Pittsburgh Sports, Opinion and Politics | Just Watch the Game Blog

The Boston Globe has a story ripping the Boston Red Sox organization and blaming their collapse on three pitchers who didn’t seem to care anymore.

We are at the halfway point in the Major League Baseball season and there are lots of teams from different size markets that are very much in contention for a division championship or a wild card spot.

That would include the Pirates, who are three games over .500 and a game and a half out of first place.

The Pirates are the best story in baseball right now and every fan who has suffered through the last 18 years should enjoy what’s happening.

But keep in mind that it’s the first week of July and take a look at the schedule at the end of this month. If they’re still in contentions at the trade deadline, that will not only be impressive, it will be a good measure of how the Nutting family looks at their franchise.

If they think that the Pirates can compete for a division championship and that renting a soon-to-be free agent will increase their chances of winning it, there shouldn’t be a prospect in their system that should be untouchable.

People have heard about prospects for way too long. If they truly believe that there is a guy out there who can help them take a serious run at winning the NL Central, they have to make a deal.

Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the standings at the halfway point.

In the AL East, the Yankees, who have the highest payroll in the division are in first, followed  by the team with the second highest payroll, the Red Sox.

In the AL West, the Rangers and the Angels are tied for first. The Angels have the highest payroll in the division and the Rangers have the second highest.

In the AL Central, the Indians, who are slowly coming back to the pack, are in first place but the Tigers and the White Sox, the third and highest payrolls in the division are in close pursuit.

In the NL East, the Phillies, who have the highest payroll in the National league are in first place, followed by the Braves who have the third highest payroll in the division.

In the NL West, the Giants, who have the highest payroll in the division, are in first place.

In the NL Central, the Cardinals, with the second highest payroll, are in 1st and the Brewers, with the third highest payroll are in second.

But, if you were to give Baghdad Bud a call, he would tell you that parody is here.

Pirates fever, eh.

I’m hearing  that it’s beginning to spread. You know things are getting better when the local TV newscasts start pumping it.

You also can be pretty sure that, when the local news is interested, it’s going to be overhyped.

Let’s not take anything away from the fact that the Pirates took two out of three from the Red Sox and, if you’d like, go ahead and enjoy the closest thing that we’ve had to a competitive MLB team in almost 15 years

But, it’s June 26th and the Pirates are one game over .500.

That’s a hell of a lot better than what most people expected, but this is baseball. They play 162 games.

I have to admit that I thought they would be eight or 10 games under .500 by now.

But I refuse to celebrate any team that’s one game over .500 at the halfway point of the season. The fact that I’m supposed to have caught a fever over a team with a record like that is just another indication of how pathetic the Pirates have been.

Call me when there’s a salary cap.