Seeing A No-Hitter With My Son

One of my dreams/bucket list items is to attend a no-hitter in person. In July 2001, I saw Todd Ritchie (yes, Todd Ritchie) go 8 1/3 innings before giving up a single. After seeing probably over 100 baseball games in my lifetime, that was the closest I've come to seeing a no-hitter. Meanwhile, I took my son (The Moose, age 4) to his first baseball game on Saturday night. He has now attended one single baseball game and has witnessed a no-hitter (and almost the 22nd perfect major league game since 1900). He has no idea that this is a big deal. On to my notes and thoughts on the game and taking The Moose to his first game.

- Breaking news: Max Scherzer is really, really good. Maybe that's why the Nationals paid him over $200 million. I'm a Pirates fan and definitely wanted the Bucs to win, but I can appreciate an amazing pitching performance and found myself rooting for a perfect game in the top of the 9th.

- After the first inning, The Moose told me that he wanted to go home. That's when I went into food mode. I offered him a fruit bar that I had in my bag and then we quickly went to the concession stand to get french fries and a Sprite. He loved the Sprite and made it through the rest of the game (sitting on my lap for nearly all of it) without any complaints.

- In either the 7th inning or top of the 8th inning, I looked at the scoreboard and mentioned to my friend that we were watching a perfect game. We knew it was a no-hitter but had no idea we were watching a potential perfect game until then.

- I did a terrible job of taking pictures during the game. Really, I just wanted to make sure my kid was happy and that I didn't lose him in the crowd of over 40,000. I did take this picture of several members of the Pirates walking to the bullpen before the game. Plus, both Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen sat in my section!

- I also should have taken a picture of someone wearing a Pirates' Garrett Jones jersey.

- Unwritten rules in baseball are stupid. In the 8th inning, the Nats shifted against Pedro Alvarez. Pedro could have bunted towards the deserted third base line to reach on a single, but that's not permitted in baseball. Well, if it was a 1-0 game, maybe that would have been a little acceptable, but baseball folks would have gone insane if Pedro did this on Saturday. If you think the reaction to Jose Tabata reaching on a hit-by-pitch was crazy, Pedro would have been vilified even more.

- The Nationals had a promotion on Saturday where after the game, Seniors could stroll the bases. During the game, I talked with my friend about the fact I tweaked my knee (for the second time in a month) earlier in the day working as a soccer referee), probably will need bifocals soon and that I recently went to the dentist and learned that I have receding gums. Basically, I could have been eligible to run the bases!

- When we got home, all The Moose talked about to my wife was chocolate syrup. Naturally, she had not idea what he was talking about. I mean why would there be chocolate syrup at a baseball game? Here's the answer:



MASN's Dan Kolko did not look happy about Jayson Werth dumping chocolate syrup on him. I'd bet $10 that Werth doesn't pay the dry-cleaning bill.

- The Moose wasn't very impressed by the Presidents/Pierogi race. I think he found the characters a little scary.

- I'd like to give the Nationals credit for posting the artist and song title for each hitter's walk-up music on the scoreboard. That was a nice touch particularly since I didn't know many songs.

- Quick rant: I love keeping ticket stubs of sporting events/concerts I attend. However, there are less and less ticket stubs these days and you generally print off your tickets now. Even Nats season ticket holders get a card that they swipe or scan at the gate instead of receiving individual tickets. Here is part of my ticket from Saturday's game that is now folded up on a regular 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.

- I don't ever want to drive through a hurricane, but I feel like I got a taste of what it's like to do so going home after the game. There were massive thunderstorms on Saturday evening with extremely heavy rain and lightning everywhere. I'm glad that the game was at 4:05 since a 7:05 game would have been postponed.

Here's more about the game:

The Washington Post (here and here

People were mad at Tabata (also The Washington Post)

Dejan Kovacevich wrote a really good piece in support of Tabata. [DK on Pittsburgh Sports]

Clinton Yates agreed with DK. [Washington Post again]

Josh Yohe of DK on Pittsburgh Sports
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
ESPN

Video of the top of the 9th [MLB]

Weekend Questions

1. Why would the Original Hot Dog on the University of Pittsburgh's campus show the Los Angeles Dodgers-Chicago Cubs baseball game on its televisions instead of the Pitt-Iowa football game?

2. Why would the Pitt book store not play the Pitt-Iowa game on the store's radio?

3. Why don't more Pennsylvania turnpike drivers have E-Z Pass?

4. Is it absurd that someone would refuse to have 2% milk with Lucky Charms cereal instead preferring to have skim milk with the cereal?

5. Is the sign "Want a job? Let's "Taco" 'bout it" at the Breezewood Taco Bell a clever way to attract potential new employees?

6. If Pedro Alvarez is healthy, would you put him on the Pirates postseason roster?

7. Is an advertisement on the PA turnpike featuring a picture of Yoko Ono with the question "Would you take energy advice from the woman that broke up The Beatles" effective?

While this isn't trivia, feel free to answer any of these questions in the comments section below.

Don't forget that you can always like Sean's Ramblings on Facebook.

Random Ramblings

* I took both boys out by myself for the first time last weekend to see a music performance that was supposed to be geared for kids but wasn't very good. Anyway, my goal was to leave the house at 9:15. We left at 9:40.

* Ohio State is playing against Navy in Baltimore and then 5-6 weeks later at The University of Maryland in College Park. That was poor planning on someone's part (I'll blame the Big 10). More importantly, why didn't I know about this? As a graduate of The Ohio State University, shouldn't the alumni organization let me know about this? Do they not consider Northern Virginia part of the Maryland-DC region? Of course, I'm not a member of the alumni organization, so, um, I'll blame the Big 10.

* Our home uses gas for heat and electric for air conditioning. Therefore, our gas bills are low in the summer bit higher in the winter. Actually, the fact that our summer gas bill is generally $20-$30 is a bit of a joke since (to my knowledge) the gas is never on. Anyway, this month's bill is $0.81. I approve! When I tried to pay the $0.81 through my online checking account, the bank denied my payment requiring me to enter an amount of $1 or more. Look out for that $0.19 credit next month!

* I just finished reading Brazil's Dance With the Devil: The World Cup, The Olympics and The Fight For Democracy by Dave Zirin. Very, very interesting read. Based on the book, I never want the Olympics in DC, Pittsburgh, or basically any American city.

* I cut myself fairly badly while shaving over two consecutive days this week. You would that that I would be able to avoid this after shaving for 25 years.

* Remember a few months ago when I nicknamed my new son Pedro Tulowitzki after two members of my rotisserie/fantasy baseball team? Well, Troy Tulowitzki is now out for the season and Pedro Alvarez barely plays anymore.

Play Pedro Alvarez In Right Field

Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez is struggling. Actually, that may be an understatement. Alvarez seems to have lost the ability to accurately throw the ball to first base. He leads the majors in errors and has been replaced by Josh Harrison. Meanwhile, Alvarez led the National League in home runs last season and is one of the best power hitters in baseball when he gets on a hot streak. However, he's not going to get on any type of hot streak since he's not actually playing other than an occasional pinch hitting appearance. Alvarez is out of options (meaning that he can't get sent down to the minor leagues), so the Pirates appear to be stuck. Pedro is a major defensive liability, yet, no one on the team can match his power.

With the Pirates (likely) placing reigning NL MVP Andrew McCutchen on the disabled list, the team needs to find a way to get Pedro into the line-up. Since Harrison is now playing third, my solution is to start Pedro in right field. Yes, this may be crazy, but what are the other options?

Let's start with why this won't work. Pedro Alvarez has only played third base during his time with the Pirates, in the minor leagues and at Vanderbilt University. Maybe Alvarez played some outfield in high school, but to my knowledge, he did not. Teaching a player a new position in, oh, two days doesn't seem like a recipe for success. Plus, PNC Park requires athletic outfielders in both left field and center field. Alvarez is likely not athletic enough for either of these positions. With McCutchen going on the DL, Starling Marte can move to center. Do you move rookie Gregory Polanco to a brand new position to accommodate Alvarez?

Now the alternative. The Pirates recently signed Jayson Nix who has already played in Philadelphia and Tampa this season. You can play him and move Harrison to OF along with Marte and Polanco. You can also keep Harrison at 3B and have Travis Snider or Jose Tabata as your regular outfielders. Regardless, a Pirates line-up without McCutchen and Alvarez is not intimidating and not one that you would expect to regularly score more than 3 runs per game. Alvarez has the ability to hit game-changing home runs and his on-base percentage has improved from last season.

If you're looking for a similar situation, the Nationals moved Ryan Zimmerman to the outfield this season, a position he never played previously. That experiment seemed to go well until he got re-injured (which had nothing to do with the move to the outfield).

Vote for Pedro (to play right field)!

Friday Video

You can get car insurance from GEICO, Allstate, Nationwide, The General, an Elephant or dozens if not hundreds of places that advertise non-stop. However, if you are Pittsburgh Pirates 3B Pedro Alvarez or a fan of his, there is only one place to get car insurance: El Toro Del Toro.



Terrible effort by the goalie on the bull's shot. He should have made the save.

With the 305 area code, maybe this is Pitbull's car insurance!

Fat Joe Wears A Pirates Jersey, Pedro Alvarez Does Not

While watching the MLB Network recently, I noticed several commercials for a show on MTV2 called Off the Bat. The show seemed interesting though I'm probably too old for the MTV2 target audience. However, I noticed that Pedro Alvarez will be on tonight's show, so I want to check this episode.

It looks like Fat Joe isn't as fat as he used to be. Good for Bald Joe! Anyway, here's a description of the show:

MTV2 and Major League Baseball team up to bring you a one-of-a-kind show that goes way beyond baseball, Off the Bat from the MLB Fan Cave.

Each week Major League Baseball players and celebrity fans will drop by the Fan Cave to hang out with our hosts: MTV News correspondent Sway, hip-hop heavyweight Fat Joe, and Guy Code stars Chris Distefano and Melanie Iglesias. Together they'll cover all the bases on the biggest stories in baseball, pop culture, and entertainment.

This show isn't about stats, or about what happens on the field. We'll highlight players in a way that no one's ever seen before, from locker room pranks to hilarious interviews, in-studio games, lifestyle features and much more.

Get ready for a totally new look at your favorite athletes and celebrities.

I'm not sure if I'll still be awake at 11:00 tonight, but this seems perfect for my DVR. Maybe I'll even include a link to an episode here.

Two more points.

1. Is Chris Distefano related to former Pirate Benny Distefano?

2. This would have been a perfect post for Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies who had a regular feature of celebrities including hip-hop stars wearing Pittsburgh sports gear. I hope Tecmo returns to blogging soon!

New Dad Take Two

You may have noticed that I haven't written much recently. I also haven't shaved in a week (or kept up with personal hygiene in general), slept as much as I would like (though I did manage to sleep through most of the first two Penguins playoff games) or have had much interaction with the outside world. I have a really good reason though. My second child arrived! Here are some observations about the experience. Enjoy!

- There is an added degree of difficulty when preparing to go to the hospital to give birth when you have a 3 year-old at home. We wanted to give our son a bath and put on his pajamas before we went to the hospital, but my son didn't feel the urgency of the situation. Sure, going potty hadn't been a priority for him, but yes, tell us that you want to use the toilet as my wife is having contractions. I gave him two minutes on the potty. When he didn't go in those two minutes, I immediately put him in the bathtub where he promptly urinated in the bathtub.

- Although I packed a bag for the hospital, I managed to forget several key items including deodorant. Conversely, the one item I managed to grab before we left was a bag of Rold Gold pretzels. Brilliant move as I had a rushed dinner and the hospital cafeteria was closed when I was hungry in the middle of the night. Therefore, I'd like to thank Rold Gold and propose a new slogan for their brand. "Rold Gold: The snack you want when you're waiting for your wife to give birth."

- 22 year-old me would have been excited by the amount of texts I received around 2:30 AM. Of course, 22 year-old me didn't have have a cell phone. (Plus, I'm not sure texting was even around back.)

- Nurses regularly asked the pain level on a scale between 0 to 10. One of the nurses explained that 10 would be like getting your arm cut off. Why use that as your pain threshold? How many people have had their arms cut off? Besides, it didn't seem that bad in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.



- Although there was some initial concern about my son not crying much, he has certainly proved that he can scream extremely loudly. For example, I have no idea how my 3 year-old slept through my newborn's Exorcist-like screams the other night. Of course, the oldest son managed to wake up (and wake me up) at 4:30 even though it was quiet and everyone was asleep.

- I ended up wearing the exact same clothing including shoes from 7:00 AM Wednesday through 4:30 PM Thursday.

- While I'm not going to share my child's name here, I thought I would tell you his Hebrew name: Pedro Tulowitzki after two members of my rotisserie/fantasy baseball team. Those are both Old Testament names, right?

- Is there a doctor out there named Billy Rubin that specifically works with patients with jaundice? Seems like type-casting.

- The hospital encouraged us to watch a video where they prominently showed women's breasts. Encouraged us! I think this might be illegal in some states.

- When I watched Grey's Anatomy in the early years, it seemed like medical staff hooked up nearly everywhere in the hospital. However, I don't think there were any scenes of doctors, nurses or interns getting together on a sleeper chair.

- Yes, that's a nice way of writing that I hope that I never have to "sleep" on Hill-Rom sleeper chair again.

- The company that makes hospital receiving blankets must be super-rich. They have a monopoly on the market.

- Is there a class in medical or nursing school where you learn how to easily and properly swaddle infants? I feel like that's a requirement for graduation.

I'm sure that I'll share more stories soon about being a dad again, but first, I need some sleep.

Talk Like A Pittsburgh Pirate Day

The writers, actors and everyone else associated with Parks & Recreation are brilliant. In the "Article Two" episode that aired on April 18th, the show featured this reference to Talk Like a Pittsburgh Pirate Day on November 16th:



It is extremely appropriate that the first celebration of Talk Like a Pittsburgh Pirate Day is talking place only two days after Andrew McCutchen won the National League MVP award. So on November 16th, go ahead and talk like McCutchen. Talk like Roberto Clemente. Talk like Bill Mazeroski. Talk like Willie Stargell. Talk like Bob Prince. Talk like Gerrit Cole or Pedro Alvarez or Starling Marte.

You can simply walk around saying No Doubt About It or Raise It while flashing folks the Zoltan sign.

Whatever you do, talk like a Pittsburgh Pirate!

Friday Links

It's Friday, so there must be links. Enjoy some sports and non-sports stuff.

If you happen to be in Australia, make sure you see Sarah at the Melbourne Writers Festival. [Smart Bitches, Trashy Books]

If you happen to be a single Christian woman who likes kids and is also a Pittsburgh sports fan (or at least would tolerate a Pittsburgh sports fan), this could be the guy for you. If it works out, I'd like credit for being a matchmaker. [Away From the Things Of Man]

A belated Happy Birthday to Lisa. My dream is to be as good a writer as she is. [Lemon Gloria]

Dan took some great pictures from Steelers training camp. [Blog 'N Gold]

Great interview with Chris Fuamatu-Maʻafala [Pittsburgh Sports Daily Bulletin

Want to teach kids about money at Target? I have a feeling I'm going to have a story just like this in a few years. [Leah's Thoughts]

I've always ready liked Pittsburgh Pirate Pedro Alvarez. I like him even more after reading this article. [New York Daily News]

Finally, if you remember the Tyson-Holyfield fight from 1997, this video is extremely surreal. [Deadspin]

Let's Go Bucs

Although I've followed the Pittsburgh Pirates as closely as ever, I've avoided writing this blog post for many weeks. After collapses in both 2011 and 2012, my fear is that the Pirates will collapse again as soon as I write about the team's success. Yes, this is completely irrational, and I know that my writing has no impact on Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Francisco Liriano, Mark Melancon and the rest of the team. Sean's Ramblings is no Sports Illustrated! However, I couldn't take it any more. I'm just too excited by this Pirates team. Take a look at the National League Central standings.

WOOOOOOO! It's August 1st, and the Pirates lead the division! Take a look at the overall record.

WOOOOOOO! It's August 1st, and the Pirates have the best record in baseball!

I'd like to think that I can still look at the Pirates objectively. While the pitching has been amazing, I'd still like to see a healthy Wandy Rodriguez and especially Jason Grilli for September and October. The team also needs another bat or two particularly someone who can play right field and potentially win a game as a pinch hitter.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the Pirates run. And if the Pirates don't make the playoffs, you can blame me for writing this post.

A Message To The Pittsburgh Pirates & Hal Sparks

Dear Pittsburgh Pirates – Call Hal Sparks, invite him to a game and have him address the crowd.

Dear Hal Sparks – Accept the invitation and become a Pittsburgh celebrity.

With a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros last night, the Pittsburgh Pirates are 10 games over .500 for the first time since 1992. Now, just past the half-way point of the baseball season, the Pirates are in first place in the National League Central division and have the second best record in the National League. So what’s the secret of the Pirates success? The MVP performance of Andrew McCutchen? The outstanding performance of the pitching staff including All-Star Joel Hanrahan and should be All-Stars James McDonald and A.J. Burnett? The hot bat of Pedro Alvarez? The answer is Zoltan and the “Z” from the legendary, Oscar-Award winning 2000 movie Dude, Where’s My Car?



As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article (and video) explains,

"It all started in Atlanta when we were watching [television] in the clubhouse, and there was nothing we wanted to watch," said second baseman Neil Walker, recalling the last weekend in April. "We saw 'Dude, Where's My Car?' And guys were like 'Oh, we haven't seen this in a while.' So we watched it.

"It was just so terrible and stupid. We just pulled that from it. It's just kind of our team way of bonding, I guess."

As the Pirates have continued to win, Zoltan fever has continued to spread across Pittsburgh. Therefore, I recommend that the Pirates reach out to Hal Sparks, the actor who portrayed Zoltan, and ask him to give the Zoltan speech followed by a “Let’s Go Bucs” prior to an August or September home game. The crowd will go crazy! Don’t believe me? Several years ago, the Steelers started playing the song Renegade to pump up the crowd. Today, the city goes nuts whenever Styx comes to town to perform this song.

I bet you’re also wondering why such a big star like Hal Sparks would ever consider this opportunity. He’s probably extremely busy preparing for the next season of Disney’s TV show Lab Rats or the next VH1 I Love the 80s, 90s, 2000s, or 2010s show. However, this type of publicity is just the spark that Sparks needs to, um, spark his career!

Of course, Sparks is from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, so if he’s a Reds fan and doesn’t want to support the Pirates, I understand. Then again, being a celebrity is nice.

Let’s Go Bucs! Zoltan!

Pittsburgh Pirates Predictions & Props

(For those of you that generally read my blog through Google Reader or another feed, I'm sorry that you saw an "odd" post with only the odds earlier today. That's what happens when you try to write a blog post immediately after arriving home from a Van Halen/Kool & The Gang concert - more on this later.)

With the 2012 baseball season only days away (not including the Seattle-Oakland games in Japan), I need to start working on a draft plan for my fantasy baseball league. I also decided that now is the time to make predictions for the Pittsburgh Pirates season. While the odds for the Pirates winning the National League Central division (30/1), NL Pennant (40/1) and World Series (100/1) are fairly poor, I thought it would be fun to explore the prop bets for the team and individual players and share my predictions.

1. Over/under wins: 72.5

I'll go over. It's March, so of course I'm optimistic now.

2. Andrew McCutchen batting average in the 2012 Regular Season: Over/Under .280

I'll go over on this one too. I think McCutchen will have an amazing season.

3. Andrew McCutchen - Total HR's in the 2012 Regular Season: Over/Under 25.5

While I do think McCutchen will have an amazing season, I think 20-25 home runs is realistic.

4. Andrew McCutchen - Total Stolen Bases in the 2012 Regular Season: Over/Under 25.5

Over.

5. Neil Walker - BA in the 2012 Regular Season: Over/Under .275

I'll go under on this one. No real reason why.

6. Pedro Alvarez - Total HR's in the 2012 Regular Season: Over/Under 17.5

The big money deserves to go on the under, but I'm one of the few remaining Pedro supporters. I'll go over.

7. Garrett Jones - Total HR's in the 2012 Regular Season: Over/Under 15.5

I'll go under only because I'm banking on Pedro playing well meaning less playing time for Jones with McGahee getting significant at-bats at 1st.

8. Jose Tabata - BA in the 2012 Regular Season: Over/Under .280

Over. I think Tabata will hit around .300.

9. Joel Hanrahan - Total Saves in the 2012 Regular Season: Over/Under 35.5

Under. There will be fewer save opportunities for Hanrahan since the Pirates will constantly win games 10-2!

10. Erik Bedard - Total Wins in the 2012 Regular Season: Over/Under 8

Over. I predict more wins for Bedard in 2012 than Correia in 2011.

Shockingly, there were no prop bets for Clint Barmes. I also propose my own prop bets.

11. Josh Harrison walks: Over/Under 9

This is the toughest prop on the board! I'll predict under, but barely.

12. Team bunting attempts: Over/Under 1000

Over, but I'm not going to actually count this during the season.

Feel free to leave your predictions in the comments section below, and we'll revisit this in October. The first 10 props are courtesy of Bovada, an online gambling website (as opposed to an offline gambling website).

Pittsburgh Sports Jobs

In another attempt to use this blog for good instead of evil (I’m contemplating an evil post for next week), I thought I would share some job opportunities with some Pittsburgh area sports teams.

Inside Sales Representative – Pittsburgh Pirates

This sales position is entry level and focused on selling ticket plans and group tickets. Two words are all that you need to make a sale: Pedro Alvarez!

HD Radio Internship (Fall 2010) – Pittsburgh Penguins

This is an unpaid internship for a college junior or senior who will be responsible for helping to create the on-air production of a 24/7 Penguins Radio Station. Although it doesn’t say this on the job description, you will likely work with, or at least meet, Mike Lange. If you get this internship after learning about it from me, please get Lange to say “Buy Sean and drink and get his cat Ziggy one too.”

Sponsorship Account Executive – Washington Wild Things
This individual is responsible for generating leads and closing advertising and sponsorship agreements. I suggest getting some type of sponsorship involving Tone Loc, so that he can perform Wild Thing at every Wild Things game.

The Steelers also have some jobs on their website. Did you know that seat attendants are union positions? Now you know.