We made a damned good run at it, but could not catch Seattle Reign (as predicted). He finally clinched with 2 games left to play. No miracle finish for the Pirates, we’ll have to be happy with the Wild Card.
I’m not, I hate wild-carding into a playoff.
.704 (19-8) for September, you really can’t ask for a much better chase than that. All those home games really helped. Pythagoras still owes us three games, too (grumble).
We have two solid gold glove contenders this season, Coco Crisp finishes playing every day CF with a 1.000 FP, and Christian Vazquez behind the plate #1 in Deff and CERA. I think the infielders were hurt on their GG chances by shifting positions around, but definitely no complaints about the IF gloves this season.
Sutton and Walters both finish top-five ERA, but neither will take the crown.
Saberhagen closed out the season in style, Throwing a Maddux in the season’s final game (1H, 1BB, 10K, 96 pitches). A gem.
This is about what I typically see on the team info page. Okay, we can hit, we can take a walk, and we definitely don’t get enough XBH. We don’t score enough runs, because we lack the boppers (so far). We don’t strike out, though, so that’s good. A fair bit of speed, but it’s not really a priority.
Excellent pitchers in an excellent ballpark for pitchers, check. Excellent defense, check.
Looks to me like we should spend the next several seasons hunting down Barry Bonds (or similar players who can both Defend AND Stick.) We need more balance.
And a LHP or two. I somehow ended up with an all-righty rotation, I’m not comfortable with that in the long term.
Face The Curtain 