Pittsburgh Pirates Insult & Injure Their Fans

 











 Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE
  
About a week ago I wrote about how both the Pittsburgh Pirates
and the New york Mets have really made a mess of what started
out as promising seasons early on, and even further along, but
since then the Mets have managed to add a 20 winner into the fold
as a little bit of a treat to their fans, and earlier on rewarded their
fans with the franchises first no hitter as well.  Both of these feats
took place at home, so the home fans really had a chance to enjoy
them, and at least say they were there.

Now though it's true that with five games remaining for the Pirates
they already have four more wins than they did last season, and the
Mets could only improve on last years win total if they won every
last game they have remaining, I'm going to venture and say that
Pirates fans have to be a little less satisfied than they thought they
might be a few weeks a go.  I'm thinking that fans in Pittsburgh
would have been happy to take the consolation prize of finishing
over .500 for the first time in two decades if they couldn't make
the playoffs, but after tonight not only is that off the table, but the
team would have to go 5-0 just to finish .500.  Now not only is
the bar getting lower, and lower for what fans expected from their
team, but it is VERY unlikely.  For the last six weeks or so the
Pirates have not only been going backwards in the standings, but
have also been doing things backwards, like instead of rewarding
their fans with anything like I mentioned earlier, but instead of
what the Mets did with giving their fans a no-hitter at home, the
Pirates eliminated all hope of finishing over .500 by being no-hit
at home tonight in front of their home fans.

I have no doubt that Clint Hurdle has done a great job with this
team, and should likely remain as the manager in Pittsburgh, it
is also quite evident that this type of finish is not only a tease to
the fans that began coming back to the ball park in the Steel City
to root on their team, but is also adding insult to injury on what has
no doubt been a painful couple of decades for the fans.
 
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Magical Ride For Mets And Pirates Comes To Crash & Burn

Their seasons got off to so much promise, even though
no one believed in them other than some of their most
ardent fans.  The Pirates even had a share of 1st place
for a moment past the season mid season mark.  The Mets
too had possession of 1st place in the NL East for what
would amount to a little less than a moment, and the
reality set in for both of these recently beleaguered
franchises.

I'm not sure which story is sadder, the one which had
the Pirates finishing above .500 for the fist time in
over two decades, but is now in jeopardy, or the one
that has season play six games over .500 hundred for
the 1st half of 2012 only to play a woeful TWENTY TWO
games under .500 since. 

These teams share other things in common as well, both
of their managers are in their second year and have
received much praise for the way their teams have both
played hard, and stayed relevant, butunfortunately the
Pirates like the Mets had a decent start to the season
last year only to have a similar fate in the 2nd half.
Now though the Pirates have already surpassed 2011,
but after being 2-8 in their last ten games and losing
games to the 100+ loss Houston Astros and the clearly
inferior Chicago Cubs, it's bound to leave a really bad
taste in your mouth going into the off season for the
fan base.  Terry Collins had a better 2011 than Clint
Hurdle did, but in 2012 the Mets stand to regress if
you just base this on wins and losses.  At this point
the Mets would need to finish the season 10-2 just to
equal last years mark, and they too are a miserable
2-8 in their last ten games.  Similarly the Mets too
fell victim to the Chicago Cubs, the Mets dropped 2
out of three to them at Wrigley at the end of June and
later dropped 2 out of three at home again just before
the All Star break.  

The fans of these two teams are going to need to hang
on a little longer if they hope to enjoy in the riches
of good seasons to come if there are to be any, but
with baby steps like these, and some one step forward
two steps backward type seasons, it may be a while
before these two managers get to straighten it out. 

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David Wright OR Curtis Granderson

The first thing that may come to mind for the reader
may be, why ask the question to begin with? They're
both very good players that play in New york, play
different positions, and realistically speaking have
zero to do with each other. Well, I will tell you
why I bring this up at all. Does David Wright get
too much credit for being this star that maybe he
really isn't, while Curtis Granderson doesn't get
enough? I'm not sure I'll have a definitive answer
for you here and now, but it may change your view.
Then again it may not, but here goes.

This thing came to mind just recently for me when
I saw that both these players had just hit their
200th home run, and it literally happened just days
apart. Now I am a Mets fan, so many times I can
admit to the fact that I can fall into the trap of
"don't know what you got til it's gone", but since
I listen to more Mets games than Yankees games, I
did notice that the broadcasters made a point to
let the listener know about it, and in more than
just the casual way. Now John Sterling may have
thrown a party for Granderson for all I know, but
somehow I wonder. All of this led me to bring up
their stats, I wanted to see their age, ab's etc.
What I found wasn't I suspected, Granderson has
great numbers, but the clear cut star isn't here.

By the numbers is just this: Granderson has 201 Hr's
while Wright is still at 200, and yes that is no big
deal, however Granderson has done this in 138 less
games, or just under a season. He hit them in 520
less at bats, and that is a full season. In the
time span Granderson also has 240 less Rbi's than
Wright, but that doesn't surprise me since he has
been more of a 1 or 2 hitter throughout his career
than he is now in NY. Here is where my argument
took a turn against me though. David Wright has
Curtis Granderson easily beat in the batting avg.
dept by 41 points with a .301 to .263 edge, stolen
bases which surprised the pants off of me with an
edge of 163 to 112, and in hits by a huge margin,
1401 to 1086.

So there's my story. I was looking to tell you that
Granderson might be better than Wright and very few
know about it, but I can't even definitively tell
you that Wright is clearly better than Granderson
either. Two real good players, both in New York,
and both good citizens. Sounds like a win win to me.

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Pittsburgh Pirates Great Trades, Years Later

The Pittsburgh Pirates have taken alot heat when they
have traded theirs "stars" the last few years, and
much of that is without question deserved, but when
you take a look at these two trades, the only argument
you can against their decision to make the trades is
the garbage they got in return, not the players they
gave up in the trade.

Bryan Morris, Andy LaRoche, Craig Hansen and Brandon
Moss are the player received for Jason Bay on Jul 31st
in 2008 when they made a trade with the Red Sox, and
though there is no question Bay flourished for about
a year and a half, the Red Sox were fine with letting
him get a max contract elsewhere. That elsewhere turned
to be with the New York Mets, and though Bay is a great
team mate and pro by everyone's account, right now the
Mets couldn't get a tub of Bazooka bubblegum for him if
they tried. He's costing them an eight figure salary
and in his time in New York he has put together a .235
batting average with 31 Hr's and 118 Rbi's. If you were
to cut that up into a 162 game season it would work out
to 19 Hr's and 71 Rbi's with that stellar .235 batting
average. At $16Mil a year for 2012, it's fair to say
he's way overpriced and the Pirates are ahead of the
game on this one. The players they received may have
performed poorly, but they were paid that way too.

The other trade the Pirates took heat for was when the
Braves gave Pittsburgh outfielder Gorkys Hernandez,
one of its top prospects, along with pitchers Charlie
Morton and Jeff Locke on June 3rd 2009 for Nate McLouth.
Needless to say that trade did nothing for the Pirates
other than to incense their fans. I once again can't
blame the fans for feeling that way, but 3 years later
I think it's safe to say that McLouth was a McBust for
the Braves and the Pirates once again got away with
one. The Pirates even got Mclouth back, and got rid
of him again he was so bad after he left the 1st time.

The Pirates may have gotten lucky with these two, but
as Lefty Gomez once said "it's better to be lucky than
good". Now the Pirates need to get that "Good" part
together and their fans might forgive them for twenty
years of futility.

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Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio Podcast For 8-22-12

Ed Hawkins and I were back together on the
ScatterRadio airwaves on Wednesday, and if
you missed the show, you missed plenty.
There was plenty of talk from the world of
sports in general, and the doping dopes.
Enjoy the show!



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August Brings A Similiar Lament At Citifield/Shea

AP Photo

You may have seen this already on my Twitter feed
(@MadStorkSports), as a matter of fact if you
didn't it's almost identical to what I was trying
to convey the other night. August rolls around
and I along with many NY Mets fans find ourselves
saying "Man they suck!" These words may sound
harsh, but for a Mets fan, so are the losses, and
painful too. Losing the first two out of four
games to a team who not only has a 6 man rotation,
because their starters stink, and whos manager
pulls his starter in the fourth inning, even though
he's not in trouble, but would rather rely on his
bullpen is bad enough. Add to that the fact that
this team is the second worst team record wise as
they visit you at home and they are TWENTY SEVEN
games under .500 at the time, kinda wanna makes you
wanna become a fan of curling, rather than watch
another pitch.

The last few seasons the Mets have had very
promising Months in April, May and June, then
July hits and you can seen the swoon that gives
Sandy Alderson and Fred Wilpon great reason and
excuse to not acquire any help before the trade
deadline. Why should they? By that time the team
has already bungled themselves out of any shot at
contention, division or anything else otherwise,
and even with the extra wild card spot this year
the team is still 10 games behind the struggling
Pirates for that second spot.

As a sports writer/talk show host I should be more
detached and logical about this, but as a fan,
it's painful. I find myself saying frustrated and
saying over and over, I just don't get it!
All that being said, it should be clear, this owner
and ownership group no longer has any intentions on
spending any real money on players, and they brought
the "compete, but not win a damn thing" moneyball
group in to run things (not unless the team begins
to juice, anyway). Enjoy the exciting Springs Mets
fans, because winning any kind of fall ball is going
to be strictly restricted to your players doing well
while rehabbing in the Dominican and Puerto Rican
Fall leagues.

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Ranting With Rizzo Podcast For 8-4-12

"Ranting with Rizzo" is on every Saturday at noon, but
if you missed it or anything the podcast is here now:



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Live 6PM Tonight - Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio

Join me, and Ed Hawkins tonight as we talk about
yesterdays trades and all the sports news and
rumors we can fit in an hour on Mad Stork Sports
on ScatterRadio at 6PM. Call in and make your voice
heard. Find the show here on ScatterRadio

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Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio Podcast For 7-25-12

If you missed the show Wednesday, chances are you missed
something, so here it is, Enjoy !



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Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio Podcast For 7-18-12

Miss the show Wednesday? Here it is, Enjoy !



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Live At 6 Tonight - Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio

Join me, Nick Rizzo and Ed Hawkins tonight and we'll
talk about all the sports news and rumors we can
fit in an hour on Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio
at 6PM. Call in and make your voice heard.
Find the show here on ScatterRadio

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Ranting With Rizzo Podcast For 6-30-12

The "Ranting with Rizzo" podcast is now available,
let's talk baseball and take a closer look around
the majors. Enjoy the podcast:



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Ranting With Rizzo Podcast For 6-16-12

The "Ranting with Rizzo" podcast is available now,
and baseball is the bulk of the conversation in this
episode. I take a look around the majors, and even
find some time for the NBA Finals. Enjoy the podcast:



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Can R.A. Dickey Catch Tom Seaver Or Denny McLain?

Maybe it hasn't been this exact question, but this
question in some form or another has been asked a
few times for sure since 1968. The reason to bring
up Seaver is because of the obvious, both he and
Dickey are/were Mets, but outside of Denny McClain,
you can fill in the blank depending on which teams
record holder your talking about.

Tonight R.A. Dickey goes for his eleventh win of
the season against the Baltimore Orioles with only
one loss thus far, and though it's clearly a little
too early to imagine R.A. getting 30 wins, it is a
little more likely that he can approach the Mets
single season wins record holder Tom Seaver if he
gets past tonight's hurdle. Denny McClain is NOT
the record holder for mos wins in a season, but he
is the most recent 30 game winner, having done this
in 1968 with the Detroit Tigers. Seaver went 25-7
in 1969 and since both of those two went on to win
the World Series that year it's certainly a sign the
New York Mets organization will welcome as a good
omen if ever there was one. The Mets just got over
one major hurdle of being one of only two teams in
existence without a no-hitter, the other being the
San Diego Padres, and that took 50 years, so why not
dream BIG.

It would be irresponsible of me if I didn't point out
that the 30 game winner watch happens often, in case
you haven't noticed, and I thought sure Ubaldo Jimenez
had an excellent shot at it in 2010 when he got off to
a 15-1 start and was sitting on a 2.20 Era, but Jimenez
flamed out pretty badly and finished the season with a
record of 19-8 and a 2.88 Era after going 4-7 the rest
of the way and not even winning 20 games or even the
Cy Young award for that matter.

Since Seavers 25 wins the closest we've come to the
30 win mark in recent history is Bob Welch and his 27
wins in 1990 while pitching for the Oakland A's, but
they lost the World Series, so much for omens. With
so many near no-hitters, and perfect games, as well as
the ones that have been thrown this season, it's clear
that pitchers are beginning to take back some of what's
theirs and that can only favor Dickey's quest for THIRTY
if he gets close enough. Yes, it's too early to think
THIRTY wins, especially for a knuckle baller, but since
a pitch count is one thing that knuckle ball pitchers
don't have to fear and have in their favor, if Dickey
wins tonight, don't be surprised to hear the 30 game
winner talk start to make the rounds sooner or later.


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Jason Bay Concussion May Be A Mets Break

Sipkin/NY Daily News

You never wish anyone one true harm, and I certainly
don't, to what many believe to be one of baseball's
true good guys, but let's face it, the Jason Bay
signing by the New York Mets has been one of the
colossal busts of all time in pro sports. The only
reason this signing hasn't received more negative
press by the national media is because Bay isn't a
major league a$$hole, otherwise it would be much
easier to pick on him and the Mets for the flop.

Pro sports isn't about which team can put together
the roster with the most nice guys, it helps when
they're not pompous jerks, but so does winning a
few games. The Mets have been doing pretty well
this season, especially with the youngsters called
up from the minors to fill in for injured players
such as Bay, and when Bay returned things got worse
not better, as you might hope with a returning vet
"star". It took Bay more than a dozen at bats
before his first hit, and even his outs were awful
to watch. Now Jason may have another concussion,
and for his sake, and the sake of his family I hope
he doesn't he'll be ok, but it may be the break
the Mets need to continue on what could very well
be a very special season for them. They have been
playing better without him these days, and have for
awhile now, their youth is ready to take over, and
the price tag is much cheaper.

I wish Jason Bay the best, in health, wealth, and
happiness, but I hope he never plays another inning
or takes another single at bat for the Mets, he has
already cost them, and their fans way too much.
I never thought the Bay signing was a bad one, but
I did think it was a bad one for the money they gave
him. I made the analogy that I would definitely
pay $1.50 for a loaf of bread, but I most certainly
wouldn't pay $73.99 for that same of loaf of bread,
and that's what the Mets did. They bought it, over
paid for it and in turn had to try and eat it. They
couldn't let it get moldy or thrown out. They had to
play him, they kinda had no choice, but now they do.

Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Ranting With Rizzo Podcast For 6-2-12

The "Ranting with Rizzo" Johan Santana No hitter podcast
is available now, have a listen to my view on this and
my look at the Heat Celtics series. Enjoy the podcast:



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Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio Podcast For 5-30-12

We talk about that and the NBA playoffs, how the MLB
season is shaping out, and so much more in this Mad
Stork Sports podcast, so here you go!



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Live - 6PM EST - Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio

The New Jersey Devils face off with the suddenly
human LA Kings?, Baseball's more expensive payrolls
are sucking it up, and the Heat, Celtics, Spurs and
Thunder are all that remain in the NBA. Mad Stork
Sports on ScatterRadio is on at 6PM, join me for an
hour and let's discuss some of this. Call in and
make your voice heard. Find the show here on ScatterRadio


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Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio Podcast For 5-16-12

Was Terry Collins right to pull David Wright against
the Brewers so he wouldn't get plunked? Is the MLB
drug policy a joke? We talk about that and the NBA
playoffs, the NHL playoffs, and some early season
surprises around Major League Baseball in this Mad
Stork Sports podcast, so here you go!



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Mad Stork Sports on ScatterRadio Podcast For 4-18-12

Lots of talk about Bobby Petrino's "situation"
at Arkansas, baseball and even some Tim Tebow
talk on this edition of the show. Here you go!



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