Ground Control to Major Tom

Word from control is that WIS will consider replacing the owner of the Pittsburgh franchise if commish mark3313 can find someone to step in.

Hey, I heard Kelvin Sampson has some free time...

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Pittsburgh Support Ticket

This was the ticket I filed with support in an effort to have ewad removed and to back up mark3313.

I have an issue with owner ewad623 in this world. This owner has been delinquent in his owner responsibilities and has negatively affected the competitive balance in the league. He refuses to assign players acquired during trades or negotiate with his draft picks. He is damaging the pitchers on his staff by not setting pitch limits or rest settings. And, he's just, overall, killing this league.

I'm writing in support of our commisioner mark3313 to have this owner removed from our league.

Thanks.

Pittsbugh King Hippos

You remember King Hippo, right? He was the opponent on Mike Tyson's Punchout who when you punched him, his pants would fall down.

Reminds me a little of the futility that is the Pittsburgh Diamond Kings. The 'shburgh is riding a 17-game losing streak, powered by pitching that stinks so bad my monitor is going to melt.

During the streak, Pittsburgh has scored 60 runs, which gives them a slightly respectable three per game. The problem is in the pitching, which has surrendered 204 runs.

How about a closer look at the dysfunctionality that is the Diamond Klods pitching?

My favorite pitcher is Brian McCormick. This rookie has appeared in 31 games and thrown 80 innings. Not too bad, right? But his league-leading numbers stand out -- 174 hits, 115 walks and 2493 pitches. He holds a 20.48 ERA and a 3.61 WHIP, which aren't even the worst on the team.

No, those numbers are held by Pat Takada, who in 30 games pitched has a spectacular 27.00 ERA and 4.08 WHIP. Here's the part that absolutely kills me. Guess his innings pitched. No, really, guess. Give up? 12. Yeah, dude has only thrown 12 innings. Opponents hit .537 and have a 1.597 OPS, but he's only gotten 12 innings worth of outs and none of them have been strikeouts.

It stands to reason that it takes more effort to tank THIS badly then it would to put together a 40 or 50 win team.

A Brian McCormick Update

I wanted to check in with a Brian McCormick update as he should be off the DL by now. But, since its ewad in Pittsburgh, I should have known better. The Cy Young candidate could have come off the DL two days ago, but has yet to be activated.

Pittsburgh Getting Better...

And by better I mean that they are closing the margins of their losses. Rather than losing by 20+ runs, their past three games have been losses by 3, 12 and 13 runs. And, it appears that they won a game a few days ago. Imagine that.

No, really.

They beat Detroit 9-2 in the opener of a three-game roady. It helped that their starter was 100 percent and the relievers had staminas higher than 50.

In the meantime, the Diamond Kings' Cy Young candidate Brian McCormick was chugging along before being sidelined with an injury. McCormick attacked his last five games before injury with striking efficiency -- 414 pitches in 12.2 innings with one save. McCormick has a blazing 22.52 ERA, with a 3.88 WHIP in 70.1 innings pitched. Of course, he's on the DL with a "sprained elbow."

A thought on Pittsburgh...

Obviously, ewad is in over his head. I can appreciate that. I was a rookie player in HBD. I killed arms with the best of them. What I don't want is for ewad to give up and leave the team for ruin because it is so broken. So, I propose the following:

1. Let ewad pass his pitching staff through waivers. No one make a claim. This way, he can send them to AAA or other levels to get rest, be deactivated or just be released.
2. He has $7 million in cap room, which gives him the chance to promote a couple of pitchers, sign from free agents, accept an equitable trade or two.
3. Have two or three of the veteran owners consult with ewad about setting rest levels, pitch counts and the player/manager settings.

Am I being too idealistic here?