Some Thoughts On A Crazy Week

It's been a crazy week. Not just for me, but in the sports world too. I can't blog like I want to, since I work 60 hours a week, but this is a chance I can mention some stuff, so here it goes....

• How about the Buccos? A pretty solid start for a team that isn't supposed to do much this year. I hope they continue to play this way for the entire season. Could this be the year? Maholm looks like the ace the Pirates need him to be. The Buccos are hitting well too. Home opener is on Monday against the Astros at 1:30pm. They finish up the weekend against the Reds tomorrow.


• Penguins won tonight meaning they will play the Flyers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs! If Philly loses on Sunday, then the Pens will have home ice in the series. Malkin also won the Art Ross trophy (scoring title). He now joins Mario Lemieux (6), Jaromir Jagr (5), and Sidney Crosby (1) as the only Penguins to win the Art Ross trophy. Some early keys to the Flyers/Penguins playoff series will be the Penguins ability to score on the Power Play and Fleury's ability to shut down the Flyers. Also the physical factor always is important with the Flyers, but I think the Pens can give it right back if they need to. I think they can win the series. I say Pens in 6.


• Tiger Woods is four under par at the Masters. We never talk golf on here, but everyone wants to know about Tiger. It doesn't look good since the leaders are at 11 under par, but ya never know with old Tiger in the hunt going into the final day. I'd watch but I have to work.


• On a sad note, Nick Adenhart, a pitcher with the Los Angeles Angels was killed by a drunk driver on April 9 (my birthday for those that care). But needless to say I felt so horrible when I found out about this. Its really sad to hear about such a great young player with such talent being taken away by someone so careless. It really makes me realize how important it is to enjoy life and take advantage of every opportunity. Adenhart was only 22 and had his entire career and life ahead of him. Just a very sad incident that should have never happened. R.I.P, Nick

BUCCO NOTES

• Has anyone notice how the Pirates have been getting quality start after quality start from their pitchers early on this season. Maholm seems to maybe be turning into that pitcher our bullpen can rely on giving them rest. I can atleast say I am shocked that so early in the season that our pitching is looking good. The pitch counts and walks (9 walks all season)have been pretty low espically when you look how deep some of the pitchers are going into the game (Maholm & Ohlendorf).Espically since they were suppose to be the weakest link for this team.


• Pirate batters are also working the count and being aggressively smart at the plate. I know it is early in the season, but if you have all watched Pirate baseball in the past, you know that their at bats were far from smart and aggressive. I see them working the pitchers into deep counts forcing the other team to use their bullpen in the 6 and 7 th innnings rather then in the middle of the 7 and 8 th innings.


• Some things I see the Buccos need to cut down on is their multi -error games and strike outs. To start the season in thier in the first five games the Pirates have struck out 43 times. Andy LaRoche seems to be the easiest one to point the finger at when it comes to both of these stats. However, the rest of the team has accounted for their fair share.


• NOTE*** HOLY CRAP - RYAN DOUMIT JUST HIT A GRANDSLAM, JUST AS I AM BLOGGING THIS. WOW, TRIVIA WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME A PIRATE HIT A GRANDSLAM, BETTER YET WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WITNESSED A PIRATE GRANDSLAM.


• NOTE***ADAM LAROCHE JUST HIT A HOMERUN BACK TO BACK HOMERUNS FOR THE BUCCOS.


• The other stat I have notice the Buccos have cut down on is leaving runners stranded on the basepads. This has always been are achilles heel. Espically being that we are a small ball team, we need all the base runners we can get to generate runs


• It seems that nothing much has changed much, other then an addition with the same last name. Adam Laroche is off to another poor and slow start, other then that HR he just hit. He and his Brother Andy LaRoche up to the point where Adam just hit that HR were 0 - 19. Andy is 0-12 to start the season. I understand the kid had a good spring, but what has that ever proved in the past. Nothing is the answer, spring ball means nothing. There comes a time where you change rolls and give someone else a chance to hit and play. If your the Pirates you want to put the best bats you have on the field. Lets face it Andy's fielding has been terrible as well. So if you give someone else a shot early on your not losing out on much. It doesn't seem that the name LaRoche will be receiving a warm welcome to PNC Park this Monday for the home opener. If anything it will be receive more boo's then ever now that we have added another. lol. Atleast we know they can be consistant.


• The last note on the bad side is our bullpen, who I think is more of a question mark then our startes. They have looked bad. Guys like Grabow and Yates, who you think you could count on as veterans to come in and make the pitches you need to make to get out of an inning or to secure a a 9th inning save for Capps. They just aren't doing it.Bullpen definitly needs to pick up their play if we stand a chance to have more wins this season.

Well thats all for me, I am out and hope you have enjoyable EASTER HOLIDAY WEEKEND. Now that I have ended this blog the Buccos have closed out the Reds in their game and now are 3-2. Let's go Bucs!!

DECLARING FOR THE NBA DRAFT

Now that the NCAA has crowned a 2009 champion, it is time to see who is leaving to go to the NBA draft and who is staying. I think when you have peaked out your game or if you have made such an impact of college basketball to the point where your getting more media coverage then you would normally get, GO PRO! Go and get your money, I am sorry, but I do not believe in the saying," It will be there waiting for you next season." Not True, if you are not a favorite in the eyes of the media or you have a bad season the following year, trust me it will not be there.(atleast in the amount it was $$)

Now that we have came to an understanding on declaring for the draft. I move to a guy named Dejaun Blair. He is a sophomore out of the University of Pittsburgh, who is a beast in his own right , but a tweener in the next level. He is the prime example of my arguement, "Get it while you can." Here we have a player who could and can handle any big man in all of college basketball, but when it comes to playing at the next level...not so much. Blair is what we would all consider a tweener in the NBA. He has the ability, length , and strength to play with the bigs in the NBA, but lacks the height. He also has the size in all aspects to play with the small forwards in the NBA, but lacks the consistant 15 footer and speed. However, forunately for Blair his stock is high. We all know you sell, sell, sell. That is just what Dejuan Blair is doing. We all know he could come back and be great for Pitt and the NCAA for another yr and maybe get Pitt back in the hunt for a national championship. Why would you ever come back for a bunch of maybe's when you can go with the next step in your career that is certain, which is a late 1st round pick and gurantee of millions of dollars. Hey , I know you all remember a guy by the name of Aaron Gray, who wasn't the most touted center coming out of the college basketball. Guess what, he has a million dollar roster spot on the Chicago Bulls and rarely plays. Now you tell me what you would do if you were Dejaun Blair.

This whole tweener theory also applies to one the best most decreative college basketball players of my time Mr. Tyler Hansbrough. The only thing different with him is, he stayed all fours of college due to the fact that he comes from blessed family with money and wasn't in the situation of having to support his family. I am just being honest here , I am a Hansbrough guy. I think its guys like him, that make college basketball so much fun to watch. Espically when guys like Tyler take on the one and dones year after year.

Finally, I would invite all if any to blog your opinons on this topic and maybe even expand. This is more or less one of the main reasons that the NCAA doesn't carry a great relationship with the NBA.

**Prediction - Blake Griffin was the best in college basketball this year and could have been one of the greatest college players, but why waste your time when you have conquered big man after big man. There is nothing more to prove, we all know this kid can out ball the boys. Now it's time to see him ball with the men and get his money. He will be a successful pro that is the most obvious number one pick in the last couple of years.

NEW START - LETS GO BUCS!!

• Hello live from Pittsburgh, Pa. I know the weather is terrible in St.Louis, it s not any better here or where Bice is at. I know Bice will be blogging live all day and doing updatesand has the lineups set up for our viewers. One thing I can say I like about the Pirates this yr. is thier new look in uniforms. Looks like they are as desperate as us for a winning season by wearing the uniforms from when Barry Bonds once played for us. Very nice call by Management!!

• 1st Inning - Buccos up first to bat, Morgan leads off with a single and looks aggressive on the base pads with a steal. Looks like the Pirate hitters are learning how to work the counts and pitchers early on. Buccos loaded the bases and leave them that way with a strike out. That was a pretty good start for the top half of the 1st inning espically considering the weather conditions.Well same old story as Puljos starts his season with a double for the Pirates, seems to me that still haven't found way to slow him down. Lucky for us LaRoche has a good glove at first base to save the inning from being a mess. Maholm weathers the storm and gets out of the inning.SCORE 0-0

• 2nd Inning -Buccos come up in the top of the 2nd inning and continue to look strong at the plate. Maholm drove a base hit to left center and Morgan singles for his second single of the day. No runs came out of this, but the bats are looking strong and aggresive in a smart way. Another double let up by Maholm this inning but, so far so good for ole Pat Maholm he is throwing strikes early on and getting ahead of the count. He has his curve ball working and is getting batters to do what he needs them to do. Fly out and ground out. The defense is looking good making some routine and out of routine plays.Score 0 - 0

• 3rd Inning - Uneventful inning for the Pirates going 3 up and 3 down, but they are still taking solid at bats. The Cards got their first two batters on base and loaded the bases up on one out and scored 2 runs. Maholm seem to have some control issues could be the weather or it could be Maholm being Maholm.Pirates worked out of the jam doing what they do best in all of the National league last yr and end it in a double play. Score 0-2 Cardinals.

• 4th Inning- 3 up and 3 down again for the Buccos, seems to me that they are slacking off at the plate and starting to lose the aggressive smart at bats that they had early on. Not really much action on the bottom half of the inning. Although another extra base hit was let up to the pitcher of the Cards. How many times can we get away with giving up extra base hits until they hurt us. More on the in the coming innings. LOL....Score 0-2

• Sorry for the intermission... had to take a nap, but i woke up in time to watch the Pirates show me that old habits never die..errors, strike outs, and control problems. However, that wasn't the only old habit on the field that didn't die out. The Cardinals problems from last year contintued to haunt them as they took their 4 to 2 lead into the top of the 9 th inning with 2 outs. Thats when the St. Louis Cardinals problems at the closer position continued into their 2009 season. I was referring to it all day long, the aggressive at bats and working the counts came into play. Jack flash, flashed his bat on a 2 out base clearing double to give the Battling Buccos a 6 to 4 lead. They never looked back as the MAD CAPPER came in to close the game. He did a very good job as usual, as he went in and just threw strikes. Buccos came away with a resilant win. Buccos record 1- 0 winning record in 2009.
• BAD NOTES - NEED TO CUT DOWN ON STRIKE OUTS, NEED TO CUT DOWN ON ERRORS, AND NEED TO MAINTAIN CONTROL ON THE MOUND
• GOOD NOTES - VERY AGGRESSIVE AND SMART AT BATS, STAYED CONFIDENT AND RESILANT, KEY PLAYERS HAD KEY AT BATS WHEN NEEDED.

That will wrapped it up for the Buccos opening day game for the 2009 season. I hope you enjoyed all the blogs that were created during this time as well as hope you visit the Classic Gang Only blogsite again.

Opening Day: Live Blog- Bucs VS. Cards

Greetings from Boston! The weather is shitty and the Sox Opener has been Postponed leaving thousands of Band-wagoners crying across the nation. But we here at CGO could not care less. The Pirates are in St. Louis, they are playing, and with a new season brings new hope. At least for a week or so.

According to the PBC, the weather isn't much better in St. Louis either. It's not raining though, and a game will be played!

Let's check out the line-ups

Bucs

1. Nyjer Morgan, LF

2. Freddy Sanchez, 2B

3. Nate McLouth, CF

4. Ryan Doumit, C

5. Adam LaRoche, 1B

6. Andy LaRoche, 3B

7. Brandon Moss, RF

8. Jack Wilson, SS

9. Maholm, P

Pretty Predictable line-up for the Pirates. Nyjer's got to get a good start to the season after a pretty sub-par spring and Brandon Moss better watch his back with Craig Monroe waiting in the wings showing he's still got some pop in that bat of his.

Cardinals

1. Brendan Ryan, 2B

2. Rick Ankiel, CF

3. Albert Pujols, 1B

4. Khalil Greene, SS

5. Ryan Ludwick, RF

6. Yadier Molina, C

7. Chris Duncan, LF

8. Brian Barden, 3B

9. Wainwright, P

Aside from Pujols the Pirate Killer, this line-up doesn't look to strike fear into anyone (not even the Pirates.) Why is Khalil Greene hitting 4th? He sucks. Let's hope Paul Maholm can improve on last years great pitching performances.

UPDATE: 2 minutes till game time and mlb.tv is already having issues. F my life.

UPDATE: OK, the fsn broadcast is soundless so I'm on the Cardinals Broadcast.

Nice start for Morgan. Base hit sliced to left field.

Morgan Steals. Sanchez strikes out. and McLouth walks.

Doumit flies out to center. 2 Outs

Base Hit Adam Laroches. For the first time in history he's batting 1.000 in April! Bases Juiced.

And Andy strikes out. The Pirates miss a good opportunity but i liked what I saw from Nyjer coming out getting a hit and a steal right off the bat is big. Also, I'm liking the new Unis!

One Pitch One out. Like it.

3 Pitches 2 Outs. Love it.

And there's no I want some more of it as I was going for. Pujols doubles inside the 3rd baseline.

LaRoche makes the catch but had he missed it would have nailed Moss right in the face. 3 Outs and Paul is looking good. Onto the 2nd.

Pirates 0 Cardinals 0

Moss hits to shallow center but a diving catch by Ankiel makes for out number 1.

Jack strikes out looking. 2 outs.

Paul is helping his cause. Base hit into left center.

Nyjer is my new favorite player. 2-2. man on first and second.

Slow Freddy ends the inning with a liner to 2nd onto first for the out.

And Ludwick hits it to third. Laroche picks it up and throws onto Laroche. 1 out.

Molina hits it into center field. McLouth makes the catch. 2 outs.

Double for Duncan as Nyjer lost his footing and doesn't make a play he should have.

But Nate makes a catch in center to end the inning. 3 outs.

Pirates 0 Cardinals 0

UPDATE: The stream for the FSN Pirates game is completely gone now. I don't know if this is MLBTV's fault or FSN's but we all know about Fox's shitty production.

Nate hits a liner to Greene who throws onto first. 1 out.

Pujols ranges to his right to scoop up the ball and throws on to Wainwright. Doumit gone. 2 outs.

LaRoche lines it into right for the 3rd out. Bucs go down in order for the first time.

Wainwright puts the ball in play and reaches first on a stupid misplay by the younger Laroche. One man on.

Brendan Ryan hits a base-hit. 2 men on. no outs.

Ankiel lines it to second. 1 out. But guess who's up.

Pujols loads the bases with a hit up the middle. Let's see how Paul handles Greene.

Of course I talk bad about the guy and Greene gets a base hit. 1-0 Cardinals.

And Ludwick gets a base-hit. 2-0 Cardinals.

Double Play ends the inning.

Cards 2 Pirates 0

Ludwick almost misplays Andy LaRoches fly ball to right. Keyword: Almost. 1 out.

Moss strikes out. 2 Outs.

And Wainwright has sent Seven straight down as Jack gets out.

Ball hit to first. One Out. It seems like the Cards have been swinging at Paul's first pitches recently.

Paul rings up his first K of the day. 2 Outs.

Wainwright with his second hit of the game. Classic Pirates giving up hits to the Pitcher.

Adam L makes the catch in foul territory for the 3rd out.

Onto the 5th

Cards 2 Pirates 0

Paul walks. 1 on.

Nyjer Strikes out. No longer my favorite player. 1 out. 1 on.

Freddy lines out to right. 2 outs.

Nate walks again. 2 on 2 outs for Ryan Doumit.

And Doumit strikes out. Buccos leaving a lot of men on base today.

Ankiel pops it up in the infield and Adam LaRoche makes the catch. 1 away.

And Pujols is human after all. Moss catches a pop up in right field. 2 outs.

Greene hits it softly to Jack, who throws onto first. 3 outs.

Cards 2 Pirates 0

Something cool about MLBTV is that u can add your fantasy baseball players to be tracked during the games. Then whenever your player comes up, it alerts you and allows you to go right to the game your player is playing in.

Classic Adam LaRoche. He strikes out. 1 out.

Wow, that was a gift. Andy LaRoche walks on a 3-2 count.

LaRoche moves to second on a passed ball.

And Wainwright just can't seem to find the zone now. Time for a boring mound visit.

Moss walks. Men on first and second with one out.

LaRussa pulls Wainwright for Josh Kinney.

Wilson flies out to Khalil Greene. 2 outs.

Maholm walks! Bases Loaded for Nyjer.

Trevor Miller comes in to try and retire Morgan.

BASE HIT MORGAN. 2-2 tie game. Guess who's my favorite player again!

Blooper base hit by Sanchez but Maholm gets caught between 3rd and home. Still the Pirates tie it up and we have a whole new ball game.

Bouncer back to Maholm, the throw onto first and Paul has one out in the 6th.

Wilson scoops up a ball hit to short. Throws onto 1st for the 2nd out.

Another error for Andy LaRoche. Let's hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the ass again.

And it doesn't. Infield pop up to Sanchez. Into the 7th we go all tied up at 2.

Nasty Nate Strikes out. One out.

Greene commits an error as Doumit's ball skips right under him. One on One out.

LaRoche strikes out for the second consecutive time. 2 outs.

Larussa is bringing in Kyle McClellan and David Freese for a double switch. Let's hope Andy LaRoche makes up for his earlier miscues.

Nope. One Pitch one Out and that makes 3.

Freese hits the ball softly to third. 1 out.

Ball popped up, caught by LaRoche. 2 outs.

Maholm goes too far inside and hits Ankiel. Something you don't want to do with Pujols on deck.

Ankiel moves to second on a wild pitch. Intentionally walking Pujols. Smart Move.

Maholm's day is done. Double Switch bringing in Yates and Vasquez.

McClouth catches Greene's fly ball to end the inning.

Into the 8th still 2-2.

Moss hits a ball to the warning track but its caught by Ankiel. 1 out.

Wilson strikes out. 2 outs.

Vasquez gets a base-hit. 1 man on. 2 outs.

Morgan bounces into a fielders choice. 3 outs.

Ludwick hits one out. 3-2 Cardinals.

Molina pops out to Sanchez. One out.

Chris Duncan walks.

Shumaker comes in to hit for McClellan.

Shumaker lines a two strike base hit into center. Runners at 1st and 3rd.

Fly ball to Moss for the out but Pinch-Runner Thurston comes home. 4-2 Cards.