Pirates pitchers all the rage
Do you find yourself taking possession of the Pittsburgh Pirates in first person these days?
Being a Pirates鈥� fan is all the rage this summer.
My/our Pirates are 37-27 entering Wednesday蘑菇视频 game against the White Sox in Chicago, good enough to be in first place in the NL East (N.Y. Mets, 36-30), NL West (L.A. Dodgers, 37-28), and AL East (T.B. Rays, 36-30). Pittsburgh is tied with the Houston Astros (38-28), of the AL West, and trails the K.C. Royals (36-30), of the AL Central, by one game.
Unfortunately, THOSE St. Louis Cardinals win every time Pittsburgh has won the past three weeks and lost every time the Pirates have lost, so Pittsburgh has gained little ground despite going 7-3 over its past 10 games and winning its past six games.
(An aside, but how many baseball fans are on their computers in Kansas City? If the All-Star game voting ended today eight starters would be wearing Royal blue. The Angels鈥� Mike Trout is the only player not among the voted-in starters. Speaking of computers in Missouri, how about those St. Louis Cardinals? Or is it the St. Louis Hackers?)
Despite what TV network execs think or want to see, defense and pitching win baseball games.
Talk about pitching? How 鈥檅out them Pirates?
Brings to mind the Orioles鈥� quartet of Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally, Pat Dobson and Jim Palmer, who your Pirates beat in the 1971 World Series. Or, the New York Mets鈥� quartet of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack and George Stone, who won the NL East, defeated Cincinnati蘑菇视频 Big Red Machine in the NLCS and lost to Oakland in the World Series.
Charlie Morton (5-0, 1.62), Gerrit Cole (10-2, 1.71), A.J. Burnett (6-2, 1.89), and Francisco Liriano (4-5, 2.94) have been remarkable so far this season. That quartet, along with fifth-starter Jeff Locke, has allowed just one earned run over the past six games. The staff has combined for 30 consecutive scoreless innings after Tuesday蘑菇视频 3-0 win over the floundering White Sox.
Take out a three-game stretch where Liriano allowed 15 earned runs in 15.1 innings (all losses, by the way) and the crafty left-hander蘑菇视频 ERA is a paltry 1.60 in his other 10 starts.
The GM of my fantasy baseball team is looking pretty good this season with the selection of Gerrit Cole. He蘑菇视频 been a fantasy baseball stud this season!
(Of course, this is the same GM who allowed personal family feelings enter business and traded away points-monster Shelby Miller for sometimes points-getter Chris Davis. Try to be a nice guy, see where it gets ya?)
But, I digress. Isn鈥檛 it fun to watch the Pirates? No matter how disgusted you feel how the game is going, don鈥檛 you find yourself turning the game back on, just in case?
The current Pirates give me that d茅j脿 vu feeling of my youth way back in the 1970s when the home team won two World Series and fought for the NL East throughout the decade.
No, if I could only get that d茅j脿 vu feeling of my youth back in my body when I exercise (or walk up the stairs, or get out of bed in the morning .. you catch my drift).