Meaningful Games

For the past several years, as the Pirates piled one lousy season after another on top of each other, my mantra has been "All I want is to see some meaningful games played in September at PNC Park".  Well, September is two days away, and it looks like I'm going to get my wish.

The week began with a grim outlook: four straight losses with the Cardinals coming into town. A sweep by the Cardinals would be almost disastrous, and when the series began with the Bucs going down meekly with their best pitcher losing Game One to the Cards, well, a lot of people weren't feeling too good.  I myself noted on Facebook that the season seemed to be "rapidly circling the drain".  And I had tickets to both the Tuesday and Wednesday games where the fading James McDonald and the so-far-not-so-good Wandy Rodriguez were scheduled to pitch.

You know what then transpired.  The Pirates put together two of the best ballgames you could ask a team to play, 9-0 and 5-0 wins over the Cardinals.  They are now right back in the thick of the wild card race, and it looks like we are indeed going to see some of those "meaningful games" after Labor Day, and how great is that?  Hey, even last night's game was meaningful, because ti gave the Pirates an 8-7 edge over the Cardinals for the season, which would given them a home game if those two teams finish tied in the Wild Card race. How about that?

These last two games saw two excellent pitching performances by McDonald and Rodriguez, as well as 6 innings of excellent bullpen work, but all of that was overshadowed by those three absolutely monstrous home runs hit by Pedro Alvarez.  If you care enough about this topic, you already know the details and have probably seen highlights (which you can find on the Pirates website if you have not).  I remember once seeing Willie Stargell hit a home run into the fifth level at Three Rivers Stadium, and thought I'd never see anything like it again.  Well, each of these three dingers by Pedro were reminiscent of that blast.  I think that Alvarez is absolutely incapable of hitting a "cheap" home run.  The power that he generates is just awesome.

And since we have invoked the name of Willie Stargell, here are some interesting observations and comparisons, courtesy of my friend, Dan Bonk:

Pedro Alvarez is closing in on 1000 career at-bats. He is currently for every 21 ABs and 1 strikeout for for every 3 ABs. Willie Stargell similarly after 1000 ABs averaged 1 HR per every 22 ABs and 1 strikeout for every 4 ABs. Stargell's stats are superior especially when you consider he played at cavernous Forbes Field versus PNC Park and he achieved 1000 ABs a full year younger than Pedro. Still Pedro's stats compare favorably to Willie's at this point. Just sayin'!

Thanks for that bit of research, Dan.

OK, a trip to Milwaukee against the Hated Brewers, then home against the DisAstros and the Cubs.  I will be there on Monday afternoon, and can't wait!

LETS GO BUCS!!!!

By the way, I love the picture (from this morning's Post-Gazette) at the top here of Pedro watching last night's home run.  Love the look in his eyes and the bat still in the air as he lets it go.

The Bucs at the Break

I know that I have been a bit quiet of late about the Pirates - somebody actually told me that they don't always read The Grandstander because they don't want to read about the Pirates all the time; can you imagine such a thing? - so a few opinions at the All-Star Break.

• Eleven games over .500 and in first place at the Break.  Did you in your wildest dreams imagine such a thing on Opening Day?  Be honest now, because I sure didn't?
• What can you say about Andrew McCutchen?  18 home runs, 60 RBI's and a .362 average.  Haven't seen a season like this since Barry Bonds was winning MVP Awards at Three Rivers Stadium.
• In his blog today, Bob Smizik stated today that you Cutch will probably not maintain this severe assault on NL pitching, but, the scary thing is, he just might!
• Pedro Alvarez also seems to be coming around.  Perhaps we may have to endure some more of those fallow periods he has had, but when he does hit, wow!  As it is, he has 16 HR and 50 RBI's.  Project those numbers out for the rest of the year and I'll take 'em, even with the strikeouts and the sub-.250 BA.
• Pedro's two two-run RBI singles he had in back-to-back games last week might have been more impressive than any of his home runs this season.
• That 8-7 walk-off (Drew Sutton!!!!) win over Houston on Tuesday had to be the highlight of the season so far.  When was the last time you saw such pure, unadulterated joy on a professional playing field in any sport?
• And since Bob Smizik - and The Grandstander - wrote of cause for concern over the declining numbers for Neil Walker around Memorial Day, Pine Richland's Neil Walker has responded, capped by that 5-for-5 day yesterday that boosted his average to .291.
• One of the more encouraging signs from the past two weeks as we look ahead to the second half were the two strong performances by Jeff Karstens.
• I can't say for sure if the Pirates will make the playoffs, but I would be shocked - SHOCKED - to see any kind of implosion similar to what befell last year's team.  Having anchors like James McDonald and A.J. Burnett, and now maybe Karstens, will prevent any long losing streaks.
• What does GM Neal do at the trading deadline.  Another pitcher? A strong hitter for the corner outfield? Or does someone come up from Indy (Starling Marte, Rudy Owens?) to fill those needs?  Lots of speculation in the next three weeks.  My own guess is that Neal will look for a pitcher first with "a bat" second.
• McCutchen's participation in the Home Run Derby tonight is a mixed blessing.  I will be compelled to watch and root strongly for him, but will also have to endure the old, tired, and worn out act of Chris Berman.
• Finally, the Zoltan signal that has become the team's rallying point is silly, immature, and goofy, and I love it!  the fact that it sprung up internally from within the clubhouse, and not manufactured by some front office PR flack, is what makes this fun and meaningful for the team.  It serves the purpose of past seasons' Green Weenies, Stargell Stars, and "We Are Family" anthems.  If the team goes deep into the post season this year, Zoltan will surely be commercialized and over-done next year, but for now, let's enjoy it!!  Right, Andrew?

 

.500!!!!....and other thoughts

Today the Pirates achieved what has seemed to be the Holy Grail for lo these past 18-going-on-19 seasons: a .500 record. Today's win over the Astros was a most dramatic one, a come from behind effort thanks to a three run, eighth inning home run by Ryan Doumit. Doumit's blast rescued the team from what would have been a most frustrating defeat.

Of course, a .500 record 34 games into the season means very little, and over the course of a full season, a .500 record means only that you are a mediocre team. The Pirates from the Bob Nutting on down to the clubhouse guy who rinses out the jock straps have proclaimed as nauseum that ".500 is not the goal; championships are." An admirable sentiment, to be sure, but we all know what these last 19 seasons have been like, so the possibility of the team actually winning more games than they lose should not be dismissed as being not worth talking about. I was at PNC on Friday night when the team could have hit the .500 mark, and didn't, and this afternoon, when they did, and I can tell you that seeing the team play to this level, and, yes, I know that it is only May 8, meant an awful lot to the paying customers. The team should not dismiss this sentiment so lightly.

*****

It came to my attention over the weekend that one of The Grandstander's Loyal Readers, Mike J. of Robinson Township, has accused me of going a bit too heavy with what he terms "Neal Huntington bashing." OK, so let's give Neal a little dap this evening for the following:

Kevin Correia - See my post of May 2. If you tell me that you saw a 5-2, sub-3.00 ERA on Mother's Day for this guy, I won't believe you.

James McDonald - After a shaky start to the season, J-Mac turns in a solid start for the third straight time today. Sending Octavio Dotel to McCort-land for this guy is starting to look like a steal.

Charlie Morton - 4-1 so far after that train wreck of a 2010 season? Again, who saw that coming? If Morton keeps this up, we'll soon be asking "Nate Who?"

Ryan Doumit - Huntington made no secret of wanting to trade Doumit this off-season, and such a trade could still happen, but Neal didn't just make a fire sale deal and dump him, and Doumit has been hitting well as a spot starter, even before today's heroics. Sometimes, the best traders are the ones you don't make.

The Bullpen - Even though Chris Resop has fallen to earth a bit in this Astros series, it appears that GM Neal has cobbled together a pretty good bullpen thus far in 2011.

Clint Hurdle - The GM is the guy who hires the manager, theoretically, anyway, so give Neal the credit for bringing in Hurdle, who certainly appears to be a good manager so far. (Using this same logic, Neal also gets the credit for hiring John Russell three years ago, but we come here today to praise Neal, not to bury him.)

OK, Mike, how does THAT sit with you?

*****

I suppose I can't let another day pass without commenting on Rashard Mendenhall and his tweets. In the highest tradition of Sports Talk Radio Culture, this topic has been thoroughly beaten into the ground, not only in Pittsburgh, but all across the USA. The best observation that I heard came from PTI's Michael Wilbon, who said, essentially, that Mendenhall is a 23 year old kid, who has shown a moderate ability to run with a football in the NFL, and how does this give him a platform that deserves all the attention that his insipid tweeting has given him? In other words, who cares what Rashard Mendenhall thinks? I don't. Nor do I really care, one way or another, if the Steelers choose to keep him or cut him. I suspect that he will not be released, but I also think he won't get many second chances if his performance starts to fall off.