No Glory Blog: Let's Go 2014 Texas Rangers!

We appear to be in agreement on something. The Pirates are hitting and running and stealing in the 9th inning of a game they are leading 4-0. Brown commented that he'd like to see a game where the Pirates run away with it because it seems like their wins are always tight affairs. He's totally reading this blog! I'm like the guy from Total Education Hour, a fantasist who believes that this low-band public affairs show on WRCT has a massive national audience. (Holy cow, that dude tweets like 10 times an hour!) Anyway, I love that they're doing that. If they seal this win, they move into first place. Jeff Locke is locked in. If we can just bury Jonathan Sanchez somewhere and get Charlie Morton back, that is a pretty solid second-tier rotation! Burnett, MacDonald, Rodriguez, Morton, and Locke are all capable of turning in solid but probably non All-Star seasons. I kind of love that. A lot better than one superstar and four days of hoping to get lucky. Actually, that's not too different from the Cardinals' rotation other than Wainwright. Pirates have definitely had the more dependable bullpen though so I think their pitching staffs match up well in tote. Mike Matheny is a kind of ridiculous manager, I'm learning. Yesterday, he pinch hit a guy (Jermaine Curtis) for his first major league at-bat in the 9th inning against Grilli with a chance to set up the tying run. He didn't pinch hit for the pitcher or anything. No, he pinch hit for his #2 hitter, third baseman Matt Carpenter, who's hit pretty well. Curtis had not had a spectacular career in the minors. He has shown good bat control but no power and he's 26. Looking into it, it turns out Carpenter was feeling a little tightness from a swing previously in the game. I don't see much excuse for tonight. Ninth inning, his pitcher Jason Motte has been struggling with some bad luck. A bloop, a broken-bat hit-and-run, a steal, a strikeout, a walk, a groundout bringing in 1 run and then with two outs and second and third, Matheny brings in a lefty (Czhrysim[psinkski) to face Pedro. Pedro promptly singles in two, going opposite way. Then Martin cracks another homer. Suck it, Matheny. Way to blow two of your guys' confidences in a meaningless gesture and get blown out anyway. STATEMENT! 9-0 lead.

A.J. Burnett. Listened to the game today in a half-coma of exhaustion from puppet shows. It was a nice come-from-behind win against the Redturds but a few things were worrisome. Firstly, this team really doesn't seem to have a killer instinct. Maybe some of that comes from a manager who just looooooves bunting. Maybe some of it comes from the fact that the team's best hitter couldn't deliver hard contact on an expected fastball with the count in his favor and the bases loaded. Maybe some of it comes, wrongfully, from the idea that the bullpen is so good that a 1-run lead is always all you need. Or maybe the guys were just tired playing a Saturday day game. I don't know but I feel like they had every opportunity to bury St. Louis today but didn't. When the Bucs lose, it's often big. When they win, it's close. My Scoresheet mindset always thinks this is a good thing such that when things even out we'll get more breaks but the feeling I have right now it's that we're lucky to be winning right now. The last 6 wins have been by exactly 2 runs. Maybe it's not a big deal. I don't see it played out in results. It's more of a gut.

First batter: four pitch walk. Second batter: three bunt attempts resulting in strikeout. Third batter: successful bunt attempt. Fourth batter: four pitch walk. Fifth batter: pop out. Next inning. First batter: single. Second batter: sacrifice bunt. Third batter: sacrifice bunt. Fourth batter: pop out. Repeat until double-digit successful sacrifice bunts and triple-digit bunts attempted.

Tuned in at the perfect time tonight. Just in time for the Pirates to tie the game and then take the lead in the eighth. I also got to introduce Jessica to her new favorite player.

Well, the Inge era has begun. In the pre-game, Hurdle tells Brown and Brown leads the question anyway, about how Brandon Inge was the cause of a +20 win season for the A's last year. Supposedly this was to a room of sabermetrics folks and they "gasped." Hurdle backs that up by saying you can't always have "hard results" to show the value of a player. OK, fine. OK, that's great. Then Brown asks Inge the same question and he says that you can't put a number on it by being a "good guy" but yeah that +20 wins with him being there sounds about right. If we take it at their word that these "intangibles" are what turned around both the Tigers and the A's, can take a sub-.500 team to a 90-win team, then WHY THE HOLY BLAZES DON'T THEY KEEP HIM??? It's not that he's expensive. Could it be, possibly, maybe, that this is bull blowback to keep the press off the team's back asking why they'll pay a guy millions to bat .210 from the bench.

Anyway, we'll see how he does. I don't think he'll be of no value but come on. Do you think people talk about McCutchen like this? Black guys are never the "great in the clubhouse/intangible" guys, are they? Once McCutchen gets on track again and has another MVP season, will it be because of the influence of Brandon Inge? How much do you want to bet someone says it is?

One thing I love about baseball, even when it goes against who I'm rooting for, and even though I hate it in other sports, is the fact you never really know what's going to happen. Last night's first inning in Philly, the Pirates are facing Jonathan Pettibone, a rookie pitcher making his major league debut. A pitcher with no particular bona fides of note, probably at best someone looking at a mid-level pitching career. The Pirates are hot. AJ Burnett is coming off of a 1-hitter.

On the second pitch of the game, Marte smokes a double. Then Pettibone goes 3-0 on Snider. He comes back and Snider flies out to Ben Revere in shallow left (whose arm is so bad, Marte still moves to third). Then Pettibone goes 3-0 on McCutchen, works his way back, and then gets a terrible strike call to get McCutchen looking. Finally, Jones smokes a liner to right which John Mayberry Jr. makes a great play on. No runs when it looked like a big inning.

I should be frustrated, angry, but I'm not. Baseball is never cliche. The announcers say cliche things. Sometimes things fall into familiar patterns, expected outcomes often play out, but what happens in the game itself exactly is always a new story. I love it.

Well, lots of cool stuff has been going on. AJ Burnett threw a one-hitter, Russell Martin has gotten hot, and the Pirates are now above .500 after taking 2 of 3 so far from the Braves.

Today's game has been a nail-biter, dodging their way to a 2-2 tie and then pulling ahead late in the game. We've had a couple rbis from Barmes, oddly enough. Brown seemed amazed right before the go-ahead rbi from Barmes that there would be a meeting at the mound. "They can't possibly be talking about pitching around Barmes."

Dirty Sanchez wasn't too hot and was gone after 3 but Jeanmar Gomez and Justin Wilson kept the Pirates in the game though stranding 9 Braves through 7 with a lot of clutch pitches. McCutchen and Jones have pooped the bed as well, stranding 5 runners each.

Bases loaded, two outs in the 7th and a chance for Pedro to do something big against Luis Avalan.

First pitch, curve... Alvarez badly fooled and steps out but it's almost a strike.
Second pitch, wild... run scores. I am put in mind of Harry Karay with terrible Cubs teams when there was a runner on third. "Oh for a wild pitch right now."
Third pitch, Pedro hacks on 2-0 fastball. Whiff.
Fourth pitch, pop up to short.

Two run lead, six outs to get.

Well, that was a good week or so. Buccos are now 6-7, having salvaged the rest of that road trip and then took it to the Reds. Sunday's game I'd given up on them and then they came roaring back with 10 runs in the last two innings including two home runs by "Fort" McKenry.

I don't think I can get on board with calling someone "Fort."

At any rate, since returning to .500 and then having a chance at the first place Deadbirds, they got killed Monday. As a former Scoresheet player I always embrace big losses thinking that means a better chance to get some close victories. Maybe this isn't true. In any case, they were rained out last night. I see no reason to panic. The offense is rounding out. McDonald had a bad game. He says he isn't hurt. Here we go.

I need to get back into the swing of turning the games on. First year without cable. Maybe that's affecting it.

I'm a little bit regretting my decision to abide by the strict definition of my rules and not pick a previous season's playoff teams, even though the Braves only had 1 playoff game. They are cruising right now with only 1 loss so far though they are losing 1-0 to the Royals in the 9th right now.

Buccos are now 1-4. The three runs I score them score in person are equal to half the runs they've scored all year. The team's triple-slash line is .117/.185/.145, by far last in the majors... 200 points OPS behind the 29th team, the Cubs. Unbelievable. The only team not to homer yet, and tied for 4th in team strikeouts. We also lead in caught stealings and tied for fourth in fewest walks. Wow. Twenty-one total bases. Just, wow. We'll try to salvage the last game of this series in LA in a couple hours. I'll see if I can stomach listening to it.

You said it, Blass.

9th inning comeback from 3-0 down gets you 1st and 3rd nobody out and 2 runs in... three-pitch strikeout Alvarez, first-pitch double-play Walker.

Ugh. Welcome to Piratefandom.

In this afternoon's game, Pirates are finally reacting to the fact that the Cubs are giving them first base time and time again. Brown and Blass are chatting about how sometimes the defense WANTS you to just get a free single.

But, this is Garrett Jones, Gabby Sanchez, Travis Snider, etc. we are talking about here. The team has managed ONE HIT through eight innings! They've scored 4 runs in the 3-game series. They've had 10 hits in three games. We wouldn't want to give up a chance at a home run, though! Oh no!!

The thing is, it appears none of them have the capability to drop a bunt. Why the heck is Jay Bell coaching this team, then, if not to teach them to bunt??

Went to the freezing cold game tonight with Stu and Jason Dunbar, who are a great couple of guys to go to the game with - very much just into watching the game and pointing out interesting and funny things. We used T. Glitter's family's season seats which are really good and another fun tie to the local music scene.

Some notes:

• Wandy Rodriguez was fuego. I think hitting Anthony Rizzo in the face threw off his rhythm though because he almost lost it after that.
• Clint Barmes is terrible. It's going to be a long year watching him hit.
• Pirates had a lot of bad at-bats, hacking on 2-0, playing Chuckie's game.
• I don't know half the players on the Cubs and I don't want to know them.
• Alfonso Soriano is the most indifferent fielder I've ever seen. It was laugh-out-loud on a couple of plays.
• Park seemed very empty on such a freezing night despite the prospect of dollar hot dogs and popcorn.
• .500, baby! Last time we'll be below it all season!!

Opening Day, Jazzy!




Some thoughts as the game progresses.

• Wow, Soriano had a good year last year? Samardjzyah is not horrible now?
• Pirates middle of the order poops the bed despite getting lucky that Garrett Jones hitting right into the shift even when he has a sure-fire single if he can bunt to third turned into first and second no one out.
• I like the defensive specialist defense option of Inge and McDonald on the left side. Not so needed with Burnett's flyball tendencies. Keep them in the park please, however.
• Though, apparently Barmes Away had a great year with the glove last year. Also, he struck out more often than he had hits and he had the lowest OPS in the majors at SS.
• I'd love to see Gerrit Cole make the majors this year.
• This team, if it can succeed, will have to be powered by post-hype sleepers: Snider, Alvarez, Sanchez.
• Realizing how exciting it will be with this lineup. Watching every Pirate game is going to really up my chances to catch that first no-hitter.
• AJ Burnett with 10 strikeouts in first 14 batters. Walk and Brown want him to go to 115 pitches. Sure, why not. It's  only Opening Day with a historically injured pitcher needed to lead your staff all year. Good idea!