More on Dominican players signed

Good afternoon everyone!

Good afternoon BK

Just posted this on  morning site but should place it hre too

Scout who discovered Nolan Ryan passes

www.tylerpaper.com/.../article

Puerto Rico Academy

www.allheadlinenews.com/.../7013233532

@All--I am not trying to steal any of DK's thunder with his fantastic feature, but regarding the great Q's being asked in the threads so far, I am guessing that we might want to use the Q&A forum that is located on the LEFT SIDE OF THIS PAGE below under the PIRATES Q&A headline.

The official Q&A sessions start Tuesday and run will run regularly Tuesdays through Fridays.

BK

Now what you do with thunder anyway?  Lightning is more valuable than thunder :)

@JAL

I wonder what the status is of Roberto Clemente's Sports City?  I have been to the web site, but it really doesn't show much of the facility.  

@DK,

I have been to the island of Hispanola, the Haiti, side and was struck by the poverty.  While I was still on active duty, Haiti was rated as the poorest country in the western hemisphere and I was wondering what the standard of living was like on the other side of the island?  I do know, Haiti has some of the biggest rats I have ever seen (and this was at the Haitian "White House."

I am glad you made it back in one piece, as I have driven in Panama.  The roads were no better, drivers were just as crazy and then add in some mountains where passing on turns was the "norm."  ;-)

@BK,

WILCO, out.  LOL

@AA-R--Haiti/DR

Still is rated as the poorest Western Hemisphere nation..It has been described as sub 3rd world. I was there 3 yrs ago. I was fortunate enough to stay at a friends house on the resort of Casa de Campo. We went into the town under armed guard to sight see, not out of fear but to keep the beggars at arms distance. I was shocked. When I left, I left all of my casual clothes behind, shirts shoes socks pants even my travel bags. The Haitian Gov't is as corrupt as any Gov't I ever came in contact with, even more than the Mexican and the Russian.  

@JAL--DK still has the lightning...

AL-R

Probably have to go there to know but from they say on the site it seems to be in good shape.  Did you see the photos of the swimming pool and volleyball court/

Pretty quiet place today and the Stillers are not even playing yet.

Yup.  And naught on the other side.  Give it time, though...  Bay's off at the "wars," after all. *g*

I guess I'll start the ETA clock on those three signees:

Aquino and Espiede:  7 years, 120 days and counting.

Frias:  5 years, 120 days and counting.

Love the LA signings, but I'll be 40 when the first one arrives.  Talk about planning for the fuuuuuuture.

@BK

I was a small part of military history, as I was flown into Port Au Prince in an Army helicopter off of the USS Dwight David Eisenhower.  It was the first time that a Naval "air wing" was removed from an aircraft carrier and replaced with Army helicopters.

Our Battalion was assigned as the security detachment for President Airiside once he was "reinstalled" to that office.  I recall a reporter from Reuter's asking me if I agreed with President Clinton's decision to "invade" Haiti.  I simply told her that I had sworn to protect and defend the Constitution and the orders of the President.  She was less than impressed with my response and walked away without a single follow up question.

I was in Somalia too, which is also the definition of poverty on the other side of the globe.  I thank the creator that I was born American!  

Dang, I need to proof read my posts a little closer.  Of course it was "President Aristide" that was reinstalled as the President of Haiti......  I also swore to OBEY the orders of the President.....

@AA-R--Thank you for your outstanding service in defense of our Constitution and our Freedom.

Appreciated, sincerely and seriously!

Hotstove updates from Bleacher Report

bleacherreport.com/.../87380-mlb-hot-stove-updates

Check in a half time...

I see the moron is back--poor person really needs attention

And i am out until 7 or so--catch up with things then

The only way to describe the 1st half.

UGLY.

Yeah, it's not a very pretty game at all.  

Beautifully Ugly....

What an oxymoron.

Can you describe ugly as exquisite?

Yeah, I think so, BK.  At least the ugly has turned to our favor for a change. :-)

33-10 on the road against anyone is not too shabby.

BK -

>>UGLY...Beautifully Ugly...Can you describe ugly as exquisite?<<

This is probably the most references to Ken as I have ever seen here and he is nowhere to be found.

Good day all around.  As I said on the morning post, the article by Dejan put me in a great mood.  The Steelers did not ruin it.  Neither did the weather.  Happy day!

@G-Man--Reference to Ken

His ears or fingertips must have been burning...

Out for an hour Extreme Makeover Home Edition is on...

Well the Tribe started selling tickets for their Opening weekend series on Friday.  The home opener is April 10th at 405pm.  Upper Deck outfield seats remain so there is still some excitement about baseball this time of year.  They are running some good deals like our Buccos.  They have a buy one get one free full season ticket plan and 6 packs that include a free Yankees game.  So even though most folks are thinking about the economy and the Christmas shopping season, the Indians are still selling tickets pretty well.  Sure would be nice if the Bucs would sell tickets a little earlier for some of their April games.  At least as a STH they've bumped up the presale to Jan 23rd this year.  Same date as Pirate Fest hmmmmm interesting.  Most of the time it is mid to late Feb before that begins.

Any season ticket holders still posting on the blog this offseason?  Just curious who is renewing and if you are impressed with the renewal offers.

Finally, did anyone watch the "live" mlb.com feed of the May 24th Bucs/Cubs 14 inning thriller today?  It was on from 3-6pm.  My 7 year old son sat and watched the whole thing.  He's pretty darn dedicated like his dad.  That was voted as one of the best games of 2008 by someone with MLB.com so that is why it aired.

Glad DK is back!

Go Bucs!

Does anyone know what happened to Wardell Starling?

Irate

users.rcn.com/.../starling.htm

@BucsFan - I renewed my pair of 20 game plans (a half season, essentially) last week. The deals (premiums, etc.) seemed about the same as last year to me, but I thought last year was a big improvement over past years.

I would guess Indians tickets will be offered to STH first this year, but that's not quite the same as the Yankees last year.

I was a Pens season ticket holder pre-Crosby and keep hoping my Pirates tickets also will be as prized by the rest of the world someday!

Thanks JAL

TPena,

Yeah I hope to someday be in the wonderful position of exercising the postseason ticket rights that come along with being a STH.  That would be the best benefit if that ever comes to fruition.

I like the ticket exchange program upgrade as well.  It was 24 hours prior to gametime and now you can exchange up until the gates open, very nice.  You can't beat the discounts, special events, and buying extra tickets without fees and at your discount throughout the season.

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.

Only 53 days until PirateFest

Irate

You are welcome--not total info but gives some

@bucsfan -

I'll be at Piratefest, although I admit the highlight for me last year was talking with Al Oliver, not any of the current Pirates (who all seemed like decent guys - just harder to connect with).

The ticket exchange is by far the best addition, I agree. We live 2.5 hours from Pittsburgh, so it's made it much easier to bring a couple friends and use more of our tickets.

I am curious how many others on this blog are season ticket holders - I know many live far from Pittsburgh.

I finally went back to see a couple of games last summer.  I had been on a self imposed exile since the Ramirez salary dump.  I figured if ownership didn't care about spending their hard earned money to put a decent product on the field, I didn't need to waste my money on the product they are selling either.  

I don't know if I will go back in 2009, I just don't see them doing much to win NOW, it is always about the future.  Maybe I will go back when they decide it is time to win NOW.  Until then, I will follow them from the comfort of my living room.  Too bad for them, I have a pretty good winning percentage when I go to games.....

Its about 2 hours for us too which is why we can't be Full season ticket holders although we did it in 2006 so we could go to the all star stuff.  Needless to say we didnt use all of our tickets, but we made it there quite a bit and that week was well worth it for our family.  Those are memories my oldest son still talks about even though he was only 5 at the time.

We live in Indians territory so we get the best of both worlds by being able to attend a good number of games and also pick up Bucco games on Extra Innings.  154 games were shown of the Buccos in 2008.  

The Kids Club is a great way for the kids to talk with the players and the adults get to come along.   We usually wait for that rather than waiting in the lines at PirateFest.  There are so many opportunities throughout the season to interact with players though, the team does a great job of making time for the fans.

That last post was to you TPena.  Forgot to add that, sorry.

TPena

I am about 4 hours away and I try to get up for a few games each season plus i catch the Bucs when they play the Nationals here.

We are 1 month and one hour away from the launch of the MLB network.  Baseball will be back soon, but not soon enough!  Looks like it is going to be a fantastic network, long overdue.

6 pm EST on New Year's Day--largest start of any pay TV network.

and with that i am out--have a good one all

Late night link

To offer Arbitration or Not?

mlb.mlb.com/.../article.jsp

Thanks JAL,

Didn't know the official time, but didn't figure it would be competing with Dick Clark and everyone else who has their own New Year's Eve show these days.

So one month and 18 hours for those who are counting.  I had read that it will be the largest pay tv start as well, something like 50 million households.   WBC will be there and hopefully some Bucco spring trianing games.  Sounds like they will also have a game of the week as well with a 26 game package if I remember right.

If someone already posted this, I apologize.  I havent read it in the Pittsburgh papers and certainly not on the Pirates.com site so here are some of the highlights of the spring schedule.

Bucs play the Yanks 3 times this spring.  Once in Bradenton March 14th.   March 17 and 29th at Yanks.

@Red Sox Feb 26 and March 20th

Sox in Bradenton 3-9 and 4-1

@Jays 3-11...home with Jays 3-27

With all of the teams moving out of FL, we'll be playing all of these teams more often.  Probably play the Reds like 12 times this spring.  Anyway, we are one of the few teams without the Spring schedule on our website so if you want to see most of the schedule, it is easy to look up.  Most of the time the Yanks and Red Sox games are the quick sell outs so mark your calendars if you plan to fly down.

First real spring training game should be around Feb 25th.

134 days until the home opener.

Go Bucs!

2-25 will be the spring home opener.  Phillies are the opponent.  Phils come back 3-28 and we play there 4-13.

Make that 3-13 we play in @Philly.  Too much with three calendar months of spring training.  parts of Feb, Mar, and April with exhibition games, unusual.

Ants' Marching

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www.youtube.com/watch