War Dance and Bullpen Notes

In a game barely worth writing about,Tim Hudson shutdown the Pittsburgh offense as he allowed three hits over eight innings in a 7-0 Atlanta win.
Very little else to write,but I'll try to offer what I can and fill things out with some bullpen notes...
Ross Ohlendorf was driven from the game allowing six runs in under four innings to drop to 0-2.
The series continues tonight with Charlie Morton (1-7) against Derek Lowe (5-4).....

Pirate Hooks

1) No coverage of today's game,since neither the Pirate or Brave network is allowed to show it due to Fox showing the Yankees vs Mets in prime time.
The Saturday blackout of home cities and Extra Innings subscribers in an attempt to have their hardest core customers watch a product that they didn't want or pay for is ridiculous and I refuse to watch their Game of the Week unless it is a game that I would otherwise watch.

2) Jason Heyward hammered the Pirates with a homer and three RBI,but his most impressive shot to me was a rifle shot off the right field fence that would have landed in the river with extra height.

3) Keep in mind,when the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette occasionally attempts to give Dave Littlefield some credit that the Bucs could have drafted Heyward instead of Daniel Moskos.
I know that most media (and us as well) focused on Matt Wieters being the choice,but looking back,the Pirates could have taken Heyward and still saved money,although maybe not as much as they did with Moskos.

4) Imagine this team with Andrew McCutchen and Jason Heyward and it could have happened,but one reason that it didn't was the Pirates rarely scouted or drafted Georgia players under Littlefield and his scouting chief Ed Creech.
The Pirates rarely dipped into one of the deepest pools of talent in the country.
One can criticize Neil Huntington and company for many things,but that is one huge error that was quickly corrected.

5) Finally and I finished five hooks on this game (amazing),as the Post Gazette offers an article on Moskos,who I am rooting for because he seems like such a nice guy.

Bullpen Note

Tonight is the fourth installment of the Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez wars.
Each fighter has recorded a stoppage and Vasquez took a slim split decision in bout three in 2008,I had Vasquez up by a point,but it could have gone either way.
Each fighter has had only one bout since against lesser competition and Vasquez has had surgery for a detached retina obtained in bout three.
Here is hoping that it lives up to the past,but sometimes these things tend to end quickly and without satisfaction.
I'll take Marquez in the bout on Showtime...


If you are missing some cable TV coverage tomorrow,blame Galaxy 15.
What is Galaxy 15?
It is a satellite that is dead in the air and will cause some issues for various networks,starting tomorrow and at various times over the next two weeks.
DirectTv claims its customers will not be affected.
We will see.

Back tomorrow with coverage of Giants baseball,since the Pirates and Indians will be unavailable to watch....

Photo Credits
Heyward:Keith Srakocic-AP Photo
Vasquez-Marquez-Unknown