In Case You Didn’t Notice-Pirates Don’t Care What You Think; BC Baseball Coach Challenges ‘Draft Gurus’

Five great things I learned today:

1.  Nobody in a Red Wing jersey was smiling after this year’s game six.  The Penguins travel to Detroit for all the marbles with a suddenly confident goaltender.  The home team is perfect in this series, just like the Canadiens back in the day.  Can we do it?

2. The Steelers Super Bowl rings are really big.  Really shiny.  You know for a fact that there were a lot of NFL players searching the internet tonight to get a glimpse at those rings.

3.  There are tens of thousands of draft gurus in Pittsburgh.  I never knew.  Boston College baseball coach Mik Aoki was interviewed on 104.7 tonight with Rocco.  He said this on his former player, Mr. Tony Sanchez.

"”The people in Pittsburgh better be careful when they say the Pirates overdrafted with Sanchez, if you are saying that, you are going to be eating your words in three or four years.”"

4.  Charlie Morton is going to have butterflies tomorrow as he makes his first start against the Atlanta Braves.  Tom Gorzelanny was sent to AAA.  Jeff Karstens goes to the bullpen.  In spite of what JR says, Morton is on his way to Hotlanta to face his old mates. [Jen L Blog has the scoop]

5.  Balls.  The Pirates front office has really big ones and because they are such big balls, they need a large place to hold their big balls.  Currently, they hold them in large ball rooms known as draft war rooms.  In these ball rooms, the Pirates wear fancy suits.  And these suits could really care less what you think.  They are going to dance with who they want to dance with.  This isn’t a made to order arrangement.  I LOVE IT.

NH traded Nate and many a man-crush were tore apart in a matter of a few hours.  A few geeks stated that Nate really wasn’t, statistically  of course, the player the fans thought he was.  The fans dismissed those facts because these guys are viewed as geeks.  It just didn’t fit their point of view.

Now the Pirates brass picked Sanchez to dance with and the mob has gathered at the gate.   90% of the fans are beside themselves because those same geeks that said Nate wasn’t exactly as he appeared said Sanchez wasn’t slotted for this pick.  So now they are listening to these Mel Kiper wannabes and they are in a rage over this choice of dance partner.

I am confused.

Guess what?  The Pirates front office is drawing a line in the sand.  Which ‘side’ are you on?  Did the Pirates reach in the first round?  [Baseball America}

I know the answer.  Please don’t bother telling me what you think.  It doesn’t matter what you think.  Remember?

Aoki, the BC coach, said Sanchez worked his ass off to work himself into the first round. The kid will be fine.  Is he a reach at the fourth pick overall?  Hell, I don’t know. I just enjoy watching the show. Time will tell.

Sanchez certainly wasn’t a popular pick. Which is why the front office probably like him so much. The kid was bubbling with enthusiasm during his interview with PG’s Chuck Finder:

“I just felt that they were attracted to my work ethic and how much I invest in my team, the fact that I’m going to work harder for my teammates than for myself,” said Sanchez, an admittedly former round kid who shed 25 pounds in the past year and a half through conditioning, working out and dieting — mostly subsisting on Subway turkey-and-tuna on wheat. “At BC, we were a losing program. Me and my teammates took a mentality that we wanted to turn that around. I hope to do the same thing getting into the system with the Pittsburgh Pirates. I want to help turn that franchise into a winning franchise.”

Keep pissing off 90% of the fan base Neil/Frank/Bob.  I am enjoying it.  If there is anything I can do to assist, I am here to help.

I was going to put my own script together, but this video is just to good. WNST Baltimore put this together after their beloved Raves suffered defeat at the hands of the Broncos in 2006.  Any excuse for our Baltimore readers to suffer is good enough for me.

So just use your imagination on this one.  Colonel Neil Huntington would be Brian Billick of course.  The ‘jump ball’ would be the selection of Sanchez.

*Enter

Second round pick and winner of the best name in the draft, Brooks Pounders, owner of a USC scholarship and a 6’4″ frame.  He is a four-pitch hurler and also plays first base.

*Enter

Why is Michael still with Lynchburg?  He got the win today and lowered his ERA to 1.39 and had four more strikeouts today.   Pedro hit a double in four at bats[Hillcats]Gorky’s not making a good impression.  An 0-for4 tonight.