The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

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  • mjb2124
    Hall Of Fame
    • Aug 2002
    • 13649

    #106
    Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

    - Snell got roughed up again today in the final spring game. Ugh.... He was so good early on and so bad recently.

    - Tracy named Duffy the opening day starter in CF over McLouth. Duffy has looked absolutely atrocious today at the plate. He struck out his first 2 AB's and didn't look comfortable at all. It was really ugly. This also means McLouth is going to rot on the bench as Karlos suggested earlier. Horrible.


    I'm really getting more pessimistic by the day. I first thought this team could win close to 80 games this year. Now I think they're closer to 73 wins. The more I see of them on TV, the more it seems like all this positive talk in the papers about how good they've played, is just BS. They certainly haven't shown it during the games that have been on TV.

    Comment

    • bjf1377
      Lurker
      • Jul 2002
      • 6620

      #107
      Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

      Alright, this may have an obvious answer, but I just wanna check: Are there usually enough tickets left for Pirates games that you could show up the day of a game and get some bleacher seats or some good upper deck seats? I was planning on going to see at least one Pirate game this year, and if I decided to do it on a whim instead of planning for it, I wanna make sure I could get an ok seat.

      Comment

      • mjb2124
        Hall Of Fame
        • Aug 2002
        • 13649

        #108
        Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

        bjf1377 - You should be able to get seats. Just make sure it's not a Bobblehead or Fireworks night. Especially fireworks. Those nights are always sell outs.

        I don't like the seats in RF or in LF. I don't think the view is as good. I'd recommend anything down either line. The 3B line gives a nice view of the city and all the scoreboards.

        Comment

        • Karlos05
          -
          • Mar 2003
          • 5814

          #109
          Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

          Alright just for fun I'm going take a stab at some predictions for the Pirates' season.

          Highest Batting Average - Casey .315
          Most Home Runs - Bay 35
          Most RBIs - Bay 108
          Most Steals - Bay 23

          ERA Leader (Rotation) - Duke 3.97 (but will miss time with injury)
          ERA Leader (Bullpen) - Capps 2.31
          Most Wins - Perez 14
          Saves Leader - Gonzalez 33

          Pirates All-Stars - 1 Bay
          First player to be traded - Craig Wilson
          Total number traded before deadline -4 Craig, Burnitz, Marte, Wells
          Breakout Player - Castillo

          Pirates finish in the NL Central - 5th in front of the Reds
          Pirates final record - 76 - 86
          Last edited by Karlos05; 04-02-2006, 06:54 PM.

          Comment

          • mjb2124
            Hall Of Fame
            • Aug 2002
            • 13649

            #110
            Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

            OK, here are some predictions. Most players will be the same. It's pretty easy to pick the leaders on this team!!

            Highest Batting Average - Casey .326
            Most Home Runs - Bay 34
            Most RBIs - Bay 98
            Most Steals - Bay 18

            ERA Leader (Rotation) - Duke 3.82
            ERA Leader (Bullpen) - Torres 2.93
            Most Wins - Duke 13
            Saves Leader - Gonzalez 35

            Pirates All-Stars - 1 Bay
            First player to be traded - Craig Wilson
            Total number traded before deadline -3 Craig, Randa, Marte
            Breakout Player - Castillo

            Pirates finish in the NL Central - 5th in front of the Reds
            Pirates final record - 73-89

            Comment

            • Karlos05
              -
              • Mar 2003
              • 5814

              #111
              Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

              Yeah as I was going down the list I was thinking to myself "Gee this really isn't that hard seeing how we have one real offensive threat". Well it will be fun to look back and laugh at the end of the season.

              Anyways the odds are set. Pirates are 100-1 shots to win the World Series this year. Get your money down now!

              I'm trying to decide if I actually want to go to class tommorrow or stay home and watch the game. Unfortunatly for my education I think the Pirates are going to win.
              Last edited by Karlos05; 04-02-2006, 09:22 PM.

              Comment

              • mjb2124
                Hall Of Fame
                • Aug 2002
                • 13649

                #112
                Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                Originally posted by Karlos05
                I'm trying to decide if I actually want to go to class tommorrow or stay home and watch the game. Unfortunatly for my education I think the Pirates are going to win.
                LOL. I took off work so I'll be watching baseball all day (until 24 of course!).

                I'm pretty excited to see the game and see Perez.

                Here's a thought - Why does it seem like the Pirates are trying to change Perez so much? Spin did it last year and it seems they're trying to do it this year. Perez seems to be aiming the ball and trying to become a finesse pitcher when I've watched him lately.

                I understand they don't want him to throw 110 pitches by the 5th inning like he's done before, but they've also taken away his dominance. My problem is this - do they want a guy who has a low pitch count, but isn't dominant and is getting hit or do they want a guy who's going to mow people down for 5-6 innings and then reach his pitch limit? Personally, I'd take the guy mowing people down for 5-6 and then hit the bullpen.

                Anyhow, opening day lineup for the Buc's:

                Duffy - CF
                Wilson - SS
                Casey - 1B
                Bay - LF
                Burnityz - RF
                Randa - 3B
                Castillo - 2B
                Cota - C
                Perez - P

                Comment

                • mjb2124
                  Hall Of Fame
                  • Aug 2002
                  • 13649

                  #113
                  Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                  I'm watching the KDKA Sports Showdown and they have a trivia question that Karlos asked earlier:

                  Last guy to start back to back opening days for the Pirates?

                  - Francisco Cordova 98-99

                  I mentioned his name earlier when this was brought up, but wasn't sure he was the last guy:

                  http://forums.operationsports.com/vB...va#post2265306

                  Comment

                  • Karlos05
                    -
                    • Mar 2003
                    • 5814

                    #114
                    Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                    Littlefield just signed a 1 year extension

                    From Rotoworld:

                    Pirates signed general manager Dave Littlefield to a a one-year contract extension through the 2008 season.
                    Littlefield hasn't been a total failure -- the Jason Bay acquisition has made up for several of his weaker moves -- but his overall track record is quite poor and there's little indication that he's the man to put a winner on the field in Pittsburgh. Fortunately for him, the goal seems to be more about making money than actually building a serious contender. Why else would it be necessary to have him locked up for three years?

                    Comment

                    • mjb2124
                      Hall Of Fame
                      • Aug 2002
                      • 13649

                      #115
                      Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                      Hmmm, odd move. I expected them to discuss this at the end of the year....not now.

                      Comment

                      • Karlos05
                        -
                        • Mar 2003
                        • 5814

                        #116
                        Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                        Actually I think this is the time they've re-upped him in the past. I'm pretty sure he signed his last extension on or around Opening Day a few years ago.

                        Comment

                        • mjb2124
                          Hall Of Fame
                          • Aug 2002
                          • 13649

                          #117
                          Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                          That might be. I guess I thought this would be his make or break season. Obviously that's not the case and the guy on RotoWorld who wrote this is 100% right - "Fortunately for him, the goal seems to be more about making money than actually building a serious contender".

                          The worse part is that I think this might eliminate the chance that Kmac/Nutting sell the team after the season. I thought there might be a chance they sell after getting the money from the All Star Break. I don't see it happening now.

                          Comment

                          • mjb2124
                            Hall Of Fame
                            • Aug 2002
                            • 13649

                            #118
                            Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                            Ollie around 89-90 MPH so far. Already gave up a HR to JJ Hardy because his control isn't good enough and he isn't throwing hard enough to get anything past anyone.

                            I don't get it. I'm so frustrated with Ollie and the coaching staff (this year and last). Why try to change a guy who dominated just for an extra
                            few innings of work? That is why they changed him. They didn't want him to have thrown 110 pitches by the 5th inning (although he typically dominated those 5 innings). Instead they get a guy who hasn't thrown that many pitches, but doesn't have dominating stuff anymore.

                            Comment

                            • Karlos05
                              -
                              • Mar 2003
                              • 5814

                              #119
                              Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                              Alright I'm back and ready to watch some baseball.



                              Lets Go Bucs!


                              EDIT: Looking at the box score. Ollie with the 2-out RBI single. Way to go!

                              EDIT2: Ollie looks to be throwing well. Came back from 3-0 to get the K and then got the next guy. Fastball looks to be at 92 or so but looks to be very effective.

                              EDIT3: K's the side!!
                              Last edited by Karlos05; 04-03-2006, 02:24 PM.

                              Comment

                              • mjb2124
                                Hall Of Fame
                                • Aug 2002
                                • 13649

                                #120
                                Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                                I've been frustrated with Ollie's lack of velocity (being mid 90's), but he's getting the job done. I can't take anything away from what he's doing.

                                At 91-92 MPH he's been blowing people away. I wonder if the radar gun is a little screwed up. They said the one on the scoreboard has shown 93 at times when the Fox one on the TV shows 89. They also said that sometimes the one on the scoreboard will show 89 and the Fox one will show 89 as well. No rhyme or reason for the difference.

                                He just struck out the side. Pretty impressive right there.

                                Let's get some offense!!

                                Comment

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