Pirates/MLB category, Page 233
Mark Madden: Playing all MLB games in Arizona sounds far-fetched, but we could use some normalcy
MLB’s proposal to sequester all 30 teams and their attendant personnel in Arizona by way of starting the season there sometime in May sounds far-fetched. But if games are played in empty ballparks, it’s going to be easy to hear the Houston Astros wallop that trash can. They won’t get...
Tim Benz: Play MLB games. Or don’t. But spare us the social distancing optics.
Try to keep up, baseball fans. Because you are reading a column that’s being written while stuck in “fast forward.” In an effort to avoid a covid-19-induced shutdown, Major League Baseball is considering playing the 2020 season exclusively in a league-wide, semi-quarantined state of existence throughout the Phoenix, Az., area....
The day Pirates catcher Mike LaValliere finally cussed out the 1992 Game 7 umpire
On Friday night, the MLB Network replayed the painful seventh game of the 1992 NLCS. "I was hoping those people in left field were blowing on my back to give me some tailwind." - Sid BreamWatch the @Braves' thrilling 1992 NLCS Game 7 win at 10pm ET on MLB Network...
Tim Benz: Coronavirus may be ruining sports world. Does it have to ruin our hope?
I’m no longer simply bored with the coronavirus-induced sports desert of the moment. I’m now in full-blown depression. My blues extend well beyond sports and into just about every avenue of how people have politicized and polarized the pandemic. It started with the chorus of people insisting sports “weren’t important”...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden: Do sports have a future in coronavirus era?
This week’s Madden Monday is… …well, what can I say? It’s pretty bleak. Mark Madden and I are both pretty bummed out over the covid-19-induced state of affairs influencing the sports world. It’s feeling more and more like every sport — including football — won’t be allowed to resume for...
First Call: Steelers hidden gem draft prospect?; Jason Kendall’s crazy claim; Donnie Shell’s presenter
Monday’s “First Call” features a draft candidate for the Steelers. Some props for the Steelers cornerbacks. Donnie Shell announces his Hall of Fame presenter. And the walls may be closing in on former Pirate Jason Kendall. Is Kendall crazy? Perhaps the covid-19 shut-in has made Jason Kendall a little nutty....
John Steigerwald: When they return, sports should be made-for-TV events
Let the games begin. Or not. President Donald Trump held a conference call with the commissioners of all the major sports leagues Saturday and told them he is hoping people can start filling stadiums and arenas by August or September. That’s good news for the NFL and college football, but,...
In covid-19 era, will 2020 see sports join 1994 MLB, 2005 NHL as champion-less seasons?
A year without awarding the Stanley Cup? No 2020 NBA champion? Even, perhaps, no World Series or Super Bowl winner? All are seemingly in play as the nation — and world — deals with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The major sports leagues in North America have been shut down in...
Tim Benz: Are 7-inning doubleheaders the way to go for a revamped MLB schedule?
One idea to help Major League Baseball get as many games as possible onto the schedule in 2020 is to play a lot of scheduled doubleheaders. According to Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins, via ESPN one of the ideas being floated around is playing those doubleheaders as seven-inning...
Pirates home opener history includes some memorable momentsVideo
Under normal circumstances, the Pittsburgh Pirates would have played the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday at PNC Park in their 139th home opener. But the game — just like almost every sporting event around the globe over the past three weeks — was postponed (not yet canceled) by the coronavirus pandemic....
Pirates preventing Jameson Taillon from pitching in 2020
A pitcher who has already had all too much of his baseball career affected by injury and health, Jameson Taillon acknowledges that he’s allowed the fierce competitor inside of him to lobby to return to a major-league mound in 2020. “Yeah, I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t...
Pirates’ Jameson Taillon against neutral-site World SeriesVideo
During a conference call with Pittsburgh media Monday afternoon, Jameson Taillon repeatedly asserted players were open to a myriad of possibilities aimed at salvaging as much of the 2020 MLB season as possible. “Players,” the Pittsburgh Pirates union representative said, “will visit just about anything.” There is one thing, though,...
John Steigerwald: Ex-Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh belongs in Hall of Fame
Tim Murtaugh made it to the big leagues. Maybe you remember or have heard of Tim’s grandfather, Danny, who managed the Pirates off and on for 15 years and won two World Series. Tim’s father, also named Tim, never made it to the major leagues as a player, but he...
First Call: Bruce Arians destroys Antonio Brown rumors; former Pirate now a pro wrestler
In Friday’s “First Call,” Bruce Arians shuts the door on the Antonio Brown-to-Tampa Bay rumors. Hard. Former Pirates pitcher and “Million Dollar Arm” star Rinku Singh is making it big as a pro wrestler. Pirates pitcher Trevor Williams obviously misses opening day. A dangerous quote from an NFL star. And...
Pirates President Travis Williams sends message to fans
Thursday was supposed to be Opening Day for Major League Baseball. The Pittsburgh Pirates had a game – the first of 2020 — scheduled in Tampa, Fla., against the Rays. It was to be Derek Shelton’s first Opening Day as a manager, the first Pirates’ game without Clint Hurdle in...
Training staff seeks creative ways to keep Pirates players engaged, in shape
Though the number of Pittsburgh Pirates players who have remained in the team’s spring-training home city of Bradenton, Fla., has dwindled, the ones who remain still are getting in work in an effort to maintain some semblance of baseball conditioning. The players remaining in Bradenton — some are in Pittsburgh,...
Injured Pirates pitchers Steven Brault, Clay Holmes ‘progressing, improving’
If Opening Day had gone on as scheduled Thursday, Steven Brault and Clay Holmes would have began the season on the Pittsburgh Pirates injured list. But the pitchers are progressing in their rehabs from injuries suffered during spring training, according to director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk. Brault was shut...
Even if season extends late, Pirates won’t change Jameson Taillon’s timeline
As rumors swirl about the Major League Baseball season perhaps extending as late as Christmas, some of the unintended benefits of the awful coronavirus situation could be injured players whose rehabs are progressing while no one else is playing. Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon is not one of the players...
First Call: ‘Pittsburgh icon quarantine matchmaker’ is greatest coronavirus time-waster ever
It takes a lot to make people smile these days, given the covid-19 shutdown. So credit TribLive’s Chris Benson for coming up with a way to make that happen. He developed this fantastic coronavirus shut-in timewaster. Hit play. Then, whenever you hit pause, that is the one Pittsburgh icon you...
July 1 established as betting-line choice for MLB’s season open
Officially, the 2020 Major League Baseball season has been postponed by only two weeks. Functionally, it’s going to be much longer than that before regular-season games are played – if at all. And with no games to take wagers on as the nation shuts down out of concern for coronavirus,...
Classic Pirates games — ’60 World Series Game 7, ’13 Wild Card — set to airVideo
One is one of the most iconic games in baseball history. Another is the biggest win over the past quarter-century for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Each will be available for viewing in the coming days as AT&T SportsNet seeks out new ways to keep baseball fans engaged. The Pirates’ rightsholder announced...
Pirates players buy 400 pizzas for Allegheny General Hospital workers
With Jameson Taillon throwing the first pitch, Pittsburgh Pirates players bought lunch Monday for health care providers at Allegheny General Hospital. Taillon reached out last week to Pirates officials, who coordinated with Slice on Broadway, located in PNC Park, and Pizzeria Davide on Penn Avenue. Us players found it important...
Pirates, food bank volunteers help to feed those in need
The Pittsburgh Pirates and Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank did their part to help local families dealing with effects of the coronavirus Saturday by hosting a drive-up food distribution event in the PNC Park parking lots on the North Shore. Volunteers from both organizations supplied those in need with boxes...
Pirates option 7 players, including Tucker and Hayes, to Triple-A Indianapolis
The Pirates optioned seven players to Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday, including former first-round draft choices Cole Tucker and Ke’Bryan Hayes. Tucker, who was drafted from high school in 2014, spent part of last season with the Pirates, but he hit only .211 in 56 games and was mainly the backup...
Amid coronavirus crisis, Pirates donate $50,000 to Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
The MLB spring training and season have been halted by the coronavirus pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped the Pittsburgh Pirates from giving back to those in need. The Pirates and Pirates Charities announced on Friday a $50,000 donation to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, a nonprofit organization that distributes...
