Game 71: Pirates at Indians

Karstens and Masterson starting soon. Offensive call-ups and trade acquisitions still en route.

Game 70: Pirates at Indians

Pirates still above .500.

Paul Maholm and Hector Carrasco at 7.

Game 69: Pirates at Indians

Correia and Tomlin at seven.

Pirates are 35-33; the Indians, who once had the best record in all baseball, are 36-31.

How great would it be if these two teams were division rivals. The Indians could be the Browns of baseball.

Game 68: Pirates at Astros

The winning Pirates take on the hapless Astros again.

Game starts in about half an hour. McDonald and Lyles are the starters.

Time to start brainstorming about who the Pirates will add, at the trade deadline, for the defense of their national championship.

Those Mets had a pretty good-looking catcher who might be available, given the pathetic down-on-their-luck condition of that scandal-plagued franchise.

Game 67: Pirates at Astros

One of the Charlie Mortons takes on Happless tonight at eight.

The Bucs are 33-33 and four games out of first place. Playoff odds are 75.5%.

Game 66: Bucs 1, Astros 0

We raise our glasses to the proposed league realignment, and the day the mighty Bucs won't have to regularly play the hapless last-place Astros.

Game 65: Mets at Pirates

Maholm and Pelfrey at seven.

In other news, all hail new Trib columnist Dejan Kovacevic, who now has a free blog, reports Bucs have signed a new catcher, thinks Huntington should be extended, and like me, cried* outside after Bream's slide (* very briefly in our case).

Game 64: Mets at Pirates

Was mighty entertained by last night's game. McCutchen took that HBP like a chambpion.

Today it is Chris Capuano and Huntington's Correia at one-thirty.

Game 63: Mets at Pirates

McDonald, Dickey, and Ronny Ballgame open up for Zambelli Fireworks and Huey Lewis and the News. Prepare to be entertained.

Game 62: Mets at Pirates

The Pirates welcome the Mets to town.

Gee and Morton at seven.

Game 61: D'backs at Pirates

Collmenter and Karstens for the white-hot Lumber Company. At 7.

Game 60: Bucs win!

Bucs clinch the pennant with a dramatic clutch Cutch jack in the 12th! And many beverages ensued.

Game 59: D'backs at Pirates

Dion Hudson and Cy Correia at seven.

In a Cole sweat

The World Champion Bucs came in first place in the draft today, and selected UCLA RHP Gerrit Cole. Despite the big, powerful Cole not being the best bunter on his college team, we are penciling him in to start Game 1 of the 2015 World Series.

On Pittsburgh, Cole aptly notes the "...fans are unbelievable." We raise our glass to young Gerrit, who sorely needs a nickname. Stone Cole?

Game 58: Phillies at Pirates

It's a beautiful day for another beatdown of the hapless Phillies.

McDonald and Halladay at 1:30.

Game 57: Phillies at Pirates

Dion Kendrick and a Charlie Morton at seven.

Pirates are 27-29 and 5 1/2 games out.

Game 56: Phillies at Pirates

Hamels and Karstens at seven.

Game 55: Pirates at Mets

The entertainment continues this afternoon.

Maholm and Pelfrey at one.

Game 54: Pirates at Mets

Cy Correia and Dion Capuano at seven.

I looked but could not find Josh Harrison on the All-Star Ballot. Maybe I'm spelling his name wrong?

Game 53: Pirates at Mets

Game underway. Mets 1, Entertainment 0 in the fifth or something.

Game 52: Pirates at Mets

At seven, one of the Charlie Mortons and Dion Gee in the House of Madoff.

Game 51: Pirates at Cubs

Pirates continue to play possum, bobbing along just under .500. And the Cubs are making it tough for them to continue to lay low. The difference between the two teams is just that striking.

Karstens and Dempster will start. Game on at 2:20pm.

Look for Iowa Pirate in the crowd. No description necessary -- you'll know him when you see him.

Game 50: Pirates at Cubs

Today, the Pirates continue their pounding of the hapless Cubs.

Paul Maholm will get the win.

Game 49: Pirates at Cubs

Tomorrow at 2pm, Correia and Davis to start.

Correia should be primed to re-assert his frontrunner status for the NL Cy Young award.

Game 48: Braves at Pirates

Bucs BUNT but lose? If the Bucs are going to average 1 run per game, they will need to draft many more talented pitchers.

Game 47: Braves at Pirates

Game on. Jurrgens and one of those Charlie Mortons.

Game 46: Tigers at Pirates

Maholm and Porcello starting soon as the Bucs try to get back to .500.

Steve Pearce gets the start at 3B for the raptured Pedro Alvarez.

Game 45: Tigers at Pirates

Scherzer and Correia at seven.

Nice day for a ballgame.

Game 44: Tigers at Pirates

Somewhere in the award-winning archives I have a proposal for radical MLB realignment, with Detroit and Pittsburgh in the same division.

Little-known fact: Jerome Bettis is from Detroit.

Baseball game is on. No score last I checked.

Game 43: Pirates at Reds

BUNT. Win. Again.

Playoff odds rising.

Game 42: Pirates at Reds

A Charlie Morton with Bronson Arroyo for the upstart Reds, at seven.

Game 41: Pirates at Nationals

Maholm and Lannan in this preview of a likely playoff match-up.

Game at seven.

Game 40: Pirates at Brewers

Correia and Greinke starting soon.

The Bucs own the hapless Brewers so hopefully the umps can keep this one close today.

Game 39: Pirates at Brewers

Karstens and Narveson at four.

Game 38: Pirates at Brewers

After last night's rainout, the Pirates remain a game under.

McDonald and Gallardo at eight.

Game 38: Dodgers at Pirates

18-19, but still three games back of St. Louis.

Maybe the Cardinals fell asleep at the wheel, waiting for the light to change.

Jon Garland and a Charlie Morton at seven.

Game 37: Dodgers at Pirates

Bucs at 18-18, three games behind St. Louis.

Kuroda and Maholm at seven.

Game 36: Dodgers at Pirates

Lilly and Correia at seven.

Beer fort in magnificent shape.

Game 35: Dodgers at Pirates

The Pirates, at 17-17, are moving in on first place in the NL Central.

The Dodgers, at 16-19, must envy the stable leadership of the Nutting family.

Billingsley and Karstens will start. Game on at seven.

Game 34: Astros at Pirates

McDonald and Happ at 1:35 as the Bucs attempt the unthinkable.

Call your mother.

Game 33: Astros at Pirates

Norris and a Charlie Morton at seven.

Game 32: Astros at Pirates

Pirate nemesis Wandy Rodriguez and playoff MVP Paul Maholm at seven.

Pirates are a game under .500 and 2 1/2 out of first.

Game 31: Pirates at Padres

Bucs win 7-4 against the hapless last-place Padres.

Cy Young candidate Correia leads the NL with 5 wins.

Game 30: Pirates at Padres

Game start at ten. Karstens and Latos.

Pirates are one game under .500 and two games out of first.

This despite some disappointing numbers in the HBP department. Hurdle should coach them up on this. Can't spell "Champbion" without HBP.

Game 29: Pirates at Padres

Bucs up 4-2 at the end of the seventh. No bunts yet.

Game 28: Pirates at Rockies

One of the two Charlie Mortons takes on Ubaldo starting soon. Amezaga gets the start and bats second for the Rockies.

Game 27: Pirates at Rockies

A historic night, as Maholm, Hammel, and Amezaga usher in the Danny Moskos Era.

Game 26: Pirates at Rockies

Huntington's Correia and Shawn Chacon at 8:40.

Looking forward to the day when the Pirates play at Straub Field or Dogfish Head Field.

2011 NFL draft

While we were sleeping, the Steelers have been adding some players.

Game 25: Giants at Pirates

Day game,--Vogelsong (!) and Karstens at 12:30.

Game 24: Giants at Pirates

Bumgardener and McDonald at seven.

McDonald should have a killer 2012 Topps ATTAX card.

Game 23: Giants at Pirates

Cain and Morton sometime later.

Chance of a rain delay, I imagine.

Game 22: Nationals at Pirates

Maholm gets the win against Adam LaRoche, Sean Burnett, and Brian Bixler. Bucs are two games out of first.

Game 21: Nationals at Pirates

The resurrected Kevin Correia takes on Jason Marquis today, at a time only the Bucs know.

Game 20: Nationals at Pirates

Karstens and Hernandez at seven.

The Bucs are 8-3 when they successfully BUNT, and 0-8 when they fail to do so. Baseball is not rocket science.

Game 19: Pirates at Marlins

Florida vacation continues with McDonald and Volstad starting soon.

Game 18: Pirates at Marlins

Morton and Nolasco in fifteen minutes.

Game 17: Pirates at Marlins

Maholm and Johnson at seven.

The white-hot Bucs are in first place.

Game 16: Pirates at Reds

The streaking Pirates send out Kevin Correia to pistol-whip the hapless Reds and their starter, Kerry Wood.

Game on at seven.

Game 15: Pirates at Reds

Pirates flashing their 2010 form as the season gets rolling.

Karstens and Volquez at one.

Game 14: Pirates at Reds

McDonald and Leake at one.

McDonald will eat some innings today we predict.

Game 13: Pirates at Reds

Morton and Arroyo at seven.

After getting clubbed and tazed at home, the defending World Champion Bucs need to tuck their jerseys back in, and trust that their hard work in spring training will pay off and move runners from station-to-station.

Game 12: Brewers at Pirates

Game on. Brewers up 2-0 in the sixth. Maholm and Wolf started, and are still in the game.

Game 11: Brewers at Pirates

Correia and Marcum at seven. Beer and bunting at eight and nine. More beer, billy clubs, and tasers at ten. Every day, I think I need to do something.

Off day

Nothing to see here.

Game 10: Rockies at Pirates

McDonald and Chacin starting soon.

The Bucs might not be able to afford Manny Ramirez or Dodger killer Larry Walker to intimidate Jim Tracy in the on-deck circle. If so, they could sign Jose Hernandez to stand in the circle to flex and pose, causing Tracy to pay zero attention to the game.

Game 9: Rockies at Pirates

Reynolds and Morton at seven.

Regarding McCutchen's appearance in the on-deck circle late last night -- as described here by MLB.com writer Thomas Harding --

Behind Tabata was the pitcher's spot, and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle had no choice but to go with Olson, 1-for-6 in nine career at-bats. The last Bucs reliever remaining, Evan Meek, was not available to throw, Hurdle revealed after the game.

Hurdle sent Andrew McCutchen, who was due to hit two batters after Tabata, to the on-deck circle. Rather than say he did it to keep the Rockies from noticing the next turn was going to be taken by Olson, who hasn't batted since 2009, Hurdle explained the move creatively.

"We put him up there just to help with a play at the plate," Hurdle said. "He has more experience, rather than have Garrett try to figure that out. Garrett -- we wanted to keep him as far away from the plate as we could until he had to hit."

Tracy said there was risk in walking Tabata.

"To walk him into scoring position -- you know something, I know they have somebody over there that maybe takes a swing and not have to hit the ball very far at all to end up winning the game," Tracy said.

It really speaks to what Hurdle adds to this team. Tracy is no fool. He knows the Pirates would have Garrett ready to bunt -- ready "to not have to hit the ball very far at all to end up winning the game."

Game 8: Rockies at Pirates

De La Rosa and Ohlendorf at 7:15? Yes, at 7:15.

Game 7: Rockies at Pirates

Hurdle vs. Tracy? Yes, at 1:35 in the home opener.

Are the Bucs in first place? Yes, with the Rockies just two bunts back.

Game 6: Pirates at Cardinals

Correia and Carpenter at 1:45.

It's probably no coincidence that the Bucs lead the majors in bunts and are only 1.5 games out of first place.

Game 5: Pirates at Cardinals

Pirates winning 71.5% of their games. Sorry we doubted those experts. Baseball has a funny way of making us look foolish.

McDonald and McClellan at 8:15.

Half game back

Bucs are just a half game back, and wide awake as the light turns green, ready to accelerate. Since I'm not driving, I'll drink to that.

If the Bucs are going to run the table in the playoffs again, all strategical possibilities, such as this Straight-Outta-Iowa trick, should be considered.

Game 4: Pirates at Cardinals

Looks like rain in St. Louis, but maybe it clears up in time for Morton and Lohse at eight fifteen.

Playing to win

The awesomeness of Jenifer Langosch's spot-on game recap deserves some quotation for further internet immortality purposes:

CHICAGO -- Neil Walker was running all the way -- just as manager Clint Hurdle would have wanted him to.

Walker's sprint from second to home on Pedro Alvarez's infield hit capped a two-run ninth for the Pirates, who stunned the Cubs with some unconventional strategies to steal a 5-4 victory in the finale of a three-game series at Wrigley Field on Sunday. The inning was advanced by cleanup hitter Lyle Overbay, who bunted with runners on first and second base.

"There's going to be a lot of things that happen with this ballclub that I don't think are going to be traditional this year," said Hurdle, who has emphasized aggressive baserunning for weeks. "We're going to play to win. That's why those guys work on that all spring."

But asking the cleanup hitter lay down a bunt? And attempting to score two runs on a squibber that never made it to the infield dirt?

Sure, and without hesitation, actually.

It is wonderful to see that people outside the advanced blogs are starting to just plain get it.

Game 3: Pirates at Cubs

Ohlendorf vs. the hapless Garza in ninety minutes.

Game 2: Pirates at Cubs

Maholm and Zambrano starting soon.

It's a little early to get excited about magic like this, but it has not escaped our notice that Kevin Correia leads the league in BUNTing.

Opening Day: Pirates at Cubs

Kevin Correia and Ryan Dempster at two-something our time.

HW 2011 Readers' Poll

It's time. Please prognosticate in the comments.

1. How many Bucco wins?
2. Who gets traded first?
3. 2011 Whipping Boy?
4. Most bunts?
5. Other predictions?

I'll start:
1. Experts are predicting the Bucs will win 71.5% (116) of their games this year. Honestly, that seems way too high. I'll take the under and conservatively predict 75 wins.
2. Doumit.
3. Overbay.
4. Last year's bunting leader, Zach Duke with 8, is gone. This year the 2010 runner-up, HomeRon Cedeno, wins this contest hands down.
5. Continuing the trend of willingness of top Bucco brass to engage loyal fans for interviews, Spike makes a mint off Nutting family biography.

Preseason winning continues

Charlie Morton scored two bunts and Wimberly one, as the Bucs outbunted the Rays 3-1.

Still preseason? Yes.

Can Clint Hurdle impersonate Jim Tracy? Yes, reports the P-G.

"Can he drive a ball out of the park? Yes," Hurdle said. "Can he drive in runs? Yes. Has he got a slow heartbeat when he plays in the field and [is] at the plate? Yes. Those are the things we were looking for."

Preseason baseball

It's going on. Pirates are looking good.

Bucs destroy Manatees

Inspired by Bob Nutting's will to win, the Bucs pistol-whipped the hated Manatees, 21-1.

Hats off to any remaining Manatee fans - we can only imagine what it feels like to have your favorite team lose by 20 runs.

Nutting: must get better

Bob Nutting raises the bar.

It is critically important that they understand, and we understand, that 2011 is not going to be a year where small bits of incremental beer are going to be adequate.

R.I.P. Chuck Tanner

Pour some out for Chuck Tanner, champion skipper. (PG obit here).

Bizarro World

It is very disorienting, after the Pirates' championship and the Steelers' run through the playoffs, to see the Steelers lose a game.

Nuts. Spring training can't come soon enough.

Super Bowl XLV: Steelers and Packers

Wrapping up our week of wall-to-wall Super Bowl coverage, I conclude with my keys to victory for each team:

Steelers: Veteranosity and clutchiness.

Packers: Luck and poor officiating.

Enjoy the game, Steeler fans!

AFC Championship Game: Jets at Steelers

Kickoff at 6:30. Sometimes it feels like we're just making this stuff up.

Update: Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl ... again!

NFL Divisional Playoffs: Ravens at Steelers

See you there.

Top 20 Pirate Prospects

John Sickels likes him some Pirates Prospects. Excellent pitching aside, it is hard to not get excited about so many options for future utility infielders.

NFL week 17

When the NFL gets reorganized into upper and lower tiers, the Steelers will not have to bother playing the small market hapless Browns.

Bye week allows the Steelers to kick back, relax, and enjoy the newly released 2010 Pirates World Championship DVD.

NFL week 16

After the Bucs' World Series sweep and another Steelers' playoff clinching, Christmas seems kind of superfluous this year.

NFL week 15

Steelers clinched yet another playoff berth in a meaningless game against the hapless Jets.

Only 68 more days until Spring Training.

NFL week 14

Bengals gift-wrap two pick-sixes. That's what losers do.

NFL week 13

Flying Samoan warrior chop for the win. I'll never get over it. Ever. Again.

Offseason moves

Playoff MVPs traded, released, etc. Soon to acquire more playoff MVPs.

NFL week 12

A most improbable Steelers win. I’ll never get over it. Ever.

Meanwhile, the Bucs have traded Zach Duke and one of the Indian reality show finalist kids for Adam LaRoche as we prepare for Manny Christmas.

NFL week 11

Skippy, Zach Duke, and the last LaRoche cheer on from the sidelines as the Steelers destroy the hapless Raiders.

All in

New manager Clint Hurdle acknowledges the Bucs' deficiencies to the P-G, while also going "all in".

"I wanted to look them in the eyes and ask them, 'Are you in?' " he said. "And to a man they looked me in the eye and said 'We're in.' "

"Behind the scenes in the baseball office we've used that phrase a lot, 'all in,' " Huntington said. "And Clint came in during our meetings, he used that phrase, all in. A phrase is a phrase, but it means something to us."

To a man we look Clint Hurdle in the eye and say "We're in" and "Please not so much bunting."

NFL week 10

First place = victory.

NFL week 9

Despite the distractions of all the Bucs' 2010 World Championship parades, the Steelers beat the hapless Bengals 27-21.