Enjoy These Last 27 Innings of Pirates Baseball

I'm recording this episode from Section three twenty two at PNC Park.

This has been my second recording spot this year, this season, if I'm not at home.

And while it's maybe not the best recording spot, it doesn't create the best angle the sun can get in my eyes, it can get cold in some of those April nights.

I was cold last night recording.

but I liked the aesthetic of being able to sit in the ballpark and talk ball.

I love going to the ballpark.

I love this shared experience that I could have with thousands of strangers on a given night, watching this beautiful game.

I don't know when I'll be able to do that again at PNC park.

Normally at the end of the year, it's see you in April.

Winter might go into April this year.

Might go into May.

We don't know when winter is going to end this year.

So do yourself a favor this weekend.

Watch some pirate baseball.

Good morning and welcome to Offbeat here on North Shore Nine presented by FanDuel.

My name is Alex Stumpf and this is a daily look at your Pittsburgh Pirates.

I get that these last three games, there's practically nothing to play for.

A win would secure a winning season, which is a little something.

But after the Pirates beat the Cardinals two to one on Thursday, they won eighty one.

This is at the very worst, a non losing season.

And it is the fifth time in the last thirty four years that they will not lose more games than they won that was not the stated goal coming into the year and we did this past podcast of just five hundred

mean anything that doesn't really matter right now though all it really matters is there are three games left enjoy them

Just watch them.

I know it's been a frustrating year at times.

I know they fell short of their stated goal.

I suspect that there'll be some moving of goalposts to justify why missing said goal is ultimately fine and doesn't warrant changes.

And there are gonna be plenty of reasons to be upset.

And there are gonna be plenty of days to be upset.

And I'm not even saying you can't even be upset this weekend.

But just do yourself a favor.

There are twenty seven innings of Pirates baseball left and we don't know when inning twenty eight is coming.

I am what I guess you would refer to as an optimist whenever it comes to this lockout.

I think there will be baseball in April.

I don't know if it's Major League Baseball, like a regular season game.

I don't know if it's a spring training game.

I don't know if it's just spring training getting going.

I don't know.

I don't even know if it's going to happen in April.

This is just the prediction of someone who knows a little bit of ball.

I think there will be some form of baseball in April, but there's no guarantee.

This is going to be...

an ugly lockout.

And I suspect there are going to be some offbeats this winter in December and January and probably February and maybe even March and beyond where I'm going to be quite frustrated.

Because I know it's a semi-popular opinion that among small market teams, at least online, which you don't know how much online is

actually real people and how much is just bots and AI and anything.

But they're like, I happily trade the twenty seven baseball season for a salary cap or salary floor.

I'm never going to be one of those people.

I love this game.

I love this shared experience that I get to have with these people at this ballpark, that I get to have with you guys.

The only reason why we have this relationship is because we both love baseball.

And to take that away, it's just taking the joy away from life.

So I'm not going to be championing, the, Oh, get rid of ball to save ball.

It's like, no, save ball by playing ball.

And I don't know when I'll be able to sit in these seats again.

And I'm really trying to like, just take it in, watching traffic in downtown Pittsburgh, seeing the Roberto Clemente bridge backed up here at almost five o'clock Eastern time here.

It's a beautiful sight.

It's a beautiful game.

And yeah, this season should have had more than one hundred sixty two games.

They could have had more than one hundred sixty two games for.

If a multiple.

Of different things would have happened, either if they stayed healthy, if they would have been more aggressive to fix the bullpen, if some starting pitchers didn't regress, if there's a lot of ifs.

They didn't get enough ifs to go their way.

And I get that.

And I get the frustration with that.

And we're going to talk about a lot of those frustrations here.

And I don't want this show to ever be me telling you how to think about something or tell you what to do.

I want to be able to explain my position.

And hopefully I explain it well.

And even if you don't agree with it, you could be like, well, I at least see where he's coming from.

So even if you are in that let's tank the twenty seven baseball season, I hope you can at least hear the counter argument.

If I want to watch baseball in twenty seven and I hope you do, too.

We're going to take a quick break because I'd like to thank today's sponsor, Larine Co.

We all know nicotine pouches are popular, and part of it isn't so much the nicotine as it is the routine.

Larine just launched a pouch that keeps the routine but leaves the nicotine out.

Larine Co

pouches swap out the nicotine and give you clean focus and support your enamel the whole time they're in.

It works like the pouches you've seen before, just tuck one in and go about your day.

Each pouch has a half cup of coffee's worth of caffeine, plus L-theanine and alpha-GPC for a smooth, steady focus with no energy crash, and it gives your teeth daily enamel support in between brushings.

It comes in mint, cinnamon, and mango, and it's nicotine-free always.

It's doing something good for your teeth, and it gives you smooth energy and focus without those jitters.

Every other pouch out there makes you pick between something that's actually good for your teeth and something that helps you focus.

This is the only one designed to do both, and it comes from a brand that's leading the way at supporting your oral health.

Give Larine a try.

Right now, Larine Co

is offering our listeners up to fifty percent off at buylarine.com slash North Shore.

That's buylarine, L-A-R-I-N-E dot com slash North Shore for up to fifty percent off.

The twenty one twenty two lockout with the benefit of hindsight was quite stupid.

Can you tell me right now, pause the video or the podcast if you want, what was that fight about?

This time at least there's the salary cap, salary floor that the owners are fighting to try to implement and the players are saying no because it's taking money out of

their pockets.

There's at least a crucible here.

There's at least a main focal point of an argument.

I know it's going to be a four hundred page document that has changes to X and Y and Z and alpha and beta and so on and so forth.

But that's going to be the big sticking point.

And that's why so many people are championing like, yeah, just forget it.

Don't bother playing baseball.

I can't do that, though.

I want to watch baseball.

Having thirty owners get a little bit richer is a pretty terrible reason for me to say don't play baseball.

I know it's not a black and white issue, but like it's...

What's black and white for me is I love this game.

And I hope the next CBA protects this game.

And what's beautiful about this game, and I hope it doesn't come at the cost of a because that has ripple effects and we talk about the steroid era we talk about

how that was just a product of the strike and it goes on and on there's a lot of ugliness that comes whenever there's no game there's still three more

left for the pirates and i'm sorry they don't mean much of anything If they win on Friday, then the last two effectively mean nothing.

It means nothing for, did they make the playoffs with the lottery?

It means nothing for their draft positioning.

They can't even get our lottery pick this year.

So, like, there's very little consequence outside of what, like, waiver order in the offseason.

If there's a Rule 5 draft, what the Rule 5 order is, that's nothing.

But what?

There are three more pirate games.

We get to see Justin Verlander pitch one more time.

One of the greatest pitchers of his generation, of the two thousands.

He's going to make one more start.

That's worth, clocking in on Saturday.

Old man with nothing left to lose.

That's fun.

That's a joy.

That's beautiful.

Enjoy it.

We'll be back to being doom and gloom next week and the weeks after and, can't ever say anything positive in this world.

But, right now, never going to tell you guys what to do.

But if I can urge, I think it would be to tune in and watch at least a little ball this weekend.

I want to thank you for listening to Offbeat this year here on North Shore Nine presented by FanDuel.

This is the final episode we are recording during the regular season.

We're keeping this party going in the offseason.

We're going to stick with the daily uploads.

I think we are going to have plenty to talk about before the lockout, during the lockout.

This was a new challenge for me this year.

I had a lot of fun doing it.

I hope you guys had fun listening to it.

I want to thank you all for listening.

Have a good weekend.

We'll see you on Monday whenever this season is over.

Have a good weekend.

All right, that wraps up this episode of North Shore Nine.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

Whether you're listening on the podcast or catching us on YouTube, if you enjoyed the show, please give this video a thumbs up.

And don't forget to hit that subscribe button if you haven't already.

It really helps us grow.

And if you're listening on the podcast, a quick review goes a long way in helping others find the show.

Plus, be sure to tell a friend about us.

There's always room for more here in the NS nine community.

And for those looking to support us a little more, consider joining our Patreon, become an MVP member and get exclusive perks while helping us continue to bring you more of the pirates content you love.

Thanks again for all your support and let's go bucks.