Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh Pirates’
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Ramirez, Sox End Volatile Relationship: Latest “Manny Being Manny” Antics Swelled Into Selfish Discontent, Forcing Boston To Make A MoveAugust 4th, 2008
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And just like that, he’s gone.
After 1,083 regular season games played, 274 home runs launched into the ether, and 868 runs driven in, Manny Ramirez will no longer stand before the Monster in left field wearing home whites with red embroidery. No longer will he bat behind David Ortiz, forming one of the most prolific offensive combos in the history of the game. And no longer will he stir that fickle cauldron mixed with absolute indignation and pure jubilation.
Just like that. Like so many of the baseballs that effortlessly smacked off the barrel of his bat. Gone. Long gone, in fact.
With just minutes, if not seconds, to go before the clock struck four on Thursday afternoon, the Red Sox sent the disgruntled Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers via the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-way deal that landed All-Star outfielder Jason Bay—quite fittingly—in the Bay State.
In a move similar to the Nomar Garciaparra trade of 2004—and for largely the same reasons and under eerily equal circumstances—the player, teammates, manager, and front office all agreed: a point of no return had been reached, and Ramirez had to go; and what better place than Frank McCourt’s SoCal Red Sox Retirement Home. Read more
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Streaking player probably won’t play; winner of none, loser of three will!May 12th, 2008
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Raise your hand and speak up if you have no clue in the world what is happening with DC’s baseball team.
But, please: not everyone at once.
The Washington Nationals is the same team that earlier this season owned MLB’s worst record and had lost 15 of 17 games then turned it around to play .750 ball by winning nine of 12 games to climb to within striking distance of the team ahead of them in the NL East, the Atlanta Braves.
That surge also prompted the Nats to rise above five other MLB teams, pull into a tie with a sixth and – more importantly – demonstrate the team can play ball, win games and continue soaring upward.
Or so we thought.
Through Monday morning, as they approach this season’s quarter mark, the Nats are tied with the Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies for third-worst in MLB, ahead of the penultimate Seattle Mariners and the last-place San Diego Padres.
What more to expect from a team that markets itself on its own Web site with the following sub-headline to its top story: ‘Aaron Boone has been on a tear for the Nationals, but will likely not start as Odalis Perez throws against the Mets at 7:10 p.m. ET tonight.’
The Nationals are reduced to pitching the exploits of a back-up third baseman.
One who might not even find his way into the game.
Naming him alongside the name of the pitcher whose record is 0-3.
Is the message from the Nats: Viewers should watch the game not to watch the streaking infielder but to watch the pitcher who has won no games but lost three in the eight he has started?
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Keys to the Nats’ RisingMay 5th, 2008
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Will this team break out? We know they can and it just might be on the brink of doing so.
In less than two weeks, the Washington Nationals have climbed out of MLB’s basement by playing .727 ball. Their record through Saturday afternoon has them looking down on five teams and tied with a sixth. They are only five games below .500.
The Nats are 8-3 in their past 11 games, during which they captured series against three solid teams, and they’ll try to clinch another series Sunday afternoon.
Through Saturday afternoon, they have won two of three against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Right handed pitcher Tim Redding leads the charge Sunday in game four at Nationals Park against Ian Snell, also a righthander. Should the Nats lose, they’ll at least emerge with a series tie.
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Nats to begin May with three-game win streakMay 1st, 2008
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The Washington Nationals stylishly finished April by taking a two-game set against the Atlanta Braves, their division rival whom they now trail by only 1.5 games.
The team that endured a nine-game losing streak through April 13 now has won six of its last eight games and is riding a three-game winning streak as the Pittsburgh Pirates come to town for both teams’ first four-game set this season.
Several obvious positives have emerged and they are impossible to ignore.
They have solid starting pitchers, one of whom is working on a scoreless inning streak. They have stumbled upon a solid closer who notched his fifth save Tuesday night when the Nats beat the Braves 6-3. Their lineup has some potent bats that can turn on the ball with ease. And the whole team how shown it can excel when playing late- and extra-inning ball.
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Close, but . . .April 28th, 2008
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“I’ve been lucky. I’ll be lucky again.”
Bette Davis
Manager Bobby Cox isn’t the only one to whom the phrase “no cigar” applies these days. The season is one-sixth over now, the Braves are falling one by one like sore-armed snowflakes and I’m wondering what it means to lose eight straight one run games.
Not much, probably, other than eight losses. The team hasn’t been overly successful in key situations, true, leaving a combined 100 men on base in those eight games. The offense has struggled late in games, yes, scoring only eleven runs after the sixth inning, with seven of those coming in one game. And the team has squandered opportunities, sure, losing leads in six of the eight games.
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$10 General Admission ReportApril 7th, 2008
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Welcome baseball addicts, it is that time of year again to bring out the sunflower seeds, suck them till your cheek is raw, and spit out the shells. Yes it is baseball season, that lovely time of year when every team is chomping at the bit to get out on to the field and play 162 games. It is that special time of year when every ballplayer thinks that this year will be his year and that last year was just a case of bad juju. The training rooms are fully stocked, the lockers are so very clean, and the field is so very, very pretty.
This is also the same time of year that reminds me of where I live and what team I call my own. That team is the Pittsburgh Pirates. I must admit though, I am full of pride and hope that this coming season will bring more of the same. The Pirates have been dreadful for 13 consecutive seasons, not once reaching .500. These Pirates have the chance, nay the great privilege, to continue that amazingly consistent play. If the Pirates can pull off the unthinkable and reach an astounding 15 consecutive losing season, they will be among the games elite losers. Only the Philadelphia Phillies have had more consecutive losing seasons. They reached the nice round figure of 16, before Read more