Employment

I'm an editor. Can I just say something really quick? EEEEKKK!

Thanks, I feel better.

It's only a weekly page, but it's more than I have ever done before. I'll also be heading into two-a-days next week, and "football tab hell," as John calls it, which is the time of year where we push wayyyy too hard to put together a full-sized preview of every football team in the area. Did I mention that they removed the part-time sports writing position? Because they did. 

Which means...it's just me and John. He must have had so much faith in me to do this job with him, because I happen to know that all the other people who made it to the final cut had more experience than me. He took me to lunch and literally blind-sided me with an interview in which I needed to sell him on the idea of hiring me. Something must have worked, although I may never know what it is.

Maybe it's because we have similar tastes in bad baseball teams.

Tired of the Pirates not living up to Pittsburgh standards

Another trade, another day.

The story of the Pittsburgh Pirates seems to be the in-season trade. What's bothersome is that they do it with no hope for the present, and with little thought to the future, although they would say otherwise.

I called it months ago, partly in jest, hoping it wouldn't be true, but my false prophecy proved itself tonight: the Pirates traded one of the young, promising players of MLB -- Nyjer Morgan -- the left-fielder and one of the fastest men in baseball.

He's fun to watch. He enjoys the game, and has a youthful glow as he takes the field. His stolen bases ignite the crowd, and his antics win over critics, as well as his stolen bases and beat-out bunts. But here the Pirates go again, trading away the talent that appears in front of their eyes, and right to the Nationals, a team Nyjer can't be too excited about joining.

The Pirates weren't too far below .500, a win percentage they haven't touched for a record number of consecutive years in MLB. I guess that makes us the worst team in recent baseball history. And as we do increasingly well, we continue to remove the talent that has gotten us to a nearly not-embarrassing-to-the-point-of-vomiting record. Moves like this lose fans, faith, money, and even the support of the team. Check out the Post-Gazette's article on how Jack Wilson is taking it. 

He was bonding well with up-and-comer Andrew McCutchen, the centerfielder with a knack for speed and flair similar to that of Nyjer. And these smiles were bringing hope back to Pittsburgh:

When will it end? Because before we return to the storied days of old, we need to make sure we're not trading away the next Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente or Honus Wagner.