Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day 2011: ROOT for Correia

The Pittsburgh Pirates

open the 2011 season in Chicago.  One man has a lot to prove this season.  Kevin Correia had a huge loss last year. On May 8th, he found a note in his locker that told him to call his wife.

The tragic news could not have seemed real.   His brother had died in a hiking accident off Santa Cruz Island.  Trevor Correia was only weeks away from his 22nd birthday.

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Correia wasn’t the same afterwards and less than four months later, he was out of the Padres rotation.

After we spoke to Correia at Piratefest we came away with the perception that he is all of the following:  Intense.  Reserved.  Thoughtful and did we say,  intense.   (And he loves golf.)

The Bucs trust he can be the pitcher he was in 2009.

Many Pirates fans have their doubts.   It will be up to Correia to prove himself in a town that is dying to watch winning baseball.  Bucco fans have seen the free agent pitchers come and go.  So being named the Pirates opening day starter has gone mostly unnoticed in Pittsburgh.

Thus, today is a big day for Kevin Correia, it’s not just another opening day, it’s a day in which he can try to start anew and erase the memories of last year.  Fortunately for Corriea he is doing it for a team in the Pittsburgh Pirates that will be trying to forget last season too.  In fact, each year for the past few decades the Pirates have been trying make the thoughts of the previous season disappear.

We wish Correia luck in finding his swagger again and doing his best to put the tragic 2010 loss of his younger brother behind him.  It sure would be a great story wouldn’t it?

CUBS LINEUP:

Know the bad guys:

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ROOT SPORTS? Huh?

What the hell is this new channel covering our beloved Buccos?  It’s called ROOT Sports and from what we hear they are giving fans “a Place To Root For?”

The commercials ROOT Sports has been running are difficult to watch, let’s trust it’s just some mind rick.   Apparently there is a plan and it involves you more than you realize, you better get signed up for Twitter.  From the Forbes blog:

"The plan: to extend the ever-increasing interactive experience of the ballpark to the telecast, through more moving cameras, fan shots and social media integration that will allow viewers to contribute to the telecasts through twitter and other platforms"

"“New music, new products, the fans will see a big difference,” says Root Sports Marketing VP Geoff Walker.  What figures to be interesting is tracking where the experiment goes – are we looking at a subtle change in a few markets or the wave of the future?   Will teams see enough value to  dissuade them from starting their own RSNs, as several have already done? Time will tell."

GET SOME

Get your prediction into the comments before the game starts today. Unless you’re, well scared.

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MONKEY SAYS

FLASHBACK:

In the Pirates opener last season, Garrett Jones performed out of his mind.  Two bombs..

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