Welcome to the 'Burgh, Kid

Rookie sensation Andrew McCutchen got his first true glimpse at the frustrations that teammates Freddy Sanchez and Paul Maholm have endured for years...wasted effort. McCutchen had the biggest night in his young career, going 4 for 7 with a double, a pair of triples, and 2 runs scored; all for not, however, as the Bucs squandered numerous opportunities before finally succumbing to the Braves 7-6 in 15 innings.

Ironically, Nate McLouth, another guy who has seen his performances wasted in a Pirates uni, rocked a homer off former Bucco and Altoona Curve mate, Zach Duke, in a winning effort. As they say, fate is not without a sense of irony.

Quick Hitters:

• With McCutchen replacing Nate, he joins Nyjer Morgan and Brandon Moss in the Bucs' starting outfield. This trio has a combined 1 whopping home run on the season. At this point last year, the starting outfield of Jason Bay, X Man Nady and McLouth already had over 30 combined dingers. Astonishing even for the Buccos.
• If you're feeling uneasy, you should. Mid-June is generally when the Bucs begin to entertain multiple losing skids. With no McLouth or Doumit in the lineup, it may just be a matter of time until the team is dozen or so games under .500
• 51 days until Latrobe!

Ass Cheek Zamboni Volume 2

I finally got the Candyman's shot on Helm. Enjoy...

Game On!

My texting happy niece would sum it up with three simple keystrokes...OMG. The voice on that really cool Vs. commercial would say it like this, "and don't be surprised if the little guy just decides to take a pass on yelling 'uncle', and now we got ourselves a game." Finally, to repeat myself from two mornings earlier: David just got a little taller, and Goliath just got a little smaller.

However you want to sum up the Pittsburgh Penguins memorable victory in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals is your business, but get Lord Stanley on the horn and tell him to order extra beer. The denial is now over. This is now a series. This is no longer the favorite vs. the underdog, the champion vs. the challenger, the veteran vs. the youth, or the confident vs. the frightened, this is now the tired vs. the emerging.

The Penguins are rallying in this series by living on both sides of blue. WTF??, you ask. I'm talking about blending highlight reel antics from the blue chippers with gritty, desperate efforts from the blue collars. The efforts are running deep with the skaters, and MA Fleury, well, he's been what a Stanley Cup hoisting netminder should be.

Enjoy your coffee with this little YouTube clip of a really big 67 seconds in Pittsburgh lore...

Nate Who??!!

Move over Sid, Geno, Jordan, and Santonio. Pittsburgh's got a new addition to the exclusive 25 and under sports phenom club: Andrew McCutchen. The Battlins' ushered in the Drew Mac era today by manloving the New York Mets, sans lubricant, 11-6 at PNC Park. How'd the rook look, you ask? Try two for four with a stolen base, and much more importantly, three runs scored. Three runs from your leadoff guy, huh? Imagine that.

Here's to another new beginning

Nate and the Irate

Unfortunately for the Pirates' front office, most of the Pennsylvania National Guardsmen are currently overseas engaging in the Global War on Terror. Luckily for the Buccos' brass, however, every Western PA sports fan is either focused on the Pens' Game 4 or Big Ben's tweaked knee, and therefore, the soon to be highly controversial trading of Nate McLouth is still relatively unnoticed. So maybe the potential riots will be minor, and our guardsmen won't be necessary.

For those of you that live your lives outside of the never ending saga of Pirate futility, let me break this news: the Bucs' just pulled off a trade to send the vastly popular All Star centerfielder to the Altanta Braves for three...you guessed it, prospects. In addition to the speed/power mix that Nate the Great displayed over the last few seasons, he'll be packing up his Gold Glove, as well. A nice commodity, given that his workplace, the PNC Park centerfield, was the most spacious in the National League.

Expect the scrutiny to be high on this one, but probably for the wrong reasons. This is not the classic David LittleBrain trade: quality for affordability. The Bucs' front office has maintained since their assembly in the winter of 2007 that long term competitiveness is the overall goal. Breaking the string of 16 consecutive losing seasons would be great for team and city, but it is clearly not the primary focus. GM Neal Huntington has eluded to 2010, but more like 2011, as the threshold to expect a winning product. With that being said, here are the reasons why this trade may make sense:

1. Despite his popularity, Nate is a good, but not great, ballplayer. Many baseball experts view him as performing near his ceiling, or in Buccos' brass lingo, at or near his highest possible trade value. If wins and losses in 2009 is not a concern, why not bring something in for him while he's still attractive? Again, I really enjoy Nate's game, but don't be shocked if he's a reserve or 4th outfielder somewhere in three years or so.
2. The real story here is a guy named Andrew McCutchen. For those of you that don't read this blog that closely, let me re-iterate that McCutchen is widely considered the best Pirate outfield prospect since Barry Bonds. Enough said, this guys needs to be in PNC Park getting regular at bats from real pitchers. This couldn't happen with Nate in his way.
3. Despite all those high draft picks that went into pitchers, the Bucs minor league system has virtually no quality arms. To get at least one, and possibly two, good arms, as well as an outfielder with a very high ceiling is a good thing for this team right now.

Who knows how this trade will impact us long term. The armchair and blogosphere Bucco critics are now conditioned to berate any trade that involves prospects in return. This criticism is genuinely fair, given that most of our blockbuster deals haven't panned out.

My thoughts are that if Drew McCutchen emerges, and performs as good, if not better than Nate has thus far in 2009, we may actually be better off right now. As always with the Bucs, only time will tell.

The Ass Cheek Zamboni

Hey, Hossa Fans! Here's the Asscheek Zamboni that your man now owns...courtesy of Mr. Brooks Orpik. Remember, we all know that Hossa loved the Penguins style, but he left to win...and to get his European ass laid out by the NHL's biggest hitter.



Now, can someone send me the link of Darren Helm getting his ass handed to him by #44...

We're just Mad about Max

Just call it getting it done. Marc Andre Fleury finally buckling down and making the saves that needed to be made, - getting it done. Captain Sid Crosby elevating his game, and by extension, his team, - getting it done. Matt Cooke showing his blue collar mates how to play relentlessly and desperately in a critical game, - getting it done. Last, and certainly not least, Max Talbot doing what Max Talbot does best, scoring the huge goal, - getting it done (twice).

The Pittsburgh Penguins restored a lot of respect and an equal portion of faith in their amazing spring story by notching a colossal win over the Detroit Red Wings last night at the Igloo in the pivotal Game Three of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. David just got a little taller and Goliath just got a little smaller as our Flightless Birds have pulled within one home win of tying this series.

What more can be said about Mr. Talbot? A Dawg, PittsburghFan's local hockey expert, said it best last week, "Max may not score a lot of goals, but he scores BIG goals." Well said.

Quick Hitters:

• HBO ran Fred Claus at 8 pm last night. Karma? At this point, I can only watch the movie because super hottie Rachel Weisz renews my passion for busty British chicks.


• How about Candyman Brooks Orpik showing faggy Darren Helm (as he already did with Marian Hossa) how to execute the old fashioned asscheek Zamboni with his brutal neutral zone smackdown?


• Can anybody please tell Ed Olczyk that it's ok to not hate his former employers anymore? Ed, just let it go...