Just lost a tough game to the hated Brewers tonight. Wasted a gutty performance by AJ, and wasted tons of opportunities to put the game away, at least 3 times, tonight.

Lost a game on the Cards, but we're still in this thing, no question about it.

We have some talent on our team, that is certain. Mostly young. Some proven, some unproven, some blossoming as we watch them grow.

But when you consider the many, many holes we have in our game and on our team, you really have to tip your cap to Clint Hurdle and the way he has handled this group of men, as well as the character of these men who suit it up every day and give it their all. They fail a lot--like tonight--but for the most part, they have played hard and given our city and our fans a season filled with excitement. Plenty of baseball left to be played, and plenty of time to continue to contend for a playoff spot.

Our weaknesses are many: Lack of a decent bench. We sent down our best bench player after misusing him a bit, his best role was off the bench, and we kind of wasted that. But even with that one man, we have a very weak bench all year long. Don't have the stats to back it up at hand, but I'd be willing to bet our pinch-hitting is among the worst in the league.

Base-stealing, on both sides of the coin. We have plenty of fast players, but very few seem able to steal bases with any consistency. And we have to be worst in the league at throwing anyone out. This kills us, as it did tonight.

Lack of a true lead-off hitter. All year long we've been searching for that one man who could make it theirs. Maybe Marte came closest, but he had his share of struggles as well, albeit in a small sample size.

Starters spotty. Aside from AJ, and perhaps Karstens, they've been horribly inconsistent. You could argue this is a strength, and at times it has been, but it's also been a weakness for considerable stretches this season.

Two players who start a lot who have hit below or around the Mendoza line all year long. It could be argued that one or both of them could have been replaced or platooned more, but nevertheless they were in the lineup a lot this season and could barely hit their way out of a paper bag most of the time.

And yet...with all those weaknesses, just some of which could send many a team into a spiral from which they could never recover, we sit on the evening of Sept 1st, 8 games over .500 and still in contention for the playoffs with plenty of baseball yet to be played. An entire month. It's been a helluva year, and it's not over yet!

Beat 'em Bucs!

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Playing football was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. If I could go out today and suit up, I would do it.--Jack Butler

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"......was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor ?....."

SteelerTilIDie: Steeler Einstein
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23436

Zero in the leadoff spot
Zero at Catcher

What we need is an Omar Moreno type in the leadoff spot
and an Ed Ott/Manny Sanguillen/Tony Pena at C

I would make priority number 1 getting rid of Barajas and Barmes

Still a great season....

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"......was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor ?....."

SteelerTilIDie: Steeler Einstein
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23436

There aren't many of those types around, unfortunately, and few within The Nut's price range.

Barajas I'd love to see go. Sanchez has to be better defensively and he can't be much worse offensively. I've heard good things about that young man recently, in terms of his work with pitchers and his defensive play. His stick still seems very lacking, but hell, I'd take a better D with as much O as Barajas can give us.

Barmy I doubt goes. We are on the hook for another year and I actually think I'm ok with him as the 8th hitter and his glove work is pretty solid, at times spectacular. He has also hit better this past month.

Leadoff hitter? Who the fuck knows. Marte, maybe, though I don't think he projects as that type of player long-term. Tabata should have been a lock and has been nothing but.

Tip of the hat to Clint Hurdle and his staff to have us this far. We have a core--Cutch, GI, Neil, and Pedro--but beyond that? Other than AJ and the occasional good starter and the pen...we have so many holes, so many young unproven players (even Pedro who has come into his own this year, but not without a lot of growing pains). Great job by the field manager and his coaching staff.

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Playing football was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. If I could go out today and suit up, I would do it.--Jack Butler

The series against St. Louis has them still in this thing.

Now they just have to carry it forward.

Too bad we still have four games against the Brewers left.

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I know this, your ability to think concisely, your ability to make good judgments is much easier on Thursday night than during the heat of the game. -Bill Walsh

Great post MeanJoe! I do tip my hat to Clint Hurdle and Neil Huntington both for their major contributions to getting this team to where it is today. As for Bob Nutting, a tip of the hat to him, too, for spending the money in the draft and on the minor league system. We have started to see some of the fruits of that as well. A tip of the hat to the major contributors on this team: Cutch, AJ, JMac, Hammer, Grilli, Pgh Kid, El Toro, GI. Those seem to be the players we can count the most. Others are contributing as well. I love this team, and when I stress over every single loss in late August and now September, I'm in a place where I have been with this time for a long time. Work and improvement needs to be done in the off-season. I won't even pretend I know what those moves should be. That's for far more knowledgeable baseball minds than mine.

For now, please God let's get this team through September with winning baseball. Let's hope they do their best in challenging for a playoff spot. C'mon Bucs!

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They just need to go 12-18 to get that winning season.

Even with their recent slump, I think they can do that.

But they are still in this thing, and even though I was willing to give up a week ago, I'm not now. Now- if they falter like this against the Cubs and Astros, I will be pretty pissed, but the "bad teams" we have lost to are teams that have owned our asses in the past- I'm not willing to say that this is a trend that will continue the rest of September. Hell- even during the Phillies' run, they would struggle against teams like the Marlins.

Don't give up yet.

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I know this, your ability to think concisely, your ability to make good judgments is much easier on Thursday night than during the heat of the game. -Bill Walsh

True.

Do you realize how few teams have a real leadoff hitter or a catcher that can hit for power and play great defense?

Remember when there used to be a lot of them? That's not the case anymore.

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I know this, your ability to think concisely, your ability to make good judgments is much easier on Thursday night than during the heat of the game. -Bill Walsh

Steroids.

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This is Getting Old


https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsGettingOld

I was thinking about the 1970s...before the steroids era (maybe?), but that's as good an explanation as any.

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I know this, your ability to think concisely, your ability to make good judgments is much easier on Thursday night than during the heat of the game. -Bill Walsh