I have been a Bucs' fan since the early sixties. The first game that I attended was at Forbes' Field against the Mets on Saturday July 9th, 1966. Woody Fryman pitched a complete game and Willie, batting seventh, homered. Prodigious memory? Nah, how about retrosheet.com? Anyway, I have been hooked ever since for there is nothing comparable to sitting in a Pirates' ballpark whether it was Forbes' Field, Three Rivers, or now PNC Park, the most beautiful in all of baseball. 

As the reality of once familiar territory-1st place-sinks in, I wish to reach out to all of you and Pirates' Nation as a whole and simply express my appreciation for this commonality that binds us all. Despite all the trials and travails engendered by 18 years of frustration and angst, our loyalty remained steadfast because...We Are Pirates' Fans! Ridicule and belittlement did not deter that loyalty and our enthusiasm for our team during that long drought because...We Are Pirates' Fans!  Whether you have been a die hard fan for 50 years or have just jumped on the bandwagon 5 minutes ago, it matters not because at the convergence of old and new stands one simple truth...We Are Pirates' Fans!

Thank you for reading this post but, most of all, the sincerest appreciation for sharing the excitement of this magical season as well as remaining on board through all the tumult. I am damn proud of being a lifelong fan and am once again elated about the present moment as well as the future of our Buccos! Say it, say it loud; WE ARE PIRATES FANS!

I'm sure most of us are speculating on what is going on with Pedro. Surely a quad injury does not take this long to heal and I've seen no information regarding his current location and status. Based on this uncertainty, I'm going to offer my humble opinion. I think that perhaps Pedro is perfectly healthy and this may be a gracious attempt by the Pirates to allow him to save face. A demotion to AAA may have had deleterious effects on his ego. Could it be that his quad is fine and the Pirates are allowing him to quietly work on the holes in his swings without distraction? Could it be that once he is comfortable again with his hitting that they will send him to AAA on a rehab assignment?  Hey, even the biggest injured Superstars do that. Just asking.

There once was a German Count who had a huge interest in the American Southwest. He devoured novels by Louis L'Amour and had an insatiable appetite for reading anything and collecting everything that pertained  to that region of our country. For years he had a yearning to visit and one day, many years ago, decided to bring his dream to fruition. So he gathered his staff and they helped him choose this one small West Texas town for a three day visit. He dictated a letter to his secretary to be sent to the town's council notifying them of his impending visit.

Needless to say, once the letter was received and word spread throughout this small municipality, the whole town was abuzz with excitement. They had never experienced European Nobility before and wanted to do it right for the Count and his family and his entourage. They had a town meeting and reached a consensus on all the events during his visit culminating with an old fashioned Texas BBQ on a Saturday afternoon, the last day of the Count's visit. The days festivities would end that evening with the town's orchestra entertaining the Count with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

There were several problems attached to the entertainment aspect of the day's program. One was that the only venue available was the local high school gym which was an old structure in great disrepair. It also did not have air conditioning which could be brutal in the midst of a scorching Texas summer. They simply had to rely on a decrepit ventilation system which had seen better days. And because this was a small gym, they had to limit the instrumentation as well as the vocalists for the choral part in Beethoven's Ninth. Secondly, the orchestra itself was neither very talented nor reliable. They had two bass players that were the town drunks. Yes, co-town drunks! And sometimes they'd even arrive at performances smashed. Then the choral part required a full choir, however, lack of space limited them to four vocalists, two women and two men.

Despite some of these problems, the town went undaunted with the planning and preparation for the arrival of their German guests. Tents were erected at the town park for the BBQ in the event of rain. Food preparation was assigned to a committee. Volunteers cleaned up every square inch, every nook and cranny of the town. Amazing foresight was given to communications between the park and the gym in the event of any problems. The town hired two noted residents of this town who were a married couple that competed in marathons. They were to deliver, on foot,  any messages between the gym and the park to address any problems that may occur. The town park had no pay phones and widespread cell phone usage was still unavailable back then.

The first two days events proceeded impeccably and went according to plan. Yet, early Saturday morning brought a trivial problem but an ominous warning of what may lie ahead. It seems like the marathoners received word of the availability of a house that they long coveted. Saturday was the only day that they could move their belongings to their dream house due to a tight schedule. It was too late to hire new messengers so the idea of communications between the two venues was scrapped. A final rehearsal was being conducted in early afternoon for that nights performance of Beethoven's Ninth but the two male vocalists did not show up and these two men could not be found despite a town wide search. And the co-drunks, the bass players, once again showed up blitzed out of their minds. Still, everyone was still determined to make this work despite the two runners who had to relocate, the drunk bass players and the two men who could not be found.

The BBQ at the park was going well although the Count was a little amused when the whole town showed up in Bavarian garb while he and his group were wearing cowboy and cowgirl attire. But the Count loved the food! He ate everything that was provided from the cole slaw and baked beans to the BBQ beef brisket and shredded pork. And the townspeople kept encouraging him to eat more and more. A little of this. A little of that. It reached the point where he was stuffed and the Count could eat no more! Nevertheless,  an enjoyable time for all that afternoon.

It was a little hot at the gym but the fanning system seemed to work alright. The town's rendition of Beethoven's Ninth was not the greatest yet the Count seemed to be enjoying himself. Then came the intermission before the final part of the Symphony. A stage hand was moving around some of the music stands when the score, the sheet music was knocked off one of them and scattered to the floor. He hurriedly picked up the sheet music hoping no one was watching. Quickly he grabbed a piece of string and tied them all together even though there was no correct order to the score for Beethoven's Ninth's. Still he breathed a sigh of relief that no one noticed.

Well, the intermission was over and the Orchestra started playing the last part of Beethoven's ninth. Suddenly, without warning, the ventilation system started acted up making a real ruckus and then it began billowing black smoke from the fans and the gym had to be evacuated.

So the bottom line is this:

-It's the last of the Ninth!

-Two men are out!

-The score is tied!

-The Bas(s)es are loaded!

-The Count is full!

-The runners are moving!

-And the fans are going crazy!!

I know it's rather long but it's a slow day anyway. Hope it worked!

It looks like the players and management have circled the wagons thus far in releasing information on JR pulling Ryan Doumit last night in the fifth inning. Who knows what happened but it certainly had to be an egregious offense to tick off someone as unflappable and mild mannered as JR. It's only speculation on my part but I think that Ryan has aways had his heart and soul in this team. The rash of injuries that he's suffered have played a big role in curtailing his once promising career which inevitably leads to a bruised attitude as well. Since he has invested so much emotionally in this team and, after watching his friends and teammates being traded, I surmise that he felt like the heir apparent as the leader of the Bucs. Yet with his lack of production and the emergence of Andrew and Jones, he may have felt this leadership role slipping away and the frustration resulted in doing something uncharacteristic last night. What are your thoughts on the matter?

I've noticed that Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel have not pitched in Bradenton for the GCL Pirates in weeks. While Rinku has a 12.50 ERA, he has only been in 5 games pitching a total of 5 innings. Dinesh, on the other hand, has not allowed an earned run in 4 appearances for a total of 4 innings pitched. Also, he has not issued a BB while striking out 3 batters. I have not read nor seen anything regarding their current status. Maybe I missed something. Does anyone know why they are not pitching?

Last night, generally across the board in the Pirates farm system, the pitching was stellar. Even Virgil Vasquez pitched well and only gave up 3 runs runs while striking out 7. But what gives us the greatest hope in the heartland are the results of three newly acquired pitchers in recent trades and one drafted in the 23rd round this year. They are Tim Alderson, Nathan Adcock, and Brett Lorin as well as the draftee, Jason Erickson. Here are their lines from last evening:

Tim Alderson , Altoona                      6IP 0H 0R OER 1BB 3K 0HR

Nathan Adcock, Lynchburg               5IP 6H 1R 1ER 1BB 3K 0HR

Brett Lorin, West Virginia                  6IP 8H 1R 1ER  0BB 4K 1HR

Jason Erickson, State College        5IP 3H 0R OER 0BB 6K 0HR

There was also some decent pitching in a GCL doubleheader although I did not include that information. But still, based on performances and above stat lines, this certainly has to give a great big shining ray of hope to Pirates' fans far and wide.

If I may digreass a little. Given the name, I thought Henry Henry would be a doubles machine but he has yet to hit one. Actually, he has not hit much of anything. Perhaps Henry Henry has too many second thoughts standing in the box.

This is for all the pundits and fans that are screaming and whining about the trades being merely salary dumps in order to line the pockets of an avaricious owner. Let's go back to yesteryear, shall we, and take a look at all the 'Salary Dupes' created and fostered by previous management that helped put us in the position we are today.

Matt Morris                    Salary Dump?                      Nope, duped bugtime to the tune of over $11m.

Jason Kendall             Salary Dump?                      Please! An outrageous $60m contract for this guy? Definitely duped.

Derek Bell                    Salary Dump?                      Hell no!  The good 'ole 'Operation Shutdown' for $4.5m.

Pat Meares                  Salary Dump?                      Yes, we dumped about $8m into his lap to do nothing.

Kevin Young                Salary Dump?                      Again, we deposited about $3mil in his account for nothing.

Kris Benson                Salary Dump?                      No, but we all wished Anna were dumped into our laps.

These are just a few examples of exorbitant contracts, bad contracts, and contracts we've had to swallow that have had to handicap the ballclub severely to this day. So, the real question is this: have we made salary dumps or have we been dumped on by the ineptitude of Bonifay, Littlefield and company?  The latter is the only answer to this question!