Top 10 Moments for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009

Here are some of the most memorable moments from the 2009 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I’d like to know what you think of these. You could even add your own top moments in the comments section. I’d like to see what your opinion is. All of these events are in chronological order. Without further ado…

4/12/09 - Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, and Adam LaRoche – Triple Play vs. Cincinnati Reds
For the first time since 1993, the Pirates turned a triple play. The last time the rare feat occurred for the Buccos, Jay Bell, Carlos Garcia, and Kevin Young completed the feat against the St. Louis Cardinals at Three Rivers Stadium. The last time this feat was completed on the road for the Buccos was in 1968, against the Reds. It was the bottom of the 8th inning on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Great American Ballpark. Down 2-0, the Pirates were looking for some late heroics to make an attempt at a comeback. Jesse Chavez had already walked Brandon Phillips and gave up an infield single to Jay Bruce to put runners at first and second with no one out. Edwin Encarnacion steps up to the plate, looking to drive in a couple of insurance runs. Phillips and Bruce ran on contact, a line drive to short stop Jack Wilson. Wilson gloved the liner, tossed on to Freddy Sanchez, who threw it on to Adam Laroche at first to complete the 6-4-3 triple play. Sadly, the defensive gem would not be able to motivate the offense, as the Pirates went on to lose to the Reds 2-0.

4/13/09 - Zach Duke throws a 4-hit complete game shutout in Home Opener vs. Houston Astros What a fitting way to open the 2009 campaign at PNC Park. It was a beautiful Monday afternoon, perfect for a sold out crowd of 38,411. Zach Duke took to the mound, wearing Pittsburgh Police caps, honoring the three police officers who were killed 9 days earlier in a shootout in a Pittsburgh neighborhood. The emotional pre-game ceremony gave way to an exciting afternoon of baseball as Zach Duke, with some offensive assistance from Adam LaRoche and Freddy Sanchez, defeated the Houston Astros 7-0. Duke pitched a 4-hit 120 pitch shutout, the fourth of his career. The fourth complete game in 100 starts. This outing would be a foreshadowing of the rest of ’09 for Zach Duke.

Winning records in April and June
With a line-up that looked completely different from the line-up posted on the final day of the year, the Pittsburgh Pirates gave their fan base a slight glimmer of hope by posting an 11-10 record in April. The Opening Day line up looked like this: Nyjer Morgan, LF; Freddy Sanchez, 2B; Nate McLouth (remember him??), CF; Ryan Doumit, C; Adam LaRoche, 1B; Andy LaRoche, 3B; Brandon Moss, RF; Jack Wilson, SS. April included an opening 4 game split with the Cardinals, a rain shortened 2 game series split against the Reds, an emotional and exciting Home Opener against the Astros, and a huge 3 game sweep against the Florida Marlins, which some felt would define the Pirates season. The Pirates ended April one game over .500.

June was another one game above .500 month. They started off sweeping the Mets in a-what should have been 4 game but instead was-3 game series. There was a 7-5 record against American League teams in June, and an appearance by the Penguins and Lord Stanley’s Cup. The Pirates ended June 14-13 and 36-41 overall, a mere 5 games below .500. Oh, the line up at the end of June: Andrew McCutchen, CF; Sanchez, 2B; Delwyn Young, RF; Ad. LaRoche, 1B; An. LaRoche 3B; Moss, LF; Robizon Diaz, C; Wilson, SS.

6/4/09 – Andrew McCutchen’s debut vs. New York Mets
As the school year was winding down, I had some vacation time left. What a better way to use some vacation time than by spending an afternoon watching the Buccos playing some meaningful baseball at the beginning of June. Just one day after the blockbuster trade that sent keystone player Nate McLouth to the Atlanta Braves, I was excited about seeing what the much hyped Andrew McCutchen could do. It was obvious from day one that McCutchen was gearing for Rookie of the Year honors. McCutchen wowed 20,683 in attendance, which I believe included something like 5,000 walk-up ticket buyers just that morning. As they say…Cutch happens. And it happened that day. McCutchen went 2-4 with two singles, a stolen base, three runs, and a walk. Not a bad start for Cutch.

7/17/09 – Maholm v. Lincecum vs. San Francisco Giants
This game is by far my favorite game of the entire season. I was excited to get the opportunity to see Tim Lincecum pitch. I was even more excited when I saw that Paul Maholm would be the Pirates hurler to face off against one of the best pitchers in the majors. This was also the first game back since the All-Star Game. Lincecum would end up going seven innings. Maholm went eight. The Giants starter gave up 5 hits, one run, one walk, and struck out ten. Maholm had four hits, one run, zero walks, and seven strike outs in his eight innings of work.

7/17/09 – Garret Jones hits two homeruns vs. San Francisco Giants
I have been a season ticket holder since 2006, and I have had the opportunity to see some exciting games at PNC Park. One game I will always remember will be this one. And this list features the two reasons why I will always remember this game. It’s also one of my favorite games of all time. Garret Jones, in addition to Paul Maholm, were the heroes for this game. As detailed above, Maholm pitched eight solid innings. Jones hit his first homerun of the game in the first inning off of Tim Lincecum with no one on and two outs. In the seventh inning, the Giants tied the game as Randy Winn crossed the plate. The score would remain 1-1 until the bottom of the 14th inning, when Jones stepped to the plate. With an 0-1 count, Jones launched an 82mph pitch from Bob Howry onto the Riverwalk and into the Allegheny River. Walk off homerun. Awesome game.

8/1/09 – McCutchen’s 3 HR Night vs. Washington Nationals
Just about two months into his MLB career, Andrew McCutchen was already proving himself to be a worthy replacement to Nate McLouth. By this time, I know I found myself often saying “Nate who?” Andrew McCutchen solidified himself as the real deal this night. He would go 4-5 with 3 homeruns and a single. Cutch scored 4 runs and had 6 RBIs on this evening. Two homeruns would have been amazing. Three required a curtain call from the fans at PNC Park. This game resulted in a lot of Rookie of the Year talk for “Cutch”.

9/5/09 – Ohlendorf Ks 11 vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Ross Ohlendorf was the best and most consistent starting pitcher for the Pirates in 2009. On this September night, Ross would end up having one of his best games of the season against the St. Louis Cardinals. Ohlendorf pitched eight solid innings of baseball, taking a 1-1 tie into the ninth inning. Let’s not forget the top of the seventh inning. Ohlendorf struck out the side 1-2-3. Khalil Greene sat down after three pitches. Julio Lugo sat down after three pitches. Jason LaRue sat down after three pitches. Nine, count ‘em, NINE pitches. This was called “The Perfect Inning”. Nine pitches and three strike outs. Too bad Matt Capps blew it in the 10th.

9/28/09 – Andy LaRoche goes 5-5 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Andy LaRoche lived up to some of the hype that followed him when he came to Pittsburgh from the Dodgers in the 2008 trade that sent Jason Bay to Boston and Manny Ramirez to LA. After a disappointing 2008, Andy really stepped up and proved that he should be considered a legitimate third baseman in the majors. This Monday afternoon proved to be a career game for the younger LaRoche brother. Andy went 5-5 with two homeruns, two doubles, and a single. LaRoche was a triple away from the cycle when he hit a double into center field. You can tell Andy really wanted that triple too, as he was about half way to third when he realized that he wouldn’t have made it there safely. LaRoche’s first homerun was a wind blown shot to dead center. The second was a shot high off the left field foul pole, which would have gone about 3 or 4 rows up the rotunda if it didn’t hit the foul pole. LaRoche ended up going 10-18 (.555) against his former club. What a way to end the season at PNC Park.

9/28/09 – Zach Duke pitches 8 2/3 innings vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
I feel like Zach Duke was in a unique situation. He pitched a complete game shutout against the Houston Astros on April 13th in the Home Opener. Now, in the season finale at PNC Park, Zach Duke once again had the opportunity to bookend his season. Zach Duke was a lot better in 2009 than his record indicated. If he had the offensive support, Zach Duke, as well as Ross Ohlendorf, could have easily had 15 wins this year. Duke got all the run support he would need in the second inning when the Pirates scored five runs. The Pirates would go on to score 11 runs in this game. As the ninth inning got under way, Zach retired Juan Pierre on a groundout. Orlando Hudson hit a triple to center field. Duke got Chin-lung Hu to fly out to center field, allowing Orlando Hudson to score from third. That hit summoned John Russell to come out from the dugout. Russell takes the ball from Duke to a chorus of boos that could probably be heard in LA. Donnie Veal comes in and strikes out Blake DeWitt to end the game. Russell’s explination for pulling Duke…he wanted Zach to get his proper applause from the fans for his performance. Break out the toilet paper because Russell needs to wipe his mouth of all the crap.

As I was doing this, I felt like I should give some honorable mentions to other things that stuck out this year, in no particular order:
9/21-9/22/09 - Pirates defeat Reds while celebrating 1979 World Series Championship team
9/17-9/19/09 - Pirates sweep the hated Brewers
7/12/09 – Zach Duke replaces Matt Cain on All-Star Team roster
6/14/09 – Pirates celebrate 1909 World Series championship with throwback style game and the Penguins are honored at PNC Park
5/17/09 – Pirates score 10 in the 7th inning against the Rockies

End of the year...what a fine time to start posting again

Much like the Pirates, I've really fallen off during the second half of the season. And now that the 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates season is over, I really won't have much to post about over the next few months. I'm sure I'll try to log on in order to just keep in bloging form through the winter. Hopefully I'll have a better 2010 season posting rate too. The Pirates open at home in 2010 against the LA Dodgers. The first game will be on Monday April 5th.

I'll be posting my First Annual Top 10 Moments of the Season in the coming days. I promise that will be a good read.

The Adam LaRoche Trade

I posted this note on my Facebook this morning, in response to numerous posts about people quitting on the Pirates because of the LaRoche trade. Enjoy:

Much to my surprise, the trade of Adam LaRoche has brought quite the mixed reaction from the Pirates fans. Some fans, my self included, like the trade. Others, however, hate it. And I don't understand why people would hate this trade.

First off, Adam LaRoche was going to become a free agent at the end of this year. He was making just over 7 million dollars this year. There is no way that this current management team was going to resign him. If the Pirates had held on to him, they would have gotten nothing for this guy...NOTHING. By trading him, the Pirates at least got two prospects from the Red Sox. They aren't the best prospects, however, what can you expect to get for a guy who is currently hitting .247 with 12 HRs and 40 RBIs and was something like 7 for his last 70 at bats?

We all know the song and dance for Adam LaRoche. He'll end up with 25 HRs and somewhere around .265 for his batting average. His power numbers are not good enough to be our clean up hitter. He never should have been given that responsibility. On a team with a legitimate power guy, LaRoche may end up being a 6 or 7 hitter.

As far as defense goes, I feel like we lost a lot. He was very good defensively at first base. Much like Jack Wilson, if you're going to waste a bat on good defense, this would be the guy to waste it on. In that regard, I'm going to miss having Adam LaRoche as our first baseman.

"This management team has traded away all of our good players!" Ok...let's run with that.

Trade #1: Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte to the Yankees for Ross Ohlendorf/Jeff Karstens/Jose Tabata/Daniel McCutchen

Nady was having a career year in 2008. Marte was a solid lefty specialist. Nady was a part of the most productive outfield, along with Jason Bay and Nate McLouth. Karstens and Ohlendorf were placed into the starting rotation right away. Remember Karstens pitching 16 or so scoreless innings in his first two games? How about the fact that he was about 5 outs away from a perfect game? Ohlendorf has proven that he's a solid 3 or 4 starter.

McCutchen is currently in AAA. He is pitching with a 9-5 record, 4.19 ERA, 3:1 K/BB ratio, and a 1.27 WHIP. He is leading Indy with innings pitched as well.

Tabata is in AA with Altoona. He currently has a .291 average, 2 home runs, .746 OPS.

Ohlendorf is with the Pirates, as a 4th starter. He is 8-7 with a 4.59 ERA. He has a 2:1 K/BB ratio and a 1.32 WHIP.

Karstens, who was moved to the bullpen when Charlie Morton was acquired, has been solid since going to the bullpen at the beginning of June. He has pitched 10.2 innings since July 5 without giving up a run. He has also just given up 2 hits and 2 walks.

Nady and Marte...they have both been on the DL. Nady is going for Tommy John surgery. I'd say the first trade, so far, has panned out to be the best trade for the Pirates. Winner: Pirates

Trade #2: Jason Bay/Josh Wilson to the Red Sox for Andy LaRoche/Bryan Morris from the Dodgers and Brandon Moss/Craig Hansen

There is no denying that this trade at the deadline last year hurt. Bay was our only legitimate power hitter. He excelled at Boston last year, and continues to do so this year. He leads the Red Sox with home runs, and as of last night, was 2nd in the AL in RBIs.

In return, the Pirates got Andy LaRoche, who is projected to have some power. We haven't seen much of that power, however, he has hit a lot of line drives. His defense is also improving at third.

Bryan Morris is projected to be a 2 or 3 starter. He's currently in High-A Lynchburg. He is not pitching very well. He has a 2-5 record, 5.89 ERA, 1:1 K/BB ratio, and a 1.61 WHIP.

Brandon Moss is projected to be a power bat, however, we have yet to see it...despite a lovely walk-off yesterday afternoon. July has been a good month for him power-wise, as he's hit 4 of his 5 homers this month. He's currently platooning right field with Delwyn Young and occassionally left field with Garret Jones. He's still young...25 years old.

Craig Hansen was ok last year when playing for the Pirates. I believe he is currently on the DL.

This trade has been a tough one for the Pirates so far. LaRoche and Moss have not lived up to their potential yet, but give them another year to determine the value of this trade. Winner: Red Sox/Dodgers

Trade #3: Nate McLouth to the Braves for Charlie Morton/Gorkeys Hernandez/Jeff Locke

A shocking trade. After a breakout 2008, McLouth was seen as the keystone for the future Pirates teams. He was an All-Star and Gold Glove winner. Fact of the matter is, if you look at his numbers, Nate McLouth was very average as a center fielder. His offensive numbers were above average for a center fielder, however, if the Pirates moved him to a corner position in order to make room for Andrew McCutchen, he would have been average, at best. He was the leader in home runs and maybe RBIs when he was traded.

In return, we got Charlie Morton, who many people project to be a legitimate 1 or 2 starter. He has the "stuff" to be a very good starting pitcher. He is currently 2-2 with a 3.21 ERA and a 2:1 K/BB ratio. This is a very small sample size. If he does as well as projected, Morton alone will make this trade worthwhile.

Gorkys Hernandez is an outfielder project to be a similar player to Nyjer Morgan. He's younger than Morgan, and along with Tabata, he is expected to be a part of the future Pirates outfield.

I haven't heard a lot of great things about Jeff Locke to this point, so I'm not going to waste more time looking up his info right now.

Finally, I feel like one of the best pieces of this trade came from within. Andrew McCutchen has the potential to be a rookie of the year. He is exciting to watch and just has been a great spark to the line-up so far. Winner: Pirates

Trade #4 Nyjer Morgan/Sean Burnett to Nationals for Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan

Nyjer Morgan was a popular player. All reports indicate that he was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. He was a lot of fun and a spark of energy to the clubhouse. Sean Burnett was a lefty specialist and continued to pitch well following his breakout from last year. This was a great loss for the Pirates. However, Morgan is older and does not come close to the power that a corner outfielder should have. With Gorkys Hernandez coming up, it is pointless to have two similar guys in the outfield, especially when one of them will be 31 or 32 by the time the new Pirates outfield was constructed.

Lastings Milledge was a top prospect for the Mets, however, he openly admitted that there was a lack of structure in that organization and in the Nationals. That has lead to some of his crazy behaviors in those organizations. He will be a very good upgrade to the outfield and will provide some decent power for the outfield.

Joel Hanrahan is ok. He's having difficulties right now with pitching, but in working with Joe Kerrigan, I believe he will come around and end up being a decent bullpen pitcher.

Winner: Pirates

There you have it. In 3 out of the 4 trades that the Pirates management has made over the past year, not including the Adam LaRoche trade, the Pirates have been widely viewed as winners in these trades. So, please do yourself a favor before hating on the Pirates now and eventually jumping on the bandwagon if they become winners with these players acquired, do a little research. You don't even have to look things up. Listen to Extra Innings after Pirates games on 104.7. Rocco DeMaro will do the research for you and can provide you with evidence that most of these trades have been wins for the Pirates.

Why the Pirates Should (Or Shouldn't) Give Up On Donnie Veal

The GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates will be facing a difficult decision in the next few days. According to Dejan Kovacevic's Pirates Notebook in the PG today, Donnie Veal needs to be placed back on the 25-man roster in the next couple of days in order to keep him through Rule 5 Draft rules.

There is no denying that he has been bad. Through 5 games, Donnie Veal has posted a 4.26 ERA, 10 walks, 6 strikeouts, and an astronomical WHIP of 2.37. I'm sure his placement on the DL at the end of May had more to do with his horrible performance opposed to his groin injury. Is it time for the Pirates to give up on this guy and cut him from the 25-man roster? Or should they struggle through the rest of the season with this guy sitting in the bullpen and rarely picking up a ball?

Well, the Pirates faced a similar situation with Evan Meek last year. He, much like Veal, had a high ERA (6.92), a 1.77 WHIP, and had a 2:1 BB/K ratio. I can remember moaning and groaning when Meek was called in to pitch. The guy lacked control and gave up a lot of hits and home runs in his short 2008 stint with the Pirates. He was offered back to the Rays, who declined to take Meek back, and who could blame them? Anyhow, the Pirates took him back, assigned him to the minors, and look at him now. What a difference a year makes. While he still has some control issues, Meek is doing a whole heck of a lot better than last year.

Maybe the Pirates should take a similar route with Veal. I say, take the risk of losing him back to the Cubs. The Pirates, I believe, have a good shot of being able to resign him. Put Donnie in the minors and hopefully he'll have the same success as Evan Meek.

If Veal doesn't stick, no big loss. Hanrahan will come around a be a soild bullpen pitcher.

Game 83: Pirates vs Astros - July 6, 2009

I am back once again with my game day predictions via MLB 09 The Show. Sorry that these have become so sporadic this year...it's extremely time consuming to play the game and then post a report on here. It's even more difficult when I wait until just a couple of house before the game to play with the actual line-ups for the day's game. So, much like today, I will play and post when it's most convenient for me, use an assumed line-up and hope that it's pretty close to being accurate.

I realized one mistake already for today's game prediction. I believe Freddy Sanchez is going to be sitting out today's real life game due to a tweak in his back. I accidentally left him on today's roster. Anyhow, the Pirates haven't fared well at all against the real life Mike Hampton, so let's see if they can break the streak of losses against him in tonight's game.

Here's the MLB 09 The Show Recap:

The Pirates started off to a great start against the difficult Mike Hampton early. After McCutchen and Wilson flied out, Freddy Sanchez singled, followed by an Adam LaRoche home run. Pirates are ahead 2-0 after 1 inning.

More scoring in the third for the Buccos as Sanchez scores on an Adam LaRoche double. 3-0 Pirates after 3.

In the 4th, Steve Pearce scores after a Virgil Vasquez sac bunt. 4-0 after 4 innings of play.

Two more Pirate runs in the 5th as Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez score on an Andy LaRoche trip-trip-triple. 6-0 Pirates after 5 innings.

Houston scores in the 6th off a Miguel Tejada solo home run. 6-1 after 6 innings.

The Pirates tack on 3 more runs in the 7th as Garret Jones, batting 7th in the order, hits a bases loaded triple, scoring Adam and Andy LaRoche and Steve Pearce. 9-1 after 7 innings.

The final run came in the bottom of the 9th inning as Michael Bourn hits a 1 out solo home run.

Final Score: PIT 9 HOU 2

Stats of the Game:
PIT - Vasquez 8.0 innings - 1 run - 8 hits - 0 BB - 4 Ks; Ad. LaRoche 4-5 - 2B - HR - 4 RBIs
HOU - Hampton 4+ innings - 6 runs - 9 hits - 1 K; Tejada 3-4 - HR - 1 RBI

Game 70: Cleveland Indians (29-42) v. Pittsburgh Pirates (31-38) MLB 09 Prediction

Now that my summer vacation from work is in full swing, it is time I get back into the habit of posting my MLB 09 The Show Game Predictions. This will be the first one in quite sometime. I apologize for not getting more up, but whatever, it's not like people read this blog anyhow.

Tonight, the Pittsburgh Pirates will host the Cleveland Indians in Interleague play. The Pirates have not done well in Interleague play (67-108 if I count correctly). They are 4-5 this year in Interleague play. However, this year, they have done well at home (17-12). They are also coming off a 4 game losing streak, which includes a 3-game sweep by the red hot Colorado Rockies.

The Indians are not faring much better than the Pirates. They have a wrose record, are coming in on a 6 game losing streak, and have done worse than the Pirates this year in Interleague play (3-6). Overall, they are 111-108. The Indians are on a 6 game losing streak. Both teams are due of some wins.

Based on the game I played this morning, the Indians will win tonight's game. I've gone supergeek with this and printed off scorecards for each team. It'll save a lot of typing time.





















Click images to read them.

Lets Go Bucs!

Two Disappointing Losses & A Look At Pitching

The Pirates seem to have continued their downward trend from last year after trading a big name player in the franchise. The last two losses to the Braves have really had to be tough pills to swallow for the Buccos.

First, to come back in such a manner as they did on Monday night, only to lose ini 15 innings is heartbreaking. Jeff Karstens, welcome to the world of Ryan Vogelsong. You will forever be a mop-up guy in the bullpen. It's a shame you cannot recapture that dominating presence you had back when you were first traded here.

Last night was another disappointing loss. Ross Ohlendorf pitched a good game. Poor thinking by Delwyn Young (still like this guy though) and awful pitching by Sean Burnett cost the Pirates this game. Why Russell would choose to go with Burnett is beyond me. In a situation like this, you need to bring in your best pitcher in the bullpen. I think leaving Gorzo out there for another inning wouldn't have hurt either. He may have been up in the batting order so maybe that's why he didn't stay in.

To be honest I didn't watch too much of the game. I was too busy watching the Pens game.

Moving on to pitching. I'm glad to see that the pitching rotation has been shaken up a bit. More needs to be done though. Neal Huntington and John Russell take note, this is what your pitching rotation and bullpen should look like by the end of the trade deadline or next year.

First, the rotation
1. Maholm - He's been a little shaky recently, but still a solid #1 or #2 guy for this team.
2. Duke - Has been the most consistant and, in my opinion, best pitcher all year. He is in the same boat as Maholm.
3. Morton - If he is as good for the Pirates as he has been in AAA, he will show everyone that the McLouth deal was well worth it.
4. Ohlendorf - Just a solid 3/4 guy.
5. Karstens - A typical #5 guy. Could easily be swapped out at any point for guys like Gorzo, McCutchen, Dumatrait.

Now the bullpen
1. Gorzo - easily the best option for long relief/spot starts. He has been really good out of the pen.
2. Snell - If he's not in AAA starting, he could be a good bullpen option. He's good enough to give you 1 or 2 innings of work. Possibly a SUPERSTAR closer.
3. Meek - Hard thrower, good enough to be a set up man, not quite closer material.
4. Capps - Closer for now, unless he develops another pitch or gets some movement on his fastballs, he's not the long-term solution for this position.
5. Chavez - He has been a solid pitcher all year. A great middle guy.
6. Jackson - Big sinker ball pitcher. I haven't seen him do too many dumb things to really be down on him.
7. Burnett - He's been better this year than some of the games he's recently played in. I feel her could be a good specialist pitcher.

I made this list without seeing some of the other options we have currently in AAA. I'm sure that once call-ups happen in September, I could end up making some changes on this list.