I know it’s easy to ignore sports in the summer sometimes, particularly here in Pittsburgh. Personally, I’m bouncing off the walls anticipating August 15th when the 2010/2011 English Premier League season kicks off. Until then, here is a nugget to tide us over. Charlie from Bucs Dugout is one of the best when it comes to Bucco baseball.  Those splits on Alvarez are serious business. I said it would take some time for the man to adjust…and here he is in July starting to turn it up a bit…**touch wood* *(no homo).  Let’s pray he keeps it up…ehh, (no homo).

I will NOT chase ball four low and away!

Everyone knows it by now: Pedro Alvarez has been called up and will start at third base tonight against the Chicago White Sox. The city is abuzz with excitement because of the potential this guy has. The ball flies off his bat when he makes contact. However, strikeouts have been a problem (68 Ks in 242 ABs at Indianapolis in 2010) and he has struggled early upon promotion in the past. The front office assumes Alvarez can work out those issues here in Pittsburgh – he has at every other level so far. The main point of this post is to stress that patience should be practiced even with someone with this much talent. Expecting 20 HRs from the kid and a medium miracle on the side may be asking a bit much. On the other hand, seeing the young talent slowly infused into the Bucs lineup is exciting. As of today, the three big bats; McCutchen, Tabata and now Alvarez are here. Hell, even Neil Walker has done extremely well upon his promotion and subsequent move to second base. The chances of a winning season in 2010 are slim but there is certainly more reason than recent memory can conjure to be legitimately excited about the Pirates future.

That's not Dwayne Johnson...it's Pedro Alvarez!

I hate to throw a baseball post in here amongst the anticipation of USA/England but as the residents Pirate expert I thought this was too interesting to pass up. I typically don’t like Pirates bashing because a lot of it, nay, most of it is illogical. However, when I saw this post on Sabernomics, (one of the best sabermetrics sites of all time – although it has evolved a lot since inception) I had to chuckle. In light of the inevitable ‘Pirates Skid’ in which we are now fully entrenched, I figured this is as good a time as any to poke some fun. The study reported on in the post says that the odds of winning back-to-back baseball games against the same team (described in the article as ’similar circumstances’) is just slightly better than 50/50. So, ordinarily the odds of beating a major league baseball team twice in a row is pretty much a crapshoot. Certainly, that is, unless you’re playing the Bucs. It has to be easier. They defy ordinary. After a quick glance and calculation (that sounds like something you get at a seedy casino in Vegas), seven times this season the Bucs have lost back-to-back games to the same team.  That’s not the worst though. Kansas City has done it 12 times, Houston 11, and Baltimore, ugh good God are the Orioles bad, have done it 17 times.  Food for thought on a World Cup Saturday mornin’. Let’s go Yanks…er hem…these Yanks:

U-S-A!

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Cox was being honored for his 50 years in baseball. Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) hosted a ceremony, inviting the Braves’ manager, as well as players and officials. But the cake, which was to read, “Thanks for 50 great years Bobby Cox” had an unfortunate and profane misspelling of his last name.

But, it wouldn’t really be Washington without a cover-up! Staffers quickly edited the cake:

Accidental? Hilarious prank? Douchey politicians? Junior high me loves this.

Last night, during the Phillies 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park, this 17 year old was the first person in the history of the stadium to ever be tasered for field-jumping. LOLs aside, was this much force really necessary? Well, no. I would have been in favor of the Phillie Phanatic attempting to barrage him with as many shots as possible from the gun that shoots t-shirts and hot-dogs, but that’s just me.

61*. Bad News Bears. Field of Dreams. The Rookie. Bull Durham. Fever Pitch. Major League. Hardball. The Sandlot. Angels in the Outfield. Bang the Drum Slowly. Pride of the Yankees. There’s just something about baseball movies that gets to people. Maybe it all stems from pleasant experiences at a ballpark itself. The simple yet pleasant sound of a wooden bat cracking a ball for a base hit. The smell of the freshly primed grass ready for use. The unhurried, measured pace of the game, where no clock rushes any game to conclusion, no comeback running out on time. The roar of the crowd as a ball floats over the outfield stands. The taste of hot dogs, cracker jacks, and a cold beer to round out a sunny, summer afternoon. It all just seems so….American, doesn’t it?

Well, yeah. For now.

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I can’t explain it. The Pirates can’t explain it. Tim Neverett with his smooth, Bob Uecker-esque voice can’t explain it. The Milwaukee Brewers own the Pittsburgh Pirates and have for some time now. I’d imagine that if the Bucs bucked the odds and were 12-0 when Milwaukee came to town earlier this week, they still would have lost all three games. I don’t know if it’s the douchiness of Ryan Braun, the obesity of Prince Fielder, or the totally unwarranted and undeserved cockiness displayed by the Mediocres when they beat the Pirates, but it’s something, and the Mediocres certainly have it.

Who ate all the pies?

Here is the Pirates record against the Mediocres since 2007:

2007: 6-10

2008: 1-14

2009: 5-9

2010: 0-3 (thus far, Shooter)

And I’m sure you’re aware, the Bucs just dropped the first series by a combined score of 36-1, including a 20-0 ass-whoopin’ that rivaled the one-hitta-quitta delivered to Red’s face by Debo in Friday. I don’t know what we fans can do to reverse this shitbomb. Rocco Demaro, who hosts the Pirates postgame show on 104.7 (WPGB), has suggested boycotting all things Milwaukee. I say, why not? It can’t be that hard to do…not much good comes from Milwaukee. I mean, nobody really enjoys Beast Light anyway, right?

Yuck.

A game worth vomiting for...

With such a long season, baseball is certainly a sport where emotion can be very painful for a fan.  You certainly do play to win the game, but it simply will not happen every time.  I mean, every team, from the Yankees down to the Royals, wins 60 games and loses 60 games every season, so why get all worked up in April about one baseball game…. Read more »

Since this is my first interaction with you, readers, I want to say this right off the bat: (pun intended)

I understand. I get it. I am in the same boat as you all. We each hold the distinct, yet unfortunate honor of being fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates have been bad for so long that I’ll bet no one noticed the silly use of the term ‘unfortunate honor’. I know what we’re dealing with. It’s been 17 frustrating years and in all likelihood we’re on our way to 18.

So, it is with this mutual respect for our timeless suffering that I ask that you take a step back, take a deep breath, and try, just once, to be logical about your complaints. I know we’ve been down the Trading-Major-League-Players-for-Prospects path before…but not in this capacity and not with an approach this well-thought out. There are a lot of great blogs out there that have dissected Neal Huntington’s trades, so I don’t plan on doing that here. My aim is to try to finally un-blur the  distinction between Neal Huntington/Bob Nutting’s  plan and the Dave Littlefield/Kevin McClatchy incompetency show,  because it seems that few people here in the great city of Pittsburgh can tell the difference when the  gap is wider than Michael Strahan’s teeth.

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via Busted Coverage

From Monday’s home opener against the Astros for the defending NL champs, comes sight of the always lovable, sometimes scary Philly Phanatic, who was wearing the ensemble below while dancing to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”

I don’t think Listach is amused.

And with that, Happy Hump Day everyone!

(via The 700 Level)

THE HEYMAKER

We’re not counting MLB’s continual screw-up of opening a day by placing a game the night before Sunday night’s Yankees-Red Sox game, but here is a quick 1-2 sentence recap of each of Monday’s opening day games for the 2010 MLB season. Read on and click away, after the jump:

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We will miss you, 5.

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Denard Span was leading off a normal spring training game between his Twins and the New York Yankees today, when he fouled off a 3-2 pitch into the bleachers behind 3rd base. If you hadn’t already deduced from the title, guess who the ball hit?

After this incident Span promptly struck out, proving the fact that if Mom’s not happy, nobody is happy.

The New York Mets have experienced a precipitous fall since Adam Wainwright threw the curve-ball of his life in Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series. A rash of high-profile injuries, a managerial change, a new stadium, and extremely lofty expectations of a devoted fan base have placed the Mets under enormous pressure to perform at a level close to 2006, when they were the overwhelming favorites to win the National League.

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