I'm looking for information on why Andrew McCutchen has chosen number 22 for his jersey number in Pittsburgh. I have a few guesses right off hand but haven't found any articles or interviews with McCutchen discussing this. My thoughts are either he chose number 22 because of his age or because it's "double" the number 2 that he wore while playing for the Indianapolis Indians. Does anybody know for sure why he chose this number? I also find little facts and stories like this interesting.

I am a Pittsburgh Pirates fan... I know... there are still a few of us left. Anyway, the Pirates' long-time radio play-by-play man, Lanny Frattare, retired after 33 seasons at microphone and the Buccos have replaced him with Tim Neverett. From what I understand, Neverett most recently worked with FSN Rocky Mountain and as a part-time radio broadcaster for the Rockies.

In addition to being one of the few remaining Pirates fans, I am also one of the few remaining younger fans (I'm 28) who prefer listening to baseball on the radio rather than watching it on the TV. In saying that, I feel that a play-by-play man is very important. He paints a picture by which you can visualize and imagine the game. I'm a little anxious because Frattare broadcasted Pirates games for my entire life. Now I have to get used to someone new.

Could you all please tell me a little about Tim Neverett? His style, etc. No reason to hold anyhing back... tell me if he sucks.

My wife and I have been thinking about going to RedsFest this year but aren't totally sure yet. We've never been and I was wondering if I could get some input from you all on what to expect and whether or not it would be worth the 3-hour drive that it would take us to get to Cincy from our home in Toledo. Also, if we choose to go we will only be able to make the Saturday portion.

We normally catch a stop on the Reds winter caravan. Those, however, are free of charge - RedsFest isn't. So is it worth the money and the drive?

I have been watching tonight's game on FSN Ohio. The Reds tv announcers (George Grande and Chris Welsh) said that Josh Fogg leads all-time Pirates' starters in wins at PNC Park with 20 total. Is this correct!? ... Zach Duke and a few other pitchers are behind him with 18 wins.

If so, I guess it is just another brutal illustration of how bad the Pirates have been since they moved into PNC Park.

I just got the 2008 draft preview of Baseball America in the mail today. Jim Callis is projecting that the Reds will select RHP Aaron Crow out of the University of Missouri with the seventh pick overall. Crow has a 13-0 record this year which is VERY impressive considering the competition that he faces in the Big XII. Today he shutout Ole Miss for 7-0 win and struck out 10 batters in the opening round of the NCAA Regional. This certainly looks like a good pick to me.

I would also like to the Reds take a serious look at Conor Gillaspie, 3b, out of Wichita State. BA rates him as the number 3 "Best Pure Hitter" ... probably wouldn't be a bad move considering EE isn't exactly panning out.

I bought a new Pirates cap today. This is a big event for me. Over the past 11 years I have had a total of three. Sure I went through several as a kid, I remember one where the bill was all bent up like Stan Belinda's hat, but regardless the three Pirates hats of my adult years have a lot of memories attached to them.

The first of the trio I bought while attending my last game at Three Rivers, that was in August of 1999. It was alternate/red bill cap (the first go-around) and lastest me quiet a few years until an ex-girlfriend decided to mutalate it in one of her not-unusual fists of rage.

The second was a one of those floppy fitted jobs, solid black with the 'P.' That didn't last too long because unlike the authentics the cotton hats quickly fade in the sun. My once black hat turned to brown, to a greenish color, to tan, in a matter of a summer or two.

Number three has been my favorite. Solid black, authentic. Unfortunately due to too many bouts in the rain the 100% wool hat has shrunk a couple of sizes and I really can only comfortably wear it after getting a fresh haircut.

Number 4 - the new guy. Solid black with the gold 'P' again, but this is one of those new polyester jobs, not the tradional wool. We are still getting aquainted. To quote Garth from Wayne's World, "A first it's constrictive, but after a while it becomes a part of you." Hopefully we'll be together for a long time and maybe, MAYBE, this hat will get to see something that the others haven't, a winning season.

I've got a question about the Reds' black and red hats. Am I correct to say that the Reds aren't wearing these anymore? With last year's uniform change, the solid red caps (my favorite) became the home hat, the red hat w/ black bill became the away hat, and the black hat w/ red bil became defunct.

If this is the case why is new era still making the black and red hats in the new / not wool material (that came into use last year) and why is MLB.com still selling these as the Reds' official "Alternative" hat?

I live in Kansas and someone stopped me the other day while I was wearing good ol' chief wahoo and told me that Wichita is "full of Indians fans"... because of Eric Wedge and Casey Blake being former Wichita State Shockers. Are there any Tribe fans out there that can confirm or deny this geographic oddity?

http://blue-collarbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/02/geographic-anomaly-of-tribe-fans-in.html

I have recently noticed several people wearing Pirates hats around my local university campus here in Kansas, which seems like an odd fashion statement, considering Pittsburgh is so far away and the Pirates don't exactly have a nation-wide following of fans.

Over the past four years, I have seen the ratio of Red Sox to Royals hats increased dramatically to the point that it's probably at about 4:1 now. This invasion of Red Sox hats on our local cultural landscapes is a nation-wide geographic phenomenon. Although the observed Pirates hat phenomenon is nowhere close to the scale of the Red Sox hat phenomenon, what is the reasoning for this?

Although I know relatively nothing about rap or hip-hop music, I can't help but think there must be some popular artist who is from the `Burgh or wears a Pirates hat in a video or two. This reasoning comes from the fact that all of the individuals that I have seen wearing Bucco hats here have been dressed in the hip-hop style: baggy pants, cap bill flat as a board, etc.

This is another thing that bothers the poop out of me - the flat-billed hat. It's taking over. I had an experience last week at a local hat store where a clerk informed me that the "flat-bills" were on sale, referring to the authentic 59/50 hats. I decided to try one on and made a special effort to bend the bill considerably.

On to my next theory about the Pirates hat phenomenon. Stemming from my flat-bill tangent. There was a sale! Maybe the Pirates hats were dramatically marked down.

Maybe these guys were just trying to be different. I read about a guy in Kevin Kaduk's book, Wrigleyville, who would buy the hat of the previous year's worst team before the start of each new season. That season his hat of choice was the Detroit Tigers - look how that turned out. Maybe these guys are just trying to jump on the Bucco bandwagon before it starts.

(http://blue-collarbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/01/pirates-hat-are-fashionable-in-kansas.html)

I think that it's pathetic that only two-thirds of the invited players decided to show up and the "voluntary" minicamp.

If this franchise is going to begin to turnaround its culture of losing, then we need a reversal of attitude among Pirates players. They need to stop this selfish attitude and show up to support their teammates and new coaches. Who knows they just might learn something too.