Month: August 2023

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It Should Be Habits

Daily writing prompt
What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?
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If you do only one daily habit to improve your life, then you are in big trouble. In fact, almost everything you do should somehow improve the quality of your life. For my own wellbeing, I walk 3 to 5 miles every day. I meditate at least 10 to 20 minutes daily. I do various things to try a keep my mind sharp. I golf or do something golf related every day. I try and eat in moderation with a good variety of foods. I try to create something daily either through writing or cooking. The most important thing I do daily is take a moment in the morning and a moment late at night to be thankful for all the blessings, good health and luck that I have had over the years. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think that I could have done just a little bit better on these habits, but I know that is what gives me by human quality. I am always satisfied with my day because I know I am doing the best I can do at my own level of awareness.

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Pirates Morning Report: Getting The Sweep

Final Score: Pirates 4 Royals 1

Why The Pirates Won: A strong start by Andre Jackson going 5 and 2/3 innings giving up only 1 run, 2 hits, walking 2, while striking out 7. It looked like that he would strike out everybody starting out by striking out the first 5 batters he faced, then 2 more in the third. The bullpen had one of their better outings pitching a scoreless 3 and 1/3 innings giving up 2 hits, walking only 1. The Pirate offense made the most of their 6 hits getting 5 of them in the first three innings. There were a lot of collars worn last night as 5 Pirates failed to get a hit. The home run ball helped with Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski hitting solo homers. This is a nice three game win streak the Pirates have put together. We will see if they can continue in St. Louis.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates scored a run in the top of the first on the Reynolds’ home run. They opened the 2nd with a bang. Back to back doubles by Liover Peguero and of all people Vinny Capra, followed by a Suwinski single giving the Pirates a quick 3-0 lead. Capra was playing third base on a “scheduled” day off for Ke’Bryan Hayes. The Pirates hottest hitter by far had to have a day off. Wouldn’t it have been nice if they had unscheduled his day off. By the way, don’t look now but the Pirates do not play today. I think that management was just trying to give the Royals a chance and Capra really messed that up. The Pirate bats went really quiet the rest of the way getting only 2 more hits. Fortunately, one of them was the 7th inning homer by Suwinski to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead.

Next Game: Tomorrow, Cardinals in St. Louis. The sweep of the Royals put a kink in management’s plans to make another run at getting the No. 1 pick in the draft. Mitch Keller is starting for the Pirates in St. Louis so there is a least a half way chance the Pirates might make it 4 in row. Although it looks like McCutchen, Suwinski, Rodriguez, and Peguero have a scheduled day off. I can guarantee you the Alika Williams and Josh Palacios will be in the lineup with their On Base Average of .284 and .258 respectively. Management does not give up easily.

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Searching online

Daily writing prompt
What was the last thing you searched for online? Why were you looking for it?
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I do not remember the last thing I searched for but mostly it is off the cuff stuff like how old is this celebrity or well known person. Who did what movie etc. The main reason I decided to respond to this prompt was to say most search engines suck. If you are looking for a particular subject most of the early results are from things that were written in 2010 or even earlier. Whoever is responsible for the results of search engines is one lazy individual. I personally think that there are just pay offs involved. You never know how many words to type either. Type too many and you get all kinds of results that are not related to what you are looking for. Do not type enough words and you get too broad of results. Don’t tell me about quotes either, they suck too. It just feels good to write this again, ALL SEARCH ENGINES SUCK. Man, do I feel better.

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Pirates Morning Report: Strange Winning Pattern

Final Score: Pirates 6 Royals 3

Why The Pirates Won: For the fourth game in about the last 10 days the Pirates started a game by not getting a man on base for an extended period. They have gone 5 and 1/3, 6 and 1/3, 3 and 1/3 and last night went 4 innings before getting a man on base. What is interesting is they won 3 of those 4 games. In this game they went into the 8th inning trailing 1-0. They were able to score 2 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th to win going away. The Pirates had an opener game with Colin Selby starting and going a perfect 2 innings. Luis Ortiz pitched his best 5 innings in a long time giving up just 1 run on 3 hits, 2 walks, while striking out 5. Colin Holderman pitched a clean 8th, with Cody Bolton finishing the game despite the fact that Greg Brown wanted to waste David Bednar and bring him in with the score 6-3. Doesn’t he realize we are playing the Royals, probably not.

Key Moment Of The Game: Key moment brought to you by Ke’Bryan Hayes. It doesn’t get more key than a 2 run, 2 out, home run in the top of the 8th inning, when trailing 1-0. The Pirates added on nicely in the 9th with a 3 run rocket by Liover Peguero that even Greg Brown knew was a home run right away. This proved to be the margin of victory as the Royals did add 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th.

Next Game: Tonight, Royals in Kansas City. Can the Pirates sweep the lowly Royals. They are sending Andre Jackson to the mound. If he pitches well, it will be interesting to see how high the Pirates let his pitch count get. He should be stretched out pretty well by now. The Pirates have an off day tomorrow. It will be a much better off day if they can win their third in a row.

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Pirates Morning Report: Boy, Do The Royals Stink

Final Score: Pirates 5 Royals 0

Why The Pirates Won: Johan Oviedo pitched one of the best games of the year shutting out the Royals on just 2 hits, walking 2 and striking out 5. The most amazing thing about the performance was that the Royals never got a man into scoring position. Thanks to a double play, he faced only 18 batters over the last 6 innings. The Pirate offense had a nice game getting 5 runs on 12 hits and 4 walks. They scored a run in the 2nd, a run in the 3rd, and added on nicely in the 7th and 8th. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 4-4 with a WALK, and finally became a league average hitter. If he can maintain that he could become a major asset to this team. I am one never to judge wins. After all the Oakland A’s took 2 out of 3 against the Pirates and then went into Milwaukee and swept the Brewers. However, this does not change the fact that the Royals really stink. They are the perfect definition of a team in malaise. That’s not to say that they won’t win the next 2 games, because the Pirates are just a notch above them, but they are just playing out the string if last night was any indication.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates were nursing that 2-0 lead going into the top of the 7th and really had not done much since the 3rd inning. The inning opened well enough with Alfonso Rivas getting a double to left. Then Alika (Why Am I Playing In The Major Leagues) Williams laid down a horrible bunt and Rivas was thrown out at third base. Bae flied out and it looked like the Pirates had messed up another opportunity. But alas, singles by Hayes, McCutchen and an infield hit by Palacios where the pitcher was slow to cover 1st base netted the Pirates 2 runs, which pretty much iced this game. A nice start to the road trip.

Next Game: Tonight, Royals in Kansas City. As of now the Pirates don’t have a starting pitcher listed on the web site. At least the bullpen is well rested. Could we get a sweep on the road? Only the Shelton knows for sure.

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Pirates Morning Report: Setting Small Goals

Final Score: Pirates 1 Cubs 10

Why The Pirates Loss: It was a total team effort. They couldn’t hit, couldn’t pitch, and couldn’t field. The Pirates could only manage 4 hits and 2 walks. It was amazing that they had 5 at bats with runners in scoring position. Of course, they were 0 for 5. Josh Palacios got 2 of those hits to bring his sparkling batting average up to .211. I thought Ben Gamel was bad. The Pirate pitching staff gave up 10 runs for the second straight game, all of them earned. They “only” walked 3 this game. This will be one of the goals for today’s game, try and keep the Royals in single digits. They put one of the worst fielding teams you could imagine on the field yesterday just to ensure defeat. Even though there were no errors committed, there were many balls that should have been caught or fielded that were not. It is part of the Pirate philosophy, on the job training at the Major League level. What purpose the minor leagues serve for the Pirates, God only knows, or maybe the Shelton knows.

Key Moment Of The Game: When the Pirates took the field. That lineup brought back memories of 2022 it was so bad. I think the Pirates have an eye on that draft lottery again. Despite the last 2 lopsided wins for the Cubs, they left town very sad, knowing they only have 3 more games with the Pirates. They are cursing the balanced schedule.

Next Game: Tonight, the Royals in Kansas City. It’s hard to believe but the Pirates are going on a 6 game road trip where both teams have worse records than them, the Royals and Cardinals. The Pirates will have to dig deep to find ways to lose to these two teams. If by some way they could take 2 out of 3 from the Royals, they would have their best month since April. The anticipation is unbearable.

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Pirates Morning Report: Give Him A Bus Ticket

Final Score: Pirates 6 Cubs 10

Why The Pirates Lost: Osvaldo Bido gave one of the worst pitching performances of the year and that’s saying something with this staff. Osvaldo started the top of the third inning with the Pirates leading 1-0 and in a short, or should I say long, 2 and 1/3 innings he gave up 8 runs. He gave up those runs, the Cubs certainly did not earn them. In the top of the third he walked 4 batters, 2 of which forced in runs. In that inning, the Cubs scored 3 runs on just 1 hit. Then in the top of the 5th he gave up 5 runs on a walk, 2 singles, a double, and a triple and the Pirates were behind 8-1. The Cubs were able to get those 8 runs on just 5 hits. He did keep the ball in the ballpark. Hopefully this morning he is getting on a bus for Altoona. He doesn’t even belong in AAA let alone in the Majors with his sterling 6.36 ERA. The Pirates tried to make a game of it scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th, 4 of them after 2 were out. The Cubs added 2 in the top of the 9th for enough cushion to take the excitement out of the game. The Pirates are now 3-3 on this homestand.

Key Moment Of The Game: When Osvaldo Bido took the mound, the game was over. Oscar Marin came out and told him to throw strikes, but he did not listen. That should be enough to send him down to Altoona. You have to wonder why they left him in the game. Who knows, only the Shelton knows. I am sure the Cubs wish they had about 10 more games with the Pirates.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cubs in Pittsburgh. At least today, the Pirates know who is starting, Baily Falter, who has not pitched bad since coming to the Pirates. He had a great outing last time out pitching 6 innings giving up only 1 run on 3 hits. We will see if he can throw strikes at least.

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Pirates Morning Report: Keller’s Back, Call Overturned, Streak Over.

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cubs 1

Why The Pirates Won: Mitch Keller pitched his best game since the All Star break going 8 innings, not allowing a run, on 4 hits, a walk, while striking out 6. He was quite efficient throwing only 93 pitches. The Cubs only had 2 at bats with runners in scoring position, that’s how dominant he was. He was hit hard in the 8th with four balls exiting at over 100 MPH but fortunately two were right at the right and center fielder. The final one was a sharp comebacker to Keller for the final out. The Pirates were able to scratch out 2 runs in the first inning in an otherwise anemic offensive performance. Things got scary in the 9th but the Pirates hung on to end the 7 game losing streak to the Cubs.

Key Moment Of The Game: David Bednar came in to get the save in the top of the 9th and promptly game up a home run to Ian Happ. What is it with this guy and the Pirates. The last 15 games he is hitting .200 with On Base Percentage of .250 and already in this series he is 3 for 8 with one homer and two RBI’s. Cory Bellinger hit a ball to shortstop Alika (I’m A Triple A Player) Williams which he double clutched, and Bellinger was ruled safe at first base. Long story short, the call was overturned. I did not agree with call being overturned, but the Pirates will take it. You never know what would have happened, but this certainly had to take the sails out of the Cubs momentum. Dansby Swanson hit another ground ball to Williams and this time he rushed his throw but a nice scoop save by Alfonso Rivas got the 2nd out. After a stirring 9 pitch battle, Bedar struck out Seiya Suzuki and the Pirates defeated the Cubs for the first time in 2023

Next Game: Tonight, Cubs in Pittsburgh. Tonight, Bob Friend, Kent Tekulve, Elroy Face, and Dick Groat will be inducted to the Pirate Hall of Fame. That does not change the fact that it was a disgrace that Bob Friend was not in the inaugural class. He was by far the greatest Pirate pitcher of all time. At least he got in this year. The Pirates are bullpenning again tonight.

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Pirates Morning Report: They’re Playing The Cubs

Final Score: Pirates 4 Cubs 5 in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: They’re playing the Cubs. The Pirates did not play a bad game, but it was not good enough to beat the Cubs, losing to the Cubs for the 7th straight time. The offense was not great, but they did manage to score 4 runs on just 6 hits and 5 walks. Josh Palacios crushed a home run into the Allegheny to tie the game 3-3 in the bottom of the third but did little else the rest of the game. He has had some big moments for the Pirates, but the bottom line is this, is slash line is 207/247/384, with an OPS+ 68. He is 32% worse than a league average hitter. He needs to go. The opener pitching rotation worked pretty well, although I do not know why they did not use Borucki to start the game. He was up during the game, so he was available and has had good success as the opener. Andre Jackson after getting off to a slow start pitched very well giving up just the 2 runs on 6 hits, walking no one, striking out 2. Overall, not a bad performance by the Pirates, but it fell one run short.

Key Moments Of The Game: It may be simplifying things just a bit, but this game boiled down to 2 bloops that contributed to or directly led to Cubs’ runs. The first was by Yan Gomes in the top of the 2nd. He blooped a ball that had an exit velocity of under 60 MPH into right field that got him on base, eventually scoring the 3rd run of the game. The second came in the top of the 10th by a Pirate nemesis, Ian Happ. This blooper was scorched at 71.4 MPH and then was muffed by Connor Joe to let another run score, providing the margin of victory for the Cubs. It would be hard to say if the runner on third, where he would have been if not for the Joe error, would have scored on the fly ball to Suwinski. We will never know. What we do know is that the Cubs continue to beat the Pirates. If this continues the Cubs should send 1% of their playoff checks to the Pirates.

The Next Game: Tonight, Cubs in Pittsburgh. The other Pirate major league starter Mitch Keller will take the mound tonight. This is Star Wars night. Maybe in another universe, the way the Pirates think would make sense. Will the Cubs make it 8 in a row? Who knows, only the Shelton knows.

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My Name

Where did your name come from?

I was named after my father, but I did not have to go through that big Bob, little Bob thing, or was not even called Junior. My Dad was always referred to by his middle name, Walter. Few people even knew I was named after him. It was so nice to never hear, which Bob do you want. It was a little thing but did make life so much easier.