Friday, May 25, 2012

Pirates Pitchers Have Adopted Their Own Sign: The FU!

As most Pirates fans probably know, the Zoltan sign has become sort of a rallying symbol for the 2012 squad. I personally first started noticing it a couple of weeks ago when Rod Barajas hit a walk-off home run and flashed the sign as he rounded the bases.

From what I've read, the idea to start flashing the sign was conceived by Barajas and Neil Walker.

Now it's catching on to the point that even radio stations are starting to pick up on the phenomenon, and t-shirts have been made with the Zoltan symbol on the front.

That's pretty awesome, and it's nice that the players have adopted a way to unify as a team, even if they did get the idea from watching the movie, "Dude, Where's My Car?"

From what I've witnessed so far, it's mostly the hitters who have been flashing that sign--Walker, Barajas, Josh Harrison, etc.--but the problem with that, as you probably know, is that the Pirates hitters have been so pedestrian in 2012, many of the players might eventually forget how to flash "Zoltan" after a big hit because they have been few and far between.

The team's offense is ranked dead-last in the National League in both runs scored and batting average.

On the flip side, the pitching staff has been so good this season, they are third in the National League in team ERA. Unfortunately, because of the horrible offense, guys like James McDonald (2.51 ERA) and Erik Bedard (3.52 ERA)haven't been able to benefit that much in terms of their win/loss record. McDonald is having his best season, but he's still only 3-2. Bedard was a pretty hard-luck pitcher early on, losing many low-scoring decisions, and because of that, his record sits at 2-5. I'm not saying Bedard and McDonald and the other starters haven't struggled at times, but a few of them certainly deserve better fates in terms of their records.

The team, overall, has struggled because of the lack of offense, and instead of that great pitching leading to a winning record, the Pirates are still only 20-24.

This is why my sources tell me that the pitchers have adopted a sign of their own. It's called the "FU" sign.

It's a rather universal hand-gesture that involves curling three of your fingers and the thumb and leaving the middle finger extended and pointed upward.

Perhaps, you've seen it.

Anytime a Pirates starter has a quality outing and still loses, "FU!"

Anytime, the offense makes it damn-near impossible to get away with giving up more than two runs, "FU!"

From what I understand, if the Pirates current .217 batting average slips below the Mendoza line, the pitchers will then adopt the double-fisted "FU" sign that wrestling legend Stone Cold Steve Austin made popular back in the 90's.

Bedard seems like the kind of guy who would get behind such a symbol, and I could see him even designing a t-shirt to commemorate it. Be on the look out for a t-shirt that shows the "FU!" sign directed at Pedro Alvarez as he strikes out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th inning with the Pirates behind, 2-1.

People would buy that shirt. Well, at least the Pirates pitchers, anyway. Maybe Clint Hurdle, too.

"FU!"

Sunday, May 20, 2012

I admit that I was wrong about the A.J. Burnett Trade

Back in February, when the Pirates and Yankees consummated a trade that sent veteran starting pitcher A.J. Burnett to the Pirates in exchange for prospects and money, I went on the blog Bucsdugout and expressed my displeasure with the trade not once, but twice. Actually, I expressed my displeasure quite a bit, and this led to a two or three week blood-bath between myself and everyone else on Bucsdugout.

There were many bench-clearing incidents as several pitches came up and in from both teams as neither side was willing to back down.

It got so bad at one point that I had Burger King in a headlock and repeatedly pummeled him in a fashion similar to what former Pirates catcher Jason Kendall did in his fight with Gary Sheffield way back when.

Cocktailsfor2 and I had several face-to-face confrontations after things started heating up over the Burnett trade, and I got so frustrated and mad at him that I spit right in his face. That's just classless. You never spit in another guy's face. You punch him; you talk about his woman; but you never spit in his face.

My grudge over the arguments about the Burnett trade got so bad that, at one point, I even wrote a spoof on the Top Five Pirates Prospects for 2012 where I suggested that Chase d'Arnaud was the second best prospect in the Pirates' entire organization.

Joking or not, that was just uncalled for--although, my pick of Brad Lincoln at number 4 is looking better and better with each passing start.

However, even though Burnett is only six starts into his Pirates career, I must admit that I was probably wrong about the deal. As of this posting, Burnett is 2-2 with a 4.78 ERA. The ERA might look bad on the surface, but that's mainly due to his 12 run disaster in St. Louis recently. In his other five starts, Burnett has given up two runs or less. Also, his whip (see, I kind of know what that means now) is less than it was over his previous four seasons. Most of the people on Bucsdugout argued that Burnett was going to be better simply because he would be pitching in a weaker NL Central after spending years in the tough AL East.

So far, that sentiment is proving to be accurate.

Also, after I lamented on the thought of bringing in another washed-up veteran pitcher, most of the people on Bucsdugout countered with the argument that Burnett would be a great influence on the Pirates young staff.

Well, as far as James McDonald is concerned, that was another accurate sentiment. Burnett and McDonald reportedly became fast friends in spring training, and now McDonald is having a break-out year and is among the league leaders in strikeouts in the National League.

I don't know if Burnett's addition will help lead the team to their first winning season in two decades, but it's apparent that his addition to the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates was a good one.

It takes a big man to admit that he was wrong, and I am that big man.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

No one can ever accuse these Pittsburgh Pirates of being streaky--at least not on the winning side

There is nothing quite like a baseball team that's on a roll. I mean, a big roll where they win eight or nine games straight. If you're a fan of the team, you can't wait to turn on the television or head to the ballpark, because you know there's a pretty good chance that you'll be seeing a team that can do no wrong.

Unfortunately for the Pittsburgh Pirates, long-winning streaks have proven to be quite elusive over the past season and a half or so. In-fact, you have to go all the way back to September 17th-22nd of 2010, to find the last time Pittsburgh won at least five games in a row.

And forget about the Buccos sweeping a three for four games series. You have to go back to June 14th-16th of 2011, when the Pirates swept the Astros in a three-game series down in Houston, to find the last time the team accomplished that feat.

For my money, there is nothing that makes a statement to an opponent better than sweeping them right out of the ballpark. Outside of the sweep in Houston, the Pirates have several chances to do that last year--most notably against the Phillies, Tigers and Red Sox at PNC Park--but they almost always found a way to let the last game of a series slip away.

Overall, the 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates managed to win at least three games in a row six times and four games in a row three times.

So, why is it so hard for the Clint Hurdle-led Buccos to put lengthy winning-streaks together?

The most obvious answer, of course, is the deficient offense. Once again, the Pirates had a chance to finish off a three-game sweep tonight at PNC Park when they took on Stephen Strasburg and the National League East-leading Washington Nationals. Unfortunately, the Pirates could only muster a couple of runs in a 4-2 defeat.

Sure, it's no crime being out-pitched by a talent like Strasburg, but the Pirates offense is going to need to start solving pitchers like Strasburg if they're ever going to become a true contender in the NL Central.

I know the Pirates have a pretty decent pitching staff, but even a team with five dominant starting pitchers would have a hard time winning games with such a pedestrian offense.

That's the tangible reason--the lack of offense--but maybe there's an intangible reason at play here, too.

The Pirates, under Hurdle, talk an awful lot about winning series. "Hey, we took two out of three, and that's the most important thing." Maybe they relax a little once they take the first two games of a series. It is true that winning two out of every three games that you play will probably get you into the postseason, but realistically, these Pirates (14-17 after tonight's latest failure with broom in hand) are going to have to learn how to go for the throat whenever they have a chance to sweep a team.

It's good for the maturation of a young baseball team.

It's also good for building long winning-streaks.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The NHL Playoffs are Poison (if You're the Higher Seed). Never Trust a Big Stick, a Puck, and a Toothless Smile

The NHL playoffs always confound me. Just like in any other sport, hockey teams make acquiring the best possible playoff position a top priority during their long, marathon-like regular season.

But why even bother? I mean, it doesn't seem to matter much, and when it does matter, the advantage is usually pretty slim. Home ice means little to nothing. Just ask the Vancouver Canucks, the number one seed in the Western Conference. They were bounced out of the playoffs in five games by the 8th seeded Los Angeles Kings.

The Kings then swept the St. Louis Blues, the number two seed, right out of the second round and are now just waiting to pounce on the Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference Finals.

It's happening in the Eastern Conference, too. The New York Rangers, accumulators of 109 points and the top seed, had to go an exhausting seven games just to defeat the 8th seeded Ottawa Senators, a team that barely made the playoffs, in the first round.

The Washington Capitals, the 7th seed in the East, took care of the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins, the number two seed, in seven games.

This sort of stuff is nothing new for the NHL playoffs. It happens pretty much every year. In 2010, for example, the Washington Capitals, the number one seed and President's Trophy winners in the Eastern Conference with 121 regular season points, lost to the Montreal Canadiens, a team with just 88 regular season points, in the first round. The Canadiens then proceeded to take out the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers, the 7th seed, in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Picture the 5th seed playing the 6th seed for the right to go to the Super Bowl. That would be the equivalent of the 2010 Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals. But that never happens in the NFL. Why? Because the NFL makes sense!

You might be saying, "But wild card teams make it to and win the Super Bowl all the time these days." And you'd be correct. However, unlike the NHL playoffs, where the top seed usually has a much superior record to their lower seeded opponents, the records of teams in the NFL playoffs are normally much more similar. There are only 16 games in the NFL regular season, and often-times, the difference between the number one seed and the 6th seed is a game or two in the standings (sometimes, even just a tiebreaker).

This stuff NEVER happens in the NBA playoffs. Take this year, for example. The San Antonio Spurs just got done destroying the Utah Jazz in the first round. The Spurs finished the season with a 50-16 record. They didn't care about the 8th seeded Jazz and their 36-30 regular season campaign. Whatever, right?

Ok, so in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers are up 3-1 over the top seeded Chicago Bulls, but the Bulls are without two of their best players--Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Losing its two best players would make any 50-16 team seem pretty ordinary. I'll give the NBA playoffs a pass for that because it's the exception not the rule.

So, why do seeds seem to matter very little in the NHL playoffs? I think it has something to do with the structure of the game, or lack thereof.

You see NHL coaches drawing up plays all the time during time outs, but most hockey games are like 3-2. And each team usually gets like 30 shots on goal, give or take. That's like a 10% success rate. A coach is better off just taking the fans' lead and screaming "just shoot the puck! Shoot it! Come on! You suck! Shoot it! What the hell are you waiting for?"

Of course, there's a goalie in the way and that has a lot to do with it. Plus, there are five mean guys on the opposing team trying to do everything in their power to make sure that puck doesn't go in.

The plays that coaches draw up in the NBA work a lot more often. Why? There isn't a masked man standing in front of the rim trying to deflect the ball out of the hoop. It is considered goal-tending, ironically enough, and it's illegal in basketball.

Also, a hockey puck is small, and you don't always know where it is. And often-times a skilled player like Sidney Crosby will try to make a slick pass, but the puck just goes under his stick because of the slick ice, and the fact that he's on skates and stuff.

Also, fighting and thugs seem to effect the outcome of a hockey game more than they really should. If two players get into a fight, for some reason, this only fires up one of the teams and not the other. Why? Who knows, but that's hockey. Once the fired up team seizes the momentum, it goes on to win, even if its players really suck.

And the NHL often lets antagonists get the best of the really skilled players. For example, maybe some no-talent jerk starts batting Crosby in the back of the head with his stick the whole game. Naturally, Sid's going to start to get angry--I mean, after all, only 10% of his shots are going in--and he's going to try and retaliate. Well, the NHL is a lot like the WWE. The referee only sees what he wants to see, and often, the guy who was getting the business in the first place is the one who winds up in the penalty box.

This leads to a power play. A power play in hockey is when one team has more men on the ice than other team, and this creates a huge scoring advantage. That's right. It's so damn hard to score in hockey, they needed to devise a scheme where one team could have a man or two advantage.

So, even if you're a mediocre team filled with antagonists and thugs, you can still defeat a highly skilled team if you get more power play opportunities and have a group of really good fighters.

Yes, NHL playoffs are weird, and there are so many variables to the sport that make it almost impossible to predict.

It's not the best team that usually wins, it's the team that knows how to best navigate through all the weird nuances of the sport that winds up hoisting Lord Stanley when all is said and done.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Former NFL superstar Junior Seau dead after self-inflicted gun shot

Junior Seau, one of the best and most consistent middle linebackers of all time, committed suicide today when he shot himself in the chest after police responded to a domestic disturbance at his house.

Seau was 43 years old.