RIP, Bucco Blog

Sad news in the Pittsburgh sports blogosphere, as Bucco Blog is shutting down after 19 months.

Oddly enough, the author is being very cryptic as to the reasons for his departure. Something about making false claims, and disrupting a member of the Pirates organization's livelihood.

In my case I stated the individual performed a task he said he doesn't do and that lead to an article on the overall plight of a part of the Pirates' system.

But that's just it - when someone with more than a quarter of a century in the industry starts worrying about a fan's opinion in a blog, whether it's right or wrong, either I'm doing too good of a job or the medium is too far ahead of those in the game. I believe it is the latter.

Needless to say, every post has been removed from the site, but enthusiastic TheBigLead commenter Ted pulled this off Google Blog Cache:

Hard Pitch Counts and Young Pirate Arms

I happen to be one of a handful of believers that pitch counts matter when developing young pitchers. By young, I mean less than 600 innings in the major leagues. Until a pitcher reaches that level, I am of the opinion they have to be handled with kid gloves.

There are conditional limits as well. In March and early April as young pitchers are stretching out, once they hit 25 pitches in an inning an alarm should sound in the pitching coach’s mind. At 30 pitches they should be pulled or the pitcher faces injury from poor mechanics while fatigued, as an example.

If you have read my blog than you know I have been tracking Burnett, JvB, and Bullington’s pitch counts very closely. I’ve talked here about how abusive it was in my mind for Burnett to have to throw 39 times off the mound in the 2cd inning May 30th and then forced to pitch the 3rd inning where he threw another 37.

That’s off the wall ridiculous and sure enough, he was put on the DL two days later with arm fatigue.

The same was true with Bullington who threw 37 pitches in the 4th inning on May 20th then was asked to go back out and pitch the 5th and 6th. On June 10th he was also put on the DL with a tired arm.

Getting back to Zach Duke, on June 17th he threw 34 pitches in the 4th inning and then tossed two more innings after that. Now he is also headed to the DL.

But Duke is much more established and healthier than Bullington and Burnett who are both rehabbing from surgeries, so the 34 pitches shouldn’t have been an issue.

Until you consider this — on March 18th, just one month after reporting to spring training this year, Duke was forced to stretch out the 4th inning against the Yankees by making 39 tosses off the mound before Colborn came out with the hook.

In my book, that is exceedingly high that early after reporting to camp.

I’m not suggesting that Duke’s March 18th appearance is what ultimately lead to his inflammation, but it certainly couldn’t have helped. Inflammation typically occurs when there is an injury of some sort - it’s the body’s way of saying something is not right.

In defense of Colborn and the Pirates, I haven’t reviewed all the film on the rest of the staff to see if any of the other Pirates young starters have been as exposed as Duke. My initial guess is that only Maholm could have been, but I don’t know.

One thing is certain - there are teams who have what seem to be silly per inning hard pitch count limits on their young starters to protect them - from the majors all the way down through their farm system.

But maybe it’s not so silly.

The Pirates draft a lot of finesse pitchers then seem to burn them out by making them pitch through extended innings. Burnett and Duke are two examples, and both have been said to have “easy mechanics”. But that doesn’t seem to have made a difference.

And how about Johnny V lately?

I warned my readers to put a red flag by his name after the Pirates had him toss 35 pitches in his last inning of work June 21st. Sure enough, in his next start June 26th he ended up walking 26% of the batters he faced, tossed another 28 pitch 4th inning, and didn’t even come out to pitch the 5th. Keep him in your red flag notebook.

I can’t explain why it’s happening, but it is, and it’s being overlooked a lot in the Pirates system. Even Youman has had a 40 pitch inning this year.

That has to change, and fast. There needs to be more accountability.

Otherwise, our rotation might end up being Snell, Rogers, Bayliss, Kuwata, and Armas here real soon, and Jose Hernandez might be throwing innings at Indy.

July 01, 2007 at 04:40 AM in Joliet Jake’s Take Permalink Comments (0).



Take it how you want, its a fan's opinion. This may or may not be the reason that Bucco Blog was grounded. If it is, then I think its kinda weak on the Pirates part, especially if there was some sort of coercion coming from their end.

Did Colborn threaten Joliet Jake? Were the Pirates mad that a blogger called them out? We may never know. But I guess speculation is now a dangerous tool.

Blogs are here to be voices of the fans, rather than waiting for some media puppet to put out a press release from the organization themselves. PSaMP has had some choice words for people within the Buccos organization, but the opinions don't stop there. I'll criticize the Steelers and Pens if need be. I've criticized ESPN, Colin Cowherd, ESPN ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber, Bryan Murray, etc. What if any one of those entities comes crying foul for something that a fan wrote? It kinda makes you look over your shoulder a bit more.

So I'll pour some out for Bucco Blog. After blogging for 19 months, its odd that the author would just fold in a few days, leaving only an erased archive and a smokey explanation.

The Pittsburgh sportsblog community lost one of their own today, and readers, despite their status in the sports world, should understand the sadness PSaMP feels about Bucco Blog's departure.

Sid Reveals That He's Much More Of A Badass Than We Already Knew

So I thought I was done talking about the Pens, seeing as how their season is over. But the truth is, I'll never be done talking about the Pens. Its moments like these when we find out how much we've taken for granted, and the level of effort that these professionals put into a "game."

The Kid announced that, for the final 2 1/2 weeks of the regular season and the playofffs, he's been playing with a broken foot. Let me say that again. HE'S BEEN PLAYING WITH A BROKEN FOOT!

This puts the scoring title in a much bigger perspective. Joe Thorton, the only real competition to Sid in the scoring race, really put the pressure on Sid during the last few weeks of the season. Before Joe, it was Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. In order to win the title, Sid not only had to fend off some prolific scorers, but also had to do it with one foot!

If I get a paper cut, my finger is out of commission for a few days. My hand will be up in the air when I shower, and I make sure that its clean and not in contact with anything...because those things hurt like a bitch. Sid played hockey during the home stretch of the season and in the playoffs with a broken foot (I can't stress this enough), and even wore minimal padding so as to not tip off the media. Alright, Ted Nolan and Bryan Murray, go ahead and call Sid soft one more time. Honestly, we haven't heard it nearly enough.

Sid plays a game. For a living. How easy would it be to take time off from the "game" and let your broken foot heal? Hell, you kinda need your foot to play hockey. Whether its simple skating or blocking shots, feet are an integral part of the game. The impessive part is that Sid's performance hardly took a hit because of the gimp foot. He believes he broke the foot on a blocked shot against Montreal on March 16th. That equals 11 regular season games and 5 playoff games (none of which he missed) in which Sid put up 19 points (8 goals and 11 assists). 19 points in 16 games...with a broken foot.

Hats off to Sid, the newest badass in Pittsburgh sports. Now knowing what he's capable of with one foot, I can't wait to see his maturity next season when he is able to use both.

Game 4 Was a "Must-Win," But Game 5 Really Means It This Time

I've been struggling to write a piece on game 5 tonight, but its kinda hard today. After finding every possible way to lose in games 1, 3 and 4, its hard to find legitimate reasons to keep watching. Blowouts hurt, because early deficits lead to stuff getting thrown at the t.v. Close games hurt, because afterwards, its like, "why did I get so excited and worked up? I just got so disappointed." Still, the black and gold blood flows through my veins, so games 1, 3 and 4 mean nothing to me. They are in the past, exactly opposite of where Lord Stanley sits. In honor of the future, and the slim possibility that the Pens make it out of the series alive, I will focus on all the positives that the Pens need to take into game 5.

So the game will be in Ottawa tonight. The Pens won their only game in the series in Ottawa, so that's a plus. I have never been a true disciple of "home field advantage" and the "effect of the crowd" on a game (unless said game is in Pittsburgh), but there is something special about going to another team's home, and really sticking it to their fans. Trust me, with all the sticking-to that Pittsburgh has gotten from the Sens, I can't say I'd mind really blowing out Ottawa tonight. While the Pens only had 24 shots last game, they still made it seem like there were more biscuits put on Emery. The Pens were able to keep momentum in the offensive zone, but Emery did a great job of stopping (nearly) everything the Pens threw at him.

Another positive: the sign at the top of this post. What is Bryan Murray's deal? Does he honestly have to dislike everything? I feel like if I was hanging out with Mr. Murray (which would never happen, mostly because of his weird lisp) and I offered him free money or something, the dude would probably find some reason to get mad at the Pens for it. His current bitch is that Gary Roberts is playing too physical. Except Murray would say that Roberts has been too "phythical."

Laraque's playing time has been real shady. I mentioned that he needed to play in game 4. I stand by that opinion, and feel that he should be in game 5 as well. This is like if the Steelers picked up, I don't know, Duce Staley, and didn't use him for 3 seasons (Oh wait...). The Pens played Nils Ekman, who played 2 out of the Pens' final 29 games, and he already mentioned that he will be ready for game 5. Uh, remember the way the Pens excelled down the playoff stretch? Didn't they mature to the point where they were actually competing for the Atlantic division lead (which they held, momentarily) and the #2 overall seed in the East? Was Nils Ekman in the lineup? No. Georges Laraque was in the lineup.

This game 5 analysis has started to shift from positive to negative real quick. So I'm gonna watch game 5, and support my team like it was any other game. The Pens have rallied from a 3-1 deficit before. And the coach pf the team they're playing this time has a lisp. So even in a 3-1 pit, there's still some hope for our Pens.

Something must be done about the recent 0 for 9 Power Play drought. With the talent on this Pens team, 0 for 9 is inexcusable.

Some Losses Leave A Bad Taste In Your Mouth

this was one of those losses. leading 2-nill in the 9th inning, "previously 4 for 4" salomon torres decided to emit shades of jose mesa (or mike williams...ew). torres let 2 runs score in the ninth, blowing his first save of the year. the buccos hung around until the 12th, but paulino couldnt hold on to a jason bay throw on a sacrifice fly, and the cards prevailed 3-2. bautista homered, and the pirates squandered a quality outing by gorzo. having never faced pujols before, gorzo got sir albert out 3 times to end innings (read that last line again)! why is this important? uh...take a look at alberts numbers against the pirates entering this season (thanks to albert pujols club). its losses like this that have me wondering if the buccos can take that next step, and actually compete in the central this year. if not, us loyal fans can settle down and take in another long, hard-to-watch season.

enough with the past, and on to the future. the pens are about 7 1/2 hours away from their first playoff game since 2001. i sometimes feel a little weird, because im way too pumped for the second season to start. with the success the pens had this season, as well as the whole arena/kansas city/las vegas ordeal and the maturation of staal, geno, maf and sid, the playoffs are basically the icing on the cake. i do agree with ray shero, though, that the pens cannot be satisfied by simply being in the playoffs, and must be prepared for a long run (get that playoff beard going larrybrownsports! i want pictures...just kiddin). ottawa has been somewhat shaky (im being nice by saying somewhat) in the playoffs in the past few years, and bryan murray isnt necessarily the most playoff-savvy coach (dude has never made it out of the 2nd round, in the pros and in the minors). that doesnt really mean anything this year, but its good to know.

scott burnside of espn.com wrote a story about sid that was both compelling and rich (thanks, ron burgandy). it actually made the front of espn.com (what?...hockey news on espn? you gotta be kidding). this comes only days after scotty picked the sens to win the series in 5 games. way to straddle that fence, scott! (side note: another reason to get angry at espn: the first time i clicked on espn.com today, the site crashed each site i had open, and i had to completely rewrite this entry. looks like espn has changed tactics from bashing sites on espn radio to crashing browser windows.)

thats all for now. mpotd will be coming up soon. i know you cant wait. neither can i.

Apologies Over, Now Back To Blogging

hey hey, the pirates won. i still get excited when the buccos win, mainly because its something i havent seen a whole lot of in my day. by taking the final game of the series with the reds, the buccos avoided being swept, and their record stands at 4-2, which leads the central with the reds. jack wilson homered (see above picture), jason bay homered, and so did big country. i said before, that brad eldred needed to make the pirates opening day roster, instead of starting the season in the minors again. big country proved me right, by homering in his first game this season, and for the first time since 2005. it was eldred's 12 career homer. i saw his 10th career home run, in a game that andy pettitte won in pittsburgh, on september 20, 2005. my buddy evan, who is from boston and looks like joe thornton, as ive pointed out in the past, hung out and talked with pettitte's dad throughout the game. we had seats right behind the astros dugout, and evan, a hardcore pats/bosox fan, kept talking with mr pettitte about boston sports, and mr pettitte kept looking at his friends like, "whos this dude?" dont know why thats important, but it was memorable...and eldred homered.

we are about 50 hours to the drop of the puck in pittsburgh's first playoff game in some time. i cant wait, and im not that worried that the game will be in ottawa. we just won there, so that shouldnt be too much of an obstacle to overcome. scott burnside of espn.com, who has written some pro-penguins pieces in the past, has picked the sens to win in 5 games. boo. he names the lack of experience and the questionable blue line as reasons for his pick. i just think he has the hots for sens coach bryan murray.

zach johnson won the masters. he outlasted tiger, who couldnt seem to hit the right shots. it is impressive, however that tiger played so poorly, yet still put himself in a position to win another green jacket. i was unimpressed by johnson, and i didnt want him to win. he seemed like a tool on the golf course, and he was making me mad by constantly taking the sunglasses off the back of his head in a deliberate fashion, and quickly putting them on his face. it kept distracting me from his putting and short game, which was unbelievable. he laid up on every par 5 the entire weekend, and used short irons to set himself up with makeable puts. pretty smart way to win the masters with the highest score in tournament history (289).

the pirates home opener is currently going on, against the struggling cards. ian "im gonna strike out 11 astros" snell is pitching against braden "im supposed to pitch in the first 5-6 innings?" looper. this will be looper's second start of his career, after spending the past years as a reliever and closer. the cards are up 1-0, and chris duffy has the only pirate hit. UPDATE: jason bay just got pittsburghs second hit, moving adam laroche, who walked, to second. with only 1 out, hopefully x-man nady or paulino will knock in a couple runs. UPDATE: nady hit into an inning-ending double play. that sucks.

more later...