Make it 21 in a row in Milwaukee; Bixler optioned back to Indianapolis

21 in row--incredible!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure I would say Suppan only allowed 1 run--more a case of the Pirates only scored one run  more due to inept hitting than superior pitching

Bad one today.

At least we've won 5 of 6 against them at PNC. So we can finally beat them in Pittsburgh, now we just gotta learn to beat them in Millwaukee.

Lets Golf Bucs....Where Losing = Winning

JAL

"Not sure I would say Suppan only allowed 1 run--more a case of the Pirates only scored one run  more due to inept hitting than superior pitching"

Very, very true.

The goobers in Milwaukee celebrate another one.

This is painful.

Not so much incredible - just sad.  Very sad.  There's a dynamic here I'm not getting - and baseball teams, more than any other pro sport, run on human dynamics, relationships in the locker room, and on the field.  

Milwaukee was ripe for the taking - their team is a mess, their pitching non-existent.  Jeff Suppan?  Nine hits, four walks and one - count 'em, ONE - run.  Pathetic.

I may need to hang an air freshener near my computer speakers if we have another one like the last three.

good gawd the key situation thinking and execution was on vacation today.

Depressing

Possibly the most disheartening thing is the inability to drive in a run with a runner on 3rd and less then two outs.

Marty, they're all bad.

It is time for some  accountability. Give Jaramillo some A.B.'s until Ryan starts to hit, Give Walker a chance to produce , and get rid of Don Long. I posted on the last thread that he is sub par and got he excuse that he had fixed Bay and Nady, corrected Jones and deserved another year. B.S. pure and simple. Bay was injured th year before and got healthy, Nady could always hit but could not stay on the field and Jones raked from the time he arrived. His long tenured pupils are LaRoche and Moss, need I say more? Milledge seem tobe hitting, Cutch is steady and Jones seems to be constantly near .3000 as does DY. Cedeno is hitting well for a SS but sit Ryan and Andy and make them earn their A.B.'s  

Well, it's Steeler time in da 'Burgh, and I've been looking forward to it for about seven months now.  I want to see the baby Bucs make some noise, but they don't seem capable of doing so.  They have talent - they have players - but they don't seem to be a team yet.  Let's get there, guys.  Let's get there.

@ giveneiltime - Don Long?  You got a problem with him?  

How is Neil Walker the answer to this equation?  I'm more than happy to see him come to the bigs, but...

Ross lost this game when he walked the pitcher with bases loaded and two out.  Moss was 2-4, LaRoche was 0-4.  This was about timely hitting and pitching.  

This is not yet a team.  There's work to do.  And it really doesn't depend on Neil Walker.

What does that make Moss?4-7 with 3 doubles and a HR.Time for a benching.JR wants to see if he can handle being benched when he's hot.One of JR's "tests".OOps fell off my chair while rolling my eyes.

Well on a more positive note, congratulations to the boys from Buena Vista California on winning the LLWS!!!

Chula Vista* My bad.

YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! BIXLERS BACK TO INDY!!!!!!!!!!

The story is told in boxscore--

#1-1-4 #2  0-4, #3 2-2 with two walks, # 4 0-4, #5 3-4, #6-2-4, #7 0-4, #8 0-2 with 2 walks

So only Milledge and Moss produced back to back at any time during the game.

LaRoche in Aug-.228BA..8 RBI..392 SLG

Walker    "     "     .363BA..29RBI..618 SLG

Let's not kid ourselves.PA will play 3B at Indy next year.

People are unhappy with Andy at 3B.Why not let Long and Hill work with Walker for a month?I'm not saying he takes all of Andy's starts,but with PA going to Indy,Walker might end up going to AA next year.What if we find out he improves with Long and Hill.Wouldn't that make more sense than just sending him down to AA next year.Who says let's just give up on him and throw him away to Altoona?This is a no brainer.

MazFI, agree - let's see what the kid's got.  And let's hope he's not Bix.  That's my fear, that the infection that has been the PBC minor league system has infected him.  

speaking of accountability, just once i would love to hear JR admit he made a mistake. instead of pointing to young hitters trying to do too much, just say "i made a stupid call having ross swing with the bases loaded there."

maz

I agree with you about giving Neil a chance. From what I've heard hes one of the best defensive 3rd basemen in the International League, so Perry Hill might be able to perfect his already stellar defense. If he can hit major league pitching in September, then why not make it an open competition between him and Andy in spring next year. If Andy looses not sure what to do because he is out of options, if Neil loosing send him to Indy to learn the OF and 1st, ontop of being able to play 3rd and be an emergency catcher, so you can turn him into a utility bench guy for the big club.

With the Bixler demotion mentioned as optioning...it's obvious he is not the 40 man move (DFA or release). Also a pretty safe guess that the 40 man move has nothing to do with the 25 man roster (Bootcheck, Jackson, etc.). Otherwise there would be 2 coming up tomorrow.

I'd say it's a fairly safe assumption that new acquisitions aren't going to be set free very quickly (Hacker, Meloan, Diaz, etc). That doesn't leave many choices. One would be Ascanio to the 60 day DL which would end his season...which doesn't seem likely. The others would be cutting Lerud, Sues or Uviedo (who hasn't been tearing up the minors). Decisions were going to need to be made on these guys at the end of the season anyway...the Pirates would just be making them with a week's less games than expected.

Thunder

I would remove one of the three you mentioned now, remove another one to make a space for Meek after the season, and remove the third to make a spot for anyone who might need to be added to keep from being Rule 5 eligiable.

wozzle -It just makes no sense NOT to promote him.Does anyone want Vasquez to play 3rd?How many peeps are happy with Andy's current play?What are the odds of him playing much at Indy next year?If he goes to Altoona next year Mercer will have to stay at A ball.Mercer had a .257 BA,but he has 74 RBI.This just keeps the system working instead of stifling the newbies.

Thunder

I would remove one of the three you mentioned now, remove another one to make a space for Meek after the season, and remove the third to make a spot for anyone who might need to be added to keep from being Rule 5 eligiable.

What a weird outing for Ohlendorf. Through six innings, he throws 60 of 95 pitches for strikes, gives up 5 hits and strikes out 6 - really good numbers there, and no indication whatsoever of a control problem.

The only unintentional walk he issued was to the opposing pitcher, with one out and the bases loaded. Krimeny! That'll kill you every time. How could that happen?

I don't see this as a depressing loss. The streak at Brewers stadium at this point is a flukey thing. Ohlendorf pitched well (except see above!!), Bootcheck pitched astonishingly well given what you might have expected/feared, Garrett Jones continues to astonish with his home run production, and Milledge continues to look like he's becoming the sort of hitter you'd hope a first round draft pick might be.

And that so-called light hitting middle infielder Cedeno drew *two* intentional walks (after going 3 for 4 as a pinch hitter this past week - an amazing performance in itself).

Andy's at bat with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs was a killer. Swung at the first pitch and popped out to the catcher.

Almost impossible to believe they leave as many runners on as they do.

     GIVE NEAL A CHANCE!

One thing that has gone relatively unnoticed is Lastings Milledge. In his time with the Pirates...his BA is now .303.

Meanwhile...Andy is down to .248 with on base percentage of .326 for the year.

As far as winning in Milwaukee:

WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR!

Should have been

        GIVE NEIL A CHANCE!

As for September call-ups as a whole, I see Walker, obviously McCutchen has already been called up, but the only other guys not currently on the 25-man I see coming are Ascanio and Karstens when they get off the D.L., Veal when the minor league season ends, and Clement when his oblique heals. So thats a total of 5, of a possible 15.

If Milly is hitting .303 and Hanny's ERA is about .270(0.90 in Aug) I would like to hear someone put the spin on that trade.A month ago there several folks yapping about us getting taken.Where are those folks now?As usual they fade into the woodwork.Maybe in the next few days one of us can dig into the archives.My point: trades are NOT instantly successful and JAL tries to explain that and yet....some peeps KEEP complaining a few days into the trades.Some day I hope we figure that out.

We've got 2 games tomorrow so everybody plays.The 1st games is at noon et.

I think we got taken in the Morgan trade.

Two RH tomorrow.Will Pearce play one of the games?He played against a right yesterday.our old buddy Kip Wells starts the first game and Cueto the 2nd.

Marty...

I agree for the most part on the callups. We will probably see Veal activated Tuesday...as I think he's just burning time at Altoona until the rosters can expand.

Clement...Ascanio and Karstens need to be healthy before being up. Sounds like Karstens will only be out the minimum. Ascanio...I don't know. Clement...an oblique could be a couple of days...or the rest of the season.

A few players are expected to be with the team...but not active. Names I've heard are Tabata and Lincoln...at a minimum...but that won't be till Indy is done.

29 year old 33'rd round draft pick, career .303 hitter with no pop (4 HR in 206 AB, which is 1 HR per 51 AB) for 24 year old 1'st round draft pick, career .263 hitter with power (27 HR in 997 AB, which is 1 HR per 37 AB) - that's a trade the Pirates front office would have to be comatose to miss.

Maz

You are a better man than me if you figure who JR will start.  Still a mystery to me. :)

@OfficerMancuso  

BUT... can the 24 year old 1st round pick smile and bring joy and positive thinking to the clubhouse - LOL

I loved the Nationals trade, as we sold very high on both those guys and bought low on Milledge and Hanrahan.  Both have shown glimpses of even better things to come.

As for the doubleheader.  I expect Garrett (RF, 1st), Cutch, Milledge, Andy,  and either DY or Cedno to play both.  I expect Doumit/JJ, Pearce/Moss (1st/RF),  and Vazqez or Cruz to play SS/2nd.

Anyone else notice that we are getting a new minor league pitching instructor?  Here's hoping he can turn Morris and Locke around.  If Morris turns out to be special, the Bay deal isn't a total disaster.  However, as a whole I think we got much more talent inthe trades than we gave up.

JAL-Not that hard.Just like JR I either flip a coin 16 times or use the his hi-tech method of the revolving dart board OR names in a hat.lol

JAL-Rumor has it his dog sometimes poops on a checker board with numbered squares too. :-)

Well, I was one of the very firsrt and maybe the first to talk about Mr. Morgans potential, when Maz goes to the archives he will produce it.

I was also very tentaive about his trade forseeing and predicting a potentil .320 hitter last year.

But, WSB was right casue Blastings is showing he is warming up much like this:

www.youtube.com/watch

He is being taught aspects about the game that no one bothered with because he was labeled a high took kid in little league and he has skated his way here.

He is like Mr Young putting in the work to becaome the best he can be.

I am pleased as pink for his acquistion.  I think we have our left fielder and our center fielder.

I think if young continues to wrok and hit and It is said there never was a question about his hitting, we have our second baseman.  Perry is doing the work to make him competant.

I think Maz will work with him turning the double  paly after the season is over, no toe stepping.

My Sha rona  www.youtube.com/watch

is playing well enough he will be around if he continues his footwork.

Right now we have real problem going on behind the plate.

It was mentioned give my names sake some at bats and play calling until ryan gets his head together, I'll go for that!

Andy is an extremely good glove and i think he will hit he has the swing.  But, he is not now and as the season windds down there is no more sense than to bring walker up and take a look.

Long term the jury is still very much out on first base.

Roght field will tabatas to lose.Add a solid bat at the number two position and at the number five positon and at the number Nine position and games like today have a nuch different outcome.

If Milledge continues hitting like this, I'm happy to say I was wrong about him.

In fact I would say it's time to stop the scholarship of Doumit and put Milledge in the 3 spot and Jones in 4 spot until Doumit can prove he's a better player than Lastings.

Believe it or not, Milledge is now hitting .303 as a PIrate!  He's hit .395 with a SLG of .570 in the last 12 games.

Let's put him in the 3 spot and try Jones at cleanup.

Has anyone else noticed that the Brewers - 5 games under .500 when this series started, having been swept by the Reds, no less, drew 120,000 for a 3 game set with the last-place Pirates?

bucsfancents80, where are you?

RN - have you taken notice?

Sadly, once again this game turned on poor defensive play. Cedeno's gaffe lit the fire.

Plus, I HAVE NEVER SEEN A WORSE BLOWN CALL ON BALLS AND STRIKES IN MY LIFE. The 0-1 pitch was directly over the plate. The difference between 0-2 and 1-1? HUGE! Plus, another of the 4 balls was a strike according to pitch tracker.

What a hose job!

Basically, this game should have been won and Ohlie should only be charged with 1 run. The ump should also get a nice bottle of champagne from the Brewers for handing them the game.

Also, the Brewers ought to send JR and nice bouquet of flowers for his IDIOTIC decision to have Ohlie hit. STUPID! This guy obviously doesn't understand what percentages are. having a hunch is one thing... but as I pointed out earlier, there was a REAL 85% chance of Ohlie hitting into a DP if he made contact.

EIGHTY FIVE PERCENT!!!! That's not made up. Those are the statistics.

McCutchen has an OBP of .411 in August!

That means McCutchen had a 40% chance of getting in a run with 2 outs. Ohlie had an 85% chance of hitting into a DP.

WAKE UP JR AND FIND A BRAIN!

Word from Indy is that Lincoln is replacing D McCutchen on the World Cup team.

indyindians.mlblogs.com/.../daniel_mccutchen_has_done_enou.html

Also an interesting little note in there re Walker-LaRoche. One of the Indy veterans of the PCL (assuming either Bozied or Myrow, although Clement a possibility) says that Walker is a much better player than LaRoche. Now whether it's because Walker is a current teammate, I don't know, but if it's an accurate assessment...

just back from family day.  the game? totally forgettable.  But the earlier thread...the, uh, picture of the, ahem, sausage....

Dejan, come here buddy, we gotta talk.  About that, um, picture...ahhhh...what's the phrase i'm looking for...um...

and that will be in blog mornings links as always tomorrow.

doesn't seem to be much excitement about signing Jorge Julio

JAL, wikipedia says that among other good things he's got "a downward-breaking slider, which comes in at between 86-90 MPH". That sounds like a great double play pitch to me.

BTW-Pam's prediction is 2 victories away from losing the Blog seasonprediction.

Officer M

That is a good DP pitch and he has had some good seasons, like 2008 when he a had a 3.60 ERA in 30 innings.

Ity seems Hostage should be happy with the changes that have been made.------------------------------------------------------

If it waits until the off season, I'm good with that but the needs are MUST haves IMO:

- Lefty bat w/ pop for RF or 1B

- Shortstop prospect (Like a Zobrist)

- Second base prospect. (W/ D. Young as insurance though his glove scares the crap out of me.)

We added Jones,Cedeno and DY has stepped up.At least the FO did their best to placate NuHo

Maz, were you out riding today?

Maz, I am betting they are in a stand down waiitng for tabata to come to Right field.

 Youngs glove gets better every day

Maz

Nope--3  next person has 58 wins so PAM can still win until the team hits 56 when both would be 2 off and  HR prediction already favors the person who predicted 58 wins.

the real maz will teach that double play turn this off season, you just watch.

The predication contest will be updated Sept 1 and then probably weekly as people will drop out almost daily in Sept.  So far only 11 have been eliminated.

JJ-I was riding indoors today.It's windy and cool.It's going to be in the low 40s tonight.

After going trough some of the archives as I read daquidos comments I think of comedienne Steve Wright.Dead pan serious face.However daquido is very funny.

Bah - The Pirates will continue to lose, but not enough to get the first pick or two. They'll win just enough to disappoint.. lol. They win a few, so you think "woohoo! We're going to be allright!", then they lose a bunch that they shouldn't. In the end, they'll wind up with the 4th pick again. Losers, but not enough to get a "sure" pick (if there ever really is one).

Maz,

You say we need a left handed bat with pop for 1st or right.  Doesn't the team already have that in Jones?  Or, are you saying that they need a second such hitter to play whatever position he doesn't take?

Maz, low 40s????

Where i live, it's 90 degrees and 90% humidity for the next 2 stinking months.  I hope you have an extra room because I'M MOVING IN.

Evening mates, good tidings,

I have to get new teeth from all the grinding with 21 straight vs Brewcrew.

I think DY is a good thing coming, if I missed posts, apologize, but Perry Hill is a must signing.

Jones may be a flash in the pan, but he may not, so far, so good

Unhappy posters on Cedeno

One of our famous inmates----------------------------------------

And by the way it is a stretch to characterize a 5 yr veteran shortstop who can't hit, a DH with bum knees, the low rated A ball prospects as "talent".----------------------------------------------

another one

Another thing that confuses me is how can we not get any decent SS or 2nd base prospects?  That is the biggest need from AA up through the majors and we get to SS prospects who can't hit .200? Instead of 3 a ball pitchers a SS who hits .170 and a broken down DH how about one decent middle infield prospect?------------

Is Coonelly a dope smoker?

Who would be excited about a SS hitting below .200 and a 26 minor league DH?-----------------------------------------

The comments from Coonelly about Clement are laughable. Clement can't catch, has bad knees and is now a DH. Oh wait. The NL doesn't play with a DH. Plus Clement will be 26 in August, so he's hardly a prospect.

Cedeno is what he is, a journeyman player who will come cheap for the next couple years although I'll bet the Pirates will be surprised what he gets in arbitration.

Hopefully the 3 class A pitchers will work out better than Morris and Locke have so far.--------------------------

Clement is going to be 26 in AUG...  Cedeno is already 26 and stats remind me of Bixler.----------------

I wonder who the "key" is in this trade?

Hopefully we got another Bryan Morris or Jeff Locke.-----

This looks like Seattle cleaned out their cupboard and sold the contents to Opie.-------------------------------------------

Adcock was rated Mariners 24th best prospect, Pribanic #27 and Lorin #28."

LOL!!!!------------------------------------------------------------------------

hey guys hate to ruin the optimism but I live here in Seattle and the general take from the local sports radio is the following:

Clement is damaged goods...his knees are shot and really didn't have a future with the M's

Not really broken hearted about Cedeno's departure...

And the pitchers are generally throw in players that aren't considered top name prospects in the M's minor league system.

take if for what it's worth, but they generally think they got a great deal from the Bucco's.------------------------------

CEDENO IS GOING TO HELP OUR PITCHERS WITH HIS DEFENSE?

Dejan, call Neil on this steaming pile of bullcrap, please.

Good to see that this hotshot 1st base prospect is damaged goods, and has sucked in his shots in the majors.

Nothing, and I repeat, NOTHING changes here.-----------

Though it's not a surprise at all, it is a sham of massive proportions.

A journeyman SS batting .167...A guy that can't get out of Triple A and can't play defense (ummm...we're in the National League...right?)...and of course 2 A-ballers.---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ronny is a solid major league defensive-oriented shortstop," Huntington said. "We feel we can help him become more productive with the bat, while his defense helps our pitching staff."

We can help him become more productive with the bat? Why have they been withholding these tips to the rest of the team?  Am I missing something in that poor hitters are coming here and all of a sudden the Buccos make them good hitters? Who is Neal trying to fool with that one?----------------------------------------------------------

We traded a solid starting shortstop (who sounds like he wanted to stay here) and a starting pitcher that has had success at the major league level for a shortstop hitting .176, a player without a position that has bad knees, and three no name pitchers-----------------------------------------

I suspect Dave Littlefield is using Daquido_bazzini as his alias ;-)--------------------------------------------------------------------

These are the ones about Cedeno.There are more.I'll look around.I guess Cedeno is terrible!

Interestingly, the Phillies in Sunday night game just had the bases loaded with nobody out and their pitcher (Blanton) at the plate and Rollins on deck.  The ESPN announcers briefly discussed this dilemma and whether the pitcher should just not swing.  Blanton proceeds to line into a double play and Rollins then grounds out.  No runs scored.  I guess the Philiies can join the club.

What a great answer from JR on the 21-game losing streak at Miller Park:

""I don't know. I don't have an answer for that. It's a lot of games."

Sounds like something a computer geek would say! LOL!

We'll probably never hear from Bixler again....if we're lucky. Looks like Neil is the next contestant. Let's see if he gets voted off the island.

Jack is hitting a solid .206 with the Mariners.So far we've got the best of that deal(Cedeno).IMO

 Maz, Agree with you about Moss not getting a shot no matter how hot he gets. He is forgotten and it seems that nothing will change that. Even his out are struck with authority lately.  

  I think it is too early to start getting cocky about the Seattle trade, just like they were wrong to pan it too early it is far from a done deal that it was solid. Cedeno body of work is to short really gauge and Clement looks iffy. Let's not play their game, it will be sweeter when it plays out.

Hello Depressed Pirate Fans!  Can someone please explain the disparity between the Buccos home and away records.  Anyway, here are the position players splits since the All Star Break:

LaRoche AB 129 OBP .297 SLG .333 BA .209 HR 3 RBI 12

McCutchen AB 146 OBP.380 SLG .548 BA .295 HR 8 RBI 20

Moss AB 78 OBP .306 SLG .376 BA .245 HR 3 RBI 7

Young AB 123 OBP .336 SLG .455 BA .301 HR 3 RBI 18

Jones AB 157 OBP .364 SLG .613 BA .293 HR 11 RBI 24

Doumit AB 129 OBP .259 SLG .395 BA .217 HR 6 RBI 16

Milledge AB 99 OBP .343 SLG .414 BA .303 HR 2 RBI 11

Pearce AB 97 OBP .327 SLG .443 BA .258 HR 3 RBI 12

Cedeno AB 75 OBP .325 SLG .467 BA .280 HR 4 RBI 12

Any surprises?

I do not blame JR for letting Ohlie bat.  Difficult to just give up out two.  Following can happen--Ohlie strikes out, Ohlie gets a hit, Ohlie hits soft grounder that results in out at 1st but run scores,  Ohlie and error happens so run scores, Ohlie hits fly and run scores, Ohlie hits intop DP.  Have him just takes 3 strikes and you have two outs and need a hit or error to get the run home.  Later in the game Ohlie reached base and Cutch failed to knock in the runs.  

I question many of JR's decisions but I am not too concerned with that one.

4 HR from Cedeno is a surprise to me.

The pitchers in the Seattle trade aren't bad.Sorry I don't have their stats.

Maz,

Are you saying our resident 'experts' aren't real talent evaluators?  Also, I seem to recall a number of them, recently, posting that we better not let Cedeno walk when his 6 years are up...

The Miller Field thing is a distraction from real baseball. Do Cubs players climb to Wrigley from the clubhouse asking themselves, "How will I ever overcome the curse?"

It's something for DK and stats nuts like me but I seriously doubt that it has any impact whatsoever on a single pitch or at bat.

Now what's up with Ohlendorf walking Suppan?

@Bay - What a great answer from JR on the 21-game losing streak at Miller Park:

""I don't know. I don't have an answer for that. It's a lot of games."

----

Translation:

Help me in my weakness

'Cos I'm falling out of grace

i guess i'm getting all OS on you.  anybody know the reference?  trust me, it's not a psalm.

Lou Reed and Velvet Underground, I think.

For those mathematically challenged...from All-Army's post ASB stats...here are the OPS numbers.

Jones  .977

Cutch   .928

Cedeno .792

Young  .791

Pearce .770

Milledge .757

Moss     .682

Doumit   .654

LaRoche .630

Three weeks is a slump...6 weeks...is a problem.

On another note, I think there's a genuine issue requiring the manager's attention: this team's road play.

Las Vegas Pirate Fan -I saw Lou Reed in the mid 70s at THE University of Iowa fieldhouse.

JAL wrote re: Make it 21 in a row in Milwaukee; Bixler optioned back to Indianapolis

on Sun, Aug 30 2009 9:50 PM

4 HR from Cedeno is a surprise to me.

@ JAL,

Just imagine how surprised Cedeno is!  ;-)

BTW Indy wins.Altoona loses in 12.Lynchburg loses.West Virginia wins.State College loses.Rats 2-3 for the day.

Allarmy

Maybe Cedeno thought he could hit HR's :)

As bad as Andy has been Joey Bats has 3 HRs and 19 RBI in 223 ABs.There were some that were unhappy with trading him.

Out for the night now--back tomm with the 21 in a row links

Good night to all and to all a good night

The biggest surprises for me are Doumit, LaRoche and Moss.  Their OPS are pathetic....  Pearce has recovered nicely after a very poor first trip up.  Milledge is starting to hit for better average, but his power needs to show itself sooner rather than later.......

Oh well, that is how things go with inexperienced players.  Do yourselves a favor and go look at the first 5 years of Clemente, Maz and Stargell.  There are up and down years, even for Hall of Fame players when they get started in the Big Leagues......

The bad thing here is, the kids may not get a chance to figure things out, since there are no veterans to pick up the slack while they figure it out.  The pressure of 17 consecutive losing seasons has put the front office in a position that does not allow young players to struggle, they must produce or be benched.....

Vegas fan - ding ding ding!

Very impressive.  You win the Sweet Jane award.

Maz, i saw him Lou Pittsburgh at the Warner...only played 12 songs but each one was the LONG version.  Great, great show, although he appeared to be, ahem, toasted.

ok, i get it, this isnt the OS thread and this, with a few warped exceptions (present poster included) this isnt a VU crowd.

ok, ok, baseball:  Jones...I have been holding out on crowning him, despite his spectacular rookie year.  Not that i was a naysayer...just wanted to see it over an extended time since we've been fooled before, and, we'll Wont get fooled again.  Three things are standing out and because of them i'm shining up the crown:

- the longer this ride goes, more willing to believe it

- starting to get big hits at important times...the last series to beat the champs, and today's tie-it-up job that was very important until we, uh, kicked the game away.

- recognition that he's doing this while NOT playing his natural position.

Ok, I'm late to the bus, but if there's a seat, i gotta ticket.  Just painted a giant banana on the side of the bus and ordered a personalized Nico license plate and...uh oh, there i go gettin' all VU OS on y'all again.  So re: Jones, i'm Beginning to See the Light...wait, that's VU too.  But That's the Story of my Life...I can't stop...it's After Hours (again!) so i'm going to bed before mrs drew finds out the kind of music i listen to and she asks What Goes On?  Gotta go to bed cause I Heard Her Call My Name.

enuff of this foolishness.  Say goodnight Gracie.

Ryan Doumit is in a world class slump. His prior performance suggests that he might be the 4'th best hitting catcher in MLB (as I've said before). I commend to you the career stats of Roy Campanella, who had worse seasons than Ryan is having after having had MVP seasons.

C'mon Ryan. Let's go Bucs!

Drew,

I'm a little young for Lou's music (born mid-70's), but I met him and Laurie Anderson in '03 while hosting a casino event.  I was given a copy of his first book of photographs (which is actually 2 books) that had just been released.  He seemed very genuine and I was fascinated listening to his stories.  After  that, I went back and got into his music.  He's now a big part of my ipod.  

@Maz,  You wrote  

   "As bad as Andy has been Joey Bats has 3 HRs and 19 RBI in 223 ABs.There were some that were unhappy with trading him."

   Look at Andy's stats he has nearly double the at bats batting mainly 3rd though 6th. Bautista bats eight and obviously has not had regular playing time as Andy has. And his H.R.'s and R.B.I.'s are roughly half. I am not saying Joey is good just pointing out how bad Andy is and how blind people are to it. And Bautista is being used as a utility  player , he has played 5 different positions. I wasn't following the blog when he was traded but he wasn't that valuable of an asset so don't understand the logic n being upset over losing him so i am with you on people being upset over that.    

Vegas - Groovy about you and meeting Lou Reed (showing my true late 60s self, there!) ... You look just like a friend of mine I used to work with ... but I checked you bio. It's not you ... Incredible how much alike you look though.

Kind happy I have to work during the first game tomorrow. After today, I feel like I need a LITTLE break ... for me, it was walking the pitcher with the bases loaded WHEN they employed the strategy I wanted to ... making the pitcher stand there for the strikeout ... but he walked him ... a little much for me to bear for awhile.

Then after Counsell dropped in the base hit, it was like "ballgame over," and I jumped on the bike for a ride. Oh me of little faith.

Bay -

I have a twin brother, as well....

Forgot to mention how scared I was talking to Lou for the 1st ten minutes or so.  Creeped out is probably a better description.  

Walking the pitcher caused me to turn the game off, as well.  Just wasnt' feeling it.  Counsell is seriously a Pirate killer, huh?  Not sure what the exact numbers are, but it would seem he's batting like .500 against us this year, with tons of xtra base hits.  Weird.  

On another note, I know Doumit has to play a game tomorrow, but he should be sat for a few days after that.  He's really pressing and it's hard to watch.  I don't think he's as good as last year's numbers or as bad as this year's.  But, man, he plain stinks right now, at the plate and in the field.

All Army - Milledge is showing his power now. He's played 26 games with the Bucs.

First 14 games: .212 / .255 / .269 / .524

Next 12 games: .395 / .435 / .581 / 1.011

On Ohlie walking the pitcher, the first pitch ruled a ball was a strike over the heart of the zone. Take a look on MLB Gameday and you'll see the pitch tracker data.

While you could say he shouldn't have walked him anyway even if the ump blew that call, there's no doubt that having a ball over the heart of the plate called a ball would be pretty disconcerting to any pitcher.

Good point, Mark.  Forgot all about that pitch.  It definitely didn't help.