Five Minutes of Failure: A Pirates Loss Sped Up

I am going to be trying something new today. Rather than post photos of a loss that was really rather unpleasant, I instead decided to take the 3300+ photos I typically shoot at a baseball game and turn them into a slideshow. An extremely fast sideshow. Now, you can watch today's game in a little over five action packed minutes. Watch as the grueling 38-pitch 4-run first inning speeds by at speeds that lift a weight off your chest. Maybe in August when you think back to the beginning of the season, you will remember this video instead of the game itself and be a slightly happier person for it.

I will only be doing these for the losses, of course. I mean hey-wading through that many photos for the most beautiful moments of a loss slowly wears on you. I'm doing this for my sanity.

But first, a brief word or two about today's loss to the Rockies: watching James McDonald receive a standing ovation as he headed for the dugout after 6 and two thirds of an inning was truly heartwarming, and oh so completely unexpected after his disastrous first inning. I expect McDonald to struggle a bit this year; it's his first season as a starting pitcher, and one who is expected to be no less than the ace of the pitching staff. McDonald's ability to mentally recover from the first inning and turn in a solid performance from the second inning onward is indicative of a mature mind, and one that I feel is capable of adjusting to the new set of expectations placed on him.

I will also say this: it is a shame to see the bullpen give us over 11 scoreless innings in Friday's epic win only to see them blow the next two games at least partially as a result of fatigue. Of course, having Meek as the 8th inning pitcher could have still earned us these wins regardless and the hole in the bullpen left by his absence cannot be understated. I hope this is not the last time we see .500 or above this season, but even if it is, I do expect things to nevertheless go better for the Pirates this season as opposed to the last.

A few final notes about this video:

-Is the quality bad? Yes. These are unedited photos shot by a still camera. Various people's heads block the edges of certain frames, the exposure jumps around, it is biased towards showing the Pirates, etc. But it is, in its own way, absolutely mesmerizing. Enjoy.