SPORTS-(PIRATES)
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Opening Salvo
April 11, 2007-
Opening Day arrived this year amid the inability of MLB and cable to reach a compromise on a TV deal for out-of-market games. Things eventually were resolved April 5th, thanks to several "committees for time consuming evaluations" and most notably, money.
Since the out-of-market Extra Innings package on cable has been my main channel into baseball for the past five years, I felt personally involved in the whole ruckus. Well, not personal enough that I was upset about NOT spending $159 bucks this year... but concerned, dagdabbit! For those few days last week, I told myself that I would be okay without Extra Innings and resigned myself to watching ESPN, MLB.com's GameDay boxscores and gasp....local Rockies broadcasts.
Within 24 hours of this decision, I was desperate for a cable Extra Innings deal and was willing to up my subscription to $269.
ESPN was okay, but their constant highlight updates confused the hell out of me. They cut into a game, telling me that "the Mariners are bringing sexy back! a two-run bomb, Seattle up 4-1". I was left wondering: "who the hell just hit a homerun for Seattle?" I stopped thinking about the game I was watching and couldn't get that annonymous homerun out of my head. After about 10 minutes, I finally realized: "oh... musta' been Richie Sexson". Thanks for the worthless distraction.
Later, I settled in to watch a Rockies game. Oh boy. Troy Tulowitzki hit a flyball into right field and it bounced off the glove of Arizona's Eric Byrnes. The Rockies announcers, George Frazier and Drew Goodman, quickly labelled it a "a great piece of hitting for this great youngster!". Wait...it BOUNCED OFF A FIELDER'S GLOVE! Off the Glove = "E-9" in my book. They also compared Tulowitski to the A's shortstop.... Bubba Crosby. Consistently-- not just once or twice. I never knew that Bubba Crosby, the outfielder from the Yankees, was traded to the A's, converted into a shortstop and took over for Bobby Crosby.
Goodman and Frazier then went on, for no real reason, to talk about Goose Gossage AGAIN. Since Gossage lives in the area and played BASEBALL, that's been good enough for any dick with a microphone to whine about him not being in the Hall of Fame. I've babbled about this before on this site, but it's getting old. It's spread to the print world, too, as a Rocky Mountain News columnist (whose name shall be withheld, since the fucktard deserves NO recognition and is a hack) suggested that Gossage should be in, while Bill Mazeroski and Willie Stargell should be out. Since taking a marginal player-- who happened to be your favorite or a buddy of yours-- and making a case for him being in the Hall of Fame is par for the course, I'm starting my own. Andy Van Slyke should be in the Hall of Fame. C'mon...Gold Gloves and, most importantly, he Played on a Team I Liked. I don't see how voters can deny him. If they do, it's an injustice and a shame.
A day into my Extra Innings exile and I was fuming. No wonder nobody in Denver likes baseball. They have to listen to these two turdgobblers everytime they want to watch a game.
My open letter to MLB, DirecTV and the Lords of Cable: Don't. Do. This. To. Me. Again.
Bucco Beginning Blog
A Moutain Time Zone blog of significant events that occurred while watching the Pittsburgh Pirates home opener on Monday, April 9, 2007:
11:36am: First repeat commercial of the day, one minute into the broadcast. It's a Ford Truck ad.
11:40am: Notice that Pirates backstop Ronny Paulion has a new yellow chest protector. Looks like something a BMX biker would wear (or a member of the H.I.V.E). Since his glove is light tan, I wonder if this might be tough for the pitchers to spot a target.
11:41am: David Eckstein is the First Out of 2007 at PNC Park, as he pops up to .... 2006 NL Batting Champ, Freddy Sanchez! Damn, feels good to say that. Err, type that.
11:41am: Chris Duncan hits the First Ball Out of the Infield of 2007 at PNC Park-- a can of corn flyball to Jason Bay
11:42am: Albert Pujols comes to bat and the Pirate fan, feeling rather brave, have the balls to actually boo him. Usually, he's announced and there's a collective "oh shit" from the crowd. A winning second half of 2006 and good start to 2007 have the fans optimistic. Pujols singles up the middle, of course.
11:45am: 30 seconds after getting away with the First Shitty Pitch of 2007 at PNC Park, Ian Snell strikes out Scott Rolen.
11:46am: A Southwest Airlines commercial of a gopher display gets the First Chuckle of 2007 from me.
11:49am: First Leadoff Walk of 2007 at PNC Park-- Braden Looper walks Chris Duffy.
11:50am: First Balk of 2007 at PNC Park-- Looper missteps and Duffy takes 2nd. However, this is closely followed by...
11:56am: First Disappointment of 2007 at PNC Park-- Adam LaRoche grounds out to end the inning. Despite having the leadoff man in scoring position with no outs, the heart of the Bucs order can't drive him home and they come up empty.
12:00pm: First Unneccesary Ump Delay: The chalk lines surrounding the batter's box are off by a few inches. The umps stomp 'em out and call for new lines. Seems like an insignificant detail, which makes me wonder if Tony LaRussa brought it to their attention.
12:12pm: First Snack While Watching Baseball on TV of 2007: I get up and eat a Russell Stover Big Bite Pecan Egg.
12:30pm: First AFLAC Trivia Question of 2007 at PNC Park: Name the Pirates pitchers who have started the 7 home openers at PNC Park. Hmm... I get four of 'em.
12:32pm: First run scored at PNC in 2007: Scott Rolen knocks home Pujols and the Cardinals go up, 1-0.
12:33pm: The AFLAC answer: Todd Ritchie, Ron Villone, Kip Wells, Kip Wells, Oliver Perez, Zach Duke and Ian Snell (today). Back at the park, Steve Blass tells us that the last time the Pirates drew the Cards in a home opener, it was 1987. Don Robinson faced Dave LaPoint and Jim Morrison was the hitting hero.
12:45pm: Return of the AFLAC Yogi Berra barbershop commercial. Yes! "and they give ya' cash! Which is just as good as money"
12:49pm: I hear some drunks in the stands chanting "Let's Go Bucs!" while the Pirates are pitching. Darnit, close the beer lines in Pittsburgh. Really, how do you "go" when your team is pitching?
12:53pm: First Mound Visit of 2007 at PNC: Jim Colborn comes out to talk to Ian Snell. 2 on, 2 out and Pujols is at the plate.
12:55pm: Pujols grounds out. Yeah! It worked, Jim!
1:08pm: Jim Edmonds, whose mouth apparently doesn't close all the way, is picked off stealing third. Badly.
1:18pm: First 7th Inning Stretch of 2007 at PNC. To celebrate, in the bottom of the 7th, the Bucs go 1-2-3, with a GIDP. *fart*
1:40pm: First Bullpen Choke of 2007 at PNC: Damaso ("Dum Assho") Marte gives up a 2-run double to Preston Wilson.
1:45pm: The Mountain Dew "Do Something Different" commercial with Chuck Norris airs. Chuck Norris jokes got old about a year ago and they're all over the place. So how is an ad with him "Different"?
1:50pm: Chris Duffy strikesout at a worm burner in the dirt. Ugh.
2:03pm: They mention that So Taguchi is 37 years old. Looks younger. I compare that to Matt Capps, who's 23, but looks about 38.
2:14pm: Jason Bay strikes out looking. Bucs lose 0-3. First Loss of 2007 at PNC.
At least they were able to hang with the Cardinals. A year ago, this would've been an 8-0 loss for the Buccos. Last year, despite a horrible start, they finished 43-38 at home and had a winning record in the second half of the season. Also, no real worthless "log-jam" postion players (like last year's inclusion of Jeromy Burnitz or Joe Randa). I'm with those boo'ing fans in the optimism category. I like their young rotation and there's help on the way. Especially with Andrew McCutchen. Saw him in Spring Training and I was impressed with his defense and speed. I don't think they'll win the division, but 80 wins doesn't seem too unreasonable.
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