The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

[DirrtySouth78]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

Never Realized how Pittsburgh is so split down the middle with the Pirates..Either you love em or hate em, havent seen any tweeners yet..Me & my friend went to see the game sunday and heard so much negative you'd have thought there would be 10 people in the whole place..It was his Very first visit to PNC..That said I still believe we can make a run at .500, last couple years we started of hot and died halfway through, like 2-3 years ago(can't remember which) we were in first and gonna finish well over .500 and went 4-August....There is a ton of baseball left if we can only get a lil more consistent we will be OK..and man did Ollie drop off last cpl years...I remember when Littlefield took all kinds of heat for not signin him longterm, but think how mad we would all be if he was pitchin like this make 7-8 mil. I'm hopin they get it together and get a few winnin streaks...Just when you think "Same ol Pirates" they have a few games like Fri. Sat. and Tues. and they look like maybe these guys aint to bad....one day they look real good, next day they look like rejects from "Major League"..

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

....one day they look real good, next day they look like rejects from "Major League"..

I think this is one of the most frustrating things. They have it in them, but there are days when they come out and look like a high school team. Their lack of consistancy is frustrating...

How about Santos? He's put together some nice starts this year. In fact, he's probably been the 2nd most consistent starter we've had; Duke being the other.

Santos has been looking good joeboo. If they could get something out of Perez, they might be ok.

That said I still believe we can make a run at .500

I think .500 is out of reach now. I think they dug themselves in too far of a hole to climb out of. They need to go 73-61 the rest of the way, which is a .545 winning percentage, something the Pirates have not approached in a LONG time. I was someone who believed that they would finish .500 this year, but the bad start put an end to that...

[mjb2124]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

Anyone catch this in the PG today:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06125/687724-63.stm

The Pirates have not determined what the next step might be if Perez fares poorly again tonight. Their discussion, Colborn said, has centered on determining if Perez might be better off reverting to the delivery he used in his outstanding 2004 season, unconventional as it was.
"Even that one shows some limitations, but that's part of what we have to decide," Colborn said. "Should we try to get him back to 2004? Is he capable of throwing like he did in 2004? These are some of the questions, and I'm not sure we know all the answers right now."



-----

I can't believe what I'm reading. I don't care how unconventional Ollie's mechanics were, he was successful. Something he hasn't been since people started fooling around with his mechanics. Afterall was Teckulve conventional? Marichal? Gibson? No, none of them were. However, they were all successful.

In 2004 Perez was one of the most dominating pitchers in MLB. Now he's one of the worst....if not the worst. Why not allow him to use the mechanics he's comfortable with and what took them so long to come to this conclusion? Ughh....

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

I agree. If it ain't broke, don't fix it....

[mjb2124]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

Another night, another poor outing by Perez and another loss. 21 straight scoreless innings and counting.

Tonight stung worse than past losses. We lost to the Nationals. It was only their 2nd win at home all year and they made it look fairly easy.

Just when I don't think it could get much worse, it does. I thought we'd at least be competitive with another poor team. Fact is, we really weren't. It's not like WAS played that good either. The Buc's just played that poorly. Seems to be a reoccuring theme.

[BatsareBugs]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

I guess Ollie might be done.

What a shame.

[DirrtySouth78]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

I've been telling people that for about a year and a half...Reminds me on what I heard on Mike & Mike yesterday. From what Peter Gammons said, after all the struggles Contreras was having and all the messing wit his delivery Orlando Hernandez talked to him & said "Just pitch like a Dominican"....basically the same thing with ollie..Don't matter how it looks, let him throw from 13 different arm angles.Never understood the theory about mechanics, if it works it don't matter if he throws underhand..Let him do what feels comfortable, maybe he can regain some of that magic...it might be what he needs...Sometimes your thinking too much out there, just go out and do it don't think about it.

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

The thing about mechanics is that Perez may have been doing something that could cause him problems (arm problem) down the road, which the Bucs I'm sure wanted to avoid. Now, I'm not sure if that is the case or not, but usually when they start messing with mechanics when a guy is pitching good is because of possible damage down the road.

Didn't get to see any of the game last night, and I'm glad I didn't. Their season is remiding me of the Pens season. There was a point in which I told a friend of mine that I didn't think it could get any worse and then they went out and got CREAMED by Columbus, who like Washington, stunk.

All I can say is at least the other 4 starter have looked pretty good lately....

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

Just read Smizik's article today in the PG (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06128/688388-194.stm).

Little nugget in there saying that McClatchy might be thinking about selling the team after the All-Star Game.... Might there be hope yet???

[mjb2124]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

My guess is that McClatchy will sell after the All Star Game (more towards the offseason though). He wants the $$$ the All Star Game is going to generate.

A guy I know claims that McClatchy will probably sell his shares of the team to one of the Nuttings. That means the Nuttings would gain majority ownership. They're just as cheap as McClatchy so it wouldn't be any better. I also don't think they have much interest in the Pirates aside from the financial side. Hence why we never see them in public.

My hope is they go outside to find new ownership. I think Cuban would buy if offered, but if they keep it in-house, he'll never get a shot.

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

I think it's the Nuttings who are the main culprits here. Not saying that McClatchy is great, but I have a feeling that he is just the "face" of ownership, and it's the Nuttings who are really calling the shots on just making money. I really believe McClatchy wants to win.

I just hope that Cuban gets a shot to buy the team....

[mjb2124]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

I wouldn't be surprised if the Nuttings were pulling all the strings and McClatchy was the "face" of the ownership group. I wonder what % of the team the Nuttings duo owns and what % McClatchy owns? I think there's 1 other guy who owns a very small part as well.

If it turns out that McClatchy sells to one of the Nuttings and they own 90+% of the team, I'm going to be sick. That would be the worst thing to happen.

I know some people don't like Cuban's brash behavior, but I'm fine with it. The guy is willing to take a loss to turn this team into a winner and then hopefully turn a profit due to the increased attendance a winner would bring (or so he's said). It's that type of committment that I want the owners to have. The current group isn't willing to take this chance.

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

I know some people don't like Cuban's brash behavior, but I'm fine with it. The guy is willing to take a loss to turn this team into a winner and then hopefully turn a profit due to the increased attendance a winner would bring (or so he's said). It's that type of committment that I want the owners to have. The current group isn't willing to take this chance.

I agree 100%. It seems like people like playing for him becuase he's willing to make the team happy and do what it takes to win. That's what I like about him. The Mavs were a crappy organization before he took over, and now they're one of the best in the NBA. He knows that winning brings in $$.

As for the Nuttings, they own more than McClatchy. Check out this article I found: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05275/581175.stm

"You know Donald Sterling of the L.A. Clippers?" asked Sam Amico, the publisher of an online NBA newsletter and a former sports editor at the Nuttings' Wheeling newspapers, referring to the family patriarch's beloved basketball. "I kind of suspect that's the way they'll run the Pirates, try not to lose money more than win. 'Cause that's the way they run the newspapers. They don't like to lose money."

[mjb2124]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

Interesting article. I had no idea the Nuttings have a greater stake in the Pirates than McClatchy does.

What confuses me though is that the numbers don't seem to add up. If the Nuttings collectively own 25% of the team and McClatchy owns 15%, where's the rest? I know local businesses own small shares here and there, but the remaining 60% is a large chunk. Or am I completely missing something?

[LetsGoBucs]

Re: The 2006 Save us Mark Cuban Thread

Interesting article. I had no idea the Nuttings have a greater stake in the Pirates than McClatchy does.

What confuses me though is that the numbers don't seem to add up. If the Nuttings collectively own 25% of the team and McClatchy owns 15%, where's the rest? I know local businesses own small shares here and there, but the remaining 60% is a large chunk. Or am I completely missing something?

I'm confused as well... But I guess with those two (McClatchy and Nuttings) having 4 out of 5 board votes, I guess nobody else owns that big of a stake in it. And I'm assuming that if 4 out of 5 vote to sell, then they sell.