Matt Morris News

The Staal Brothers drinking game ! Jim Tracy made his return to PNC Park last week and didn't sound like he was getting much love from anyone .

Paul Maholm was charged with seven runs in five innings, the offense continued its immense struggles, and the Pirates lost their seventh in a row, 10-1 to the New York Mets this afternoon at Citi Field.

At the risk of being labeled a Pirates cheerleader or worse by the radical fringe and possibly the moderate middle, it's time to say something that's been bothering me for some time about the local MLB team.

Freshman JR Jarrell went 7 for 9 at the plate while driving in 10 runs to lead Whitworth to a sweep of visiting Whitman in a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Merkel Field.

The concept continues to get raised, as it surely will for years to come: What if previous management had selected Matt Wieters in that fateful draft of June 2007? Fans write and email wistfully about how rich the system would have been with Wieters, the sport's No.

And you thought Chris Carpenter had a monstrous season debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.

Being a Pirates fan means more than believing in what you haven't seen. It also means dis believing what your eyes are telling you.

Sixteen years into the losing streak that never ends, it appears that the Pittsburgh Pirates have finally discovered that it takes more to producing a winning baseball team than just talented baseball players.

Every morning, before many players even arrive at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, A's outfielder Rajai Davis is already on the field with bench coach Tye Waller.

Their cross-Commonwealth rivals won the World Series in 2008. However, the Pirates can do the Phillies one better in 2009, although you're not likely to see bumper stickers or signs at PNC Park touting this, uh, achievement.

As the other 33 pitchers in Spring Training begin their bullpen side sessions and work their way toward being ready for Grapefruit League games in less than two weeks, lefty Phil Dumatrait remains about two to ...

The Pirates will begin spring training Friday with a 40-man roster that looks much the same as it did at the end of September, when the team wrapped up its 16th consecutive losing season.

If Bob Nutting was shy about sending a signal to everyone associated with the Pirates, it hardly showed.

Pop quiz, hotshot: What is the largest free-agent contract awarded to a player who switched teams this year - but didn't sign with the Mets or Yankees? That would be Mr.

Now that it appears Jack Wilson will play the 2009 season for the Pirates, he says he wants to win -- and that the team needs more players to do that.

When the Jason Bay trade was made more than four months ago, there were some people that immediately hated the trade because trading away another established baseball player for minor leaguers or less ...