Pittsburgh Pirates

You'll have to excuse Pittsburgh Pirates fans for not knowing quite how to react to a front office with a plan.

Tuesday's trade that sent the speedy and affable outfielder Nyjer Morgan and left-handed reliever Sean Burnett to the Washington Nationals for sidetracked prospect Lastings Milledge and righty Joel Hanrahan was met with predictable discontent from many followers of the maligned Buccos.

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Most Pirate fans still have nightmarish flashbacks to Sid Bream racing around 3^rd base to meet a diving Mike LaValliere’s tag in the 1992 NLCS.

Questions of “what if” concerning that game have plagued the city of Pittsburgh ever since. What if Barry Bonds makes a half decent throw from left field? What if Jim Leyland doesn’t use Stan Belinda? What if, what if, what if…?

Today featured Jorge De La Rosa, who, to this point in the season was a paltry 2-7, with a 5.81 ERA for the Rockies, against Paul Maholm, a strong left hander, 4-3 with a 4.23 ERA, much more respectable numbers.

De La Rosa can be electric, with a fastball in the 96-to-98 mph range, but his location is very suspect. He leaves too many balls high in the strikezone, especially fastballs.

On this Father's Day weekend, all of our thoughts turn to our dads, the shapers of so much in our lives. The lucky ones will get to hug their dads and perhaps share a silly card.

Others like me, whose fathers have passed on, can only cling to the memories of Father's Days past.

For all of us, fathers have played an instrumental role in or lives, guiding us in our growing up years and instilling important values along the way. 

About two weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded centerfielder Nate McLouth, a 27-year-old All-Star, Gold Glove winner, and general fan favorite.  His blond locks now reside underneath an Atlanta Braves cap. It was baseball’s second jaw-dropper of 2009, after the Manny Ramirez story.

As promised, the members of this blog will be taking some road trips this season and covering the games we attend. The first of these road trips will be on June 30 to Pittsburgh, PA to visit the Pirates' PNC Park as they take on the Cubs. The Bucs will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the opening of Forbes Field and are offering general admission bleacher seats for a mere four dollars.

Peter, Thomas, and I will be in the City of Champions on Tuesday, June 30 and will bring you the recap a day or so after the game.

The Steelers squeaked out a win to bring home the NFL's top piece of hardware.  The Pens battled the Red Wings to get the same from the NHL.

Big Ben and company are always a huge hit in the 'Burgh. Sidney and Gino are rising superstars.

All is well in "The City of Champions."

Or is it?

For the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are trying to keep from setting the Major League record for consecutive losing seasons, it's not.

The Pittsburgh Pirates no longer deserve to be a part of Major League Baseball.

There, I said it. I have an odd sense of relief getting that off my chest; it was admittedly hard to put that into words, but now that I have it feels good.

A few years ago, there was a time when the Commissioner's offices for MLB talked about contracted a couple teams that were having issues being competitive; the Minnesota Twins drafted and developed players well and have been good for most of the last decade, while the Montreal Expos were relocated to Washington and continue to be bad.

• Date: June 13, 2009
• Time: 7:05 p.m.
• Teams: Detroit Tigers at Pittsburgh Pirates
• Park: PNC Park
• Weather: 72 degrees and cloudy, 30 percent chance of rain
• Starting Pitchers: Aramando Galarraga (3-6, 5.19)  Zach Duke (6-4, 3.07)
• Records: Detroit (34-27)  Pittsburgh (28-33)
• Last 10 Games: Detroit (6-4)  Pi
  

Pirate fans, you were cheated by your management again. You saw another good young player with potential slip through your fingers to a better team. Nate McLouth is now like Jason Bay and Xavier Nady last year. Good, young outfielders traded to better teams.

Did you hear the excuse that Pirates management gave their fans? "We thought his defensive skill was going to break down, so we wanted to trade him while his trade stock was high."

That's a lie.