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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
Steelers down 6-3 in the first. Not much tackling on special teams so far.
Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No by James Blagden.
He even worked in the green weenie. Bravo.
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.
Should be a good one on Sunday.
That last comment thread got so big, I thought maybe we should start the new one early.
That was not a pretty win. Steelers appear to have all kinds of problems.
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.
Please describe what weirdness, if any, you feel in this week without baseball, 2009 Pirates-style.
Pirates need a win to avoid the 100-loss season.
Tonight at seven it is McCutchen and Lehr.
Pirates up 3-0. If my math is trusty, a win today would clinch a no-100-loss season.
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.
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!
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 on pretty soon.
When I think Steelers at Soldier Field, I remember this game. Chicago is never an easy road game.
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.
Stauffer and Morton at seven.
G-20 surprise: South Africa volunteers navy to escort ships full of revenue-sharing money.
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.
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.
Pineiro and Maholm at one or two.
Pirates are 53-81. The winning percentage starts with 3.
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.
Another day game. Duke and Bailey.
Probably going to be a sellout for this one.
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.
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.
ROY candidate Happ and Morton at seven.
Jones and McCutchen have a chance to mess up his hair.
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.
Not a whole lot of season left here.
Blanton and Ohlie Bumaye at seven.
Pirates chill and wait for the Phillies.
They are 51-71, in last place, and on pace for 67, maybe 68 wins.
Duke and Lehr at seven. Helpless people on a subway train scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them.
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.
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."
Bunting practice starts at 8:40. Josh Fogg and Joe Beimel will be there.
Duke and Pineiro the Stingiest at 1:35.
Upside overflows in Dejan's new top 30 prospect list.
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 is underway. It's 2-2 in the third. Carpenter and Maholm started.
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.
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.
The Nats had the last laugh last night.
Tonight it's Mock and Morton.
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.
The battle for laughingstock of the National League continues.
Stammen and Vasquez at 7.
Lannan and Ohlendorf at seven.
First-row fans can welcome Lastings Milledge with a big high five.
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.)
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.
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.
Vasquez and Scherzer at four.
Some people could pay more attention. That essay starts OK, but ends with a silly question.
Morton and Haren at 9:30.
After the big series win, the Pirates are 42-52.
Late night in the lean-to.
This game is underway. The Bucs are up 2-1 on a Doumit homer.
Suppan and Maholm were the starting pitchers, and they are still in the game.
... wtf ... ... WEEI reports they might get shortstop Argenis Diaz and pitcher Hunter Strickland.
... Dejan Kovacevic confirms the haul on his rarely-loading PBC blog. Pirates have gone up 5-2 after the umps go to replay. The Bucs are pasting Suppan.
... 5:15pm ... after some thought, my reaction to the deal is that it's pretty sad all around. When LaRoche came to the Pirates, the fans had such high expectations and hopes. He did not live up to that standard. The inconsistency of his hitting was maddening as a fan; take that last month, for example, in which he has been nothing but a middle-of-the-order out machine. The highs don't make up for those lows if the highs only come when the team is 12 games under .500. The Pirates did not get much in return, by all accounts, but LaRoche is hardly a blue-chip commodity, esp. with his contract, and waiting any longer to deal him would only sacrifice at-bats which can go to Jones (at his position), Milledge, and maybe Pearce. In the end, this is much more like the Hinske trade than the Bay trade. The stakes are too low to make much of a difference either way for either team.
