Pirates win 1,lose 1

The Pirates split two over last night and today,winning 8-2 last night and being slammed 16-4 today by the Cardinals.
In the victory,Tony Armas allowed just a 2 run homer to Rick Ankiel in 6 innings of work to move to 3-5 on the season,while offensively the story was a Pirate offense that was able to get a 3 run homer from Ronny Paulino(10),a solo shot from Adam LaRoche(21) and a 3 run double off the bat of Jack Wilson.
The other RBI belonged to Cesar Izturis.
The Pirate bullpen mopped up with 3 scoreless innings of work,with Damaso Marte,Shawn Chacon and Matt Capps contributing a inning of effort.
This game was the return of Mark Mulder from injury and the Buccos made it an unsuccessful one,as Mulder was chased after allowing 6 runs in 4 innings.

The Pirates then played a getaway day afternoon game today and if this game did not make a Pirate fan wince nothing will.
The 16-4 pounding was especially painful as 3 of the guys that were pummelled were "prospects" Bryan Bullington,John Van Benschoten and Dave Davidson.
Not to mention another dazzling outing by long-time non-favorite John Grabow.
Bullington got the start and allowed 5 runs in 3 innings,as he made his initial MLB start.
Van Benschoten then exceeded that glossy line by allowing the same amount of runs,but did it in an inning and a third.
Grabow then finished the inning by allowing 2 more runs.
Dave Davidson then allowed 4 runs in his first MLB inning.
If these guys are the future,things are not looking well in Steeltown.
Pirates RBI to Jose Bautista (2) and 1 each to Freddie Sanchez and Carlos Maldonado.
The Pirates return home for an important(at least to the Cubs) series vs the Cubs.

Pitching Matchup

Chicago: Rich Hill (8-7) at Pittsburgh: Tom Gorzelanny (13-7) 7:05

Bullpen Notes

In game 1 of the SAL Northern playoffs,the Hickory Crawdads were blasted at home by the 1st half winners,the West Virginia Power 12-2.
Mike Crotta was routed in the start for Hickory,but one of our favorites Alex Periard was the starting and winning pitcher for the Power.
Alex allowed just 2 runs and 7 hits over a 7 inning span.
Game 2 is in Charleston WV on Friday and a Crawdad loss means the end of their season.

The Frederick Keys pounded the Wilmington Blue Rocks 9-2 in Delaware in Game 1 of the Carolina Northern Finals.
This guarantees at least one more game for us to see before seasons end.
Game 2 is tonight in Frederick and a Keys victory paves the way to the Carolina League title series vs either Kinston or Salem.

LATE UPDATE
Chorye Spoone threw 8 and two thirds innings of no-hit baseball before Wilmington's Jose Duarte homered and ruined both the no-hitter and shutout.
Spoone retired the next batter to finish with a one hitter,a 3-1 victory and the Northern Division title for Frederick.
The Keys title opponent is still unknown,as Josh Rodriguez smacked a solo homer in the bottom of the 9th to give Kinston a 1-0 win over Salem and tie the series at 1 apiece.
Tomorrow's Game 3 in Kinston decides the Southern Champion.
Sung-Wei Tseng takes the ball for the K-Tribe,while the Avalanche have not announced their starter for the game.

Back tomorrow with either the Browns or Seahawks preview

Photo Credit
Tom Gannam-AP Photo

Visiting State College and seeing the Spikes

The traveling tour continued and the mood was quasi-somber as Ryan,Battlin Bob and I went into the game realizing that the season could be over at the end of the evening.
Although the win of the Frederick Keys tonight guaranteed at least 1 more game,we did not know that at the time.
The uneventful trip brought us to State College and allow me to say one thing about trying to find Medlar Field-it is easy!
Being that it is across the street from the massive structure that is Beaver Stadium (home of Penn State Football) and that stadium is the largest building in town,you cannot miss it.
Keep those facts in mind and you will be fine..
However,here is the downside about State College.
It is a college town and therefore the students are everywhere and parking spaces are few.
So much so that we literally could not find a place to park and therefore could not eat in town. Therefore we settled for ballpark fare,even though it meant a 90 minute wait until the gates opened.
Now the Spikes did make the time go quickly as they had the ticket windows open as soon as we arrived and had their team store open and available.
The Spikes were the first team all season to open the team store before the opening of the gates.
I don't know why more teams do not try this,but I would think it is a good idea on game days for teams that have team shop areas.
After a purchase of Spikes team sets and New York-Penn League top prospect sets,we were ready to go after a little more waiting.
It sure made the downtime go so much faster and credit to the Spikes for doing it.
Now tell your sister team in Altoona to start doing the same!!!
Across the street,the Paternoville signs were out and students were already camping out waiting for the game Saturday vs Notre Dame.
So course,I had to ask people all day,about is their some JV game going on around here soon?
I do not hate Penn State on the Michigan level,but their fans are living in 1985 when they were the bully of Eastern Football.
Please,Nittany Lions go to the Big East,where you really belong and you can play your real rivals,where they care about their rivalries with you.
West Virginia,Pitt.Syracuse,Rutgers etc,they want to be rivals and play you,while those of us that are Big Ten fans really don't care much either way.
Upon entering the field,we went straight to the right field line as that is where we had been tipped by previous collectors that had been to State College as being the place to go.
And it is for the visitors as unknown to us-the Spikes have one of those hated dugout tunnels.
As a result,we suffered for this day,but learned a lesson.
The visitors come out from down the right field line and we could have cleaned up on the visiting Auburn Doubledays.
But without a team set,we settled for the two players in the league prospect set-catcher
J.P Arencibia and pitcher Brett Cecil in addition -we added Arencibia's USA baseball cards as well.
Both were very accommodating,especially Cecil,who heard a frustrated Ryan groan in disbelief as he came out as Ryan was walking away, and stopped and waited for us to get his cards out to sign.
Very considerate!
Those two were very important,as we will not get another chance at the Blue Jays prospects,as they do not have teams in either the SAL or Carolina Leagues.
We did Ok with the Spikes,but two minor disappointments.
Michael Felix,who I knew from his Hickory stint,was not close enough to see us,so therefore we missed on his Crawdad card and 2007 3rd round choice Brian Friday signed for Ryan,but I could not get his Spikes card to Ryan.
Austin McClune was signing his stuff,so I had no pen available and had to watch Friday return to the dugout,but he should be in Hickory next year,so no problem.
I did get catcher Andrew Walker,who has played very well after being drafted from TCU and Battlin Bob was able to get 2nd rounder Duke Welker as he charted during the game.
But the best was yet to come or worst depending on your perspective.
Early on,walking down the line was Brian Tracy,son of the current Buc manager.
I had been critical of Tracy even being drafted,let alone in the 23rd round,judging by his college stats.
So of course,he turned out to be a nice kid and chatted with us and others for a while.
All of which made me feel like an jerk.
A few minutes later,here he came-Moskos...........
I was ready for him to ignore us and then I can really get into the "disliking him "game big time.
He can join "the list",Ben Grieve,Jordan Schafer,Eric Campbell etc......
But we called for him and he ran right over,looked at my USA foil card and said"that is a neat one,I dont have that one yet".
Then he started telling us how he gets on Ebay and looks for his cards to collect and told us of the USA variation with him wearing a grey jersey etc.
Asked where we were from etc,he even knew where Hagerstown was!
Said "I will be there,if I'm with Hickory,but Frederick is not too far if I am in Lynchburg".
Totally shocked!
He thanked us for coming,maybe I will see you next year etc.
And yet again-I felt like a total ass.........
I still feel the pick was a ridiculous one and I stand by it and I still wish Pittsburgh had picked someone else.
And the facts remain that Moskos has not pitched well thus far,but I came away liking the guy and wanting to see him do well.
I hope he turns out to bring help to Pittsburgh and perhaps prove his worth.
After all,most scouts agreed that he was a first round talent,just not a top 10 one.
The Spikes have done one thing that I feel is a terrific idea and if teams have the option (and not all do) they should mirror it-the dimensions are exactly like those at PNC Park.
This can do nothing but help in evaluating the talent.
Great idea and I wish more teams did this with their parks if possible.
Sadly,the night had its downside.
Of course,with my typical luck,we miss Stadium blanket night (the next night) and football night (two days away) and on that day,Zach Duke is town for a rehab start.
What do I get?
Some person from American Idol who I had no clue who she was.....
The funniest part of her visit was her needing the closed captioning on the scoreboard for the National Anthem and Take me out to the ballgame to know the songs.
Battling Bob reports that during the 7th inning "ballgame" rendition that Duke Welker kept hollering at her that she was cheating by reading the words instead of knowing them!
I thought they might put the words up every night,but fans seated around us assured us that was not the case.
Geez.........
The game was interesting in a 7-5 Spikes win.
A guy that surprised me was Marcus Davis.
Lots of hustle and seemed to be a high energy guy.
Marcus made a great sliding catch in the outfield and always seemed to be moving.
His average is low,but has hit 8 homers.
Nothing to get too excited about,but I did make a mental note.
Being a pitching guy at heart,I was happy to get to see both Michael Felix and Daniel Moskos in the game.
Felix got the win,but in his two innings of work,he fanned 3 ,but walked the same.
I just do not see any improvement in his control problems,as his curve may have too much break as he just cannot consistently throw it for strikes with the huge break.
The gun seemed a bit high,as Felix was clocked at 95,but I would say 92 was more accurate as a topping out point.
Moskos came in to pitch the 8th and did not allow a run,as he fanned two and gave a double up as the only base runner.
The outfield gun was showing him at 96 as a high,but I doubt that as well.
I would say he was consistently in the low 90's,but I am dubious of 96.
Ryan came up with the terrific idea to video Moskos in his inning,so all the Pirate nation can take a look at his mechanics.
Great idea and thanks to Ryan for not only the idea,but the camera work as well.
Easy park to get out of as in 5 minutes,we were on the road.
Thanks to Battlin Bob for putting up with Ryan and I's ribbing all day about Penn State etc!
All and all enjoyable and we will make a few refinements for a trip next year to smooth out some rough ends.
Back tomorrow with more.

Photo And Video Credit
Ryan Heimberger

Random Ramblings,Arnesen wins last start of the season

Sorry I missed yesterday,but between work and the trip to State College was just too exhausted to get anything into the cyber world.
So,for now we will do some random ramblings and either later tonight or tomorrow do the State College trip.
Depending on the results of the Frederick Keys playoff games,the State College game could have been the last of the season for us.
I will miss it,but not sure the family (Except for Ryan) will-Ha Ha!

The Buccos have played twice vs the Cardinals since I last wrote-Winning 11-0 on Monday and dropping a 6-4 decision on Tuesday.
Not going to get in depth on each game,as I missed both,but was encouraged to see Ian Snell pitch 7 shutout innings in the victory.
Snell has been horrid in the second half and it would be great to see him finish up with a strong September.

Pitching Matchup

Pittsburgh: Bryan Bullington (0-0) at St.Louis: Mark Mulder (0-0) 8:05

So tonight's game should be interesting.
Pirate fans get their first real look at Bryan Bullington and it is against Mark Mulder in his return from injury in his 1st appearance in a year.

LATE ADDITION-Tony Armas will start tonight's game,not Bryan Bullington as earlier reported.

Our favorite Sun Erik Arnesen finished his season with a dominant winning performance in Lakewood on Sunday,as he allowed just 3 hits in 7 + innings in defeating the Blue Claws.
Erik finishes 6-7 on the season and I will have more stats next week as we look back at how some of our favorites from around the SAL and Carolina League performed in 2007!
We also hope to sometime in the off season have an interview here with Erik,so if any of you have any questions,email them to me or post a comment and I will try to get it answered.

Of course,the entry pic is of Erik with my pride and joy,the beautiful Rachel!

Hickory starts the SAL Northern Division title series tonight vs West Virginia in Hickory.
The best of 3 continues tomorrow in Charleston and if game 3 is needed,it too will be in Charleston.
Mike Crotta will start for Hickory,while the Power starter is unannounced.
The Crawdads were the only Pirates affiliate to qualify for post-season play.

One of the nicer NHL players called it quits at 38 yesterday in Pierre Turgeon.
Turgeon played for several teams and was the top overall pick by Buffalo in the 1987 draft.
Turgeon was a solid player,but never seemed to reach the franchise player level that he was expected to become.

Battlin Bob sends us this link,which could either be a sign of things to come with the Hagerstown Suns or simply an oversight in proofreading.
Check the name that is signed for this release.
Thanks to Bob for the link.

The Chris Benoit story took a turn today,as a study showed brain abnormalities that could have contributed to the tragedy.
I remember the studies of NFL players that suffered similar injuries and I do not find this scenario implausible.
Wrestling has changed so much as far as violence with objects than 25 years ago.
In my opinion-there is no need to have objects with no give smashed into the head or body.
One could have the same effect with breakaway objects similar to those used in films......

In better news,we reported that Bill Henry passed away.
However, Henry is still alive and not very "gabby" as his family reports that he is still alive and the fellow that passed away was named Bill Henry.
However, he was not the big league pitcher,but had been passing himself off as the hurler for years.
We happily regret the error and thanks to Ryan for sending us the new info!

Speaking of Henry and his book appearances,here is an interview from SoCalObserved with Jim Brosnan.
Brosnan wrote the Long Season and Pennant Race in the early sixties and both are still fun reads for those of you that miss the game during the upcoming winter.

Finally, I was able to watch the annual Labor Day classic between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts.
After a promising start for the Tabbies in which Zeke Moreno returned an interception for a touchdown,the wheels completely came off in a 32-14 loss.
Timmy Chang got the start at the pivot,but was no more effective than Jason Maas had been.
But the Cats are reportedly in talks with former CFL MVP Casey Printers to come in.
If this is successful,the Cats improve as soon as the ink dries!
Printers was recently released by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Back later with State College info!

Photo Credits
Printers-Sam Leung-CP Photo
Arnesen & Rachel-Me!

Pirates swept in Milwaukee

The Brewers wore down the Pirate starter,Tom Gorzelanny and finished the job on the bullpen on the way to a 7-4 victory and completing the sweep of the Buccos.
Gorzelanny lasted just four innings,allowing 3 runs in compiling a high pitch count that forced his removal.
Just as likely,the 3 run long ball that the likely National League Rookie of the Year,Ryan Braun hit in the 4th was just guilty for chasing Gorzelanny.
Francisco Osoria was the loser (0-1) as he allowed 3 runs in 2 innings,after a two run RBI single by Jose Bautista had tied the game following Braun's blast.
Nate McLouth hit his 11th homer of the season in the 1st inning to give the Bucs a quick 1-0 lead,while Cesar Izturis had the other Pittsburgh RBI.
Pittsburgh now starts a 4 game series in St.Louis vs the Birdos.

Pitching Matchup

Pittsburgh: UNKNOWN,Paul Maholm is reportedly missing this start,but I have no confirmation of this,
at St.Louis: Kip Wells (6-15) 2:15

Bullpen Notes

Interesting read over at Hardball Times on the speedy decline of the Astros and how it occured.
Lisa Gray is the author and if any of you are Astro fans her blog is the best that I have seen on the Astros.

Hard to believe that Hockey is a month away!

Even harder to believe is that our Fantasy Hockey league draft is a week away and I have done ZERO preparation for it!

Sad note on the death of Bill "Gabby" Henry in Florida at the age of 83.
Henry had a major role in the 1961 Jim Brosnan book "Pennant Race" and a 1 page cameo in the best sports book of all time-Jim Bouton's "Ball Four".

Sorry so short today.
Will try to do more later!

HA HA HA HA HA.......................

With all the stuff going on yesterday-Ohio State opens,Suns finish the home portion of their season,Pirates in action,I would not have bet much that our lead story would involve our most hated team in all of sports.
But thanks to the Appalachian State Mountaineers,it is just that.
Congratulations to michigan(Small m is not a typo) and all their fans sitting in the "Big Outhouse" in Ann Arbor for providing the perhaps the biggest upset in college history.
Appalachian State 34 michigan 32!
Now I thought the Wolverines were overrated because their defense (that was far from stellar last season) lost most of their stars and I thought that would catch up to them when they played someone that would capitalize on that.
But not in my wildest dreams could I ever thought that the team to do it would be Appalachian State!
Even if the blocked field goal from michigan ,at the games end,had been good,the fans of um had to realize this season was not going to be what they hoped for.
I mean really, giving up 31 pts to a 1-AA school?
The press conference was priceless too,as Mike Hart (he of the mouthy quotes from ten minutes after the 2006 OSU game to...,well about ten seconds after the Appalachian State contest) defiantly proclaiming michigan to be the better team (gee,really Mike?) to our favorite befuddled coach Lloyd Carr,who looked like a fellow walking to the plank.
I could almost see someone writing Carr's press release behind the curtains as he spoke!
I don't care if michigan runs the table,wins the conference etc,the humiliation from today will never be lived down for them and their wonderful followers!
I cannot express any further happiness over a michigan game!!!!!

Meanwhile the Buckeyes kicked off their season with a methodical 38-6 win over Youngstown State.
Todd Boeckman made his starting QB debut a winning one,as he threw for 225 yards and 2 short touchdowns.
Brandon Saine made his running debut as well,most notably rushing for a touchdown that was called back due to a penalty.
Ohio State was able to get 3 quarterbacks some playing time as Rob Schoenhoft and Antonio Henson each were able to get some snaps in after the game was decided.
Two worries from this game though...
Chris Wells only rushed for 46 yards on 16 carries,although he did have 1 touchdown run.
Wells needs to be the horse for the Bucks and needs to pick things up from yesterdays rather pedestrian numbers.
Also starting defensive end Lawrence Wilson suffered a broken leg and will miss a large chunk of the season,but is not necessarily out for the season.
Look for the Buckeyes to rotate several players at Wilson's position until someone stands out.
Ohio State plays Akron next Saturday at the Horseshoe at 12 noon.

The Pirates were smacked around in Milwaukee losing 12-3 in a game that looks to be remembered only as the debut of Steven Pearce as a Pirate.
Pearce played right field in a smart move to find at bats for him,but may get some time at 1st base,as Adam LaRoche left the game with a mild knee injury after fouling a pitch off his knee.
Pearce did collect his first 2 major league hits in the defeat.
Shane Youman lasted less than 3 innings in losing for the 5th time against 3 wins.
Freddy Sanchez collected two of the 3 RBI with Jose Bautista getting credit for the other.
The series concludes today at 2:05

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh: Tom Gorzelanny (13-7) at Milwaukee: Jeff Suppan (8-11) 2:05

Bullpen Notes

Think the Big Ten network was thrilled to be the only network that had the Appalachian State win on TV and could result in added leverage with cable systems to pick it up?
The BTN also had the overtime battle between Bowling Green and Minnesota in the evening.
Time will tell if the opening week results helps the network gain access to more homes.

The Seahawks swapped players with the Houston Texans from the 2004 draft.
Defensive end Jason Babin,the Texans top pick in 2004 comes to Seattle,while safety Michael Boulware (the Hawks 2nd rounder from the same draft) goes to Houston.
Babin adds depth to the defensive line that needed the help after the loss of Marcus Tubbs for the season due to a knee injury.

I will do a on the signing front next time when the news is less,but I did want to give the Hagerstown Suns some credit for a good job yesterday and giving the fans 1 choice from many items on their Fan Appreciation Day.
Sure beats last years bookcover.
I wrote about this in April comparing the Suns to the Frederick Keys and others and offered this as a possible improvement.
Whether they listened to this or not,I do not know,but full credit given for the addition!

Now the chasing of the collectors from the "Suite area" (not me) on the last day of the season because some "big wigs" were coming was very bush league.
Funny that not one person was seen in that area during the game.
Oh,well.
Sometimes improvements are taken in small steps............

Finally,a HUGE boo to the Hagerstown Herald Mail.
This has been a while in coming,but when you give less space to the ONLY professional sports team in town than to that of GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER,you are deserving of criticism.
Those of you locally that get today's Herald Mail should look at the front page of the sports section for the proof.
Simply ridiculous.

Back either later or tomorrow with some more thoughts on the 2007 Suns,the final homestand,on the signing front,a little on the Bowling Green win over Minnesota and "Snicker"
maybe more on the Appalachian State-michigan game

Photo Credits
Scoreboard-Julian Gonzalez-Detroit Free Press
Dopey Fan-Mandi Wright-Detroit Free Press
OSU-YSU-Lisa Marie Miller-Columbus Dispatch

Gallardo beats Buccos with Arm and Bat!

Youvani Gallardo pitched 7 strong innings for the Milwaukee Brewers,but his bat was the difference in the Brewers 3-2 win over Pittsburgh.
Gallardo smacked a solo homer off Tony Armas in the 4th inning and the run was the Milwaukee margin of victory.
Tony Armas gave up all 3 runs in his 6 inning work shift and grabbed the loss in dropping his record to 2 wins against 5 losses,but overall did not pitch poorly.
Adam LaRoche hit a solo homer in the 4th for his 20th bomb of the year,while "Hustling" Ronny Paulino had the other Pirate RBI.
The series continues tonight in Beer Town at 7;05

Pitching Matchup

Pittsburgh: Shane Youman (3-4) at Milwaukee: David Bush (10-9) 7:05

Bullpen Notes

The Pirates announced 3 callups from Indianapolis.
The most noteworthy was Steven Pearce,who is the one that most fans want to see.
Now lets hope that Pearce can get some legitimate playing time and not just garbage time!

The Nationals are doing a Winter instructional league and therefore will not be sending any players to the Hawaii Winter league.
That is too bad for the Suns fans that will not be able to follow players there,as HWB games are occasionally televised.
Most notably of the former Suns participating are Chris Marrero,Mike Daniel,Cory Van Allen and Marco Estrada,while 4 current members are going as well in Jhonny Nunez,Jonathan Solano, Jeff Mandel and Marcos Cabral.
Thanks to Nationals Farm Authority for the info.

The Ashland Arrows improved to 2-0 on the season with a 31-21 win over the visiting Bellevue Redmen.
The Arrows raced to an early 17-0 lead before a Redmen comeback enabled Bellevue to get as close as 3 pts at 24-21.
Taylor Housewright's 4th TD pass of the night finally put the Redmen down for good.
The Arrows finish their non-conference sked next week vs the Shelby Whippets.

Until tomorrow with Pirates-Brewers,Ohio State-Youngstown State and the final on the signing front from Hagerstown for the season.

Quick OSU preview

This years edition of the Ohio State Buckeyes is the mirror image of last years team.
The strength is on the defensive side of the football ,while the offense took major losses and needs to prove itself.
At Quarterback Todd Boeckman,as expected won the starting job,but at least early in the year,I think you could see at least 2 of the backups see some action and maybe all 3 backups.
Boeckman has the most experience of the passers in the OSU system,but watch out for Antonio Henson,if the Bucks get off to an unexpected slow start.
The Running game will likely be what makes the difference this season as heralded Sophomore Chris Wells has the job all to himself after Antonio Pittman's early departure to the NFL.
Wells was the top rated running back entering college from the high school ranks last year.
Veteran Maurice Wells adds depth,but the dark horse is Ohio's "Mr Football" Brandon Saine from Piqua Ohio.
Saine is a track star as well as a football star and could be a great change of pace for OSU.
The Wide Receivers are led by returnees Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline.
Hartline is a tough,possession receiver,while Robiskie showed last year that he is more than capable of big plays.
Rory Nicol and Jake Ballard will both see action at Tight End.
Nicol dropped some catchable balls last year and needs to improves his pass catching to avoid losing time to the huge 6'7 target that Ballard provides.
The offensive line needs to make holes for Wells and protect the less than veteran QB corps and is led by returning bookend tackles Alex Boone and Kirk Barton.
Both players could contend for various post season teams.

On defense,the line is led by outstanding ends Vernon Gholston and Lawrence Wilson,but lost both starting defensive tackles and will need someone to step up.
The massive Doug Worthington could be the breakout player here.
The linebackers are dominant led by all everything James Laurinatis manning the middle,but his flanks are covered well by Marcus Freeman and Larry Grant.
This group could be the best in the Big Ten and among the best in the country.
The defensive backs are led by Thorpe award nominee Malcolm Jenkins,but the remainder of the group need to prove themselves as starters instead of nickel backs-Jamario O'Neal is the most notable of these.

The kickers are both back and solid with Aaron Pettrey providing the placements and A.J. Trapasso doing the punting.

I see the Buckeyes getting off to an 8-0 start,due to the schedules starting soft,but failing a bit when the schedule toughens down the stretch.
So, I see them at 10-2,6-2 in the Big Ten.
Here is hoping for better than that!!!

I will try to return later with last night's Pirate game and more!

Photo Credit
Laurinaitis-AP Photo-Will Shilling
Wells-Chicago Tribune-Scott Strazzante