Game on

Bryan Morris, Donnie Veal, Ronald Uviedo, Justin Thomas, Ramon Aguero, Jeff Sues and Anthony Claggett vs. the Hapless Manatees at noon.

Walking the earth

Last season I laid up supplies all winter, in preparation for the coming Pirates season. Opening day came and I was hunkered down in a beer fort of such size and solidity and swankitude, I thought I'd have some shelter through the All-Star break. At least. Alas.

New year new strategy. Why be a stationary target? Move around some more. Leaner and meaner and more nimble. Sleeping in the open air. Growing a huge bristly beard. Not washing my jeans and wool shirt. Why settle down and have so much invested in one place, I figure.

R.I.P. Jim Bibby

With heavy hearts and sweaty brows, we pour some out for Game 7 starter Jim Bibby.

How about that bullpen

Something about new guys in the bullpen. Oh yeah.

How about that bullpen? Turning things around, I say.

Long live the comments

Haloscan was terminated while we were napping in the twisted ruins of our Stiller fort. We scraped together the change and paid for the Echo upgrade. We are hopeful that comments will return soon.

My thanks to our two readers, who finally woke us and alerted us to the power outage.

NFL week 17: Steelers at Dolphins

Elimination day.

Can't say I like the Steelers' chances of making the playoffs.

NFL week 16: Ravens at Steelers

Ben taking a knee with a minute to go.

Looks like win.

NFL week 15: Packers at Steelers

National public opinion is clearly behind the Packers with this one.

I would like to see the Steelers commit to the run, as they did in ye olde days. Sure the Packers have the #2 ranked rush defense right now -- that should not matter.

Also expect to see the Steelers getting some turnovers.

More Hot Stove

The news about the Pirates hardly making a Morris dime depresses me. Not what I wanted to learn. I was holding out a feeble candle of hope for the theory that they were making it hand over fist--and socking the dough away to fund a forthcoming dynasty. Hey, a guy can dream.

I am not sure what will happen to baseball over the next few decades, but if the Pirates string together another ten losing seasons, or lose in eight or nine of the next ten, then it's going to be very hard to explain how it makes sense to field or support the Washington Generals year after year. It's already hard to explain. Things do not appear to be getting better. Even if the front office has incredible luck making trades and developing talent, there's not much hope for regular winning seasons if they can never pay competitive salaries.

Capps non-tendered

Dicus released, the P-G reports.

Dollar bills

Frank and Bob show Dejan the money. Over the past two years, the Bucs have made barely enough money to employ Matt Morris for a year.

NFL week 13: Raiders at Steelers

Hell unleashed starting now.

Hot Stove

I was briefly amused to read that the coach told Ed Bouchette they would "unleash hell" in December.

Otherwise I have not been entertained.

Time to gather round the stove with a candle in it and a transparent door.

NFL week 12: Steelers at Ravens

Dennis Dixon Era kicks off tonight. If I'm Tomlin, I lean heavily on Dixon's fake Statue of Liberty when the game gets close.

Steelers lose

Tough loss at Kansas City yesterday.

Tracy wins, bloviates, still intrigued

“What we’re talking about this afternoon, it’s probably as flattering an experience as I’ve come to realize during the course of my professional career in athletics,” Tracy said. “And obviously a new contract is extremely exciting. But what is more intriguing for me is what is still out there for our ballclub.”

NFL week 10: Bengals at Steelers

Steelers down 6-3 in the first. Not much tackling on special teams so far.

Dock Ellis movie

Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No by James Blagden.

He even worked in the green weenie. Bravo.

NFL week 9: Steelers at Broncos

Should be a tough spot for the Steelers.

I am curious to see if they will make tackles on special teams. Also wondering if Mendenhall can protect the ball.

Iwamura

Jesse Chavez and his Upside traded to the Rays for playoff-minded Akinori Iwamura. Dejan breaks down some of the fallout. Still not clear if Gerut's expensive knee brace can be recycled.

NFL week 8: Steelers on bye

Some pretty good games this week.

NFL week 7: Vikings at Steelers

Should be a good one on Sunday.

That last comment thread got so big, I thought maybe we should start the new one early.

NFL Week 6: Browns at Steelers

That was not a pretty win. Steelers appear to have all kinds of problems.

Respect the Towel

Sean Leahy notes for the USA Today that the Titans have not won since the infamous descration.

In other news, Aaron Smith to the IR looks like a wise decision to me. Get well Aaron.

NFL week 5: Steelers at Lions

Did you guys know Jerome Bettis is from Detroit?

Withdrawal symptoms

Please describe what weirdness, if any, you feel in this week without baseball, 2009 Pirates-style.

NFL week 4: Chargers at Steelers

Just kicked off. Mendenhall gets the start.

Game 162: Pirates at Reds

Karstens and Bailey at 1.

Game 161: Pirates at Reds

Duke and Cueto at seven.

Game 160: Pirates at Reds

Pirates need a win to avoid the 100-loss season.

Tonight at seven it is McCutchen and Lehr.

Game 159: Pirates at Cubs

Pirates up 3-0. If my math is trusty, a win today would clinch a no-100-loss season.

Games 157 and 158: Pirates at Cubs

Creature double feature. Games at 2 and 8.

Game 156: Pirates at Cubs

Former Cubbie Hart will start for the Pirates at eight.

Game 155: Dodgers at Pirates

Final home game of the year. The Dodgers will try again to clinch their division with a win today.

Spike said it best: "Not in our empty house!"

Kuroda and Duke at twelve-thirty.

NFL week 3: Steeler at Bengals

At Cincinnati.

Game 154: Dodgers at Pirates

Kickoff at 12:30.

Game 153: Dodgers at Pirates

Maholm and Wolf at seven. After receiving the biggest and shiniest bunting ribbon, the International Bunting Champion gets to sing back-up vocals on a Foreigner set - in their native language! ジュークボックスの英雄!

Game 152: Dodgers at Pirates

Garland and Karstens at seven. To protect the integrity of the travesty and to capitalize on G-20, the Bucs should just start billing the games not as baseball contests, but as stunts such as "The International Bunting Olympics". They could bring up and field a team of Rinku, Dinesh, Gift, Starling, Yoslan, the New Zealander, the North Pole kid, and that Easter Island guy. A resigned Kuwata could pitch. Everybody bunts, whoever gets on base the most wins. In the short term, the Bucs could really benefit by acquiring a market of people who didn't understand the real rules of this game of baseball.

Game 151: Reds at Pirates

Hey lookit, baseball.

Reds lead 4-0 in the 4th, I think it is.

Game 150: Reds at Pirates

Votto and Hart starting now.

Game 149: Reds at Pirates

Cueto and Duke at seven.

Game 148: Padres at Pirates

LeBlanc and McCutchen at seven.

Not a lot of baseball left.

NFL Week 2: Steelers at Bears

Game on pretty soon.

When I think Steelers at Soldier Field, I remember this game. Chicago is never an easy road game.

Game 147: Padres at Pirates

Correia and Maholm at 1:35. Bucs have won 3 of their last 22 games, so just by random chance should win a game pretty soon.

Game 146: Padres at Pirates

Richard and Ohlendorf at 12:35.

Congratulations to the Hillcats.

Game 145: Padres at Pirates

Stauffer and Morton at seven.

G-20 surprise: South Africa volunteers navy to escort ships full of revenue-sharing money.

Alvarez

Three dingers for Pedro. Todd Redmond gets the win.

Murray Chass

Murray Chass has some thoughts about these Pirates.

Game 144: Pirates at Dodgers

Hart and Kuroda at three.

Game 143: Pirates at Dodgers

Duke and Wolf after ten.

Pirates have won 55 and lost 87. Not sure what good comes of this last month of baseball. #2 pick in each round of the 2010 draft I suppose.

Game 142: Pirates at Dodgers

McCutchen and Garland after bedtime.

Game 141: Pirates at Astros

Maholm and Paulino at 2.

Game 140: Pirates at Astros

Ohlendorf and Moehler at seven.

Game 139: Pirates at Strohs

Morton and Norris, 8pm, Five Alive stadium.

NFL Week 1: Titans at Steelers

Oh yeah.

If you have one of the 89 accounts in the Honest Wagner NFL pick 'em pool at pigskin.com, you should find yourself still in the pool when you log on next. If you are not in the pool and want to join, use the invite posted in the comments thread.

Game 138: Cubs at Pirates

Pirates lost.

Game 137: Cubs at Pirates

Uh, Dempster and Duke starting soon.

Game 136: Pirates at Cubs

Lilly and McCutchen at noon.

Game 135: Cardinals at Pirates

Pineiro and Maholm at one or two.

Pirates are 53-81. The winning percentage starts with 3.

Game 134: Cardinals at Pirates

Boggs and Ohlendorf at 7.

Game 133: Cardinals at Pirates

Wainwright and Hart at seven or so.

Next year's beer fort will have a cannon or two and much stouter walls. No fun sleeping in a ditch as I wait for the Steeler Palace to open up and receive the homeless Pirate fans.

Game 132: Pirates at Reds

Another day game. Duke and Bailey.

Probably going to be a sellout for this one.

Game 131: Pirates at Reds

Morton and Lehr at seven.

Game 130: Pirates at Reds

Maholm and Cueto in game 2.

Game 129: Pirates at Reds

Daniel McCutchen and Kip Wells at one.

Kip has made 32 big-league starts since he left the Pirates in 2006. He's played for Texas, St. Louis, Kansas City, Colorado, Washington, and Cincinnati.

Game 128: Pirates at Brewers

Ohlendorf and Suppan at two.

Game 127: Pirates at Brewers

Hart and Gallardo at eight.

Game 126: Pirates at Brewers

Duke and Parra at eight.

The Pirates are 18-43 on the road this year. That's improbably bad.

There should be some hidden vigorish there. Jones and McCutchen can look for it.

Game 126: Phillies at Pirates

ROY candidate Happ and Morton at seven.

Jones and McCutchen have a chance to mess up his hair.

Game 125: Phillies at Pirates

Maholm and Hamels at seven.

For Milledge's next walk-off jack, I'd be entertained if Tony Beasley slipped a trampoline onto the third base line just in time for Lastings to bounce off that and do a flip into a crowd of victorious Bucs waiting to catch him at home.

Game 124: Phillies at Pirates

Not a whole lot of season left here.

Blanton and Ohlie Bumaye at seven.

Off day

Pirates chill and wait for the Phillies.

They are 51-71, in last place, and on pace for 67, maybe 68 wins.

Game 123: Reds at Pirates

Hart and Bailey at 1:35 for the basement.

Game 122: Reds at Pirates

Duke and Lehr at seven. Helpless people on a subway train scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them.

Game 121: Reds at Pirates

Morton and Owings at seven. Bucs are only 1.5 games back.

Game 120: Brewers at Pirates

Maholm and Gallardo at seven. Prepare to untuck.

Game 119: Brewers at Pirates

Tuck 'em back in. Parra and Ohlendorf at seven.

Game 118: Brewers at Pirates

Hart and Villanueva at seven. Upside deadline at midnight.

Game 117: Pirates at Cubs

Ohlendorf and Harden at 2:20. Ohlie, bumaye!

Game 116: Pirates at Cubs

Duke and Gorzelanny at one. If Duke and Karstens give up 20+ runs, there's no other guy I'd rather see get the win than Gorzo.

Game 115: Pirates at Cubs

Charlie Morton vs. Randy Wells at 2:20 PM.

Game 114: Pirates at Rockies

Maholm vs. Marquis at 3:10.

"That's the kind of baseball you play to hopefully get yourself to the point where you get a chance to do something very special," says Tracy, who wears a gray T-shirt with one word across the front to describe the team's play: "Sick."

Game 113: Pirates at Rockies

Hart vs. Jimenez and Jim "King Midas" Tracy at 8:40.

Game 112: Pirates at Rockies

Bunting practice starts at 8:40. Josh Fogg and Joe Beimel will be there.

Game 111: Cardinals at Pirates

Duke and Pineiro the Stingiest at 1:35.

Upside overflows in Dejan's new top 30 prospect list.

Game 110: Cardinals at Pirates

Wainwright vs. Morton at seven.

Don't miss Gary Smith's piece for SI on Gift. We're rooting for Gift. Even if he doesn't have the stick, we'd pay for Skyblast just to see him dance during Mr. Roboto.

Game 109: Cardinals at Pirates

Game is underway. It's 2-2 in the third. Carpenter and Maholm started.

Game 108: Diamondbacks at Pirates

Scherzer and new guy Hart at 7.

Pirates are 45-62 and still own last place in the NL Central. Only the Nats (36-72) and the Padres (44-65) have worse records.

Game 107: Diamondbacks at Pirates

Davis and Ohlendorf tonight.

The Pirates would know Davis from his Milwaukee days, if any these Pirates had been Pirates back when Davis was in his Milwaukee days.

Game 106: Diamondbacks at Pirates

Petit and Duke at seven.

Game 105: Nationals at Pirates

The Nats had the last laugh last night.

Tonight it's Mock and Morton.

Game 104: Nationals at Pirates

Game 3 of this epic 4-game series.

Balester clowns it for Washington. Maholm will try to be funny for Pittsburgh.

Game on at 1:30.

Game 103: Nationals at Pirates

The battle for laughingstock of the National League continues.

Stammen and Vasquez at 7.

Game 102: Nationals at Pirates

Lannan and Ohlendorf at seven.

First-row fans can welcome Lastings Milledge with a big high five.

New guys

Here's the list of people acquired by trade in the last year.

... 6pm updated to include the latest Grabow/Gorzelanny trade.

RHP Daniel McCutchen (Marte/Nady trade)
OF Jose Tabata (Marte/Nady trade)
RHP Jeff Karstens (Marte/Nady trade)
RHP Ross Ohlendorf (Marte/Nady trade)
RHP Bryan Morris (Bay trade)
3B Andy LaRoche (Bay trade)
RHP Craig Hansen (Bay trade)
OF Brandon Moss (Bay trade)
C Jason Jaramillo (Ballgame trade)
CF Gorkys Hernandez (McLouth trade)
RHP Charlie Morton (McLouth trade)
LHP Jeffrey Locke (McLouth trade)
OF Lastings Milledge (Morgan/Burnett trade)
RHP Joel Hanrahan (Morgan/Burnett trade)
SS Argenis Diaz (Deerhunter trade)
RHP Hunter Strickland (Deerhunter trade)
1B/C Jeff Clement (Wilson trade)
IF Ronny Cedeno (Wilson trade)
RHP Aaron Pribanic (Wilson trade)
RHP Brett Lorin (Wilson trade)
RHP Nathan Adcock (Wilson trade)
RHP Tim Alderson (Sanchez trade)
RHP Kevin Hart (Grabow/Gorzelanny trade)
RHP Jose Ascanio (Grabow/Gorzelanny trade)
3B Josh Harrison (Grabow/Gorzelanny trade)

Here are the Coonelly/Huntington draft classes.

The 2009 class might still be a work-in-progress. There are a number of unsigned draftees with college plans and large above-slot signing bonus demands.

C Tony Sanchez (2009 draft)
RHP Victor Black (2009 draft)
RHP Brooks Pounders (2009 draft)
CF Evan Chambers (2009 draft)
LHP Nate Baker (2009 draft)
RHP Trent Stevenson (2009 draft)
2B Brock Holt (2009 draft)
1B Aaron Baker (2009 draft)
SS Walker Gourley (2009 draft)
RHP Ryan Beckman (2009 draft)
RHP Phillip Irwin (2009 draft)
OF Jose Hernandez (2009 draft)
RHP Jason Erickson (2009 draft)
SS Ty Summerlin (2009 draft)
OF Pat Irvine (2009 draft)
LHP Zach Fuesser (2009 draft)
RHP Marc Baca (2009 draft)
RHP Teddy Fallon (2009 draft)

3B Pedro Alvarez (2008 draft)
SS Jordy Mercer (2008 draft)
SS Chase D’Arnaud (2008 draft)
LHP Justin Wilson (2008 draft)
CF Robert Grossman (2008 draft)
SS Benjamin Gonzalez (2008 draft)
3B Jeremy Farrell (2008 draft)
3B Matthew Hague (2008 draft)
CF David Rubinstein (2008 draft)
1B Calvin Anderson (2008 draft)
RHP Michael Colla (2008 draft)
LHP Christopher Aure (2008 draft)
CF Wesley Freeman (2008 draft)
SS Jarek Cunningham (2008 draft)
RHP Quinton Miller (2008 draft)
RHP Brent Klinger (2008 draft)
RHP Brian Leach (2008 draft)
CF Edwin Roman (2008 draft)
CF Kyle Saukko (2008 draft)
C Mark Carver (2008 draft)
3B Matthew Payne (2008 draft)
LHP Tyler Cox (2008 draft)
OF Kyle Morgan (2008 draft)
RHP Alan Knotts (2008 draft)
RHP Albert Fagan (2008 draft)
C Chris Simmons (2008 draft)
LHP Mike Williams (2008 draft)
RHP Allen Ponder (2008 draft)
RHP Owen Brolsma (2008 draft)
RHP Zachary Foster (2008 draft)
OF Craig Parry (2008 draft)

(Thanks to WTM for the draft information.)

Giants win baseball game

Game over. Freddy Sanchez trade watch back on.

Duke and Grabow polished up their trade value this afternoon. Capps, not so much.

Pirates do not play until 7pm on Friday, which is July 31.

... Kovacevic tweets Freddy told to stay at the ballpark.

... Tim Alderson for Freddy. Guy is really young and pitches.

... Curious that some Giants fans would be sick about this. The Giants are 9 games over .500, and a pitching prospect is a pitching prospect. Charlie's right to say the majority of these guys do not pan out. But the Pirates were trading Sanchez, did not want him for 2010, and they have to take what they can get for him. It's not exactly a free market out there with only a few teams interested in dealing for the players the team wants to trade.

Also, I like the idea of overloading the minors with talent. Let these young players compete with each other and learn from one another. The team cannot have too many pitching prospects and in a real way, the addition of every one increases the chances that the team develops useful starters out of the minor-league system.

Keep improving your odds, and you will come out ahead. So Young Alderson does not need to be a #3 starter for the Pirates for this strategy to pay off. And if he does not work out and others do, it's not fair to say the Pirates got nothing from the deal. Because they did get something: they get another chance to employ a strategy that is more likely to succeed the more times it is employed.

Game 101: Pirates at Giants

Duke and Cain at 3:45 eastern.

Pirates are 43-57 on the season. 17-38 on the road.

... Pirates trade Jack Wilson and Ian Snell to Seattle for Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin, Nathan Adcock.

... first impression: No Romulo! reunion for Snell at Scranton Wilkes-Barres. Jeff Clement is a catcher?? Ronny Cedeno is not like 37 years old? Obviously it's going to take some time to make sense of this.

Mahalo Snell, we were entertained.

Game 100: Pirates at Giants

West-coast trip continues with Morton and Zito at ten.

Game 99: Pirates at Giants

Way later tonight, Maholm and Lincecum.

Game 98: Pirates at Diamondbacks

Vasquez and Scherzer at four.

Some people could pay more attention. That essay starts OK, but ends with a silly question.