Young's three-run blast bests Royals

Piece of cake.

Pirates own the AL.

Pirates have to start beating the NL Central. Bring it on.

I love the 5-way flying chest-bump ala the Redskins' "Fun Bunch".  I'd say these guys have come together as a team and they're ready to take on the world, or at least the Scrubs and the Boo-Hooers.

On the phone with Sir L and he said they're playing Ants Marching after the fireworks~!  How Cool is That!

wakerider-Care to make a comment onJack Wilson?I know you're lurking out there in cyber space.He's up to .291.A good BA PLUS an uber fielding SS.Pretty good streak 10 of 11 games and raised his BA almost 40 points since June 11th.

Great win for the Pirates.  DY played RF well and was awesome at the plate!  35-39!

I bet" daz ba" is really ticked off.He can't find anything to complain about this game.Whoo hoo.Too bad you gotta be unhappy when we are on a winning streak

Maz,

Give Waket a break. I figured out earlier today that whole thing with him about Jack was a big misunderstanding.

He was thinking about Bixler.

Doesn't that make a lot more sense?

We have a BETTER RECORD  than last year w/the stars we traded.Oh yeah this team is terrible. '-)  hahahahaha

Can you believe we now have the 3rd best home record in the NL?  That is amazing and to think we are still last in attendance.  We need many more crowds like we had this evening.  

Well I am off to watch the games still in action and pull for the Giants, and Tribe so we can climb even closer to the top of the standings.  Every day I keep thinking today's the day we catch Houston and they keep winning as well.  I know it doesnt mean much that we're in last place considering we're only 1 1/2 games out of 3rd, but still it would be nice to jump ahead of these teams and not be on the bottom especially with all of our road games in July.

Let's win out the homestand and be 40-39 before heading to Fish town.  Can you imagine how tough it will be for NH to unload all of these players if this team keep things up?  The players know this and are almost forcing him not to break this team up.  Seriously, how can he dismantle the team if at the end of next month, we're in 3rd place and maybe 3 or 4 games out and still have 6 games at home with ST Louis?  It'll be a great problem to have if we can hang on and get Doumit back, that'll be our trade deadline move getting our #4 hitter back.

Go Bucs!

There are only 6 teams in the National League that will finish over 500 against the American League and the Pirates are one of them.

I would say that is progress for the team that had the worst record in interleague play coming into this year.

Hostage, how did he get Jack and Bix mixed up?  

Brewers are now down 6-4 in the 9th.  could be 4 games out of 2nd place in a matter of minutes.

And they're 11-1 in games when they  have crowds over 20000.  

NuHo It does.Point being he didn't explain and he sent SEVERAL posts and did not relent.We're willing to listen,but it helps if he doesn't go off on a tangent and if he's wrong admit it or just drop it.

This has definitely been a fun homestand to watch.  Guys are playing hard, and look like they're having fun as well.  It may be "just a game," but everyone should enjoy their job if they can.

Have we ever had a winning record interleague?  

NuHo-Sorry if I went off on him a bit,but UDN and PAM had the same  M O.They'd tear the team down after a loss,but NEVER give credit after a good win.

@diehard... I don't think so.

This is a good night and has been a good run...let's hope they keep it going!  

@diehard - They had one other winning season in interleague.

pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/.../article.jsp

Outstanding! A real team effort, lots of kudos to go all around top to bottom tonight. I know KC ain't Bo Sox, but I will take this win. Nice 4 game win streak! Especially liked LaRoche with the big hit to semi break it open to a 5-2 lead. Clutch hit! Nice 3 run HR our budding right fielder. Make me look the fool for being upset with the trades! Go Pirates. Make it a 3 some! NO TRADES, leave the team alone going to end of season!

David

Giants just found out what is like to go to Brewer land, Brewers win in the bottom of the ninth.

DMac-How many shots of rum did you give Jobu?You might want to chill him out with a daicquiri or two.

Bring out the brooms! Looking for a sweep with the salt man (Morton)  pitchin' tomorrow. Go Bucs!

Another great win, even if it started out a little bit shaky. I was bummed about Moss being benched again, especially in favor of DY. I was really bummed after the second pickoff/caught stealing of Nyjer, but the team came threw.

I really like the chest bump celebration at the end of the games, but Nyjer needs to work on his timing, LOL Seriously, I hope we get to see a lot of that for the rest of the year. Good thing it isn't the NFL, they would get penalized for doing that.

Pirates are on a 4-0 streak and are 2-0 with Mr&Mrs Bay in town. Y'all may just have to tie them up and keep them there if this winning streak continues. ;-)

Tony Plush needs to hit the audio visual room.He hit good but the baserunning needs some work.Time to watch some film of Greinke.

came threw????? YIKES !!!

of course that was meant to be came through.

I'm off to rest up for the cab wars tomorrow, so I gotta set the DVR for tomorrow's game.

Y'all have a good night.

BTW-I changed the avatar.

it's pretty cool that the team is getting close to July still in contention.  doesn't matter to me if the Central is playing poorly.

i wonder if people are ready to admit this team might be better now, this season, after the McLouth trade?  we have outfielders, but Morton might be our best pitcher.  i hope i didn't just jinx him tomorrow.

irate - Thanks for the link.  2001 was the previous winning IL season.  It's been toooo long!

Got to love this homestand.  Wish I couldve been at the game.  My grandpa has season tickets and he would let me and my brothers go to any game I want.  Normally we'd go to 20-25 games a year.  It sucks I'm working on the wrong side of the state this summer.  

At least we're winning :-)

@Maz...Yeah, I may need to go out and get another bottle or Morgan tomorrow. :-)

Oops... "bottle *of* Morgan"

West Virginia and Lynchburg won.Altoona is losing.

1B Calvin Anderson has 8 HRs and 44 RBI for West Virginia

 He is 6' 7" and 240 lbs    .283 BA

DMac-During one of the games I heard Tony Plush was doing the Capt Morgan pose for the fans in LF.  ;-)

A nice win indeed and yes, team is playing better then last year when Bay, Nady and Marte were on the team. But let me caution you. The toughest part of the schedule and the dog days are coming. This is still a team that has no power. Laroche will get dealt. The Central is not that good (again). As good as this team is playing, there are still to many hurdles to go over as the season moves on. Yes, hold onto the positives, but a miracle would have to happen to get over the .500 mark.   On another note, I think the organization as a whole has turned the corner. Just about all the moves Neil has made have been successful. 77 wins.

It's nice to see what a RF with power can do for the Pirates.  DY brings a nice bat to the park and without him a don't see the Pirates winning tonight.  Hopefully Russell keeps putting him in there.  

I just got back from downtown so no comments during the game because I didn't see any but the glimpses I got of the jumbotron.

2nd half rotation.

Maholm

Duke

Ross O

Morgan

Virgil, Gorzo or Karstans?

A very good evening asylum, a winning record in interleague play! Woo Hoo! And only 4 games under and 5 out of division and wild card. Say it ain't so is this the year? If were ion this position come July 31 will we add a bat? Will we keep Jack, Adam, and Grabow? So many questions and so much hope, even though I might be a little over excited especially considering some of my comments during the first 8 innings of Tuesdays game but maybe that 9th is what this team needed. Anyway Charlie will have to be on top of his game tomorrow, but we do good against these types of pitchers.

35 down.  46 to go.

Focus.

Starchild says:

#1 Star: Paul Maholm - 7 in/ 5 hits/ 2 runs/ 1 bb/ 2 k.

#2 Star: Delwyn Young - 2/4 with a 3 run bomb and 4 rbi.  Kid can hit.

#3 Star: Jack - 2/3 with an rbi, Jack has quietly raised his batting average from the #8 hole to a more than respectable .291.   Jack, imho, is the definition of a catalyst on this team.

Tip o' th' Hap Cap to AdLa who is certifiably beginning his annual tear.

Folks, we are 4 games under .500 and 5 games out of first.  This is far from impossible.  We can do this.  Just gotta beat the teams ahead of us mano-a-mano.

"HEY Grandma!  What big teeth ya got.  TA HAVE!"

Wabbit.

I'll be making the trek for the games on Mon/Tues. Unfortunately, I'm bringing my Cubs fan friend (he's actually bringing ME). Either way, two more towards what will hopefully be a big crowd again.

As for the "the Central is weak" notion, I think overall, there is more parity in baseball right now. This could be the year to sneak up on someone--just hope we can do it after what will likely be another year of selling off pieces.

Oh well, good win!

@Russ: I think you mean Morton vice Morgan.....

wake - Delwyn hit a HR tonight, that does not make him any more a pwer bat than Jack hitting one last night makes him one.  Yes, he does bring a nice bat, and we likely don't win without him tonight.  No one could have asked for a better timed hit than Delwyn had.  Just realize that Young and Moss have strikingly similar numbers (at least as far as AB to HR or RBI ratios), but Young's glove has led to him having almost 200 less AB's in an identical number of career games.

Please can we not have Nyjer (Morgan) pitch?  ;-)

Great win. My optimism over the last few weeks is now slowly turning into realism. I have to call it for what it is. Our pitching (starting & bullpen), offense, and defense, are all in the top half of NL categories. All we're missing is more power, but the pieces are definitely coming together.

Something good is happening here.

Great win today, glad to see DY come through a couple times and play well in the field. Thats gotta get his confidence up.

DK, in the game story you said that if they win tomorrow they will end with a winning IL record. Idk if you fixed this yet, but they clinched that today and now stand at 8-6, you said they are now 7-6. Just figured i'd let you know if you didnt see that yet.

Hey all!

I have the tickets!!

We picked them up tonight just prior to going in and witnessing the Delwyn Young Experience...  okay, so that's overstating it.  He hit a home run.  

Okay, it was a bomb.  

But really, this was a team win.  

Except for poor Nyjer. Nyjer, Sir, you need to watch the pitcher's hips and leg.  Not his upper body or where his head is looking.  Watch the lower body.

Srsly.

At any rate, thanks, DMac for the post.  It was funny, standing there after the fireworks ended, and as folks stand up and file out, they start Ants Marching.  I swear they read this blog...

See you all tomorrow!

diehard, are you at your email?  I'll be sending one in a minute...

DY should play RF as long as he's bringing in runs.  He only has 4 less rbi than Moss in almost half as many at bats.  Young has a sweet swing and we should let him get his cuts in there the rest of the season.  We could probably get a pretty big bag of balls in a trade for Moss, so it works either way.

In the meantime, yes these are nice wins for the Pirates, especially at home.  However, they have played teams arguably worse than even these Pirates.  Even though they are winning, they lack quality starting pitching, have a couple shaky arms in the bullpen and absolutely no power.  I can see this team struggling against the Cubs, Brewers and Cards.

steph

Its good to see I'm not alone.

Aye SirL!  I shall be waiting.

Yotum- any sign of Lastings?  He's supposed to ride shotgun.

Also, NH and FC, your competitors are making their teams better.  I know the McClouth trade was supposed to do the same thing, but think "Royals" fire sale (they have to have SOMEONE).

Indians made a good trade..

 sportsillustrated.cnn.com/.../index.html

Nice win. Enjoy it, but I do not see them adding a bat unless it is someone like Milledge for Morgan.  The lack of prospects in AAA show that the foundation is not there yet. The worst thing NH could do right now is to go off plan and trade prospects.

As far as keeping Adam and Jack, I think it is possible. Jack will not bring much in trade. Adam probably a little more but he is a free agent at the end of the year. If the return is not there then maybe they will keep most of the team together and let them make a run.

diehard: It's sent.

SirL - Received and responded affirmatively!

WSB-

Lastings is in rehab and told me to go on without him. Says he's not so sure he's gonna get dealt now, but said HE'D be best friends with Cutch here too, if it meant getting to play Robin to Cutch's Batman...

;-)

The FO might as well trade Laroche for anything.  No sense letting him walk away with nothing in return in free agency. If no one will take Wilson, they better sign him for anything more than 1 or 2 mil a year.

Sir Lochs, you weren't sitting for a bit in Section 143, were you?

Ok, DY had 4 RBI, but I still say Moss is our future

Nyjmo had a good day with his stick, but a bad day baserunning, he was out to lunch twice

It was a beautiful night at the game, I'm glad I broke my boycott, and a quick one too.  My sig other doesn't like baseball, won't wear her glasses so she can't see, her back was out, but we still went.

By my count Baywatch is 2-0, we need you to work your magic again tomorrow, my/our friend

Something very good is happening here.  I'm excited to go tomorrow.  It will be the first time I get to see AMac in person.  And Morton makes his first PNC start to top it off...how cool is that?

Oh, and for the record?

I hate the concept of "Milledge for Morgan."  I know there are some who don't see great hope for Morgan, but you need the 1-2 punch at the top of the order in order to make the speed-kills lineup work.  Just AMac isn't as scary.

And when Morgan (remember, hockey player?) gets better at reading pitchers, he'll be better...

His two hits tonight were clear knocks.  No lucky drops or anything.  And he even showed bunt and dragged it just foul up the first base line, which, even though it didn't work, still puts the thought in the fielders' heads.  And that IS worth something.

And Lastings Milledge just doesn't do it for me.

If Moss is our future, we are in for many more losing seasons.  I hope he's just keeping the seat warm for Tabata.

Indians and Cardinals trade tonight...

Mark LaRosa from Indians to Cardinals for P Chris Perez and a PTBNL.

sports.espn.go.com/.../story

wake

If were 4 or 5 games out come trade deadline why trade Adam? And I say don't trade jack at all sign him too a 2 maybe 3 year deal, he'll accept he only wants to play a few more years and wants to play his whole carreer in Pittsburgh. And have him hold down the fort until we can either acquire a SS in a trade or until a Friday, D'Arnaud, Mercer, or De Los Santos is ready.

An interesting deal that a fan proposed:

SF gets:

Ad. Laroche, F. Sanchez

Pit gets:

T. Alderson (SP--#4 prospect)

T. Ishikawa (1B [LH bat, young, with some upside)

E. Adrianza (SS--#6 prospect)

Purely speculation, but if we swung that deal, I think I'd be thrilled.

SirL-

Two things:

1) Milledge wouldn't be much of a drop-off (if any) in speed from Morgan

2) While Morgan's been on a tear the last few games, the two CS are a concern. What good is he if he's gonna get picked off? It's almost like there wasn't a hit to begin with. He's raw, so i can excuse it, but a lot of people were pset last year when he kept oversliding bases. Just a thought.

dmac

"Something very good is happening here"

I agree!! And I've seen Amac in person in Altoona and that was amazing I'm sure its only gotten much better, your in for a treat!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

SirL

"And Lastings Milledge just doesn't do it for me."

I agree, he also brings some serious baggage.

Of Course I meant DeRosa not LaRosa in the Indians trade.

@DMac - I have seen AMac in person on a few occasions and the one thing that you do not get from TV, is how fast he really is.

Interesting stat...

Of the 11 Bucs with at least 90ABs, the lowest batting average is .265 (Moss).

Now if only more of those hits could be HRs, but still, at least there's really no one in the day-to-day line-up where we go "uh-oh".

Wake- I see the power developing as the season goes on.  I like the way you think.  

The young guys (1st or 2nd year players) will progress into the 2nd half and Doumit is coming back.  I'd love to see a headline "Laroche signs a 3 year deal" in the next few weeks to support the clubhouse.

 Seeing that Vasquez not performing off the bench, is there a utility player that may be available for the Pirates to acquire, if the Pirates are in contention?  

@Drew71 - re - from an earlier post - Bob Prince:

We had them ALLLLLLLLLLLLL the way!

Gunner always had a "snort" after he said that, he did that a lot, snort is the best way to describe it, an inner chuckle maybe, but it was the best when we pulled out a "wild and wooly one"

JHadar, thanks Nebraska is in the books, I think UK is tooas we have Scotland and Ireland on the list, the only thing left is England

Bucco Nation (38 States in the Union)

Still looking for inmates from the following:

Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Minnesota, North Dakota,

Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, Wyoming

Much thanks to JHadar, Nebraska last off the list

We do have 9 countries represented: Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Phillipines, Scotland and lest I forget, the good old USA

Again, JHadar remembered someone from UK, must be England

Ok, so maybe I cheat, Nurse Crachett has a hard time keeping track of all of us.

wake - re - Moss

Where can I serve you your crow dinner??  ; }

Dammit...that means DeRosa is back in the NL and he kills our pitching.  >:(

Steph

"Of the 11 Bucs with at least 90ABs, the lowest batting average is .265 (Moss)"

We are 3rd in the Senior Circuit in team BA.

Wabbit-Hey I like those quotes.I used to watch those cartoons every Sat morning.(even as an adult)

really its no big deal that the Brewers won.  The Giants were leading the wild card race and now Milwaukee is so whichever team won it was going to help us.  Maybe this will be the year that having extra innings to watch all of the other games will finally be worth something other than just watching baseball because I love it.  To watch the games AND root for teams to lose into July is an experience I have not had the previous 8 seasons of paying for this wonderful baseball package!

Couple series to see where we stand in July:

Houston on the road

Brewers at home.  

Not so concerned about the Cubs at home because we miss Z and Dempster.  The Cubs and Sox have the bottom two offenses in MLB ranking 29th and 30th according to what I heard on Fox's GOTW today.  I think we can flex our muscle against the Cubs this time around.  It'll be a huge improvement over 2008 and great for our confidence.

That Giants and Brewers series right after the All Star game is one we need to come out and support the team in the stands.  We arent going to win this division without beating MIL.  We are 10-21 against teams in the central.  its amazing to think we are 5 out and 11 games under .500 within our own division.  Obviously, that has to change and is the key to any future success we are going to have in 2009.  we cant have 9000 people show up for those first two games of the MIL series and expect this team to feel like the region is behind them.  This next road trip is going to tell us a lot which is why we need to take as many of these final 5 home games as possible since it is the last homestand before the break.  FL, HOU, and Philly will be a challenge and you really cant expect this team to do much better than 5-4 on that trip which is why it would be so nice to sweep tomorrow and take 3 out of the final 4 home games.  If that were to happen and we do pull off a 5-4 trip, we'd sit at 44-44 at the break.  How sweet it would be!  Let's get some PIRATES fans in the yard this week folks!  Let's drown out the fading Cubs fans and kick them while they are down!!!

Go Bucs!

Because I don't see anything special happening.  Last season we had a better record at this point and we made deals for our future.  This year shouldn't be any different.  We still aren't as good/talented as the Cubs, Brewers, Cards or Reds.  If we would keep this team, or even worse, make a minor deal to help us in the present, it could set the Pirates back years in rebuilding.  They should stick with the plan, acquire as many prospects as possible and put together a championship caliber team.  .500=no playoffs.

@Steph - re - Moss

I can be wrong, but I think he has 16 doubles, last I saw 180 something at bats, the power will come, some playing time will help

Zero errors in the field BTW

Re - Redbirds, supposedly, and if this was previously discussed, apologize, but they are sniffing at Matt Holiday

@mazfromiowa - re cartoons

What channel are they on?  Are the 3 Stooges still on?

Before cable, you could always find them somewhere..

Re - losing Culthbert, more $$ for Sano, I hope

The only thing holding back the Pirates from contending now is their offense...I mean, their bullpen....I mean, their starters....well you get the picture of how far the Pirates really are.

I can't wait...seeing AMac and Morton are icing the cake to spending the afternoon with my fellow inmates.  :-)

WSB...We need to head up a "sign Adam" group.  He's been showing such hustle this year.  And I know he wants to stay here and play with Andy.  

The thing about this lineup...where no one person is popping HR's is that they can't necessarily predict who will hit one out.  So pitching around guys can be a bigger gamble than it normally would.

Bizrow-- You askerd earlier if I was in 143...  Nope, I don't think I was.  I was over in section 120, a few rows behind Baywatch et al.  Or was that a reference to something that happened that I missed?

Shoot, the witching hour is coming, ants will be marching soon

@Marty: I agree, he also brings some serious baggage.

I don't put much stock in the "baggage" comments. To me if you are a wife beater then you have baggage. Players get tagged with labels sometimes and it turns out to be more the fault of the system he is in than the player. A players attitude can change quickly with a change in venue. That is what coaches and team leaders are for.

wakerider-Any idea how many errors Young has? 3   Any idea how many assists Young has 0

Any idea how many errors Moss has? 0  Any idea how many assists   Moss has? 6

Any idea why Moss is considered to be a lot better in RF? I hope you have the answer to that one!  

@ Biz

I'm not worried about Moss. He'll be fine. My point being his .265 is still respectable, even though it is the worst of the 11 players with at least 90 ABs. I'm sure there is no other team in baseball where the worst everyday player is batting at such a respectable average.

Indians are throwing in the towel.  Wedge will be gone before the weekend is done.  We sealed his fate as manager by taking that series.  Losing 6 straight to the Cubs and Brewers didnt help either.  How sweet it is to say Cleveland has the worst record in the American League!  3rd worst overall.  ARE U IN THE TRIBE?  uh no thanks.

btw other than the Nats having a 6-27 record against teams in the East, that 10-21 mark we have against teams in the Central is the worst record of the remaining 28 ballclubs against teams from the East, Central, or Western divisions of their respective leagues.  we can only go up from here!

I say keep DY in the lineup until Moss has as many home runs as him or DY pulls even with Moss' batting average.  Have him start every game until one of those happen.

BTW only 3 teams have more quality starts than the Pirates.And 2 of them have only 1 more.So much for the theory of lack of starting pitching.Some people need to check the facts before making incorrect statements.

dmac,

DeRosa didnt exactly carry the Indians to victory against us this week so I wouldnt worry about him.  Its not like we play in STL the rest of the season.  we only play them at home for 6 games and if our team remains intact, I like our chances.  The story here is how amazingly fast the Indians have fallen since almost making it to the world series in 2007.  they have been somewhat blowing up their team the past two seasons after terrible starts.  Somehow, they still made it back to a respectable 81-81 when the season ended last year, but not sure what they have done to go from a championship type team two years ago to a team with an absolutely horrible bullpen today.  Glad its their problem.

@SirLochs, no, it was weird, there is usually this wild (good wild) blonde lady in the first row, about halfway through, a young guy and his lady (kinda looked like what I remember you looking like came in and sat down.  I was just thinking could be a small world, guess I will have to come to a gathering some day so I know for sure

@Wake - standing offer

Do you want mashed potatoes and a salad with your cooked crow??

Yup, run DY out there every game and pray only a few balls get hit his way...

The reason DY should play is because offense trumps defense.  Moss can't do what DY did tonight.  Even with DY's shortcomings on defense, he only has to protect the smallest part of the outfield and has the help of the long range McCutch has into right center.  

And, if I was Adam LaRoche, would I want to stay here?  No, I would probably try my hardest to sign with a contending team, or sign with a team willing to spend money, or sign with a team that has great fans and understand what I am worth.  

LaRoche has no connection to Pittsburgh or reason to stay here.  He is not the future, so trade him.

@Wake: keep DY in the lineup until Moss has as many home runs as him

If Moss does not play, how does he get HRs?  

It would be great if Moss could go to AAA to develop power and DY could go down to learn how to play the outfield. But they cannot so if the Bucs think either player has talent, they have to play them now and let them develop.  And the simple fact is even though both players have problem areas, they are both contributing to this team.

Bizrow,

You have Washington represented, at least for the next three weeks.  I'm in Spokane with the Air Force, but they're moving me to Charlottesville VA in July.

wake-You are wrong again! Our record is BETTER than at THIS TIME LAST YEAR.Where do you get your facts from?Maybe the page is upside down. lol

What am I eating crow for?  nothing has happened recently to change my views.

"Here are some more relevant stats: The Pirates staff is ninth in the NL in ERA, 10th in walks and hits per inning (WHIP); 11th in batting average against; 15th in strikeout to base on ball ratio."

@bucsfancents80...I know he didn't help Cleveland beat us, but I remember last season with Chicago...I'll keep my fingers crossed for our lineup staying in tact.  

The whole DY/Moss situation is hard to call.  DY hits so well, but I agree that he needs to improve his fielding.  However, I see Moss turning his problems at the plate around, and he has shown the better defensive skills.  Oh dear.

@DMac - sign Adam, Freddie and JW, why in goodness sake would we not sign Freddie, he's a darn hit machine, JW had a great RBI today, sign them reasonably, they will be more value trade wise down the road.  You play 1100 games at SS for PBC, thats value

Moss will have to take advantage of pinch hits and off days for DY.  If he's that great, he should be able to get one hr.  Although he's keeping up a nice, even pace for the season...1.

Welcome Traco Bucco, thanks for being here, and thanks so much for serving in the most important way possible, well equal to the Pittsburgh Police, well, any policemen and firemen, you put your arses on the line for all of us.  Heroes

Bucco Nation (39 States in the Union)

Still looking for inmates from the following:

Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Minnesota, North Dakota,

Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wyoming

Much thanks to Traco Bucco, Washington last off the list

We do have 9 countries represented: Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Phillipines, Scotland and lest I forget, the good old USA

The reason DY gets the advantage is because defense is no as important as offense.  Look at the Brewers, offense at almost every position, but they aren't great at defense.  Braun is brutal and Fielder is not much better, however they are light years ahead of any Pirates in talent.  And, as I recall, the Brewers offense trumps our defense every single time.  Why would a contender such as the Red Sox/Dodgers employee a player such as Manny Ramirez?  He's terrible at defense, yet he plays.  Why is that?  Aramis Ramirez is a terrible defender, but I don't remember him ever being benched because of his defense. Jeter lacks range and is getting slower, yet he players every day, could that be for his bat?  Anyone see a connection here?

@wake - re crow

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but before long, you'll have dinner of baked crow (fried crow is not too tasty) and your choice of two sides.

It's not a sprint, its a marathon, IMO the cream always rises to the top, DY is short term gratification, Moss is long term satisfaction

@ Yotum

"An interesting deal that a fan proposed:

SF gets:

Ad. Laroche, F. Sanchez

Pit gets:

T. Alderson (SP--#4 prospect)

T. Ishikawa (1B [LH bat, young, with some upside)

E. Adrianza (SS--#6 prospect)"

I wouldn't give 2 decent MLB players for a B + pitcher and an old 1b ( he is 26 later this year) without power and an A ball shortstop.

I think we could do better. I think we NEED to do better.

Great evening at the old ball yard tonight. Got to visit again with Baywatch who came over from Section 120 to say hello to Capn and me. Great game. Great fireworks. And Capn, who filled in as chauffer tonight, wins a Hap Cap for managing to find a round about way from PNC Park through downtown and back to North Hills in record time.

__/_H_\

I really enjoyed the Gathering today and seeing everyone and talking to JHadar and others. See you all again tomorrow as Bucs go for the sweep.

wake-last year our ERA was 5.23 (last) this year) 9 th 4.31 almost a FULL  run better.We were last in BBs last year(10th in 2009)

BAA in 2008(last) in 2009(11 th)

This club went from worst ERA to 9 th....IN ONE YEAR.Anyone can see the improvements.Last year 10 clubs had LESS  errors,this year 2 teams have less.In BA we were 9th in 2008...this year we are 3rd.In what way have we digressed other than HRs?Almost EVERY SINGLE  stat there is significant improvement,plus the team is younger.

Wake, if you are so fired up to get Young's bat in the lineup why not sit Morgan and play Moss, who is a superior defensive outfeilder, has 3 times as many  career home runs as Morgan?

@Biz...I don't know why we wouldn't.  They're playing so well right now.  

Bizrow - DY is young too, and he has more pedigree with the bat.  Nothing points to Moss every correcting his hitting problems.  Remember Brad Eldred?  people said the same thing about him, but Eldred could never parlay minor league success to the majors.  I seem similar qualities in Moss, although he does not have as much power.

wake...YOu're a broken record and obviously don't care about the runs DY's defensive miscues cost the team.

Well, early in the season we had the Nymo Bus and the LaRoche Coach, and the Moss Fogger.

I'm all for "Lastings' catchings".   Being in two defective franchises can make one surly, but he was working hard last summer to correct (can't find the article).

wake, thats a contradiction, we speak of its not today, its tomorrow, NH and trades and all of that, IMO DY has no place to play, he's a cheap and younger Hinske.

Somebody bet me lunch that Moss wouldn't be hitting over 200 by the end of April, I refused the bet, was it you?

The good thing about crow is it makes an excellent soup with leftovers, I'll stand by the guy, I learned my lesson with Nyjmo, and the crow dinner was pretty darn good.

Lets see what happens

So how is the recruiting going, any word?

Becase Morgan brings more to the table than Moss.  He has speed, can hit, generate offense, has more power so far.  Morgan has more hrs and rbis than this supposed power-hitter Moss.  Morgans defense isn't bad, and no one ever said Moss' was great.  They do what they are expected.  Keep the outfield Morgan/Cutch/Young

wake Brandon Moss is no Eldred, Big Country had a better moniker that Moss, Brandon has to lay off those low inside curves, that is my opinion and I've got the crow in the freezer ; }

DY may need a ride too, if he keeps this up.  :-)

The Roche Coach had a nice ride today, btw...Adam 2 for 4, Andy with the triple.  

I'm sure someone will beat me to it, but ants marching to morning links

=================

I agree in a way, Morgan is more of an open, character guy, but you cannot survive with an OF with no power, IMO Washington is not going to go for Nyjer, but an OF with Nyjmo and McCutch is not a championship OF, no matter how NH spins it, same with Gorky and same with Andy at 3B unless he refinds his power, will give him another year to do so.  Thats another reason to sign big brother to another deal, maybe 2 years?

You are right, Moss is no Eldred.  Eldred had 12 hrs and 27 rbis his rookie year with the same exact at bats as Moss this season and the same exact age.  I can see Moss going this career path.  Right now, I'd definatly take Eldred over Moss and Eldred can't even crack the majors.  

@ Biz: "IMO Washington is not going to go for Nyjer"

What do you mean by this, exactly?

DK reported the Nats offered Milledge for Morgan straight-up...?

As long as NH is smart, he should try every possible way of trading LaRoche, Sanchez, Wilson, Grabow, Snell, Doumit, Moss and Morgan.  None of these players are the future and none should be with us when we are contenders.  Trading all or some of these players should at least net 1 or 2 major league players and maybe a stud, who knows?  But they might as well try.  

Biz...I don't know who would play 1st if not for Adam.  IMO, there isn't an option to take that spot, either offensively or defensively.  And when Doumit comes back, he can slide back into his more comfortable 5-hole...Ooooohhhh I get shivers thinking about how good that could be. ;-)

DMac - why does it matter who replaces LaRoche?  Maybe it will be Pearce, or Alvarez, or Calvin Johnson or someone we draft or get in a trade. In other words, there are many players who can play 1st until the Pirates are ready to contend.

@Yotum - re - Wash

What I've skimmed on is of course the internet, can't trust that for sure, except what DK or CF or sorry shoot, the intern has to say, but Wash is shopping, window shopping, but again,  thats the net

If you are looking ahead, and I guess I am, whats going on with the draft?  I'm thinking DK will post that in the paper, BUY THE PG, thats one real reason why I am clueless with some posts, I work, I sits hope, I feed the pups, then I feed me and have to joy of reading DC and Co tell me the good scoop

wake - fist bump, or atleast promise to serve crow to either?

Wake...You're entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine.  I'm done arguing with you.

Who is Calvin Johnson?You mean Calvin Anderson?Wow you are really confused.BTW he's in low A.You need to study the facts.Sheesh!

Yeah Calvin Anderson.  I knew it was something generic.  My point stands though, anyone can play first until they are one of the pieces that makes us a championship caliber team.

Hey wake-before you post, email me and I'll correct it for you then people won't think you pulled your post out of thin air.Just trying to help you.

You do know Adam has only 1 error this year!

haha I'm good.  I know people don't like that fact that I'm right all the time.  It's because it seems like I'm being negative about the Pirates.  But I like them too, I just want to see them succeed, and what I say is what the Pirates need to do to win.  My player evaluations are all correct, and I know which players are not the future and need to be dealt or released.

maz - Offense trumps defense, these guys all know how to field, doesn't matter who plays or who replaces whoever we currently have, trade 25% of the roster for bags of balls - as long as DY is in RF.  ;-)

BTW wake - the Eldred comparison doesn't fly to well, and I realize that the only stats that matter to you are HR and RBI.  But Eldred has such holes in his swing that he struck out nearly 50% of the time.  If you want sustained success, you need to make contact.  Eldred didn't make contact enough to be successful; Moss K's 19.6% of the time, Young over 25%.

Wake-You are a troll and you sound like the kid that was using someone else's name.I corrected a lot of your statements and I will email others to stop replying to your.......posts.i wonder if you are old enough to have a driver's license.