And Now, The Wild Card Game

So the people who have been downplaying the Pirates all year - and you know who you are - are now finding themselves short of reasons to rip on them so now they are saying "Big deal. A one game wild card game.  It could all be over in one game."  Some people are even refusing to acknowledge that this game is a "real" playoff game.  To them, I say "Balderdash!!!"

Let me get this out there BEFORE the playoffs begin.  I like the whole concept of the One Game Wild Card Playoff Game (hereafter referred to as the OGWCPG), and I said so when it was first proposed, and if you don't believe me, read this:

http://grandstander.blogspot.com/2011/11/big-changes-in-major-league-baseball.html

Everything I said back in November of 2011 still applies today.  Would I feel bad if the Pirates were to lose on Tuesday night, which they won't? Damned right I would, but they knew the rules back on Opening Day, and they had their chances to win the division (as did Cincinnati, Cleveland, Texas, and Tampa Bay), but they didn't, so now they have to deal with it.  And let's face it, there should be some premium placed on winning your division outright, and like the NFL, MLB provides that to a greater, even though slight, extent than does the NHL and NBA, by making the wild cards play that OGWCPG.

Lots to rip Bud "Bud" Selig about, but I have to say that I really like this second wild card feature that was introduced in 2012.  Even if the Pirates lose on Tuesday - which they WON'T - you will not here me advocating for turning the WC round into a Best of Three series.

I can't wait until Tuesday night!

To Absent Friends: L.C. Greenwood

It is so very sad when you learn of the passing of one of the sporting heroes of your youth, and it is especially sad when that person is a mere five years older than you. Such is the case with Pittsburgh Steelers all-time great, L.C. Greenwood, who passed away today at the age of 67.

If you are a regular reader of The Grandstander, the chances are that you need no introduction from me as to who L.C. Greenwood was.  He was a terror of a defensive end for the 1970's era Super Bowl Steelers, a charter member of the famous Steel Curtain defensive line of those great teams.   You don't need me to tell you how great a player Greenwood was.  Just check out some highlight films of the Steelers' four Super Bowl wins in those years.

Sad to think that only Joe Greene survives as a member of that great Steel Curtain line.

RIP L.C. Greenwood.

Just How Much Fun Is the Giant Duck?

For sheer whimsical fun, nothing beat being on the Allegheny River shore by PNC Park when the Giant Rubber Duck arrived this past Friday evening.

I got a good shot of him in front of the "alma mater":

And I got another view from the vantage point of Heinz Field at the Pitt game on Saturday:

I know it's silly, but I gotta say it....I love the Duck!!

This Just In From Mongolia....

Back on September 4, I wrote of friend Matthew Algeo, author and lifelong Phillies-Fan-Turned Pirates-Fan (for this season, anyway) now living in Ulaanbaatar.Mongolia.  

http://www.grandstander.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-jolly-roger-flies-in-ulaanbaatar.html

Thanks to the initiative of friend David Cicotello, a Jolly Roger flag was dispatched to Matthew, and this past Friday, the Jolly Roger did indeed fly in Ulaanbaatar.

That is Matthew Raising the Colors in Sukhbaatar Square in front of Government House, where the Mongolian Parliament meets, which I guess would make this the equivalent of the Capitol Building in Washington DC.  The statue you see in the center of the building depicts Mongolia's greatest national hero, Genghis Kahn.

When Matthew posted these pictures on Facebook's Pirate Chat the other night, some followers said it was absolutely the coolest thing that they had ever seen on Pirate Chat.

Thank you, Matthew, and here's hoping the Buccos give you many more reasons to parade in Sukhbaatar Square in the weeks ahead!

A Great Player Hangs Up His Spikes (and It's Not Who You Think It Is)

Two weeks ago, the Colorado Rockies Todd Helton quietly announced that he would be retiring at the close of this 2013 season.  That was it.  No major press conference announcement, no Farewell Tour throughout the National League, no gifts from opposing teams.  Just "I'm retiring when the season ends in a couple of weeks".

Was Todd Helton a "great player"?  I think so, and can you disagree after looking at these numbers?

• Seventeen seasons and 2,244 games (through last night), all with the same team
• 2,518 hits
• 369 home runs
• 1,406 RBI's
• a .954 career OPS

The other day I heard of one of those contrived statistical groupings that have become so popular in recent years, it was something like X number of home runs, plus Y number of doubles, and Z number of hits and a batting average of over .xyz, I can't remember exactly what it was, and in this statistical subset, Helton stands alone with only two other players in baseball history - Stan Musial and Willie Mays.  Yeah, it is a contrived category, but you are in the same company with only Musial and Mays, that makes you a pretty special ball player in my book.

Oh, and Todd Helton said good-bye to his Coors Field fans in Thursday night by hitting a home run in his final home game.  What a perfect finish.

Many will hold it against him that he played half of his games in the mile high altitude at Coors Field, and also that he played in the "steroid era", although to my knowledge, no PED suspicion has ever been attached to him.  However, I say, see you in Cooperstown, Todd.

Now I know that what I say next will cast me as a grouchy old crank in some eyes, but contrast Helton's quiet exit with the year long hoop-la that has surrounded Mariano Rivera.   Before you Yankees loyalists jump all over me, I concede that Rivera is the greatest Closer ever (and how one views the position of "closer" is the subject of a whole other debate), and I will take everyone's word that he is a prince of a fellow, but am I the only person out there who has had it up to here with the whole Retirement Tour?  

Back in April, when Rivera said this would be his last season, ESPN's Buster Olney was tweeting wondering about what gifts each AL team should give Rivera when he made his last appearance in their city.  There followed the deification at the All Star Game, the Sports Center clips on each of his gifts from every team, the "controversy" over whether or not the Red Sox paid him the proper "respect" on his final visit to Fenway last week, a visit which was accompanied by near-weeping tweets from Olney and Peter Gammons, as well as the ESPN Sunday night crew, the Sports Illustrated cover.  I mean, C'MON MAN!  If Rivera is half the classy guy that everyone tells us he is, I am guessing that the whole deal had to be embarrassing for him.

It was not Rivera's fault, I suppose, but I rather prefer the way that Helton chose to bid adieu to the Major Leagues.

Buctober!

The lateness of he game and the post game celebrations on Monday, combined with some personal obligations on Tuesday, has delayed by about thirty-six hours the writing of a post that, as recently as Opening Day of this season,  I wasn't sure I would ever write, certainly not in 2013, if not in my lifetime.

You all know about the Marte Par-tay home run....

Which led to the incredible final out of the game.....

Which led to this, a sight we have not seen in twenty-one years....

What an incredible evening!  I was particularly struck by the interview with Andrew McCutchen, whose instinctual play in backing up Marlon Byrd in the ninth inning, which led to that Cutch to Morneau to Martin put out at the plate, was the kind of stuff that you don't always see; the Pirates have been criticized often and with some justification on being lacking in sound, fundamental baseball, but that play surely defines "sound, fundamental baseball", but to my point, Cutch was almost speechless in responding to the questions being asked. It was obvious to me that he alone grasped what that moment meant.  He knew, more than anyone else in that locker room, just how far the road traveled to that point was.  They don't call him the "Face of the Franchise" for nothing.

I also want to thank all of the folks on Facebook's "Pirate Chat" page.  This sounds incredibly cornball, but watching everything unfold on Monday night - and, in fact, throughout this entire season - while monitoring and contributing to Pirate Chat, well, it was sharing the moment with over 300 other like-minded folks.  Actually, not everyone on Pirate Chat can be described as "like-minded", but that contributes to the fun of the whole thing!

Still work for the Pirates to do.  Home field for that Wild Card Game is in their own hands and the Central Division title can still be won, but the Bucs will need help from the Cubs in St. Louis this weekend.  One good thing is that in last night's 8-2 win over the Cubs, they showed no hangover, emotional or otherwise, from the celebrations of the night before, and I expect that that will continue for these final four games and beyond.  In fact, I think that you can ABSOBUCCINGLUTELY count on it!

I Wish I Didn't Care So Much.....

Like so many Pirates fans everywhere last night, I was sickened by how that 5-2 sure thing victory was snatched away from them by the Reds last night.  I turned the TV off as soon as the final out was recorded, and could not bring myself to post or even read other's posts on Facebook's Pirate Chat page, could barely settle myself to go to bed, and when I did fall asleep, I awoke at 2:15 and could not go back to sleep for the rest of the night/morning. Like I say, I wish I didn't care so much about a damned baseball team, but there you are.

I need to thank my breakfast buddies, Dan Bonk, Jim Haller, and Len Martin.  Our monthly breakfast, which took place this morning, served as therapy for this Pirate fan's tortured soul. Tony Soprano should have gotten such good help from Dr. Melfi!

Some random thoughts:

• Some Cincinnati Reds batter had better take a fast ball in the ribs tonight from a Pirates pitcher, and early.
• What was Dusty Baker arguing about with the umpire after McCutchen got plunked?
• How can Baker insult our intelligence by saying that there was "no intent" to hit McCutchen?
• The Jordy Mercer error was devastating, to be sure, but that only made the score 5-3, and there were two outs.  It was up to Mark Melancon to get that third out.  He didn't.
• Liriano should have pitched the ninth, Barmes should have gone in as a defensive replacement...could haves, should haves.  Try to forget them.  It only makes it worse.
• Before last night, I was not worried about the Washington Nationals.  Now, I am.
• We find out tonight what kind of character the Pirates have.
• As my buddy Mr. Haller put it, "tough loss, gotta shake it off and win one tonight."

By the way, when I returned from breakfast this morning, I finally did check out all the chatter on Pirate Chat from last night and this morning, and that itself served as therapy of a sort, twelve hours removed from end of the game.  I felt awful, I was upset, and I couldn't sleep, but I never felt suicidal.  Let's get a grip, fellas.