Hey-a. My name is RJ Warner, and I'll be taking you through the magical roller coaster ride that will be Pittsburgh Pirates baseball in 2006. The thrills! The chills! The tension of each and every pitch as a metaphor for life, death and rebirth!Kidding. It's already 24 games into the season and this team is about as interesting as a rerun of "Good Times." The Pirates haven't had anything go right this year, and people around my town have stopped expecting it to happen.
Oh, we were optimistic. Boy, were we ever excited. We added some veterans, some "character guys." We have a new manager who sold us on the team's everyday improvement. Those rookie pitchers were phenomenal down the stretch. We have a kid who's dying to take command of the closer's role. Many of our bench players were starting a few years ago, so just think how deep we'regoing to be. A .500 team perhaps? 85 wins? Dare I utter the "C" word...competitive?
That's my favorite thing about the Bucs. We have these long, drab winters here in Pittsburgh; but when baseball season is about to kick itself up again, the gleams revisit our collective eyes. This probably repeats itself in the other 29 major league cities (well, probably not KC). That unbridled optimism, enthusiasm, that "this is THE year, baby!" intoxication that grips those baseball-addled souls.
But then...
You notice your leadoff hitter has a propensity for missing more signs than a foreign tourist. Your so-called ace is more interested in displaying so many different arm angles that a protractor would be jealous. You hear the pitching coach is upset with another starter because he was keeping the ball too low. Too low? Isn't that the mantra of a pitcher - keep the ball DOWN? You can tell that your star-in-the-making is gripping the bat so tight, he just might shatter the handle. You read that your marquee free agent signing has been lying in a hospital bed for over two weeks. You realize that the Good Guy from almost ten years who came back is a lot worse for all that wear of 11 seasons at the hot corner.
Not to complain, of course. It's my team. It's my town. I've been watching this happen over and over again for 13 straight seasons, witht the 14th well in progress. And I'll watch it happen again. And Again.
So anyway, welcome to my Pittsburgh Pirates team blog. I hope you enjoy my writings on one of the bottom feeders of Major League Baseball. I'm not going to bitch all the time and tell you how bad they are. Judging by the name of this site, we're all baseball geeks, so we already know this. Or you can take a quick peek at the standings anytime.
What I'll try to do is keep you up to date from a fantasy perspective. Pirates tend to be interesting fantasy players. Very few (Jason Bay maybe) are long term solutions to a winning team, but many are very streaky players that can pile up points in a hurry or maybe help put you over the edge in a head to head matchup. Minor league callups are like dug up treasure for the Pirates. So when a pitcher is up from Indianapolis, you should pick him up posthaste and plug him in as a starter and watch yourself get a big win. Pirates tend to be ignored in a lot of fantasy leagues I'm in, and that's a big mistake.
So I hope you enjoy the blog as I'll try to update as often as I can (I have another blog and write for sportscolumn.com, plus I work six nights a week). If you have any questions, comments or just want to yell at me for my horrible suggestions, e-mail me at rjwarner76@yahoo.com.
