Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?

Yes, I see that Ryan Doumit is starting tonight. Yes, Snell is on the mound. Yes, I am strongly pessimistic about this team's chances to do anything worthwhile in the 2008 season. And yes, I am freaking psyched that the Pirates and baseball are back. I will be liveblogging tonight and I'm going to try the very rare double liveblog, as I'll be blogging the whole thing here and at least part of it at FanHouse. This thread is the liveblog thread, which means it's also the first gamethread of the year. The winter's over, people. It doesn't get much better than today. To make this easy on me, we're going top down, so new stuff is on the bottom. And yes, I changed my mind on this like three times. Pre-game: The first three innings at FanHouse will be here . I'm splitting the post up with a (gasp) Braves' fan. I'm not sure who gets the last three innings yet. It may be decided by who's ahead. If you are unfamiliar with how things are done here, it...

The cable guy finally made his way to my apartment this afternoon. This is fantastic news for a couple reasons. First off, I no longer have to rely on X-Files DVD as my prime source of entertainment (I've been on a meandering fifteen month quest to watch the entire series but man, Season 7 is a drag). Secondly, the Durham Bulls are actually on TV for about half of their games this year. And included in that half is tonight's game against an Indianapolis lineup featuring Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Steven Pearce (and Don Kelly and Brad Eldred!!). I would like to tell you I'm not too bored to liveblog this game, but I am. At the very least I'll focus on the at-bats of the players that matter and make fun of the players that don't. Pregame- Don Kelly is batting leadoff for Indy!!! Who let Jim Tracy into the Indians clubhouse?!? Kelly is playing short while Bixler is playing second. I'm already pissed and the first pitch hasn't even been thrown yet. Pearce is...

Yeah, that's right, I'm gonna liveblog the opener. I did it last year and I feel the need to do it this year, at least for as long as the game can hold my attention. I'm putting the thread up a little early to get the comments rolling and I'll keep up with them in the comments as much as I can. You know the drill, posts on the bottom are old, posts on the top are new. The more cynical I get, the worse things are going. Zach Duke. Roy Oswalt. The updates will start probably 15 minutes prior to game time or so. Smile people, baseball is here. 9:42- Torres gets a 1-2-3 ninth and makes two of the outs himself. As Cory says, "We don't deserve to win this one." We still did and that's all that counts. 9:35- LaRoche and Paulino K behind the Bay homer. Time for Sully to come get his first save as the official closer. 9:33- Jason Bay! Two run homer off of Chad Qualls after a Jack Wilson infield single! I finally feel vindicated! 4-2 Buccos! 9:25- Strike ma...

With no Steelers today and not much to do in the way of homework, I'm going to close out 2006 the way that it opened , with a liveblog. New updates will start at the top, so if you're late to the party you can start at the bottom. 3:50- It's over, Sully ran into some trouble after the error with a wild pitch and a walk, but he K'd Ray Olmedo to finish things off. Your 2006 Pirates finish up at 67-95 with two straight shutout wins to keep the Reds from finishing .500. Freddy Sanchez is your NL batting champ, finishing up at .344. I think he also ends as the National League leader in doubles, with 53. Dave Littlefield will need to spend at least $8 million next year to find a third baseman to replace him. Hopefully, I'm kidding. 3:39- One out in the ninth, we get a shot of Xavier Nady yawning in right field. He seems as bored as anyone else must be watching this game. Immediately after, Jack Wilson throws a grounder in the camera well. Tying run on second with one o...