In case you missed it, the Bucs lost to the Mets last night, 6-2. This was their fourth loss in a row, dropped their road record to an unbelievable 15-59 on the season (to add some perspective to that record, the Phillies have won 17 times on the road since August 1!), and have now reached the milestone number of 50, count 'em, 50 games under .500 on the season. They are now 48-98, and have established themselves as the worst Pirates team in 58 years. In his blog this morning, Bob Smizik recalled the 1985 team which he covered as a beat reporter and lost 104 games: "They stunk, but they could play rings around this bunch."
However, in the sidebar stories of the game, we learn the following:
- GM Neal reports that it is going to be difficult in evaluating the Pirates coaches, whose contracts are about to expire, after the season. Hmmm, doesn't seem like it should be all that difficult to me.
- The GM made no mention of evaluating John Russell.
- Speaking of JR, he announced that Zach Duke (for whom a case could be made that he is the worst starting pitcher in MLB this season) will be taking his regular turn in the rotation on Sunday. Duke, it seems, has looked good in his side sessions since getting rocked by the Mets on Tuesday. He is looking "more Zach-ish" according to the Skipper. Makes you fell a lot better, doesn't it?
- Reliever D.J. Carrasco, in town with the D'Backs for the first time since his trade from the Pirates reports that the Pirates players "don't take it seriously enough that they're losing all the time." That's not a good thing.
Sixteen games remain. The Pirates need to go a mere 3-13 to avoid the 112 losses of the 1952 Pirates. They can do that, can't they?
I watched the Pirates - Mets game last night. The Bucs didn't show much that could be called impressive. Alverez looked a bit stout (overweight); with two outs Walker struck out with men on 2nd and 3rd on a pitch over his head; a relief pitcher committed a balk; Russell continually looked confused every time the camera was on him. The Pirate right fielder whose name I now forget was one who impressed me. He hit the ball hard a couple of times and was absolutely robbed by Pagan in center field of a triple. The Mets TV announcers, especially Keith Hernandez, were very unprofessional in my opinion by making some very derogatory comments about the Pirates.
ReplyDeleteJim, first off - HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Loved your line, "Bucs didn't show much that could be called impressive." Welcome to our world! That pretty much summarizes the '10 Pirates. The RF'er was John Bowker, obtained from the Giants in one of GM Neal's deadline deals.
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