SBNation.com User Blog: IAPiratesFan

Pay for your Gathering IV tickets.

IAPiratesFan — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:14:53 -0000

Hey guys, if you ordered a ticket or two or ten the Pittsburgh Sports Forum will be taking payments for those tickets now. Basically all you have to do is Paypal the money to Steelreign there by clicking on the donate button and going from there. The tickets are $21 a piece. As he gets the payments, either I or Cocktailsfor2 will update you all on who he has received payments from. This is, I think, the second year Steelreign has taken care of the tickets.

Here's a link to the Pittsburgh Sports Forum. The donate button is about half way down on the right hand side. And here's a link to the most recent thread over there discussing the upcoming Gathering. It is taking place on July 13th and there will probably be people Gathering as soon as the parking lot opens. Even if you have decided not to get a ticket to sit with us during the game (or you're unsure if you can make it) everyone is welcome to party with us beforehand and sit someplace else.

Also would some of you gents rec this up so that everyone will notice it.

Bucs-Fets Overflow May 11th.

IAPiratesFan — Sat, 11 May 2013 19:41:45 -0000

LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS! LETS GO BUCS! AND LET'S GO PENS!

Joel Hanrahan likely to have surgery.

IAPiratesFan — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:09:22 -0000

Joel Hanrahan likely to have surgery.

I'm not sure if I need to say this, but I'm sure everyone likes the Hammer and all he did for this team, but I'm sure as hell glad he was traded away when he was.

Pirates-Nationals May 5th Overflow.

IAPiratesFan — Sun, 05 May 2013 19:15:07 -0000

LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS! LETS GO BUCS!

BEAT THE NATIONALS.

WAY TO GO PENS!

BEAT THE NATIONALS.

WAY TO GO PENS!

Pirates-Braves 420 OverFlow.

IAPiratesFan — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 01:18:33 -0000

LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS! LET'S GO BUCS!

Tickets for Gathering 4. Earth Day UPDATE

IAPiratesFan — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 01:22:38 -0000

With the original post having been removed from the front page, I just thought I'd make another one here so that if you like tickets for the Gathering you can let us know. Here's a link to the discussion over at the Pittsburgh Sports Forum. There, Cocktailsfor2 has brought up the idea that if you buy a ticket, you should be bring something too.

Here's an updated list of who has requested tickets and how many so far:

Steelreign: 2
Kipper: 2/3
IAPF2: 1
CF2: 3
Jimmie: 2
War Machine: 1
blcartright: 2
lfhlaw: 1
Lighthouse913: 4
dr_roxtar: 1
PGHPinstripes: 2
Beezy: 2
Sox Detox: 2
Les: 2
BostonBuc: 2

Also, on Sunday, Lighthouse913 and I will be hanging out and sort of hosting Gathering 4.1. I should probably ask SoxDetox if he'd like to join us. But yeah, if you went to it last year and enjoyed it, be sure to join in. I'm still kinda bummed I missed it last year because the Pirates ended up sweeping the series. Would have been to nice to stick around and see them finish the sweep.

Here's an updated list of who has requested tickets and how many so far:

Steelreign: 2
Kipper: 2/3
IAPF2: 1
CF2: 3
Jimmie: 2
War Machine: 1
blcartright: 2
lfhlaw: 1
Lighthouse913: 4
dr_roxtar: 1
PGHPinstripes: 2
Beezy: 2
Sox Detox: 2
Les: 2
BostonBuc: 2

Pirates-Braves April 18 Overflow.

IAPiratesFan — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 01:08:36 -0000

(FIRE HUNTINGTON)

Pirates-Cardinals April 15 Overflow.

IAPiratesFan — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:03:32 -0000

Pirates-Reds April 13 Overflow.

IAPiratesFan — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:58:46 -0000

Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs! Marte Party! Let's Go Bucs!

Beat the Reds!

Pirates/D-Backs April 8 O-Flow.

IAPiratesFan — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 03:50:14 -0000

Tickets for Gathering IV.

IAPiratesFan — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:34:40 -0000

Hey guys, the fine folks at the Pittsburgh Sports Forum have set the date of the fourth annual Gathering as July 13th (schedule your day off and travel plans accordingly). As of today, SteelReign will be taking your ticket requests so we can get an idea of how many people will be in our group of roudy drunks in PNC Park. Of course if you're not sure if you can make it, you are invited to buy your own ticket and just party with us at the tailgate. But from my experience going to two of the three so far, it's better to have a ticket with the group, sort of a strength in numbers kind of thing.

And even better, this year they will take payment with paypal, so if you don't want to worry about your check getting lost in the mail, you can just paypal the money and instead worry about ID theft.

Here's the link to the topic at the PSF for those of you interested.

Also the next day, I was thinking of maybe hosting Gathering 4.1 like BucDaddy did last year. I'm not sure if he would be up for it this year, but since I missed out on it last year, I'd like to host one this year to make up for it. So anyone not too hung over can join me for a few pre-game drinks at a bar followed up by some Sunday afternoon baseball.

And even better, this year they will take payment with paypal, so if you don't want to worry about your check getting lost in the mail, you can just paypal the money and instead worry about ID theft.

Here's the link to the topic at the PSF for those of you interested.

Bids for 'Holy Grail' of baseball cards hit $1.6 million

IAPiratesFan — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:01:50 -0000

Bids for 'Holy Grail' of baseball cards hit $1.6 million

Another article about Honus Wagner's baseball card being worth than most of the Pirates will make this year in salary. Just more proof that Nutting is cheap and he needs to sell to Pittsburgh area billionare who will lose all his money making a winning team?

Rebuild the Phillies.

IAPiratesFan — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:32:21 -0000

Rebuild the Phillies.

A fascinating article from Jonah Keri about why the Phillies maybe should blow up their roster and start the rebuilding process. I think it shows that normal teams (not the Pirates) have peaks and valleys and not just Grand Canyons...

Pirates have toughest NL Schedule to start the season.

IAPiratesFan — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:26:26 -0000

Pirates have toughest NL Schedule to start the season.

An ESPN Insider article looking at the strength of the Pirates schedule to start the season. If the Pirates start out strong, I think it'll be a good sign for the rest of the season.

Bobble head give away!

IAPiratesFan — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:14:03 -0000

Bobble head give away!

The Florence Freedom in Kentucy, an indy baseball team, will be giving boxes with bobble heads as real as Manti Te'o's girlfriend. Anyways, I bet Nutting would love this promotion. Empty boxes? That'll save us money on the promotion and people will think we are smart!

Because ya know, if you keep on the Smizik blog, Nutting is cheap after all...

Gathering IV.

IAPiratesFan — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 11:58:34 -0000

Gathering IV.

For everyone that is interested, the guys at the Pittsburgh Sports Forum have decided that July 13, 2013 will be the date of the fourth annual Gathering of the blogs, that is if the world doesn't end on December 21, 2012, right?

Hopefully this will give all of you who wish to attend enough of an advance warning to get that day off or make your vacation plans to travel to Pittsburgh that weekend.

Red Sox Prices.

IAPiratesFan — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 20:54:18 -0000

Red Sox Prices.

Sox Detox posted this on twitter a few days ago. I find it amusing when the Smizikistan cretins bitch and moan about Nutting being cheap, that they don't bother to look at what the Yankees and Red Sox are charging fans for a game.

Jim Tracy Resigns.

IAPiratesFan — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:29:10 -0000

Jim Tracy Resigns.

Former Pirates manager Jim Tracy resigned after a 98 loss season for the Rockies. I'm guessing he was told to either resign or be fired.

Twenty Years.

IAPiratesFan — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 17:43:17 -0000

Twenty Years.

Here's some good perspective on how long this whole losing thing has been happening.

If you can stand to watch, the last few minutes are "highlights" from the last 50 games....

You guys win again.

IAPiratesFan — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:38:38 -0000

I have to say that you guys totally kicked our asses at the trade deadline. Our General Manger needs to be canned and one good reason to be is trading for Travis Snider. At a time the Pirates needed a good bat to help put the Pirates in place to win the Wild Card, they went out and picked up your worthless trash and gave up a good bullpen arm to do so.

It's bad enough you guys got Jose Bautista for basically nothing and you now get Brad Lincoln for basically nothing as well. Travis Snider seems to only be capable of grounding out to 1B and 2B. Of course that's only when he's not hurt, which he seems to be about 90% of the time. I came here back at the end of July to see what your reaction was to this trade and I thought "Oh, ok maybe it wasn't such a bad trade." Of course I think you guys were looking at this Snider guy through rose colored glasses. He has hit one home run in 122 plate appearances. He has a .252 batting average and an OPS of .682. What was so freaking great about this guy anyways?

Seriously?

Meanwhile Brad Lincoln isn't doing as well as he was earlier in the season, but he's still doing pretty good, which is more than what I can say for Snider at this point.

I guess if nothing else, he can't demand too much in arbitration next year. Alex Anthopoulos just totally schooled Neal Huntington. Congratulations. You win.

Seriously?

Meanwhile Brad Lincoln isn't doing as well as he was earlier in the season, but he's still doing pretty good, which is more than what I can say for Snider at this point.

I guess if nothing else, he can't demand too much in arbitration next year. Alex Anthopoulos just totally schooled Neal Huntington. Congratulations. You win.

Some guy makes BJ faces during the 9th last night

IAPiratesFan — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:34:47 -0000

Some guy makes BJ faces during the 9th last night

Nice way for him to use his 15 minutes of fame.

Pirates-Reds Extra Innings Overflow 9/10/12

IAPiratesFan — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 02:17:57 -0000

I cannot believe that Watson got through the 9th....

5 Years Later...

IAPiratesFan — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 04:16:28 -0000

On September 7, 2007 the Pittsburgh Pirates fired Dave Littlefield. Five years has since passed. On the morning of September 7, 2007, the Pirates were 61-79 and would finish the season at 68-94. In 2005 and 2006, the Pirates spent exactly 0 days over .500. And in 2007, they started the season at 4-2 and were later 6-6 but never spent another day that season over .500.

I think the fact that the team has spent the majority of this season at or above .500 shows that the organization has made some progress in the last five years. Neal Huntington took a ton of blame for 2010, even though Charlie was pointing out in 2007 that the Pirates could lose 110 games. He hasn't been a great general manager, but has been for the most part, a competent one, which is more than what could say for Littlefield and Bonifay.

So thinking back to that great day five years ago, where did you expect the Pirates to be in five years? Personally, I had no idea. I knew they wouldn't be on their way to winning a World Series. The mess left behind by DL was just too big for anyone to fix in five years, unless he got really lucky. I think at the time I just wanted to win or at the very least see a lot of progress towards making the Pirates a winning organization again.

If you can remember, what was your reaction to the firing and your expectations at the time?

Brewers-Pirates Overflow 8/31

IAPiratesFan — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 02:28:03 -0000

Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs!

Not that we'll win or anything...

Pirates misfire on priorities.

IAPiratesFan — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 10:42:50 -0000

Pirates misfire on priorities.

Dejan Kovacevic reports on the Pirates players being forced to use most of their day off for a charitable event at Seven Springs.

Pirates-Padres 2nd Overflow 8/20.

IAPiratesFan — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 04:18:22 -0000

Padres-Pirates Overflow 8/20.

IAPiratesFan — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 03:12:16 -0000

LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES! LET'S GO PIRATES!

(Yelled in a loud little girl's voice).

Jim Caple predicts 2nd half.

IAPiratesFan — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 19:07:27 -0000

Jim Caple predicts 2nd half.

Jim Caple has a pretty dire prediciton for us Pittsburgh fans. Let's just say it's only slightly better than what happened in 1992.

Bucs-Stros 7/2 Overflow

IAPiratesFan — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 01:33:13 -0000

Beat the Distastros!

Bucs-Cards 6/30 Overflow

IAPiratesFan — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:25:19 -0000

Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs!

Beat the Cardinals!