Tag Archives: Pittsburgh Pirates

Buccin’ the Trend: Pirates experiencing early ups and downs

[note] Say hello to Andy Barlow – he is just finishing up his Master’s degree at Point Park and he will be blogging about the Buccos for us this summer. [/note]

Every April, the Pittsburgh Pirates pack their bags and leave Bradenton, FL for the friendly confines of PNC Park.  A new season always brings hope for the fans, much like myself, who have suffered through 19 consecutive losing seasons.  Manager Clint Hurdle, all-star outfielder Andrew McCutchen, and our beloved Buccos began their quest for 81 wins and beyond on April 5th.  A record crowd of nearly 40,000 watched the cross-state rival Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Pirates, 1-0.  However, the Pirates took the next two games to win the series, both in dramatic fashion!

PNC Park

PNC Park (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a tough road trip out west (to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Arizona), the team returned home to host the 2011 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals and Hurdle’s former team, the Colorado Rockies.  The Rockies are led currently by former Pirates manager Jim Tracy.  After losing two of three to St. Louis over the weekend, the first game of the series with Colorado was rained out for Monday evening.  After a Tuesday win, the ensuing doubleheader was split, resulting in a big home series win for Pittsburgh.

The Pirates finished April with a four-game series split in Atlanta and entered May on the road in St. Louis.  They set a major league record…one that is a tribute to the pitching staff and the defense, but perhaps a detriment to the offense.  For the first 18 games of the season, they did not allow more than five runs and, subsequently, did not score more than five runs…in any game!  It was the longest streak of its kind in baseball history.

The Pirates are currently 10-14 and in fifth place in the NL Central division.

Emotional Baseball Report: Area 51.5 – Andrew McCutchen

[Note]This is the first post of what will hopefully be many in the Emotional Baseball Report Series.  I have been bugging Jason to start a blog for years, ok well I tell everyone that they should start a blog.  I have also felt like IheartPGH has been lacking in sports posts.  How can y ou have a blog about Pittsburgh with out sports?   Read the first post and be sure to follow @emobaseballrepo on Twitter as well[/note]

There is room for argument that March 4th, 2012 was the best day to be a Pittsburgh Pirates fan since October 13th, 1992. That amazing night the Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 13-4 to tie the series at 3 games all for the right to go to the World Series. The Pirates, lead that night by a 2nd inning home run by Barry Bonds had all the momentum until the next night in the bottom of the 9th inning. From October 14th, 1992 until the present day the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club have been a losing franchise. I stand on my Emotional soap box and say regardless of record in this coming season, the Pirates of the last 19 years are no more.

The very impressive 6 year, $51.5 Million contract the Pirates extended their young superstar Andrew McCutchen changes everything for the franchise going forward. Rob Biertempfel reports on twitter  the $ amount for the 7th year option at $14.75 Million, which would seem an obvious buy given McCutchen’s pedigree and advancement in his short time in the majors.

So, we should celebrate here in Pittsburgh today and for the next 7 years. The Pirates have one of the most affable young superstars in baseball and they have him at a team friendly deal that Neal Huntington and Frank Coonelly should be applauded for finalizing in such a quiet and quick manor.

McCutchen passes every test modern baseball has for a young player, SABRmetrically, personality, and for us season ticket holders, the all important eye ball test. His fielding UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) improved dramatically last year. While a helpful tool, UZR is widely debated due to year to year fluctuation. (Ex. Michael Bourn 2010 +20.6, 2011 -6.2). I think most of us in Pittsburgh know McCutchen’s only fielding limit is his arm. He is strong, but he will fly a cut off man from time to time and be off target. McCutchen’s OBP was a stellar .364 due to a great walk rate and despite an unlucky .291 BABIP (Batting Average of Ball in Play). A comparable outfielder in home runs, plate appearances, and WAR (Wins above Replacement) last year was Alex Gordon. He had a .358 BABIP. There are always abnormalities in these stats, but I bet this .291 figure will be McCutchen’s lowest for the foreseeable future. While I don’t think anyone can hope he is as lucky as Gordon or Matt Kemp (.380 BABIP) last year, I think we can routinely expect him to be around .320. This coupled with his an acceptable strikeout rate, I believe his stat lines in the next few years of service should be in the .280/.380/.480 with 25 home runs and 30 steals. And while last year McCutchen was a top 20 WAR player in all of baseball according to Fangraphs.com this advance stat line would secure that and probably consistently place him in the top 15 in all of baseball. And, while all of these stats are very important to baseball nerds like myself the most important thing that Andrew bring to the PNC ball park is what you can see when he is flying around the base paths after a hit to the left-center field gap, hair flowing after his helmet pops off, sliding easily into 3rd for what Greg Brown may call a trip-trip-triple. He stands up, smiles, wipes himself off, and you can tell he is having fun out there. That is something that had been alien to many a Pirates fan over the last 19 years. Well, no longer, for we have Area 51.5 for the next 6 years and beyond.

Yinz Luv ‘Da Buccos, I Heart Jim Shearer

Jim Shearer, the mastermind behind the web-series “Yinz Luv ‘Da Guins” and “Yinz Luv ‘Da Stillers,” is answering a question he’s been asked ever since he started his homemade, YouTube sports shows three years ago: Do yinz luv ‘da Buccos? The answer is “yes.” In his Opening Day: Yinz Luv ‘Da Buccos exhibit on display at Wildcard through the month of April, Shearer pays homage to the Pittsburgh Pirates of his youth (back when it was somewhat customary to end a season with more wins than losses) in a series of portraits of beloved players. Using the same art tools he wielded as a youngster, each image is created with colored pencils, crayons, magic markers, and watercolors. To coincide with the Pirates’ first game of the season, Opening Day: Yinz Luv ‘Da Buccos will have its opening night celebration on Friday, April 1st from 8:00pm-10:00pm. The event is free and includes complimentary drinks and refreshments, along with a Pirates trivia contest and other surprises, including Jim Shearer.

Check out some other local coverage of this event, like PittGirl Virginia Montanez’  interview with Jim Shearer or this article in the PittNews.

ps.  I’ll admit that right after I moved here in 2002 my roommate and I didn’t have cable but got MTV2.  So I started crushing on Jim Shearer the same time I started falling for Pittsburgh.

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