Wow. I updated my list to reason #22 on May 27th. That means the Buccos had 22 wins as of May 27th. Thanks to the 7-5 win over the Rangers last night, the Pirates now have 27 wins. That makes 5 wins. In 17 days. Awesome. 27-37. Only 10 games below .500.
No matter the record, PSaMP is here to give you logical reasons to keep watching your favorite baseball team (well, my favorite baseball team, at least), even though interleague is still going on. So here’s 5 more reasons to not switch allegiance to another team.
Reasons to Keep Watching the Bucs This Season. Reasons 1-17.
18. Tony Armas Jr. is in the Bullpen. Your starter needs to eat up innings. Jim Tracy constantly preaches this point. Including his one relief appearance and 7 starts, Tony Armas Jr. has averaged 3.6 (I rounded up) innings per appearance. I called for his head, as did the entire Pirate fan community, it seems. The safest place for Armas is the ‘Pen, or if he can’t fix his “stuff,” (I can’t stand when analysts refer to a pitcher’s “stuff,” as in, “His stuff is nasty”) maybe he should be demoted further.
19. Ronnie Florian. Honestly. This guy makes me proud to be a Pirates fan. He is the entire embodiment of Pittsburgh. How can you not tune in to Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh, just for the hope of glimpsing the ultimate Pirates superfan? And if anyone wants to hear the perfect ‘Burgh accent, you need only click here. The wins may be uncertain, but at least Ronnie will be there to reassure you.
20. The Brewers are an April/May Flare. Shocking! This is my take on the young Brew-Crew. Its nice to see a young team excel early, but I don’t know if the Brewers acn sustain success for a full season. This year, they are 28-21. Last year on May 27th, the Brewers were 26-24. They finished 75-87. I liken them to the ’06-’07 Penguins. Their combination of youth and talent will produce a good number of wins this year, but how long will the youth serve Milwaukee? And baseball players goes through a season that’s twice as long as hockey. I’m hesitant to call the Brewers a playoff team, yet. The Buccos aren’t completely out of the race for the NL Central, and need to string together a few wins to chip away at .500, and then Milwaukee.
21. ADD Laroche is Above the Mendoza Line. He’s finally cracked .200. He needs to raise his batting average by about .100+ in the next 2-or-so games for me to be happy, though. That’s all he gets, for now.
22. Freddy Sanchez. The Defending NL Batting Champ’s first appearance as an actual reason to keep with the Buccos. Sure, he had a brief mention or so, but that was under reasons dedicated to other players/scenarios, and only because Adam Hyzdu isn’t in a Pirate uniform anymore. Up until now, Fred-Ex (because he always delivers) didn’t look suitable to defend a major title. Going 2 for 3 with 2 runs and 4 RBIs today, Freddy sits at a more-respectable .288. Its about time he gets his own mention.
UPDATED REASONS 23-27:
23. Jason Bay. The Canadian catches way too much shit from Bucco fans. Occasionally, I am one of those Bucco fans. Bay’s finally coming around, though, and his numbers are starting to look a lot better. His 45 RBIs are only 7 behind NL leader Chase Utley’s 52. And Bay was named NL Offensive Player of the Week not too long ago. I think that’s enough for Jason to get mentioned here.
24. Don Kelly is in the Minors. I know teams like to employ a hometown guy. The Pirates love the idea. Last year, the experiment was Sean Casey. That didn’t work out at all, and The mayor was gone before the season ended. This year, it was Don Kelly. I know bench players struggle, because of the irregularities of the at-bats. Some bench players might only get 4 or 5 at-bats in a week, so you can’t expect a hit every time. But 4 hits in 24 ABs? Kelly sported a .154 average with the same slugging percent. Go to the minors, Don. I know our roster might not be the best, but you’re just not ready for the bigs.
25. Dan Kolb is in the Majors. Don Kelly’s out, and a journeyman reliever with a veteran presence is in. I don’t expect Kolb to be the best reliever on the team. However, Kolb is a veteran, and proved his worth in Indianapolis. A lot of veterans would rather be cut and go to some hellhole like Tampa Bay or Cincinnati rather than be designated for assignment in Triple-A. Kolb took the assignment, and showed Pittsburgh brass that he was worth the call-up. Now go make us proud, Danny.
26. We Still Play in the NL Central. Yeah, this is a duplicate, but its the real deal. The Central sucks. Milwaukee is still leading, with a 34-30 record. That’s only 7 more wins than the lowly Buccos. Pittsburgh sits in 4th place, but is only 1.5 games behind 2nd place Chicago. Only the Central can let a team like the Buccos hang around.
27. Interleague Doesn’t Last All Year. After this series with the Rangers, the Buccos play the the White Sox, Mariners and Angels. I was a little overzealous by hoping that Pittsburgh could take 2 of 3 from the Yanks. I’ll be a little realistic this time. I’m hoping Pittsburgh can win one game in each interleague series from here on out. If we can get more than one in each series, I’ll be more than pleased. And once the Angels series is over, its back to NL opponents. Unless, of course, the team makes the World Series, but that’s a little ridiculous to think about at this point.
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