THE BULLPEN

     Baseball fever, catch it! Our Pittsburgh Pirates return home to the friendly confines of PNC Park tonight to start a 3-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers. These are your keys for tonight's game. 1)Lower the Jolly Roger again. The Pirates dropped the finale to the Cincy series yesterday, 4-2, losing 3 of 4 to the Reds. Not counting their 12-run outburst in the lone win during that series, the Bucs scored just 7 runs in 3 games. We need more, more, more Hit, Run, & Score! 2)The season is barely a month old and Mrs. Black-N-Gold is not happy with the Pittsburgh Baseball Club. They're 12-16 and 3.5 games out in the NL Central as they occupy the basement and they've managed to misplace the Jolly Roger. Right the ship and raise it! 3)Seriously, Mrs. Black-N-Gold said in her season preview that the front office didn't do enough to help this ball club and, unfortunately that is more and more apparent every game. Mrs. Black-N-Gold is not happy with the way Manager Clint Hurdle is managing the lineup, either, although he did make me look foolish the other night in the 12-3 win. I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally. However, I must admit, Hurdle's job can't be easy what with the injuries and the horrible job GM Neal Huntington did amassing a roster. That's no excuse for the terrible play from the regulars. Hurdle needs to light a fire under these guys. Stop SUCKN and start BUCN! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!