Justice for Chris Resop

Last week, I saluted Pirates reliever Chris Resop for his 3 shutout innings, all after the 9th. He didn't get a win nor a save nor a hold for that, yet he helped keep the mighty Rockies off of the board long enough for the Bucs to win.

Well today the ledger evened out.

The Pirates looked like they were going to blow a game where they had a 4-0 lead before the Reds even came to bat. I warned them that losing a game like this meant they didn't DESERVE a .500 record.

The Pirates blew the lead, took it back and let the Reds tie it in the 7th. With 2 outs on the 7th, Resop came in to face back up Cincinnati catcher Ryan Hanigan. On his second pitch, Hanigan popped up to end the inning.

The next inning Andrew McCutchen drove home the go ahead run and the Pirates went on to win.

So a game where Resop throws 3 shutout innings in relief, all extra innings, he gets nothing positive for his record.

A game where he threw 2 pitchers to a back up catcher? He gets a win. That's the universe paying him back.

Rest in peace Chuck Tanner

The Fam-A-Lee lost one of its great figures.
Notice I couldn't say its father figure. The 1979 Pirates had only one daddy... that would be Pops Stargell.

But Chuck Tanner was the manager of those 1979 Pirates and it was his enthusiasm and positivity that gave them a steady hand as they beat a powerful Orioles squad after trailing 3 games to 1.

He managed contenders for the White Sox and the end of the 1970s A's run where he finished second. Then was traded as a manager to the Pirates for Manny Sanguillen.

Sanguillen would return to the Pirates and help with a key pinch hit single in the 1979 World Series.

Tanner would later manage the Braves where he brought Stargell along to be on his coaching staff.

The Fam-A-Lee has a new Hall of Famer this year with Bert Blyleven and last year they lost Jim Bibby. Now Tanner is gone.

Anyone who knows me knows that the 1979 World Series holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first World Series I watched every game of and the first one I got emotional about.

I love that '79 Pirates team and as I wrote before, I thought everything about that World Series was great.

So cue up Sister Sledge and tip your star covered hat.

Rest in peace Chuck Tanner... you will always be part of the Fam-A-Lee.

Ross Ohlendorf's arbitration arguments

Some people are surprised that Ross Ohlendorf was able to win his arbitration hearing despite a 1-11 record for the Pirates.

But if you look at his arguments, you will see it was a no brainer that he was going to win.


- Hey, I'm a Pirate! We're SUPPOSED to lose. And who did it better than me?

- Haven't you heard? We're not supposed to pay attention to a win-loss record anymore.

- Felix Hernandez lost 12 games and was given the Cy Young Award. I only lost 11. Ergo Felix Hernandez is a bigger loser than I am!

- By having the worst record in baseball, we get the #1 pick in the draft. You are welcome.

- Did you SEE my only win? It was on July 2nd against the Phillies. I threw 7 innings of shutout ball against the 2 time defending NL Champs. Let's see YOU do that, Mr. Arbitrator!

- You know, I actually had a decent ERA in each of the last two seasons. And fans don't pay money to see a pitcher win or lose. They just want to see a decent ERA.

- It is important to show Pirate fans that you are committed to putting the same crappy product on the field year in and year out.

- You have to factor in that I had an OPS of .220 as well.

- I played with the Yankees for two seasons, so I actually know players like Jeter and A-Rod. I can get them to sign some memorabilia for you. But that access doesn't come cheap!

- I can't imagine how I only went 1-11 with such a great lineup and a lock down bullpen around me!

Stay focused Pirates...

OK Pirates, we all know you guys have sucked since 1992.
And by sucked I mean posting a losing record for each of the last 18 seasons.
By sucked I mean 9 last places finishes over the last 18 seasons.
By sucked I mean 6 straight 94+ loss seasons including last year's 105 loss fiasco.

We all know that.
And only a lunatic would have picked the Pirates to win the NL Central. (Did anyone have them with a winning season?)

And here we are in May and already the Pirates are sub .500.

But wait!
The are only 2 games out of first place. And the two favorites for the division, the Reds and the Brewers, are not exactly tearing it up.

Let's say the Pirates win their next two games against San Diego (possible.)
And the Cardinals lose the next two games against the surging Marlins (possible.)

Then the Pirates would be above .500 and tied for first place in May.
Is that so hard?

And then play .500 ball the rest of the way... and get the whole "They haven't have a winning season since Francisco Cabrera" storyline off of their backs.

Is that so hard?

Stay focused.
I'm not asking you to be the 1927 Yankees (who beat the Pirates in the World Series.)
Just be above SUCK.

.500!

OK Pirate fans... I did a reverse curse.

I questioned the move of taking James McDonald out and lookie here! Doumit homers and the Pirates are a .500 team.

Yeah it is early but this is the first time since 2004 that they were a .500 team this late.

Can they play above .500 for 128 games?

(I'll get blamed if they go on a losing streak won't I?)

Enjoy the curtain calls, Ryan Doumit!

Did James McDonald get hurt?

Seriously, what the hell is going on in Pittsburgh? I don’t have the game on, but I saw that McDonald was simply dealing at PNC Park.

Over 6 innings he let up 3 hits, no runs and 8 strikeouts on 96 pitches. Then he was lifted. He didn’t come out for the 7th. Out came Chris Resop who faced 3 batters, all got hits including a lead off homer by Angel Sanchez.

As I write this, the Pirates 2-0 lead has turned into a 3-2 hole.

Come on Pirates!
.500 is a win away.

Leave in the pitchers when they are pitching well. Just a tip from your pal Sully

Don't lose this game, Pirates

The Pirates are up 4 runs before the Reds even come to bat. So listen to me Pirates and you listen good. If you have ANY hopes to go .500 (an Everest not scaled since 1992) then THESE are the games you can not blow.

You are going to lose close games.
You are going to lose some blow outs.

But when you put a 4 spot on the board in the first, then you NEED to close out the game.

I expect the Pirates to be 7-8 by the end of today.

Then they would need to go 75-72 the rest of the way to have a winning season.

Lose this game, and you don't deserve it!

Sorry Pirates fans... I won't jinx your team any more

It seems like every time I write something positive about the Pirates, they lose.
Every time I try to be positive about Pittsburgh and hope they finally make their way to .500, the team does a faceplant.

And I often have received nasty comments from Pirate fans when I criticize them... now I am getting flustered comments from Pirate fans when I praise them.

Here I am, a Red Sox fan blogging... and we Sox fans constantly get accused of only focusing on the Red Sox and Yankees. So I try to open up the discussion to the Pirates, and evidently I am causing them to lose.

So Pirate fans, I will stop blogging about them for a while.
But if we get to June and they are STILL sub .500, you can NOT blame me!

The Hype of Kris Benson

I read yesterday that Kris Benson was indeed retiring from baseball. I was shocked when I read that. He was still pitching?

That would be like hearing “Katrina and the Waves broke up.” Yeah, I figured they did.

Actually Benson did pitch for a few games in 2009 and 2010. He pitched 36 1/3 innings in the majors since 2006. And he hung them up today.

He made tens of millions of dollars along the way, and never even approached being an elite pitcher.

The man whose first name started with a K because he parents wanted a pitcher was a stud in high school and was called “The Messiah” in Clemson University. He had all the makings of being the next big star pitcher.

The Pirates used the #1 pick overall in 1996 on him. The #1 pick is supposed to be a potential superstar or at least a steady veteran.

Now to be fair to the Pirates, that first round didn’t exactly produce a bumper crop of future Hall of Famers. It had Billy Koch and Eric Milton and Braden Looper and Jason Marquis among others. But it wasn’t like they passed up on Ken Griffey Jr to draft him.

Then again Roy Oswalt was still available in the 22nd round, so maybe they should have done a better job scouting.

His minor league numbers were mediocre, but his status as a prospect was always hyped.

He came up to the bigs in 1999 and won his big league debut. He played for a truly rotten Pirates team (redundant after 1992) but he pitched well. Not great. But well. Good ERA. Most strikeouts by a Pittsburgh right hander in 2000. Again he wasn’t a bad pitcher. He was just overhyped.

When he missed the 2001 season after surgery he came back and pitched well. Not great, but well.

When he was dealt to the Mets, it was thought they were getting a budding ace who just needed to get out of Pittsburgh.

He pitched OK in New York. Not great. Not badly. None of his numbers were eye popping. He’d go on a good streak than a bad streak.

It was classic Jim Duquette deal… one that was supposed to spark the team and instead kept the Mets mediocre.

Later with the Orioles he pitched OK, but not great, in 2006.

Even his wife was overhyped. I kept hearing about how unbelievably hot she was. I saw her.

She was OK… not great… and certainly not worth the hype nor how annoying she was in interviews.

And now, after cameos in Texas and Arizona, a hyped career is over.

Kris Benson’s career was baseball equivalent to the movie Dick Tracy.

Lots of hype… lots of built up expectations… lots of behind the scene friction between the star and the potentially crazy leading lady… and when it was all over I thought “That’s it?”

It wasn’t bad and there was talent there… but there was a lot of talent behind Dick Tracy as well and not a lot of memorable moments.

Sully Baseball Salutes... Chris Resop and the Pirates bullpen

I am guessing not a lot of you watched the Pirates - Rockies game last night. PNC Park wasn't exactly standing room only and the two teams are not the most popular in the bigs.

21 Rockies played. 20 Pirates played. With 41 players putting this game on the Baseball Reference page, I am frankly surprised that the Pirates didn't have the Parrot warming up.

Pirate manager (and former Rockies manager) Clint Hurdle out managed Rockies manager (and former Pirates manager) Jim Tracy as Jose Tabata drove in the winning run in the 14th.

While you may not have seen the game, it is worth a salute. Not because it will affect the pennant race or be in the next Ken Burns entry.

But the Pirates bullpen was pressed into service early as Ross Ohlendorf lasted only 2 2/3 innings.

How did they respond?
Jeff Karstens, Michael Crotta, Jose Veras, Joel Hanrahan, Chris Resop and Garrett Olson combined to go 11 1/3 scoreless innings.

The likes of Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez were in the lineup. So was Jason Giambi who homered off of Ohlendorf.

None of those pitchers are on anyone's short list for Cy Young contenders. And yet they did their job big time. In fact, according to Bucs Insider, it was the longest shutout bullpen outing since 1900.

How long ago was that?
There was no American League yet when that happened.

Karstens pitched 3 1/3 innings starting in the 3rd. But I am making a special salute to Resop.
He came into the game in the 10th inning and looked shaky. He let up a double and a wild pitch and had the bases loaded. But he wiggled out by getting out Ty Wigginton.

He pitched a scoreless 11th and 12th inning, giving the Pirates 3 shutout innings AFTER the ninth.

He will not get a win for his effort. Olson got the win after 2 shutout innings.
He will not get a save for his effort nor a hold.

But he has earned a salute here for a terrific effort.

If Pirates players like Chris Resop just do their job like they did last night, the Pirates may win a few more games.

If they go 77-77 the rest of the way, then will have a winning season. And the key to a winning season is doing the little things right.

Good job Chris Resop and the pen.
Now do that 77 more times.

Can the Pirates go 78-78 the rest of the way?

The Pirates NEED to get a winning season one of these years. They went the entire 2000s without as much as a .500 season. It's been documented ad nauseum that they haven't been a .500 team since Francisco Cabrera drove home David Justice and Sid Bream.

And until the Pirates win more than they lose in a season, it will be mentioned. It is the yoke on the team. None of the players were ON that team. I bet they are too young to even remember it. But they are shouldering the burden the same way that every Red Sox team from 1919 to 2003 carried the responsibility of not winning a World Series for the Red Sox until the Idiots took care of business.

Well as I type this, the Pirates are off to a better start than anyone would have predicted. They aren't off to an epic start, but 4-2 isn't bad. (That's 4 more wins than my Red Sox have!)

So why can't they go 78-78 the rest of the way? I am not talking about winning 90 games or making the playoffs. Just go .500 the rest of the season.

The Pirates play the Astros, the Cubs and the Cardinals a lot... and all three of those teams are either depleted with injuries or just not that good. They play the Mets, Nationals and Diamondbacks... and none of those teams are world beaters. They play the Indians and Orioles in Interleague Play.

Why can't they look to beat some of those teams?
Why can't they play good baseball against some bad teams and pile up some wins and try to hang in with the good clubs?

It would be the first step for a once proud franchise.
Do you want people to stop reminding you the team hasn't had a winning season since 1992?
Have a winning season!

Go 78-78 the rest of the way.

Listen to The Sully Baseball Show... with guest Joel Solomon

Pirates fan Joel Solomon joins me on The Sully Baseball Show, part of the Seamheads National Podcasting Network.

Listen in.

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OK Ross Ohlendorf... time to earn your money

Ross Ohlendorf won one game last year and then matched his win total in arbitration in the off season.

A lot of people made fun of that in the off season, including yours truly. But he is pitching against the Cubs today and can match his 2010 win total in early April.

Everything after that? Gravy.

OK, maybe the uniforms DIDN'T help the Pirates

I guess I was too quick to give the Pirates (and their bad ass black uniforms) credit for back to back wins.

Who could have seen a 5 run 8th inning from the Cubs? I didn't.
I stand by my original point: The Pirates should wear the black tops for every road game.

The Pirates take the early lead... it's GOTTA be the uniforms!

The Pirates are winning against the Cubs... again.
And once again they are doing it wearing their awesome black top uniforms. I told them to make those their regular road jerseys last year. So far so good with them THIS year.

They've tried everything else to put a winning club on the field (short of drafting well and making smart trades.) Why not keep wearing these cool tops?

How could it be worse than the last 18 seasons?

The Pirates looked good while looking good

The Pirates won their opener. (Why were they playing in Chicago while San Francisco and San Diego are empty?)

And who knows how long they will be undefeated. But they ARE winning the awesome alternate uniforms. Last year, I urged them to make these the permanent road uniforms.

Look like winners and who knows? Maybe they will BE winners?

Just 81 more wins and they will have their first winning season since 1992.

Trust me. Wear the black tops for ALL road games.

Tim Wakefield and Miguel Batista... last relics of Pittsburgh glory

Tim Wakefield is back in camp with the Red Sox. This will be his 19th big league season (he spent 1994 in the minors) and potentially his 17th with the Boston Red Sox. He is only 13 wins behind Cy Young and Roger Clemens for the all time Red Sox team mark.

Miguel Batista is still hanging in there as a big league pitcher. He had a solid season as a reliever for the Washington Nationals in 2010 and is trying to make it with the St. Louis Cardinals. They have another slot open on their staff with the injury to Adam Wainwright. And with Dave Duncan as the pitching coach, the former Diamondback starter could wind up winning 15 games this year.

Wakes and Batista are linked in a unique way.
Unless my research is faulty, they could be the only current players in 2011 who can say that that they played for a Pirates team that had a winning season.

Of course the Pirates have not reached the Himalaya known as .500 since Sid Bream scored on Francisco Cabrera's single in 1992.

And the link to any winning baseball on the field is getting more and more faint.
Of course Tim Wakefield was a rookie on the 1992 NL East Champion Pirates. He threw 2 complete game victories in the NLCS and would probably have been the MVP of the series had Cabrera popped up.

Batista? He was a Rule 5 draftee from the Montreal Expos in 1992. He appeared in a grand total of one game for the Defending Division Champion Pirates. On April 11, he came in to relieve Doug Drabek in the 7th inning. He let up a home run to Ruben Amaro.

He was returned to the Expos organization. The Pirates would go on to win the Division.

How long has it been? He let up a homer to Amaro, who is now the general manager of the Phillies. Who did Amaro trade a few years ago? KYLE Drabek, the son of the pitcher Batista relieved. So literally an entire generation has come and gone since the Pirates reached the heights of mediocrity.

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Pirates. I would love to see them be winners.
The players who have experienced that sensation? Down to a precious few.

Put Manny Sanguillen in!

Admit it, he still looks good in uniform.
And it would help matters if the Pirates actually were playing someone who remembers what it was like to play on a Pirates team that posted a winning record.

The Brewers Statement: We are NOT Kansas City (nor Pittsburgh for that matter)

When the Royals traded Zack Greinke to Milwaukee the other day, there was a beautiful symbolism to the move that wasn't lost on me.

Greinke wasn't dealt to New York. Forget the spin of "He couldn't handle New York." Neither the Mets nor the Yankees have the prospects to have pulled off the trade.

He wasn't dealt to the Red Sox, Phillies, Cubs, Angels or Dodgers.

The Royals, a small market club that ships off all of their stars, sent him to Milwaukee, another small market club that used to ship off all their stars.

Instead of sending Prince Fielder packing and looking to rebuild, the Brewers are going for it and adding a Cy Young contender.

And with that trade, the Brewers are doing something I've been urging the Pirates to do for a while and will pretty soon may encourage the Royals to do the same thing.

Go all in and give your fans a reason to be excited.

There is a reason I am bringing up the Pirates in this post about the Royals and Brewers.

From when the Wild Card era began in 1994 until the end of the 2006 season, the Pirates, Royals and Brewers combined for 34 losing seasons out of 36.

Only the 2003 Royals got their nose over .500 ith an 83-79 season.

And those three teams became the symbol of everything unfair with baseball. Their revenue was so much lower than the big spenders... how could they POSSIBLY compete?

This of course ignored the fact that low revenue teams like the Marlins could win the World Series twice in that stretch. And ignoring the fact that contraction worthy teams like the Twins and the A's could be playoff regulars. And the Expos, despite having no owner nor ANY fanbase managed to contend into September in 2002 and had a winning record in 2003.

Those three teams kept building for a future that would never arrive.

And the mantra of Brewers owner and commissioner Bud Selig (no conflict of interest there) was to change the economics of the game to help teams like his own.

Well, a wonderful thing happened to the Brewers: The Seligs sold the team.

Sometimes that's what you need. A change at the top could lead to changes in the whole culture of the team. Remember how the Red Sox couldn't win the World Series all of those years? From the mid 1930s to 2002 they were owned by the Yawkeys.

2 years after they sold the team, they were the World Champs.

After years of putting a losing club on the field under the Seligs, the Brewers finished at .500 in 2005, their first season under Mark Attanasio's ownership.

By 2007 they had a winning record and contended into September for the first time since 1992.

And in 2008, they did what would have been unthinkable just a few years before and would be sacrilegious in Pittsburgh and Kansas City: They dealt away one of their major league ready prospects for a veteran who was on the verge of free agency.

And even if Matt LaPorta turns into a good player for Cleveland... and even though CC Sabathia bolted town the second the season was over... it was the right move for the Brewers.

Sabathia pitched his heart out in his cameo for the Brewers. And when he pitched a complete game on the last day of the season, propelling the Brewers into the playoffs for the first time since 1982, he did something that no prospect could EVER do:

He gave Brewers fans too young to remember Harvey's Wallbangers or the great start of 1987 an actual awesome baseball memory of their team.

And guess what happens when you give fans a wonderful feeling about rooting for their team?

You build a FAN BASE!
You get excitement for your team instead of apathy!

Young kids in Wisconsin experienced a thrilling season and even a post season win at home in the Division Series. There isn't the hum drum "What's the point of watching them. They NEVER win" attitude.

And those fans who experienced the fun of 2008 have added hope in 2011. A new manager, a powerful lineup (with or without Fielder) and a rotation that now features Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke.

Meanwhile the Royals got more prospects and continue to promise their fans that happy days are just around the corner.

The Brewers aren't playing that game, at least not now.
They are going for it and saying to their fans "We want you to have more good memories of your team."

All it took was a change in attitude (and getting the Seligs out!)

I always get in trouble when I criticize the Pirates, but...

You can never accuse Pirate fans of being apathetic... at least not the ones who read what I write. As I've said before, I like the Pirates and want them to do well. And I hope that Neal Huntington helps assemble a winner and Clint Hurdle manages them back to the post season.

But whenever I point out that their trades have left something to be desired or the team doesn't look that good for next year, MAN do I get hate mail.

My article for The Hardball Times got a FLURRY of people trashing me for insinuating that the Pirates weren't in great shape and that GM Neal Huntington's trades have been a mixed bag at best.

So I tip toe cautiously in pointing out something bad again... but I can't help it.

Zach Duke was designated for assignment. He's gone. If they get anything in a trade for him, it will essentially be the equivalent of a bag of donuts.

Andy LaRoche is also heading out the door. Now I understand the economy of baseball (and the economy for that matter) and that Huntington had to clear some roster spaces.

But man I couldn't help but think of one trade that was made and one that wasn't... and more missed opportunities to make the Pirates better.

In 2008, Jason Bay was a prime trade chip. The Red Sox thought highly enough of him to make him Manny Ramirez's replacement.

The Dodgers thought highly enough about Ramirez to deal for him and sell lots of tickets and Dreadlock wigs.

And the Pirates got LaRoche... a young right handed third baseman who did exactly nothing in the bigs. They also got Brendan Moss and Craig Hansen, both busts and Bryan Morris who hasn't exactly impressed in AA.

All for Bay.

Meanwhile Duke, who looked like a young potential ace in 2005, had his ups and downs. But by 2009 he was eating up innings and pitching to a good ERA. He was a 26 year old left handed pitcher on the All Star team.

If he wasn't going to be a cornerstone for the franchise, I bet he would have been a good trade chip.

I wonder if any team could have used a young left handed starter in the 2009 stretch run. Are teams EVER looking for young left handed starting pitching?

Oh yeah. ALL the time.

So instead of dealing him... or making him part of their long term plans... they did neither and will get gotch for him.

This reminds me of Matt Capps, the Pirates reliever who Pittsburgh let walk away at age 25.

The got absolutely nothing for him.
But 1/2 a season later, the Nationals were able to flip him for Wilson Ramos... a catcher who is just about ready for the bigs.

So once again, I shake my head at the praise of Neal Huntington.
He blew the Jason Bay deal.
He botched Matt Capps.
And he wasn't able to turn Zach Duke into anything.

OTHER teams can pull off trades, but the Pirates can't for some reason.
OTHER teams can get talent back, but not Pittsburgh.

Now I will no doubt get a ton of negative comments for this post and I am expecting it.

And I'll get a lot of revisionist history.
"Bay has been a flop with the Mets!"

Yup. But nobody knew that in 2008... and Bay wasn't a flop in Boston.

"Duke fell apart after the 2009 All Star Break."
But nobody knew that in 2009 when he was young, left handed and pitching to an ERA in the 3's.

Unfortunately like before I have facts on my side.

I want to see the Pirates succeed. And maybe Huntington will build a good team through the draft.

But wouldn't it help if he made a good trade or two?

Maybe I'm wrong.