Lemme look at this. . .
No, wait, that can’t be right. I better clean my glasses and look again.
<squints>
Nooooo. . .no matter how I look at it, the “lowly” Pirates are tied for first in the NL Central, and tied with the Cardinals for the best record in ALL OF ML BASEBALL. I read elsewhere that this is the best start the Bucs have had to a season since Clemente played.
Meanwhile my Braves are still in 1st place in their division despite almost no one in the line-up batting their weight. Good thing the Nats are having one of those seasons where nothing is going right for them.
I’m a rational man. I don’t believe in jinxes. I’m a Dodger fan…
Still, enough said.
Now the big question is: can they sustain it?
Barring a flood of injuries (already had a fair amount of those anyway) they top .500, and that’s all I’m really looking for. Anything more is a bonus. We’re deeper than we were the past two years - instead of needing a player to carry us (McCutchen), it’s a team effort this year, so .500 is much more likely than in the smoke & mirrors past. In fact, it’s been a down year for our best position player, and we’re still doing this.
Cole, perhaps our best pitcher, has just come up from triple-A and there will be adjustments. Taillon, the guy challenging Cole for #1, won’t be up until next year. There are a couple of position players that look interesting that won’t be up 'til next June or later, if they don’t get traded. I’m looking for '15, '16 & '17 to be our big years, with fingers crossed for this year and '14.
Alvarez is gone in '16. Barring an unlikely contract agreement, we’ll need to replace his production, but that may be possible.
Although a Cardinals fan, I hope Pittsburgh can be competitive all year long. At least get the big gorilla off their back about not having a winning season since 1993.
I have to admit that in lieu of the Reds doing anything (which I think they won’t this year…Johnny Cueto left a game injured AGAIN! Fucking China Doll!) I would much rather see the Buccos make a play than the fucking Cards again. Which is weird to say for me as I have a deep loathing for the Steelers as a Bengals fan, but…hey, it’s baseball. It isn’t the same.
Boy, when the Dodgers blow a streak, they blow a streak.
Yeah, I’m still at the stadium. The crowd’s expectations are…somewhat diminished.
Hey, thanks. It’s DAMN hard being a fan of a team that went to three straight NLCS, then goes on to give you 20 years of ulcers. I find that, in general, you root for or against teams, and not cities. The Steelers are a lot different than the Pirates, obviously. BTW, used to be you could be a little more proud to be a Steeler fan. We’d look around the league at felons and wonder how the teams could keep them on the roster. In the old days of Art Rooney Sr., Roethlisberger would’ve been lucky to stay on the team after his first newsworthy problem, and would NOT have lasted past the 2nd. Now, winning takes precedence over being a decent person with half a brain. Sad.
Sorry to hear about the Reds. Not a lot, you know, but some. I have a fondness for regional rivalries, and Cinci isn’t that far down the interstate.
Max Scherzer improves to 12-0, first time since ‘86 since a pitcher has done it. He’s now replaced Verlander as the Tigers’ guaranteed win in the rotation.
I’ve stayed out of this thread for fear of jinxing the Pirates, but I am just so damn excited about the team this year and how they are playing.
They are 20 games over .500! 20 games! I remember looking at other teams with envy when they hit the 20 game over .500 mark. The last time the Pirates beat the rest of the majors to the 50 win mark was 1960.
And the sign that the Pirates might sustain this pace this year? Pitching. As long as they stay healthy, they should be in the running with the Cards and Reds for the Central. And every win brings us closer to ending the 20 year nightmare of sub .500 seasons. 2 decades of futility.
And they are 8-4 against their nemesis, the Brewers.
Ok, that’s all. I am not bragging or gloating, I am mearly making observations. I hope the baseball gods understsnd and don’t punish me.
Hey hey, the Reds win and show a little life after all. What it means? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
And the Tigers drop to 2-9 in extra innings games. What a glorious sign for the stretch run and the playoffs.
With last night’s win the Dodgers only need another 50-55 wins to finish where they were projected pre-season.
The fact that I am thinking that it’s possible that they can go 52-31 the rest of the way if they all FINALLY stay healthy (and they burn Brandon League in effigy) probably says more about my lack of sanity than anything, but even with some players still out they are finally starting to look like the team they were supposed to be.
And hey, they are only 5 games back of AZ and the rest of the NL West seems to be starting to fall apart. Maybe they aren’t totally out of it yet.
Weirder things have happened. I mean, the Blue Jays are still breathing - it’s ragged, bubbly breathing, but it’s there - despite being dead and buried two or three weeks ago. Everyone who thought they’d win eleven in a row, raise your hand. Look, no hands up. I’m mildly surprised they won eleven in a month.
Not that I’d give the Jays anything better than fifty to one odds on making the postseason, but it’s better than zero.
I was with you up until the “effigy” part. He’s a witch - burn him!! Or at the very least ship him back to Single A. I have no idea why he is still on the roster.
At this stage of the season it’s an extremely positive sign. A Tigers fan should be very confident.
Think about it; the Tigers have been ridiculously bad/unlucky in the closest of games,** and they’re still in first place**. It’s near-impossible that they are actually, legitimately a .180 team in close games. Nobody is that bad, and it being June, really legitimate problems can be fixed, pitchers found, roles changed. In all likelihood, what the 2-9 record means is that they are a better team than thier overall record suggests, and they will get better, while Cleveland, who have been lucky in 1-run and extra inning games, will probably not get better. No guarantees, but those are the odds.
If the Tigers had exactly the same overall record but were 9-2 in extra inning games, you’d have reason to be seriously concerned.
Dayton Moore apparently is capable of falling out of love. The Royals have released (OK, DFAed, but you know what that really means) Jeff Francouer. The Frenchy Revolution is over, let the Reign of Terror begin.
I understand what you’re saying, but it is still very concerning. It isn’t a random trial, that you can expect to even out over time. They have two glaring weeknesses, relief pitching and defense, that will continue to hurt them in close games. I don’t know how look up stats by games where winning run scored in first six innings, vs games where winning run scored 7+ inning, but I am sure they have a vast split that is a legitimate function of how they play.