DJ Gallo is right

We’ve got it the worst.

Filed under: Buccos , Buccos

I was wrong

The Pirates scored a lot of runs tonight but didn’t need them.

I really liked 3:10 to Yuma.

My brother Scott started his week as a Science Journalism Fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute on Cape Cod, and is blogging about it here. Very interesting stuff.

And I’m a week late on this, but John Piper talks about a momentous anniversary in the history of Protestant Christianity in China and about its future. Thanks, Sam, for the heads up.

Filed under: Buccos , john piper

New Pirates GM: Jon Dodd

Adrian and Brandon think I ought to apply for the now-vacant Pirates General Manager position (as I am looking for work in the Pittsburgh area, of course), and I just might. Above all else the Pirates need an evaluator of talent in their GM role, and I suppose my success in Fantasy Baseball does speak for itself. I could argue in the last few years I’ve drafted Chase Utley, Hanley Ramirez, Russ Martin, Justin Morneau, Jason Bay and Victor Martinez. Quite a formidable line-up. The Pirates hitters they’ve drafted include Brad Eldred and Chris Duffy (who are for all intents and purposes out of baseball) plus Ronny Paulino, Nate McLouth and Ryan Doumit (terrible, fourth outfielder, and Mr. Glass).

I’ve pulled off a few nifty trades, too: Chone Figgins from Piper for pennies last year (if I remember right). K-Rod from Dre last year, and then Josh Beckett and Fausto Carmona for slugger Adam Dunn from Dre this year. Adding those guys to a pitchers Gorzo, Snell, Maholm and Capps looks pretty slick.

But my biggest qualification has to be my ability to develop pitchers. In Jake Peavy’s second year on my club he’s turned into a top-10 pitcher. I’ll admit I let Dan Haren go too soon, but I knew two years ago that he would be the pitcher he is today. And to continue to point out that I’m moderately good at something prefaced by the word “fantasy,” I’ll say I’m pretty happy that I passed on Poo-Holes this year to take Johan Santana no. 1 overall (although that A-Rod guy would’ve been a good choice, too). And, be it Takashi Saito, Brad Lidge, Huston Street, Joe Nathan or J.J. Putz, I have a knack for knowing which set-up man has the stuff to be the next big closer.

Unfortunately it is called “Fantasy Baseball” for a reason, but I haven’t a doubt that my Yahoo skills would translate into the “real baseball” world. If it’s alright with you guys, Dre, Piper and Zeke, I will be using you as my references, and when Bob Nutting calls, just say something along the lines of “Jon Dodd dominates us year in and year out. He’ll do the same with the NL Central.”

…OK, now that I’m done with my trash talking that may or may not be legit (since I currently sit in second place behind Matt Wright and only tied for first with Dre last year… but that was preceded by a championship in 2005–yeah, nevermind, the trash-talking’s legit) I am pretty stoked to return to PNC Park tonight for my first Pirate game in ages. Partially I haven’t gone because I’ve been busy, but there’s also been that hesitance to totally root (root, root) for the home team since rooting for the Pirates has previously meant supporting Dave Littlefield and the general buffoonery that goes on in the Pirates front office. With changes happening, I can at least hope it will get better.

Tony Armas starts tonight against the Brewers, so we’ll need to score a lot. But hey, with Littlefield gone anything can happen.

Bob Nutting: “Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce the new Pirates GM, Jon Dodd.”
Me: “Segways and iPhones for everyone!”

Filed under: Buccos , fantasy baseball

FINALLY

The headline I’ve been waiting to see: Littlefield fired, so says the P-G.

In completely un-related (yet possibly as equally amazing) news, take a look at this kid, via Digg. Maybe I should give up my obsession with bald baby heads and hope for more like this?

UPDATE: Here’s Bob Nutting’s letter to we Buccos fans. A jubilant day, indeed.

Filed under: Buccos , baby, bob nutting, dave littlefield, fired, hair, long time coming

Two headlines, two franchises

I can’t take credit for catching this first (that’d be Pat from WHYGAVS), but I will point it out to all of you who might be interested:

Pirates Notebook: Tracy wants young starters to go distance
vs.
MLB Notebook: Buchholz in bullpen after historic no-hitter

One of these two franchises is the best team in baseball, one is the worst. Guess which one is the Red Sox and which one’s the Pirates? If you’re not sure, click the links and figure out for yourselves how to treat young pitchers.

In other less depressing Pittsburgh sports news, the Pens unveil their new Rbk Edge unis later today. Follow the story here and here.

Oh and I hear that’s not the only thing being introduced today. Wo ai ni, Apple…

Wo ai ni?

Filed under: Buccos , apple, boston red sox, ipod, pittsburgh penguins, s.h.e., wo ai ni

Must-reads for anyone following the Pirates CEO search

Known to any and every on-line Pirate junkie, the blogger/amateur scout Wilbur T. Miller is the cream of the Internet crop when it comes to Bucco baseball. WTM turns in another gem in this two-part series (one and two) on why Bob Nutting musn’t be fooled by the Pirates good play of late. He argues convincingly that the Pirates are neither good nor young, and that (wrap your head around this) if/when Dave Littlefield is fired, he will leave the Pirates in worse shape than when he inherited them. (Links via Bucs Dugout.)

As far as who might be the one firing DL, John Perrotto from the Beaver County Times suggests Tony LaCava as someone Nutting needs to talk to. Finding an evaluator of talent has to be our no. 1 priority.

Filed under: Buccos , bob nutting, dave littlefield, pirates ceo search

Quick! Name these two former Pirates

HINT: Both played a part in ending my childhood, and one is now baseball’s Home Run King. 756 came earlier tonight, and so there that is.

I went through this stint in college where I wrote fairly often of my dislike for Bonds in The Cabinet, and it’s still there. I wish I had some of those old articles to link to now, but to be honest with ya, at this point my frustration has moved from outsiders (Bonds, the NY Yankees, Tony La Russa) to squarely on the shoulders of the management of my Pittsburgh Baseball Club. I don’t care a whole lot that Bonds has now hit more homers than any other ML baseball player ever (including 176 as a Pirate), many of which he hit juiced. What I care much more about is that it’s been 15 years (yup, since 1992–as in, see players pictured above) since there was meaningful baseball in Pittsburgh past August and into September and (gulp) October.

Bonds can hit 756 more for all I care if the Pirates could just be good again.

Filed under: Buccos , barry bonds, home run record

"The Freak Show" season

For whatever reason, after the famed Pirates division-winning teams of my youth fizzled and left for greener pastures, so did my interest in baseball–for a few years. The 1997 season, dubbed “The Freak Show” by announcer Greg Brown, brought back my fevered interest in the Bucs. (I suppose it’s easier to justify being a fair-weather fan at age 14–though only slightly.) That was the year of Kevin Young, Al Martin, Jose Guillen, Cordova and Rincon’s combined no-hitter, and, my favorite Pirate that year, Smilin’ Joe Randa. Our payroll was only $9 million, and I can remember when Jon Lieber struck out Albert Belle, the $10 million man, three times in a game. It was the last year we actually made a deadline deal to help us in the short-term. It was the year that almost .500 almost secured us a division title. And it’s being wonderfully remembered by P-G writer Paul Meyer.

Check out the story so far here, here, and here.

Filed under: Buccos

9 back

40-48. Can the Pirates make up 9 games on the first-place Brewers in the second half? Doubtful.

Was going 5-2 against the Cubs and Brewers over this past week impressive and a big step in the right direction? Absolutely.

If you care at all about Pirates baseball, I agree with Bob Smizik: Who Bob Nutting hires to replace resigning CEO Kevin McClatchy will most likely determine how long my kids will have to wait to see another winning baseball team in Pittsburgh.

“We’ll know by who he hires if he understands that owning the Pirates is more than a business deal, it’s a sacred trust with the fans of this region. If he hires a man steeped in baseball experience, Nutting is on the right track. If he hires, for example, a bean counter from one of his other companies, we’ll know the Pirates are doomed.”

No games for a couple of days for the All-Star break. Check out the Pirates “first-half” stats here.

Filed under: Buccos , bob nutting

Protest!

The planned fan protest at tonight’s Pirate game is gaining a little attention, which is a very good thing. it’s obvious the Pirates don’t like it, and whether or not I think it’s a perfect protest (I would’ve walked out after the 1st out of the 4th inning… 1-4, 14 years… plus TV cameras would have to catch it mid-inning), it’s something. And that’s a lot.

I won’t be at the game tonight, but here are the quick reasons why I would walk out if I was:

14 (sure to be 15) years of losing. No commitment. No accountability.

…

Actually that’s about everything right there, but I’ll try and flesh it out, in broad terms. The Pirates are a joke of a franchise and they’re playing a meaner joke on Pirate fans: the dumbing down of baseball in Pittsburgh so that 70 wins, bobbleheads and fireworks is what we’ll be given year in and year out. We might get lucky and break .500 here in the next couple of years, but we very well may not. And that’s a joke if there ever was one. The problem runs all the way from the top down. Owners “McNutting” couldn’t care less, despite Nutting’s falsehoods about a commitment to winning (his commitment is solely to the bottom line). Littlefield is the worst GM in sports and should never have held on to his job this long. Ed Creech/DL’s drafting strategy is spineless at best. And Tracy is a passionless manager who still thinks he’s coaching the Dodgers (who he never coached all that well) and was not the right man for the job, in my opinion. Our farm system is a wasteland. Our international scouting is microscopic… I could go on. There are problems with the on-the-field product as well (base-running and run production to name two) but they’re not why I would be protesting tonight. The team has its flaws, but the organization’s flaws are the reasons to be angry.

Pirates’ management has no idea how to put together a winning baseball team, or at least is unwilling to, or they just don’t care to. Drastic change is needed. Which is why tonight’s protest is long overdue.

Let’s hope it doesn’t fall on deaf (and dumb) ears.

Check out lots of protest news and links at iratefans.com. And definitely read this for a thoughtful response that sums up the feelings of most Pirate fans.

Filed under: Buccos , bob nutting, change, protest