Remember back when A.J. Burnett bunted a ball in to his eye, and I talked about The Curse of Barry Bonds? Well I was thinking about that article today. Not because Josh Bell underwent surgery on his meniscus. I was thinking of it more for the last paragraph in the article.
Pirates fans acknowledge the curse, but no one fully embraces it. I think it’s time for that to happen. It’s time to finally recognize The Curse of Barry Bonds. Or maybe we could call it The Curse of the BamBreamo. But we need something. Otherwise what will we do when Brad Eldred hits his 40th homer of the 2012 season against the Pirates, and the home run ball knocks Joel Hanrahan unconscious in the bullpen, killing his trade value?
Yesterday the Detroit Tigers called up Brad Eldred after the first baseman hit 13 homers in Triple-A to start the season. And guess who the Pirates play twice this year? The Tigers. Once in late-May, and once in late-June.
Eldred made his first start for Detroit tonight, going 2-for-5 with a triple, but also striking out twice.
So it’s going to be fun watching that prediction come to fruition this summer. Better start thinking up cool “Curse” names.
Links and Notes
**The Pirates lost 6-1 to the Atlanta Braves. Game story here.
**Prospect Watch: A two homer night for Gift Ngoepe. One of the rare Prospect Watch headlines you’ll see this year.
**The Indianapolis Indians won 13-2 tonight, getting 18 hits from their offense. Here is my live game report, with notes on Matt Hague, Starling Marte, and Bryan Morris.
**The Pitch F/X preview of the Atlanta Braves’ probable starters this weekend.
**Pirates Notebook: The bats of Alvarez and Tabata are taking steps forward.