Showing posts with label Pirates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pirates. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Pirates of the Allegheny
Zoltan!
Who would have expected the Pittsburgh Pirates to be having this kind of season? Yes, the team of lovable losers and 19 straight losing seasons are 13 games over .500 and just 1.5 games back from the division lead. And all this is despite and anemic offense for all of April and much of May.
Andrew McCutchen is having an MVP season. He leading the league in hitting with a .373 average to go along with 22 home runs and 66 RBI's. But yet, opposing teams still pitch to him. After a slow start, Pedro Alvarez has 21 home runs and 58 RBI's. Neil Walker has upped his batting average close to .300 and Garrett Jones has added 13 home runs of his own. The bats have come alive after the team struggled to score 3 runs a game for the first part of the season.
The 1-2 punch of Joel Hanrahan and Jason Grilli is becoming almost automatic for the 8th and 9th inning. As the setup man, Grilli has 56 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings with a WHIP of 1.06 and an ERA of 1.96. Joel Hanrahan, an All-Star two years running, has 28 saves so far on the season. And former first round pick Brad Lincoln is beginning to show the stuff of a closer-in-waiting. The Pirates have the best bullpen in the league. If they have a lead after 7 innings, it's tough to beat them.
Maybe the biggest surprise of the season is AJ Burnett. AJ was acquired from the Yankees for basically nothing during the off season in what was obviously a "Please take him" trade after two disappointing seasons in the Big Apple. Burnett has 11 wins for the Bucs so far this season and is said to have stepped up as the clubhouse leader not just for the young pitchers on the staff but for the entire team, especially rising star James McDonald, a 10-game winner so far this season and the leader among starters in strikeouts (104) and ERA (2.93).
Many Pirates fans rolled their eyes at Neal Huntington's "five year plan". But guess what? He's right on schedule. He took the General Manager's job in 2007 and immediately began trading away the top talent and highest paid players. He began spending big dollars on the draft and adding much needed talent to the farm system. It's 2012 and the Pirates are in a pennant race at the end of July. With the veteran leadership from Burnett and Clint Barmes who have World Series experience and the growing star power of Cutch and Pedro, don't expect a collapse like we saw in 2011. This Pirates team is for real.
Believe.
Who would have expected the Pittsburgh Pirates to be having this kind of season? Yes, the team of lovable losers and 19 straight losing seasons are 13 games over .500 and just 1.5 games back from the division lead. And all this is despite and anemic offense for all of April and much of May.
Andrew McCutchen is having an MVP season. He leading the league in hitting with a .373 average to go along with 22 home runs and 66 RBI's. But yet, opposing teams still pitch to him. After a slow start, Pedro Alvarez has 21 home runs and 58 RBI's. Neil Walker has upped his batting average close to .300 and Garrett Jones has added 13 home runs of his own. The bats have come alive after the team struggled to score 3 runs a game for the first part of the season.
The 1-2 punch of Joel Hanrahan and Jason Grilli is becoming almost automatic for the 8th and 9th inning. As the setup man, Grilli has 56 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings with a WHIP of 1.06 and an ERA of 1.96. Joel Hanrahan, an All-Star two years running, has 28 saves so far on the season. And former first round pick Brad Lincoln is beginning to show the stuff of a closer-in-waiting. The Pirates have the best bullpen in the league. If they have a lead after 7 innings, it's tough to beat them.
Maybe the biggest surprise of the season is AJ Burnett. AJ was acquired from the Yankees for basically nothing during the off season in what was obviously a "Please take him" trade after two disappointing seasons in the Big Apple. Burnett has 11 wins for the Bucs so far this season and is said to have stepped up as the clubhouse leader not just for the young pitchers on the staff but for the entire team, especially rising star James McDonald, a 10-game winner so far this season and the leader among starters in strikeouts (104) and ERA (2.93).
Many Pirates fans rolled their eyes at Neal Huntington's "five year plan". But guess what? He's right on schedule. He took the General Manager's job in 2007 and immediately began trading away the top talent and highest paid players. He began spending big dollars on the draft and adding much needed talent to the farm system. It's 2012 and the Pirates are in a pennant race at the end of July. With the veteran leadership from Burnett and Clint Barmes who have World Series experience and the growing star power of Cutch and Pedro, don't expect a collapse like we saw in 2011. This Pirates team is for real.
Believe.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Random Sunday Thoughts
It's another one of those time where I don't really have a solid idea of what to write about. I want to take a break from the wrestling themed posts at least for this weekend. So this will be another rambling post. Hope you all are amused.
Adrian Peterson is a moron. Do I really need to elaborate?
Has there been any free agent signings more anti-climactic than the Parise/Suter signings? Talk about a lot of anticip........................ation for nothing!
So, Obama goes to Pittsburgh to hold a rally for his "base" voters. He does it at one of the most expensive universities in the state. Well, at least he finally admits who his base really is: rich white people.
Uproar festival looks to be a fucking great show this year. Who wants to go with me?
You know it's hot when your dog looks for a spot of shade before peeing.
Vicky Vette is my favorite MILF porn star. I know that's useless trivia about me, but maybe one or two of you might care. Lol.
What candy is more addicting: Swedish Fish or Sour Patch Kids?
Why are they doing another Judge Dredd movie? The first one sucked bad enough. I like Karl Urban, but he should have SPRINTED away from this movie offer. I smell a bomb coming for this one.
On the flipside, the huge budget production of The Great Gatsby from Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrman, looks to have Oscar written all over it...in pretty much every cateory possible.
Bucket list, serious version: visit Jeruselum
Bucket list, not-so-serious version: have a threesome
Is Mike Patton the most underappreciated front man ever? If not the most, he's in the top three for sure. (Hmmm...maybe a future full length post in there somewhere?)
Useless movie trivia: The original draft of Major League has the story based on the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bought a Memorex iPod speaker dock recently. Best $40 I've spent in a long time.
What an easy way to get cool stuff in the mail for free? If any of you know, please tell me. Thanks.
You know the vampire craze is out of control when Steven Seagal make a vampire movie. Just sayin.
And finally...HOW ABOUT THOSE PITTSBURGH PIRATES?! BELIEVE IT, BABY!
follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JTLovecraft
Adrian Peterson is a moron. Do I really need to elaborate?
Has there been any free agent signings more anti-climactic than the Parise/Suter signings? Talk about a lot of anticip........................ation for nothing!
So, Obama goes to Pittsburgh to hold a rally for his "base" voters. He does it at one of the most expensive universities in the state. Well, at least he finally admits who his base really is: rich white people.
Uproar festival looks to be a fucking great show this year. Who wants to go with me?
You know it's hot when your dog looks for a spot of shade before peeing.
Vicky Vette is my favorite MILF porn star. I know that's useless trivia about me, but maybe one or two of you might care. Lol.
What candy is more addicting: Swedish Fish or Sour Patch Kids?
Why are they doing another Judge Dredd movie? The first one sucked bad enough. I like Karl Urban, but he should have SPRINTED away from this movie offer. I smell a bomb coming for this one.
On the flipside, the huge budget production of The Great Gatsby from Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrman, looks to have Oscar written all over it...in pretty much every cateory possible.
Bucket list, serious version: visit Jeruselum
Bucket list, not-so-serious version: have a threesome
Is Mike Patton the most underappreciated front man ever? If not the most, he's in the top three for sure. (Hmmm...maybe a future full length post in there somewhere?)
Useless movie trivia: The original draft of Major League has the story based on the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bought a Memorex iPod speaker dock recently. Best $40 I've spent in a long time.
What an easy way to get cool stuff in the mail for free? If any of you know, please tell me. Thanks.
You know the vampire craze is out of control when Steven Seagal make a vampire movie. Just sayin.
And finally...HOW ABOUT THOSE PITTSBURGH PIRATES?! BELIEVE IT, BABY!
follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JTLovecraft
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