Praising Neal, Pedro, Mark/Jason, and Austin

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box, Pirates Edition....

• I have come to the conclusion that it is time to declare a moratorium on the Neal Huntington Bashing.  Here's why:  A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez, Jeff Locke, Francisco Liriano, Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, Justin Wilson, Bryan Morris, Mark Melancon, Jason Grilli, Jeanmar Gomez, Russell Martin, Garrett Jones, Gaby Sanchez, Jordy Mercer, Pedro Alvarez, Travis Snider, Mike McKenry.  Have I left anyone out? Oh, yeah, Clint Hurdle.   Each of those 18 players and one manager have played significant, if not huge, roles in putting the Pirates where they are today - the team with the best record in all of Major League Baseball at the halfway point of the season, and all of them are with the Pirates because of the maneuverings of GM Neal Huntington.  So maybe he knew what he was doing all along.
• All this, and the Pirates minor league system seems to be just bristling with top-notch prospects.  (I say "seems to be" because, as we know, there is no such thing as a Sure Thing when it comes to minor league prospects.)  Still, a much brighter outlook down on the farm than there was five years ago.
• Lots of grass still to be mown, but at this point, I'd say that NH is the leader at the half-way pole for Executive of the Year.
• This is not to say that he won't STILL drive me nuts with the NHB, though.
• So much energy and anger has been spent over something that has not yet happened - the Gerrit Cole return to Indianapolis - that I decided yesterday that I would no longer speak of it until it actually happened.  Plus, these things oft-times have a way of working themselves out organically, and the Wandy recovery setback seems to offer proof of that.
• With the conclusion of this afternoon's game with the Brewers, the Pirates will, literally, be halfway through the season.  At worst, they will be 50-31 and tied for first in the NL Central.  With a win today, they will be 51-30 and still have at least a one game lead in the Division.  Is "unbelievable" too strong a word to describe this?
• If on Memorial Day you said that Pedro Alvarez belonged on the All-Star team, you'd have been laughed out of town.  However, here is what he has done in 91 AB's in the month of June: .330 BA, 10 HR, 24 RBI, 15 R, and 1.127 OPS. Yeah, I'd say he should be on the All-Star team.  Of course, for the critics out there, he did strike out 33 times, and he still wears his hat funny.
• Too bad you can't have a "tandem" All-Star, because if you did, Mark Melancon/Jason Grilli would be a sure fire pick.  The Pirates play seven inning games because of those guys.
• As it is, I am sure that Grilli will be at Citi Field come July 17.
• I went back in the Grandstander archives last night to check out my pre-season forecast for the Pirates.  I predicted 79 wins.  Lots of ball still to be played, but the Pirates are on pace to make me look really, really stupid, and I'm loving every minute of it!
• Did you catch the in-game interview on Friday night with just signed first round pick Austin Meadows?  What a kick that was.  First of all, he's EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD.  I have neckties older than that.  But how refreshing he was (he appears to be the Anti-Bryce Harper).  Answered every question from Greg Brown and Bob Walk by saying "sir", and said his goal was to hit one in the river at PNC Park.  There is no way to know if this kid will deliver the goods someday for the Pirates, but after hearing him on Friday, I sure hope he turns out to be everything the Pirates hope he will be.

Let's all get ready for the second half of 2013.  It looks like it's going to be a fun ride down on the North Shore.

The Big Break

I know that this may come off as sounding snobbish on my part, but I do not watch the competitive "reality shows" on TV.  I used to be a huge fan of "Survivor", but that show jumped the shark, in my mind, anyway, about five or six years ago, and I haven't watched it since.  And I have never seen a single episode to American Idol, America's Got Talent, Dancing With the Stars, The Voice or any of the dozens of such shows that liter the TV landscape.

I do have one exception to this rule, however, and that is Golf Channel's "The Big Break".  I love this one, and the current season, "Big Break Mexico" is living up to all Big Break expectations.  This season has a twist to it.  Twelve golfers, six men, six women, divided into three teams of four (2 men, 2 women).  No one was eliminated until the fifth show of the season, at which point, four golfers got the ax. From this point forward, one golfer will go in each show.

My absolute favorite element of this show, and it never changes, is the bravado all of these participants have.  When given the challenge facing them in a given show, the golfers will invariably state something along these lines: 

"I was thrilled that it was a bunker shot / flop shot / drive / chip-and-putt, because I'm great at bunker shots / flop shots / driving / chipping-and-putting.  That shot is my bread and butter. I really wanted that shot!"  

We are then treated to seeing these golfers totally screwing up the shot presented to them, and playing the shot like some hacker at the local muni.  In other words, playing the shot like I might play it.

Big Break Mexico's team concept also introduced a new element to the program with the players all talking about the all-for-one nature of team competition while at the same time back-biting and putting down their own team members when away from them. Then there are the tears when someone gets eliminated.  Fabulous!

Each show also has one player who talks tough, says he (or she) is out to win this thing, I know I'm better than everyone, and I don't care about any of these other people, because this is going to me MY Big Break.  This year it was a bearded blond guy with glasses named Rob who assumed the role.  You can guess what happened.  Rob was eliminated when he drove deep into woods, took three shots to hack his way out and snowmanned a par five. 

It's classic stuff and the breathless commentary of Brit Tom Abbot and Stephanie Sparks only add to all of the pseudo- drama.

God help me, but I love it!

"Mad Men" Concludes Season 6 (SPOILERS)

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED SEASON #6 OF "MAD MEN."  IF THE FINAL EPISODE(S) STILL AWAIT YOU ON YOUR DVR, YOU MAY WANT TO COME BACK TO THIS POST AFTER YOU WATCH THEM!

Here is what happened to Don Draper in Season Six of "Mad Men":

• He drank a lot.
• He had a very dangerous affair with the downstairs neighbor, who was part of a couple with whom the Drapers socialized.
• He got dumped by said neighbor/mistress, whereupon he became a spurned stalker of said neighbor/ex-mistress.
• Completely on his own, he forged a merger with a rival agency of Sterling Cooper Draper Price.  (I mean, could something like that possibly happen in real life?)
• He was the subject of scornful and cutting comments by co-workers - Pete, Peggy, Harry, Stan (the guy with he beard) - who used to fear him.
• He drank a lot.
• He hooked up for a one night stand with his ex-wife.
• He resumed affair with his neighbor, only to be caught in flagrante delicto by his daughter.  Talk about icky!
• Spent a night in a jail drunk tank.
• He stopped drinking, only to be told to drink again before a big pitch meeting.
• Completely blew the big pitch meeting.
• Made Megan quit her job because they were going to move to California.
• Changed his mind about moving to California, whereupon Megan walked out on him.
• Got fired by Sterling Cooper & Partners.

I'm sure I've left out some other stuff, too.

I guess that Season Six could be subtitled "Don Draper's Descent Into Hell."

So, when does Season Seven start?

Thoughts on Gaby Sanchez

It has been my thought that first base for the Pirates should be a strict lefty/righty platoon of Garrett Jones and Gaby Sanchez.  While the Pirates seem to agree with me about Jones (only 12 of his 220 AB's have been against LHP this season), Sanchez seems to be playing a lot against righties, so I decided to do some checking, and here is what Gaby has done thus far in 2013:

Vs. LHP:  51 AB, .314 BA, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 1.044 OPS
Vs. RHP: 97 AB, .216 BA, 3 HR, 15 RBI, .696 OPS

I still think that Sanchez should be a platoon player, but it is not as cut-and-dried as I thought.  That's why Clint Hurdle, and not me, gets paid the big bucks!

17 Over

With last night's victory over Seattle, the Pirates are now 47-30, one game behind the Cardinals in the NL Central, a whopping eight and one-half games ahead in the wild card race, have the second best record in ALL OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, and have now exceeded last season;s high water mark of sixteen over .500.  Lots to be happy about, although the doom spreaders are still out there (and not without reason given the Pirates recent history), but what the hell, let's ignore the doom spreaders for a moment, and speculate on what the record might be when the All-Star break arrives in two weeks.  Let's just say that 20 games over .500 would be a nice round number.  Can they do it?

Let's assume the worst and figure that the Bucs current five game winning streak will end today at the hands of King Felix in Seattle.  Not unreasonable, and perfectly forgivable.  That would put them at 16 over .500 with 15 games to play before the break.  Those 15 games come against teams - Brewers, Phillies, Cubs, Athletics, and Mets - with a combined record of 175-205 (.460).  Only one of those teams, the A's has a winning record.  To hit that +20 mark, the Bucs would have to go 10-5 in these 15 games.  Even against poor competition, that is asking a lot.  However, should they go 9-7 in that stretch, the exact pace on which they are playing for the season, that would put them at 56-37, or nineteen games over.  I'll take it.

Also, while 10-5 may be asking a lot, a break even of 8-7 is not asking too much and would make them 55-38, seventeen over and one over last season's high water mark.  I'll take that, too.

In any event, it is a fun little interim race-within-a-race that we can watch.

******

Since we're talking about the Pirates here, let me address a topic that has been raging since Sunday, when GM Neal floated the possibility on his weekly radio show that Gerrit Cole might be returned to Indianapolis when Wandy Rodriguez and/or A.J. Burnett return from the disabled list.  Yes, this is the Gerrit Cole who is 3-0 with a 3.44 ERA and an 8:1 K:BB ratio, and who looked like a right handed Steve Carlton in his start against the Angels last Friday.  Let's assume that Huntington has more baseball acumen than any of us and that Cole does indeed need to "work on a few things" in the minors.  That may rile me up, but I guess I can live with it.  Here's the real part of Huntington's comments that really fries my eggs.  He stated that such a demotion would have "nothing to do with" Cole's service time and attainment of Super 2 status, which would make him arbitration eligible a year earlier than the team would like.

Aside from this being yet another "business over baseball" decision by the Pirates, it is another example of NH insulting the intelligence of the Pirates fan base.  How dumb does he really think we are?  Strap on a pair and tell us the truth for once, Neal.  We might not agree with you, but we can take it.

Let's be honest, the Pirates are where they are today in large part because of acquisitions and signings of players that Neal brought here.  A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez, Francisco Liriano, Charlie Morton, Mark Melancon, Jeff Locke, Jason Grilli, Russell Martin, Jordy Mercer, Pedro Alvarez, Justin Wilson, and, yes, GERRIT COLE, and I've probably left out a few.  So just when you start getting some warm and fuzzy thoughts about Neal, he shovels another load of NHB on us about why Cole might be sent down. 

Drives you crazy.

What Have I Read Lately?

Well, if you really want to know.....

Yep, after seeing the movie, I decided to reread the book for the first time since high school.  Fitzgerald certainly had an elegant way of writing.  His lavish descriptions of Gatsby's parties and a list of all the people who attended them were fun reading, and the story of the guy that everyone loves, until he gets down on his luck, is an age old one.  Not sure either movie version I've seen - Robert Redford and Leo DiCaprio - does do the novel justice.  An interesting read if you've never read it, and I am glad that I have read it again after experiencing life for going on sixty-two years.  Not sure if I'll ever read it a third time, though.

A new Lincoln Rhyme novel is always one to which to look forward, and this newest one is no exception.  Deaver has a way to come up with plot twists and cliffhangers (at least three in this one alone) unlike almost any other best selling author.  However, the almost super human powers of Rhyme and his partner/lover Amelia Sachs is becoming pretty formulaic in these stories.  Not enough to make me swear off of them and not read the next one, which is probably at least two more years away, though.  If you haven't read the Deaver/Rhyme novels, you should, but don't start with this one.  The very first one was "The Bone Collector".  Start with that one or some of the other earlier ones.  

I will say, though, that "Kill Room" deals with some issues very much in the news today.  Things like personal privacy, abuses of personal liberties under the mantle of "patriotism", and the use of drones in warfare.  Deaver does not come down on one side or the other, but how he lays it all out is thought provoking to say the least.

I finally got around to reading this Steve Blass autobiography that was published last year.  If you are Blass fan and a Pirate fan, you will like it.  If you don't like Steve Blass, then don't bother reading it.  Blass deals very candidly with the control issues  that ended his career, as well as with some issues in his personal life and marriage that could not have been easy to put out there for all the world to read about.  (You should know that one very salacious rumor that has been circulating for years about the Blass marriage is NOT true.)  The most interesting parts of such sports biographies, to me at least, are the parts that talk about the player in the years after the playing days are over, and this one was no exception.

One thing Blass says, and he says it a couple of times in the book, I found very good.  In discussing all of his control problems, he mentioned that whenever someone offered a suggestion on how to fix it, he would try it because "I don't want to be sitting on my porch when I'm 85 years old and think 'maybe THAT would have worked if I only tried it.' " And he offered that same bit of advice to other players over the years. It's not a bad way to look at life, if you ask me.

Meeting Sally O'Leary

If you grew up listening to Bob Prince broadcasting Pirates games, you will remember him often referring to his "Gal Friday, Sally O'Leary".  Over the years, in my involvement with the local SABR Chapter, I had occasion to correspond with Sally, and yesterday, I had the pleasure and honor of meeting Sally in person when she was the very Special Guest our monthly Breakfast Group.  Thanks to Dan and Len, long time acquaintances of Sally, for arranging this.

Sally began working for the Pirates in 1964 as an assistant to PR Director Jack Berger, and also served as the Baseball Secretary for Bob Prince.  She formally retired from the Pirates 14 years ago, but continues to serve the organization as the liaison for the Pirates Alumni Association.  We must have spent close to four hours with Sally yesterday, asking her questions, and hearing her stories about such folks as Bob Prince, Danny Murtaugh, Bill Mazersoki, Bing Crosby, Eddie Basinski, Vin Scully, Joe L. Brown, Fritz Ostermeuller, Leo Durocher,  Joe Torre, Curt Gowdy, Willie Stargell, Harry Walker, Kevin McClatchey, Wally Westlake, Dan Galbreath, Roberto Clemente, Frank Gustine, Dock Ellis, Harding Peterson, Ralph Kiner, Steve Blass, Bob Walk, Jim Woods, and on and on.  Are you getting the idea of what this must have been like for a bunch of life-long Pirates fans? 

To call Sally O'Leary a Treasure when it comes to the Pirates and the history of the team would not be overstating the case, and her love for and loyalty to the Pirates - even a Pirates Organization that is very, very different from the one she worked for - shone through.  

It was just a wonderful morning.  Thank you, Sally!