Today the Pittsburgh Steelers will report to Latrobe for their first training camp under Mike Tomlin. As we know, training camp is an important annual occasion on the Pittsburgh sports calendar. While not officially a recognized holiday in the region YET, it does signal the beginning of one season (football) and the end of another (baseball). And what better way to officially end another year of losing baseball than a 1-0 loss to the 42-56 Houston Astros? Might I add that the Buccos managed just five hits and no runs in eights innings against Woody "4-11, 5.37 ERA" Williams on Sunday? Sure, why not! Why not end the season with a bang?
Sunday's game was the kind that makes a good player go bad, in the words of Jay-Z and Rihanna. Human Youman threw eight innings of four-hit ball, allowing one run. And he got the loss. Welcome to Pittsburgh, or Hell, as Jason Kendall once called it. We Will: Mentally Beat Down Our Few Successful Players.
In other Pirate news, the team is actively trying to trade Jack Wilson onto the Toronto Blue Jays. Whenever Jack Wilson gets dealt, I want everyone to remember this quote given by Dave Littlefield the day that the Buccos traded for Cesar Izturis:
I'm hoping to make that quote the Pittsburgh equivalent of Nick Saban's "I'm not going to be the Alabama coach." Please, please, please stop lying to us, Mr. Littlefield. We can handle the truth. Stop playing us for fools. Your fan base is not simply made up of the families of four who come on Sundays and let their kids run the bases after the game. There are some actual baseball fans left in Pittsburgh. Few, but still some nonetheless.
The Pirates sit just a game out of last place at 41-56. Adam LaRoche and Jason Bay, the centerpieces of the lineup, now have twin .246 averages. There are no regulars batting higher than .295. Yes, it's a great time to start talking about fantasy drafts, two-a-days, and Sharky's Cafe. Football season has arrived, my friends. It's time to make a smooth transition away from Armas, Paulino and Duke and into Roethlisberger, Polamalu and Parker. This could be the most entertaining training camp we've ever seen. Let's make this segue as seamless as possible.
