The Pain of Being a Pirates Fan

The focus of this blog is primarily Steelers football, but Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls remain an impassioned, interested and endlessly tortured fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The latest fiasco, the disputed signing of ballyhooed first-round draft pick Pedro Alvarez, follows nearly a month of truly awful baseball (7 wins, 19 losses) following the July 31 trade deadline. In the two major deals before the deadline, the Bucs’ braintrust dealt the team’s best reliever and two best hitters for “nothing terribly evident,” as Post-Gazette columnist Gene Collier put it.

“New management has, within the month, ridded itself of its best players in return for nothing terribly evident. Yesterday was the day Craig Hansen, acquired in the convulsion that was the Jason Bay deal, got sent to the minors. Yesterday was another day when it was increasingly evident that Andy LaRoche, acquired in that same deal, might, in a couple of years, given patience and careful instruction, become the next Jose Bautista, whom the Pirates traded last week.”

Nevertheless, the two big deals are done, although we thought beforehand that there was some merit to actually picking up Damaso Marte’s option for next year and extending Jason Bay and/or Xavier Nady. Before the trades, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls wrote, “Personally, I'd like to see the Bucs retain Nady, Jack Wilson and Jason Bay, although I could see the sense in trading any or all of them – depending on the return.”

Well, the return now looks even less promising than it did in the immediate aftermath of the deals, when Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls railed against the Xavier Nady-Damaso Marte trade with the Yankees. That deal brought to the Pirates four prospects, including right-hand pitcher Daniel McCutchen (6-9, 4.28). Pitching for AAA affiliate Indianapolis last night, McCutchen allowed six runs and nine hits, including four home runs, in four innings. Not encouraging.

So, it’s easy to second-guess the deadline deals, let alone how management handled negotiations with Alvarez and his agent, Scott Boras, although it appears the notorious Boras is up to his usual shenanigans. It will be interesting to see their future dealings with Boras, in light of this situation and their pre-draft proclamations that they would select the best talent available regardless of agent. Will they avoid a Boras client next year? That might be tough, as Boras regularly represents a high percentage of the top prospects available in the draft – seven of the top 10 players in June’s draft, if we’re correct.

In the meantime, here’s some media coverage of how well ex-Bucco Jason Bay is doing in Boston (sigh):

Trade for Bay Looks Like Another Stroke of Genius

“Jason Bay has been a revelation. Bay has hit safely in 20 of his 23 games with the Red Sox and has driven in a run in 13 of those, for 24 RBI in total, to go along with a .347 average. Bay's performance has helped allay the fears that Ramirez's absence would leave a gaping hole in the middle of the lineup.”

Liberated Bay fitting in just fine

"I've never had this atmosphere," said the leftfielder who was liberated from the terminal malaise of Pittsburgh at the trading deadline. "That's no slight to anybody, that's just the position I was in. So to come here, I use the word rejuvenating.”

Manny Who? Fans Forget Ramírez as Bay Picks Up Slack for Red Sox

“Jason Bay has proven to be an amazing perk.”

Bay says all games have been Sox/Yanks

“After emerging from years of playing in baseball purgatory — otherwise known as Pittsburgh — Jason Bay said he feels like every game he's played the past four weeks has been a Red Sox-Yankees game.”

New Guys Chip In Nicely for Red Sox

“Of course, the Red Sox did all right just before the deadline, too. They were pretty much forced to get rid of Manny Ramirez and still were able to land Jason Bay, who has been a revelation.”

Last Call

The final preseason game is tonight, vs. the Carolina Panthers at Heinz Field. Last call for borderline prospects and hangers on (Orpheus Roye) vying for a spot on the roster.

Not much drama, actually. Only a few spots bear watching: Will the fifth wide receiver be Willie Reid or Dallas Baker? Will the punter be Paul Ernster or Mitch Berger? Will the Steelers keep three tight ends? Will Roy Williams or Anthony Madison make the final cut in the secondary?

The biggest question, though, is whether superstar Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers will breeze past our turnstile offensive line and decapitate quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Probably not. The starters will play two series at most, and they probably won't go all out. Carolina's starters don't want to get hurt, either.

Bob Smizik and Mini Ponies ... and a Whole Lotta Love

A word of advice ...

Check out Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies for Tecmo's interview/dialogue with Bob Smizik, columnist with the PG.


Off Topic: The Closing Ceremonies

When Joey Porter's Pit Bulls heard last week that Jimmy Page was going to perform at the closing ceremonies off the Olympics in Beijing, we said, "Huh. That's weird. What's he going to play, Whole Lotta Love? ... 'You need coolin' / Baby, I ain't foolin' / I'm gonna send you back for schoolin' / Uh, oh, uh, oh / ... I'm gonna give you every inch of my love ... Uh, oh, uh, oh ... Waaaay down inside!"

Nah, no way.

As it turns it out, Page did play Whole Lotta Love, much to our surprise, with singer Leona Lewis handling the vocals originally sung by Robert Plant. Only snag there is the difference in gender ... which led to altering a few of the lyrics, as noted over at the always entertaining Deadspin, which also thought the choice of song was, well, perhaps a bit curious.

Best part was the Deadspin reader comments:

• "Wouldn't The Immigrant Song have been more appropriate?"
• "They were planning on going with Misty Mountain Hop but then someone reminded them of that whole Tibet thing."
• "Personally, I thought that China would have gone with Gallows Pole."
• "Or in the spirit of protest suppression, Trampled Under Foot."
• "Taking rock songs from Western culture and altering their initial meaning in no way represents the Chinese socialist way."
• "Robert Plant must be spinning in his grave."

... and the coupe de grace:

• "I think Black Dog was the first choice, but it was nixed due to the fear of a mad-rush to the concession stands."

It's the dog days.

As the Doors' Jim Morrison once sang, "Summer's almost gone."

Only two weeks remain to make roster decisions and fix all that is broken.

Like the offensive line.

Sean Mahan, Willy Colon and company got manhandled by the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday night. No matter that the Steelers "won" the game. No touchdowns. That showing was awful, and it's going to be a long season if the offensive line doesn't get fixed.

Never mind the upcoming final exhibition game against Julius Peppers and the Carolina Panthers. The starters might see two series. The opener against the Hooyouston Texans could be problematic, even though on paper the Houston game, at home, looks like it might be the easiest game on the schedule.

The Texans feature former overall first round choice Mario Williams, who had 14 sacks last season for Houston, which may be "poised to have a breakthrough season." Whatever. If the Steelers don't fix the offensive line, it's going to be a long season for the Black 'n Gold.

Except for adding journeyman center Justin Hartwig (but losing Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca), the team has done little that we can see to address the offensive line issues we saw Saturday night and the last half of last season.

Schemes? Coaching? Dunno. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

A been-there, done-that guy

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin describes new backup quarterback Byron Leftwich as "a smart guy, a been-there, done-that guy."

Yeah, but done what, exactly? Get injured and lose his job in Atlanta last year to Joey Harrington? That ain't good.

So, if you get the impression that we're lees than excited about Leftwich joining the Steelers, let's just say we'd rather have a healthy Charlie Batch.

As for fourth string QB Mike Potts out of William & Mary, we hardly knew ye. It's time to put that degree to work.

Let the Games Begin!

No, not those games, over in Beijing. Who cares about them?
The Steelers begin competitive play tonight.Well, people in Steelers' uniforms, anyway. Some of the regular starters will get limited action, but we will see mostly prospects and suspects taking the field against the Philthydelphia Iggles. Even with temperatures in the 80s, and even if many of the players don't make the regular-season roster, it will be good to see the Black 'n Gold in action again.

Meanwhile, watching the Pirates is often painful, but Joey Porter's Pit Bulls can't let it go. While Jeff Karstens has lifted our spirits with 15 scoreless innings, including the near-perfect gem on Wednesday, I am finding it tough, still, to justify the trade that brought him here from the Yankees.

Surprisingly, many of the Pirates-focused blogs like the deal. Lots of other people across the nation, however, feel the way I do -- which is that the Pirates should not have bundled Nady and Marte in the same deal; and that they simply didn't get enough high-end talent in return from the Yanks.

A post titled Pirate Treasure Stolen over at the excellent Dugout Central blog rants passionately about the deal, but what I found most interesting were the reader comments from fans across the nation, notably from some knowledgeable fans based in New York and Boston. Immediately following the trade, I wrote that the Yankees were the wrong team to do a deal with, and one of the reader comments backs up that sentiment with the following comment, which I believe is astute and right on the money:

"When will teams finally learn that if the Yankees are willing to part with “prospects”, then they aren't real prospects."

Perfect and Amen.

That's why I have higher hopes for the prospects we received in the Jason Bay deal than the ones we got back from the Yankees, Karstens' hot start notwithstanding.

Here are a couple of notable reader comments from the post at Dugout Central:

Dugout Central Reader Comment:

These trades continue to show why the Pirates will never field a team with a legit chance to make the playoffs again. This was the first time they had legit trading chips at impact and desired positions since Denny Neagle, and they traded them for the number of players instead of the quality. If I were a Pirates fan I would be livid at seeing what they got in return, especially from the Yankees when they packaged 2 of their 3 top trading pieces and got NOTHING in return! The Pirates had valuable trading pieces and completely blew it. Seattle blew their chance to rebuild as well. The Astros continue to amaze in their decisions. The Padres were handcuffed by the selfish Greg Maddux and also didn't part with their other tradeable pieces.
What is going on in the heads of these GM’s? I know they have a major disadvantage when competing with the big market clubs, but this is ridiculous.
And when will teams finally learn that if the Yankees are willing to part with “prospects”, then they aren't real prospects. Look at the garbage they traded for Abreu. The Twins were the only ones to take a stand and demand at least one of the “untouchables”. More teams should take that stance before giving in to the Yankees demands.

Another Reader Comment:

I can't really imagine what it must be like to be a Pirate fan these days. The team has been so bad for so long and every time it seems the franchise takes one step forward it inevitably winds up taking two back. The Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte trade is really hard to defend from a Pittsburgh stand point. Nady is a solid Major League player who is having a career year and Marte, for better or for worse is one of the top left handed relievers in the game. The Bucs really got very little value for giving up a pair of quality players. I give the Pirates faithful credit for sticking with their team. At least they have a beautiful ballpark to watch their team play. Besides that the cupboard is very bare and though I would like to assure Bucs fans things will get better the team's recent actions show little change should be expected.

We're Slipping

Come on, Pittsburghers! What is up with you!

Forbes magazine (and what do they know, anyway?) ranks Pittsburgh only No. 11 on its list of America's hardest-drinking cities.

This can't be right.

Even our AFC North Division rivals, Cleveland and Cincinnati, are rated above us. Of course, if you lived in those sinkholes, you'd drink heavily, too. The top five are Austin, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Providence (?) and Chicago.

This is embarrassing. You mean we don't measure up to frigging Providence?! Does Providence even count as a city? It's an outrage.

I blame the suburbanites. You drunks who stumble through Polish Hill, the South Side, Shadyside, Oakland, Carson Street, Bloomfield, etc., every night, well, you're doing your part, but we need more like you.

And, really, you too can pick it up.

I mean YOU.

Come on, starting tonight. There's a major music festival on the South Side … and more importantly, there's a STEELERS game, people!

So …step it up! Commence tailgating! NOW!

Girl Talk: Feed the Animals

So, how is it that a 26-year-old Pittsburgher named Greg Gillis, a former biomedical engineer (?!) turned DJ-musician also known as Girl Talk, has become a national sensation without hardly any media coverage in his hometown?

Today, Greg Girl Talk was featured in a major article in The New York Times, including the following excerpt:

"Mr. Gillis declined to say how many copies of “Feed the Animals” had been downloaded or what fans had paid for them. But, he said, he makes enough money performing that he quit his day job as a biomedical engineer last year. One major expense for him is computers; his live show takes such a toll on them that he went through three reinforced Toughbook laptops last year."

The NYT article followed extensive coverage of his recent appearance at Lollapalooza in Chicago, which prompted the following coverage and interview at the always worthy Chicagoist.

Chicagoist Interview: Girl Talk at Lollapalooza:

"Radiohead Shmaediohead. If there’s one act we’re pumped to see at Lollapalooza this year, it’s the sweatfest dance party stylings of Pittsburgh mash-up artist Gregg “Girl Talk” Gillis. Riding high on the recent release of Feed the Animals, Girl Talk takes the stage in Grant Park on Sunday for a live sample-based set certain to spark a raucous party and rip the festival a new one."

It's probably no surprise Girl Talk receives so little mainstream coverage in his hometown of Pittsburgh. As Mark Twain said, "When I die, I want it to happen in Pittsburgh. It'll take 20 years to catch up to me."

Links:

DrewReviews: Feed the Animals

HaveYouHeardReview: Feed the Animals

Wikipedia Entry

"When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way ... "

Brett Favre goes to the New York Jets. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, as they sang in West Side Story …

When you're a Jet, You're a Jet all the way

From your first cigarette To your last dyin' day.

When you're a Jet, If the spit hits the fan,

You got brothers around, You're a family man!

You're never alone, You're never disconnected!

You're home with your own: When company's expected,

You're well protected!

Then you are set With a capital J,

Which you'll never forget Till they cart you away.

When you're a Jet, You stay a Jet!"

Of course, that's what they said about being a Packer, but it didn't have the same ring to it.

Links:

Excellent write-up by MJD over at Shutdown Corner: "Who Won the War on 4?" ...

plus MJD's write-up on reckless, idiotic antics today of the Steelers own resident dumbkopf, safety Anthony Smith, who apparently is even dumber than he looks: "Anthony Smith Is Just Begging to Be Steve Smith-ed"

On second thought ...

Maybe the trade the Pirates made with the Yanks wasn't so bad, after all.

Pitcher Jeff Karstens has done his part: 15 scoreless innings in two starts against two good teams (the Cubs and Diamondbacks), including yesterday's near-perfect gem. He pitched a perfect game -- no hits, no walks -- until Arizona outfielder Chris Young doubled with two out in the eighth inning.

Karstens recovered to finish with a complete-game shutout, the Pirates' first of the year. Karstens was so good, nobody in the over-worked bullpen even had to warm up.

Karstens even had a couple hits and scored the team's second run, in the top of the eighth. The Bucs' announcers lamented that had he not done that, third baseman Chris Gomez would likely have been better positioned, deeper and closer to the third-base line, to field Young's line drive that went past him for a double. Gomez likely would have been positioned nearer third base to protect the line and a one-run lead.

Although the D-Backs hit the ball hard a number of times, including several long drives to the outfield wall, outfielder Jason Michaels and the other fielders caught everything until Young's double in the bottom of the eighth. Several D-Backs players said their scouting reports on Karstens' had them expecting lots of change-ups. Instead, he threw lots of fastballs, especially early in the count. And, apparently, his fastballs were plenty fast enough, and he maintained good velocity all the way through the game, along with good control and command of the strike zone.

Yeah, maybe this Karstens guy will work out. Imagine that. Good starting pitching ... just what the Pirates need, too, and it's about time.

Now, if pitchers Ross Ohlendorf (who pitched well recently for Altoona) and Dan McCutchen are promoted and pitch well, and if highly touted outfield prospect Jose Tabata (who had two home runs in a Gulf Coast League game the other day during an injury rehab start), progress, I will happily take back everything I said about the Bucs-Yanks trade being a bad deal for the Pirates.

Granted, they lost offensive production with the departures of Jason Bay and Xavier Nady. Their replacements yesterday, Brandon Moss and Steve Pearce, combined to strike out seven times. Ouch. But you can overcome that when your starting pitcher throws a complete game shutout and near-perfect game.

Maybe general manager Neil Huntington knows what he's doing, after all.

Aftermath

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls can see some semblance of logic in the trading of Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte. Still, it is deflating – once again – to be a fan of the Pirates.

In retrospect, we're okay with the Jason Bay trade. We have modest hopes for Brandon Moss (our version of a latter-day Paul O'Neill?), but we have a feeling Moss will soon end up in a right-field platoon with Steve Pearce, and Jason Michaels in left field. It all feels very patchwork. Not sold on either Craig Hansen or Andy LaRoche. Bryan Morris looks very promising, but he is at least two years from reaching the majors.

As for the trade with the Yankees, we hate it. Still. The Bucs didn't get enough in return. Nady and Marte should have been dealt separately. Even Yanks GM Brian Cashman said he was pleasantly surprised he was able to acquire both players in the same deal.

"We were concerned right up until the deal was eventually finalized that Pittsburgh would end up trying to split Nady and Marte into separate deals," Cashman said. "Getting them both in the same trade is something that, at the beginning, we viewed as probably a little wishful thinking."

Anyway, here's a brief re-cap from the Boston Herald, for what it's worth (with editorial emphasis in bold courtesy of JPPBs):

The Pirates were the most active team at the trade deadline, making deals with the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox.

They traded outfielders Xavier Nady and Jason Bay, and lefthanded reliever Damaso Marte, three big players from the Dave Littlefield era and three players the fans enjoyed watching. They got in return righthanders Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutcheon, Ross Ohlendorf, Craig Hansen, and Bryan Morris, outfielders Jose Tabata and Brandon Moss, and third baseman Andy LaRoche.

The good news for guys like Karstens, Ohlendorf, and Hansen, who have not made their marks in the majors, is they'll likely get plenty of opportunities. Tabata is only 19, and while he needs to mature, he has talent. Moss should be a steady player who likely will emerge. But none of the players the Pirates got was considered "untouchable" by the Dodgers, Red Sox, or Yankees.

LaRoche is a third baseman the Red Sox once coveted, but he is hitting .214 in 159 major league at-bats. Ohlendorf, who will turn 26 Friday, is the oldest of the eight players the Pirates acquired. Hansen might get the chance to close, and with less pressure he may come into his own.

One baseball executive's take on the Pirates' moves: "Moss might be the most impactful major leaguer they got. They got upper-level prospects, but no one of major impact. Hansen has a good arm. LaRoche has good power, but I don't like him defensively and he won't hit enough.

"I think for the players they traded, they didn't get enough impact back."

Agreed.

Time for football season.

On this date in history ...

Lest we forget, on this date in history ...

"What is this terrible new weapon,
which the War Department
also calls the 'Cosmic Bomb'?"

About Jack Wilson

From today's Post-Gazette:

Of note: Since 2001, the year PNC Park opened, Jack Wilson has turned more double plays (756) and recorded more assists (3,368) than any National League shortstop. His 1,137 appearances in that span rank second to Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins (1,176).

I've always thought Jack Wilson was an under-rated shortstop, and I've always been puzzled why so many bloggers, pundits and media types are so quick to dismiss his contributions. That, and $1.87 will get you a cup of coffee.

More to come on the recent trades and, of course, Steelers training camp. Busy with work (and other life-stuff) lately.