All posts tagged Pittsburgh Pirates

When An Umpire Becomes a Hashtag

By | July 29, 2011 | Bad calls, Baseball, MLB | 2 Comments

Jim Joyce. Don Denkinger. How many umpires or referees can you name? I’ll bet you only know their names because of a famous bad call. Add Jerry Meals to that list.

In case you were not up at 2:30 am Wednesday watching the Pirates and Braves, here’s what happened. The game was in the bottom of the 19th, (yes, you read that right, the NINETEENTH inning) six and a half hours after the game began, with the score tied 3-3. Julio Lugo was on third. Braves’ pitcher Scott Proctor hit a ground ball that was fielded by Pedro Alvarez, who threw to Michael “The Fort” McKenry. The throw arrived in McKenry’s glove well ahead of Lugo and well in front of the plate. Umpire Jerry Meals was in a great position to make the easy call.

Except he called Lugo safe.

Needless to say, all hell broke loose at Turner Field. See for yourself.

And that’s what the Atlanta TV guys had to say.

My twitter stream exploded, though I’m betting that was nothing compared to what was being said the Pirates’ locker room. And in the morning, the hashtag #jerrymealssaysitssafe was trending.

It continued on all day and shows little sign of going away any time soon, at least not in Pittsburgh.

As for the Pirates, Manager Clint Hurdle encouraged his players to express their frustration, but public comment has been limited. Frank Coonelly’s statement says it all on behalf of the team.

Later in the day, Jerry Meals made the following statement:

Pertaining to the play that ended the game as last night, as [Scott] Proctor hit the groundball to [third baseman Pedro] Alvarez…as he fielded the ball and threw home, I got into position to make the call. [Catcher Michael] McKenry caught the ball, made a swipe tag attempt at Lugo sliding. I did not see any tag After that, I ruled him safe.

After coming into the locker room, I reviewed the incident through our videos that we have in here and after seeing a few of them, on one particular replay, I was able to see that Lugo’s pant leg moved ever so slightly when the swipe tag was attempted by McKenry. That’s telling me that I was incorrect in my decision and that he should have been ruled out and not safe.

It takes guts to admit you’re wrong. He’s never gonna be my favorite ump but he’s human. He made a mistake. He admitted it. Moving on. That’s exactly what I expect Clint Hurdle is encouraging his players to do.

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Let’s Go Bucs

By | July 15, 2011 | Baseball, MLB | 2 Comments

After 18 consecutive losing seasons, the formerly hapless Pittsburgh Pirates headed into the All-Star break four games over .500 and exactly ONE game out of the division lead. The local TV guys were speculating last Sunday afternoon about a possible run for the division during the second half of the season, or at least the wildcard. Just getting to .500 used to be the elusive dream and (ZOMG) now we’re talking playoffs!

The statistics are staggering for this 2011 edition of the Buccos.

Last year, win #45 came on September 3. This year? July 6. They matched last year’s road win total (17) on June 1.

The last time they sent three players to the All-Star game? 1990.

Closer Joel Hanrahan gives a whole new meaning to HammerTime. He’s 26 for 26 in save opportunities this season. Only one reliever in the majors, Craig Kimbrel, has more saves and he’s only got one more than Hanrahan.

All this from an opening day payroll of $46 million. That makes the Pirates 27th out of 30 MLB teams in payroll. For comparison, the Yankees were over $201 million on opening day.

Despite a high number of injuries, resulting in a roster heavy with minor league call-ups, the team is playing better than it has in YEARS. Both starting catchers went down the same week, and the top minor-league prospect was also injured. The team went shopping and snagged the Red Sox AAA catcher, Mike McKenry, who happened to be grocery shopping in Pawtucket when he got the call. He’s a wall behind the plate, A WALL, and finally got the bat going last Friday night with his first major league home run to win the game. Someone really needs to get on making a Fort McKenry shirt. I’ll be first in line to buy one.

Speaking of shirts, I’m not afraid to buy a shirt with a player’s name and number on it anymore. The Pirates were sure to sell or trade their best players in August, usually the guy whose name was on the shirt I just bought. Eleanor is still sporting a Freddie Sanchez. This year, the Pirates look to be buyers, not sellers, as the trade deadline approaches.

Most of all, and if you’ve ever seen Bull Durham or Major League you know what I’m talking about, the players and coaches are having an absolute blast. Anyone who saw the Pirates’ dugout under John Russell’s leadership saw a team having absolutely.no.fun.at.all.thank.you.very.much. Clint Hurdle is in a whole other much happier universe. He actually remembers baseball is a GAME. For Clint, winning two in a three game series isn’t a problem, it’s a “Meatloaf series” because two out of three ain’t bad.

I’m gushing, I know, but these Pirates are totally gush-worthy. I’m wishing I could be at the ballpark every night. (It’s always been a really beautiful park, even when the team sucked.) The city is responding and sell-outs are regular happenings, rather than noteworthy events.

The national media is taking notice, too. Andrew McCutchen was interviewed during coverage of the home run derby. The big guns are mentioning Pittsburgh and saying really nice things, not making jokes. I just wish they would stop sounding so surprised all the time.

Raise the jolly roger, dammit. LET’S GO BUCS!

ClumberKim has lived in Pittsburgh over 13 years. An earlier version of this appeared on clumberkim.com. She cranked up the gush in this version.

Weekly Roundup: Pants in Sports Edition

By | November 5, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off

Athletes have been having an enormous amount of trouble with their pants this week. Fans too. Let’s get on with it, shall we?

Baseball may be a family game but first baseman Aubrey Huff and his “rally thong” are not what I’d want my kid to see at a World Series victory parade. Lucky you, San Francisco. Free agent Huff wants to stay put.

Sandoval and his brownie sundaeAnother Giant (pun intended), Pablo Sandoval, celebrated the World Series victory with a brownie sundae bigger than his head. Dude, no. Just no. Keep it up and you’ll be a very sad panda when spring training rolls around, 100 or so days from now.

In the category of “screwed with your pants on” (h/t The West Wing) we have Pittsburgh Steeler’s linebacker James Harrison, who was fined, again, for two hits that did not draw penalties in the game. That takes his total for two games to $100,000. A pittance to an NFL star, perhaps, but $100,000 here, a $100,000 there and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.

Dallas Cowboy fans who can’t stand to watch what’s happening on the field don’t have to. They can have a lap dance instead for the bargain price of a Miller Lite. Be sure to check out the comments after you watch the video. Priceless.

And what Pants Edition is complete without a little Favre? Two more women claiming to have received lewd texts from the Brettster have come forward. Couldn’t he just butt dial, like the rest of us?

Finally, good news for a group of people who previously were not allowed to wear pants but now can. The Sisters of Notre Dame of Baltimore sold a rare, 100-year-old Honus Wagner baseball card donated to them by the brother of a deceased nun for $262,000, or way more than a stick of bubble gum.

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The nuns will receive $220,000 of the sale price. Sister Virginia Muller says the money will go to their ministries in more than 30 countries around the world. Sister Virginia  grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers fan and now roots for the Orioles, but it’s safe to say that a certain Pirates shortstop ranks pretty highly now too.

Pirates Can’t Even Fire a Pierogi Properly

By | June 23, 2010 | Baseball, Crazy People | 1 Comment

Pierogi RacingIsn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results?

A few days ago Pittsburgh Pirates management announced they had extended the contracts of Manager John Russell and General Manager Neal Huntington in October of 2009. Despite throwing a press conference last time around, everyone involved was sworn to secrecy. No one really knows why this happened and fans are understandably frustrated.

Frustrated fans are typically not quiet ones. Case in point, Andrew Kurtz. He’s a serious fan. So much so that he dresses up in a pierogi suit and runs around PNC Park in The Great Pittsburgh Pierogi Race N’At. Like many people, he also has a Facebook page where he happened to post a pretty mild statement about this latest insanity from his beloved Pirates’ management.

Then he was dooced.

And the story made the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Today the Pirates announced the re-hiring of Kurtz, claiming it wasn’t done according to proper procedures. Surely it had nothing to do with the wave of bad publicity, or the revelation that the Pierogi races are rigged scripted.

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ClumberKim is raising two little Yinzers in the City of Champions (and the Pirates).

Strasburg Lives Up to MLB Hype

By | June 8, 2010 | Baseball | Comments Off

One of the biggest pitching prospects in Major League history made his debut Tuesday night, and Nationals fans are hoping it is a sign of things to come. Stephen Strasburg, who was the #1 overall draft pick in 2009, picked up his first major league win against Pittsburgh, throwing a mind-boggling 14 strikeouts over seven innings and, ahem, no walks, in a 5-2 victory.

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Good thing, since the Nats paid a record $15.1 million dollars for a four-year contract with Strasburg, the highest ever for a draft pick. He also set a Nationals record for strikeouts in a game. The highly-anticipated debut garnered a standing room-only crowd at Nationals Park, which hardly ever happens because the Nationals kind of suck.

This was a Really Big Deal for the franchise, which Bob Costas told everyone multiple times while calling the game, because dude knows hyperbole and theatrical spectacle from his work during the Olympics and loves to bring it out in baseball. It’s totally insane how he can simultaneously talk about hype while hyping someone. How meta. That’s why he’s the best. Or something.

ANYWAY, The Nats trailed the Pirates, 2-1, heading into the bottom of the sixth, when Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham hit back-to-back homers, giving Washington the lead and putting Strasburg in line for the win. Washington let Strasburg come back in for the 7th, despite surpassing his 90 pitch count, where he struck out all three Pirate batters. It was straight nasty to watch Strasburg in action; he’s got hundred-MPH fastballs and clocked a 92 MPH change-up AND a crazy curveball. Sports theatre at its finest.

That being said, it’s just one game. Strasburg responded well to the hype and set the bar incredibly high. It will be interesting to see whether his dominance will translate into longevity and success in the league. I’ll be watching.

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