Pittsburgh Pirates Blogs

 Just sheer domination that didn't necessarily show up in the win column! Fifteen victories equals a Cy Young?  Let's look at ALL of the numbers to really appreciate how great Tim Lincecum has been through his first two-full seasons with the Giants (he did throw 146-plus innings in 24 starts in 2007). Back-to-back Cy Young Awards do not come around very often (see: N.L. stand-outs RJ and Maddux, each with four straight, and Sandy Koufax with three of four; Clemens, Palmer, McClain, and Pedro each went back-to-back in the A.L. ([Clemens did it twice; ten years apart]). The difference? Lincecum has done it twice in two full years by the age of 25! So how do you follow up a CY YOUNG AWARD WINNING SEASON??? You work even harder to improve (by perfecting a third pitch), and that's exactly what Lincecum did after winning his first CY in 2008 with an 18-and-5 record, and 265 strikeouts in 227 innings. Lincecum worked 225 and one-third innings this year, and went 15-and-7 with 261 strikeouts. No, that doesn't sound any better until we delve deeper. Check this out - in roughly the same number of innings pitched, Lincecum allowed fourteen

Continue reading ""Tim Lincecum Captures Second Cy Young""

As expected, Freddy Sanchez has re-signed with the Giants for two years and 12-million-dollars. That's certainly one mystery solved, and for a discounted rate too! Sanchez has something to prove to the organization, and the fans, after a disappointing end to last season. A three-time all-star, and 2006 N.L. batting champion, Sanchez was hobbled by knee and shoulder injuries that limited him to just 111 games between the Pirates and Giants. He did hit a respectable .293 with seven home runs and 41 RBI's. 

Continue reading ""Freddy Sanchez will be the Giants' ..."

  

  Do we really blame Carney Lansford for a bunch of over-anxious, free-swinging hitters?  The stats certainly don't lie.  Only the Padres, Pirates, and Astros scored fewer runs than the Giants' 657 runs in 2009.  San Francisco's 122 home runs was second-to-last in the N.L., behind only the Mets, who stroked just 95 homers with a half-injured team in their brand-new, spacious Citi Field. Walks: 392 for the Giants was dead last in the league (the Rockies had 660 walks to lead the league). And that leads us to on-base percentage; where the Giants ranked last at .309!  That is just dismal, anemic, pitiful....any other good adjectives to throw in there?

Continue reading ""Carney Lansford the Scape Goat for ..."

Last week I saw Andy Pettitte throw six and two-thirds innings of perfect baseball at against the Orioles at Camden Yards.  With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Adam Jones hit a ground ball to third.  Alex Rodriguez was getting the night off, and his replacement at the hot corner, Jerry Hairston, booted it.  Having grown up an Orioles fan and somewhere along the way developing into a Yankee-hater, one might think I would have been rooting for the Birds to end Pettitte’s bid for perfection; however, this was not so.  As a fan of the game, I wanted to witness history.  Sure; I would have preferred seeing an Oriole pitcher throw a perfecto (though even a shutout by one of this year’s starters would have been historic), but I can’t expect miracles.

Continue reading "Nobody’s perfect"

Cliff Lee was meant to pitch for the Phillies.  How else do you explain his ridiculous string of starts since joining the team last month?  In five games, Lee has a 5-0 record, a 0.75 WHIP, and a 0.68 E.R.A.  In 40 innings, he has struck out 39 batters and walked just six, surrendered a grand total of zero home runs, and looked like a true ace while averaging eight innings per start.  As if he weren’t contributing enough already, Lee is hitting .313, which, if it were over enough at-bats to qualify, would lead the team.  The southpaw has truly made the most of his time in the City of Brotherly Love.

Continue reading "Cliff Lee: Philly Fave"

Since I last posted before my trip to Spain, there have been a number of noteworthy occurrences in Major League Baseball.

The American League won yet another All-Star Game – by a single run for the fourth year in a row.  Manny Ramirez returned from his 50-game suspension.  The Nationals fired manager Manny Acta.  Jonathan Sanchez threw the season’s first no-hitter.  The Braves gave up on underachieving hometown boy Jeff Francouer, and traded him to the Mets for Ryan Church, who hit the foul ball I caught at RFK in 2007.  The most exciting news, however, took place the day I returned from my voyage: Mark Buerhle of the White Sox threw a perfect game.  The following day, the A’s traded slugger Matt Holliday to the Cardinals, who now have protection for Albert Pujols.

Continue reading "While I was out…"

  I knew I forgot something.  The Giants had to give up something to get something, and Wednesday they parted with minor-league pitching prospect Tim Alderson in order to acquire Freddy Sanchez.  Alderson was considered a top-five prospect in the San Francisco Farm System, and its number two pitching prospect behind Madison Bumgarner.  Will Alderson become another Cain or Lincecum, or will he become another Jason Grilli.  We'll just have to wait and see.  For the Pirates' sake, I hope the kid materializes into a solid starting pitcher down the road.

Continue reading ""One More Thing About The Freddy Sanchez Trade""

  Clearly Brian Sabean had something else up his sleeve when he traded for Pittsburgh Second Basemen Freddy Sanchez Wednesday. Following San Francisco's extra-inning 1-0 win and a series sweep of the Pirates, the Giants then proceeded to swipe Sanchez, who has was one of the last remaining faces of a rudderless franchise.  The 31-year-old Sanchez, the National League's Batting Champion in 2006, is currently hitting .296 with six home runs, 34 RBI's, 45 runs scored, and 28 doubles this season.  Unfortunately, Giant fans may not see the immediate return of the deal as Sanchez is nursing a mild knee sprain, and has not played for several days.  However, before the trade was completed, Giant team doctors checked out the knee twice and gave the "all clear."

Continue reading ""Are The Giants Done Dealing Before the Deadline""

  I'm glad to see the Giants are willing to at least make one move before Friday's trade deadline.  San Francisco has acquired former Stanford Cardinal and Cleveland Indian Ryan G

Continue reading ""Welcome Ryan Garko""

The Boston Red Sox fell out of first place this past week. They made two moves to try and regain the top spot. First they acquired Adam LaRoche from the Pirates for a couple of minor leaguers.  The move gives them some more pop off the bench.   He should take at bats away from Mark Kotsay.  He should also provide some rest for Mike Lowell and his hip.  LaRoche hit 32 home runs one year for the Atlanta Braves.

Continue reading "Red Sox making moves to stay atop"

  Yikes!  What happened to that sterling Giants' bullpen?  After dropping two of three to the Pirates, San Francisco made it three losses in four games to start the second half after getting clobbered by Atlanta 11-3 Monday.  Seven earned runs were allowed by three different Giant relievers -- a rarity this year. 

Continue reading ""Giants' Bullpen is Suddenly Stuggling""

   Pittsburgh Pirates Mid-Season Analysis

     I moved to Western Maryland a couple of weeks ago and this is part of my ongoing attempt to learn about the sports interests here.  Baseball-wise it’s the Pirates, Orioles, and Nationals, and I wanted to get into the one with the best current chance of a playoff push.  The Nats are obviously out and the Orioles are 14 games behind first in a ridiculously hard division, so that leaves the Pirates, a tantalizing Homer-pick at 9.5 behind in the absurdly mediocre NL Central.  On paper it looks possible that any team could take it, and I hoped that statistical analysis would show some obscure Pirates advantage that could take them over the top, but I just can’t find it.  I’m not saying that an X-factor doesn’t exist, just that anyone who claims there is one is obviously from Pittsburgh.  In fact, this team so cries for the use of the “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” comparison that I spent ten whole minutes looking up how I could work it in.  And here it is:  Mario Brega, who played Cpl. Wallace, the big cross-eyed prison guard in the film who beat up Tuco to get the name of the cemetery the money was buried in for Angel Eyes ,died 15 years ago this month.  So to honor his memory, here’s a breakdown of the Pirates in the spirit of that great film (I resisted using a corresponding pirate-based ranking system, i.e.; Avast Ye Maties, Walk the Plank, and Totally Somalian because even I have standards).

Continue reading "Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star Break Analysis"

Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield was selected last week as an AL All-Star for the first time in his improbable 18-year career and the knuckleballer will participate in Major League Baseball’s Midsummer Classic next Tuesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

Continue reading "Is Tim Wakefield Destined For Cooperstown?"

Cleveland Indians at Pittsburgh Pirates

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Carl Pavano vs. Zach Duke

Since I live in the Youngstown television market, I also get FSN Pittsburgh on my cable package, so tonight I’m going to mix things up a bit. Tonight I’m going to watch the game on FSN Pittsburgh and give you a perspective through the eyes of Bob Walk and Tim Neverett, the Pirates tv announcers for tonight’s game. I thought it would be interesting to see what they had to say about the Tribe throughout the game, and what FSN Pittsburgh does a little differently than STO.

Continue reading "Indians-Pirates or Browns-Steelers? ..."

Welcome to Atlanta, where the players play, Nate McLouth. Before I break into another ill-fated attempt at rap, I would like to discuss the most recent Braves acquisition, what Atlanta gave up, and the reaction I have heard from many other Braves fans.

Continue reading "Braves acquire Nate McLouth"

What is the fastest way to alienate an already bitter fan-base? Trade your best young player. Trade a guy who made the all-star team last year, won a gold glove, is still only 27 years old, and the guy you made the center of attention in your marketing and advertising materials? Who would do this? Hint: they have had 16, that’s right 16 straight losing seasons. Kids who just finished their sophomore year of high school have never seen them have a winning season. The answer: The Pittsburgh Pirates.

Continue reading "Why Pittsburgh Pirates fans should ..."

I usually stick to MLB news, but I’d like to share this anecdote about college ball.

Williams College and Amherst College – both Division III schools located in Massachusetts – played each other in the 150th anniversary of college baseball this past weekend.  The very first college baseball game took place on July 1, 1859, and was played between the same two schools.

Continue reading "150th anniversary of college baseball"

The Cardinals managed to right the shift mid-way through their brief homestand. After allowing The Phillies to score 16 runs against them in just two games, they shut the Pirates down, limiting them to just four runs. The bullpen was responsible for 6.2 innings of work over those two contests, but didn’t allow any runs. They picked up a win in Mitchell Boggs’ start, which was earned by Kyle McClellan and also recorded two saves, both by default closer Ryan Franklin. The bullpen was a liability earlier in the season, but now that it’s managed to take shape around Franklin, it’s becoming a real asset for the club in the late innings.

Continue reading "Cards notes before their road trip"

Someone at MLB must have read my blog post from 5/9/08 and decided that All-Star voting needed to start even earlier this season just to see my reaction.  Keep in mind that the 2009 season began later than the 2008 season.

Continue reading "All-Star balloting reminds me of the Iowa Caucus"

There are only a few sure things in the National League Central this year. The Chicago Cubs will win, the Pittsburgh Pirates will lose, and Albert Pujols will continue to be the best hitter in the NL. The Cincinnati Reds’ staff is intriguing, as is St. Louis’ if Chris Carpenter has a positive impact in his return from injury, and how much will Milwaukee miss CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets?

Continue reading "The Sports Don's 2009 NL Central Preview"

      The start of the 2009 MLB season is only two months away, and it will be a record breaking one for the Pirates in 09. The Pirates will set the new record for most consecutive losing seasons in MLB history. The Pirates will break the Philadephia Phillies most consecutive losing seasons record. The Phillies and Pirates are tied with 16 consecutive losing seasons. The Phillies started the streak back in 1933 and didn't end it until 1948. The Pirates started their streak back in 1993 and there's no end in sight! The Pirates were 67-95 in 2008 and finished last in the NL Central division. I hate to tell Pirates fans this, but it's not going to get much better anytime soon. The reason I say that is because there pitching is just awful! Paul Maholm led the Pirates in wins with 9. There's some pitchers out there that didn't even lose 9 games last year. I think the Pirates will lose 90-95 games in 09 just because I think the pitching staff is so bad. You know you have a bad pitching staff when Paul Maholm is considered your ace by some. Maholm would be a number 3 or 4 on most teams out there. Pirates fans get ready for some history in 09!

Continue reading "A season for the record book."

While reading columns about the Reds that I frequent (Hal McCoy's blog and the official Reds web site) I saw two articles about the same thing, the Reds moves this offseason. One was very negative (McCoy) while Mark Sheldon, writer for the Reds website, was looking at the positive side of things. To glance at the moves the Reds have made wouldn't shock anybody, even though I think they did sign some key players to fill needs. McCoy ( http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/cincinnatireds/) says that much more needs to be done, and that they haven't done enough to move out of 5th place. I hate to do it, but I'm gonna disagree with you here.

Continue reading "A look at the NL central"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

The Pittsburgh Pirates and first-round draft pick Pedro Alvarez are mearly days away from the midnight deadline on Friday to reach an agreement on a contract, yet appear to be headed in seperate directions. Why this is important, besides the obvious fact that Alvarez is a highly-touted third baseman with an upside potential to become the Pittsburgh version of Evan Longoria, is that the Bucs aren't doing everything in their power to get the deal done. That, in a nutshell, has been one of the many front office blunders that have transpired over the last decade.

Continue reading "The struggle to sign Alvarez just another setback"

Baseball History Tidbit of the Week

1903 World Series:  Boston Americans (AL) 5, Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) 3

    Sometime this October, the best team from the American League will play against the best team from the National League in the World Series, to determine the best team in baseball.  No one will dispute the legitimacy of one of the leagues, and no one will question the means by which the two competing teams were chosen.  It hasn't always been that simple though.

Continue reading "The First Fall Classic"

    Since when is a four-run, seventh inning lead against a team 17.5 games out of first place not safe?  Since the Mets' bullpen hit rock bottom.

    The Mets' plan for Monday afternoon's makeup game against the Pirates was to get on top early and send Pittsburgh packing quickly.  When David Wright knocked a three-run home run to right center in the first, and Pedro Martinez allowed only one run through six innings, the game seemed to be following how it was scripted.  But then on came the New York bullpen.

Continue reading "Heilman Heads Up Another Bullpen Meltdown"

    When Pedro Martinez allowed a home run to Jody Gerut on the first pitch of the game, it already didn't look good.  Then, when he allowed another one just two batters later, it looked like it was definitely going to be a long day for Pedro and the Mets.  But Pedro settled down beautifully and allowed just two hits the rest of the way in his 6.1 innings pitched Wednesday night.  His curveball and change-up were both working well, forcing San Diego hitters to hit ground balls or pop up, as they were regularly off balance.

Continue reading "Wright's Lapses Contribute to Mets' ..."

Even though I was not too happy with the three-team trade between the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Red Sox but Jason Bay has been a perfect fit for the defending world champions.

Continue reading "A New Bay Era"

  The divorce. It was inevitable, after weeks of torture and pain for both parties. It was sad, gazing back through the photo album of memories the two sides created together – two World Series championships, numerous All-Star games, and countless humorous vignettes. It was disheartening. But it was time. And finally, citing irreconcilable differences, Manny Ramirez and the Boston Red Sox officially separated July 31, 2008.

Continue reading "The Break Up"

Who would've thought there'd be something else to talk about the day after the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim swept the Sox at Fenway?  Certainly not me.  But boy am I happy I was w

Continue reading "Angels Sweep Silenced by Manny Trade"

This is all from the NESN Trade Deadline show.  Great job by Tom Caaron, Lou Merloni, and Nick Cafardo.

Red Sox get Jason Bay (LF) from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Dodgers get Manny Ramirez (OF) from the Boston Red Sox.

Continue reading "Here's the final deal"

Recently, I also did a rundown of a few of the teams that could be the busiest come deadline day. Now, a look at the specific players that could be moving:

Catcher

Bengie Molina, Giants:

Continue reading "The Trading Post: Player Edition"

Amazing thing. Houston starts off the second half taking two of three from the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, causing some think that maybe good things were in store.

And then reality came crashing down. Houston was swept by fellow cellar dweller Pittsburgh, today losing 8-7. Houston is now in sole possession of last place in the division. Only the most optimistic (and perhaps high) Astros fans would really believe the team has a shot at the post season. Not with starting pitching that's getting torched, and not with Roy Oswalt's struggles. Not with Jose Valverde blowing saves. And not with the offense suffering its typical decades-long battle to get clutch hitting.

Continue reading "Astros are becoming the LAstros with ..."

http://mysportsrumors.com/blog/2008/07/21/the-pittsburgh-swap-mar 

Every playoff contender in baseball seems to be calling the Pittsburgh Pirates, looking for an upgrade for their playoff push. The Pirates have numerous players that interest those contenders, in this article we’re going to talk about five of those guys. Those that have been drawing the most interest are Xavier Nady, Jason Bay, Jack Wilson, John Grabow and Damaso Marte.

Continue reading "The Pittsburgh Swap Market"

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

You wish Houston could have games like Sunday's first-half finale against the Washington Nationals all the time. I was pleased to see that Houston decided to stop wearing their glorified batting practice road jerseys and go with the grays instead, but I digress.

Continue reading "Halfway through the baseball season: ..."

    This time last week the Mets were 4.5 games behind Philadelphia entering their pivotal four-game series with the division leaders.  After Johan Santana gave up a 2-0 lead and Duaner Sanchez allowed the winning run in the ninth, the horizon looked bleak for the orange and blue.  However, since that devastating defeat, New York has racked up six straight wins and the Mets now find themselves just 1.5 games back of the Phillies in the NL East.  During the winning streak the Mets have scored an average of seven runs per game while yielding only three per contest, including back-to-back shutouts of the Giants on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Continue reading "Mets Go For Seven Straight Tonight at Shea"

The C.C. Sabathia deal is dead. The proposed deal that would have seen the Dodgers send Matt Kemp, James Loney, Andy LaRoche, Andre Ethier, Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershw, Vladamir Guerrero, the letter “L”’ from the Hollywood sign (the one on the left, not the one on the right), Kobe Bryant, and DJ Mbenga to the Indians for C.C. and Casey Blake is no more. The Brewers, in a possible drunken haze traded four minor leaguers (including the perpetually well traveled “player to be named later”) in what appears to be a great move for the Brew Crew. They have no interest in keeping C.C. outside of this year if it is going to cost them a lot (and it likely will) so they will be able to pick up a couple of draft picks from the next team that signs him, and get to use the skills of a man in a contract year who is trying to make a good impression on any team that’s courting him. Smart move by the Brewers that is pretty much win, win. The Indians got a good package, but one has to wonder what they could have fleeced from the Dodgers if their deal went through. My exaggeration from the top is probably not too far off.

Continue reading "IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY 07.07.08: ..."

It's that time of year again when every other commercial on television promotes the All-Star Game, and ballparks around the majors are stocked with ballots. So keeping with the theme, I’ve decided to name players to my inaugural All–Star team and I’ll start with the National League. So far there have been the usual suspects putting up solid first halves, and also some surprises that have shocked everyone with success.  So far in 2008, the season seems almost as a Bizarro season to steal Sports Illustrated’s mantra. The Rays and the Cubs have been pace setters, and the defending National League Pennant winners are at the rear of field, lost somewhere in the ice cold Rockies.  So keeping with the spirit, here are my National League All-Stars with a few surprises and few old schoolers.

Continue reading "Mic's National League All-Star Team"

Yep, the injury bug now has bitten one of the Braves' youngsters.

According to some reports on the Web this afternoon, Jair Jurrjens injured his ankle while leaving Wrigley Field last night and will not make his scheduled start tonight against the Cubs.

Continue reading "New starter for tonight's game"

After yesterday's 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt is now 4-6 on the season. In six innings pitched he gave up nine hits, four runs (three earned) and struck out four while walking one. His season ERA is 5.38.

Continue reading "Tough year so far for Roy Oswalt"

Sorry for the Blog Pause--went out of town to the wedding of a friend of mine, but now I'm back and back strong, to conclude my review of the unsung heroes of the 1961 Yankees infield. We're finishing with that all-important position of shortstop, Tony Kubek, who was an anchor for that 1961 team, both in the field and at the plate. He's also one of the great woulda-coulda-shoulda players, someone that many argue would have been one of the greatest Yankee shortstops ever, had his career not been cut short by injury.

Continue reading "Around The Horn With The '61 Yankees: SS"

Continue reading "Big Z does it with the Bat and on the Bump"

Giants thumped by Pirates:  In the opening of a three games series, the Giants and Jonathan Sanchez were thumped by the hosting Pittsburgh Pirates 12-6.  The Giants made it semi-interesting

Continue reading "Another thumpin!"

Next up on my preview for the 2008 Major League Baseball Season is the National League Central. Here are the biggest questions which will play a factor in the season for each team.

Chicago Cubs

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: NL Central"

March 6th, 1964.

Tom O'Hara of Illinois finished the indoor mile in under four minutes 44 years ago today.

Yikes!

Myself, I keep an eight-minute pace and I've never just tried to race a mile. It might be an interesting undertaking, if you're into punishment from the pavement like myself anyhow.

Continue reading "This Date in History: Tom O'Hara ..."

Time to move on from the rough and tough NL East and we head into the middle of the country and into the weakest (and saddest) division in baseball.  It should be fun though, however bad the baseball might be.  This race is wide open with four or five teams that could honestly win this division.  The NL Central has many newcomers to the division and has some very important people spread throughout the six teams.  But I will discuss that later on.  First, the team-by-team breakdowns.

Continue reading "Part II: NL Central"

It's a time for re-birth in literature.  Even though it's dumb that supposedly every book ever uses the 'universal symbolism guide', a new baseball season is upon us.  We're in a cool era here.  If you can calm yourself down and look past the circus on capitol hill, there are a bunch of teams who are in a pretty good spot to compete in '08.  Who wants division previews?

Continue reading "Spring, Glorious Spring"

http://thesportspoint.blogspot.com/2008/02/all-mackey-sasser-team-catcher-mike.html

For an explanation on what it takes to be a member of the All Mackey Sasser Team please go here. The first position we have selected to start filling out our squad will be the position of the legend himself, catcher.

Continue reading "All Mackey Sasser Team: Catcher - Mike LaValliere"