News with views: Steelers’ reporting day 16

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

LATROBE, Pa. — “This team, as far as energy and all the young guys, it feels like ’04-’05.”

That was Ike Taylor, among the handful of veterans who held court with the media on the Steelers’ reporting day at Saint Vincent College on Friday afternoon. And for better or worse, he was making that statement from experience.

I’m not sure if Ike is right. He can’t be sure, either. But I know that his statement seemed to sum up the sentiment of a whole lot of folks up here in the rolling green hills of Westmoreland County. The talk is of speed. Of energy. Of fun.

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Column: From Dri to D, Steelers set camp stage 85

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

LATROBE, Pa. — The Steelers, who I’ve heard hail from the town with the great football team, have been anything but great of late as they embark on their 82nd season Friday at Saint Vincent College with an 8-8-is-enough mindset.

Ramon Foster put it best at minicamp last month: “That’s enough. Seriously.”

It really is. But before anyone can chase Johnny High Society back to the  nightclubs of Cleveland or Vegas or College Station or wherever TMZ cameras roam, Mike Tomlin, Kevin Colbert, the rest of the staff and all 90 players who will report to Saint Vincent College on Friday come with some compelling concerns.

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Podcast: Vance Worley interview 3

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Vance WorleyHere’s the podcast of my interview with Vance Worley, the Pirates’ pitcher, while guest-hosting for Mark Madden yesterday on 105.9 The X. Thought some of you might appreciate the stuff Worley had to say, especially about his eyesight and those conspicuous goggles. Really interesting guy.

There will be more podcasts in the future, depending on where I pop up on the radio scene. I’ll post them here as I get them.

My thanks to the baseball club for arranging the live interview in short order.

Column: What’s not to like about Ike? 166

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

The simplest way to dissect these Pirates’ needs leading up to Major League Baseball’s trading deadline is to point to the pitching: If one or both of Francisco Liriano and Gerrit Cole is at peak form, then there’s no need — emphasis on need — to acquire a starter.

To look at Liriano in Wednesday’s 6-1 slapdown of the Los Angeles Dodgers at PNC Park, it’s eminently clear he’s at least close. One run, four hits over seven innings tell part of the tale. Vastly improved fastball command, the result of Ray Searage stressing keeping his shoulder from flying open, tells a lot more of it.

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On location: Pirates 6, Dodgers 1 108

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Game: Pirates (53-47) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (56-47)

Pitchers: LHP Francisco Liriano (2-7, 4.18) vs. RHP Dan Haren (8-8, 4.49)

Time: 7:05 p.m.

Site: PNC Park

TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan

Live box score: MLB.com

I’ll cover the game after guest-hosting for Mark Madden today, 3-6 p.m., on 105.9 The X. In the interim, below is a pretty neat, introspective answer from Gregory Polanco to a question I had late last night. You might have to turn up the volume, but it’s worth it:

Column: That’s baseball, man 157

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Here’s a story I’ve never told publicly, but hey, if not here, if not now, then when?

It’s about the Pirates and Dodgers, but about a very different group of Pirates in a very different place: It was the first of May, 2010, at Dodger Stadium, and Ramon Ortiz of the Dodgers threw high at Andrew McCutchen. Cutch was a promising player at the time, not yet a star but by far the best of a train-wreck roster well on its way to 105 losses.

See, Cutch had homered in the opening inning, and the Dodgers thought they saw him make some celebratory gesture rounding second base. I was there. No such thing occurred. But perception can be reality, and reality in baseball can be retaliatory. Some Rule 5 scrub named Carlos Monasterios started for L.A. that night, and he went high and tight at Lastings Milledge and Ronny Cedeno in the next inning.

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