Hello all:

While I visit nearly every day, I post pretty intermittently. I'm not adequately up to snuff on SABR to get involved in most conversations, I never played pro ball, etc. I'm just a guy who loves baseball, loves the Pirates, and loves to cause himself agony, if the last 20 years are a trend of any sort.

So, with the exposition out of the way, early on this season it's occurred to me that I've never in my tenure as a Bucs fan witnessed such a hysterical response to poor play. The caterwauling is deafening. Yes -- it's true -- they're 3-7 to start a 162 game season. That's 10 games. Seriously. 10. Sure, they're dead last in runs scored, batting average, on-base, and slugging. Sure, the starting pitchers still aren't putting up efficient 100-pitch starts.

Aren't we fairly certain there'll be some progression to the mean here (not my phrase and, I'm sorry, I can't recall who's it was but it's apt)? Do we seriously think Jose Tabata will bat .118 get on base at .143 and slug .118 all year? Is Walker going to hit .188 over a 162 game schedule?

As a team, we've got the second worst BABIP in the league right now at .237. There's no reason that number won't improve to something approaching .275 or so by midseason. If I recall correctly, I read scores of posts stating we'd be lucky to get out of this ugly early road trip facing some of the league's best arms at 3-7. Well, here we are...what's all the fuss about? How many panic attacks, bad blood pressure readings, heart scares will Bucs Dugout's roster see before folks learn to just relax a bit?

I sometimes wonder if the bipolar nature of contemporary fandom doesn't owe it's extremisms to the blogosphere. Never before have we amateurs poured over our own thoughts and analyzed sports to this extent. Personally, I think it's a bit much ... but, to each their own.