The great state of Pennsylvania has two Major League Baseball teams. The Pittsburgh Pirates have won 5 World Series and lost two more, while the Philadelphia Phillies have only won 2 World Series and lost 6 times.

Yet, since the Pirates last World Series appearance way back in 1979, the Phillies have appeared in 6 World Series. They won two of them. Free agency came into play, and it was much more conducive to a large market like Philadelphia. Also, running a team competently has pushed the scales definitively to the eastern side of the state.

Same state. Same sport. That’s where it ends.

In the past 25 years, the Phillies have 15 winning records and 2 .500 records. The Phils have 6 division titles, 3 World Series appearances, and 1 championship during the past quarter century. They did lose 90+ games 4 times.

In that same stretch of time, the Pirates have 4 winning seasons, 0 division titles, and 0 World Series appearances. The Buccos have lost 90+ games 12 times, reaching 100 losses 4 times.

This season is more of the same. The Phillies are battling for an NL East division title and will almost assuredly make the playoffs regardless. The Pirates will have to play .500 ball the rest of the season to avoid losing 90 games again.

As mentioned at the top, spending ability in a no cap league is a major difference between the two teams. So is competence. So is having an owner that cares. Oddly, those last two go hand in hand.

On the eastern side of the state John Middleton has crescendoed his ownership into a contender year after year. He culminated that climb by hiring future Hall of Fame GM Dave Dombrowski. Before calling the shots in Philly, Dombrowski won a World Series in Miami and later in Boston. In between he pulled Detroit out of the quicksand and won four consecutive division titles. In Philadelphia he has already been to a World Series.

A few weeks ago Middleton made clear he was willing to make big moves, but cautioned that he wasn’t super interested in trading off a ton of top prospects. He wanted to protect the team’s viability for future years. Ultimately, he put it in Dombrowski’s hands. Never a bad idea.

Meanwhile, western PA has seen a different story. The story is long and quite sad. Owner Bob Nutting has been pinching pennies since the day he became majority owner. Even in the three playoff years —2013 to 2015— Nutting didn’t authorize the money to bring in a superstar. Nutting didn’t have the confidence to hire a new GM on his own, so he outsourced the job to a hiring firm. In came Ben Cherington, who has one World Series title to his credit while in Boston. Every other year he has been a GM, his teams have finished last or next to last.

Somehow in year 6 of a rebuild the team is worse than it was the previous years. Even more remarkable, when manager Derek Shelton was fired early in the season Cherington survived. That left a guy who has one bad trade and/or signing after another to navigate the trade deadline. With good reason, Pirate fans were apoplectic.

At the trade deadline Dombrowski went and got the elite closer his team desperately needed. Dombrowski acquired Jhoan Duran from the Minnesota Twins, and he didn’t give up any of the Phillies top three prospects. He did give up the fourth and fifth ranked prospects, but one is a catcher and the other is Mick Abel, an oft injured pitcher who didn’t look all that great in a short stint with the Phillies this season. Additionally, Dombrowski brought in outfielder Harrison Bader to add depth —and more winning pedigree— to the outfield. Mission accomplished.

The trade deadline went as expected in Pittsburgh. When you allow an incompetent GM to conduct trades and have an owner that could care less —unless it means saving money— you get lousy moves. In some cases, the moves —or lack of— is borderline inexplicable.

The first trade was to rid themselves of Ke’Bryan Hayes’s wiffle ball bat. This one was an okay trade, getting back Cincinnati’s ninth best prospect. They also received Tyler Rogers, a pitcher with an insane 12 million dollar contract that balanced the finances of the deal. The Pirates jettisoned Rogers to the Cubs, as there was no way they were keeping that contract on the books.

Next to go was closer David Bednar. Bednar came back from the minor leagues earlier this year and was dominant. The Phillies set the market when they acquired Duran. Yet Ben Cherington, by his own admission, passed on a higher rated prospect and instead took, not one, but two catchers from the Yankees. One can hit but is a suspect defender and the other is a good defender but can’t hit. Genius.

Then pitcher Bailey Falter was traded for two guys Pirates fans will never see. Falter had three years left on a very moderate contract, yet Cherington claimed he would have been a non-tender option next year. I am fine with Falter being traded, but surely you could get something worthwhile for a lefty with a friendly contract.

Couple the Falter trade with the fact that Andrew Heaney —also Tommy Pham and Isaiah Kiner-Falefa— was not traded despite playing on an expiring contract. Why would you not trade these guys and get something rather than let them walk after the season?

The most infuriating part of the Pirates trade deadline was the response from Ben Cherington. While others around baseball —including other front office folks— questioned the motives behind the moves the Pirates made, Cherington stated no move was made to save money and that type of move would never be made.

Sure, Ben, whatever you say.

Cherington went on to say that this would give some young guys more playing time. Sure, except you didn’t trade the vets in front of them. I am pretty sure Don Kelly isn’t going to permanently bench any of the veterans. At best, the young guys will get sporadic playing time.

That was followed up by this laugher. it is “2026 or bust” for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wasn’t that the slogan this year? And 2023? And…

Who do they think they are kidding?

The Philadelphia Phillies are about to exceed 3 million people in attendance for the third straight season.  While the Phillies have been jockeying for first place in front of a packed house every night, the Pirates have sunk to the bottom of the standings —again— and have managed to make news in other unflattering ways.

  • Covered up Roberto Clemente’s 21 placard on the right field wall with an advertisement.
  • Demolished fan bricks without their knowledge.
  • Fired manager Derek Shelton but retain GM Ben Cherington.
  • Reliever Dennis Santana tries to fight a fan after being heckled. 
  • Tommy Pham makes an inappropriate gesture in left field after getting in an argument with a fan.
  • A fist fight breaks out between a fan and a team employee.
  • Fan falls from seat above the Clemente wall and lands on field. He survives with a broken neck.
  • Almost every series includes a “Sell the team” chant from the limited crowd in attendance.
  • Many games the opposing team has more fans at PNC Park than the Pirates do.
  • Multiple times this season a plane has flown overhead during a game with a “Sell the team” banner.
  • Billboards were bought in the city with that same sentiment on the billboard.

That is a lot of bad PR to go with an equally bad on field product.

While Bryce Harper is yelling about not wanting a salary cap, Paul Skenes came out and said hopefully the money save this year at the deadline can be used to “get us a couple bats in the offseason”. His words will most likely fall on deaf ears, but it is sad when the players feel the need to throw out hints for ownership.

While Pirates fans haven’t heard a peep from owner Bob Nutting during yet another failed season, Phillies fans get this type of comments from John Middleton.

 

That is an owner that is knowledgeable about baseball and in tune with his GM.

Bob Nutting spoke at the beginning of the season about thinking he has provided enough money for his GM to work with. He then stood there smiling, admiring his tall tale.

Phillies fans will spend the rest of the season like this.

 

And then this.

 

And this, too.

Just one more. MVP? Why not?


Pittsburgh will spend the remainder of the season like this.

 

 

The Phillies and Pirates share the same state and the same sport. That is where the comparisons stop.

The team to the East is competently run, trying to win, and capturing an entire city.

The team to the West is run by a two bit penny pinching grifter who pockets every cent and could care less if his team wins.

Phillies Fever > Pirates PTSD.

Two Cent Takes

MLB

~On May 4 Quin Priester had an ERA of 5.79. Two months later, on August 4, Priester’s ERA is 3.15. He is 11-2 and another example of a player Milwaukee got right. Priester was awful in 14 starts with Pittsburgh, posting a 6.46 ERA. Then Boston cast him off. At 24 years of age, Priester is now finding his groove. Another example of why the Brewers win.

~There are precious few things entertaining about the Pittsburgh Pirates, but this is certainly one. Welcome back Dauri Moreta.

 

~Baseball in the Big Apple has turned rotten. The Yankees are 7-12 in their last 19 games, while the Mets are 1-6 in their last 7 games. Not only are both teams losing, but they are playing putrid baseball.

NFL

~The Browns signed quarterback Tyler Huntley, making 5 signal callers in camp. My guess is not one of them is any good.

~Can we please stop analyzing every throw a quarterback makes in camp? It isn’t a great indicator of anything. Same goes for preseason games.

~Dallas is like a three ring circus. The head coach shows up at press conferences with the backward visor look. The star player, Micah Parsons, wants traded. The owner is publicly feuding with the star players agents, one of whom is former Dallas star Dez Bryant. In other words, just another day in Jerry World.

~FOX has Pittsburgh at number 6 in their preseason power rankings. Do they know something we don’t, or have they been sniffing the paint thinner again?

Golf

~Ian Baker Finch is retiring from CBS golf after 30 years on the mic. He was always entertaining, friendly, and astute. He will leave big shoes for somebody to fill at CBS. When your exit can make Jim Nantz crack a bit, you know you were a good, good dude.

 

~It is on to the FedEx Cup, where Scottie Scheffler is the odds on favorite. An underlying storyline the next few weeks is the jockeying for Ryder Cup spots. It would appear the Americans have at least 3 spots still up for grabs.

College Hoops

~March Madness will remain at 68 teams, at least for 2026. The discussion to move to 76 teams is far from dead and will be discussed for 2027.

The Weekly Shiny Penny

What is better than a shiny penny? How about three shiny pennies. Admit it, you thought I was going to say two. There were too many cool moments this week.

First up is a really cool thing from hockey. A hockey tradition is allowing each player from the Stanley Cup champions to have a few days with the Cup. Mackie Samoskevish grew up in Sandy Hook, CT, so he brought the Cup to the Sandy Hook Elementary Memorial. Pretty cool gesture.

 

The Portland Pickles, a professional Summer League team, ran a contest where one fan could take an at bat. What happened was stunning, and may have the pitcher thinking about another dream to follow.

 

Finally, the man, the myth, the legend, Brent Musberger FINALLY went into the football Hall of Fame last week. Brent is the best of the best, a Mount Rushmore guy,  and I would like to request that he live forever. Here is a clip with Maria Taylor before the Hall of Fame game with Brent doing it as only Vegas Brent can.

 


A Penny For My Final Thought…

I guess we can file this under “why am I not surprised”.

The President has decided to revive the Presidential Fitness Test. Man, I hated that test. I was good at sports, but far from athletic. Pull ups made me question my manhood. Mile run? A mile? I don’t think so. I mean I finished…sometime before sundown. I can’t remember if the rope climb was part of the test, but I had no intention of getting up that damn rope.

Despite my hatred for the test, I am glad he is bringing it back. It should be part of a kid’s schooling. Whether you are an athletic kid or not, it gives kids something to strive for. It teaches perseverance.

In addition, the President is interjecting himself into college athletics. He is trying to help with the whole NIL deal, something I wrote critically about a couple weeks ago. The President also wants to help women’s sports.

President Trump formed a council of current and former athletes. Some choices were obvious and good choices. Some, like Saquon Barkley declined the invite. Others were curious choices, but shouldn’t surprise anyone that has followed this presidency.

One former player Trump called out specifically was Lawerence Taylor. I assumed Taylor was there to provide the girls and the blow. It turns out he was chosen as a prominent member of the council. Odd, considering it is a position dealing with kids and Taylor is a registered sex offender. Game recognizes game, as they say.

Another curious choice is noted steroid user and someone who looked the other way while his boss committed sex crimes, Triple H. A pro wrestler with his background isn’t exactly a role model for kids to look up to. Triple H married into the McMahon family, and Trump loves the McMahons.

Trying to get the money train under control in college athletics is another goal for the President. So, who better to work on that than golfer Bryson DeChambeau. DeChambeau left the PGA to grab the big money from the Saudis and LIV Golf. He was quick to make the jump for the cash at the peril of playing serious golf. Maybe Bryson isn’t the best choice to work on controlling money in sports.

The President made a specific mention of making sure women’s sports get equal rights in this new college sports landscape. Ooh, I know someone that would be perfect for this issue. Harrison Butker, field goal kicker for the Chiefs, is perfect for this facet of the council. Butler once famously said women should stay in the kitchen and be house makers. Great fit.

Another person that may be on the council is Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, although he may not know he is on the council. Well, see for yourself.

 

Kudos to the boys for holding back belly laughs.

I am all for reviving this initiative. I think it is good for kids and gives some a chance to have something to strive for. Pushing health initiatives is never a bad thing, in my opinion. President Trump is correct to bring the fitness test back.

It is just such a ridiculous group to put on a council for this and helping with college athletics. A field goal kicker that expects his women to have supper ready when he gets home from a hard day of…kicking footballs. A money grabbing golfer who sold out for cash. A pro wrestler and son-in-law of a slimy predator who had to step down from the family business. A former football player who had multiple drug infractions and is a registered sex offender.

Maybe the good role models were busy.

Oh well.

Kids, just look the other way and get working on those push ups, pull ups, and mile runs. I would have loved to get one of those certificates. Turns out hanging to get one pull up wasn’t quite enough.

Just my two cents…