#70: Monday, July 16, 2007

-- Pirates fizzle out of the 2nd-half gate.

-- Penguins core intact.

-- Camp Tomlin opens a week from today.

-- Random.

---No-Win Situation---

It's that time of year where I officially resign the season. No playoffs (I gave that a .5% chance from the get-go anyway), no contention, no .500 season.

This happens after I watch a string of baseball where I see no execution, no desire, and no hope in the boys playing on the field.

Last year, I'd called the season before I even started this blog following a particularly embarrassing loss to the D'backs in June of '06.

Some might argue that I should have called the season with the reading of the starting lineups on April 2nd, but sports are all about miracles and feel-good stories. Teams you never expect to hang around and making a playoff push in September.

Baseball's Black and Gold never seem to be a part of that parade.

The Pirates have started the 2nd half like the team that started the first half of 2006, dropping them from a faintly hopeful 8 games under .500 to an insurmountable 12 games below.

They've committed at least one error in 3 of the 4 games since the break en route to surrendering at least 5 runs in each contest. They've managed to spread their hits as widely as the legs of many an aspiring actress while allowing an average of almost two opposing baserunners per inning. They've lost a decent defensive third baseman with one of the better On-Base Percentages on the team to the disabled list in a rematch of "When Third Basemen Collide." (Count the prepositions in that sentence.)

And the worst part of all is, even if you accept that the Pirates will be sellers without reservation, the talent pool is even weaker this year than last. This translates to an even more depressed chance of working out some kind deal for a promising player for next year.

I remember reading a commenter on another blog say that the window for a .500 season is as wide as it's going to be either this season or next season. After that, it would take another Freak Show (but a few games better) to keep the Pirates from making history, instead of just tying it.

========

In other news, I am the last man standing on the "Ronny Paulino Bandwagon." While I've written that I believe that Ronny needs to be benched for a week or two because of his lack of hustle, others want to hang him upside down with piano wire. One statement of Jim Tracy's I've actually agreed with is that you can't take his .310 batting average last year as an accident. His bat has begun to heat up, but it seems like his glove is loaded with holes, his technique is non-existant, and he runs the bases with Diamond Dry. A reminder of how much he has yet to grow is sorely needed. Of course, if your team demoted the only other full-time catcher to the minors, then passed on a stud catcher in the draft, you might think you've got it made.

I have another, far sillier theory why Paulino is doing so poorly. More on that after I acquire some superglue and take a couple pictures.


---How to Run a Franchise---

Ray Shero should hold a seminar on how to build a franchise for any general manager in sports who's interested. He helped turn the expansion Nashville Predators into a playoff team in a relatively short amount of time in a non-salary capped NHL. Then, a cap was installed and he came to Pittsburgh. With the help of a couple of star draft picks who preceded him, has helped turn the Penguins into a team that more than a few will pick to win the Atlantic Division and go deep into the 2008 Playoffs.

Since my last entry, Shero has re-signed short-handed goal specialist Max Talbot, and shoot-out sniper Erik Christensen, the Saviour Sidney Crosby (hence the Canadian spelling of "Savior") at a discount, wingman Colby Armstrong, and head coach Michel Therrien.

-----
At left, Colby Armstrong. At right, Falco from Starfox. No relation.

All Shero really needs to do is get a reliable veteran backup goaltender to give Marc-Andre Fleury a breather, especially down the stretch.

It's nice to truly look forward to a training camp other than the Steelers.


---T-minus One Week---

That is all.


---Random---

-- New addition to the Pittsburgh blogosphere: Matt from the Pittsburgh Pro Sports Report.

-- I have this superstition that when the Pirates are doing well, I don't blog or write anything about them, so, if you ever notice I haven't blogged for a while and the Bucs are playing a stretch of better-than-.500 ball, that's why. ... As if my attention to the team is directly affecting their (mis)fortunes.

-- I was mistaken about how many visits I've been getting. The hit meter does indeed now read 11,000, but many of these hits have been coming by way of a couple of pictures I linked to in my November archive. A LOT of people have been coming to this page that way. Does anyone think giving away free "Steeltown Sports" t-shirts would help boost the genuine traffic? It's something I've been considering for a few months, but currently lack the capital to make it happen. Leave a comment if you'd be interested in one (or why you think that wouldn't be a good idea).