In his Post-Gazette blog yesterday, Bob Smizik offered a post wherein he asked questions pertaining to the performance - the "declining performance" as he put it - of Pirate second baseman Neil Walker. Smizik included the numbers to back up his assertion. I found the article of interest because the very night before, while attending the Pirates - Reds game, Len Martin, Dan Bonk, and I had the very same conversation. "Have we seen...
Thursday, May 31, 2012
I learned a few weeks ago, that Anthony Paladino, the son of old friend, Frank Paladino, is the starting third baseman for the Mt. Lebanon High School Blue Devils, and that last night, Mt. Lebo would be playing Seneca Valley for the WPIAL Quad-A championship. Now, I did face a possible conflict since nephews Zach and Nate Stoner attend Seneca Valley, but since neither of them play on the baseball team, I cast my lot with the Blue Devils, and...
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Happy 54th Birthday today to Annette Benning. I like Annette Benning. She is, of course, a serious actress, with several Oscar nominations to her credit, but she did a great comic turn early in her career playing Dan Ackroyd's wife in the John Candy classic, "The Great Outdoors". Loved how she talked about the spin cycle on her washing machine!With our vacation...
Monday, May 28, 2012
If on Opening Day back on April 5, if someone told you that the Pirates would be 24-24 and three games out of first place on Memorial Day, (a) would you have told them that they were nuts, and (b) would you have signed up for it?I am pretty sure that your answer would be "Yes" to both questions above. Yet here we are, 24-24 and 3 games out of first after the Bucs have mounted a four game winning streak.Hell, I'd have been ecstatic if you'd...
Hope that you all enjoyed your unofficial beginning of Summer, 2012 - Memorial Day Weekend. I will say that I was happy to see that everywhere one looked, you were reminded of the true meaning and purpose of the Memorial Day holiday. Nice to see.We had a nice weekend. Placing American flags throughout Stonebrook Village on Saturday morning. Company with good friends Dave and Judy Jones on Saturday night. A nice round of golf...
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Yes, we were in attendance yesterday to see the Mets defeat the Pirates, 3-1. The game took 2 hours and 21 minutes to play, and this is the best thing that I can say about a game the Clint Hurdle and the team absolutely mailed in yesterday.The starting line up included Josh Harrison in right field (he is hitting .274 so I guess you have to find somewhere for him to play) and the following so-called offensive players: Gorkys Hernandez,...
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
OK, I know the Pirates overcame a four run deficit last night to defeat the Mets, 5-4, even had a two run home run in the process, but tonight the Corsairs pulled out the popguns once again and lost to the Mets, 3-2. It is getting increasingly tiresome to watch these guys and their inability to hit and score runs, or even, for God's sake, make contact - there were 13 more strikeouts tonight. Another great pitching effort from James McDonald...
Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees passed away this past weekend at the age of 63. Recent pictures showed that his death was cruel one, so let's show a picture above of the Brothers Gibb in their prime. Brothers Andy and Maurice preceded Robin in death, so only Barry remains. Sad.For a better memory, let the brothers get a message to you in the link below:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10_REPqPlP0I...
Saturday, May 19, 2012
We traveled last night from the North Hills to far off Mt. Lebanon (had to cross two rivers, two bridges and go through a tunnel - huge undertaking for the average Pittsburgher) to attend the Percussion Concert given by the Mt. Lebanon High School Percussion Ensemble. I first became aware of this organization a few years back when Ashley Hansen, daughter of my friend and co-worker Roger Hansen, entered Mt. Lebanon High School and became a member...
Friday, May 18, 2012
I do not watch "Grey's Anatomy", but Marilyn deemed it to be "ridiculous', even more ridiculous than the one for "Hawaii Five-0" and threatens not to resume watching come September."Person of Interest" had a typically frenetic finale with a big cliffhanger - What will happen to Mr. Finch????? - but, if you accept the basic premise of the show, and don't ask too many questions, it was well within what you would expect of this show. I...
If you are a long time reader of Sports Illustrated, you know the work of Frank Deford. If you watch HBO, you know the work of Frank Deford. If you are a regular listener to National Public Radio, you know the work of Frank Deford. Hey, you'll even know Frank Deford if you can remember the old Miller Lite "tastes great, less filling" commercials. Long...
Thursday, May 17, 2012
OK, while Disco was King while I was in my twenties, I must admit that I was no denizen of the discos, never went to one, nor, although I did own the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, was I a big fan of disco music. However, the death of Donna Summer today at the way too young age of 63 must be noted by The Grandstander.Herewith a video of Ms Summer performing, somewhat...
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
So we decided to watch the season finale of "Hawaii Five-0" in real time last night. Didn't want to DVR it and wait a day to see it.What did we get? Some spectacular explosions, some typical tough guy theatrics from Steve McGarrett, some amazing computer technology from the Five-0 gang (does that facial recognition technology that they use actually exist in real life?), the near death of one of the ancillary characters, some angst with...
Sunday, May 13, 2012
I have got to hand it to Neal Huntington in one regard - the man can talk!While driving home from the Zoo this afternoon, we listened to "The Neal Huntington Show" on The Fan. Now, I had no expectation that Neal would reveal any great wisdom or secrets on this weekly radio gig, nor should he, quite frankly, but he managed to talk....and talk....and talk for 15 solid...
Today Marilyn and I partook in what has become something of a Mother's Day tradition for us, a visit to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Today was really a perfect day to visit the Zoo, it was cool and overcast, and it even drizzled slightly, conditions that combined to make the animals more lively and active that you might see them if visiting on a hot and sunny summer afternoon.We...
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Set your DVR for the following upcoming presentations this weekend on Turner Classic Movies (all times Eastern):Friday, Noon: "It Happened One Night" (1934) This was the first movie that swept the four major Academy Awards, Best Picture, Actor, Actress, and Director. (Two other movies have done it since. Can you name them?) I watched this movie for the first time about five years ago and found it to be absolutely delightful....
In his blog this morning, Bob Smizik accused Andrew McCutchen last night of getting away with some bad base running only because of some equally bad defense on the part of Nats' shortstop Ian Desmond.Maybe so, but watching McCutchen scoring from second base on an infield ground ball, never slowing down as he rounded third, in fact, only turning on the jets at that point, may...
If you are a fan of Alfred Hitchcock and his movies, chances are you are aware of the term "MacGuffin." Hitchcock was very fond of the concept of a MacGuffin, talked about it often, and used them in many of his films. If you are not familiar with the term, here is how it is defined in Wikipedia:In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or maguffin) is a plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or other motivator that...
Monday, May 7, 2012
Last Thursday, the Pirates beat the Cardinals and Pirates pitchers struck out 17 Cardinal batters. It was hailed as a pitching masterpiece. On Sunday, the Reds beat the Pirates and Reds pitchers struck out 17 Pirates batters. It has been hailed as yet another example of the ineptitude of the Pirates lineup.So, which of the above statements is more accurate? Feel free to discuss.I was keeping a scorecard at the game on Friday night,...
Friday, May 4, 2012
Forty-two years ago today, four students at Kent State University were killed at the hands of the Ohio National Guard. Everyday, I get an email that lists birthdays for the date as well as an "on this date in history" recap. Unbelievably, the events at Kent State were not noted on today's email. What a shame.My most vivid memory of that date was seeing how upset my Dad was when he came home from work that day. I regret that...
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The news that Junior Seau took his own life today was shocking, to say the least.Seau is linked to one of my top memories (certainly not one of my best memories) of Three Rivers Stadium. I am speaking, of course, of the Chargers upset victory over the Steelers in the AFC Championship game following the 1994 season. Seau was a monster that day. Sixteen tackles....
The calendar has turned in to the month of May. The Pirates have played 23 games. No one has yet accumulated those 100 At Bats that Bob Prince always used as a benchmark, but let's take a look at the Pirates, one month into the 2012 season.Safe to say that there have been three big stories thus far:How good the pitching has been.How lousy the hitting has been.Pedro Alvarez.First, the pitching, and it has been remarkable. Staff ERA...
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