I believe the Pirates hit their peak in early 1993 taking their All-Tme records above .500 at 553 games. It now stands at 4.
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Thursday, May 22, 2025
A problem with Baseball Part 2 - The MLB batting avg. will be .248 or below for 6 straight years tying the worst stretch since 1904-1909
This maybe because teams are using so many pitchers. The current average is.244 (it is possible the average could finish above .248 before the end of the year.
When you look at - it is probably worse in todays game
A comparison (looking at the best each of the categories during that time on a per game/per team basis)
1904-1909 2020-2025
Runs 3.89 4.28
Singles 6.50 5.39
Doubles 1.50 1.69
Triples 0.46 0.15
Home Runs 0.14 1.28
Steals 1.22 0.79
Error 1.88 0.58
Baseball has tried everything in the last few years to put balls in play. Because there was almost 4 as more errors back then - it meant the ball was probably put in play more. A lot of those errors were probably because of poor conditions or poor fielding gloves or over zealous scorers.
Strikeouts 3.85 8.66
If you would time warp and put 1900s game in to stadiums today - I think fans would be more enthused as there would more action and not everyone would be waiting for the long ball
Monday, May 19, 2025
The Pittsburgh Pirates all-time record countdown to below .500 watch - 10,854-10852 .50004 - History is almost here
The Pirates are losing 4-1 the ninth I have already chalked this one up as a loss - Bob Uecker Style
This will be loss 10852.
The Pirates have been at or above .500 since August 22, 1903.
Sunday, May 18, 2025
Topps officially licensed NBA cards coming October 2025 and Topps NFL cards coming spring of 2026
The Topps 2025 industry conference was held a few weeks ago and it looks like the end of the line for Panini.
Topps basketball launches in 5 months with officially licensed Copper Flagg rookie cards. Thus it looks like we have seen the last of NBA Hoops which began in 1989.
The NBA is back with Topps for the first time since 2010
The first Arch Manning cards will be in 2026 Topps football sets. As Topps gets back into football for the first time since 2015.
On a somber note rest in peace Score Football, a person favorite will see its last set released next month. (1989-2025)
Friday, May 16, 2025
The Pittsburgh Pirates all-time record countdown to below .500 watch - 10,854-10848 .50013 -
The Pirates hold steady since they fired Derek Shelton staying 6 games over .500. They have gone 3-3
They reached .500 on August 22, 1903 and have been above it ever since.
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
A Problem with Baseball Part 1 - The Los Angeles Dodgers used 42 different pitchers last year.
That was not to honor Jackie Robinson.
Heck the Marlins used 45 different pitchers.
As an old school collector these numbers are incomprehensible. I used to know the 20-25 players on a team because they would appear on Topps cards (thinking mostly the 1980s).
Now I can not comprehend who pitched for the Dodgers.
Some Stats
The 1974 Dodgers used 13 pitchers and four of them did not get 10 Innings.
The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates used 14 pictures - Chuck Tanner once famously said he would like to use a picture every 3 innings. In games 5 of the World Series he started Jim Rooker used him for the first five innings and then brought in Bert Blyleven and used him for the last 4 innings. The Pirates were down 3 games to 1 at the time.
Earl Weaver used 12 pictures that year with 2 of them only getting 3 innings total.
The reason why teams you all these pitchers because they now through so hard, the managers need to limit their innings, pitches, games etc.... All these pitchers have led to another problem.........
Thursday, May 8, 2025
The Pittsburgh Pirates all-time countdown to below .500 watch - 10,851-10845 .50013 - Derek Shelton fired
The Pirates were 140 games over .500 when Derek Shelton - They are now only 6 as history awaits.
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
The Pittsburgh Pirates all-time countdown to below .500 watch - 10,851-10844 .50016 - A Philadelphia Phillies Note
In infamous history is about to be made as the Pirates all-time record is steaming to below .500.
One idea for this post came from when I was in Philadelphia some 17 years or so ago.
When I was there (I think Steven A Smith was writing for the Inquirer) in a Sunday edition of the newspaper there was a big story about how the Phillies were going to become the first major North American franchise to lose 10,000 games (now they were only going to compete against the other original 7 National League teams for this honor. - there is no NFL. NBA or NFL team that had a chance to do it first)
It was not all bad for the Phillies since they won the 2008 World Series
Monday, May 5, 2025
The Pittsburgh Pirates all-time countdown to below .500 watch - 10,851-10842 .50020 -
This fall to below .500 is happening real fast.
The Pirates were about 200 games below .500 as of the end of 1891.
The Pirates reached .500 on August 22, 1903 with a all time record of 1409-1409 after a sweep of the Philadelphia in a double header
On August 24, 1903 they tied Philadelphia in a game. Then on Monday August 25, 1903 the Pirates again sweep Philadelphia in a doubleheader to have an all time record of 1411-1409 for .50035 winning percentage.
History is happening - 122 years later..............
Saturday, May 3, 2025
The Pittsburgh Pirates all-time countdown to below .500 watch - 10,851-10840 .50025 - A Chicago Cubs note
History will be made soon at the Pirates All Time mark falls below .500
Here are some of the baseball teams that started in the 1800s where are they currently in in relation to the .500 mark
Braves +162 - They made an incredible run in the last 35 years to get over .500. Since 1991 the Braves have finished over .500 - 29 times and below 5 times. They currently sit at .500
Cubs - +567 - In one of the most unbelievable statistics in American Sports History the Cubs franchise all-time record has never been below .500. They won there first four games in 1876 and have never look back. - We are talking about 149 consecutive years at being over the .500 mark.