The Yummy Pancake

Same old Pirates

2011-05-17T09:08:00.003-04:00

Who could have predicted that Overbay would play so terribly? Tough one for the front office because all signs pointed to him resurrecting his career, hitting career highs across the board, and mentoring the young Buccos to propel them into the future.

Hard to be optomistic at this point isn't it?

Pirates Leaders

2011-03-26T10:33:00.003-04:00

Alright Pirate fans. I was just curious as to whom you guys believe will be our statistical best. Which of our everyday players will lead the way to dominating that 19th season of losing. I want to know which players you think will reach their aspirations as statistical team leaders and receive huge pay raises in the coming years. I will post who I think will lead each category and a number in parentheses (x) next to their name. These are just a few major statistical categories, so if you feel like there should be one added, by all means place it in your comment:

Hits: Tabata (197)
Average: McCutchen (.312)
HR: Alvarez (37)
RBI: McCutchen (112)
Runs: Tabata (101)
SB: McCutchen (36)
OBP: Overbay (.401)
SLG: Alvarez (.522)
OPS: Alvarez (.858)

GS: Correia/Maholm (32)
Innings: Correia (208)
Wins: MacDonald (16)
ERA: Ohlendorf (3.68)
K's: Macdonald (185)
BB's: Morton (98)
Whip: Maholm (1.21)
Saves: Hanarahan (28)
Holds: Meek (22)

Though some of those stats look overly optimistic, I am only posting the leaders. I did not mention that I believe Alvarez will hit below .250 and lead our team in strike outs or that Walker will have a significant drop off and barely hit above .270. You guys know how I feel about Overbay so I think he will have decent numbers across the board, but the only one he will lead in is his best category as a hired "professional" hitter.

As for the pitchers, I would not be surpised if we have a pitcher who has an era in the low 3's with 3 pitchers under 4; or another pitcher who strikeouts closer to 200 batters, but it doesn't seem likely with Mortons past and how little we know about MacDonald. As for the saves, I think Meek is going to get more opportunities to close some games than we think, which is why I do not have Hanarahan in the 30s.

Alright guys, let me see what you think.

Fantasy Draft

2011-03-12T13:29:00.002-05:00

Alright. Josh and Offord. We may have a date and time for the draft in Brads league. It looks like the draft will be next Sunday, March 20...the time is still up in the air. We are looking at a 4 or 5 pm draft and it would take 2 or 3 hours. Let me know if you guys could be there in the flesh or not, otherwise it looks like we would have to do a conference call draft for you guys again.

Kearney's Baseball Predictions

2011-03-05T20:15:00.002-05:00

Josh and Offord had already posted their predictions on Ngewo's World. Instead of taking up an enormous amount of space on one of his comment pages, I figured I'd share them with you guys on the pancake, and then you can go on and demean and berate my chosen opinions. I have a question first. How do you guys know who all the rookie's are to predict who will win the ROY, is there a list of who to watch somewhere because I cannot find one. So, I am going to leave that prediction off the list and just go with MVP and Cy Young winners.

AL East
1.Boston Red Sox
2.Tampa Bay Rays
3.New York Yankees
4.Toronto Blue Jays
5.Baltimore Orioles

I really believe that if healthy, the Red Sox are the best team in baseball. They are looking for bounce back years from 2 perennial all-stars and MVP candidates, and I can guarantee Pedroia and Youk will deliver. The Yankees have a tone of money invested into too much age. The Yankees collective birth certificates will catch up to them in the second half of the season and to be honest with you, their pitching is nothing to be desired. Their biggest addition was an aging late inning relief pitcher of whom their GM didn't even want! Plus all that contract disputing with Jeter I bet hurts them more than anyone realizes. The Rays will beat out the yankees by at least 5 games because they have what the Yankees do not have. A very talented young pitching staff that can still get it done despite trading away Garza and losing half of their champion-caliber team last year. They still have plenty of fire power to score some runs and I think Manny has 1 good season left so he can cash in on one last one-year contract next year before he calls it quits. The Blue Jays and Orioles are insignificant unless there is some division shuffling in the near future.

Insane Prediction: The Yankees will have a losing record within their own division and will have to battle with Tornto for the 3rd spot. Baltimore will be vastly improved this year, but it still is not enough as they break .500
Reasonable Prediction: A-Rod will have an MVP-type season, only to be beaten out by a team that actually makes the playoffs. I'm predecting A-rod goes 40+ HRs 110+RBI .310+AVE

AL Central
1.Chicago White Sox
2.Detroit Tigers
3.Minnesota Twins
4.Kansas City Royals
5.Cleveland Indians

The White Sox were my pick last year and they really let me down. This year things are looking up for that other Chicago team. And as exciting it may have been for the city to sign a big slugger to flick into the middle of their line up, the true excitement will come from a healthy Peavy. I really like the pitching of the White Sox and I think that is what will make the difference for them. The Tigers have a lot of options and can give all of their veterans plenty of rest when needed so I think they will stay fresher throughout the course of the season, but I still don't think it will be enough for them or anyone else in the division to make the playoffs this year. The Twins have too many question marks. Too many players returning from injuries or battling current injuries and they lost too much in their bullpen while trying to depend on the patch work, bionic-man Joe Nathan to throw in the late innings of ball games even if he doesn't have to close as often with Capps there. I also believe that their pitching over performed last year and their only saving grace will be Liriano who will be traded by the deadline. The Royals and Indians are the Pirates of the american league; it's just disappointing that they are both in one division.

Insane Prediction: The white sox will have the ROY and Cy Young; Adam Dunn becomes the bargain of the year when he hits a career high in 45+HRS and career low in strike outs 90-; The twins realizing they are out of the race for the playoffs trade Liriano to the Yankees for a certain catching prospect to make sure Mauer can actually play with those knees throughout the life of his contract.(maybe this should be in reasonable predictions?)

Reasonable Prediction: The Twins never get a good footing on the season because Morneau cannot get a handle on his concussion and Mauer has bad knees making him DH more and taking at bats away from Thome and Kubel; Neither the Indians or Royals lose 100 games

AL West
1.Anaheim Angels
2.Texas Rangers
3.Oakland Athletics
4.Seattle Mariners

I think I would put the Angels as the 2nd best team in the AL. They have terrific defense up the middle, especially with 3 center fielders in the outfield. They can get a nice rest when needed because Abreu could play a few games out there still to keep everyone fresh. Morales will come back and hit and their pitching on paper looks outstanding. Every single one of their pitchers have had some form of success in the big leagues, if they can tap into any of that this season they are going to be a team to reckon with. The only reason I have the Rangers ahead of the Athletics is because the Rangers are just going to out hit people...Again...this year. If you put the Rangers offense and the Athletics pitching together, you have the best team in baseball. Unfortunately for the Athletics their best acquisition (no not matsui) has been david Dejesus. I just feel bad for this guy. He goes from a small market no winning team to a...small market no winning team. I see him as the Charlie Brown of baseball right now. I think the Rangers are depending too much on Webb coming back to even a shadow of himself and I think it is going to bite them in the ass. The Rangers outfield gets nicked up too much throughout the season, borbon hasn't proven he can handle the mental strain of a full season and there will still be too much turmoil between Michael Young and the front office. The mariners...well, they have a Cy Young Pitcher!

Insane Prediction: Brandon Webb wins come back player of the year as he wins another Cy Young and signs on to a Cliff Lee deal with the Yankees at the end of the season; despite Webb's heroic efforts through the season the Rangers still give up a record amount of runs throughout the season and just miss the playoffs.

Reasonable Prediction: The Angels skate into the playoffs winning the division by more than 5 games, have 4 players rack up 100+RBI and 20+SBs and 3 pitchers with 200+ K's.(maybe this should be in Insane predictions)

AL MVP: Kevin Youkilis
AL Cy Young: Jared Weaver
AL Wild Card: Tampa Bay Rays
ALDS: Red Sox defeat White Sox, Angels defeat Rays
ALCS: Angels defeat Red Sox

NL East
1.Philadelphia Phillies
2.New York Mets
3.Atlanta Braves
4.Florida Marlins
5.Washington Nationals

Everyone knows about the Phillies big pitching staff. They will have more strike outs this year than Cliff Lee has travelled miles between teams over the last 3 years; by the time this group dispands they will have more cy youngs than charlie sheen has porn stars living with him. The staff is good! I get it! They will win their respected division and then do nothing in the playoffs because everybody in their line up hits left handed and every team in the playoffs has a pitcher or 2 who can throw a shut out and strike out lefties. I do not understand why everyone is counting out the mets. Last year everybody on that team was either injured for some part of the season or had career lows in production. If anything changes for the better at any position for the Mets they will plow through the playoff when they make it this year. I think their pitching will be fine for 2 reason. 1. Capuano is going to make this club and he is going to pitch like the Capuano who struck out close to 200 guys and won 18 games for the Brewers a couple years ago in the pitchers friendly park and 2. They are only going to get better come mid-season because they will be getting Santana back. DO NOT COUNT OUT THE METS! The last 3 teams I think could be interchangeable. The only thing that seperates the braves from the other 3 is their proven veteran pitching and offensive potential with Heyward, Uggla, Jones and McLouth. But, the Braves NEED Nate and Chipper to produce to do anything this year. The Marlins have a MVP candidate in Ramirez and Cy Young caliber pitcher in Johnson. But the rest of their team I think is lacking. I am also curious to see how well Infante plays as a full time 2nd basemen. The nationals signed Jason Werth! The nationals will contend in 2013, not this year.

Insane Prediction: Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran are 20-20 and 30-30 guys respectively and Pagan and Reyes each steal 40+ bases leading the Mets to the Wild Card and the World Series.

Reasonable Prediction: The Phillies prove that last years drop in production was an aberration and when healthy they will put you into federal pound you in the ass prison as soon as they get some runs and their 4 aces are on the mound. Chase Utley wins a gold glove and the MVP.

NL Central
1.Chicago Cubs
2.Milwaukee Brewers
3.St. Louis Cardinals
4.Pittsburgh Pirates
5.Cincinnati Reds
6.Houston Astros

I Like the Cubs this year for the NL Central. Their defense is something that they will be found wanting, but I think they overcome that and play just well enough to win this division. I like how they sured up their bullpen with Wood and their rotation with Garza who I believe is going to really help Big Z. In fact I think this may be the only club who knows what their starting rotation actually looks like, with some slight possibilities out there if need be. The do not really have any glaring holes in their line up and they evened it out with the signing of Carlos Pena. With Wainwright going down and Now Carpenter aging and having a nagging hamstring already, I think the Brewers pass them for the second best rotation in the Division. The biggest question for their rotation is can the guys they brought in pitch in the National League. I say yes, if they had any kind of success in the AL. This is Prince's last year with the team so he is going to playing with a chip on his shoulder this year and is going to be banging out some HRs. I think the only thing saving the Cardinals this year will be Pujols and some other offensive help from Holliday and it will end with him getting a 25+ million dollar a year contract with the team by the end of the year, otherwise I think the Cardinals are nothing special. The Reds are going to be this years Mets. A few of the guys are going to have a year worse than last year (Votto and Arroyo) and Their pitching will under perform as much as they over performed last year. I Also think the fact that they really are not sure what they want to do with Chapman is going to hurt them. Alright, the Pirates in 4th is really my wishful thinking. I like what we bring to the table offensively, but I am really nervous about the pitching. However, Hurdle likes what he see so far, so that should be a good sign, right? As far as the Astros go...I just feel bad for Hunter Pence.

Retarded Prediction: The Pirates lead the NL in runs scored and team batting average. They also have 2 gold glove winners in McCutchen and Overbay and lead the NL is Stolen Bases, helping the team to not only a winning record but a game out of the Wild Card.

Insane Prediction: Pujols wins another MVP by FINALLY belting 50+ HRs and gets his 30 MIL a year with some team next year even if it isn't the Cardinals.

Reasonable Prediction: The NL Central becomes the most competitive division in baseball and the Pirates have more than just 1 player representing them in the All-Star Game.

NL West
1.San Francisco Giants
2.Colorado Rockies
3.Los Angeles Dodgers
4.San Diego Padres
5.Arizona Diamondbacks

Besides the store bought staff of the Phillies, this is the best in baseball, and its home grown. Call me an environmentalist, but I prefer home grown. I also believe their offense is going to be better this year too. Everyone is coming around healthy (DeRosa and possibly Sanchez) and in better shape (panda). I also have to say its not bad when your #5 pitcher is making 15 million a year. The rockies are going to light up score boards this year, but beyond Jimenez they don't have a ton of pitching help. I think it could end up being a toss up between the Padres and Dodgers. The only reason I have the dodgers 3rd is because they have the better offense with decent pitching. The padres have no offense and their strongest part of their team, their bullpen, is always suspect. Relief pitching is the toughest to predict year in and year out. Though I do believe that Latos is a future Cy Young award winner, maybe even this year. The Diamondbacks get the curse of Zach Duke, enough said.

Insane Prediction: Carlos Gonzalez goes for the 40-40 and wins MVP with his buddy Troy coming in at a close 2nd with his 35 HRs, 120 RBI and .320 AVE.

Reasonable Prediction: The NL West will have the best pitching in the NL and will be known as the Losing Their Virginity Division: Fast and boring(with the exception of Rockie home games).

NL MVP: Chase Utley
NL Cy Young: Carlos Zambrano
NL Wild Card: New York Mets
NLDS: Cubs defeat Phillies, Mets defeat Giants
NLCS: Cubs defeat Mets
World Series: Angels defeat Cubs
Pirates Record: 84-78

Yes, Plenty of my predictions are reather outlandish...just go with it. You're all going to be pissing your pants when you see I'm right!

Pirates Preseason

2011-02-23T09:47:00.002-05:00

Since no one responded to the movie post I put up, and spent a lot of time on, I assume interest is almost completely dead on this blog. But, if anyone still wants to discuss the Pirates please do.

I don't know if any of you read the PG Pirates Blog on a daily basis like I have for the last 2+ years, but the love fest Colin Dunlap has been giving to everyone makes it seem like the Buccos are going to win 120 games this year. Here is a summary of some of the players being talked about;

- Neil Walker is working hard at 2B and is looking fantastic, as well as his chemistry with Cedeno.
- Alvarez gained weight, but it is muscle so he should be fine. Translation - he will probably start camp out of shape and have a terrible first few months of the season.
- Tabata put on a lot of muscle and is crushing the ball to both Left and Right-Center. That I believe.
- Garrett Jones is slimed down. Not sure how that will help him because he seemed pretty slim before.
- Corey Wimberly is the next David Eckstein.
- Andrew Lambo is a future all-star
- Rudy Owens is looking excellent
- Jeff Locke is looking excellent
- Ross Ohlendorf works very hard.
- McCutchen is very fast and in run-down practice he could easily have beaten the fielders. Doesn't that say more about the defense?
- Morton is throwing a lot of fastball strikes. Translation - his ERA will drop from 7.57 to 6.57.
- Alex Presley has a nice compact swing. So did Mclouth, so we'll see how that turns out.
- Ryan Doumit is working hard on his defense, and so far is excelling. Translation - he will be an all-star catcher for another team.
- Matt Diaz is roping the ball and is good buddies with Cutch
- Paul Maholm increased his arm strength and is throwing 90 MPH now (just kidding...)
- Kevin Correia will shock everyone and finish as our ace. Translation - the rest of our pitchers are terrible.

That is all I can think of for now. I'm not saying he is lying or exaggerting in any way, but not once has he mentioned anyone looking bad. Do you think a beat writer covering the Pirates should be fair and balanced, or should he say the things that will make all the fans happy and delusional? In my opinion I would like to know which players have not progressed and what they need to work on so I at least have some idea of how they might perform this season. I know there are other sites that probably go over the weaknesses more in depth, but Dunlap has the most access to the team and should be in the best position to realistically evaluate players. Let me know what you think.

(Fantasy baseball time yet?)

The Year in Movies: 2010

2011-02-08T09:02:00.005-05:00

I went on a movie bender the last month or so and have now seen most of the movies from 2010 that I wanted to see, with the notable exception of Scott Pilgrim v. the World and 127 Hours. In my opinion, this was an excellent year for movies and I enjoyed almost everyone I saw. Here are my rankings for the year as well as my Oscar picks;

The King's Speech
True Grit
Black Swan
Kick-Ass
Inception
The Social Network
The Fighter
The Kids Are All Right
How to Train Your Dragon
Toy Story 3
The Crazies
Shutter Island
Easy A
Winter's Bone
Despicable Me
Robin Hood
The Town
The Book of Eli
Salt
The A-Team
The Expendables
Clash of the Titans
The Other Guys
Date Night
Daybreakers
Legion
Saw: The Final Chapter
Alice in Wonderland
Valentine's Day
The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
From Paris With Love

Best Animated Feature: How to Train your Dragon - Toy Story 3 is overrated, and seemed like it wanted to make you cry just for the sake of it. If I go by entertainment alone, Dragon would be my top pick. I did not see the Illusionist.

Best Director: My nominees would be very different from the actual nominees. I would nominate; Christopher Nolan (Inception), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (True Grit), Tom Hooper (The King's Speech). It is hard to argue against Hooper winning since King's Speech will win best picture, but in terms of scope and degree of difficulty, it would have to be Nolan. On a side note, did anyone else notice the Tarantino influence in Kick-Ass, especially in the last scene? It had a definitely Kill Bill feel to it.

Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit). She was outstanding. Melissa Leo (The Fighter) will win though.

Best Supporting Actor: Matt Damon (True Grit) - He is not even nominated but I am giving him a write-in vote. His character was the best in an otherwise amazing movie and I feel he got robbed in favor of Jeremy Renner. The Town was not very good, or original, and he was not even in the movie very much. If I have to pick one of the nominees, it would be Christian Bale (The Fighter).

Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan) will and should win. The final scene in Black Swan is one of the most moving I've ever seen.

Best Actor: Colin Firth (The King's Speech) will and should win. Best performance of the year by a long shot.

Best Picture: The King's Speech. I am very surprised that The Social Network was the early favorite. In my opinion, it is not even close. This was the most emotional I was in the theater since Gladiator, which is basically how I judge movies...

It would be pointless to do an Oscar's poll this year since most of the awards are set, but I'd be up for it anyway.

Reason no. 1,436 I am not the Pirates' GM

2011-01-24T11:11:00.002-05:00

In continuation to what was said in the comments section;

In my opinion they have no chance this year no matter who they would have signed.

Here is what I would do; Draft Rendon, hope Sanchez and Lambo are ready for 2012, Allie and Taillon are ready for 2013, ditto for Rendon. Move Alvarez to 1B this season to get his defense ready, try out some young guys at 3B, maybe Josh Harrison or Farrell, give Pearce, Doumit, Diaz, Bowker, Presley, Jones, and Clement at bats, to see who, if any, should be starting at RF next season or should stay on our bench. Cut (explitive) Scott Olsen because he is one of the 5 worst starting pitchers over the last 5 years and give Lincoln, Morton, or Crotta a shot out of Spring Training. If they don't pan out, give Owens, Locke, or Watson - whoever has been pitching the best - a shot. They need to weed out some players and figure out the '12 and '13 rotations.

As much as I rag on him, Overbay is not the worst option in the world. I just cannot see any reason whatsoever to sign him in the first place. Why waste the money, even though it is not much, when you aren't going to compete. Does anyone think we can beat the Reds or Cardinals?? There are arguments that 1) he will improve the defense, which we sorely need at 1B, 2) if he plays well we could trade him, and 3) we didn't spend very much to replace Garrett Jones with a better all around player. Those are all fine and good. However, none of those answers the questions of how could Overbay push us over the edge in the short term, or how will he not hurt player development in the long term? He could tutor Alvarez at 1B, but I seem to be the only one considering moving him in the first place.

Again, this is why I am not the GM. If I was, they would probably win 30 games this year while losing another year with McCutchen. I am just hoping to see near .500 in 2012, and playoffs 2013. After that, we lose Cutch and are completely screwed.

Too early for preseason rankings?

2011-01-20T15:24:00.003-05:00

To hell with it. Here goes;

1. Boston Red Sox: Another year under the belts of Buchholz and Lester should give the Red Sox the top rotation in the AL. They still have vets Beckett, Lackey, and Matsuzaka to provide supporting roles, and no way Beckett can be as bad as last season, right? I think their offense is upgraded with the additions of Gonzalez and Crawford, even though they lost Beltre and V. Mart. These guys are a shoe-in for the playoffs, it is just a matter of how far they go.
2. Philadelphia Phillies: The best rotation in history? Maybe. Definitely the best that I can remember. How good is it? Their 5th starter, Joe Blanton, would be the Pirates' ace. Their offense is getting old though and will need to score some runs, but with these pitchers 4 RPG might win 100 games...
3. St. Louis Cardinals: Solid offense, solid pitching. Same old story for the Cards. Berkman and Theriot are upgrades so they may have the legs to overtake the Reds this year.
4. Chicago White Sox: I think Adam Dunn will make a big difference as he finally gets a chance to play for a winning team. Peavy will improve, and as long as their young guys progress (Beckham, Morel, Sale), the Sox should run away with the Central division.
5. Texas Rangers: They lost Lee, but they still have a pretty good pitching corps. If Webb can get them 30 starts AND be healthy for the playoffs, and Hamilton doesn't break down, they could make another run. Having Michael Young as your 4th best infielder is a nice luxury to have.
6. San Francisco Giants: They beat the Rangers in the World Series, but are below them in the power rankings? Well, they obviously overachieved last season and making a similar run will be damn near impossible.
7. Cincinnati Reds: Same team as last season, so not much should change. They have a lot of young starting pitching so they could be inconsistent, but should again challenge the Cards for NL Central supremacy.
8. Atlanta Braves: No way Nate McLouth hits as poorly as he did last season, and, if given a chance, I think he will be a decent starter this year. They need a proven first baseman and a closer, but I think they are close. Who knows what will happen in the first year in franchise history without Bobby Cox.
9. New York Yankees: They are running out of time to win with this group. Pettitte will probably come back later in the year, but with Jeter, Posada, and ARod all in the twilight of their careers, they are going to need big efforts from the supporting cast to sneak into the postseason. Shouldn't be too difficult considering who their supporting cast is.
10. Tampa Bay Rays: They just lost way too much. A tough offseason for the Rays as it looks like last season was their best chance to win in the next couple years. Jennings, Hellickson, Wade Davis, Birgnac, and Sean Rodriguez are all budding stars, but it will be too much for the young guys to shoulder this season to make the playoffs.
11. Minnesota Twins: No way Carl Pavano puts up the numbers he did last season, especially after signing a contart. Mauer, Morneau, and Liriano are good, but nothing better than mediocre after them. But, they always seem to overachieve so they could make another late season run.
12. Los Angeles Angels: Not sure why they didn't push harder for Beltre, Crawford, and Soriano since those are the team's biggest 3 needs and they have a lot of money to play with, but they didn't and now have to ride their injury prone pitching staff this season. It is a big IF, but if the pitching stays healthy, and Kazmir gets back to pitching like he used to, they might give Texas something to think about.
13. Detroit Tigers: It seems like Magglio Ordonez has been around forever. I remember when I used to confuse him with Rey Ordonez. That was a long time ago... He is going to give it another go though, and with a good combination of veterans and youth, the Tigers could compete with the White Sox and Twins.
14. Chicago Cubs: They traded away Gorzelanny so they woudl have a spot for Carlos Silva? I don't get it. Carlos Pena helps a little, as does Matt Garza, but this team has the potential to fall quickly in the rankings.
15. Milwaukee Brewers: Greinke makes them better, and re-signing Fielder was big (ha), but I still think they are a pitcher short to make a run. If they are still hanging around in the NL central in July they could make a move for a big name pitcher and make a run like they did a few years ago.
16. Los Angeles Dodgers: They needed to get a star LF to help Kemp and Ethier, so they got Marcus Thames. Good choice. Kershaw, Billingsley, and co. will keep them in contention but they will need to get a big bat if they want to get over the hump.
17. Florida Marlins: A good, young rotation surrounded by a young, talented offense. They will be inconsistent but could potentially move much higher in the rankings as the season progresses.
18. Oakland Athletics: Have the best young rotation in the league, but no offense to back it up. Even Godzilla cannot save them.
19. Colorado Rockies: They have 3 stars, but other than that it is mediocrity. Todd Helton is the only starting 1B I'd want to have less than Overbay. He needs to get his hands on some Deer Antler PEDs. Ray Lewis knows where to get them.
20. Toronto Blue Jays: My adopted team still has a long way to go to catch the Rays and Yankees, but they are on the right track. Their minor league teams are loaded, they have 5 quality, young starting pitchers, and Lyle Overbay is off of their roster. Not that the Adam Lind/Travis Snider/Edwin Encarnacion combo is much better, but their pitching alone will give them hope of leaping Tampa and New York in the next few years.
21. New York Mets: Not sure why I have them this high considering Santana is out until May or so, but their offense is potentially good barring injuries. That is the best I can say about them...
22. Baltimore Orioles: Maybe I was too generous with this team's ranking last year, but they still have a decent offense especially after adding Reynolds and Hardy. The pitching though, is one of the worst in the league.
23. San Diego Padres: They lost Gonzalez and Garland and think they could be better than the overachieving team of last season? Not likely. Mat Latos, all missing T's of him, is a legitimate ace.
24. Cleveland Indians: Take a look at Grady Sizemore's career numbers and try to tell me he is not the most overrated player of all time. These guys don't have enough pitching to contend, but Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley, and Choo are reasons to get excited.
25. Washington Nationals: They have like 12 #4 starters and zero 1-3 pitchers. Not a recipe for success. At least Adam LaRoche adds another team to his list for his bid to play on all 30 teams.
26. Arizona D'Backs: Did anyone else notice the ungodly numbers Daniel Hudson put up last season after he was trade to Arizona? Is it fitting that the last pitcher to put up those kind of numbers in the second half of the season during their rookie campaign just got traded to them? Let's hope he doesn't follow the example set.
27. Houston Astros: This team just needs to scrap the roster and start over. Is there a less exciting roster than the Astros'? I say no. "Oooo Hunter Pence just hit a wicked double." Do they say wicked in Houston? Whatever, they suck.
28. Kansas City Royals: Losing Greinke means they have no shot to contend this year. However, the pieces are definitely there for this franchise to move on up the Central Division in the coming years, especially with the Tigers and Twins getting older, and the Indians... well.. they are the Indians.
29. Seattle Mariners: Poor Jack Wilson. One terrible franchise to the next... Felix Hernandez, God-Like as he is, cannot do it alone. Hell, even having Cliff Lee didn't help. Neither does having Franklin Gutierrez as your second best hitter.
30. Pittsburgh Pirates: OVERBAY! OVERBAY! OVERBAY! Sorry guys, the Pirates are terrible. In 2 more years though...

That was a lot of rambling... Let me know what ya'll think.

Here's your 1st base platoon Offord

2010-12-24T00:40:00.002-05:00

The Pirates have signed Garrett Atkins. The same player who averaged 25 home runs and 110 RBI's from 2006-2008, not to mention a rookie year in 2005 where he hit .287 with 13 Hr's and 89 RBI's. Of course, this was in the thin air of Coors Field with (the future hall of famer?) Todd Helton and Matt Holliday hitting around him, which is the equivalent of a Kevin Stevens scoring 50 goals from playing with Lemieux and Jagr...anyone read me? Imler?

Anyway, it looks like the Pearce discussion is out the window; if Atkins makes this team and proves he can come close to the production he enjoyed with Colorado (under clint hurdle by the way), he will prove an adequate bat off the bench and a nice replacement from time to time for Offord's most wanted Lyle Overbay and our future Prince Fielder; Pedro Alvarez, when we face off against a lefty that will no doubt be better than ours.

Godawful

2010-12-14T17:35:00.002-05:00

I just had to post my digust with the Lyle Overbay signing. We seriously gave this guy 5MILLION DOLLARS!! It is and has been for a couple of years my opinion that he the worst everyday first baseman to ever start in the MLB. Unbelievable. And for what? Another left handed hitting first baseman?? WTF!!!

It takes a lot to get me angry about the Pirates at this point but this is probably the worst signing I've seen since Kevin Young.. At least the other ones made SOME sense.

At least I have a new "Sean Burnett".

(OK after looking at the numbers he actually had a better season that Garrett Jones last year, so he is not the WORST first baseman in the league, but he did have the lowest RBI total for all 1B with over 500 ABs)

Pirates in 2012

2010-10-01T12:48:00.006-04:00

Does anyone still read this blog anymore? Oh well, I need something to share my opinions so I guess this is it...

Now that the Pirates have the #1 pick (Anthony Rendon), Pedro Alvarez proved he is not a major league third basemen, and 2011 will be another wasted season, here is what we could possibly see in 2012:

LF Tabata
RF Marte
CF McCutchen
1B Alvarez
3B Rendon
2B Walker
C Sanchez
SS Free Agent, Trade, Ciricao, D-Arnaud, or someone else

I'm sure they can sign a SS, but that looks like a damn fine lineup. Lambo and Grossman (trade chips?) are in the mix for that RF spot as well. It's not the Yankees, but I think it could compete with anyone in the Central.

Pitching... that's another story. Ohlendorf and McDonald could become 2-3 pitchers, then we need one or two of the "Altoona Guys" to step up (Owens, Watson, Locke, Morris, Wilson). Of them, I think only Morris has the upside to be a 2-4 pitcher. Lincoln could probably sneak in as a no. 5, but we would still lack a #1 until Allie or Taillon come up. So.. we sign a decent SP and try to get a SS and we have a "potential" division winning team. Of course, there are a lot of ifs... Rendon has to be MLB ready in 2 years (which I think is possible), the defense needs to improve, Marte and Sanchez need to continue developing at the pace they are now, injuries need to be avoided, and management's pockets need to loosen up. But.. there is more hope now than there has been in 18 years. Right??

I like the Blue Jays

2010-08-31T12:26:00.002-04:00

Would anyone like to jump on the Blue Jays bandwagon with me for 2011? Unless the Pirates sign some of the players I mentioned in an earlier post, they have no shot of even .500 next season. So, why not root for an underdog who may have the chance to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox in '11?

Their top 4 pitchers in the rotation are very promising. Brendon Morrow and Brett Cecil are having great second halves, and Marcum and Romero are steady, quality young starters. Their minor leagues are loaded with pitching talent with Kyle Drabeck and Zach Stewart to name a few. They could sign an experienced arm to bolster the staff and help the new guys out, but they have enough internal options that they will probably spend their money elsewhere.

Offensively, they have most of their positions set:
C John Buck
1B ?
2B Aaron Hill
SS Yunel Escobar
3B ?
LF Fred Lewis
CF Vernon Wells
RF Jose Batista
DH Adam Lind

They have Brett Wallace waiting in the wings to play 1B or take over the DH spot, and Travis Snider available if one of the outfielders comes back down to earth next season (ahem.. cough cough Jose Batista cough). They also have 3 nice catching prospects as well as Jose Molina to back up Buck, so they are good there. If they are going to spend money I think it should be to acquire a decent 1B and or/ 3B. Guys like Paul Konerko, Carlos Pena, Ty Wiggington, Jorge Cantu, Troy Glaus, Aubrey Huff, Adam Dunn, and Brandon Inge are some options. I think Konerko will stay with the Sox, and Dunn is probaly out of their price range. I think Wiggington or Cantu would be a decent addition for their versatility, and maybe they could get Pena to play 1B/DH. That would make for a fairly formidable lineup. Yes, they would be old, but they have plenty of talent waiting to take their place.

Could that team compete with the AL East big dogs? Maybe, but I think they are at least going to be in the conversation. So, who's with me?

Pirate Fans Please Read

2010-08-18T20:40:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, here is an article I think every Buccos fan needs to read...

Enjoy.

If I could be commissioner for a day...

2010-07-22T16:28:00.002-04:00

Since I've already solved the Pirates problems, now I have to solve the leagues. Just kidding, but have you ever wondered why baseball not only has less teams than the 3 other major sports, but also has 2 fewer teams in the AL? Expansion might not happen for a while just because it is so hard to fill the seats for as long of a season as it is, but adding 2 more teams might help with parity, plus will even out the leagues and allow for a restructing of divisions. The biggest problem with having 4 divisions like in football is that it would add one more round to the playoffs, which already extend to the beginning of November. They could just start a week earlier?

AL East
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays

AL North
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians

AL South
Texas Rangers
Tampa Rays
Memphis Wildcats*
Kansas City Royals

AL West
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners
Portland Bears*

*Expansion teams

NL East
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
Washington Nationals

NL South
Atlanta Braves
St. Louis Cardinals
Florida Marlins
Houston Astros

NL North
Cincinatti Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs
Colorado Rockies

NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
Arizona D'Backs
San Francisco Giants

How much fun would it be for the Pirates to be in a division with the Mets, Phils, and Nats???

My plan for the 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates

2010-07-13T15:39:00.001-04:00

If I could be GM for a day…

The Bucs’ Brass have said they would spend up to 50M on the MLB roster if the prospects were ready and they felt they had a core that could win. Well, I think it is safe to say that they will be ready next year. So, here is what I would do:

Not going to get much in a trade for Church, Duke or Dotel, so give them away for cash considerations. Duke makes about 4.5M, Church 1.5M, and Dotel about 3.5M. I think you could get 5M back from that bunch.

Release Andy LaRoche, Jason Jaramillo, Ryan Church, Brendon Donnelly, Bobby Crosby at end of the season.

Sign Jayson Werth to a 5 year deal for 45M. He currently makes 7.5M/year and I imagine he is in for a raise at least to 9M per, especially if he decides to come to the Pirates who would have to overpay.

Sign Brandon Webb to a 3 year deal for 21M. He currently makes 8.5 so I think we could get him for 7M/year with incentives, following his injury year.

Sign Javier Vazquez to a 3 year 33M deal. He currently makes 11.5M but with his age I bet we could get him for 11M per year plus incentives.

Sign Eric Hinske to a 1 year, 1M deal. He always plays for winners, at least in the second half of the seasons. Can play multiple positions and can pinch hit.

Sign David Ross to backup Doumit for a 1 year, 1.5M deal.

Trade for Ryan Theriot. He makes a very affordable 2.6M this season, so we could probably trade a prospect and cash to the Cubs to attain him. I’ll project spending 3M for him.

Call up Danny Moskos and Chris Jakubauskas (who deserves a second chance after the head plunking he took) and pay them league minimum.

Adding the current salaries, plus the 5M in cash we could get, plus the new salaries, the Pirates would be spending only about 45M on their 2011 roster. That still puts them second to last in the league in team salary, and gives them 5M leeway to spend at the trade deadline if they are actually in contention. My 2011 roster would look like this:

Starting Lineup:
CF Andrew McCutchen
LF Jose Tabata
RF Jayson Werth
1B Garrett Jones
3B Pedro Alvarez
2B Neil Walker
C Ryan Doumit
SS Ryan Theriot

Bench:
2B/OF Delwyn Young
IF/OF Eric Hinske
C David Ross
SS Ronnie Cedeno
OF Lastings Milledge

Pitchers
SP Brandon Webb
SP Javier Vazquez
SP Paul Maholm
SP Ross Ohlendorf
SP Brad Lincoln
RP Jeff Karstens
RP Chris Jakubauskas
RP Joel Hanrahan
RP DJ Carrasco
LP Javier Lopez
LP Danny Moskos
CL Evan Meek

There it is. I didn’t fact check on the 2011 salaries of the current players, but rather went with their salaries for 2010. Therefore, the final number might rise slightly but I doubt it would pass 50M. Seems like it would be relatively easy to do, and who wouldn’t like that 25-man roster? Especially in the NL Central?

But…alas.. I am not the Pirates GM. Thoughts?

All MLB Fantasy Draft - AL East

2010-06-11T13:33:00.003-04:00

So in my latest attempt to waste time, I decided to pool all the MLB players and have a mock draft. I randomly ordered the teams and for each I drafted a C,1B,2B,3B,SS,LF,CF,RF,DH/Bench Player, 5 SP's, and 1 Closer. There are a few young players missing, but for the most part it is a decent list. Most probably won't agree with all the lineups I put together, but here is the AL East. Assume each team has an equal bullpen and bench. I'll put up a poll to vote for your top 2 in each division until we crown a mock World Series Champ. (Note: When I did the draft I was thinking about the future for some teams, so the Pirates team would suck next season, but pick the best team however you choose..)

Red Sox
Coghlin
DeJesus
H. Ramirez
Dunn
Rasmus
A. Huff
Uribe
R. Martin
Teahen

Oswalt
C. Lewis
Blanton
D. Bush
G. Gonzalez
J. Soria

Rays
Span
Hudson
Braun
V. Martinez
Dye
N. Johnson
Desmond
Hermida
A. Gordon

Hamels
Zito
Matsuzaka
O. Perez
Monasterios
L. Nunez

Blue Jays
R. Sweeney
Zobrist
Tulowitzki
M. Ramirez
C. Davis
Tejada
B. Molina
Venable
Maybin

Gallardo
Niemann
Ohlendorf
Bedard
Gorzelanny
Marmol

Orioles
Pagan
Cano
Votto
T. Hunter
D. Ortiz
F. Lewis
Crede
Paulino
Aybar

Shields
Vazquez
Braden
Talbot
Snell
Aardsma

Yankees
Furcal
Roberts
Youkilis
Holliday
Thome
Hart
Encarnacion
I. Rodriguez
N. Morgan

Beckett
Porcello
Sheets
Harden
Maine
F. Rodriguez

Where we stand after two months...

2010-06-02T10:19:00.002-04:00

As of June 1st:

Correctly picked teams in the standings
Offord 11
Ryan 10
Josh 9

Awards
AL MVP M. Cabrera
NL MVP Pujols
AL CY Young D. Price
NL Cy Young Jimenez
AL ROY A. Jackson
NL ROY Heyward
AL WILD CARD Yankees
NL WILD CARD Cardinals

Some notes:

- Is Toronto the new Coors Field? How the hell is Jose Batista leading the AL in HRs??
- San Diego, Toronto, Oakland, continue to prove us wrong in our bottom dweller predictions
- Meanwhile, both Chicago's and the Orioles continue to blow
- Andre Ethier has missed something like 3 weeks and could still be considered NL MVP as of now. Quite an April he had.
- I swear that I seriously considered Jimenez for NL Cy Young in the preseason.
- The Sox and Yanks are gaining on the Rays. How long do you think Tampa can hold them off?
- I think if the Angels don't make the playoffs this season it will be a long time before they do again
- Placido Polanco and Jimmy Rollins mean more to the Phillies offense than anyone could have imagined.. and whay happened to Cole Hamels?
- Will the Reds be the top team in the NL Central for the next decade? They are certainly making a case for themselves. If not them or the Cards, who else could possibly compete in our division?
- When the Astros inevitably lose Oswalt they may have the worst pitching staff in MLB history
- Barry Zito continues to rock the comeback. Right now he is the ace of that staff...
- Lastly, take a look at most of the pitching league leaguers - Leake(21), Kershaw(22), Cahill(22), Garcia(23), Hanson(23), Hughes(23), Gallaro(24), D. Price(24), Cain(25), Lincecum(25), Buchholz(25),Romero(25), Jimenez(26), J. Johnson(26), Pelfery(26), Fister(26), Lester(26), Vargas(27), Verlander(27), Niemann(27). Combine that with the 3 perfect games and low HR output, and I'd say this will definitely be the decade of the pitcher. Look for someone to finish the season with or close to an ERA under 2.00 every season until 2020.
- I took way too much time looking up all their ages
- The Pirates are going to have a winning record in June. Just you wait...

Baseball Power Rankings 2

2010-05-30T20:35:00.000-04:00

As the month of May comes to a close, I figured I better get to work on the newest power rankings.

You're the Best, the Best!
1.(Previous: 1) Rays
Still have the best record in baseball, although I would not be shocked to see them start to slip a little bit. Their pitching looks great on the surface, but some of these guys will start to lose games...

2. (3) Yankees
Good pitching, monster hitting. Yeah, that will help you win games. Hell, beginning of May they were winning without getting much from some of their bigger bats. Now they are coming to life...watch out Rays.

3. (4) Twins
This was a tough call, but I put the Twins up there mainly because of the fact that they have both hitting and pitching and they are playing at a level that is not too far above where they should be.

Baseball Has Been Berry Berry Good to Me
4. (5) Padres
I think they are going to make me look like a fool all year long. One of the best pitching teams in baseball. Yet also one of the worst hitting teams.

5. (19) Reds
Wow, I cannot believe they are playing this well. I guess I should become a believer. They are one of the best hitting teams in baseball and not a terrible pitching team. I guess they could sustain this all year.

6. (11) Blue Jays
Another team that I kept thinking could not be all that good. Although, I do not believe Jose Bautista will continue to be a huge power hitter. Hell, at some point the home runs will stop and this team will fall apart. Or not. Jose will lead the league with 51 HRs this year. Pirates fans will bitch about how they would be in first place if he was still in Pittsburgh...

7. (2) Cardinals
They let the Reds pass them. That should be an automatic drop in the rankings. Also, God decided to forget how to hit in May. Although, he hit 3 HRs today (May 30th). He will carry the Cardinals back into first place. Oh yeah, that pitching staff is still arguably the best in baseball. Not bad either.

8. (20) Red Sox
Fourth place in the AL East is still better than most other teams in baseball. I can understand the argument to realign that division.

9. (8) Phillies
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...sorry. I mean, how funny is it that the only way they could win the last few games was by Halladay pitching a perfect game. This team cannot buy a run at the moment. Seriously, Anibal Sanchez pitched shut them out today. Everyone is shutting them out. It makes me smile.

Here They Come to Save the Day
10. (21) Braves
At this point last month they were in last place. Now they are close to overtaking the Phillies for first place.

11. (22) Dodgers
The hottest team out there. Oh, and their pitching could actually improve. Not a good sign for the Padres...

12. (9) Tigers
Another one of those teams that I really have nothing to say. Blah.

These Guys Have Winning Records?
13. (10) Rangers
Ah yes, finally the leader in the AL West makes an appearance. They have similar pitching stats to the Tigers, yet the Rangers seem to be pitching a little bit above reality. I know I keep saying that and some of you have no idea what I mean. If you look at peripheral stats, you see that certain teams have a good ERA, but terrible numbers that usually lead to a good ERA (get my drift? no? well blow me).

14. (7) Giants
They are starting to give up runs, yet they are still not scoring some. They finally brought up Buster Posey, which should help that struggling offense. Also, rumors that Lincecum has a blister, which is affecting his pitching make me think that the Giants could get passed up by the next team.

15. (12) Rockies
This seems like a team that has some bad luck. They are one of the top hitting and pitching teams, yet they are just starting to win games. Also, they have some pitcher who is really good. What is his name?

16. (6) Mets
Talk about a streaky team. A few weeks ago I would have put them lower, now all of a sudden they are winning again and looking like a good team. Shutting out the Phillies for an entire series also makes you look super awesome in my book.

17. (14) A's
Dallas Braden pitches a perfect game, then cannot win a game the rest of the month. Good thing they play in the AL West because I believe if they played in any other division they would have a losing record.

And Now Let The Losing Begin
18. (16) Nationals
Their pitching staff is not doing so well. Fortunately, Jesus Christ will be making his debut soon, so they should get 20 wins from him...right?

19. (15) Marlins
H-Ram does not hustle. That is why they are in last place...or maybe it is some bad hitting. Could Mike Stanton be coming up soon to bring some power to the lineup?

20. (17) Angels
I believe the Angels dominance in the West is over. Last year they were killing the ball, this year not so much. Also, I think I just heard that Morales is injured. Not good for them.

21. (13) Cubs
Getting some very good pitching, but not a whole lot of hitting.

22. (27) White Sox
Pitching is not terrible. Not the best in baseball, but pretty average. I wonder if the Cubs and White Sox could combine and start scoring runs. Probably not.

23. (26) Royals
I will keep them up pretty high because they are still a good hitting team, but not a good run scoring team. They have the second highest team average, yet one of the lowest run totals, which obviously does not bode well for your pitching staff.

24. (25) Brewers
This is what happens when you have a terrible pitching staff. Hell, at one point the Pirates started beating them. It felt pretty good.

Bottom Feeders
25. (18) Diamondbacks
They have the worst pitching in the majors. Maybe they will get better. Just maybe. Very doubtful though.

26. (24) Mariners
I guess I answered my question, this is not a very good team...

27. (23) Indians
They are still shitty...

Could These Teams Win in AAA?
28. (29) Orioles
I realize they have the worst record in baseball, but seriously, stats wise, they are better than the next teams. They play in the AL East. Yes, they suck outside the division, but they are 6-18 against their own division. Not a very good record.

29. (28) Pirates
They suck. I really was tempted to put them below the Astros, mainly because they get destroyed so often. But, there is no difference between losing 1-0 or 20-0 (or so someone once said), watch a few of those games and tell me what you think?

30. (30) Astros
Yep, NL Central is really cranking out some shitty teams.

Brillant Nutting News Article from last week...

2010-05-24T12:53:00.002-04:00

Like Bucs, Penguins Still Have Work to Be Done

Paul Ladewski

PITTSBURGH -- The Penguins may be out the playoffs already – c'mon, they lost to the eighth seed, really? – but at least one Pittsburgh team won this hockey season.

Yep, you guessed it – the Pirates.

Now that the Penguins have gone belly-up in the playoffs for the fourth time in five years in the Sidney Crosby era, maybe we'll hear less about how their ownership will turn around the Pirates in no time if given the chance.

The fact is, despite every conceivable advantage from first or second overall choices in four consecutive drafts to the mother of all lottery picks to a league that operates with a salary cap to a pucks-mad fan base, the Penguins have been unable to dominate their own division let alone the entire league.

Or did you know that, while the Pirates have gone 17 years without a sniff of .500, the Penguins have hoisted exactly one Stanley Cup in that period?

Pure and simple, like the Pirates over the years, the Penguins have made mistakes in the draft and the open market. Lots of them.

For instance, take the 2003 draft, in which the Penguins owned the No. 1 pick on the heels of a anorexic 65-point season. (Yes, Bubba, they were dog breath themselves not that long ago.) The golden rule states that you never, ever select a goaltender at the No. 1 pick, but the Penguins chose Marc-Andre Fleury, anyway. Here are some of players that they could have taken instead -- Eric Staal, Thomas Vanek, Jeff Carter, Zach Parise, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards, Corey Perry, Shea Weber . . .

Hey, maybe Bryan Bullington wasn't that bad, after all. Sorry, forget I wrote that.

Here it is, five years after Crosby was drafted, and the guy still doesn't have a regular linemate that is in the same zip code as his talent level. Quick -- name the last legit 30-goal-scorer to be developed in the Penguins farm system.

OK, 25 then.

Uh, 20?

God help the franchise if Sid the Kid goes down any time soon. Cart him off and the Penguins are the New York Rangers all of a sudden.

I wouldn't wish that on even a Philadelphia Flyer let alone Crosby, who represents everything that is good about professional sports. I wouldn't wish that on any team owner let alone Mario Lemieux, a guy that only the devil could root against.

It's just that, before people wish for the Penguins to step in and save the baseball team in this town, they should remember that the Penguins have to help themselves first.

***This article was on piratesreport.com and has since been removed. If this were meant to be ironic, it would be totally awesome...but sadly it is serious. taking a shot like this at the penguins may be enough for me to consider searching for a new favorite MLB team, this is just sad, sad, sad.

Where our predictions stand after the first month...

2010-05-04T11:14:00.005-04:00

Correctly picked Games
Ryan 9
Josh 6
Offord 7

April awards
AL MVP Cano
NL MVP Ethier
AL CY Young Liriano
NL Cy Young Jimenez
AL ROY A. Jackson
NL ROY Heyward/Freese
AL WILD CARD Yankees
NL WILD CARD Giants

Some notes:

**Ryan you never put up predictions for awards and post-season predictions for the National League**

Best and Worst predictions
- Josh was the only one who believed the Rays would be better than the Sox. I was on the fence, but it is looking like he nailed that one.
- Speaking of the Red Sox, I said Dice-K's return would make a positive impact... oops.
- My pick of Brantley over Austin Jackson for AL ROY was ill advised.
- I think we all forgot to take into account the Dodgers' off-field issues... they are quickly becoming on-field issues.
- I definitely was high on Usbaldo this season and actually picked him second behind Lincecum for Cy Young. Should be fun to watch the battle between those two and Halladay.
- Ryan was dead-on with his Volquez prediction - he is definitely looking like the next Mark Prior.
- However, his pick for Jake Peavy as best pitcher in the American League is not looking so good.
- Three out of four of our consensus last place teams - Athletics, Padres, Blue Jays - are over or within 1 game of .500. But how long will that last?
- Does Ryan still think Griffey can hit over 25 home runs? And does he still think the Pirates can win 80 games??
- While Ryan leads the standings in correctly picked places, he also picked the Mariners and White Sox to win their respective divisions. I should probably deduct points for that.
- We were all very wrong about the Orioles.

Bold predictions for the coming months (pun intended)..(get it?)..(heading is in bold?)..(nevermind..)
- Jason Kendall will not finish the season hitting over .250.
- The Yankees will continue to get better since they are winning without much offense from Teixeira and ARod.
- The Cubs will find more ways to shoot themselves in the foot, and Gorzo will not keep pitching the way he is.
- The Mets are actually in decent position to make a Wild Card run since Beltran will be returning soon (I think) and the pitching hasn't been half-bad. But, they won't.
- The Rockies will be a sub-.500 team until September when their pitching staff finally wakes up and they win 20 straight again to nab the Wild Card spot.
- Jamie Garcia is legit. At least I hope so since he is on 2 of my fantasy teams.
- Francisco Liriano is not legit. At least I hope so since he is on 0 of my fantasy teams.
- It is only a matter of time until Andruw Jones gets a 50 game suspension. Maybe Konerko too.
- Kelly Johnson, José Bautista, and Alex Gonzalez have more homeruns than the Pirates starting lineup combined. I didn't even have to look it up to know that.
- Speaking of the Pirates, the best days are definitely behind them. I should just cancel my MLB TV susbscription now and try to get some sort of refund.
- Last but not least, Tiger Woods will switch sports and DH for Detroit. Think of the marketing!

Baseball Power Rankings

2010-05-02T21:42:00.001-04:00

I figured I would do this once a month. Offord did it for football and I think he tried to do it for baseball last year, but it kind of fell by the wayside. So I will give it a try. Feel free to disagree and argue with any rankings as you see fit.

Oh So Good
1. Tampa Bay Rays
This team has it all: hitting, pitching, speed, power, starters, relievers. My World Series prediction may not be such a pipe dream after all.

2. St. Louis Cardinals
One of the better pitching staffs so far this season. Obviously they have a great lineup, I just wonder if Rasmus can keep up his insane pace. Also I have to wonder if the pitching staff can continue to be as dominant without striking out as many batters. I see them staying up high though, since they play the NL Central teams most of the season.

3. New York Yankees
Seriously, they are the Yankees. What else do I need to say about them?

4. Minnesota Twins
The interesting thing about their pitching so far this season is that it seems to be playing about at the level it could play all season. Some teams (Padres) seem to be pitching out of their minds, and it should catch up to them soon. The Twins do not seem to be one of those teams, which is a good thing for them. Obviously they can hit.

5. San Diego Padres
I predict this team will drop out of the top ten in a short time. They are playing great at home right now. Their pitching is ridiculous, but their hitting is still one of the worst in the league. I mean down there with the Pirates.

6. New York Mets
The hottest team in baseball at the moment, aside from the Rays. Their hitting is finally coming alive and it means they are starting to win games. Pitching has been good like the Twins at a sustainable level.

7. San Francisco Giants
They still have very little offense, but when your pitching staff only gives up 70 runs, you can win some games. The biggest problem they are having right now is winning close games (1-5 in one-run games). Obviously, since I have Matt Cain this year in one of my fantasy leagues.

8. Philadelphia Phillies
I blame them not being in the top three because of Happ. Yep, that is the reason. Also, I love reading all the stuff about Howard's huge contract and how it is such a bad idea. This offense is too good to not win a shit-ton of games.

9. Detroit Tigers
You may be wondering why I have them down here instead of up above the Giants or Phillies. Their hitting is way above where it should be at the moment. Austin Jackson cannot keep up this pace. Unless we are looking at the greatest player of all time (I hope, I have him on one of my fantasy teams). I do believe they are a top ten though, mainly because Justin Verlander will not pitch as badly as he has at the beginning of this season (he started out similarly last season).

Almost There
10. Texas Rangers
They can hit and they can steal. They can also pitch, well not really. Could the AL West be the new AL Central? Meaning: the team that wins barely breaks .500...

11. Toronto Blue Jays
Now we get into all the teams with so-so records. The Jays started hot, but things are starting to even out. Their pitching is decent and in any other division they would probably be in first place.

12. Colorado Rockies
Yes they have a losing record, but their expected W-L is 15-10. It seems to me they are just not getting some things to fall their way. Also, have they not started out bad before and then won like 20 games in a row or something to win the division or the wild card?

13. Chicago Cubs
Average age of this team is around 102 or something. Just kidding, not that old. Who knows though, maybe Gorzo is the answer...

14. Oakland Athletics
Good young pitching. Where the hell does Beane find them? He should look for some hitting though. Not so good in that department.

15. Florida Marlins
As usual they defy reason.

Ugghhhhhh
16. Washington Nationals
Somehow they keep winning games. Although, I am sure Capps will start blowing games soon. It is an inevitability.

17. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, or whatever they are called
Hitting has been decent, but the pitching has been pretty bad.

18. Arizona Diamondbacks
One of the best hitting teams in baseball right now. Also one of the worst pitching teams. Haren should be able to start dominating and maybe Edwin Jackson can maybe give up less than six or seven runs a start and the D-backs will have a chance to climb.

19. Cincinnati Reds
Whatever. How are they doing well, yet got swept by the Pirates? Weird.

20. Boston Red Sox
Obviously they should be better than this, or should they? I wonder if they are hoping to see the Padres collapse so they can try for Adrian Gonzalez?

21. Atlanta Braves
They have Jason Heyward. Also, the best last place team in baseball?

22. Los Angeles Dodgers
Or should that honor go to the Dodgers? I bet Andre Ethier wishes he could play the Pirates all season...

23. Cleveland Indians
Maybe Jobu needs a refill...

24. Seattle Mariners
Not really that bad of a team. But, who knows if they will be any good in the coming months.

25. Milwaukee Brewers
I wanted to put them further down, their expected W-L is boosted by the games against the Pirates, unfortunately that does not mean you can exclude. They have no real pitching aside from Gallardo. They do have a few good hitters though, I think their names are Rickie Weeks and Alcides Escobar...

26. Kansas City Royals
They were hitting way above their true ability, but that is starting to fall back to earth.

27. Chicago White Sox
Haha, I think someone said they had the best rotation in baseball? Peavy has been great so far...also, I believe they have the lowest batting average, which could change.

OH MY GOD THE HORROR!!
28. Pittsburgh Pirates
They have the worst expected W-L record in all of baseball (5-20). They are 5-1 in one-run games, which is funny since a few years ago they were like 1-15 in those situations. Win close, or lose very big...great.

29. Baltimore Orioles
I realize that before they won three games in a row, they only had four wins, but they should not be this bad. They could move up, all the way to like 25...

30. Houston Astros
Wow, they are a shitty team. They are at the bottom of almost every category. Unfortunately they swept the Pirates this about a week ago...but screw them they are going to the bottom.

Obviously this will change dramatically in one month...well maybe not the bottom.

Pirates v. Dodgers

2010-04-30T17:01:00.003-04:00

I just read a comment from some idiot on the PBC blog that said "seriously, the Pirates are better than the Dodgers. Maybe their pitching is better though." Umm? Assuming Manny is in the lineup, are they not better at every single position?

Martin>Doumit (barely)
Loney>Clement
DeWitt=Iwamura
Furcal>Cedeno
Blake>LaRoche
Manny>Lastings
Kemp>McCutchen
Ethier>Legend

What am I missing here? I would even say every SP for the Dodgers is better, but def couldn't back that up statistically right now. Still, no way no how in any section of any universe are the Pirates a better team than the Dodgers. Regardless of record.

That is all.

Wow

2010-04-27T11:24:00.000-04:00

As most of you have probably noticed, the Pirates are not doing so great right now. Because of the shellacking the Brewers have handed them in four games, their Expected W-L is now 4-15 (they have been outscored 147-65 on the season). Most of that is due to the fact that the Brewers have beat the Pirates 53-4 in four games.

I would love to know what team reached 100 runs scored against another team in the shortest amount of times. If this keeps up, the Brewers could hit that in four or five more games. I do realize that things should adjust back to normal soon (key word being should). I mean, the Brewers cannot play like this all year, right? Well let us have a look at one player and have fun with small sample sizes.

Ryan Braun is destroying the Pirates this season. Last year he played in 14 games against the Pirates.

AB: 50
HR: 4
RBI: 14
SB: 2
Hits: 13
BA: .260

So far, through four games, these are the same numbers against the Buccos.
AB: 15
HR: 2
RBI: 8
SB: 4
Hits: 8
BA: .533

What kind of numbers could he end up with versus the Pirates if he continues at this pace? There are 13 remaining games and the following numbers could be his remaining stats. Add those to the above numbers and see what you get...

AB: 52
HR: 6.9
RBI: 27.7
SB: 13.9
Hits: 27.7

It is theoretically possible for Braun to have a 10/10 season against the Pirates. Last year he only had 20 SBs, this year he has five, but four against the Pirates! Talk about padding your stats. Hell, even if he plays terrible against the Buccos for the rest of the year, his numbers will still end up pretty decent because of these four games.

Oh, jumping back to the Pirates and their expected W-L record, without the Brewers the Pirates have only been outscored 94-62, which would give them a pretty sweet .319 winning percentage and an expected W-L of 5-10. Still not very good.

This is going to be a really long season...

Barry Zito watch...

2010-04-07T12:28:00.002-04:00

First start for Zito was a doozie! 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Nice start to the season! Could he be turning it around as predicted???

It's Time...

2010-04-05T14:28:00.003-04:00

for the same old Pirates. I'd keep a running diary of the opener but I'm at work and watching it on live game channel. What I did see was them blowing a bases loaded no-out situation with our number 9 hitter, who is of course not a pitcher. Go Bucs!

2010 MLB Predictions: NL Central

2010-04-04T08:35:00.003-04:00

Aright kids, here is the NL Central. Our favorite division. The Division with our beloved, impoverished Pirates in a constant flux to reach Major League parity. Oh the lovely Pirates. Our future is so bright (quote used for the last 17 years)...Here are my predictions

Cardinals
Reds
Cubs
Pirates
Brewers
Astros

The top 3 I think could end up being interchangeable throughout the course of the season, and yes, the Pirates sitting in 4th is completely wishful thinking, but what the Cardinals have in Albert Pujols, I think they could end up lacking in 2 very important categories of which are very important for long term success; defense and relief pitching. The pitching may not be a big deal because they have the best pitching coach in the Majors and they will end up righting that ship. So, that is why they won out over the Reds and more notably the Cubs, whom many people are picking as favorites for he division.

The cubs have too many health questions with Soriano, Ramirez, Lee, Zombrano and even more now with the addition of Xavier Nady. If they are all healthy all season and produce like they have in the past, then it will be a compeltely different story. Aside, from the production of the aforementioned stars, does anyone think the Cubs will be getting great numbers from their pitching staff? If I had a magic 8 ball I think they answer would be "ask again later" or "note likely".

I don't know why I have the Reds in second place. I like their young talent and the promise of their up and coming highly rated prospectus rotation. Hell they thought their number 1 pick was so good they said he could skip out on Minor league mop jobs and come straight in and be their number 5 starter. Can Homer Bailey be as good as advertised and will the young boppers come through. I think they can, which is why I have them in second.

I think the bottom 3 could probably be interchangeable as well. The reason these 3 teams are the bottom 3 is because I believe they all lack something in common. Good, Healthy Pitching. But, what they lack in pitching, they make up for it in size(Brewers), speed(Pirates), and texans(Astros).

I believe the Pirates have the best chance of the 3 to finish out of the bottom spot because they do something better than any team, and that is field the ball. The Pirates were the best fielding team in the NL last season. I know that when it comes to baseball there isn't the constant phrasing of "defense wins championships" and the Pirates were THE prime example of that, but in spite of their defensive prowess, I think they can really run. The Pirates have a fast team and are going to take many bases other teams would be afraid to attempt. Like everyone else though, my reservations come with their offense. They lack a big proven bat in the middle of the line up, and everyone in the line up is young. I'm hoping Iwamura becomes our team MVP and his japanese mentality of patience at the plate, which I believe is preached over there will rub off on the rest of the ball club. Which is why I'm assuming they are batting him in the lead off spot to start the season. Their starting pitching keeps me up at night.

The brewers have big bats and big men, but I just don't see the depth in their rotation or their bullpen outside of the trevor hoffman. I think he's going to be waiting awhile for his 600th save, though he only needs like 9.

The Astros just keep getting hurt. Outside of Berkman and Lee, they don't have anyone that really pound the ball and they keep alternating getting injured. Right now its Berkman starting the season on the DL and when he returns how much you want to bet that Lee goes down sometime in the month afterwards. Also, their ace is having back issues, which gives me reservations about how well he actually will pitch this year. Outside of the Wandy Ramirez, I'm not sure they are going to do much, even with the Brett Myers addition. I doubt he has a great season with that short porch in left field; I bet he gives up the most home runs in the Majors this year.

Pirates # of Victories Predictions: 80. Just to blue ball me towards the end of the season and keep everyone in Pittsburgh interested. How sad is it that a team striving for 82 victories could keep an entire city interested in baseball?

CDP: Pujols win another MVP, Cutch goes 20/40 and 2 of the previously mentioned cubs stars will get injured for a significant amount of time. I'm thinking Lee and Ramirez.

Addition to NL West and NL East predictions

2010-04-04T08:18:00.002-04:00

I forgot my Crazy Divisional Predictions for the NL West and NL East.

For the NL East: Heyward will NOT be the rookie of the Year, but Wagner will be come back player of the year.

NL West: Manny will be traded mid-season, but will not be the most prolific offensive player on his team, and the NL Rookie of the year will come from this division.

Ok, now since the start of the season is tonight. I figured I should have all the divisions up. So in a minute I will post our favorite division; the NL Central. Lets Go Bucs!

2010 MLB Predictions: NL West

2010-03-26T14:16:00.003-04:00

Ugh! I had a whole thing typed up and then I lost it somehow. So, since this division has the laziest fielder in baseball, this is going to be the laziest post for my predictions. Here they are:

Giants
Dodgers
Diamondback
Rockies
Padres

Giants have arguably the best pitching staff in the majors: 2 Cy Youngs, Barry Zito has improved every year since coming over, My favorite for the Cy Young in Matt Cain and oh yea, but they way their 4th pitcher has a No-No to his credit. Their offense is underrated. They have decent pop at the corners and brought in very dependable versatility with DeRosa. Renteria will have a better year, closer to his career average, which will help tremendously and when freddy gets healthy he will hit near .300 as always.

Dodgers have a great team, but will not make the playoffs. They have great offense at every position, but they have the distraction of manny being manny. He's already said this is his last season with the dodgers BEFORE spring training, sheesh. Their pitching I believe with be spotty. Kershaw is still young, Billingsley is talented but inconsistent, kuroda is old and injury prone and you never know what you're going to get from Padilla.

I think the Diamondbacks are better than they performed last year. But, of course it depends on the health of Webb. Can he return to Cy Young form? Will Adam LaRoche actually hit at the beginning of a season, and can all their young guys bounce back and have the seasons they were meant to have? Big questions to be answered, but if 2 out 3 are answered the way they want, they will compete, if all 3 get answered this division could be theres.

I just don't like the Rockies. I don't know what it is. I think they have great talent for the future, but I don't think its aged enough for right now. Their pitching is not as good as people think and there are going to be a lot of strike outs in their line up, aside from Helton.

The Padres have the best first basemen in the National League not named Pujols and the Hairston Brothers. Oh ya, and Kyle Blanks is really really REALLY Big. Who could ask for more?

Fantasy Baseball!

2010-03-24T09:01:00.002-04:00

Ok guys. I know we already have our own league, but I am also in another league with a couple of guys from work. The only thing is, they are as competitive as us if not more and they know their stuff. They asked if I knew any fellow baseball freaks, and I thought; no better place to advertise than the pancake. The league is 50 dollars, it's a live, in person draft held on march 30 at 7pm. They are looking for 2 more people. If you cannot make it in person you can draft via phone or possibly Instant messanger of some kind. Let me know if you guys are interested. If you are interested and can possibly make the draft just let Brad know. He is the one who is running the league, his email is: bradt.soe@gmail.com

I'll be putting up the NL Central and NL West predictions in a couple days, just don't have the time to do the proper reading and typing right now. Lata!

2010 MLB Predictions: NL East

2010-03-14T19:20:00.002-04:00

Every team has the potential to do some special things on the offensive side of the ball, but the biggest problem with teams that could have been favorites entering the season is whether or not their team is healthy and can remain healthy throughout the course of the season. The Mets seem to be the kings of bad luck, with 2 perennial all-starts missing the start of the season; The team to watch out for are the Atlanta Braves with the best up and coming prospect they hope will take over in right field; Philadelphia is still the best team in the NL; Players need to play up to expectations in Florida; The nationals are headed in the right direction. Here are my predictions:

Phillies
Braves
Nationals
Mets
Marlins

The Phillies are the team in the East, but their complete success depends on how well their pitching staff performs this year. I'm still not convinced that trading for Halladay for Cliff Lee was a great improvement. Cliff Lee definitely proved he could pitch in the NL and in the very hitter friendly ball park and was doing it as a south paw. Halladay is going to be a contender for the the Cy Young as he is every year, but I don't think he is going to have the success everyone is predicting for him. I think he still comes close to 20 victories, but I think his ERA is going to be in the mid to high 3's. Brad Lidge needs to come back to form because I really don't think they have anyone else who can close effectively on a consistent basis. They could be the Mets of 2 years ago. Of course this line up is going to rake, but can Ibanez produce like he did last season, he is an aging outfielder, and will polanco provide the proper supporting role they are looking for from the 2 hole? Biggest Questions: How well will Halladay pitch and can Lidge regain his form.

Look out for the Braves...if they are healthy. If they all stay healthy; and thats a big IF, they are going to compete for the division. I think their pitching staff is much improved with a healthy Hudson and Billy Wagner is going to have 30+ saves this year with a sub 2.00 ERA. Again, IF Glaus is healthy all season right there with Chipper, they have a formadable middle of the line up to go with McCann. Biggest questions: How good is Heyward at the pro-level, how long will everyone stay healthy.

Meet the Mets! Greet the Mets! Come and watch the bad luck Mets! Seriously, what else can go wrong. Beltran is going to be out til May it looks like, they don't have a proven healthy first basemen, Jeff Franceour MIGHT be happy in New York and Jose Reyes could be out for 2 to 8 weeks with a freakin' thyroid problem?! Come on now. Even I feel kinda bad, and thats from a Pirates fan who has had nothing but losing for 17 years. But, they could have a decent pitching staff and their bullpen is better this year than it has been. Once they get everyone healthy, I think the Mets will also make a run for the wild card spot. Biggest questions: When and Who comes back healthy for the majority of the seaon and for how long.

The Nationals are making good strides. They are coming along faster than the pirates every have, and I think they are only going to get better especially in their pitching. The signing of I-rod I think was phenomenal for this young staff, and will really help in bringing along strasburg during spring training. I think they need to let him pitch in the minors for a little while until he shows he can dominate. They have a decent line up with good veterans with productive pasts: Dunn, I-Rod, Zimmerman, Morgan. Biggest Questions: When will Strasburg help and can I-rod be as influential as everyone thinks.

The Marlins have a lot of players to play up to expectations: Coughlan, Maybin, Bonifacio; and can Josh Johnson have back to back healthy seasons. He could very well be the best pitcher in the NL, but he also needs to stay very healthy. Also, I think Logan Morrison is this years Rookie of the Year. Biggest Questions: Will they continue to surprise and will Josh Johnson stay healthy.

Oh! By the way, did any of you guys hear anything about the Phillies talking internally about a first basemen swap of Ryan Howard for Albert Pujols, I swear I just saw that scroll across the screen on espnews.

The Pancake Challenge!

2010-03-11T11:11:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone, I am setting up a NCAA men's basketball tournament challenge. You know the drill, fill out the bracket and we shall see who wins.

Here is the link. The password is yummy, the group name is The Pancake Challenge, the group ID is 44802. There is no money involved, too hard to gather the money, so it is just for fun. Maybe I will award the winner some kind of prize...

Good luck to everyone...

2010 MLB Predictions: AL Playoffs & Awards

2010-02-28T13:17:00.002-05:00

AL Wildcard: Boston Red Sox
ALDS: White Sox OVER Red Sox, Mariners OVER Yankees
ALCS: White Sox OVER Mariners
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera
AL Cy Young: Jake Peavy
AL ROY: I would have picked Julio Borbon, but I don't think he qualifies as a rookie by like 20 or 30 at bats, but I will choose Neftali Feliz, from the same team.

2010 MLB Predictions: AL West

2010-02-28T11:32:00.003-05:00

Before I go on with my predictions, I want to post this, I figured it might be something Josh and Offord would enjoy since they like to put so much stock in the importance of such statistics that I find subjectively obsolete. But I think it may help my argument for who I think is going to come out on top for the division this season. Here are my predictions for the AL West:

Mariners
Rangers
Angels
Athletics

I know everyone thinks I'm crazy with my predictions half the time, and now I look ready for the straight jacket for predicting the mighty Angels to fall in the AL West, the division they have owned for the better part of a decade, but I think this is the year of the Mariner. Maybe its my personal love for the one last "natural" hall of fame slugger left in the big leagues; or the fact they have 2 center fielders covering the wides expanses of Safeco's spacious alleys and a 3rd in Griffey, if necessary, despite his age; or maybe it could be they have a former AL Cy Young award winner in addition to one of this years front runners for the same award; or it could be the solid defense they display across the diamond to go with a speedy line up. The only things I think may hinder them is their possible lack of power and how well they hold on to leads late in the game. The wild card for the Mariners is the emotion that could be on display night in and night out for this almost definitely being Griffey's last season in the Bigs and the send off they want to give him.

The reason i put the the Rangers over the Angels is because I like their offense so much more, and their bullpen, in my opinion, is more solid. Now, the Angels have a much better rotation, but I think they are relying too heavily on half of their line-up to continue their progress on what were career years for half of their line up. Yes, a couple of these players are still young at SS, 2B and 1B, but the meat of their line up is in the outfield and they are aging and breaking down. To expect a full healthy season from all of them, including Hideki Matsui is asking for too much. They brought in Fernando Rodney to sure up the back end of their bullpen, but they also brought him in case fuentes is as erratic as he was last season. Towards the end of the season you will see the Angels fall out of the race for the division and then the wild card. The Rangers are once again, going to have one of the best offenses in the league. They have decent defense especially in center and left, a gold glover at third and who I think will be a future gold glover at short. I think the offense only got better with what I would call "cheap" signing of Vladdy to hit out of the DH and flip-flop on the defensive side of the ball with Cruz. I like the Rotations 1 and 2 guys, but can Feldman continue to be a 15+ wins pitcher and can the talented Rich Harden stay healthy enough to pitch an entire season? Their bullpen is deep, atleast in potential closer depth, though the role itself is strongly in the hands of Francisco. The last thing I'm really looking forward to is where the young flame thrower Neftali Feliz ends up. He could end up being a stellar 3rd or 4th starter or end up in the bullpen for a little while to groom him into the starters role and build arm strength in the same way the Rays handled David Price.

The athletics brought in Ben Sheets and have a relatively young and speedy outfield. They brought in Kouzmanoff, who still has some power potential and is definitely a reliable back up plan to the oft-injured eric chavez. The rest of their rotation outside of Sheets is going to rely on Dallas Braden and Justin Duchscherer? I like the Pirates odds more with Hart and Lincoln. Their bullpen I don't think is very deep, though they do have a couple options at closer and people who can interchange towards the back end. In the end, I don't think they have what it takes in the division, but it's the A's and like the Marlins and the Twins before them, always seem to find a way to stay competitive at least for a little while.

CDP: The rangers will have 4 players hit 30+ home runs but still come up short in their bid for a playoff birth and Griffey will hit 25 home runs.

2010 MLB Predictions: AL Central

2010-02-26T22:16:00.002-05:00

I'm sorry guys, I'm kinda bored right now and I have time to continue on with my predictions. So I am going to continue with the AL Central. What can you say about the AL Central? How about White Sox! White Sox! White Sox! I think they are going to run away with this division. I really don't think this is going to be close (but of course I am going to be wrong); Heres the AL Central Predictions:

White Sox
Tigers
Indians
Twins
Royals

The White Sox look absolutely perfect on paper. They have a stellar rotation, especially with a healthy Peavy; crazy depth defensively and offensively; and players who can play above average defense at more than 2 positions. They brought in the best defensive outfielder(andruw jones) and infielder(omar vizquel) from the last 20 years, and if Andruw Jones starts to rake, sheesh! Can you imagine how much better the defense up the middle is going to be this year? With young guys at second and short in their 2nd and 3rd year respectively, just think of all the information they are going to absorb from the future hall of famer. Detroit has a chance...to really struggle this year. They definitely have the quantity at starting pitcher, but its the quality i worry about outside of Verlander. Johnny Damon I don't think made them all that better, and if this team is going to improve at all offensively, Inge can't strike out so often, Ordonez has to hit atleast like 3 years ago and Guillen has to be healthy all season. I think the team that is going to take the biggest dive is going to be the Twins. I'm not at all impressed with their rotation and their biggest acquisitions in the offseason are a flimsy wristed second basemen and a short stop who's had more mental lapses than Shutter Island. I believe the Indians are better than people believe, especially offensively with a healthy Sizemore and an improving Cabrera along with Choo and the newly added Russell Branyan to add 30 home runs. The Royals are getting there and have a great future with a very talented and young pitching staff, but they need a lot of pieces to fall into place offensively...Jason Kendall?? I mean come on!

CDP: The Cy Young and MVP will come out of this division( I will have those when i finish both leagues, they will be included with my playoff predictions.)

2010 MLB Predictions: AL East

2010-02-26T21:05:00.002-05:00

When it comes to parity in the Majors, I believe every team is starting to field respectable professional ball club to remain competitive within the sport, especially in the National League. When it comes to the AL East however, as much as I would like to rain on the Yankees parade and say that Derek Jeter not being guaranteed a Yankee's contract this year would portend the downfall of the franchise and sink them to the bottom of a very competitive division (for second place); every written word would be no more than literary carrion. We all know the Yucking Fankees are the best team in baseball as much as all of us Pirates fans hate to admit. A 200 Million dollar payroll does that for you. So without further ado, here are my AL East predictions:

Yankees
Red Sox
Orioles
Rays
Blue Jays

I hate the Yankees, but despite losing Godzilla and Damon, I think they may have gotten even better. They improved on the defensive side of the ball with Granderson and he is going to bring a little more youth and sizzle to the line up. They brought back Javier Vasquez to the Rotation, AS THEIR 4TH STARTER! He is a potential number 2 starter for any team in the majors and could possibly be a number 1 for any number of NL teams(the pirates). At the same time, I think that is his greatest fault. He is definitely a better NL pitcher than AL, so i guess we'll see the turn out for the yanks with him. I came real close to swapping the positions of the Sox and the Rays, but the Red Sox have the best pitching staff in the Majors. They worry me though because I think they have too many offensive question marks outside of Pedroia and Youk and I think it will hurt them. I don't trust the Rays pitching, or the O's for that matter, but I think the Orioles have such better offensive potential despite, in my opinion, only 2 or 3 consistent commodities in the line up. The Blue Jays have an all star second basement...?(like how i did that)

Crazy Division Prediction (CDP): Either the Red Sox or Rays will lose an early season MVP candidate and it will determine who finishes second in the division. Derek Jeter finishes second in the MVP vote, Carl Crawford has 75+ steals for the season.

2010 MLB Predictions

2010-02-18T11:41:00.002-05:00

Nice predictions (Josh), I mostly agree. I think this is the toughest season in recent memory to predict because so many teams are looking good, in my opinion. In the NL, I would not be shocked if any of the following made the playoffs - Phillies, Mets, Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Reds, Brewers, Dodgers, Rockies, Giants, D'Backs. In the AL, I could see the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Angels, Mariners, and Rangers. That is quite a field of teams that have a shot. Since a lot of them are crapshoots for me, I'll probably get them exactly right, because when I am "sure", they are always way off.

NL East
Phillies
Braves
Mets
Marlins
Nationals

May be the best division in the NL when all is said and done. The Nationals have done A LOT to improve, and if Strasburg is half the pitcher they expect, added to Lanaan, Marquis, Wang, and Zimmerman, these guys could seriously push the Mets and Marlins. Don't forget though, the Mets have a healthyish Beltran and Reyes, to go along with Wright, Bay, and Santana. You can't count these guys out yet...just wait until August.

NL Central
Cardinals
Cubs
Reds
Brewers
Astros
Pirates

Cardinals are the clear favorite, but the Reds are up and coming. The Cubs will be in their consistent 2/3 spot, so the only competition will be the Reds trying to move up the ladder. If not this year, then next year the Reds will be second.

NL West
Rockies
Dodgers
Giants
D'Backs
Padres

The D'Backs get Webb back and add Edwin Jackson, but still have too much youth to make it in this balanced division. Any of the top 3 could make it, but I like Ubaldo Jimenez to lead the Rocks into the playoffs. The Giants just haven't done enough on offense to move up yet.

NL Wildcard: Dodgers. I like the Braves, but they didn't do enough to improve their offense, and the Dodgers have Matt Kemp.
NLDS: Cardinals over Dodgers, Phillies over Rockies
NLCS: Cardinals over Phillies
NL MVP: If Pujols gets seriously injured, then Matt Kemp.
NL CY YOUNG: Tim Lincecum
NL ROY: Pedro Alvarez ... j/k. Heyward if he gets a shot, Escobar if not. Travis Wood - SP Reds - is a sleeper.

AL East
Yankees
Red Sox
Rays
Orioles
Blue Jays

I really like the Orioles. If they were in the Central I might take them to win the division. Alas, they are not. Next year could be their year, but for now, the big 3 will be at the top again. Close between the Rays and Sox, but Lackey and Dice-K will push them over the top.

AL Central
Tigers
White Sox
Twins
Royals
Indians

This is a boring division, but the top 3 teams all have a decent shot. The White Sox have arguably the best rotation in the AL, but I think top to bottom Detroit's is better. Detroit will need its youngsters Jackson, Sizemore, and Raburn to really step up, and Miguel Cabrera to avoid bars.

AL West
Angels
Rangers
Mariners
A's

I think this will be the most exciting division in baseball and probably the closest. The Angels are steady as usual, but, if a lot of things go right, the Rangers have potentially the second best team in the AL to the Yanks. However, I think experience and consistency will win out down the stretch.

For the wildcard, like I said before, there are a lot of teams that have a shot. Because of experience, I will take the Red Sox, but I would not be shocked if the Rangers overcame them. If not this year, then next year we'll see Texas in the playoffs, especially if Harden turns things around and Netfali Feliz is as good as expected.

AL Wildcard: Red Sox
ALDS: Tigers over Red Sox, Yankees over Angels
ALCS: Yankees over Tigers. Surprisingly, the Tigers were potentially the best offense last year, now their offense is a weakness. Yanks are too much to overcome.
World Series: Cardinals over Yankees in an exciting 7 game series.
AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez (Adrian Beltre CLOSE second)
AL CY YOUNG: Felix Hernandez
AL ROY: Michael Brantley, OF, Indians. Only because I think Feliz starts the year in the bullpen. The Rangers have a lot of quality starters and I think Colby Lewis gets a shot at the 5th spot.

Fantasy Baseball 2010

2010-02-09T19:25:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, guess what time of year it is? That's right, it's fantasy baseball time. I will be starting a league soon on yahoo and you all are invited to join.

I want to start a discussion about it right now. I am saying only one league this year, lets discuss what stats to use. And we need everyone involved to be die hard.

Obviously these are the people I know will join: myself, Offord, Imler, Ryan, Gideon. I am hoping Ryan can get Singer, Dave, and Ruskin. Hopefully James will participate.

We would just need four more folks to have a successful and highly competitive league. Let me know.

the tebow family tree

2010-02-03T16:40:00.004-05:00

anyone hear about the tim tebow "choose life" commercial yet?

if anything could make me root more for this guy's failure, i don't think i can come up with it at the moment. CBS should not air this commercial, since they won't air other political commercials during the super bowl.

i'm strongly considering not watching the super bowl now just because of this retarded commercial.

and tebow is an anti-evolutionist. if you are a creationist, you should not be able to earn a college degree. that should be a rule. like "don't ask, don't tell." except for rational.

Pirates. World Series. 2014

2010-01-22T13:55:00.002-05:00

You know what my main problem with this article is? Last year's Pirates were a team 5 years later. 2 years ago's Pirates were a team 5 years later. 3 years ago's Pirates were a team 5 years later. That is 12 straight seasons of being a losing team "5 Years Later". If you want to have hope, fine, but this guy's argument is ridiculous.

I am America... correction... the WORLD

2010-01-20T14:52:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to let say that the 2010 AskMen lady rankings are out, and the top 2 are no other than my personal top 2 - as stated during Offord's contest (though in the wrong order). Shouldn't that nullify everyone elses votes and declare me supreme decider of all things attractive?

The answer is yes. And here are my other 2010 choices:

Hottest Pirate: Blackbeard

Hottest kitty: Professor Purrsalot

Hottest Lego Set: Mohammed

That's all for now.

First Baseball Post of 2010

2010-01-14T12:48:00.004-05:00

I am sooo bored lately, so please comment! I have power rankings, division predictions, and other stuff ready to go, but I will wait until the remaining big name free agents sign in the next month or so. Therefore, I'll just start the conversation about the Pirates, since I'm sure that's what everyone wants to talk about...

So far, in free agency, the Pirates have actually been fairly active in attaining low cost, low risk players that may provide some help to the team in a small role. These include:

2B Akinori Iwamura (via trade), OF John Raynor (Rule-5), OF Ryan Church, OF Brian Myrow, SS Bobby Crosby, RHP DJ Carrasco, LHP Javier Lopez, RHP Chris Jakubauskas, LHP Brian Bass, LHP Neal Cotts, RHP Vinnie Chulk, and of course, Bailey the pup.

Definitely nothing major, but at least Huntington is sticking to his goal of not wasting any money on free agents and instead using the money to sign young players and invest in the draft and in Latin America. One player not on the list is Miguel Angel Sano, who the Pirates tried so hard to covet and instead scared him off. He signed for about the same amount we offered with the Twins, even though the Buccos have a great scout in Latin America who was one of the first to contact the kid. That, combined with the Matt Capps disaster, has made this offseason a negative in my view.

What we do have is a lot of options. Not good options, but a lot of options none-the-less. The 25 who will definitely be on the opening day roster are:

Position players C Ryan Doumit, C Jason Jaramillo, 1B Matt Clement, 2B Akinori Iwamura, SS Ronny Cedeno, SS Bobby Crosby, 3B Andy LaRoche, IF Ramon Vazquez, OF Lastings Milledge, OF Andrew McCutchen, OF/1B Garrett Jones, and OF Ryan Church. That leaves 1 or 2 spots available to go to Delwyn Young, Brandon Moss, Steve Pearce, and John Raynor (Rule5).

Pitchers SP Zach Duke, SP Ross Ohlendorf, SP Paul Maholm, SP Chad Morton, SP/RP Kevin Hart, RP Joel Hanrahan, RP Evan Meek, and RP Javier Lopez. That leaves 3-4 spots including 1 for a starter/long reliever, 1 for a lefty, and 1 or 2 more spots. Candidates include RHP Steven Jackson, RHP DJ Carrasco, RHP Jeff Karstens, RHP Daniel McCutchen, RHP Chris Jakubauskas, LHP Brian Bass, and LHP Neal Cotts.

I would put my money for the final spots on Delwyn Young, Stephen Jackson, Carrasco, Bass, and Jakubauskas. At the least, there will be some competition for the final spots, so that will be about as exciting as it gets for Pirate fans. Tabata will be up in May most likely, so that will probably remove Young from the roster, as well as Lincoln or McCutchen replacing one of the righty relievers.

That's about my thoughts on the current roster as of this moment. Nothing spectacular, but at least enough talent to probably keep them from losing 100 games. I currently have them ranked above only San Diego and Toronto, but that could change if some of the new guys resurrect their careers, and some of the young guys live up to potential.

Thoughts?

P.S. I decided to stay a Pirates' fan...however, go Rays!

Fantasy Football and the Playoffs

2010-01-06T12:28:00.002-05:00

I know everyone cares, but this season I finished 1,1,2,3,4 in my 5 fantasy football leagues, with a total winnings of $230. Definitely my best season ever, and next year I am going to try to find a higher stakes league...

In more relevant news, would anyone like to join a small Fantasy Playoff league? Buy in would be $10-20 and I will use a point system similar to Yahoo! regular season leagues.

Dexter v. Heroes

2010-01-06T12:15:00.003-05:00

I am currently watching Dexter Season 3 on DVD, and after watching an episode last night, then watching Part 1 of Heroes that aired on Monday, I realized the difference is staggering. Not that it should be much of a surprise to anyone, but the acting, story, quality, suspense...pretty much everything is so much better on Dexter that I think this will be the last season of Heroes I watch. It was pretty much like watching a major league baseball playoff game, then watching a double A team, or worse, the Pirates.

And if anyone wants to discuss Dexter, and is not so far along that they still remember Season 3, I'm all for it. As for Heroes, I think I'll pass on writing any more reviews since notta one person jumped in on the conversation last time.

The Year in Movies

2009-12-16T16:44:00.004-05:00

I'd like to put a decent review together for the best movies of '09, but admittedly I want to see many many more movies than I actually have seen. Here are my rankings for the top movies I saw this year, none of which will be in any Oscar category other than special effects probably.

My BEST OF's

DRAMA: District 9
ACTION: Star Trek
COMEDY: The Hangover
HORROR: Drag me to Hell

OVERALL
District 9
Inglorious Basterds
Star Trek
The Hangover
Watchmen
Taken
Drag Me to Hell
The Last House on the Left
I Love You, Man
Paranormal Activity
Angels & Demons
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Saw VI
Adventureland
The International
Duplicity
The Fourth Kind
The Haunting in Connecticut
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

Topping the list is District 9, mainly because of originality, story, visuals, and acting. It basically had everything, and why it will not be nominated for any awards, I do not know. Well, I sort of do know. Wait, what's that? He wasn't in any movies this year? Did an angel just get it's wings?

The list of movies I want to see is too long to post, but if any of you have seen some good ones this year let me know.

Fantasy Help

2009-12-11T12:22:00.003-05:00

I need help choosing my WR2 and Flex. Options for receiver are Jennings, Steve Smith (NYG), and Meachem. Options for the flex are those 3 plus Brandon Jacobs or Quintin Ganther. Any suggestions? Right now I have Jennings and Jacobs, but experts seem to like Meachem this week.

Just wanted to post this to prove my point...

2009-12-06T11:50:00.003-05:00

...about what I said the pirates needs were in the offseason hot stove. Especially for the veteran need for the in back up catcher position, as I stated before when Josh posted on his blog about the available Free Agents this year, and who would be advantageous for the Pirates to sign.

Childhood Toys

2009-12-02T10:57:00.007-05:00

Recently I took a trip home to Pittsburgh and found a few of my old Battle Trolls laying around. I was instantly transported 15 years in the past to probably some of the best times of my life - the days of battling with toys. I searched the attic for more stuff, but found out my mom threw mostly everything away after I moved out. It is understandable, but boy do I wish I had them back. She couldn't have known her 27 year old son still wants to play with toys he had when he was 8.

Nowadays, kids barely even play with toys. My brother has a pretty active imagination, but all he does is play Wii, Nintendo DS, and occasionally legos (I tried to get him to play with my old Magic the Gathering cards with me, but he is still a little young to grasp the rules). When I was a kid, sure there was Nintendo, but I spent the majority of my time playing outside or with toys. I had a very active imagination and would usually prefer to play at home by myself than with other kids (yes, I was a loser). I am the same way now, except substitute games with PS3. I especially loved battles, wars, fighting, etc. Stuff like that. Here are some of the best toys I can remember:

Battle Trolls: I mentioned these guys earlier, but I had about 8 of them. I grouped them into "bad guys" and "good guys", as I often did. I also had the shooting net, so that was sort of cool I guess. These sell for about $30 a piece now.

Battle Beasts: These were probably my favorite, and still are. I would love to collect them all, and by collect I don't mean be a pussy and leave them in their packaging. I mean open them, or buy them used, whatever, and actually battle with them. I have to think my battles now would probably be more advanced than they were as a kid - I mean, I have seen a lot of war movies - but the basic structure would remain the same. They are grouped into 3 factions - water, fire, and earth. I had about 15 as a kid but always wished I had more. Unfortunately, I never did any chores as a child so I didn't have much of an allowance. The black panther one was my favorite. These sell for about $10 used, up to $200 for an unopened 2 pack. Damn you Hasbro!

Monster in my Pocket: Other than the fact that this name seems extremely gay now, these guys were a cheap, easy source of fun. I remember building castles at the beach and dividing up the monsters to war on each other. Great times. And because they were just rubber, they were easily cleaned off. They had little numbers on the bottom that indicated strength, so that saved some time. However, I think I probably preferred to determine how strong each one was based on my own preferences. The werewolf was pretty cool.

Trash Bag Bunch: These guys came in dissolving bags, so you never knew which one you were gonna get. This was sort of cool for an 8 year old, but looking back, I'd be pissed off getting the same one over and over. I had about 8 of them probably, and battled with them in the typical way.

Matchbox Cars and Micromachines: I'm sure most kids had these, so they are pretty self-explanatory. I would either race them or have destruction derbies with my friend. We loved bashing them up. I'm sure my mother did not appreciate that though as much as we did. I remember my grand mother had a pretty cool collection of them, so when I went over it was a treat every time.

Legos: I mainly played with legos and building blocks at my grandparents' houses. I liked to build, but looking back it was probably sort of boring. I liked more actiony stuff.

Lincoln Logs: Lincoln logs were GREAT for building fortresses. Probably not what the creators intended, but when you sent a bomb in the resulting blast were pretty impressive (and by that I mean throwing a bouncy ball into a wall and it falling down, whatever I was easy to please). Plus, they were easy to clean up and came in a convenient tin can.

Board Games: These are probably another dying breed with kids and families, but I LOVED playing with my mom and sister, and occasionally my dad when he wasn't off on a bender (just kidding, but he WAS probably watching tv instead). Some of my favorites were Hungry Hungry Hippos, Life, Dizzy Dizzy Dinosaur, Hero Quest (only with my dad - my sister did not have the patience), Break the Ice, Lite Bright (not really a game), Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and many more.

Axis & Allies: This was a risk-like game except World War II themed and much more detailed. I only played war by myself with the pieces though. I especially liked the bomber planes.

Nintendo/Game Boy: I would be remiss if I didn't add these guys. Don't get me wrong, I definitely played a lot of video games. I especially loved the baseball game for Game Boy, and Wario's World. Great times.

I'll stop there since this is getting long.

Since my sister didn't like playing with me because I was too competitive and she didn't like monsters or fighting, I often had to stoop to playing things she enjoyed. Sadly, this included things like racing carousel horses (at least they were racing), having barbie fashion shows, pretty pretty princess, playing with toy cats, etc. Mostly this ended in me doing something to make her cry and getting sent to my room. That happened a lot.

Check out these examples for some of the highlights of the 80s. There are so many others I have either forgot or not included, but to name some other activities I did include having a stuffed animal wrestling league (I had like 40 in it and the royal rumbles were amazing), my friend and I flying paper airplanes off my deck to see which went further (each plane had a sponsor we would color on, and we kept standings), and others. I also collected baseball cards religiously but I will have to save that for another time.

I would love to get a Facebook group together (if it actually mattered, liek Futurama's sort of did) or some sort of petition to Hasbro to bring some of these toys back. Kids today don't understand what it was like to have action figures and monsters. Sure, video games are great, but where is the imagination? I'd rather create a world in my head than play one that was already created for me. But that's just me.

In conclusion, if you see me playing with children's toys, please don't call the police. I am not trying to lure unsuspecting kids, but rather enjoying a part of my childhood that still comes in tangible form.

Lastly, does anyone have suggestions on what cheap toys now might be worth a lot more in 20 years? I'd love to start investing.

Heroes Season 4 - Part 2

2009-12-01T15:59:00.007-05:00

CLAIRE
In another typical Claire plot line, she is off to school to be independent and try to lead an ordinary life, but we all know that something will happen and her dad will have to save her, but then she gets mad at him for interfering, and then she figures out he was only doing what was best and they hug and he calls her Claire-bear. Well, this season is no different, so I'll save you the boring details. In short, a girl at school who can turn invisible is trying to kill her, she has an ugly lesbian girl friend, and she gets caught healing. Whatever. The invisible girl is trying to ruin her life so she would turn to Samuel's group, and to piss off Noah because he killed the girls parents or something. Dumb. It left off with Claire pondering joining the circus of heroes since she'll never make it in the real world.

NOAH
He is unemployed, single, and bored after everything that happened in season 3. He is pretty key to this season because he basically is involved somewhat in every story line and sort of ties everything together. The most obvious connection is with protecting Claire, which goes how you would expect. He also mentors Tracy somewhat, and brings the Haitian back. He finds one of Samuel's compasses and begins to piece together what he's up to...I think. I actually sort of forget everything he has been doing, but he has a smokin hot love interest. She was apparently his partner before and she tried to get him to cheat on his wife, but he is a family man blah blah. Well, now that he's single he is partnering back up with her, in more ways than one! Huzzah! Actually, I don't think anything happened yet but they did have Thanksgiving dinner together, so whatever.

MOHINDER
He finally appeared in the last episode that I saw. Since he lost his weird manmade-the fly-like power, he has been back in India with his gf/wife and teaching school. He finds some more of his father's work though and wants to find out more, so he comes to America. He wants to find a boy that was in Coyote Sands that shook the Earth when he was born. Turns out, it was Samuel (convenient timing..).

SAMUEL
I bet you are wondering who this guy is after all the times he has been mentioned so far. Basically, he is the villain of this season, who **SPOILERS** kills his own brother and blames it on Danko to make the heroes unite with him against the humans. He has a "family" of people with powers, some of which include a blade wielding speedster, a hot gypsy lady with tattoos that can read people or something, whatever she is hot and bangs Sylar/Nathan, and an old man with Hiro's powers. In addition, he has amassed enough people to fill a large carnival. He is trying to get everyone with powers, especially our main characters, together so that he can use his power, which Hiro just revealed to him - the ability to..um move the earth. This power intensifies with more heroes around him. His motive is unclear so far, but it pretty much just seems like he is a jerk and wants to be powerful and kill humans. He has at one point or another spoke with every main character I think. His role with each is: He uses Hiro to find the information on his powers, he uses Mohinder to bring that information, he finds Nathan/Sylar after Sylar comes back from the dead and tries to recruit him. Sylar begins to see images from his past such as killing his mother in the House of Mirrors, but refuses to believe it and become it. One day he wakes up as Nathan for no reason and flies away. For some reason, when Peter touches him, he gains Nathan's power and not Sylar's. Whatever...Samuel recruits Tracy so she is joining him, and he tries to get Claire on board, but Noah is skeptical. Hiro is stuck with him for now because Samuel trapped Charlie somewhere in time, but Hiro also showed some members of the family that Samuel killed his own brother, not Danko. I think Samuel has visited Peter as well but I can't remember what happened.

Currently, "Nathan" has regained control of himself and is with Peter. They heal Parkman in the hospital, but Sylar may or may not have gotten back into his own (Nathan's) body when he touched Parkman's hand. That was where it left off pretty much, except Nathan was still acting like himself. It is yet to be seen whether or not it is actually Sylar who is waiting to shape shift back to get some revenge. Nice to know he has a motive though - boy does he hate the Petrelli's and Parkman...I am hoping Nathan turns into Sylar when they least suspect, then he and Peter battle it out to the death (hopefully Sylar wins...)

Oops I forgot Tracy. Whatever, She has been 3 different characters during the series and the last 2 have been equally as stupid and have contributed practically nothing to the plot. I want Nikki back damnit! No sign of Micah either.

It is difficult to summarize 11 episodes compactly, so I'm sure I left some important stuff out. What do you think? Anyone watching still? Don't mention yesterday's episode yet if you are because I haven't watched it yet.

Heroes Season 4 - Part 1

2009-12-01T10:07:00.008-05:00

Since we haven't talked about Heroes all year I figured I'd bring it up. My order of Monday shows this fall was, sadly, How I Met Your Mother, Monday Night Football, Dancing with the Stars, video games, risk on my computer, staring at a wall, Heroes. However, I was curious, so since Leigh was sick this last Thanksgiving weekend and we couldn't really do anything outside the house, we watched the entire season online. I must say, this season definitely blows away the last 2 and has actually pulled me in again. I will recap each main character and what is going on, for those who haven't seen it yet. There may be some spoilers so if you are planning on watching it on DVD or something then you may want to skip this part.

SYLAR
By far the most interesting and likable character of the entire series, Sylar definitely does not disappoint this season. In the Season 3 finale Nathan was killed, so in order to preserve his life, Angela Petrelli had his memories planted into Sylar's shape shifted body by Parkman. Therefore, Sylar's mind was erased (or so we thought) and was now stuck as Nathan. However, after some time, Parkman begins to have continually more intense visions of Sylar in his head. Sylar actually gains enough control to start controlling Parkman's body (and bangs his wife, which led to a funny exchange). So, Parkman tells his wife and child to leave and not tell him where they are going so Sylar doesn't know. After they go, Parkman has a beer and Sylar appears to be hurt by it. So Parkman gets the idea to start chugging liquor and eventually Sylar disappears. Unfortunately for him, Sylar was faking and when Parkman was awakened by his wife and a police officer, he was now completely overtaken by Sylar. After some hilarity, Sylar learns what happened after threatening to kill a waitress. He and Parkman are about to go find Nathan and switch back, but Parkman tricks him and ends up getting shot up by the cops, which appears to kill him but we all know he's not dead...they wouldn't kill off Sylar that easily.

PETER
Peter lost his power to hold onto everyone's abilities, and instead can only hold one at a time. At the beginning of the season, he has super speed, so he uses it to save people as a paramedic. A deaf lady named Deanna, who works at the hospital and is actually sort of hot in a weird way, has an ability to see sound as colors. So far nothing has really come of it other than a pseudo love story with Peter when he can see the colors with her and they play an annoying song on the piano. She was depressed and dropped out of med school, but Peter and Hiro convinced her to go back. That's about it with her. Peter is busy saving lives when Hiro appears. I'll get into why in a minute. Hiro is sick so Peter needs to cure him, so Bennet tells him about a boy who can heal. They go to find him but turns out he can also kill, and he touched his parents during an argument and killed them both. Peter and Noah convince the boy to remember how to heal after Peter gets shot up by police, so after Peter is saved he takes the power back to the hospital to save Hiro. When he gets back, Hiro is gone. Nathan then shows up looking all messed up and tells Peter they need to go to a storage container to see something.

NATHAN
As my second favorite character probably, I was glad to see he was back for Season 4. However, how long could they keep it up being that he is dead and is only memories in Sylar's body? He begins to see his memories as out of body things and not reality, then he realizes he has telekinesis so he is really confused. He wants to verify his memories so he goes back to see the mother of an ex-gf who ran away while they were dating. He sees visions and realizes she actually died while they were drunk in the pool, and tells the mother, who is friends with Angela. She pretends to not believe him, but when Nathan confronts Angela she confesses and he is pissed. The mother puts a hit out on him, because apparently that is easy to do, but he lives because he has Sylar's healing power. He crawls out of the ground in his grave, and we see he has turned back into Sylar, with amnesia. He is led to "the carnival" home of Samuel and his collection of heroes. I'll get to that later.

HIRO
Hiro is dying from a brain tumor and wants to right all his wrongs before he bites the bullet. He goes back in time to make his sister and Ando fall in love, so they do and that's done with. After some shenanigans and trying to save people and learning about the butterfly effect, he loses control of his powers and goes back in time to Peter's hospital. He collapses and is put in bed. He also saw Samuel at some point who taught him stuff. He talks to the deaf woman while Peter is gone and realizes he should go back and save Charlie from Sylar. He toys with past-Sylar for a while and eventually saves her. Then she starts to die from her tumor and Hiro convinces Sylar to remove it from her brain. Then Hiro finds out she didn't want to be saved if it was really her time to go, but then she forgives him, whatever. Samuel goes back in time because he has his own teleporter, who is old and dying, and kidnaps her and convinces Hiro to work for him.

I'll get to Bennet, Claire (blah), Tracy (blahx2), Samuel, Mohinder, and the current status later.

The Hotties Competition

2009-11-24T15:30:00.002-05:00

So, after all those months of voting, I obviously sort of hit the wall with keeping up with it. I think it was based on my frustration that Mila Kunis made the final 2, but also having a lot less free time at work lately.

I will put up the final vote at the Pancake since I am lazy and it will probably get more hits.

Good luck with the vote.

NL CY Young

2009-11-19T16:19:00.000-05:00

Carpenter got ripped off. I don't really have a whole lot to write about it, but I thought Carpenter was the best all season long (other than the 4 starts he missed, which probably cost him the award).

Gamma Squad

2009-11-19T10:54:00.003-05:00

Looks like the folks over at FilmDrunk, WarmingGlow, and WithLeather added another site to their community - GammaSquad. The original 3 cover movies, tv, and sports respectively, so I am a huge fan. GammaSquad will cover comics and geeky stuff according to them, so I probably won't be too interested. However, I saw this story when I just headed over there.

I'm not going to say King is beating a dead horse, but I think he would be better served adapting the books there already are into movies/mini series. And why write prequels when there are still so many good ideas out there?

What do you think?

Best.Trade.Ever

2009-11-17T13:16:00.002-05:00

Thomas Jones and Donald Driver for Randy Moss, Greg Jennings, and Ricky Williams.

The Jets are struggling, Driver and Jennings are interchangeable, and Ronnie Brown is hurt. Could I ask for more??

Wes Welker or DeSean Jackson

2009-11-11T15:16:00.003-05:00

Who do you like this week?

Welker v. Ind
Jackson v. Dal

All the analysis I have done has somewhat leaned towards Welker because they are playing Indy, but I could see both games being shootouts. Help!

Wow

2009-11-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

wow. that says enough about this...

http://skepticblog.org/2009/11/07/jesus-calling-again/#more-5025

Ghosts are for F.A.G.S.

2009-11-05T12:14:00.004-05:00

My last comment at NGEWO's blog that was sort of about religion got me thinking about something that has been bugging me lately - ghosts. On Halloween, roughly 68 channels were playing some form of "ghost hunters" or ghost stories, and of course, my girl friend is one of millions who actually enjoy watching it and take it seriously. Watching ghost shows for me is like watching The Biggest Loser, mainly because I can't sit through the show without pointing out every little thing that is wrong or stupid, and laughing at the people involved. I 'tried' to watch an episode of one of the ghost shows, and all I saw was people running around in the dark and pretending they hear noises. Seriously, I could create one of these shows and make millions, just like the people who do this on TV. Honestly, they are geniuses because they are probably making bank by playing Americans for fools.

1. Assemble a "team" - who wants to join in with me?
2. Come up with a dumb acronym to make your team sound professional - I'm thinking F.A.G.S. (The Foremost Authority in Ghost Situations)
3. Buy thermal imaging devices, night vision goggles, cameras, and anything else you see in the "How to Find Ghosts For Dummies" book - I suppose I will need some investment
4. You probably want to either read up on some ghost stories and 'facts', or at least hire some loon who thinks they are an expert to consult with when making up shit - anyone know anybody? If you can't find one, I think watching other episodes of the ghost shows will suffice. Plus, you can always make up your own 'facts' and stupid people will believe them.
5. Find some abandoned locations you can film in - It helps to find a jail or insane asylum, at least for your pilot episode, but really any house/building will do. You can just make up a back story and pay some old guy to read a script you write about the 'history' of the place. No one fact checks these things, believe me.
6. Make sure to have a chick in your crew - I think most of the people who watch these shows are girls, and can relate to a girl that is scared better.

Okay, so now you are ready to begin filming:

7. Plant some props around the building you can make up shit about, then walk around in the daylight and point these out - You could break a window a say a crazy person tried to escape their murder here or something, really the possibilities are endless.
8. Have a pep talk with your team and discuss your 'mission', then head inside while it's dark. - Known Fact: Scary ghosts only appear when it is dark. Day ghosts are lame and probably just want to play with your cat or something.
9. Have at least one person planted in the building to drop rocks or knock on the walls - You could probably just add sound effects, but it makes it more believable if you hear something then react to it. It really is that easy to scare people.
10. Talk to the 'ghost' - By now you've made up some back story about some traumatic thing that happened there to somebody, so pretend like you feel their presence and tell them you are there to help. This is probably the most important step, and requires some acting ability. Be sure to have someone knocking in the background too to give the illusion the ghosts are listening.
11. At some point, get panicked and run out of the building - Not hard to do. You will probably be bored out of your mind and ready to pocket some cash.
12. Hire a good editor - I certainly know nothing about it, so you will need someone to add scary music and star wipes and the such.
13. Pitch your idea and filmed pilot to Fox - Instant millions!!

A Good Strategy or the Best Strategy?

2009-11-04T12:15:00.003-05:00

I just heard the news that the Pirates attained Akinori Iwamura for Jesse Chavez and couldn't care much less. We get a mediocre second baseman to replace another mediocre second baseman who replaced a slighty above average, but still mediocre second baseman, in exchange for a rookie relief pitcher who barely made the roster but did show some talent. This trade certainly does not make the Pirates significantly better or worse, so was it really worth taking on the extra cash? Sheesh, but that is not the point of my post.

After learning about the trade, I was reading some other stuff on the Buccos (since I haven't in a long time) and realized that Ronny Cedeno is their plan for next year at short stop. Really? I guess it is just that hard to find a quality short stop that will play for the Pirates for less than 3 million a year. However, I did see that former Pirate non-hall of famer Jack Wilson will be available as a free agent. This reminded me of a point I may or may not have mentioned during this past season, but definitely was thinking about. This is probably against the rules in baseball, but seems easily avoidable - if you have a player that you like and has been with your team for a while and is a fan favorite, in addition to knowing that your season is over by the trade deadline, if that player does not have any years left on their contract, why not make a secret pact with them that management will trade them to a contender for prospects, then resign the guy next season at a salary they negotiate. Seems like a win-win, because someone like Jack Wilson or Freddie Sanchez seem like they genuinely love the city of Pittsburgh and want to win here, so they would do anything to make the team better, right? I suppose if you got caught doing this MLB would not be happy, so you'd probably only get away with it once or twice, but if I was a GM I would definitely be all about it. I mean, for example, we lose Wilson and Sanchez for half a season, let them play for a contender and have some fun, get Alderson and Clement among others, then pick up this season where they left off. WIN WIN RIGHT??

Only problems I see are one of the parties not honoring their agreement, getting caught, somehow losing money in the deal, or pissing off your fan base because you have to lie about why you traded them (which they obviously don't care about anyway), but I think they would forgive you after you get them back right? Someone please explain to me why this wouldn't work.

(FYI, Sanchez resigned with the Giants, so Wilson is the only candidate left)
(FYI x 2, I don't really want Wilson back unless we really can't find anyone else, he was just an example)
(FYI x 3, not sure how long we control him, but Garret Jones might be a good candidate for this)

Fantasy Football

2009-10-28T10:22:00.002-04:00

Hey all. It is about midseason so I felt like I would open up a forum for some of us "experts" to answer questions. I will start off by asking, after 7 weeks, is it finally time to admit Cedric Benson is a legitimate #1 fantasy back? I find it so hard to accept this, but I was offered him in a trade in another league that I am seriously considering.

Holy Ties Batman!

2009-10-21T12:27:00.002-04:00

So both matchups in the Final Four are ties, therefore, unless anyone else is going to vote this week, I am going to put all 4 in one group and you can just vote for your #1.

The best final four until April

2009-10-14T11:56:00.003-04:00

The Final Four ladies are up for voting. After looking at the list Gideon provided, I will add a couple to my growing list of newcomers and hold a new 32 gal tournament, after the finals for this one that is, because, life is boring without lists and polls, right?

Offord's slackin

2009-10-13T19:52:00.002-04:00

... so I'll provide a list of ladies about whom to debate.

Just about every male focused website and magazine has one of these, but I enjoy going through each and every one of them. Sue me. This list has a different twist regarding the eligibility rules, so there are some new faces among the bunch.

I'm also 90% satisfied with the top 10, which I usually can't say about these things.

Funny Joke

2009-10-07T16:49:00.001-04:00

Did you hear who the Penguins were going to have drop the ceremonial first puck at the opener Friday night?

I am Justin Timberlake

2009-10-02T10:13:00.004-04:00

Earlier in the year, Ryan and Josh said I looked like Garrett Jones, which I slightly agree with (although my gf definitely does not). Now, please check out this post from Mondesi's House where they cast lookalikes for a Pirates "movie".

By extension, I guess I look like Justin Timberlake. Ladies who read this blog(ha), please call me.

Last Chance to Vote for this Week's Hotties

2009-09-29T16:44:00.001-04:00

Head over to my blog and get your votes in if you haven't already. I will have the finals up either tomorrow or Thursday. Would you all prefer to vote 1v1 as usual, or would you prefer to vote for 1 of the final four? Let me know your thoughts, I originally planned to put up the Final 4 and say vote for 1 for the champion.

Nate McLouth, World Series MVP?

2009-09-25T16:06:00.003-04:00

It COULD happen. For anyone who is watching the NL wildcard race, the B-Raves are en fuego and will play D.C.'s own Washington Nationals a whopping 7 times out of their last 10 games. They are currently 3.5 back and Colorado plays St. Louis, Milwaukee, and LA in their last 9. I think the Braves could actually pull this off! I for one am rooting for it. Will they be my new team?? The team that sent the Pirates into their 17 years of rebuilding?? If they win the World Series I will take it as a sign...

Oh I almost forgot about LaRoche!! He-a-ho-ah, He-a-ho-ah **Tomahawk Chop Motions**

A lack of information...

2009-09-23T17:19:00.002-04:00

It came out a couple of days ago that all the questions still around in Lost will not be resolved at the end of this, it's last, season. Frankly, I find that offensive. I can't recall how many times over the years where we've been told that we were being strung along during the shows slower stretches for a reason. That the writers were building towards some ultimate goal; essentially that everything will be explained in the end.

Now we know that's hogwash. There are still unexplained tidbits out there, some old - some new, and if all of the biggies aren't tied up, there'll be heck to pay. Mark my words. And I still wanna know what the smoke monster is. No half-ass answers allowed (though I bet they'll never bring it up again). What do you guys think will remain a mystery come 2011?

A few thoughts for Monday morning

2009-09-21T12:07:00.003-04:00

To start, I'm starting to lose hope that all the young "talent" the Pirates have been amassing this season is ever going to work out. I mean, what are the odds that enough of these players will turn into quality major leaguers, let alone do it at the same time? Maybe they have a shot in 2011/12, but I am finding it harder and harder to believe. That said, do you think it is now time/allowable to leave the Pirates behind and pick a new team. It would have to be East Coast, or maybe Central, so I can watch all the games. They can't be a major market team because that would go against all that I stand for, they can't be the Royals or Nationals under ANY circumstances, and they are preferably an up and coming team that doesn't have a hopeless future. Let me know what you think in the poll.

The playoffs in baseball are all but set, and it looks like the matchups will be the following:

NL
Philadelphia v. Colorado
St. Louis v. LA Dodgers

AL
NY Yankees v. Detroit
LA Angles v. Boston

Boston owns the Angels, and the Tigers have been stumbling, so we could see a Yankee/Red Sox AL Championship rematch. GAG ME WITH A F'CKIN SPOON.

In the NL, I am rooting for the Cardinals, just cause. Come to think of it, they are a potential new team for me (They are oddly enough #17 in payroll).

Moving to football, is it time to finally declare the NFC as the top conference in the NFL? New England is falling off, Tennessee got thrashed by Houston, the Steelers are meh but still a top team IMO, the Chargers and Broncos are not very good, so who does that leave? Baltimore and Indy, maybe NY Jets as contenders. How about in the NFC? I think you can make a case for NY Giants, Dallas, Minnesota, Atlanta, and New Orleans as possible Superbowl winners. By my count, that is 5-4 on contending teams, advantage NFC.

Lastly, how the hell did the Steelers lose that game (other than missing 2 fg's, which were on a wet field and somewhat understandable)? Oh how I loathe you, Jay Cutler.

Football Pickem

2009-09-18T12:58:00.001-04:00

Anyone want to throw some money in and keep pickem standings?

Or for free.

Group ID# 69376
Pass steelers

The long wait is finally over...

2009-09-15T12:40:00.000-04:00

Your favorite 8 hotties are up for vote! Head over to my blog and cast your ballot for who makes it to the Final 4.

NFL Predictions

2009-09-09T14:44:00.002-04:00

I saw josh put up his predictions in his blog. So. I decided to do the same on here instead of just commenting on his. I'm pretty much just going to put up word for word the predictions I wrote in my appliancebowl 3 fantasy league, but I wanted to see what the other people of the pancake thought who weren't involved in the fantasy league. Here they are, and a small glimpse of a reason behind them.

NFC East
1.Eagles
2.Giants
3.Redskins
4.Cowboys
*Cowboys won't get it done on defense, and who exactly does romo have as a weapon besides witten? Giants make the wild card because of their great defense and running game.

NFC North
1.Vikings
2.Packers
3.Bears
4.Lions
*Watch for the Packers to make some noise. I wouldn't be surprised if they beat out the Vikings for the NFC North title.

NFC South
1.Falcons
2.Saints
3.Panthers
4.Buccaneers
*I don't trust Delhomme or their running game this season in comparison to last season. Saints offense with Drew Brees will get them into the playoffs this season.

NFC West
1.Seahawks
2.49ers
3.Cardinals
4.Rams
*With the loss of Edge, the Cardinals have a zero running attack, and their defense is too inconsistent for them to have a winning season. Seahawks come back to form with a healthy Hasselbeck and newly signed Houz-ur-mama. Watch out for Julius Jones.

AFC East
1.Dolphins
2.Patriots
3.Bills
4.Jets
*The wild cat offense isn't going to surprise anyone this season, but a healthier ronnie brown 2 years removed from ACL surgery is going to make all the difference. Brady coming back is a big boost for the Patriots, but not enough to win the division. He's still got to get comfortable in the pocket again, and that could take the first half of a season.

AFC North
1.Steelers
2.Ravens
3.Bengals
4.Browns
*Maybe I'm biased, but the steelers have a very good chance of repeating, with very little turn-over from last seasons roster. The ravens make the playoffs since they'll still have an amazing defense and flacco has all the experience he needs.

AFC South
1.Colts
2.Texans
3.Jaguars
4.Titans
*He's peyton manning for crying out loud! The titans drop off the map as contenders because of the big loss on defense and I don't think LenDale White losing all that weight is a good thing for their running game. Texans are the surprise team this season, battling the patriots for the wild card.

AFC West
1.Chargers
2.Raiders
3.Broncos
4.Chiefs
*This division is so weak, how can you not pick the Chargers who will have their full defense and LT back and completely healthy? Raiders surprise in this division because I think the Broncos fall on their face with everything that happened this offseason.

NFC Wild Cards: Giants and Saints
AFC Wild Cards: Raven and Patriots

NFC Championship Game: Eagles over Vikings
AFC Championship Game: Steelers over Chargers

Superbowl: Steelers over Eagles

I picked the steelers to win last year, so huzzah! for me...I was way off on my NFC pick though, as I went for the saints. So an all Pennsylvania superbowl? Could be fun.

Let me know what you think, and I forget what josh predicted, so I'm going to take a gander now.

Two Posts Soon to Come

2009-09-09T11:30:00.002-04:00

For those of you who still read the Pancake, I will have a new girls poll up and a Football Power Rankings up today or tomorrow.

Fantasy Football

2009-08-31T13:25:00.002-04:00

I am postponing the draft until next monday at 8pm or another more suitable time. This is to allow more people to sign up. If another time would be preferred, please let me know.

If we do not have enough people by noon on sunday, i'll open it to the public, and it will fill up then fast and we can move on.

fantasy football?

2009-08-30T20:54:00.000-04:00

is imlers league even going to happen? There's only 3 of us signed up for it so far?

The Sweetest 16

2009-08-25T14:22:00.002-04:00

The top 16 girls are up for voting. We'll be down to 8 next week and ever so close to the finals.

Fantasy football

2009-08-21T11:39:00.003-04:00

I created a fantasy football league for us. Please join. the information is:

League Id: 679627
Password is: nothing
League name is: halo 10

Good luck.

The best thing that could ever happen to the Pirates?

2009-08-17T11:26:00.002-04:00

Okay, so admittedly I was highly doubtful that the Pirates would end up the worst team in the league and even have a chance at Bryce Harper. However, 2 things are happening that could save the franchise: 1) they are TERRIBLE! some people are saying this is the worst 25 man roster in MLB history...and would probably only be a .500 team in AAA, and 2) Strasburg might not sign with the Nats! That means he reenters the draft next year, and allows for a top 2 of Harper and Strasburg. In that case, as long as the Buccos finish as one of the worst 2 teams in MLB they get 1 of the 2 top prospects to come through in a verrrry long time. Whether or not management shells out the millions and millions of dollars is another thing, but I think they will if given the chance. Currently, we sit 1/2 game on top of Kansas City, and Strasburg has until midnight to sign...should be a crazy night.

Just to lighten things up...

2009-08-14T15:53:00.003-04:00

I had to stop reading this halfway through because I was laughing so hard at work and making an idiot of myself...it's a welcome relief after the 10 run 1 inning performance by Charlie Martin. GO BUCS!

UPDATE: It is now 17-2 in the 5th...the Bryce Harper watch is on!

My Favorite Simpsons Quotes

2009-08-13T12:37:00.003-04:00

Please feel free to add your favorites...they give me a good chuckle any time.

Bart: Dad, what's a Muppet?
Homer: Well, it's not quite a mop, not quite a puppet, but man... (laughs, then pauses) So, to answer you question, I don't know.

Marge: This is the worst thing you've ever done.
Homer: You say that so often that it lost its meaning.

Homer: Fame was like a drug, but what was even more like a drug were the drugs.

Homer: Here's to alcohol, the cause of—and solution to—all life's problems.

Homer: Lisa, would you like a donut?
Lisa: No thanks. Do you have any fruit?
Homer: This has purple in it. Purple is a fruit.

Ralph: Hi, Super Nintendo Chalmers!

Homer: There's your giraffe, little girl.
Ralph: I'm a boy.
Homer: That's the spirit. Never give up.

Lionel Hutz: Well, he's kind of had it in for me ever since I accidentally ran over his dog. Actually, replace "accidentally" with "repeatedly," and replace "dog" with "son."

Scully: Homer, we're going to ask you a few simple yes or no questions. Do you understand?
Homer: Yes. (lie detector blows up)

Homer: How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?
Marge: You were drunk!

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

Marge: Homer, the plant called. They said if you don't show up tomorrow don't bother showing up on Monday.
Homer: Woo-hoo. Four-day weekend.

Leonard Nimoy: Hello. I'm Leonard Nimoy. The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It's all lies. But they're entertaining lies. And in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is: No.

Homer: Okay Marge, it’s your child against my child. The winner will be showered with praise. The loser will be taunted and booed until my throat is sore.

Homer: [Meeting Aliens] Please don't eat me! I have a wife and kids. Eat them!

Moe: I'm better than dirt. Well, most kinds of dirt, not that fancy store-bought dirt... I can't compete with that stuff.

Moe: Looks like it’s suicide again for me!

Homer: I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to speed around a city, keeping its speed over fifty and if its speed dropped, it would explode! I think it was called ... "The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down."

Homer: Got any of that beer that has candy floating in it? You know, Skittlebrau?
Apu: Such a beer does not exist, sir. I think you must have dreamed it.
Homer: Oh. Well, then just give me a six-pack and a couple of bags of Skittles.

Mr. Burns: I'll keep it short and sweet -- Family. Religion. Friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business.

Homer: When I held that gun in my hand, I felt a surge of power ... like God must feel when he's holding a gun.

Homer: Moe, I need your advice.
Moe: Yeah?
Homer: See, I got this friend named... Joey Jo Jo... Junior... Shabadoo.
Moe: That's the worst name I ever heard.
(Joey runs out of the bar sobbing)
Barney: Hey! Joey Jo Jo!

Marge; Grandpa, are you sitting on the apple pie?
Grandpa: I sure hope so...

Homer: How could you?! Haven't you learned anything from that guy who gives those sermons at church? Captain Whatshisname? We live in a society of laws! Why do you think I took you to all those Police Academy movies? For fun? Well, I didn't hear anybody laughing, did you? Except at that guy who made sound effects. (Makes sound effects and laughs) Where was I? Oh yeah! Stay out of my booze.

Rainier: My new movie is me, standing in front of a brick wall for 90 minutes. It cost 80 million dollars to make.
Jay Sherman: how do you sleep at night?
Rainier: on top of a pile of money, with many beautiful women.

Homer: I'm like that guy who single-handedly built the rocket & flew to the moon. What was his name? Apollo Creed?

Homer: Bart, I'm not asking you to give blood for free. That would be crazy. You may not realize it now, but when you save a rich guy's life, he showers you with riches. Don't you know the story of Hercules and the Lion?
Bart: Is it a Bible story?
Homer: Yeah, probably. Anyway, once upon a time, there was a big, mean lion who got a thorn in his paw. All the villagers tried to pull it out, but nobody was strong enough, so they got Hercules and he used his mighty strength, and bingo. Anyway, the moral is, is that the lion was so happy, that he gave Hercules this big... thing... of riches.
Bart: How did a lion get riches?
Homer: It was the olden days.
Bart: Oh.

Homer: I have a great way to solve our money woes. You rent your
womb to a rich childless couple. If you agree, signify by getting indignant.
Marge: Are you crazy? I'm not going to be a surrogate mother.
Homer: C'mon, Marge, we're a team. It's uter-US, not uter-YOU.
Marge: Forget it!

Homer: ...And I gave that man directions, even though I didn't know the way, 'cause that's the kind of guy I am this week.

Marge: It's been a whole week. Why are you letting my husband die? What does it have to do with baseball?
Executive 1: Death is a part of baseball.
Executive 2: Oh yeah, the main part.

Homer: Default? Woo hoo! The two sweetest words in the English language: de-fault! De-fault! De-fault!

Lisa: Look on the bright side, Dad. Did you know that the Chinese use
the same word for "crisis" as they do for "opportunity"?
Homer: Yes! Cris-atunity.

Guy: Greetings, good men. Might I trouble you for a drink?
Moe: Oh, get out of here, Homer.
Guy: Homer? Who is Homer? My name is Guy Incognito.
[he gets beaten up and tossed out, unconscious]
Homer: [walks up, looks at Guy] [gasps] Oh my God! This man is my exact
double. [gasps] Oh my God! That dog has a puffy tail!
[he chases it, giggling] Here, Puff! Here, Puff!

Official: If word gets out about this, Krazy Klown Airlines will be a
laughingstock. In exchange for your silence, I'm prepared to
offer your family free tickets to anywhere in the United
States. Excluding Alaska and Hawaii, the freak states.

Homer: Marge, what's wrong? Are you hungry? Sleepy? Gassy? Is it
gas? It's gas, isn't it?

Homer: When I first heard that Marge was joining the police academy, I thought it would be fun and zany, like that movie Spaceballs. But instead it was dark and disturbing. Like that movie -- Police Academy.

Homer: It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I managed to fit in eight hours of TV a day.

Homer: Lisa, if the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girls sports, such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing and such and such.

Homer: Don't worry. Being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep. In a giant blender.

Grandpa: My Homer is not a communist. He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a communist, but he is not a porn star.

Homer: Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.

Homer: Hello my name is Mr Burns, I believe you have a letter for me.
Post office worker: Ok Mr Burns, What's your first name?
Homer: I doooon't know....

Agent: Now when I say 'Hello Mr Thompson' and press down on your foot, you smile and nod.
Homer: No problem.
Agent: Hello Mr Thompson (and presses Homer's foot)
[Homer has a blank stare, and then looks at the other agent and whispers loudly...]
Homer: I think he's talking to you.

Laywer: "Well, what about that tattoo on your chest? Doesn't it say Die, Bart, Die?"
Sideshow Bob: "No, that's German for 'The Bart, The.'"
Parole Judge: "No one who speaks German can be an evil man!"

Ralph: "Then, the doctor told me that BOTH my eyes were lazy! And that's why it was the best summer ever."

Helen Lovejoy: We shouldn't be talking about S.E.X. in front of the C.H.I.L.D.R.E.N.
Krusty: Sex Cauldron? I thought they closed that place down!

Bart: Cool! Personalized plates! Barcley, Barry, Barry, Bert, Bort...come on...Bort?
Kid: Mommy mommy! Buy me a license plate!
Mom: No! Come along Bort!
Guy: Are you talking to me?
Mom: No, my son's name is also Bort.

The German Owner: ``We understand, Homer. After all, we are
from the land of chocolate!''
Homer: ``Mmm... The land of chocolate...'' (slips into a dream),
He is called back to reality. ``Oh, I'm sorry. We were talking about
chocolate?''
The German Owner: ``That was ten minutes ago!''

Grampa: Wait a minute! What was that last thing you said? "Grampa's
Little Helper"...what's that? [meekly to animals] Which one of
you is the mailman?

Pilot: We're now approaching our final destination, Itchy and Scratchy
Land: the amusement park of the future where nothing can possi-
blye go wrong.
[everyone looks worried]
Er, possi_bly_ go wrong. Heh, that's the first thing that's ever gone wrong.

Guard: [laughs] There's no need to murmur, ma'am. Here at Itchy and
Scratchy Land we're just as concerned about violence as you are.
That's why we're always careful to show the consequences of
deadly mayhem so that we may educate as well as horrify.
Marge: _When_ do you show the consequences? On TV that mouse pulled out
that cat's lungs and played them like a bagpipe, but in the next
scene the cat was breathing comfortably.
Guard: Just like in real life.
[pause]
[pointing] Hey, look over there!
[family does so, he takes off quickly]

Marge: Oh, I'm so embarrassed I wish there was a hole I could just
crawl into and die.
Officer: OK, throw her in the hole.

Marge: I have nothing to say to you.
Homer: But Marge, I was a political prisoner!
Marge: How were you a political prisoner?
Homer: I kicked a giant mouse in the butt! Do I have to draw you a
diagram?

Believe it or not, the Pirates are actually in a race...

2009-08-11T09:58:00.003-04:00

With the Nationals 8 game winning streak, and the Pirates inexplicable 8 game losing streak, the race for worst team in MLB has gone from 13.5 games to 5.5 games for the Pirates, with only the Royals in front of them chasing Washington. As many of you probably know, this is a very interesting development. I think everyone assumed the Nats would be the worst team in the league and get the #1 pick in next year's draft..but thanks to Neil Huntington the Buccos are making a major run at it. This is important because the #1 pick will undoubtedly be Bryce Harper - the 16 year old that can hit the ball 600 feat and throw a 110 mph fastball...roughly. I am pretty sure he was Babe Ruth in his past life. So, thanks to his family who are allowing him to enter the draft before he even finished high school, the Pirates have a chance to get a franchise saving player, ala how Sidney Crosby / Mario Lemieux were for the Penguins.

The question is, are the Pirates bad enough to make up the 5 game deficit, or do they need to start throwing some games? I think, if you look at Wasington's offense, the Bucs might have a chance. But hey, at least the Pirates aren't cheating...other than Kevin Young.

like bears to crack laced honey

2009-08-07T11:14:00.002-04:00

As i've said before, i'm a free markets guy. but i'm also a fan of logical consistency. admittedly, this isn't always possible. its just not the way the world is structured.

a lot of people are posting around the net that the cash for clunkers program, and the health care reform programs, are taking their money and redistributing it to others. i don't know if anyone is aware of this, but that's what the government always does. that's how it works. and, well, the cash for clunkers program is actually creating wealth, it is successfully leveraging federal expenditures by anywhere from 4-7 times, depending on whatever the average vehicle cost comes out to be.

the problem i see is this ridiculous complaint about giving your tax dollars to someone else. name any aspect of government expenditure, and that's what they are doing. defense spending... yeah, same thing. medicare... same thing. senator's wages... same thing. paying prison guards... same thing. building roads... same thing. its an absolutely worthless objection. just say it. you don't like giving money to poor people. that i understand. maybe not agree with. but at least it's honest.

another poster objected to it because there was no wealth restrictions, they said that it let rich people trade in too. but really, how many rich people drive older cars? i know the ones i know don't. unless they are classic type cars, the whole jay leno thing.

more and more, i'm starting to realize, that the problem in our society today is the racial and religious beliefs of americans. the truth is, that all this birther stuff, and the health care complaints, etc, are in large part a continuation of the Nixon/Reagan racial strategy. this really disappoints me.

there is also this large idea out there that obama is "not like us" because people mistakenly believe he is not christian. sadly, he is. even sadder, is that people think to be american you have to be a christian. which is more and more why people like hitchens and dawkins are important. but its these two strains, that our president doesn't "look like us" and doesn't "believe like us" that are creating all this strife playing out in our culture.

i can't take all the bad ideas floating around out there right now. if you think one welfare program is bad because its a redistribution, then you need to distinguish more, what makes this one worse than others. that isn't being discussed at all, which leads me to the conclusion that there isn't a real principled reason as to why it they hold this opinion. i'm even considering changing my political affiliation, this is all so disappointing. and there's no room for freethinkers anymore.

This Week's Hotties are Up for Vote

2009-08-05T12:26:00.002-04:00

So head over to my blog. In unrelated news, here is a very interesting article on pitch selection stats in MLB.

Thanks all for voting this week

2009-08-03T15:53:00.002-04:00

We've had a pretty decent amount of votes, so it's good to see. I'll give it 2 more days until I put up the remainder of Round 3, so get your votes in while you can.

HAHAHAHA!

2009-07-31T15:43:00.002-04:00

Adam LaRoche got traded back to the Braves for Casey Kotchman. Does anyone else think that's funny??? He goes back where he came from and is reunited with "the best player on the Pirates team", Nate McLouth

My take on the state of the Pirates' Organization

2009-07-30T11:09:00.007-04:00

I'd rather wait until after the trade deadline to write this since Grabow and Capps might be moving out as well, but after all the trades and random minor league acquisitions throughout the season, where does that leave us? To sum up, we have a dearth of pitching prospects, little offensive potential, and a ton of question marks. Neil Huntington and Co. have done a fantastic job of tearing down the foundation that Dave Littlefield build. One might say, Huntington is to Littlefield what Hurricane Katrina was to New Orleans - without the vandalism.

The Pirates you've come to know and love in the past decade or so are now gone, and what's left is a bargain basement collection of potential major-leaguers and fill-ins until they are ready. Clearly most of the players left on the major league roster are not in the ultimate plan for the future other than as bench players or trade bait - I am referring to Garrett Jones, Delwyn Young, Brandon Moss, Steve Pearce, Virgil Vazquez, and Jason Jaramillo. These are all quality players, but should not be everyday starting players. Decent bench players, yes, but the Bucs will probably phase them out slowly but surely. Add to them the players most likely to be gone soon - Matt Capps, John Grabow. Then you have the guys who COULD be in the future plans, but it will probably depend on their '09 and '10 seasons. These include Jesse Chavez, Evan Meek, Jeff Karstens, Donnie Veal, and Andy LaRoche. Of them, maybe 3 are still on the team in 2011. That leaves only 7 legit candidates on the starting roster to still be on the team in '11 - Ryan Doumit, Andrew McCutchen, Zach Duke, Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Charlie Morton, and Joel Hanrahan. None of them are guaranteed except McCutchen and maybe Morton. So, we'll be safe and say 13 guys on this roster will still be on the roster in 2011, leaving 12 spots up for grabs from our minor league system, because I highly doubt we will trade for anyone major league ready in the near future. So let's look at the minors.

If you have read anything about the Pirates in the last couple months, you'd already know there is a severe lack of middle infielders above High-A. That is very troubling, especially considering the unwillingness of teams to give up middle infield prospects, which has been very evident in the recent trades. However, there is a number of strong pitching prospects that could crack the major league roster and be quality starters in the future. My question is, why, when you already have a pitching staff that is at least average in the NL, with 4 potential future starters, do we need to keep acquiring unproven SP's? This is what bugs me the most about the recent trades. We now have 20, count them TWENTY, potential major league starting pitchers in the minors:

Brad Lincoln AAA
Eric Hacker AAA
Daniel McCutchen AAA
Tom Gorzelanny AAA
Ty Taubenheim AAA
Tim Alderson AA
Kyle Bloom AA
Derek Hankins AA
Jared Hughes AA
Jeff Locke High-A
Nathan Adcock High-A
Rudy Owens Low-A
Hunter Strickland Low-A
Brian Leach Low-A
Casey Erickson Low-A
Aaron Pribanic Low-A
Brett Lorin Low-A
Victor Black A
Kyle McPherson SC
Brooks Pounders Rookie

Not to mention some quality relievers:

Chris Bootcheck AAA
Stephen Jackson AAA
Juan Mateo AAA
Craig Hansen DL

And who knows what other unknowns might emerge in the next year. Now I'm not completely upset by this, because it is always nice to have a lot of options, but we can't just have pitching. True, the Giants have no offense and are winning with superb pitching, but we do not have Tim Lincecum or a Matt Cain anywhere in our system. I don't think the future of this team can just be pitching and hoping to win every game 2-0 like we've needed to lately (and haven't). Let's look at our position players in the minors who have any semblance of a chance to be a major leaguer someday:

C Robinzon Diaz AAA
C Erik Kratz AAA
C Tony Sanchez Low-A
1B Jeff Clement AAA
1B Calvin Anderson Low-A
1B Erik Huber Low-A
2B Shelby Ford AAA
2B Jim Negrych AA
2B Brock Holt A
3B Neil Walker AAA
3B Pedro Alvarez AA
SS Argenis Diaz AAA
SS Brian Friday AA
SS Chase d'Arnaud High-A
SS Jordy Mercer High-A
OF Lastings Milledge AAA
OF Jose Tabata AA
OF Gorkys Hernandez AA
OF Starling Marte Low-A
OF Robbie Grossman Low-A
OF Quincy Latimore Low-A

You can probably remove Walker and Diaz from that list since Walker sucks now and Diaz is likely to get traded because of his "defense". I think he will be a quality everyday catcher somewhere, maybe even .280 20 80 in his prime. So that leaves only 19 "maybes". Looking at that list is depressing, because most of them won't be any good even if they make it. You can see there is a VERY CLEAR lack of offense on our current team and our future team, even if Tabata and Alvarez can make a difference. So, please Mr. Huntington, can you address this before it is too late and our potentially very strong pitching staff is either old or traded away? I REALLY hate to say this, but taking all that into account, why are the Pirates not ACTIVELY, like all-out-doing-anything-they-can, trying to shop Maholm and Capps. A team like the Mets needs a SP and a set-up guy, you're telling me they don't have a quality SS or 2B in their system? The Mets are just the first team that popped into my mind - there are obviously other contenders (Mets aren't really contenders..but they have money) that need SP and RP. We have TONS! TRADE SOME! GET SOME DAMN BATS!

Please tell me you agree with this.

Also, here is a list of who I think are the top 10 prospects in our system:

Brad Lincoln SP
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Jose Tabata OF
Tim Alderson SP
Rudy Owens RP
Jeff Clement 1B
Chris Bootcheck RP
Tony Sanchez C
Chase d'Arnaud SS
Hunter Strickland SP

UPDATE (7/31): So since I posted this yesterday, as you know Gorzo and Grabow have been traded for (more pitching!) Kevin Hart (SP), Jose Ascanio (SP/RP), and Josh Harrison (3B). All are rated very well and seem to be good prospects, so I'm thrilled about it. Gorzo is a hit or miss, and Grabow is generally a situational guy that is better suited for a contending team. Hart will step right into the rotation giving us one heck of a promising top 5 for the 2010 season, and if anyone in that top 5 struggles we have a ton of prospects to compete for spots. Next season will basically be a season-long tryout for 2011, which will be fun because we have absolutely no expectations of winning. Ascanio throws hard and the Bucs will try him as a starter in Indy. Harrison will report to Lynchburg to play 3B, so we'll see how he does. Overall, now that the trading frenzy is behind us, we can start mapping out the future and watching how these young guys perform, which is pretty exciting.

Also, Jose "God of the Universe" Tabata got promoted to Indy, and "Tubby" Alvarez will stay at Altoona for the rest of the season.

Goodbye Jack Flash...and the Other Guy.

2009-07-29T13:08:00.002-04:00

As of now, only 6 players remain on the Pirates from last year's beginning of the season roster (with at least 2 sure to go still). The latest to go was Jack Wilson, which automatically means our defense will suffer. Also gone is Snelly, which is not a surprise. He will probably win 8 consecutive Cy Young's now with the Mariners. As for what we got in return, it seems OK. Clement couldn't even beat out Kenji Johjima in Seattle as catcher, Cedeno is a weak bat, and the pitchers are all A ballers. True, 2 of them have decent stats, but was it really worth it? I think it was more about saving money, but we'll see.

Go Bucs!

fantasy football

2009-07-26T11:56:00.002-04:00

it's about that time again...who wants to start up the league??? I don't think I'll be able to be the commissioner this year, I have a feeling a second job and work load is going to be increasing...Offord? Josh? Imler? Gideon?

New Girls Up

2009-07-23T15:51:00.000-04:00

So head on over and vote.

Traded: aDAM shame...

2009-07-22T14:42:00.002-04:00

Though the expectations that came along with him were never truly satiated, it's still a shame to see Adam LaRoche go. Atleast like Jason Bay, he goes to a contender in the Boston Red Sox and hopefully he can start hitting with some pop the same way Hinske has for the yankees. Hinske by the way I believe has hit 4 home runs in 5 games for the yankees, while hitting 1 during the whole first half for the Pirates...go figure.

I'm anxious to see one of the Red Sox infielding superstars to get injured for a length of time with LaRoche filling in at first base or DH and slamming 20 more home runs by seasons end. In the mean time, Garrett Jones will cool off and finish the season with 12 home runs even though he's got 9 now with more than 60 games to go, and now the pirates fill their dead end minor league system with another jack wilson-type SS in AA and a pitching pee-on prospect in Single-A.

The plus side...? Ok, here's the goods (or my idea of goods in relation to anything relevant to pittsburgh baseball) and I believe to be the motivation behind the move. Besides the fact that Garrett Jones has been arguably the best Pirates hitter since being called up, another Pirates prospect required recently in the Nyjen Morgan deal is hitting at an above .400 clip in AAA. Milledge will now be recalled within a week to get some major playing time in the outfield, while the Pirates will let Garrett Jones play out the rest of the season at first base, getting regular at bats to see if he can truly perform at his current level consistently.

If Milledge performs to what scouts believed he was capable when he was the Mets number 1 prospect and Garrett Jones continues to slug, this could end up being a very interesting second half and maybe shine some light on hopefully a not so dim future.

Questions? Comments? Nasty Remarks?

New Set of Ladies Up

2009-07-16T16:46:00.000-04:00

So head over to my blog for the vote.

Last Chance to Vote for this Week's Hotties

2009-07-14T09:45:00.000-04:00

So head over to my blog and cast your vote if you haven't yet.

Garrett Jones Look alike

2009-07-12T18:44:00.004-04:00

Anybody else thinks offord kinda looks like our best all around hitter as of late, Garrett Jones???

Just give him a hat and get rid of that impish grin and...maybe???? I mean the only difference between them is about 8 inches, 60 pounds and a few thousand dollars in salary.

Ambiorix Concepcion

2009-07-11T17:59:00.002-04:00

Move over Albert Pujols, take a seat A-Rod, and lets forgot about Manny, the greatest player in baseball is Ambiorix Concepcion. The question you may find yourself asking is, "who the hell is Ambiorix Concepcion?" Right now he is a minor league player for the Orioles, but he is more than that. He may be the savior of this great nation of ours.

He leads the minors right now with 57 home runs, and 200 RBIs. Not too shabby. But that does not even begin to explain his greatness. I recently had the chance to sit down with Ambiorix and ask him a few questions.

Me: Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer a few questions, what should I call you? Ambi? Ambiorix?

Concepcion: Dr. Concepcion will do just fine.

Me: Oh, I was not aware that you were a doctor.

Concepcion: I have two PhDs, one in engineering, the other in economics.

Me: Wow, so my first question is how come you are not starting for the Orioles? You should be breaking all sorts of records up there, instead of playing for Bowie.

Concepcion: I asked the Orioles to allow me to stay in Bowie for the time being while I finish my work for the Obama Administration.

Me: What work is that?

Concepcion: Right now I am involved in a think-tank with physicist Reed Richards, engineer Tony Stark, and industrialist Bruce Wayne. We are working on solving some of the nations biggest problems. We believe that we will solve the energy crisis by the end of the year, and hopefully have free health care in place for everyone.

Me: Sounds like you are a busy guy. When should we expect to see you in an Orioles uniform.

Concepcion: I have told the Orioles I should be ready for the 2011 season, by then we should have those problems fixed and the economy will be turned around due to a few things I have in the works.

Me: Anything I should know about?

Concepcion: Sorry, it is a secret.

Me: Why play baseball at all?

Concepcion: It is what I love, unfortunately duty must go before my own desires. I figure that if I play from 2011 to 2019, I should be able to hit at least 500 home runs, and hopefully make my way into the Hall of Fame.

Me: Wow, those are some lofty goals.

Concepcion: Have you seen me play?

Me: Yes, I recently saw you hit a 600 foot shot over center field at Altoona.

Concepcion: Yeah, that was a check swing.

Me: Well thank you for time Dr. Concepcion, I look forward to seeing you win the Nobel Prize and the MVP.

Concepcion: My pleasure.

As you can you see, he is not just a mere baseball player, but in fact our greatest national treasure.

An Interesting Development...

2009-07-09T15:04:00.001-04:00

So apparently the Pirates are "pushing hard" to trade steady Freddie. I'm fine with it, since they are dumping everyone anyway, but here is my question - if they trade Sanchez before the All-Star break, that means technically the Pirates have no one playing in the game. So what then? Does someone get cut and a new Pirate gets added? I for one would be pissed if we didn't have a representative...then again..who would they take? Andy LaRoche? Not...

The Beat Goes On (definitely no pun intended...sicko)

2009-07-07T15:43:00.000-04:00

The next batch of hotties is up for voting. Enjoy.

PS3 Game Review

2009-07-01T14:19:00.007-04:00

Since I have played quite a few PS3 games now, I thought I should go over them since some are pretty awesome. Please add some more reviews for other games so I know what to buy next.

Fallout 3: A+
Graphics: A
Game Play: A+
Game Length: A+
Storyline: B

This is right up there with my favorite games of all time. While the storyline is a bit hackey and short, the post-apocalyptic world of Washington D.C. has so much to explore, and so many foes to blow the heads off of. The game doesn't keep track of hours played, but I probably got to the max level (20) in 40 hours, then played for another 20-30 just completing random quests, exploring and finding the rare items, and mostly looking for enemies to kill. I finally made myself quit, mainly because I was running out of stuff I could do, and I'd like to still want to play when all the expansions come out for PS3 in October. Also, the graphics are amazing. As a DC resident, I must say most of the stuff looks pretty good. The locations and metro stations are way out of wack, but they sort of cover themselves by saying the world went a different way in 1950. For anyone who has played Elder Scrolls, Bethesda Software produces both that series and the Fallout series. I'll get to Elder Scrolls later, but let's just say the system Fallout 3 uses for firing weapons is much, much better than Oblivion. Overall, if you have time to waste, this game offers plenty of hours of great fun.

Resistance: A
Graphics: A
Gameplay: A
Game Length: A
Storyline: B+

In the same way that Fallout 3 is one of my all-time favorite RPG's, Resistance is one of my all-time favorite 1st-Person Shooters. The graphics are amazing, the enemies are pretty cool and original, and the storyline is decent and moves well enough along. Also, for a shooter, this game has a decent length. I will be purchasing Resistance 2 soon most likely.

Resident Evil 5: B+
Graphics: A+
Gameplay: A
Game Length: D
Storyline: B

Having played most of the Resident Evils, the plotlines sort of don't matter after awhile since they are just too confusing to keep up with. All you need to know, for any game in the series, is that a virus infected people, you are trying to kill them, and there is extremely corny writing and voicing. The puzzles are slowly phasing out since the original that took place in the mansion, but I was always kind of annoyed by them anyway. As for this one, the graphics are spectacular, definitely the best I've ever seen. The difference between cut scenes and actual gameplay are quickly evaporating. Actual gameplay is very similar to Resident Evil 4 in that there is still the over the shoulder view, zombies run at you until they are about 10 ft away then slow down so you can set yourself, and you have a limited inventory. The main change is the addition of a partner, which I was hesitant to accept at first but soon came to like it. It helped that she was sort of hot too (but definitely no Jill Valentine...). About 10 hours into this game, I would have given it an A++. BUT, then the game ended. The final boss fights took about 2 hours to finish, and that was it. I was extremely disappointed that I finished the entire game in 2 days...Sure, it has an arcade mode, online multiplayer, and decent replayability (which I am now playing with the chick), but I like storyline and progression, and this game just leaves you wanted too much more. Overall, it's a decent step in the right direction for the Resident Evil series, but I would love it to last more than 12 hours...

Madden '09: B
Graphics: A
Gameplay: A
Game Length: N/A
Storyline: N/A

I have no real qualms with this game, but I just can't get into sports games anymore. I think NHL '96 for Sega was the last sports game that I truly liked, and as far as sports games, I prefer hockey to any other sport. The graphics seemed pretty good, and everything seemed the same as the others except looked better, I just never completed 1 whole season. Too many other great PS3 games out there.

Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion: C+
Graphics: A-
Gameplay: C+
Game Length: ?
Storyline: ?

I started this game before Fallout, got bored, played Fallout for a month or 2, came back to Elder Scrolls, got bored and was gifted Resident Evil, and now I'm back to having only this game to play and one other listed below. After playing Fallout, I thought I'd like this more because it's practically the same gameplay, but I just can't get into it. It's like there's so much to do that I don't know where to start, so I just don't. The graphics are a little below Fallout, and there is no auto aiming function, which sucks because I miss baddies with my fire balls way too often. I've played for probably 2-3 hours, and while the game seems decent enough, I just can't get into it. The story seems pretty dumb too, and the voice acting is ridiculous. What's with the facial expression challenges?? Meh, overall I am indifferent right now and will try to get into it again soon.

MLB Front Office Manager: D
Graphics: C
Gameplay: D
Game Length: N/A
Storyline: N/A
Realism: F

This game plays like my Sammy Sosa 2000 game almost to a T (whatever that phrase means). And that game isn't even meant to be exclusively for GM's. I preferred just drafting, trading, and keeping track of the Pirates in that game...8 years ago. I figured by now gaming must have progressed, but all that got better was flashier menus, the addition of salaries, and difficult to function menus. Lame. Do not buy.

Devil May Cry 4: ?
Graphics: A
Gameplay: B
Game Length: ?
Storyline: ?

I only played this game for about an hour before moving on to Resistance. It seemed decent enough because it was a God of War type game and I really enjoyed those games. However, I didn't get the same feel for this one, and felt like one move was the only one that really worked...something like slamming your crazy mutant arm into the ground. I felt like if you just kept doing that you killed everything..I'm sure it gets better, and once I get tired of Oblivion again I will move to this game most likely.

That's all for now. I bought a PS3 originally because I thought FF13 was coming out in May 2009. Now it's looking like May 2010 is a longshot...Damn you Square-Enix!!!

Somebody has an itchy trigger finger...

2009-06-30T14:41:00.003-04:00

And his name is Neil Huntington. I loved the Hinske trade because I think Garrett Jones is just as good as him for less money, plus we get 2 prospects.

However, news is breaking that Nyjer and my favorite pitcher Sean Burnett are being traded to the Nats for Milledge Lastings (jk) and Joel Hanrahan. Before the season started, I would be jumping for joy right now. However, things have changed as I realized Milledge is a head case, and Hanrahan sucks. However, it was only a matter of time before Burnett crashed and burned, and Nyjer is getting older and doesn't really bring much to the plate other than 'caught stealings.' So, things could be worse...Who replaces Burnett as the second lefty in the pitching staff?

Thoughts?

Altoona Curve

2009-06-26T11:33:00.002-04:00

3-4-5 hitters are Gorkys, Pedro, and Tabata?!?! This is actually pretty exciting. Josh or Ryan or anyone else, want to go to the game on Saturday, July 4th?

Hot Girls: Part Deux

2009-06-25T16:31:00.000-04:00

The round of 64 begins today, so head over to my blog for the vote.

11 Girls to Pick From

2009-06-22T16:59:00.003-04:00

Write-ins and some more I added in are up for voting.

Funny Religious Signs

2009-06-18T16:22:00.002-04:00

I recently saw some funny religious signs that made me laugh. Unfortunately while driving, therefore I could not take a picture. But, do not worry, my ironclad memory will not disappoint you.

"There are some questions Google cannot answer."

Really? Like what? Oh, I bet they mean those meta questions like "why are we here?" "what is the meaning of life?" Okay, fine, ask God those questions, what answers do you get? In fact, with some careful wording, I bet Google can answer them...let's try it out.

First response: wikipedia: Meaning of Life.

Google: 1
God: 0

Next question: Will I get laid tonight? Wow, the first response is for this site. Not sure if it will work, but I will would put a lot more faith in that than by whatever responses God gives me.

Google: 2
God: 0

The next sign that made me laugh said "Who is man's real best friend? D-O-G or G-O-D"

I hate both. Dogs scare the hell out of me, and God is not real, so you know, I would choose neither as a best friend. What happens when you need a best friend, lets look at what it's like when you choose either one of these options.

Scenario: A man finds out his wife is sleeping with his brother. Calls "best friend" and they go to the bar to discuss.
Man: I am thinking about killing them both.
God:
Man: Yes, I should do it. Fuck that whore!
God:
Man: Thank you God for giving me the answer!

Does not sound like a very good "best friend" to me...

Man: I am thinking about killing them both.
Dog: Arf
Man: What the hell does that mean?
Dog: Grrr
Man: I should run away and become a pirate? What kind of nonsense is this?
Dog: Bark Bark
Man: Ah, yes, move to the forest, live in the trees.
Dog: [starts licking own balls]
Man: Fuck this, I'll just kill myself!
Dog: [continues to lick balls]

A real best friend would be a bit more useful:
Man: I am thinking about killing them both.
Dude: What the fuck are you thinking? You'll go to jail. Have a beer.
Man: Seriously, I cannot live like this.
Dude: Fuck that shit, just drink this shot. Everything will be fine. Let me get you the number for this one whore I know, she'll suck you off for like $10. I'll buy, but I'm going first.
Man: Thanks buddy, you are a good friend.

See, so it looks like God or dogs are pretty useless friends.