Sporting Thoughts for a Monday Morning

• Last Thursday, the Pirates beat the Cardinals and Pirates pitchers struck out 17 Cardinal batters.  It was hailed as a pitching masterpiece.  
• On Sunday, the Reds beat the Pirates and Reds pitchers struck out 17 Pirates batters.  It has been hailed as yet another example of the ineptitude of the Pirates lineup.
• So, which of the above statements is more accurate? Feel free to discuss.
• I was keeping a scorecard at the game on Friday night, and there it was in stark black and white:  a batting order that had a bottom third of Barmes, Barajas (both hitting below .200), and the pitcher.  It's one thing to hide a weak bat in the midst of a strong line-up, but with this batting order, the Pirates are giving up at least three entire innings in every game they play.  That is no way to win ball games.
• Ben Roethlisberger will never be a beloved figure on a national level, thanks in large part to his own actions, and even Steelers fanatics will lose their love for him if he stops winning football games, but he deserves a lot of credit for spending this off season completing four college courses at Miami (O) University and getting his four year degree at the Miami commencement ceremonies yesterday.
• While PGA Tour young guns Ricky Fowler, Rory McIlroy, and D.A. Points went to sudden death at the Wells Fargo Tournament in Charlotte yesterday, Tiger Woods sat home in Florida having missed the cut.  Hard to believe, but I think that Tiger Woods is now just another guy on the PGA Tour.
• If I were to set the over/under at 1.5 for future major championship wins and 9.5 for total tour wins for Woods in the future, which way would you bet?
• I think that I would go with the "under" on both bets.
• After 112 at bats, Albert Pujols has 1 home run, 7 RBI's, a .196 BA and a .532 OPS.  "Unbelievable" doesn't even begin to describe those numbers.
• Friend Jim Haller came up with a pretty good trivia question this morning.  Without looking anything up, name the top five Pirates pitchers for Wins in the 1960's (1960-69).  The top three are pretty obvious.  Numbers four and five might surprise you, especially #4.