Yes, Yankees Fans, It's Okay to Root For the Pirates

Yes, I said it. It is okay for Yankees fans to root for the Pittsburgh Pirates this post-season.  However, I will preface my statement...if you under the age of, oh, 55, it is okay to root for the Pirates. If you are over 55, there's a good chance you still harbor ill will against P-Burgh for the 1960 World Series.

I wasn't born yet, so I have never felt any malice towards the Pirates. That being said, I don't like seeing the film of Bill Mazeroski's home run sailing over Yogi Berra's head and over the brick wall in old Forbes Field.

My brother, 9-years old at the time of the '60 series, was mortified when he learned I rooted for the Pirates against the Baltimore Orioles in both the 1971 and 1979 World Series. I hated the Orioles as a kid; they beat the snot out of the Yankees time and time again.

While there wasn't the animosity that exists between the fans of the Yankees and Red Sox (and some players) today, the Orioles did much more damage to the Yankees in the late 1960's and early 1970's than Boston ever did.

The Orioles won the inaugural AL East title when division play began in 1969, and won it again in 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, and 1979. They won the AL Pennant three times and the World Series once.

But enough about Baltimore, this is about Pittsburgh. This is about a team that had its first winning record in 21 years this season. That's the same length of time since they have been in the post-season. The Pirates lost the NLCS three straight seasons from 1990-1992, twice in the 7th game.

The 1979 team, like the 1971 team, came back from a 3-1 deficit in games to the win the World Series. That was the fifth and final time the Pirates made it to the World Series and won it.

Tonight they enter as the host team for the one game wild card playoff with NL Central division rival Cincinnati. The two teams met in the regular season's final weekend, with the Pirates taking a three game sweep to ensure the first playoff home game since a 7-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the '92 NLCS. That series ended dramatically with former Pirate Sid Bream just beating a tag at home plate with the winning run after Atlanta rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the 9th. (Yes, some young Pirates fans know what it was like to be a young Yankees fans in 1960.) The Pirates also took the season series, 11 games to eight.

Manager Clint Hurdle, one of the front-runners for the NL Manager of the Year award, is in his third year as the Pirates' skipper. Under Hurdle's watch, the team has gone from 72 to 79 to 94 wins. The former Kansas City Royals Sports Illustrated cover boy has only one prior year of playoff managerial experience and that was with the NL pennant winning Colorado Rockies in 2007.

Hurdle's opposing manager, Dusty Baker, helmed the 2002 San Francisco Giants to a World Series title. However, Baker has won only one other playoff series in five additional playoff appearances.

The current squad hopes to get over the next hurdle with a bunch of talented kids and a good mix of veterans, including former Yankees A.J. Burnett and Russell Martin. Burnett led the team in starts (with Jeff Locke), innings pitched, and strikeouts. He is one of four Pirates pitchers that finished with double digit wins, three of which had 10 total, including Burnett.

Martin's numbers were very similar to those he produced with the Yankees. Fans wanted him gone until they saw what Chris Stewart did as a full-time player. Martin came through with walk-off winners in four home games this season and was a big influence on the youngsters.

Pitcher Francisco Liriano, one time known as the "next Johann Santana", looked like his career might done after posting 5+ ERAs in 2011 and 2012. But he resurrected his career in Pittsburgh this season with a career high 16 wins, his most innings pitched (161) since 2010 and his best ERA (3.02) and WHIP (1.224) since 2006. It will be his task Tuesday night to help the Pirates get to the division series when he squares off against the Reds' Johnny Cueto.

With Wandy Rodriguez out due to injury, the Pirates got a big boost when rookie Gerrit Cole was called up in June. Now, Yankees fans can whine about something. Cole was drafted by the interlocking NY in 2008, but he rebuked them. Cole went to UCLA instead and signed with the Pirates after he was the number one pick in the nation in the 2011 MLB amateur draft.

The 23-year old finished the season with a 10-7, 3.22 record in 19 starts and with 100 strikeouts in 117.1 IP. His performance also helped offset Locke's struggles over the last two months of the season.

The biggest star in the Steel City, though, is outfielder Andrew McCutchen. The 26-year old was the 11th overall pick in the 2005 draft and made his MLB debut in 2009. In five big league seasons he produced a slash line average of .296./380/.489, won Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, and made three All-Star appearances.

The five-tool player averaged 20 home runs, 25 steals, and 91 runs scored a season. He led the NL in hits last season with 194 and had 185 this year. Yes, he can do it all and usually does.

He's aided in the lineup by slugging third baseman Pedro Alvarez (tied for NL lead with 36 HR), outfielder Starling Marte (41 steals), power hitting second baseman Neil Walker, and veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Mets.

Seton Hall product Jason Grilli, a veteran of 11 big league seasons got his first gig as a full-time closer at age 36 and responded with 33 saves in 35 opportunities. He averaged 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings and was named to his first All-Star game.

Mark Melancon (he and Jose Tabata are the final two former Yankees on the active roster) was Grilli's main set up man and filled in as closer when Grilli went down for six weeks with a strained forearm. He remained the closer for a short time even when Grilli returned until the veteran was back at or near 100%. The 28-year old appeared in a career high 72 games, saved 16 of them and averaged just fewer than nine strikeouts per nine innings.

Vin Mazzaro, Justin Wilson, Tony Watson, and Bryan Morris have all been solid out of the pen as well.

When it comes right down to it, the Pirates are a fun team to watch and to root for. There are no ghosts of Pirates past in PNC Park and no annoying choruses of "We are Family" (at least I hope not.) So here is one Yankees fan that hopes the Pirates get past the Reds, the Cardinals, and either the Braves or Dodgers (sorry Donnie Baseball, I hate the Dodgers.) and whatever American League opponent they may run into. The city of Pittsburgh has been waiting a long time for this.

BD Hot Stove: Brewing Up A Challenge | Baseball Digest

BD Hot Stove: Brewing Up A Challenge | Baseball Digest

When you think of the NL Central, you think of Tony LaRussa and the St. Louis Cardinals. LaRussa’s birds have finished first (6) or second (2) in eight of the last 11 years, with two pennants and a World Series championship to boot. They’re usually the early season favorite to win the division and this year may be no different with Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter leading the way. But the thing is, there’s a new sheriff town.

“Yes, Pete, it is. In fact , it’s pronounced “mill-e-wah-que” which is Algonquin for “the good land.”: In “Wayne’s World” Alice Cooper helped give Milwaukee its most notoriety since “Laverne & Shirley”. But in 2011, Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, and Yovani Gallardo may help bring Milwaukee back to the promised land. No one is saying the Brewers will win a World Series, something the town of Milwaukee hasn’t seen since the Braves took the title in 1958, but the team should be competitive this season with the aforementioned trio at the top of the order. GM Doug Melvin had to give up highly touted 2nd base prospect Brett Lawrie to Toronto to land Marcum, and then swung four other prospects to KC for Greinke and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt. The Brewers also added reliever Sean Green to help set up for closer Joe Axford.

Pujols Country: It may take a country to pay Albert Pujols the kind of money he’ll want to stay parked in St. Louis forever. LaRussa just has to hope it doesn’t distract a team that has Wainwright, Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, and Jake Westbrook in the starting rotation. The Cards signed catcher Gerald Laird to back up starter Yadier Molina, inked Lance Berkman who’ll see most of his time in the outfield, and grabbed lefty reliever Brian Tallet to shore up the bullpen.

Chicago Hope: It’s going to be a time for pundits predict the Cubs will dominate the NL Central. None of the predictions over the last few years came to fruition, and the team is not ready for a charge to the top. Gone is long time Cub Derrek Lee with Carlos Pena signed to take his place. The team also reunited with Kerry Wood, who left for a free agent deal after the 2008 season. He’ll set up for closer Carlos Marmol. The Cubs have stated they won’t deal Carlos Zambrano, but that could change in order to either dump salary and/or no longer have to deal with his personality.

It’s spelled V-o-t-t-o: In case you were’t sure how to spell the name of NL MVP Joey, who led a baseball revival in Cincinnati this past summer. The Reds won their first division and made their first playoff appearances in 15 years, before being summarily dispatched in three games by the Phillies. The Reds haven’t been very active this off-season, preferring to “dance with the one who brung ya”. They gave their top starter, Bronson Arroyo, a three year contract extension, re-signed catcher Ramon Hernandez and utility man Miguel Cairo, and exercised the option on Jonny Gomes’ contract.

Not quite ready for lift off: The Astros finished 10 games under .500 or worse each of the last two seasons and it’s going to be difficult to improve on that with not punch in the lineup. The Astros dispatched their ace Roy Oswalt to Philadelphia last season and former Phils’ exec/current Astros head honcho Ed Wade may be helping his former team again. Rumors of a Joe Blanton to Houston deal is rumored to be in the works. If so it would give the Astros a decent top three starters in Wandy Rodriguez, J. A. Happ (acquired in the Oswalt deal), and Blanton. The Astros also added lefty Ryan Rowland-Smith, who can work out of the rotation or pen. But outside of Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence there’s not much offense to work with.

They don’t shiver your timbers: The Pirates have a lot of good young talent, but they won’t be look down at other teams for quite some time. The Pirates made some small moves that could help new manager Clint Hurdle keep the team’s hopes up. 1st baseman Lyle Overbay, pitcher Scott Olsen, outfielder Matt Diaz and corner man Garrett Atkins will try to help out stars on the rist Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez, and Neil Walker.

Rumors, News, and Transactions

Just as they did with Johnny Damon, the Yankees reportedly had internal discussions about Bronx native Manny Ramirez. Nothing is likely to happen.

The Nationals signed reliever Sean Burnett to a two year contract.

In a minor league deal, the A’s sent Corey Wimbley, who stole 56 bases at Triple-A last year, to the Pirates for pitcher Ryan Kelly. The 23-yr old right-hander spent the 2010 season in Single-A.

Some last minute items on Santa’s gift list

Yankees fans: One more season of watching Andy Pettitte.

Randy Winn: A chance to finally appear in the playoffs after 1,721 career regular season games.

Bert Blyleven: Induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame

Marvin Miller: Enough sense in the coming year for the veteran’s committee to elect you into Hall next December.

Fans: Reduced ticket prices and better national TV announcers.

Jamie Moyer: Recovery from Tommy John surgery and the chance to pitch into your 50′s.

Nick Johnson: No doctor’s appointments.

Oliver Perez: Regain control.

The Dodgers: No more McCourts.

Bryce Harper: Humility

Stephen Strasburg: Complete arm strength.

Ryan Westmoreland: Complete health and a return to baseball.

Opposing Announcers: A guide to pronouncing the name of the Royals’ Kila Ka’aihue.

Jermaine Dye: The chance to play again.

Yankees vs. Reds - June 20

The Cincinnati Reds come to the Bronx tonight for the first time since 1976 and that forgettable (except for the fact we finally got back there) World Series. The 3-game series is the first time the two teams have met since 2003 when they played at the Great American Ball Park in Cincy. The Yankees lost the first 2 games of that series, 6-2 and 4-3, before winning in a laugher, 10-2, in the finale. Al Osuna and Mike Mussina took the losses while Jose Contreras picked up the lone win.

On to today- the Reds are struggling. They sit 8 games under .500 and 12.5 games back of the Cubs in last place in the NL Central. They are currently mired in a 5-game losing streak. This comes a season after they finished 72-90 and cost Jerry Narron his manager's job. Dusty Baker was hired to turn things around, but so far that has not happened, mainly because of the same problem most teams have. A lack of pitching.

The Reds do have some good young players to build with though. Pitcher Edinson Volquez, who starts tonight's game, was acquired in the Josh Hamilton trade. He leads the NL in ERA and strikeouts. Fellow pitcher Johnny Cueto opened the season with a 10 strikeout performance, but has had the ups and downs of most rookie seasons. And then there's super prospect Jay Bruce, who made a fantastic splash in his first dozen games in the bigs- a .457 average with 3 home runs and 11 RBI, and a 1.293 OPS. But he's come back a bit to Earth since then, going 7-42 (.167) with 1 HR and 1 RBI. They also have highly touted pitcher Homer Bailey who struggled in a brief call up.

As for the veterans, Ken Griffey Jr. is struggling with some aches and some poor hitting. He attained his 600th career home run, but is hitting just .244-7-30 and has a .746 OPS. The Reds would love to find a taker for him, but Jr. may not want to be moved, even if its a contender.

Adam Dunn is having his typical year. Mediocre average, lots of strikeouts, and lots of home runs (.228, 18, 72). So much so that Blue Jays G.M. J.P. Ricciardi insulted him the other day. Dunn's 43 RBI lead the ball guy club, while Joey Votto has the highest average for a regular at just .278.

The Reds also have former Yankee Andy Phillips on their squad.

Pitching Probables for the Series

Friday: Edinson Volquez (9-2, 1.64) vs. Mike Mussina (10-4, 3.87)
Saturday: Daryl Thompson (0-0, 0.0) vs. Dan Giese (1-1, 1.23)
Sunday: Johnny Cueto (5-7, 5.19) vs. Andy Pettitte (7-5, 4.29)


Tonight's lineup via Peter Abraham:

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF

Yankees vs. Reds - June 20

The Cincinnati Reds come to the Bronx tonight for the first time since 1976 and that forgettable (except for the fact we finally got back there) World Series. The 3-game series is the first time the two teams have met since 2003 when they played at the Great American Ball Park in Cincy. The Yankees lost the first 2 games of that series, 6-2 and 4-3, before winning in a laugher, 10-2, in the finale. Al Osuna and Mike Mussina took the losses while Jose Contreras picked up the lone win.

On to today- the Reds are struggling. They sit 8 games under .500 and 12.5 games back of the Cubs in last place in the NL Central. They are currently mired in a 5-game losing streak. This comes a season after they finished 72-90 and cost Jerry Narron his manager's job. Dusty Baker was hired to turn things around, but so far that has not happened, mainly because of the same problem most teams have. A lack of pitching.

The Reds do have some good young players to build with though. Pitcher Edinson Volquez, who starts tonight's game, was acquired in the Josh Hamilton trade. He leads the NL in ERA and strikeouts. Fellow pitcher Johnny Cueto opened the season with a 10 strikeout performance, but has had the ups and downs of most rookie seasons. And then there's super prospect Jay Bruce, who made a fantastic splash in his first dozen games in the bigs- a .457 average with 3 home runs and 11 RBI, and a 1.293 OPS. But he's come back a bit to Earth since then, going 7-42 (.167) with 1 HR and 1 RBI. They also have highly touted pitcher Homer Bailey who struggled in a brief call up.

As for the veterans, Ken Griffey Jr. is struggling with some aches and some poor hitting. He attained his 600th career home run, but is hitting just .244-7-30 and has a .746 OPS. The Reds would love to find a taker for him, but Jr. may not want to be moved, even if its a contender.

Adam Dunn is having his typical year. Mediocre average, lots of strikeouts, and lots of home runs (.228, 18, 72). So much so that Blue Jays G.M. J.P. Ricciardi insulted him the other day. Dunn's 43 RBI lead the ball guy club, while Joey Votto has the highest average for a regular at just .278.

The Reds also have former Yankee Andy Phillips on their squad.

Pitching Probables for the Series

Friday: Edinson Volquez (9-2, 1.64) vs. Mike Mussina (10-4, 3.87)
Saturday: Daryl Thompson (0-0, 0.0) vs. Dan Giese (1-1, 1.23)
Sunday: Johnny Cueto (5-7, 5.19) vs. Andy Pettitte (7-5, 4.29)


Tonight's lineup via Peter Abraham:

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF

Dust in the Cincy Wind

Dusty Baker waited 1 season before returning to the managerial ranks. Yesterday, he agreed to a 3 year deal to take over as skipper of the Cincinnati Reds. You wonder why Baker didn't wait longer to see if other openings arose, considering the Reds current state and the ownership's lack of interest in putting a competitive team out there.

Glad to see Dusty managing for a couple of reasons. Always liked him, even as a player- the only player on the dreaded Dodgers that I really liked when the team was filled with a-holes like Garvey. He's also a class act. Maybe the most important thing is we will no longer have to hear him kiss Barroid's ass on BBTN.

Good luck Dusty!

photo courtesy of Cincy Enquirer

Dust in the Cincy Wind

Dusty Baker waited 1 season before returning to the managerial ranks. Yesterday, he agreed to a 3 year deal to take over as skipper of the Cincinnati Reds. You wonder why Baker didn't wait longer to see if other openings arose, considering the Reds current state and the ownership's lack of interest in putting a competitive team out there.

Glad to see Dusty managing for a couple of reasons. Always liked him, even as a player- the only player on the dreaded Dodgers that I really liked when the team was filled with a-holes like Garvey. He's also a class act. Maybe the most important thing is we will no longer have to hear him kiss Barroid's ass on BBTN.

Good luck Dusty!

photo courtesy of Cincy Enquirer