We're almost at that time of year..

For the annual Pirate firesale. I'm hoping for more Jeff Suppan kinda deals and less Jason Schmidt trades. on the Radar:

1) Craig Wilson
2) Kip Wells
3) Jeromy Burnitz
4) Joe Randa
5) Roberto Hernandez
6) Sean Casey

Casey's a long shot but I'd be stunned if the top five are around in August

13 and counting..

Bucs lose in typical fashion: by A) losing by one, B) blowing a lead and C) making it interesting in the 9th before pissing it away.

Freddy goes 3-5 with a triple in his usual stellar performance

A new team record

With the 4-2 loss tonight, the bucs tie the team record with it's 12th loss in a row. The sox made it interesting with some baserunning lapses, otherwise this one coulda been 10-2. As far as I see, we're one loss closer to getting our awful manager canned.

What could have been...

On the day that Jim Tracy leads the Bucs to there 50th loss, the man also in the mix for the Pirates job lead his squad to there 50th WIN. Congrats Jim

10 straight for the home team!

That's right, our first 10 game losing streak in almost 4 Decades after another 7-0 drubbing to Tracys former employers. The latest loss puts us at the 50 L mark for the season which projects to the 3rd worst in Franchise history, behind the 1890 Pittsburg Alleghenies who went 23-113, and the 1952 Pirates 42-112.

Today Kip Wells v Brad Penny. the last 11 game losing streak? 1955

It gets worse as the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers bring there beatin sticks into PNC over the next week and with a manager who loves to firmly place blame on his players while taking credit when things go right, morale has to be buried deep in the Ol Bucs outhouse

Jose Deleon Watch

Ollie Perez goes for loss # 10 tomorrow, putting him on pace to surpass an infamous Pirate mark; Jose Deleon's 19 loss season in the mid 80's.

Go Get em Ollie!

Bucs swept by the Royals

not much to add to that headline. 8 straight losses and I think the worst of the pirates teams the past 13 years. This is a true embarrasment and makes me pine for steelers training camp

Pat Meares

The wounds must have healed a bit too well for the bucs front office from the Pat Meares extension. You Remember..Signed to a 4 year extension while on the DL wih a wrist injury..the same injury that would finish his career and strap the Bucs with his moderately high salary..well, fool me twice. Sean Casey, oft injured aging veteran has been put on the to do list for management to get an extension done. Umm...Hmmm, I can't help but think that Maybe, Just Maybe, there may be a better option in Free agency than Casey at 6 - 8 million per year

Littlefield sorta endorses Sanchez

From the AP:

"General manager Dave Littlefield gave the organization's first public endorsement of INF Freddy Sanchez as the regular everyday third baseman. Sanchez took over the job when 3B Joe Randa injured his foot May 2. Sanchez has responded by hitting .403 in his last 24 games and was second in the National League in batting average (.351) going into Sunday's contest. ``In this business, very few things are set in stone,'' Littlefield said. ``And even when they are set in stone, they aren't set in stone forever. It's easy to see when Sanchez is hitting .350 and playing way he's been playing, we need him in the lineup and he deserves to play. That's pretty clear-cut.'' ... Littlefield said Randa, who was signed to a $4 million contract in the offseason, would likely begin a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis by the end of the week. ... Long-term, Littlefield said Sanchez could be in a mix with 2B Jose Castillo and 3B/OF Jose Bautista for playing time."

So, I'm curious what Randas and Burnitz will be here in the future while Freddy, Jose and Jose Platoon?

There is one thing set in stone though,under Littlefield's regime to beat out an overpaid veteran you need to hit at least 100 points better than him. Freddy-yes...Craigger-no

Chris Young dominates former team

We could sit by the campfire and talk all night about why the pirates have been so shitty for so long. There is the Ramirez trade, Derek Bell and the chain of awful washed up free agents we've brought in through the years.e.g Simon, Stynes, Randa etc.,and of course, the prospects that never pan out (A Brown, E Brown, M Cummings J Davis J House W Young and of course C Hermanson)..but the Chris Young trade is an underrated topic when it comes to Buc-stupidity.

To Recap: We draft Young, pay him a handsome signing bonus by Pirates standards, then trade him to the Expos for Matt Herges. We then cut Herges in spring training. Herges goes on that year to post a (approx,)2.75 ERA with 2 teams. Littlefield said we traded Young because they were thin in middle relief, although they had Damaso Marte..but traded him. fast forward to 2006, and Young returns to pitch 2 hit shutout ball against his former organization.

Steelers greet Pres..

GW Bush took a 14 minute break from ruining the country to greet Super Bowl XL Champion Steelers. My only question is how did K Jeff Reed weasel his way up to the front row?

Pictured: Kicker Reed, Weightlifting buddy Big Hamp and the pres

Jason Thompson

One of the "greats" of the 80's Bucs, now has a hitting camp

http://www.jasonthompsonbaseball.com/video.html