Shakin' 'n Quakin'

Greetings from earthquake-ravaged Pittsburgh. As you can see from the photo, the devastation was incalculable. Cleanup continues. It may take days, or weeks, to set things right.

Meanwhile, the plucky Pirates plundered the Milwaukee Brew Crew this afternoon. How's that for cheesy sportscaster-speak, eh? Rookie Aaron Thompson looked sharp. Like he belongs. Hey! Signs of hope are welcome always.

Even as we quake and shake.

One for the Pit Bulls

Coda

Here is how Rich Hoffman, columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, described how the Steelers' offense bludgeoned the Eagles' so-called "Dream Team" in the second pre-season game last night at Heinz Field:

"A runaway semi, painted black with gold trim, splattered the Eagles' defense all over the turf at Heinz Field last night: 14 carries and 71 yards for the Steelers' first-team offense in the game's first two drives. In a game that the Eagles were losing by 21-0 at halftime and 24-14 at the end -- a game of unlimited lousiness for the Dream Team -- this physical domination stood out most of all."

Yup, that about sums it up. The Steelers manhandled the Eagles. Notorious dog-torturer/killer Michael Vick threw three awful interceptions while looking confused and off his game the entire time he played.

Steelers' radio announcer Tunch Ilkin astutely observed that Vick seemed to be "looking for James Harrison all night long." And, indeed, he did. Harrison was in the Eagles' backfield often, but Vick had almost no pressure on him at all on two of the picks he threw.

That didn't stop Vick from making excuses after the game, when he said he felt "pressed" to get the ball off. He just made bad throws. Watch the video replays of those three interceptions. Vick, who had a QB rating of 13.9, was pressured only on the wildly off-target third pick, the interception by Troy Polamalu.

Nothing against the Eagles, who have a good team. It was merely a meaningless pre-season game, one that will be forgotten as soon as the regular season starts. We just don't like Michael Vick.

Last night, Vick appeared to be a fraud of a quarterback, which is apropos since he also appears to be a fraud of a person. Vick, who pled guilty to felony charges, still is unconscionably trying to rationalize and excuse his role in the dog-fighting ring he led.

As Michael J. Darnell (MJD), noted in his always-terrific Shutdown Corner blog on Yahoo! Sports, Vick continues trying to make himself out to be "some kind of innocent victim in the whole sordid episode."

Darnell cited Vick's quote in GQ Magazine:

"Some of us had to grow up in poverty-stricken urban neighborhoods, and we just had to adapt to our environment. I know that it's wrong. But people act like it's some crazy thing they never heard of. They don't know."

In response, Darnell wrote:

"As William Burroughs once said about another matter, this is a thin tissue of horse[bleep]. There are obviously thousands and millions of people who have to live in poverty-stricken urban neighborhoods, and a great many of them manage to wake up every day and avoid the temptation to fight, torture, electrocute, and kill dogs."

People will say, "Vick did his time. We should forgive and forget." Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, whatever. Joey Porter's Pit Bulls would be more forgiving, if only Vick stopped making excuses and trying to rationalize why he tortured and killed dogs, and why he financed and spearheaded a sizable dog-fighting operation.

As it is, Vick stands today as the face of the Eagles. For us, he is a tough guy to support, so we hope Philadelphia's so-called Dream Team (Vick in particular) has a nightmare season. Karma's a bitch.

This is a great weekend to visit your local Animal Shelter. Just visit. Or volunteer. Or adopt a dog ... even a pit bull. Pit bulls are cool.

Steelers-Eagles "Exhibition" Game Tonight

First off, Happy Birthday to the late, great Roberto Clemente. The Great One would have been a youthful, robust and passionate 77 today. Arriba, Roberto!

Now, on to lesser matters. The Steelers host the Philadelphia Eagles tonight for a pre-season exhibition game glorified inter-squad scrimmage. Hopefully, it will be more entertaining than the doleful yawnfest in Washington last Friday.

Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls used to enjoy pre-season games much more than we do now. Nevertheless, it can be fun to watch young players -- particularly undrafted free agents -- who show a flash of promise. Fast Willie Parker was one of those guys. And we distinctly remember watching James Harrison chase down a running back for a loss on an outside pitch, blow up another play up the middle aaand … promptly get cut by Bill Cowher, in all his talent-evaluation genius.

Luckily for the Steelers and us fans, another “genius,” the Ravens’ Brian Billick, also cut Harrison -- can you imagine James Harrison and Ray Lewis in the same linebacking corps? -- so Harrison eventually worked his way back onto the Steelers roster.

Tonight, we’ll be watching the secondary with interest, and also the offensive line. Four cornerbacks -- veteran starters Ike Taylor and Bryant McFadden, second-year backup Crezdon Butler and rookie Cortez Allen -- will miss tonight’s game with injuries.

As a result, we’ll see guys like Keenan Lewis, rookie third-rounder Curtis Brown, undrafted rookie Donovan Warren and maybe even newly acquired corners Kevin Dockery and Macho Harris (ya gotta get a kick outta that name), who arrived only yesterday following the unlamented release of disappointing wide receiver Limas Sweed.

Too bad Sweed couldn’t put it together. The opportunity was there for him. He just dropped the ball, literally, too many times. On the offensive line, Tony Hills, of all people, will get playing time at guard, of all places. This may be the last chance for Hills to showcase what he can do.

That was a desultory affair at PNC Park last night, with the Pirates losing to the Cardinals, 7-2. Bleah. Too bad. After winning the first two games of the series in exciting fashion -- and probably burying the Cardinals’ flickering playoff hopes in the process, the Pirates reverted to their late-July form and thudded back to earth.

Enjoy the game tonight. With any luck, while he's in Pittsburgh, Michael Vick will get bit by a pit bull.

Photo courtesy of Clemente Museum, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Cattching Cotchery

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls are lukewarm-not-enthused about the Steelers signing former Jets receiver Jericho Cotchery. We would have been happier had the Steelers gone with Tyler Grisham.

It's not just that Cotchery's production has gone downhill since 2007, when he had 82 catches for 1,130 yards. Last season, he had just 41 catches for 433 yards. Not so great. Hall of Famer Chris Carter -- who knows something about playing wideout in the NFL -- said this morning on ESPN's "Mike & Mike Show" that Cotchery had a lot of drops last season and has lost some speed the past few years.

Cotchery had been unhappy with his diminished role in New York and had requested his release. His role in Pittsburgh? Good question. He probably will get most of his playing time out of the slot-receiver position, but he projects to be the fifth receiver on the depth chart. If he was unhappy with his role in New York, how is he going to be happy being fifth on the depth chart in Pittsburgh?

Mike Wallace certainly is going to line up on one side pretty much full-time. You'd figure Hines Ward will get a lot of playing time, even though this may be his last year. Emmanuel Sanders would be next in line, with Antonio Brown also getting more and more playing time, as the season progresses.

All four receivers are better than Cotchery -- when they're healthy.

What really concerns us about this deal is the possibility that the Steelers signed Cotchery solely because Emmanuel Sanders' foot injury may be more serious than is being disclosed.

We're worried about the Steelers in general, and they haven't even played their first pre-season game. We'd been rooting for rookie running back Baron Batch, who was tearing it up at camp before he tore his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament [knee]) on Wednesday. Batch was showing every indication he "gets" it -- he even had the crusty veterans "oohing and ahwing"with his blocking, running, catching and kick-returning. It appeared Batch was emerging as the third running back behind Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman, and possibly edging out Mewelde Moore and definitely bumping an apparently our-of-shape Jonathan Dwyer off the roster.

Batch is an easy guy to root for -- just read his blog entry titled "Detour," which he wrote on Wednesday shortly after he sustained the injury. Joey Porter's Pit Bulls wish Baron Batch all the best for a full recovery and a return to the team next season.

As for this season, we have worries, as always. Four AFC teams in particular worry us, in this order: the San Diego Chargers, the New England Patriots, the New York Jets, and the Baltimore Ravens.

This may be San Diego's year to finally break through. They seem to underachieve every year, but this may be their year. That's a team to watch.

Confirmed, we're still here.

Sorry for the uncharacteristically lengthy absence. We're still here, as noted in the prior post about The Rapture.

A few idle thoughts:

• We like the signing of Derek Lee. He's not the player he was in his prime, but he's still better at this point than Lyle Overbay. Too bad for Lyle, but he just wasn't hitting, at all. At least he hit a home run in his last game on Sunday. Then Derek Lee comes in and hits two home runs in his first game as a Pirate.
• Good for Plaxico Burress. That prison sentence seemed awfully harsh for shooting himself in the leg. It was stupid of him to carry a loaded gun (especially with the safety off), but still. We have a feeling he is great shape and motivated. He should be a great fit for the Jets. Naturally, we don't want the Jets to beat the Steelers, ever, but we're glad to see Plex landed on his feet.
• We're NOT enthusiastic about the acquisition of Ryan Ludwick. He hasn't hit all year, and he simply is not a good defensive outfielder. He certainly isn't a good fit in left field at PNC Park.
• The Steelers sure have been quiet. It would have been nice if they'd been able to pick up Namdi Asomough, but they seem confident in their young corners. Hopefully the two draft picks will contribute. And the Eagles would be smart to keep Asante Samuel. He's a terrific cover corner, and if the Eagles don't want him, he sure would look good in a Steelers' uniform.
• We have a feeling Carson Palmer is trying to pull a Brett Favre. Kudos to Bengals' owner Mike Brown for standing up to Palmer. On the other hand, maybe Palmer is sincere in his plans to retire. After all, as he said when all this started, he has made about $80 million throughout his career.
  

That's all for now. We'll try to be more regular with our postings.

We're still here!

As far as we can tell on this glorious, beautiful Sunday, those of us still on this orb, this mortal coil, this third stone from the sun … we missed out on The Rapture.

It didn’t happen, right? Right? Okay, false alarm. We are happy to be here still and will continue to enjoy the little pleasures and blessings life reveals, for as long as we have the privilege.

Moving on to other News Apocalyptic, the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball club -- the team on the field -- won their fourth straight game and (second of two games in interleague play!) last night before a full house at PNC Park, defeating the Detroit Tigers. Good for the players, manager Clint Hurdle and his coaching staff. All is good.

Except … Off the field, the guys in suits in the Pirates’ organization somehow overshadowed the team’s on-field accomplishments by … what? We’re not sure, but this latest PR controversy/brouhaha/imbroglio/fiasco has to do with placing Pedro Alvarez on the disabled list and promoting minor-league infielder Pedro Ciriaco to the major league club.

No big deal in and of itself. Maybe Alvarez hasn’t been completely healthy all season. Only he and the doctors know for sure. There’s no disputing he has struggled at the plate so far this season. Hopefully, the time off will do him good. He seems like a good guy, and a player with the potential to be a legitimate star. We’re rooting for him.

Now, looking more closely at the roster move, there is the immediate on-field reality of who will play infield, and then there is the off-field, behind-the-scenes machinations of what should have been a simple, straightforward announcement -- which, somehow, as is their wont and seemingly inevitable tendency -- the Pirates mangled. These guys just can’t get out of their own way, it seems.

First, the bigger issue, as Post-Gazette columnist Bob Smizik rightly points out this morning, is the on-field impact:

“The larger story here is that the Pirates had to promote Ciriaco, who almost made the team in spring training but who has been terrible at Indianapolis. He was batting .190 with a .193 on-base percentage and a .255 slugging percentage. In 137 at bats, he had one walk. He also had nine errors.

“The Pirates weren't getting much out of Alvarez, but with him there was at least some hope of getting production out of the position. Now it looks like manager Clint Hurdle will have to go with Brandon Wood, .217 with no homers in 46 at bats, or Steve Pearce, .286 with no homers in 42 at bats, at third base for at least the next two weeks.”

As for the apparently mixed-up announcement of this simple roster move, well, we shall leave it to Jen Langosch of MLB.com. To her credit, in an admirable display of professional risk-taking (let’s hope she keeps her job after this bit of reporting), Ms. Langosch called B.S. on the Pirates by writing this yesterday …

“… there is a difference between not giving out information and giving out false information. It appears the latter happened with Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday, as someone from the organization made up a story to hide the fact that the club believed Alvarez was headed to the DL and that it would be Ciriaco taking Alvarez’s place in Pittsburgh.”

If true -- and it seems to be -- all of this is silly and unnecessary. Unfortunately, it reeks of what appears to be yet another case of truth-shading, obfuscation or outright lying by somebody or some people in management at some level, either in Indianapolis or Pittsburgh, reminiscent of the infamous unannounced contract extensions and other bits of skullduggery and questionable public relations that have become tell-tale trademarks of the Frank Coonelly/Neil Huntington regime. These guys just can’t seem to get out of their own way.

Let’s hope we don’t have to hear any more of this. Betting we will.

At least we're here.

O Joy, O Rapture!

If The Rapture happens today, and the NFL Lockout ends, will anybody notice?

Will anybody notice the end? Of the NFL Lockout, that is, not THE END. Of Days.

At least one studious scholar ("Doctor of Thinkology") in the world of academia actually gets paid for studying people who espouse their apocalyptic belief in The Rapture (also known as "End of Days"), whereby the good and righteous will be swept into heaven and everybody else will be "left behind" for the devil to torture and eventually sweep into hell.

Armed with this Zeitgeist (world view), some True Believers, apparently rapt with eager anticipation of The Rapture, have sold all their possessions.

On the other hand, some people are fatalistically whistling past the proverbial graveyard. One bumper sticker reads, "When The Rapture Comes, Can I Have Your Car?"

Some folks, assuming they will be "left behind," are preparing a Post-Rapture Looting Party.

Then, too, there's "Brimstone Barney's Apocalypse Clearance -- Everyone Must GO! -- Rapture Sale."

A number of people have been preparing for quite a while now, as Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Samantha Bennett described presciently in her excellent 2008 column, titled, "In Case of Rapture, This Column Will be Unaffected."

In any case, it's always best to Be Prepared, which we learned as Boy Scouts. Clean underwear and all that.

Whatever happens, it's always good to have a soundtrack.
Here are a few suggestions from Joey Porter's Pit Bulls for "songs for the end of the world," just for starters (or 'enders,' as the case may be)...

• "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire
• "It's All Right Ma, I'm Only Bleeding" by Bob Dylan
• "Ain't Gettin' Out of This World Alive" by Hank Williams
• "Wooden Ships" by Jefferson Airplane (also by Crosby, Stills & Nash)
• "The End" by The Doors
• "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan
• "New Speedway Boogie" by The Grateful Dead
• "Ball of Confusion" by The Temptations
• "Epitaph" by King Crimson
• "Careful With That Ax, Eugene" by Pink Floyd
• "Is That All There Is" by Peggy Lee
• "This is the End of the World As We Know It" by R.E.M.

We're not sure when The Rapture will happen -- really, who is sure of anything these (end of) days? -- but just wondering:

Will The Rapture occur before the Preakness? If so, are all bets off?

Well, we shall wait and see. And, as always, we will hope for the best.
As the Scarecrow in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz exclaimed, "O Joy, O Rapture!"

And, as a friend added, "At least the Pirates get to go out on an uptick."

So, faithful readers, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls have only to say, "See ya!" ... somewhere ... Hopefully.

We're as ready as ever, which is, uh, no, not really, but that's how it is. That's how we roll. Is that the right way to put it? That didn't sound blasphemous, did it?
On a final (?) note: We'd be remiss not to recall the following story from San Francisco (where else?). It's an oldie but goodie.

Evil seems to befall cab 666 -- driver seeks intervention -- Taxi commission to consider issuing a new medallion

by Steve Rubinstein, San Francisco Chronicle

July 24, 2007 - The San Francisco Taxi Commission is set to decide this evening whether one of the city's cabs is "associated with evil and Satan."

And its decision, according to the official agenda, has implications involving no less than Armageddon, St. John the Divine, Good Friday, the Book of Revelation and the Mark of the Beast.

At its regular meeting, the commission will consider a request from the distraught holder of taxi cab medallion No. 666 to have the number retired.

Driver Michael Byrne complained that the number is bad luck and persuaded assistant commission executive director Jordanna Thigpen to take up his cause with a two-page memo to the board.

Charlie Morton: Ace, Stopper, All-Star?

Who would have thunk it? Charlie Morton: “Stopper.”

Even as recently as spring training, nobody would have thought Charlie Morton, of all people – Charlie Morton?! -- would step up and become the Pirates ace this year. Their Stopper: As in, stopping losing streaks, in this case a malodorous stinker of a six-game streak in which opponents had out-scored the Pirates, 38-15.

So, if the Pirates weren’t going to score much Wednesday evening, it seemed they would need one of their guys to pitch a shutout. And that’s exactly what Charlie Morton delivered at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

Charlie Morton, of all people, an afterthought who was barely clinging to a tenuous spot on the roster, let alone in the rotation, as recently as the end of spring training. Give him credit. He took hold of his last chance and wouldn’t let go. With help and guidance from manager Clint Hurdle and pitching coach Ray Searage, Morton appears to have salvaged his career; no, more than that, much more: Morton appears not only to have salvaged his career; but, in one year, he’s gone from near-oblivion/never-was/has-been to Emerging Ace, the team’s Stopper and one of the best pitchers in baseball. If the All-Star team were picked today, he’d be on it.

Wednesday night against a hot Reds team, Morton pitched seven smothering, scoreless innings with groundouts galore. He allowed only five hits all game, and from the second through the seventh innings, he allowed only one hit and three base runners. He threw only 105 pitches the entire game. This was the second time this season Morton has defeated the Reds (he beat them 6-1 on April 15), and in the two games, he’s pitched 18 innings and allowed only one run and 10 hits. And that’s a good-hitting team.

Charlie Morton. Who woulda thunk it?

R.I.P. Harmon Killebrew

Rest in Peace, Harmon Killebrew.

Now, there was a Slugger. A real cleanup hitter.

Harmon Killebrew dominated in an era of 10 teams per league, a higher pitcher's mound, great pitchers, pre-steroids, and pre-990s-expansion. By all accounts, he was a nice guy, humble, quiet and a good teammate. An all-around good guy. And a devastating slugger.

Pirates Walk the Plank in Milwaukee ... yet again

It's uncanny ...

Listening to the Pirates radio broadcast of Sunday's game vs. the Brewers in Milwaukee, bottom of the first just underway, and Bob Walk says ...

"I think Kevin Correia's going to have a good outing today, and in a moment I'll tell you why."

... words punctuated in rapid order by:

• CRACK! -- lead-off line-drive single to left
  
• BANG! -- line-drive single to center
  
• BOOM! -- Ryan Braun three-run homer
• WHAM! -- Casey McGehee home run
• PAUSE -- visit to the mound by Clint Hurdle
• CRACK! -- line-drive base hit up the middle

It was 4-0 in a heartbeat, and Bob Walk never did explain why Kevin Correia was going to have a good outing.

We're still waiting, Bob.

With yesterday's loss, the Pirates record in Milwaukee since 2007 fell to 3-33.

Divine Retribution for Randall Simon?

The Pirates' nightmare at Miller Park continues.

The Brewers own them, which is a phenomenal story in its own right, and one that bears closer scrutiny just for the astonishingly lopsided and extended reality of the fact. We'll get to that.

The Pirates woke up today in fourth place and sliding. Fast.

Nobody today should be talking about blown calls that possibly contributed to the loss yesterday, not with a final score of 8-2.

As noted here yesterday, the Pirates aren't hitting. That's an understatement. The Pirates offense is astoundingly inept.

The Pirates have lost four in a row, and this morning's Post-Gazette reports "the past four games, they have scored three, zero, two and two runs."

Hence, a four-game losing streak. The Bucs left 13 runners on base yesterday. Thirteen!

Leaky defense didn't help, either, nor did the aforementioned blown calls.

Symptoms of a flawed team that may be finding its level? Even manager Clint Hurdle said earlier in the week that they'd "somehow managed to find ways to win games," as if even he couldn't believe the team was hovering around .500.

The Brewers Own the Pirates
Now, about that lop-sided "rivalry" (wrong word) between the Brewers and Pirates ... we hate to use the "bee-yotch" word, but the Pirates are playing the part.

Look no further than the lead-in to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article yesterday about Friday night's game ...

In need of a shot in the arm, the Milwaukee Brewers couldn't have asked for a better opponent for their weekend series at Miller Park than the Pittsburgh Pirates.

It was Milwaukee's seventh straight home win over Pittsburgh and 31st in its last 34 games over the Pirates at home since 2007, an almost unfathomable winning percentage of .912. The Brewers are 49-17 (.742) in all games against the Pirates over that same span as well.

"Oh, it does," manager Ron Roenicke said when asked if the one-sided nature of the series gives his team an edge. "I don't know on their part, but I think any team you're on, when you have trouble with a team in your ballpark for whatever reason, you know."

This is getting more than a bit ridiculous, as in, "valid reason for ridicule."

Milwaukee's dominance over the Pirates must have baseball historians, geeks and stat-heads poring through the archives and databases at Stats Inc., the Baseball Encyclopedia, etc., to determine the historic significance of how dominant the Brewers have been over the Pirates in recent years.

It truly is ridiculous. And embarrassing.

The Pirates have lost 56 of 83 games in Miller Park, but it's gotten progressively worse in the past few years (3-32 since 2007). That is sustained. Embarrassing. Pitiful. Pathetic.

Perhaps this futility streak is divine retribution for Randall Simon?

The Pirates had better start winning in Milwaukee. To do that, they'd better start hitting.

As beat writer Colin Dunlap notes in today's Post-Gazette, Pedro Alvarez is 7 for his past 41 with 15 strikeouts, including two yesterday. Lyle Overbay is 7 for 30. Jose Tabata is 6 for 37. Of those three players -- regulars all -- Overbay has the highest batting average, at .231. Throw in continuing non-productivity from Andrew McCutchen (.234) and Ronny Cedeno (.222), and you are looking at five of eight regulars batting under .231.

Five of eight!

Has any team, ever, been so inept? Not to be confused with "Lumber 'n Lightning," that's for sure, or the Big Red Machine, or the 1927 Yankees.

All the feel-good sentiment just one week ago has evaporated. It feels like a whole new season. And the yearly June swoon looms forebodingly.

Kevin Correia had better be on top of his game this afternoon. Today is a good opportunity for him to establish himself as a "stopper" and a legitimate All-Star candidate (which he should be, anyway -- and too bad for him that the bullpen lost the lead in his most recent start).

Hmmmm ... What to Talk About?

Now that the Pirates have reached the heady land of .500 -- oh, they what? Two games under .500? Never mind. At least they made it to .500, so we can all go home now.

What else is there to talk about?

We still intend to discuss the NFL draft (soon), but there's plenty of time to get to that. There were some interesting goings-on and what-if scenarios on Draft Day. Again, however, with the lockout, there is plenty of time before training camp (whenever that will be) to talk about all that.

So, what else?

• Hines Ward on "Dancing With the Stars"? Don't care. Never watched the show. Never will watch it. No interest. Ditto Hines Ward on "Letterman" talking about "Dancing With the Stars." Just wondering, though: Did he and Dave talk about Hines getting handcuffed in L.A. during a traffic stop? Not that anything came of it.
  

• Kordell Stewart getting arrested in Atlanta for driving with a suspended license? Too bad for him. Also, Kordell's getting married next Saturday. Yikes, man has got a lot on his mind.
  

• Speaking of minds, or lack thereof, Rashard Mendenhall on Twitter? Too stupid for words. Not worth discussing.
  

• Ducks in the outfield at PNC Park? We're all for ducks and angels in the outfield.

Which brings us back to ... sigh, the Pirates. Man, there ain't much to talk about, is there? Especially when it comes to hitting.

The team isn't hitting and shows no signs that it will start hitting soon.

Let's start with the positives ...

• Second-baseman Neil Walker has been the most consistent position player all season: He's fielded surprisingly well, and he's been the team's best hitter: .296 BA, 4 HR and 21 RBIs in 140 at-bats, albeit with 36 strikeouts.

• Also on the plus side, Ryan Doumit and Garrett Jones have hit fairly well, although their plate appearances have been limited by platoon situations. Stats on them to follow, below.

As for the rest of the team ...

• First-baseman Lyle Overbay is batting .232 with 2 HR, 13 RBIs and 25 strikeouts in 125 at-bats. Overbay has four errors, including one last night. Is that bad? By comparison, Walker, a relative novice at second base, has three errors in just one more game than Overbay.

• Shortstop Ronny Cedeno is batting .217 with 20 strikeouts in 106 at-bats. Like Walker, he has just three errors.

• Third-baseman Pedro Alvarez is batting .198 with 1 HR, 11 RBIs and 38 strikeouts in 111 at-bats. Alvarez has five errors, but his defense has been surprisingly good on the whole, and at times spectacular. The Pirates have no choice but to keep playing him.

• Left-fielder Jose Tabata got off to a fast start but has been slumping the past few weeks. He is batting just .229.

• Same with center-fielder Andrew McCutchen: He is batting just .229.

As for the platoons, if you can call them that, in right field and at catcher:

• Matt Diaz is batting .239 with 0 (ZERO) home runs in 67 at-bats. That bears repeating: Diaz has no home runs in 67 at-bats. Is that possible? At least Garrett Jones, Diaz's left-hand counterpart in the right-field platoon, has 6 HR in 95 at-bats. Jones is batting .253.

• Catcher Chris Snyder ran into a pitch once for a home run in 57 at-bats. Snyder is batting .268. Switch-hitting catcher Ryan Doumit is batting .292 with 3 HR in 65 at-bats.

And there you have it:

Team batting average of .231.

For all that, the Buccos currently stand at 18-20, in third place in the NL Central, a half-game ahead of Chicago, one game ahead of Milwaukee and four games in front of Houston. It's a minor miracle the Bucs are in third place. Not for long, however, unless they start hitting. Soon.

As said previously, there's not much to talk about, is there?

The Pirates: Movin' On Up

Dare we say it? ... Pirates fans beginning to pay attention to the standings?

At 18-17, the Bucs awake this morning in third place in the N.L. Central, two games back of St. Louis and just one game behind Cincinnati. The Pirates have the eighth-best winning percentage (.514) of the 16 teams in the National League. They're competitive. Hey, it's a step in the right direction.

They have a good chance to keep the momentum going vs. the Dodgers tonight, with Kevin Correia on the mound vs. LHP Ted Lilly (2-3, 4.93).

At 5-2 with a 2.91 ERA, Correia is tied for NL lead with five wins -- same as Roy Halladay (5-1, 2.19 ERA) -- and two other guys, Aaron Harang, San Diego, and Kyle McClellan, St. Louis.

From today's Post-Gazette ...

"With the win, the Pirates (18-17) have a winning record at the deepest point in a season since May 29, 2004, when they were 23-22."

And there's this quote from umpire Mike DiMuro, the umpire last night who blew the call on Tabata's (non-) catch last night. When LA manager Don Mattingly asked him if he was sure Tabata made the catch, DiMuro said ...

"I told Don, 'Who's 100 percent sure of anything in life?'

And we love this quote from Clint Hurdle ...

"You just play the game," Hurdle said. "And you get breaks and you don't get breaks. You just play through them the best you can."

Pretty much applies to any situation in life, eh, readers?

Or, as the late Hunter S. Thompson wrote, "You buy the ticket. You take the ride."

With a lefty on the mound for LA, it's fun to speculate which right-handed bats will be in the lineup for the Pirates tonight, and at what positions. Matt Diaz probably will start in right field (in place of the left-handed Garrett Jones); Chris Snyder will catch (since Ryan Doumit caught the last two games), and that's probably it, although it might be interesting to see if Steve Pearce plays instead of Lyle Overbay, whose bat finally may be coming around a bit.

Manager Clint Hurdle probably wants to get at-bats for Pedro Alvarez (coming off a minor injury), who ended the game last night with a spectacular diving backhand stab and throw-out. Hurdle might also want to save Brandon Wood as a right-handed bat off the bench late in the game.

We'll be writing about football again, soon. For now, baseball is the only game in town.
Addendum: According to today's edition of The Los Angeles Times ...

Asked whether the Los Angeles media should be as excited if the Dodgers ever hit the .500 mark, Mattingly replied, "We don't want to be a .500 club, that's for sure. I don't know what's going on here, but if that's what we end up being, I'm going to be disappointed."

The Dodgers are 16-20. Let's make 'em 16-21.

Evening It Out

Photo credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

"It" being the Pirates' season record, now at an even .500 for the first time this "late" in a season since Jun 11, 2005, when the Bucs reached a 30-30 mark before sliding suddenly into a precipitous spiral that's taken this long to reverse. Six years. But who's counting?

That 2005 team was almost an entirely different* Pirates crew, skippered by Lloyd McClendon, who seemingly lost control of himself and the team on the one day (in Yankee Stadium) when they had a chance to go 31-30 but blew a late lead on a bad call, and promptly went on to lose -- repeatedly and ignominously -- the rest of that stretch of interleague play (the Yankees, Boston, Baltimore), all the way through the rest of that season and ever since for the next half-a-decade under the volatile McCendon, the loquacious Jim Tracy and the imperturbable John Russell.

But that was then. This is now. And "now" has an entirely different feel than "then."

This year's edition of the Buccos, led by manager Clint Hurdle, feels fresher, more upbeat and more real than any we've seen in a long, long time. Not a finished product, by any means, and maybe a little fragile, but a team that is beginning to find itself and one that is surprisingly resilient.

After starter James McDonald pitched six stellar shutout innings (8 strikeouts vs. just two walks) and the Pirates cruising into the seventh on a 3-0 lead, the Astros quickly staged a rally vs. Chris Resop, who has been mostly reliable. The sudden turnabout was sickening, and the game abruptly had the feel of a crushing defeat.

Reliever Joe Beimel pitched a smooth 1-2-3 eighth, however, to steady things, and the Pirates staged a rally of their own in the bottom of the inning with a Neil Walker hit, a Steve Pearce walk and Ryan Doumit's exclamation mark of three-run homer to put the Pirates back in the lead. Joel Hanrahan closed out the ninth, and everybody went home happy.

It would have been a feel-good win in any case, but this one has a bit more sail to it and carries a little more "oomph" by virtue of the team reaching .500 -- 21 percent through the 162-game schedule!

We're one-fifth of the way through the season and not out of the race yet! Whooppeee!

Fans in other cities must think all this feel-good excitement and optimism is pathetic, but they haven't endured the past 18 seasons the way Pirates' fans have.

And, hey, right now, the Pirates are 17-17, in third place in the N.L. Central, trailing the division-leading Cardinals by just two-and-a-half games ... and leaving Houston (13-21), Milwaukee (14-20) and Chicago (15-18) all looking up at the Bucs in the standings.

Reaching .500 is a bit of a milestone, but hopefully just a mark on the road to better times ahead.

It's a start, and ya gotta start somewhere. Let's hope they keep it going.

Next up: The Dodgers at PNC Park, 7:05 p.m.; Jeff Karstens vs. Chad Billinglsley.

*Footnote: In a bit of irony (or is it coincidence?), the one player from that 2005 team still on the Pirates is Ryan Doumit, the hero of yesterday's game, who made his major league debut on June 5, 2005).

Dissa n Data ...
For what it's worth, The Houston Chronicle reports the Astros bullpen has been atrocious:

The Astros, who fell to 13-21, have seen their bullpen blow nine of its 14 save chances this season, which is easily the worst rate in the National League. The rotating cast of nine characters has a composite ERA of 5.54, the worst in the league and more than two full runs above the NL average.

It’s hard to figure which of the blown saves was the most excruciating, and really, it’s a fruitless exercise. But Sunday’s was certainly close.