The Sports Monitor

I had a nice streak going on opening day in Pittsburgh. It ended last year. The new streak is two years and counting without watching the first pitch of the home season in person. You know what? I haven't missed it. The Nutting ownership has done that to me. I still follow the Bucs but I know it's a hopeless cause with the Nuttings in charge. A co-worker asked if I saw the Pirates win Wednesday. "Nope. I've detached myself from the Pirates," I said. If I have something else going on, it's not a priority. I turned them on today to watch the ceremonies and first pitch on TV, so I'm not completely ignoring all things Pirates. I've just found better use for my money than to line the Nuttings' pockets while they field inferior teams. Hopefully my attitude changes and so does theirs.

It's Opening Day and I had the misfortune of turning on the Pirates. It's early in the game as I write this, but it's hard to get excited about a team that features Lyle Overbay as its cleanup hitter. So even if he does come through with a game-winning homer, I won't change my mind. I know the Pirates are trying to justify his offseason acquisition, but batting him fourth? The last time I checked, teams put their biggest home-run threat fourth. Overbay is coming off seasons of 20, 16, 15 and 10 homers. And it's not like Overbay had limited action in those seasons. His at-bat totals were: 607, 500, 627 and 476. I know new manager Clint Hurdle is full of energy and is ultra-positive, but this move reeks of something John Russell would do.