Archive for February, 2010

The Indianapolis Indians beat the LA Dodgers last year.  Kinda.  And close enough for us.  Scott McCauley, the AAA Indians announcer has a great post about a sad, snow covered Indianapolis, but more importantly Scott takes a look back at the lineup from September 27th.  It was a big series for L.A.  they were expected to blow through the Pirates and clinch their place in the playoffs.  But it didn’t turn out that way.  And for a few games in a dreadful season, the Pirates impressed.  On September 27,  the Pittsburgh Pirates took down LA with  lineup full of recent Pirates who played at AAA [...]

Pittsburgh Pirate Manager John Russell answered an interesting question regarding advance scouts during PirateFest.  The Pirates don’t have one on the payroll.  Wouldn’t the Pirates want every possible advantage when they step on the field?   Especially when more teams in MLB are increasing budget dollars in both man hours and advanced scouting systems?  Teams are using new metrics and technology to increase their likelihood of winning baseball games.  The Yankees didn’t just buy the 2009 World Series.  They used their coaches and advance scouts to make the final cuts for their 25-man playoff roster.  The advance scouts and video filmed by the coaching staff during the season were a key to the [...]

John Perrotto is one of the top dogs at BP.  He penned a little Pirate talk today and also used the word penuriousness in describing Bob Nutting.  Here are some of the lines from the ‘premium content’ article.   Oh, let me save you the google search:   penuriousness – a state of lacking money The Pirates, though, insist things are different this time. They are adamant that this stab at rebuilding is going to take hold and restore credibility to the franchise.  PECOTA isn’t  so bullish on the Pirates’ short-term future, as it projects them to finish 70-92 this year, which [...]

Audi stole the show with their Super Bowl ad. It was the favorite of the RumBunter gang. Maybe it was Cheap Trick. What was yours?

Roberto is the man at Vin Scully is My Homeboy.  He was hanging out at Roscoe’s with the LA Dodgers Caravan.  Roscoe’s is a famous LA restaurant that is well known for their chicken and waffles.  Most of the stars hang out there (and my wife and I did too in 2008)  But nobody told Barry Bonds the Dodgers Caravan had the joint for their caravan stop.   Heh, Barry maybe the Dodger Caravan bus would have given it away?  But Barry was hungry.  Some fans came out to get autographs, then somebody said it….Here is the link If your a Snoop Dogg fan [...]

Carlos Mamol is signed as the closer, but the Cubs still need bullpen help Cubbies Crib writes.  Could Blue Jays fastball heavy Jason Frasor be the answer?    Cubbies Crib thinks Tom Gorzelanny could be moved to get the deal done.  Jon Heyman weighs in on the off-season for the Cubs in this post.  Did they swing and miss?  Heyman says yes.  (He also believes the Pirates did too.) Blog Red Machine details the idea of a new catcher for the Reds.   A power hitting catcher, wasn’t Ryan Doumit one of those?   Have the Brewers already lost Prince Fielder?  Reviewing the Brew lets [...]

[Christian Colon Matt Brown Photo.com] Christian Colon is the smallest of the top ranked shortstops at 6 foot, 185 pounds.  But he looks, acts, and delivers like the image you have of a big-time shortstop.  As Pittsburgh Pirate fans we haven’t been able to enjoy a big-time shortstop wearing black and gold in the recent past.  But perhaps Colon, or one of the other two players we posted in this series, will change that in a few years. Colon was a stud coming out of high school and in 2006 was the MVP  of the prestigious AFLAC All-American Game.  Colon went two-for-three with three stolen [...]

Manny Machado was the SS on the USA Baseball Under 18 National Team.  Machado could have some questions defensively as reports document, but his bat is an exclamation mark.  He is a tall shortstop at  6’2″ and that appears very evident in the video below.  However, reports say he is highly athletic.  The defensive questions appear technique oriented from what I found as I’ve read several articles about his sparkling defensive play.  He shows good footwork and has a  plus arm. Machado consistently hits in big games as was evident with his .435/.536/.739 during six games of pool play at the 18U Tourney.  His stats for [...]

Yordy Cabrera was mentioned by Jason (that guy is funny and now smart too!?) in the comments so we have some videos up for everyone to enjoy on this snowy weekend.  I took a look at this kid and immediately thought, holy hell. Cabrera is a 6’4″ SS at Lakeland HS.   Scouting reports say he is very strong, projects to hit with plus power, and has a major league arm.  If he weren’t such a solid position player, he could be successful as a pitcher reports say as his fastball touches 94-95.  This report lists Cabrera as the fifth best SS in [...]

Evidently, Georges Laroque wasn’t told  ”the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t for sale.” RumBunter defending champ Jason told me that he can dominate the over one million other contributors including 3rd Boss, Rudy, Dan, Ian, Scott, Rene, and 999,988 others.  So the challenge is open.  Hell, Under Armour stepped up with some of their new sweatshirts. And yeh, Jason you can feel free to win another one and resell it for beer money.  Odds: Jason 2-1 Rudy 2-1 3rd Boss 3-1 Dan 4-1 Ian 5-1 Scott 5-1 Rene 7-1 RumBunter 125-1 Get a hilarious comment in the section below by when midnight strikes this Super Bowl Sunday and you will [...]