A Football / Baseball / Golf Hodge-Podge

Some quick hit thoughts (apologies to Peter King) for a Friday morning....

With no Pirates game to occupy me, I did watch the final Steelers practice game of the year, and four things stand out:

1. Charlie Batch threw about as pretty a touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders as you will see all season, and he will probably end up getting released today.  Crazy.
2. Two jaw dropping punt returns for touchdowns by rookie Chris Rainey in the first quarter, both nullified by Steelers penalties.  Poor officiating by the scab refs, or poor special teams play by the Steelers?
3. An absolutely brutal looking knee injury to rookie linebacker Sean Spence.  Why do NFL teams play four of these meaningless games, other than to get two full gates for the owners?
4. It seemed that on every play, huge chunks of turf went flying through the air.  Good to see that the Heinz Field playing surface was in mid-season form.

On to other thoughts.....

Football:

• During the Steelers game I switched briefly to ESPN for the South Carolina-Vanderbilt SEC tussle.  Steve Spurrier, the Ol' Ball Coach, always seemed to me to be a "young" guy.  Not anymore.  He looked ancient last night,and what's with the voice?  If it gets any higher, he'll shatter glass.
• And speaking of voices, why is Lou Holtz still on the air?
• I see that Fraud Graham's Arizona State Sun Devils high octaned themselves a sixty-something to six win over Northern Arizona last night.  Can't wait until ASU starts playing some of the big boys in the PAC 12.  I'll even be rooting for a snake like Lane Kiffen to put the Whoop-Ass on Coach Fraud. 
• College Football begins in earnest tomorrow: Youngstown State @ Pitt, Ohio U. @ Penn State, Marshall @ WVU, Robert Morris @ North Dakota State.  All compelling games for various reasons.
• The big TV game of the week pits Michigan against Alabama in Jerry's Palace in Dallas.  That should be a fun game, and kudos to each school for being willing to open against each other rather than the traditional opening game against Cupcake University.

Baseball:

• It was fun switching to MLB Network last night and seeing the Nats hand it to the Cardinals, 8-1, allowing the Pirates to pick up a half game in the wild card race.  September baseball could be a whole lot of fun this year.
• First, however, three games in Miller Park beginning tonight.  Got to take care of those annoying Brewers.  I'm not greedy.  I'll happily settle for two out of three.
• Am anxiously awaiting to see how the Pirates will set the post-season roster by midnight tonight and whether or not that make a Waiver Deadline Deal, also by midnight.

Golf:

The PGA Tour is in the midst of their FedEx Cup playoffs, and the Ryder Cup is just around the corner, but some old news, if you don't mind.

Rory McIlroy won the PGA Championship earlier this month by eight shots, a most dominating and convincing win, not unlike his US Open win in 2011.  Congratulations to the young Irishman, who is indeed one of the top half dozen or so players on tour today.  Stop, however, with the "next Tiger" nonsense.  I will probably be dead by the time this will finally be reckoned, but I am willing to bet that Rory, who now has two Majors on his resume, will not get within sniffing distance of Tiger Woods' total of fourteen (14) Majors wins.  As I said, it will probably be another 20 or so years, give or take, (and that's if everything goes right for him) before McIlroy is not longer a factor, so I may not be around to collect my bet, but I say he gets nowhere near 14 Majors, and I'd be shocked if he gets that total to double figures.

On the subject of Woods, right now, he is 36 years old and very good golfer, just like about 50 or so other guys on Tour.  He is no longer "Tiger Woods".  He will continue to win golf tournaments, and may even win another Major or two, but the Jack Nicklaus standard of 18 Majors is safe, at least in my lifetime.  I do think, however, that Woods has a very good chance of breaking Sam Snead's PGA Tour record of 82 career wins.  Woods has 74.

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.

To Absent Friends: Art Heyman

While watching PTI last night, I was saddened to hear Tony and Mike wish a melancholy Happy Trails to Art Heyman, who passed away this past Monday at the age of 71.  They went on and on about Heyman's almost legendary career at Duke University, but, of course, Pittsburgh sports fans remember Heyman as one of the key players for the Pittsburgh Pipers in their ABA championship season of 1967-68. That is Heyman second from the left with (L-R) Chico Vaugh, the great Connie Hawkins, and Charlie Williams.  As I recall, Heyman came to the Pipers in a mid-season with the reputation of being a bit flakey and a hothead, and he was certainly that, but he also was the final piece of the puzzle that enabled the Pipers to become the ABA's first Champion.

Here he is in his glory days at Duke.

RIP Art Heyman.

So Much for Momentum

I just reread the post I did a week ago today following the Pirates 19 inning win in St. Louis last Sunday.  I was bubbling with optimism and talking about what a turning point this game could be.  Emphasis on the word "could".

Since that game the vanquished Cardinals are 5-1.  The Pirates are 1-5. 

As the headline says, "so much for momentum".

OK, time for the first pitch at PNC Park as this huge series begins.

Let's Go Bucs!

A Critical Series Begins Tonight

Tonight marks the beginning of what could truly be called the first "critical" series of the 2012 season for the Pirates when the Cardinals arrive at PNC Park for a three game set.  Sweep the Cards, and the Bucs regain hold on a Wild Card spot and remain in the post-season mix. Get swept by the Cards, and the season pretty much becomes: Can they Pirates break the 19 year losing seasons streak?

The Pirates excellent play throughout June and July gave everyone what is starting to look like a misplaced sense of a pennant contender, and how fun was that?  In fact, if someone told you on Opening day that the team would finish 82-80, every one of us would have signed on for that and not asked any questions.  What is a shame is that if the team does finish at exactly 82-80, that means that they played their final forty games at 14-26, and such a poor finish will be viewed, not without justification, as a big disappointment.

However, in trying to put a positive spin on things, we all need to remember that in 2010, a mere two seasons ago, this team went 57-105 and they were a truly awful team.  And for those who want to pin everything bad on Clint Hurdle (and he is not above criticism, to be sure), I have two words for you: John Russell.

Book Review: "This Is Where I Leave You"

I normally confine my fiction reading to mysteries and thrillers, and don't usually read "serious novels", but after reading this 2009 book by Jonathan Tropper, perhaps I should widen my scope a bit.

The story is told by Judd Foxman, a guy in his mid-thirties whose marriage has recently fallen apart and he has also lost his job (he caught his wife sleeping with his boss!!).  Not only that, his father has just died, and he has learned that his father's last request was that his family sit shiva for him, so now Judd will be confined for the next seven days with his mother, sister, two brothers, and assorted in-laws, girlfriends, ex-girlfriends, neighbors and others from his past.  Lots of personal demons and skeletons in the family closet to confront in the course of one week.  The book deals with serious issues, yet can be very, very funny.  Anyone who has ever dealt with "family issues" would most certainly identify with parts of this book. 

 I was not aware of Jonathan Tropper when I found this book as a Kindle Deal of the Day selection, but some Googling has told me that he has published five other novels in addition to this one, and I know that I will be checking them out as well.  It's always great when you discover a new author that you like.

Word is that a movie based on this book and starring Jason Bateman and Goldie Hawn will begin shooting this fall, and that is a movie that I would look forward to seeing.  I think that Hawn will be terrific in the role of the mother.

An Apolitical Political Comment

Regular readers know that I stay away from politics on both The Grandstander and Facebook, but this is pretty non-partisan, so here goes.

News Item:  Due to the approach of Hurricane Isaac, the Republicans have canceled the first day of their National Convention, scheduled to begin in Tampa on Monday.  This underscores the fact that for the last thirty or so years the National Conventions of both parties have become anachronisms and fairly pointless.  I believe the last time that a Party's nominee was actually decided at a convention was in 1976 when the GOP chose Jerry Ford over Ronald Reagan.   Ever since then, each party's nominee has already been determined via the state primaries and caucuses that took place over several months earlier in the year.  Whether this is good or bad, is another debate.

So, it seems to me that a lot of time and money could be saved if each party could convince the television networks to turn over two Thursdays, one for each party, in late August every four years and give them three hours of prime time for the Prez and Veep nominees to make their speeches to the waiting nation.  The only people who lose in such a situation are the hotels and restaurants of the host cities.

Make sense to you?