Outbluffed by AJ Burnett: The 2014 Pittsburgh Pirates

http://blog.triblive.com/bucco-blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2014/04/ilikeike.jpg

Of course *sigh*

The Elias Sports Bureau noted that Davis became the third player in major league history to hit two grand slams against a team in a season with the home runs coming for two different teams (in this case the New York Mets and Pirates).

The other two are Ray Boone (grandfather of ESPN's Aaron Boone, who pointed out that his grandfather's nickname was Ike) and Mike Piazza.

... who'd name would be Ike, if not for the "M"

ikem

so exhausting losing to the same 3 1/2 teams again and again every 3 1/2 days

losing to other teams isn't that great either tbh

at least there's

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmpzzNiCIAAmatT.png

PNC Park is surprisingly empty.

walk-off replay challenge

That was a strange play -- if Posey just stands there, Marte slides into the tag and is out, there's almost no way to avoid it. But then Posey would be blocking the plate and the runner could have been called safe because of that. But because of the new plate blocking rules, Posey has to get out of the way while trying to make the tag, which is probably why he couldn't make a better tag.

you can still block the plate with the ball, or am I crazy?

ok, the rule is fucking stupid

i think the plate-blocking rule had much less to do with it than the replay rule (unless you want posey to be able to stand up the third-base line from the plate). if marte slides feet-first he goes right into the tag, but a head-first slide allowed him to reach around the tag.

before instant replay, the ball being there first gets the benefit of the doubt (which i'm pretty much okay with). but being able to inspect tags at one's leisure shows that they miss a fair bit. and this happens at other bases that have no new blocking rules.

also tim hudson was awesome last night, but maybe next time he'll hustle a little more to back up third base

Now I'm confused about the rule, so you're allowed to stand on the plate without the ball as long as the ball arrives before the runner (which is what Posey did)? If so then how is it really different from the old rule? I thought you had to receive the ball and then move to block the plate.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/pirates-giants-starling-marte-instant-replay-buster-posey-050714

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington had little reaction to reports circulating of a seven-year, $25 million offer to Gregory Polanco that was rejected by the club's top prospect.

smh

pirates trolling polanco/everyone by optioning phil irwin yesterday and not announcing a callup until today, when they summoned . . . brent morel, who has a .591 ops in triple-a

• pirates will be on sunday night baseball this weekend for the first time since july 28, 1996

• they've had 1421 home games since then

• they're playing the cardinals, who have had zero home games since their last sunday night appearance

Way to go, Ike.

pleased that they took four of six from good teams, but smdh at the way they lost the other two

aw the pirates have an early lead in milwaukee, how cute

8-6 after two in pittsburgh

wandy might be headed for another 'dl stint'

can gregory polanco pitch y/n

wandy and his $8m salary dfa'd

pirates' starting pitchers have five wins

gerrit cole has four of them

now i need a pound of fatback drums

five errors today

polanco me

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bpy4UobCIAAVRvK.jpg

six homers, six doubles for cutch in 9+ june games

six straight multi-hit games

ffs

god knows i love middle-aged long-time minor-league relievers who inspire weird slogans like 'grilled cheese time' but

five (combined) walks in the ninth

EL_COFFEE

god knows i love middle-aged long-time minor-league relievers who inspire weird slogans like 'grilled cheese time' but

*completes follow-through with bill-of-cap adjustment*

polanco 5-for-7, 36 pitches seen <3 <3 <3

.500!

gregory polanco is the first pirate to have a hit in each of his first six games since roberto clemente in 1955

kind of a bad loss today tho

that kid just might be alright!

i guess getting a solid two months out of edinson volquez was more than i'd expected, so

maybe jeff locke has a couple weeks in him? nah

rip jason grilli

lol <3

change of scenery doesn't seem to have helped ernesto much

http://www.searchamelia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/broom.jpg

http://www.fangraphs.com/not/ironic-jersey-omnibus-pittsburgh-pirates

Spanky!

Fun 1st inning.

i know!

Bumgarner: 3 H, 2 BB, 4 ER, 0.2 IP.

one can only imagine what the VANIMAL will do having been spotted four runs

I like Neil Walker, I want him in our team.

ike is testing my love with his fielding

sorry i doubted u

loved how it hit the speaker

greg brown + steve blass is a pretty terrible broadcast team, but karl has scared me off the cardinals' dudes

welp

Guess.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/the-surprising-best-hitting-team-of-2014/

i believe it. somehow it doesn't seem to be translating to wins the way one might hope

i was hoping the pirates could be one win away from the Cards by the end of the weekend but ... the rockies.

that and being stymied by felix doubront

triple play tho

that outfit is one of the best in the league.

on Pirate health, and Russell Martin's Arc Reactor.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/pittsburgh-pirates-healthy-season-playoff-chances-future-impact/

http://famousiconswearingpghpiratehats.tumblr.com

a little late, but let us pause to recognize that the pirates have guaranteed their second winning season since 1993

if only they'd won a single fucking game against the cards 10 days ago they'd even have a shot at the division. good thing clint barmes totally owns madbum

http://m.mlb.com/pit/video/topic/0/v29981085/pitsf-barmes-drills-a-threerun-homer-for-the-lead

Still a long shot at the division... that's really the only suspense left in the NL.

McCutchen with two HBPs tonight, Garza ejected

it seems possible that he didn't mean to do the second one, but

he'd previously only hit two batters all year

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/pittsburgh-pirates-mike-fitzgerald-mit-sabermetric-road-show

#buctober

congrats you buckaroos

boctober

let's just get through bleptember first guys

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mRAEcguN--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/cejy5z1c42xg5jetbjyh.jpg

http://deadspin.com/the-pirates-locker-room-celebration-looks-like-so-much-1638494944

ps john steigerwald sucks

5 years ago would not have imagined a world in which the o's, nats, and pirates were contenders. i guess the competitive balance stuff does work after all

getting multiple extremely high draft picks is a big help

which makes the o's success even more impressive, because they didn't quite have that

tbh i kinda agree with him, just that it seems silly to have a huge champagne celebration after every single advancement

Sending my congratulations from Milwaukee; I'm rooting for you guys

yeah i think going nuts for winning a wild card game or a division series is kind of lame, and a pennant doesn't mean so much anymore, but making the playoffs postseason after 150+ games is a good moment imo

it's kind of like when i come home and my cat is all purr-y and rubbing up against me and i'm like dude chill, you're gonna get trod upon, i'm *trying* to get to the food. but it's nice to know that he appreciates it

okay it's not really that much like that, but still

let's send mookie to the LCS

(if the fates allow)

ok seriously a champagne celebration after clinching the wc AND the division, two times!! before the postseason begins!! is ridiculous

re the dodgers

well shit

and now we're looking at vance worley or edinson volquez in the wc game

(who have actually pitched very well lately, but still)

http://i.imgur.com/udtLSCx.jpg

<3