Burnett and Chavez Are Burning Mad at ESPN…Rumbunter Swabs the Web

Buried in a Trib story by Rob Biertempfel….

"• Relievers Sean Burnett and Jesse Chavez are fuming over how they’ve been portrayed by ESPN and other media for supposedly setting up a candle and “shrine” to Nate McLouth.“It’s ridiculous. Blown way out of proportion,” Burnett said. “I’m waiting for an apology.”Chavez said the candle was set up two weeks before McLouth was traded as a running joke about the players’ daily card game of Pluck. As long as Chavez and Burnett kept winning, the candle stayed lit at their lockers.“It had nothing to do with the trade,” Chavez said. “It’s a friendly thing we had going on, an inside joke.”Neither player was disciplined by the team and the candle and Pluck scoreboard remain at their lockers."

Isn’t it hilarious how so many people in this town portrayed the Pirates clubhouse after the Nate McClouth trade?  I trust Burnett and Chavez get an apology, but I seriously doubt it will happen.

 This article gave me the ‘goose pimples.’   Ron Cook always gets great details and he is all over the Mario Lemieux text messages.  [PG]

Pirates manager John Russell certainly thinks his team is in the thick of the race.

“If it were any other team in baseball that was (four) games out, people would say we were in contention,” Russell said. “But because we’re Pittsburgh and we’re the Pirates, nobody says anything. Everyone just talks about the streak. We’re right there, though.”[Trib Dem]

 Andy Van Slyke and Andrew McCutchen  [Trib]

Roberto.   “With all the negative attention being paid to baseball these days, it’s important to look back at the kind of impact a true sports hero can have on our nation,” says AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Executive Producer Mark Samels. “Roberto Clemente was much more than an athlete — he channeled that fame into a larger mission of helping people, broke racial barriers, and continues to inspire today.”   [Gather]

Gerald Perry takes the fall for the Cubs woeful offensive.  [Cubs]

UFC 99 fight bonuses  [Rear Naked Joke]