Archive for July, 2009

The Pirates signed 7th round draft pick Trent Stevenson.   All along the Pirates have said they will spend money in the draft.  Now we are seeing it come to life in a big way.  I love it.  Baseball Prospectus writer Kiley McDaniel says the bonus was 350K, Nice job NH.  More signings on the way as well….  *Enter Everyone thought he had a commitment to Arizona that was

  Brandon Moss hit the first walkoff homerun of his life yesterday.  He saved it for a great occassion as the Pirates took two of three from the Brewers at PNC Park.  Moss was on Rocco DeMaro’s post game show today. He said he is going to hit at least 15 homeruns for his grandfather. And the Rumbunter exclusively horrible video and pictures follow from the Pirates thrilling 8-7 victory at PNC Park yesterday.  I figure bad pictures and bad video are better than bad words anyday. mvi_0781  Rumbunter Video of the call over the PNC scoreboard system.  mvi_0779 Rumbunter Video of [...]

Freddy Sanchez has been quite the player for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He is having another solid season as the Bucs second baseman.  He is hitting 303 against righties, 333 against lefties and a solid 315 (23 for 73) with RISP. He has 31 hits in his last 96 at bats.  His last homer was off Jeff Suppan at PNC Park on May 5. 

The Pirates were all fired up to answer the emotional check mate the Brewers put on the team last night.  Build upon the first victory against the Brewers in 17 attempts.  Take on the fire of Manager JR and put another victory up in the NL Central. Nope. Didn’t happen. The Pirates were not fired up.  Some of the lazy swings looked like the team was sleep walking against the Brewers last night.  The Brewers did just enough to win and not wake up the sleep walkers.  *Enter Instead of putting another win up, the Pirates barely mustered offense.  Four [...]

    If you ever needed a reason to burn that old Kendall jersey, click on this from the PG best to walk the talk.  Kendall calls Joe Kerrigan, Dave Kerwin.  And then rides it out for the rest of the interview.

Jeff Karstens pitched a masterpiece in relief of Ross Ohlendorf last evening.  It’s a shame he didn’t get to finish what he started.   He threw three scoreless  innings, just one more inning and he would have had a well deserved save.  But the Brew Crew got payback, and perhaps an emotional check mate last night. Karstens came in and immediately got a 1-2-3 sixth inning.  He is sporting a 2.45 ERA out of the pen. He came right at Hart with his first high and inside pitch.  ( And perhaps that’s where the fun began)

If Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez wanted to stay in Pittsburgh, they would have made counter offers to the Pirates through their agents.  They didn’t.  Apparently agents don’t work weekends.

Lastings Milledge continued his mission of letting the Pirate front office know he is ready to play in the big leagues.  JR said in an interview yesterday that the coaching staff has found some things that will help Lastings in the long run.  He has made a few adjustments and is having success. No rush. No urgency.  Milledge had his streak of FOUR multi-hit games halted yesterday.  Check out the tear Milledge has been on lately:   two for three, two for three, three for four, four for six.  He also has walked three times, and driven in five runs.  His OPS is [...]

Kyle McPherson threw 6.2 innings last night against the Staten Island Yankees.  He allowed only four hits while striking out six and walking none.  The Spikes lost a tough one to the toughest pitching staff in the league  2-0.  Of the four hits by the Yankees, two were solo homeruns including Neil Medchill’s NYPenn leading eighth of the year.  McPherson continued his solid pitching at State College he is fourth in the NYPenn League with 31 strikeouts and only has issued two walks in his six starts.  His WHIP now sits at 1.08 The Spikes who were on a winning streak before [...]

The Pirates have made another smart move.  The double play duo of Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson who are tied for most DP’s turned  in the majors with 100 have been approached about contract extensions.  It makes so much sense.  But, why now? The clock is running on getting a deal done.  Perhaps that favors the Bucs.  Perhaps that favors Sanchez and Wilson. Freddy has been saying forever that, “everyone knows I would like to finish my career as a Pittsburgh Pirate.”  Now he has the chance to prove it by signing on the line that is dotted. It was a move that [...]