Internet went out last night and I thought it was one of my friends pulling an April Fools prank on me. So I went outside and search around the house, checked the cable box and couldn’t find a thing. A few minutes later I heard sirens and, sure enough, somebody had taken out the neighborhood dmarc down the road with a car crash. So much for paying for undergrounding all the wires and cables.. they still find the place where they all come up. Anyway, here’s my post from last night:
Another Pirates baseball game, another Pirates loss. This time our defense caved in as did Duke. I tell you, it sure seems every time Duke takes the mound and watches a defensive play not made that could have ended an inning, he loses his composure and then gets hit hard. I wasn’t at the game to see if that was what happened Wednesday but listening to it sure sounded like a replay of other Duke starts.
I’m not too worried about Duke.. he’ll be ok. His stuff isn’t so exciting that he’s going to keep the opposition down every game, but more likely than not he’ll keep us close if he gets a little help from the guys behind him. Same with Maholm except I suspect we’re going to see him miss a lot more bats this year.
But the talk of the game was, once again, Jeff Clement’s defense. He missed a throw from Crosby and everybody wants to condemn him for it. Folks, he’s going to miss a lot more than a few throws so get used to it. But let’s be brutally honest here – if Clement isn’t athletic enough to handle first base, then Clement isn’t athletic enough to catch either in my opinion. Instincts are instincts.
I think he’s going to be fine although I do expect him to bleed runs defensively. That’s ok with me.. we’re developing at the major league level because we don’t have a choice from the position we’re in. I realize Jones is available and would be a better short-term choice but I’m not in the camp that Jones bat plays long-term as well as Clement’s eventually will and we have to think about winning around Alvarez.
My personal short-term plan sees Clement either back catching or remaining at first and Jones not around after 2010. So I agree with keeping Clement at first and letting him takes some knocks learning on the job. True, the team will suffer because of it but, to be quite blunt, that’s the position management put us in and we really have no other choice. Yeah, yeah, we all want to win right now. I get it. But that’s not possible without a lot more thump and that thump is a couple of years away (Alvarez and Tabata having seasoned and matured some) unless ownership puts up a lot of free agent money.
And I keep saying and keep saying I’ve always liked Clement’s bat.. listen to me again, I like his bat. He’s going to swing a consistent doubles bat in Pittsburgh – it’s just a matter of when it takes off. Maybe a month, maybe six months, but it will take off if he’s provided consistent at bats.
And how about LaRoche with a triple. Wow.. standup triple to boot.
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“Dejan Kovacevic paints a bleak picture for the Pirates” — headline at 93.7 The Fan
Listen to the radio broadcast and then come back.
I bet you thought you were listening to Jake, huh?
What wonderful and insightful investigative reporting.. he’s basically stating the talent on the field is talentless as compared to the rest of the teams in the game and he proves it by stating he talked to scouts from other teams who collaborated that opinion.
Therefore, his position must be correct. Right?
This isn’t about Kovacevic but, is anybody else wondering why beat reporters and other media types in Pittsburgh didn’t take the time to ask scouts from other teams what they thought about the trades when they were made?
Anyway, I totally disagree with his general position that there is no talent.
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I’m almost finished with the new site. I want to open the doors Friday but I have one piece of code hanging me up. I did send out the members logins Wednesday so look in your inbox or spam box if you pledged here. If the site doesn’t crash from their traffic Thursday, I’ll post the site’s URL Thursday evening here at New Bucs.
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Expect to read a lot – and I mean a lot – of negative publicity about your beloved Bucs over the next week. The week before opening, talk centers on the good and the bad.
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BTW, 93.7 is a CBS affiliated radio station, right? And CBS is still a limited partner of the Pirates, right? Hmm..
Original Story:
http://newbucs.com/2010/04/01/support...
