BleacherCoaches.com

1. the bucs wont trade mesa unless they are gettin "a sure thing" type guy. mesa is getting paid around 800k this season which makes him unbelievably cost effective. littlefield knows that winning games this season is still important and that mesa has helped the pirates to an undefeated record when they are winning after 8 innings.

2. the closer is a huge role for any decent team, especially if they dont have a good offense, like the pirates. although, a decent closer is not that hard to find. put a guy out there who has some poise and can throw strikes w/ decent stuff, and you have a solid closer.

3. i hate how the guys from espn complain that littlefield is holding out for too much w/ the benson deal. john kruk especially bothered me the other day on baseball tonite when he said that they pirates will get stuck with him if they dont bring their demands down. so what? i dont think it would be the end of the world if benson finished this season with the pirates. i just think kruk is a 'lil sour that his phillies will have to give up a good player if they want benson. benson's value will only go up as the deadline approaches and until july 30th, littlefield can ask for whatever he wants and he just may get it.

4. my pirates mvp right now is jason kendall. he has made me forget how much he is overpaid. he is having a gold glove season behind the plate. he has handled the pitching staff very well. he proving himself to be a leader on this team. he sets a great example with is work ethic and hustle. he is batting over .300 at the leadoff position. and the list can go on and on....

the pirates will have another losing slump somewhere along the line in august or september. they could still challenge the .500 mark for the end of the season tho. starting pitchin is the key.

Here I am sitting Sat. nite in front of my computer listening to the Bucs tear up the Reds. Internet radio is great but it still bugs me that no radio stations in the county carry them.

I don't mind paying $15 for the MLB audio feeds, but gone are those days when I sat on my mower listening to the Pirates on my headphones. Just can't pick them up here in Boogersburg. Life is tough.

Great game tonight as the Pirates pull one out against the Giants in the bottom of the 9th. Terrific slide by Jack Wilson to score the winning run. Fox Pittsburgh's coverage of the game was excellent. It showed about 6 angles of the final play to show that Wilson actually did get his arm around the tag.

Very exciting game. Fox Sport tonight actually led with the Pirates game highlights over the daily Steeler's preseason camp report. That alone was an indication of the excitement surrounding the game.

I know whats up with that...no Pirates radio coverage in Bedford...and plus whats up with Fox Sports Pittsburgh not showing all the games? In my opininon they should show every game...Kinda like TBS and WGN shows Braves and Cubs games. Must not get enough ratings. Like you foghorn I remember doing the yard work listening to the games..but those day are gone...dang will the pirates ever make the playoffs?

Another exciting game and win. Nice to see Wilson hit a big one. I still think CW can be a 40 plus home run guy. Did anyone see the interview with Torres on Fox sports? He talked about how Bonds used to pick on him when Torres played for the Giants. It was hilarious and also confirmed the general opinion that Bonds, while the greatest ballplayer in the past 20 years, was and is an a$$whole.

Take a look at this...

The month of June has been the spoiler for the Pirates season. In April, the Bucs just missed .500--going 10-11. They were even in May at 13-13. In July, they were strong at 17-10. Had it not been for the month of June (9-19), the Pirates would be over .500. And looking even deeper: the main source of their poor record in June was interleague play. In the month of June, the Buccos were swept by 3 AL teams (Texas, Oakland, Seattle). Overall, the Pirates were 2-10 in interleague play. No other team in baseball had fewer than 5 wins in interleague play.

...The Pirates should be petitioning to eliminate interleague play.

What a great win against Arizona by the Pirates last night. They beat the Big Eunuch -- I mean Unit -- 2-1. Johnson only gave up three hits, but two of them were homers by Wilson and Bay. The game was played in only 1:46. Of course Mesa made things interesting by loading the bases in the 9th, but he prevailed. Fogg pitched well too. For pure drama and interest it was the best game of the year, at least for me. And who would have thunk the Pirates wopuld yard RJ back to back?

Great call of the TV game by Greg Brown, who's a really top-notch play-by-play man -- and Steve Blass -- who knew enough to keep his quips to a minimum and just analyze.

Is it just me, or is the Dave Parker night coming up bothering anybody else old enough to remember that guy's checkered career. When all that stuff about the drug use by some of those players back then came out I felt incredibly betrayed. Still not quite over it.

For you really old guys out there, Blass talked a little about the great Pirate pitcher Bob Veale -- the last 200-strike man for the Bucs. Remember him? He was about 6'9', fast and wicked and intimidating, and wore big thick plastic frame glasses that he took off and cleaned about every three pitches during hot weather cuz they'd fog up. Nobody complained because if he wouldn't wipe the lenses, he couldn't see as well and would usually plunk a few guys.

Those were the days...

I only made it home to catch the single to load the bases and the DP. So I have a question for those who watched the game. Why didn't Fogg pitch the 9th? He had a 1-2-3 8th and struck out the last guy, correct? And I thought that I heard that he had only pitched 94 pitches. That's one thing that irks me about Mac.

Does anybody know what's the matter with Lanny. Blass is a good analyst, but he's sorta weak on play-by-play, as he admits himself.

'Course, with the way the Pirates are playing now with counless mistakes and a total absence of enthusiasm, who wants to listen to any games anyway?

I sense LM is losing these guys real quick.