"Wait, is he already on the Pirates? No, that's Shawn Chacon"

The Onion's sports page sends some love the Pirates' way. Clever, though once again I'm stuck on the fact that the piece would be a lot funnier if the details were accurate: It seems unfair (granted, for the first time in approximately ever) to bust Littlefield for failing to pick up players in the offseason, given his solid trade for Adam LaRoche. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's "Stats Geek" Brian O'Neill points out that even the lowly Tony Armas Jr. is a solid acquisition, essentially on the grounds that it's hard to be worse than Victor Santos.

Also, Littlefield's name is not Doug. So how about some better fact checking in the fake news? It's like the Atony Awards all over again.

To give the Onion sports folks their due, their PNC Park story from last summer is still hilariously spot-on.

Also within the realm of Pirates bashery, though it's a week or two old, is Paul Lukas' Uni Watch blog post about the red vests featured in this year's alternate home jerseys. (Jack mentioned Lukas' ESPN.com column of the same name a while back; the blog reads as a more mundane, obsessive, yet oddly mesmerizing survey of the world of sports uniforms and equipment.) Lukas protests a bit too much -- it looks silly but it's not the end of attractive pro sportswear in Pittsburgh -- but I agree with his verdict that the design concept "would make a swell bowling shirt".