2012 Regular Season - What You'll McFind Here

The 2012 regular season starts tomorrow, and I could not be more excited. All offseason I've been working hard to get my readership up and to formulate some ideas to bring all of you a unique coverage of the team. If you're aboard The "Mc" Effect train, here's what you're in for during the ride:

Pre-game and post-game posts for every gameAs most other blogs do, I will have a pre-game and post-game post up for every game (I hope). I have added another writer (Drew Brown) to do some of the recaps and pre-game stuff so I think I should be able to get them up for nearly every game. Basically I'll bring you the lineups, the probable starters, and some game notes for the pre-game and the game recap for the post-game. If you didn't already know, I am working for TribLIVE Radio doing Pirates pre-game and post-game this summer, which came with a media credential, so I will be in the locker room and press box with the rest of the media. I can't use audio or video that I get on this blog, but I will have be closer to the team than any other unpaid blogger, which I think you will all benefit from.

Morning news, notes, and links

I've been doing it for a lot of this offseason, but not every day. I'm going to try and have a post up nearly every morning with current news and information along with links to other Pirates-related things around the Internet. It'll be a nice thing to check quickly in the morning to get you up to speed with anything you may have missed. The posts should be coming around 6:30-7:00am so you can get that before you start your day, and you can thank the technology of schedule blog posting for that one. 

The Pirates Daily Notebook

If you haven't seen this yet, you're missing out. I have been updating a PDF file every day with the rundown of each game along with news stories and statistics. Obviously it's not going to bring you anything that you can't find elsewhere, but the cool thing is that everything will be right there at your fingertips. I will update the statistics and standings at least once a week so at the end of the year you can look back and really get a feel for how the flow of the year went. You can get it on your iPhones and Androids. Click here to view it and click here to download it. Save the links ladies and gents!

Live Game Chats

We have been doing this for a few years now. We have a live chatroom for every game that you can participate in right here on the blog. You know the other names, Brian from Raise The Jolly Roger, Jim from North Side Notch, and Cory from Three Rivers Blog. There also may be a newcomer or two that will be participating, and they are usually populated pretty well. It's a lot of fun watching the game and chatting with other fans. 

Pitcher Pitch F/X After Every Game

I started doing this about midway through last season, and a lot of people liked it. After every game I will post the Pirates starter's pitch F/X for that game. Here's an example post, so to get you familiar. 

The Pirates Roundtable Podcast

We've done 9 episodes of it already and we'll be coming at you every week of the season. The same guys from the live chats come at you with that and we have a lot of fun doing it. It's on iTunes, you can check it out here.

 Constant, Excessive Tweeting

You know it already if you follow me. I tweet a lot. I've even been told I say funny things. This baseball season will be even better because I'll have some real information to provide as well. Since I'll have a press pass I'll be talking to some players and coaches and be around the team a ton. I'm going to try my best and not sound cocky when I say this, but I don't think there's a better Twitter account to follow to follow the Pirates and enjoy yourself while doing it. That sounded cocky, oh well at least I tried.