 
Charlie Morton went 7.2 innings with five strikeouts giving up just one run on Saturday.
James McDonald earned a career high eight strikeouts and let up three hits in 6 innings in a 5-4 win on Sunday.
Jeff Karstens continued the trend going 5.2 solid innings allowing just one run to set up a 4-1 victory on Monday. 
While Saturday was the only sure fire contest, Sunday and Monday were come from behind affairs. Ryan Doumit’s three-run blast set the Pirates ahead in the eighth inning in honor of Mothers Day. On Monday, also in the eighth, Neil Walker began a hit parade scoring Xavier Paul on an RBI double. Lyle Overbay followed suit with a RBI double of his own. To conclude the scoring, Doumit came through again. He ripped a double down the right field line scoring Overbay. 
The win put Pittsburgh at 18-17.
Yes, that is indeed a game over .500. 

“Where were these fans during the year?”

Well, the fun kept coming last week as Pirates baseball remained fresh on everyone’s mind.

The annual Pirate Fest occurred Friday through Sunday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. In fitting fashion I was there for the weekend’s grand opening and grand closing. It was an event filled with non-stop action lifelong memories.
Honestly.
At least enough to hold me over until Spring Training, that is.
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Friday night there was line to get in as the doors were not opened until 4 p.m. In Black Friday style the crowd ransacked their way into the Center as if they were in search of a Doorbuster Deal on ipads. 
While a few friends and I were some of the first ones in, we didn’t rush over to the autograph lines like a majority of the die-hards. Instead, I signed up for a subscription to the Tribune-Review. I was told they could deliver the paper to me on Sundays, so I said why not? 
Just doing my part to sustain my dying industry. 
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We would eventually find our way to the autograph lines. They seem to stretch for hours, because they do. Sometimes, though, I just don’t see the point. I mean, it’s just a signature. Nonetheless, I still got some pretty cool things signed by players and coaches. 
In my opinion, nothing is cooler than a picture, much like this one on the right. New manager Clint Hurdle and I shared a quick discussion and handshake. 
Let me tell you, he means business. 
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While Hurdle has been a hot topic in Pittsburgh recently, the 1960 World Series team is, too. 
Pictured left is pitcher Bob Friend who was a hurler on that classic team. As I’m sure most of you are aware footage from that historic game 7 was recently discovered. Found in Bing Crosby’s wine cellar of all places, it has since been copied into DVD and widely distributed throughout the city and baseball circles.
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Current players were signing, too. 
Here is my brother, Zach, getting right fielder Jose Tabata’s autograph. 
Tabata bulked up over the winter and was visibly larger. He is quiet as he is shy, and not so fluent in English, either. 
Hearing him say Jersey might be the funniest thing in the world.
“Hersee”
Jeff Karstens, remember him?
He was signing Friday, as well. But unlike the rest of the players he kept his interactions with fans to a minimum.
As you can see, he already zoomed through his stack of cards just merely handing them out to passers by.
He was like that mean old lady at the end of your street that just left a big box of candy on the porch on Halloween.
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Of course, they don’t call it Pirate Fest for nothing. There are a plethora of other events go on in this winter baseball epicenter. 
Zach and I took our skills to the broadcast booth as we love to share off our speaking talents. I’m not one to toot my own horn, but we have great banter and chemistry on the mic. 
We called the highlights of this year’s Pedro Alvarez walk off home run to down the Rockies in extras on August 7th. We were very Greg Brown and Steve Blass-esque.
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Speaking of family, it was great to run in Zach, as well as my dad on Friday. If it wasn’t for my old man I wouldn’t be writing this blog in the first place, simply because I wouldn’t be a Pirates fan.
I recall one game when I was no older than 10, we witnessed a beat down of our Bucs and Three Rivers Stadium. Upon walking out, he just turns to me and says ‘I’m sorry.”
There’s no doubt a majority of my 21 years have been a disappointment, but thats what will make the impending turn around so much better.
Sharing the victories with my dad.

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I haven’t been the only one suffering from baseball withdrawal. Driving up from Morgantown with my friend Marc was a great time, even if he truly is a Cubs fan. But meeting up with two of my best friends, Erin and Craig, who are indeed die-hard Pirate fans was refreshing. 
We shared a nice night in the ‘Burgh.
Friday night wasn’t over, though.
The fun was just beginning. 
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I ran into Joe Klimchak, in game host for games at PNC Park. He does a great job keeping a lively atmosphere at games and I try to compliment him any time I can. having been to many parks across the country, I am proud to say, hands down, Pittsburgh has the best host in all of baseball. His attitude and knowledge are inspiring and you just can’t help but feed off his energy. This was evident Friday as we chatted for a good 10 minutes. he had recognized me and called me “West Virginia.”
Heck, I don’t go by anything else!
Then things got a little somber. 
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The most hurtful thing that has happened to myself and the Pirates this off season was letting go of Lastings Milledge. Now, he didn’t necessarily live up to his lofty expectations.
In fact, he underachieved greatly.
But, he had promise and was a fun player to watch at the plate and in the field. He was my favorite player and I just feel the Bucs could fall victim to releasing a strong talent. 
I don’t want the non-retention to hurt Pittsburgh, but I also wish Milledge the best wherever he ends up.
We will never forget.
Later on, my West Virginia act would bite me in the butt.
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At the Q and A session players and coaches sat on stage fielding questions from fans. 
Some questions were cute, others were stupid. 
I had the honor of closing off the event. I asked who attended the recent wedding of Pedro Alvarez, just Neil Walker did.
It got a little dicey, though. 
Introducing myself as “Matt from Morgantown, Let’s Goooo Mountaineers” may have been a bad move. I was serenaded by a throng of boos. There were some cheers, however, laughs, too. I was glad to showcase my two loyalties, though. 
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We ended on that note and came back Sunday. We were greeted by a huge line of people filling in right as the gates opened at noon. 
Many jokes were passed by attendees saying “Where are all these people during the season?” Valid question, but in all honesty, they’ve been at PNC Park.
For the three day span an announced crowd of nearly 17,000 people came, the largest crowd for Fest since 2003. 
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 Erin joined our crowd again Saturday, she’s great. Never thought I could meet a bigger fan of Bucco baseball before, I still have her beat, but sure sure is close. Then, two buddies from Youngstown met us. My longest friend, Andrew and Ed, Yankees and Cubs fan, respectively, donned their black and gold to escape the winter doldrums and get in the baseball spirit. 
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A new addition to the Pirates’ wardrobe was showcased Sunday.
A yellow batting practice jersey will be inducted into the normal locker room attire for this year.
I like it, I always like yellow anything and that includes my music.
Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” has been sweeping the country and the Pirates are jumping on board. Be prepared to hear it a lot this week, too, as its Super Bowl Time.
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The best part about an event like this definitely the people. A colorful crowd attends Pirate Fest every years and it is a great opportunity to discuss baseball with other passionate fans. We mingled and met many cool people including a fellow Pirate blogger, Zac Weiss.
He is an inspiring journalist, too and you and see his work here on mlblogs. His blog is called “Breaking Down the Bucs.”
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In what Erin calls, “The Cutest Thing Ever,” this picture on the left was a long time coming. It is pitcher Paul Maholm’s twitter picture.
Having asked him if I could print it out to have him sign on twitter a few days before, he obliged.
We shared a nice chat about his tweets and family. His so, Wyatt, is indeed the cutest thing ever. Come one, one look at the pic and all you can say is “aww.”
By the way, be sure to follow him on twitter, @Maholm28. He and his family are going to Disney World the week before Spring Training and will be tweeting and twitpic’ing up a storm.
For more Wyatt action, check it out. 
If you think that’s cool wait until you get a load of this.
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Jim Rooker, pitcher on the 1979 World Series team was signing autographs on a limited basis. He just wrote a series of baseball related children’s books. “Matt the Batt, Kitt the Mit and Paul the Ball,” are entertaining books and perfect for the youngest of baseball fans. He would only sign if you bought the book. Of course, I had to splurge on Matt the Bat. Being my namesake and all it will be a great heirloom to pass onto my kids.
Judging from those pictures, wouldn’t you say it was $14 dollars well spent?
Although Rooker would not give me his ring, he did have to say “Give it back, give it back,” I still did not come away from the day empty handed. 
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That my friends is a Delwyn Young banner than hung from outside PNC Park during the 2009 season. For just $25 bucks I one of two people that own one, me and Young himself. 
Unfortunately, shortly after that it was time to call it a day. A wonderful baseball weekend was the perfect dose to cure the winter blues.
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Is it Spring Training, yet?

Buccos hit the road

The Pirates took their show throughout the tri-state are of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia this past week. The region that I like to call “my home.” The Youngstown-Pittsburgh-Morgantown area is where I’ve grown up and have many memories throughout. 

I created a new one in Uniontown, PA on Monday. 
Buddies of mine took the quick, 20 minute trip from Morgantown up and were spooked by the odd nature of the city. I’ve been to Uniontown before but am always taken aback by the unique, but odd set up of the city. Its almost like a big crater is splashed in the middle of town and a cross section of one way roads make it disturbing to drive around. 
The event was held at the Uniontown Mall and was to start at 6:30 p.m. 
We arrived precisely at 6:30 and found that nearly 300 people beat us to the punch. 
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Bet you didn’t think Roberto Clemente would show up. The wait was actually enjoyable as its not often you find hundreds of people decked out in Bucco gear together in one place. Not just in January, its sparse in the middle of summer at PNC Park, too. In the line we mingled with other patrons sharing stories of memories at the park. Pirate fans are such a close knit community. However, you find three distinguished groups. The first being the die-hards. I have a blog. I am a die-hard. These also include people at the Caravan who know the players, can understand what the front office is doing in an attempt to get the Pittsburgh baseball train back on its tracks and the people who cheer for wins and success at games they attend, watch on TV and wins in off season moves. The second are fans. They really are. The Penguins and Steelers come first but they are loyal because its a sporting event in the city they love. These people are uneducated, but need to be appreciated, nonetheless. Thirdly are the imbeciles who take any opportunity to trash the Bucs and everything that has to do with baseball. There is no hope or willingness to believe that one day the Pirates will be respectable. 
I despise that third group, almost as much as the Phillies and the University of Pittsburgh-it runs deep. 
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Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
As we approached the line, we were there for a little more over an hour, we were greeted by Tim Neverett.  
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The Pirates broadcaster has a beaming personality to go along with his booming set of pipes. We had a nice chat regarding West Virginia sports. I had seen him during WVU football season at the Mountaineers game against UNLV. I was in the press box covering the game for the school newspaper while he was up there for FSN West representing the UNLV broadcast. He also covers basketball games for Versus. Neverett also praised Morgantown and the university for having top-notch facilities and a warm, homey atmosphere. Always good to hear that from an outsider, I know its true and its great to be recognized. In fact, when in Morgantown for the caravan stop around lunch time they stopped at the football weight room and got in an afternoon workout. 
We finally got to the table where team members were signing autographs. Pitching coach Ray Searage had some very interesting stories to tell.

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He, too, has West Virginia ties. He went to college at West Liberty, a small school in Wheeling, WV. He obviously played baseball for the Hilltoppers and went on to have a thriving Major League career, most notably for the Brewers. Searage went on, in a very intimidating tone, to address his party days at the small school even going as far as saying “there were keggers every damn night!” now I go to a top five party school in WVU. We have never gone to Wheeling for a kegger. 
He really denounced any form of education and really seemed to enjoy chatting it up with some college aged kids. Maybe we brought him back to his glory days, too bad he didn’t offer to buy us a beer after the event. 
Now we got to the players.
I had James McDonald sign a photo taken at the season ticket holder shopping spree held in the Pirates clubhouse just a few days before Christmas. His game used jersey was for sale, I pickedit up, my brother got a picture of me holding it. When I presented it to him to be signed he was flabbergasted.
“How the heck you get a hold of this,” McDonald exclaimed. “I don’t even have one.”
The fun didn’t stop there.
Wearing my “Wiz Khalifa” gray and yellow bill hat, McDonald wanted a piece of it. In fact, he called it “too, too fresh.”
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He wanted to wear it. I let him.
PC9.jpgMcDonald even went as far as to pull out his camera phone and snap a pic of himself with my stylish cap. It fit him better than it fit me. In all honesty, it looked better on him than me. I said, “When you get your hands on your own game used jersey, let me know. I’ll trade you.” He didn’t like that very much. 
He really wants his game worn jersey.
Next guy up was Jeff Karstens. 
The picture with him came up a little blurry, so its not worth putting up. This is him anyway, you be the judge if it was worth putting up in the first place.
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Last, but not least, was the “Pittsburgh Kid,”
Neil Walker. Perhaps, the most famed Bucco currently on the roster, Walker is a hot commodity. A majority of the people at the Uniontown Mall were prepared with cards and photos of Walker while wearing his jersey. A notorious stand up guy Walker was everything and more. Complimentary to everyone who came out and honored by my congratulations to him.
He was recently engaged. 
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An excellent night was capped off by a superb Italian meal at a local Uniontown eatery. The fun doesn’t stop here as Friday night begins Pirate Fest in Pittsburgh. As always, stay posted for a post recapping what is sure to be an unforgettable night and follow twitter (@pittpeaswv) for updates from the event. 

Pirates cure the winter doldrums

While December remains the “most wonderful time of the year,” this week in January isn’t far behind. 

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A pair of events in the Pittsburgh region help promote baseball in a time when below zero wind chills, winter weather advisories and 4-6 inch of snow projections are the norm. Heck, especially here in the surrounding areas of the Steel City there are other things to combat around this time of year. Pittsburgh is going to the Super Bowl!
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I’m not complaining one bit. I’ve posted facebook and twitter statuses saying “love ‘em or hate ‘em, you got to respect ‘em. People need to rationally realize that the Steelers are achieving amazing things. Come February 6th I will have witnessed my NFL team in four super bowls, an astounding feat. Some people, die hard fans of many teams may never get to see one.
I feel bad, but I guess its all trumped by the Pirates. I will have cheered for more Super Bowls than Pirates winning seasons. Unbelievable. The first three years of my life the Pirates went to the playoffs and obviously had an above .500 record. I don;t remember it, nor should I, but every year since then baseball has been regressing in Pittsburgh. 
It’s a story that unfolds with every blog post I have ever written and it is all too details to re- hash so I will save everybody the trouble of my personal depression with Pirates baseball.
Any who, I’m pumped. The Caravan was in Morgantown, WV this afternoon but I chose to be a good college student and attend class instead of seeing pitchers James McDonald, Jeff Karstens, second baseman Neil Walker, announcer Tim Neverett and pitching coach Ray Searage. I do get a second chance this evening 20 minutes up the road in Uniontown, PA. The guys are making a stop at 6:30 p.m. to sign autographs and chat with fans. 
For those interested, or those that find themselves board later this Monday night I will be tweeting live from the event. Follow me on twitter @pittpeaswv, for all kinds of updates and exciting thoughts, exciting in my mind, at least.
Also, this weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday Pirate Fest occurs. An indoor baseball carnival at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, Pirate Fest is a yearly tradition and a very popular event, despite the lethargic fan base of baseball in the area. 
Following that Steelers win Sunday I am riding high. The Caravan and Fest will further fuel my joy and happiness and tells me the Pirates baseball is right around the corner. 
Maybe it truly is the most wonderful time of the year. 
photo credits: pirates.com, postgazette.com

Is it fun to be a fan?

Upon returning from Florida I spent a good two days unpacking and reflecting on a great trip. However just a few days later there was only one place I wanted to be. Can you guess where it was?

 

pnc_park_view.jpgIf you said PNC Park, you would be right on the money.

My brother and me ventured to Pittsburgh on Saturday anticpating the game between the Padres and Pirates. I needed a nice trip to PNC Park, especially after sitting through a game at the ginormous colisuem known as Sun Life Stadium. One of my favorite things to see when driving to Pittsburgh is on the PA Turnpike.

 

mr rogers1.jpgYou gotta feel safe when Mr. Fred Rogers is around.

We would soon find out that we were not the only ones who wanted to enjoy a night at the ballpark.

full stadium.jpg36,000 others packed the park not to see a good baseball game, but to see a Steve Miller Band concert on the field after the final out was recorded. Not going to lie my brother and I had this hidden agenda as well. We love rocking out to hits “The Joker,” “Jet Airliner”, “Take the Money and Run” and our personal favorite “Swingtown.”

steve miler.jpgThe game was running smoothly but the crowd grew restless. It got annoying. They were not there for baseball they were there for the extra circular activities. The crowd was almost as worse as my experiences with uneducated fans in Miami. There were beach balls flying in the stands, nobody paying one bit of attention to the game and more people were whining about the boring game, the hot weather, just nitpicking everything wrong with the Pirates and the sport of baseball.

I was content as always as my brother and I seemed to be the only ones living and breathing on every pitch. Pirates starter Jeff Karstens was really gunning through five innings looking the best he as all year. It was a classic pitcher’s duel as the Padres Matt Latos looked superb as well.

I’m trying to start a new tradition of keeping score at every game I go to.

 

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I’ve done so sporadically over the years and have to at each West Virginia baseball game. However, I’d love to do it at every major league game I go to. Buy a scorebook to keep all my games, notes and memories together. If I get this rolling I’m sure I will not quit. But the people around me looked at me like I was insane by doing this sacred ritual. I took a lap around the stadium during the game just to get a scope on how PNC was sitting since I last left it. I discovered I was one of only three people keeping score and one of maybe 12 that actually cared about the game.

Well I guess baseball gods heard the nonsense and ramblings as rain came pouring down in buckets.

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For a good 45 minutes it was some of the worst rain I have ever seen from the stands at a ballgame.

Surpringly alot of people stuck around. It was the 8th inning when the rain started falling and the game was out of reach at 9-2 Padres. But people still remained. Nobody wanted to miss Steve Miller.

Zach and I did not want to either. However, the game eventually ended at 11 and Steve would not come on the field until 11:30. It was getting late and we had to be up early the next day. But we made a pact to stick around for one song, the first one they would play. Lucky for us it was our favorite, Swingtown!

Not lucky for us we still had a good night, very fun. I’m sure the rest of the 30,00 that stuck around enjoyed their night as well. But I’m sure it was just excruciating for them to sit through that baseball game. And it is just a dang shame.

Now it is hard for even the most die hard fans to sit through a seven run beatdown but that may be the only taste of Pirates baseball those fairweather fans will sample this year and it surely came back sour.

Sweet Home Chicago Part Two

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This is not what I hope to see this week. The road trip to Chicago has not been as friendly as hoped for the Bucs. Sunday was an exciting come from behind thriller as the Pirates won 4-3 thanks to a tying homerun by Jack Wilson, his 1st of the season. And the ultimate winning run scored by Nyjer Morgan and hit by Delwyn Young. All the damage was done with the game on the brink in the top of the ninth. 

The Pirates only managed 2 hits against Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd in Fridays 2-0 loss. A different story in the pivital game three. Sunday’s win gave the Pirates 16 hits en route to their 20th win of the season.

Pittsburgh now sits at 20-24 on the year and face the Cubs. I have to applaud whoever does the scheduling of teh season games. To hav ethe Pirates stay in Chicago for a six game stretch was very convienent. I’m sure the players appreciate not having to travel across the country but rather across town. I wonder if they just stayed in the hotel this past week? Doubtful because Chicago is a huge city, but nontheless it is a good move.  

The Pirates now face the Cubs in an interesting crossroads. The Cubbies have lost 7 in a row. This could be both an advantage and disadvantage facing Pittsburgh. Can the Pirates kick Chicago while their down? Or will Chicago be hungry and feeding on the Pirates?

With all these questions upon us lets take a look at some of the images from Sunday’s dramatic victory at U.S. Cellular Field.

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Eric Hinkse filled in at first base for Adam LaRoche. Hinske did things in a big way hitting a ground rule double in the first and a solo homerun in the 8th. The HR was his first of the year. Hinske’s performance should dictate more playing time at first base or anywhere on the diamond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Starting pitcher Jeff Kaaaaaaarstens had one of his best outings of the year. (I add the aaaaaaar for the dynamic Pirate-sounding effect. Works dont it?) 5.1 innings pitched, 5 hits and 3 earned runs was his stat line. A no-decision but he definately allowed the Bucs to stay in the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jack Wilson connects for his homerun in the top of the ninth. It was his first of the year and it could not have come at a more opportune time. The dinger tied the game at 3 and ultimately boosted the Pirates to score the winning run a few batters latter.

 

 

 

 

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Nyjer Morgan crossed the plate for that winning run thanks to the RBI at the hands of Delwyn Young. The look in Morgan’s eyes and expression on his face sum up the feeling of winning that every player feels after a crucial moment. Morgan, a sprakplug in his own right will help instill the positive and most importantly winning mentality in the minds of the players to continue to win vicoriously.

 

 

 

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Outfielder Nate McClouth, Morgan and Brandon Moss gather to celebrate the 4-3 vicotry after Matt Capps shut down the WHite Sox 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth. Capps struck out the side en route to his 9th save of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

After singing the Blues while witnessing 2 straight losses, I was signing the praises of the Bucs while watching this game on my couch, all part of my ideal lazy Sunday type of afternoon. As this week continues in Chicago I hope to see more jubilation in part to Buc victories, theres nothing like a good win to make your day alot better.

 

PHOTO CREDITS: allposters.com, espn.com

Screwed by the Brew Crew…

…..AGAIN.

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Personally, I can not take it anymore. The Pirates have dropped 16 in a row to the boys from Milwaukee. It’s getting old; it’s getting ridiculous. With the 7-4 come from behind victory the brewers showed once again that they own the Pirates.

Ryan Braun did not get the start in this game and I was pretty excited that their slugger was Missing In Action from the starting lineup. Little did I know he would come back to bite me in the butt. In the 8th inning who else but Braun steps up to the plate and delievers a bloop single that scores two runs and tied the game at 3. Whats more dissapointing is that the ball should have very easily been caught. It floated up in the air for what seemed like forever. When it left his bat I was pumped up for a routine fly ball and an inning ending putout. However, Brandon Moss had other plans as he slowed up and played the ball on a hop. Now I’m no major league rightfielder any mean. Heck, I couldn’t even play for my high school team but I’ll tell you what in little league, I hustled. I wanted to catch everything when I patrolled the outfield. Seeing Moss play the ball way to conservatively makes me question his motivation, drive and also his talent.

What was worse about that sequence of events was seeing the sheepish grin run across Braun’s face. 
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DISGUSTING

He was a bit too jolly for my liking. He did’nt hit a home run or even get good wood on the ball to solidfy a good hit. Just by sure luck was he able to tie the game.

Now the girls of Wisconsin and sports writers across America will gush over his “clutch” performance and steady hands that helped win the game for the Brewers.

What makes matters worse is what he said after the game.

 ”Unbelievable game,” said Braun,  “I was not anticipating playing, that’s for sure. It’s kind of a crazy day, something I’ve never experienced before.”

Blah, blah, blah come on man get over yourself. To make matters worse apparently Braun has never been hit by a pitch either. In last weeks series against the Buccos, Braun didn’t have enough kleenex to dry his tears after he was beaned by a pitch from Jeff Karstens.

sadbraun.jpg   Braun wasn’t too happy about the beaning and went on a tirade after the game.

“It’s rare for major league pitchers to miss by that much with the fastball,” Braun said. “We play them about 17 more times. Tell Mr. Selig, we’ll see what happens. It’ll be interesting.” I think Bud has better things to worrsy about man. While if I was Karstens I’d love to send a message to hot head Mc. Gee up there but he is a major league pitcher and he does know better. Braun didn’t stop there with the whining, also saying “that kid should know better.” Referring to Karstens.

Now according to pirates.com, Karstens was born on 9/24/1982 making him 26 years old. Braun on the other hand was born on 11/17/1983. Just a tad younger than Jeff. By calling Karstens a “kid” was a belt-lining blow to a fellow major league collegue. He made himself look like like spoiled, frat boy “kid.”

If you haven’t been able to tell I have lost a lot of respect for the Brewers organization. I’ve kind of admired the franchise over the past few years. I’ve been to Miller Park, it is fantastic. The structure is beautiful and the atmosphere is grand. The current and vintage logo is cool with its bold striking royal blue color. And the players themselves are fun. The orgainzation produced and developed their own young talent and groomed them into premier ballplayers. When a piece or two was needed they go out and add a fixture that is solid and contributes to the team. I’ve supported them in their playoff run and idolized their model of a small market team. Even one of my favorite baseball movies “Mr. 3000″ starring the late Bernie Mac is a Milwaukee item.
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However, the cocky attitude, untucking of the shirts and overall bad mouthing of the Pirates shows the lack of class and respect this team has for a fellow MLB club. 

But in the end it is up to the Bucs to right their own ship. It is a pivital game tonight. Ian Snell takes the mound looking to avoid a 17th straight loss to the Brew Crew. Its historically fitting because the Pirates are also on the brink of their 17 straight losing season. A win tonight would be a nice turnaround as the Bucs would end the Crew streak and reach the .500 plateau once again. Who knows maybe it will even avoid the losing season streak come September, but once again. WHO KNOWS.

Taking a page out of Pedro Martinez’s book-We just have to tip our hats and call the Brewers our daddy.  

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Braun-AP Photos

                          Mr. 3000-filmhobbit.com

 

Exploding like the Buc’s Themselves

Well the Pirates dropped another one on Sunday. 5-0 at the hands of the Reds. Jeff Karstens picked up the loss as he served up pitch by pitch to the Reds offense. The Reds are a solid team. With a nice young core and mix of power and speed, I like their development more so than the Pirates.

They had a direction set in place and are carrying the plan out as directly as possible. While the Pittsburgh organization claims they know what they are doing, there is always room for doubt amongst the fans.

We have a core of players no doubt. McLouth, Doumit and either LaRoche rival what CInci has in Votto, Bruce and Encarnacion. Both teams ridded themselves of premium players within the last year. The Pirates got rid of Bay, while the Reds got rid of Dunn. Both teams have smattering of other solid veterans that fill out their lineup. The Pirates have Sanchez and Wilson. The Reds have Dickerson and Hernandez.

While I’ve been known to have the optomistic gene embedded in me I do believe the Reds will top us in the division this year. At the beginning of the year I boldly predicted an 85 win season for the Bucs. Based purely on young talent, anticipation and folowing suit with Tampa Bays impeccable season, I thought, why not?

With 24 games under the belt I know ask, how? How can the Pirates get back on track. We were once 4 games above .500 and a solid second place in the NL Central. After facing inter-divison rivals in the Brewers and Reds, the Bucs may have just fallen back down to earth. While I know were good there is just something missing. We lack a primetime player. McLouth is good, Morgan has been pleasant and the Brothers LaRoche have been progressing. But this past week just everything went south.

No offense at all has de-railed the Bucs. In just 6 games, 18 runs were scored. While it seems liek a decent total in the thick of things, in two of those games 0 runs were scored. One run was scored in a game as well.

It’s tough to watch especially when I need something to get my mind off my studying.

This past week I have not had time to update the blog because I have literally been “exploding”. I have been studying for finals. Here at West Virginia University, it is a hectic time. The Libraries are packed with students in every nook and I’m trying to find my place amongst them. Economic is a killer. While it is a subject that everyone should have a background in, its very confusing. Alot of it is common sense but thrown to together Average Total Costs and Variable Costs all have intertiwned my brain.

One thing that has been decent is the play of the Mountaineer baseball team. They just took 2 of 3 from Rutgers and sit in 4th place in the Big East. On Sunday junior starting pitcher Billy Gross went the full 9 innings only allowing 5 hits.                                                                
 Gross-Header-5309.jpg 
Gross had great command of his pitches and was so effective on the mound, Rutgers did not have any extra base hits. The offense was great too. Designated hitter Vince Belnome went 3-5 with 4 RBI. Leadoff man Justin Parks went yard and 3rd baseman Dan DiBartolomeo also took one deep.

The Pirates should take a page out of the Mountaineers book. While pitching and defense may win championships, offense wins games. A mix of both is ideal, the Mountaineers did just that on Sunday. I can only hope that th Pirates can find their mix this upcoming week. Although it will be difficult when the Brewers come to town tomorrow.

PHOTO CREDIT: msnsportsnet.com

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