Pirates fan updates 'World Series Champs' tattoo after playoff loss (PHOTO)

You have admire this Pittsburgh Pirates fan for his optimism — if not for his body ink aesthetics.

After apparently not learning from his previous mistake, the Bucs fan who felt confident enough in his team to get a "2015 World Champs" tattoo on his leg before this year's playoffs began had to make a few adjustments to his once bold proclamation.

So almost as fast as the Pirates' hasty elimination Wednesday night, the fan decided to update his ink to have it read, "2016 World Champs."

@Pirates @espn @SportsCenter updated pic.twitter.com/VoTscsBZNu

— Andrew Broadwater (@ajbroadh2o_24) October 8, 2015

The Pirates won 98 games in the regular season but ended up losing to the Chicago Cubs, 4-0, in the National League Wild Card Game.

Lucky the guy's calf is as wide as the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers combined — so he could keep this up for years.

Cardinals' Stephen Piscotty suffers 'head contusion' after violent collision with teammate (VIDEO)

Stephen Piscotty, a rookie outfielder of the St. Louis Cardinals, was taken off the field on a cart after a frightening collision with center fielder Peter Bourjos in the seventh inning of Monday night's game against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. 

After the horrific incident, the team announced on Twitter that Piscotty suffered a "head contusion" and was sent to a local hospital. Tests came back negative, but he was being kept overnight for observation.

Piscotty and Bourjos collided after chasing a fly ball deep in the left-center field gap. Piscotty dove in an attempt to catch the ball and slams his head and neck hard into Bourjos' knee — leaving him motionless  near the warning track for several minutes.

My brother at the game sent this: pic.twitter.com/OAGmQwWuCT

— Adam (@BigBurgher) September 29, 2015

Piscotty even managed a little wave with his left hand as he was being carted off the PNC Park field.

Joey Votto goes off on ump, has to be held back (VIDEO)

All that losing in Cincinnati seems to have caught up with Joey Votto. And the Reds first baseman took all of his frustration out on home plate umpire Bill Welke during an at-bat in the eighth-inning of Wednesday night's game against the Pirates.

Facing Tony Watson while Cincinnati trailed, 5-3, with runners on first and second base, Votto took a 1-1 pitch for a called strike by Welke. Votto appeared to call timeout from the batter's box, and Welke did not grant it. When Votto turned to the Reds' dugout to complain that he couldn't get a timeout, the umpire tossed him.

An enraged Votto immediately spiked his helmet and went nose-to-nose with Welke before he was pulled away by coaches

Votto blew more than his top and a chance to be a hero and the Reds went on to a 5-4 loss.

Pittsburgh Pirates grounds crew memorialize ‘lost’ Tarp Man in infield dirt (PHOTO)

Members of the Pittsburgh Pirates grounds crew struggled with the tarp during a nasty wind and rain storm at PNC Park Tuesday night before Andrew McCutchen and some other players dropped their mitts to help out.

The stadium workers tried to unroll a tarp as quickly as possible, but it didn’t go well. And, for a few terrifying moments, one worker got wrapped up in the flapping tarp as the wind took it away.

On Wednesday, the grounds memorialized the "lost" worker with an outline of a body and R.I.P. Tarp Man dug into the PNC Park infield dirt.

RIP Tarp Man pic.twitter.com/t2xXFyUSJd

— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) July 8, 2015

It was all in good fun as the worker was rescued after going M.I.A. for only a few seconds.

Hard to see from press box but grounds crew wrote RIP with body outline in dirt I honor of guy swallowed by tarp. pic.twitter.com/dze295iDQM

— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) July 8, 2015

Pirates players help PNC Park ground crew put down tarp during storm (VIDEO)

A storm made its way through PNC Park in the top of the third inning of the Padres-Pirates game Tuesday night, forcing the grounds crew to bring the tarp onto the field.

The winds from the storm were so strong that the grounds crew lost control of the tarp and it even swallowed up one grounds crew member as it started to blow away.

At first, Andrew McCutchen and Sean Rodriguez stood in front of the dugout watching the crew tussle with the giant tarp before running over to help pin down the flailing sheet and help the trapped grounds crew member escape.

Watch as other members of the Pirates team rush in to help.

Arrgh ... blow me down matie.

Altoona Curve to wear Mister Rogers sweater jerseys

The Altoona Curve (Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates) will bring back a lot of childhood memories when they hold a special throwback-jersey night in an upcoming game.

The Curve will be hosting "A Night in the Neighborhood" on July 5, a special promotion to give the fans a chance to raise money for charity — and pay tribute to Mister Rogers. During the game against the Harrisburg Senators, the Altoona players and coaches will be wearing special sweater jerseys — the kind of cardigan the soft-spoken Fred Rogers made famous.

July 5th is A Night in the Neighborhood w/Daniel Tiger + Mister Rogers' Sweater Jerseys. Be ours? #NeighborhoodNight pic.twitter.com/CD8fTVlQXI

— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) June 11, 2015

It's only fitting since Rogers launched Mister Rogers' Neighborhood at a small television station in nearby Pittsburgh in 1966. It began airing two years later on PBS stations throughout much of the country — and his sweater became synonymous with the popular kid's show.

In December 2000, Rogers, wearing his iconic sweater, taped his final episode, though PBS aired original programs until August 2001.

But good news for a new legion of little fans, Daniel Tiger will also be in attendance at the game for them to meet and greet them.

Old woman wanders into Giants dugout during NL wild-card game (VIDEO)

Somehow an elderly lady managed to find her way into the Giants dugout in the second inning of the NL wild-card game Wednesday night.

While the confused old woman's stroll among the players baffled a lot of people who saw it on their TV screens, the cop guarding the bench was stupefied:

And is that a Giant Eagle shopping list in her hands?

"Where's the creamed corn young fella?"

Hunter Pence's postgame speech rallies Giants fans (VIDEO)

If you don't believe the San Francisco Giants team has what it takes to get to the World Series well ... then you have no faith in Hunter Pence.

The Voice of the Giants addressed the home crowd after the final game of the regular season at AT&T Park, rallying them for the playoffs. And did it in his own inimitable style.

Pence led the crowd in the “Yes!” cheer that became so popular earlier this year when Pence and his teammates were hitting home runs with some regularity.

Although his energetic pep talk started slow and awkward, it did build up to an inspiring crescendo:

The Giants may be seeing a lot of "No" when they head into their NL Wild Card Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates — especially on the road.

Pence's team will be facing the proverbial "hot team that nobody wants to face." The Pirates won 17 of their final 23 games to slide past the Giants for the top wild-card spot.

Andrew McCutchen gets first inside-the-park home run in amazing time (VIDEO)

Andrew McCutchen is known as one of the fastest players in baseball, so it comes as a big surprise to find out that the reigning National League MVP's inside-the-park home run Wednesday night was the first of his major league career.

And, as he rounded the bases in a blistering time of 15.44 seconds, there was no doubt he has the legs.

McCutchen's race around the bases must have looked like this to the Phillies players:

McCutchen said he knew he had an inside-the-park homer when the ball first struck the wall.

"It's brick, so anything coming that hard is going to come off it and go that way," he said. "I knew when it hit the wall that I had a good chance."

One question. What took so long?

Neil Walker hits home run ball into Allegheny River ... no really (VIDEO)

On Monday night, Pirates second baseman Neil Walker jacked a baseball over the PNC Park stands and into the Allegheny River and no, it wasn't just a mic'd up Andrew McCutchen's exaggeration of the home run shot.

Walker literally hit the ball into the river.

Walker's solo home run was just the 35th ever to reach the Allegheny River on a bounce, and he's 23rd player to pull off the glorious feat.

Unfortunately, the home team's comeback hopes sunk as fast as the ball did into the murky river and the Pirates fell to the Braves 7-3.

"Tell you the truth, I couldn't care less," Walker said about his water shot. "I wish it had come with the bases loaded and us down by three runs. As it was, it was just one run in another loss."

Teddy Roosevelt destroys Pirates Pierogi with aerial assault (VIDEO)

Mascot races are getting downright nasty these days and Friday's action at Nationals Park might have taken this feud to a new level — or leveling.

In the case of the Pirates Pierogies and their ongoing rivalry with the Nationals' Racing Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt's famous foreign policy phrase, "speak softly and carry a big stick" just became "carry a huge flying kick" when you are in his house.

Old Teddy brought the heat and wrecked Potato Pete with a devastating clothesline move after hurling himself from a fold-up table.

And it just goes to show that it's always okay to add a little assault to your food.

Jordy Mercer's home run obliterates woman's beer (VIDEO)

Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer smacked a two-run homer into the left field stands during Wednesday's game against the Giants. When fans saw it coming, they put on their gloves and reached for the ball. 

But one woman in the front row wasn't ready for the onslaught:

It was bad enough that Mercer's two-run shot gave the Pirates a 5-4 lead but wasting the woman's full cup of beer on a nice San Francisco day? That's unforgivable.

Reds' Phillips tries the old pull-the-foot-off-the-bag trick after Marte steal (VIDEO)

After Starling Marte legitimately stole second base, Brandon Phillips tried pulling one of the oldest tricks in the book to get the Pirates baserunner out — the old pull-the-foot-off-the-base gag.

While Phillips' prank play was pretty obvious, he still tried to sell it to veteran second-base umpire Jerry Lane who saw the whole thing go down.

All he got was some laughs from Marte and a finger-wag from Lane.

That's a no-no in any ump's book.

Reds Phillips Pirates MarteThat's ano-noPNC Parksecond base ump Jerry Lane

50 Cent’s botched first pitch was a publicity stunt: Report

The pathetic first pitch 50 Cent threw out on Tuesday before the New York Mets took on the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field is going down as one of the worst opening throws in MLB history.

Fiddy's motion was awkward, and the ball sailed far to the left of the catcher, making everyone wonder if he was aiming for the side of his boyhood Queens home.

The rapper's toss did get a lot of air play and now sources say the embarrassing toss might have intentional after footage emerged of the “In Da Club” rhymer throwing perfect tosses during his warm-up.

“He did it so he would get all the press,”  one insider told the N.Y. Post. “He’s got a new album coming out, a new TV show on Starz and he wants to launch a tour.”

But a rep for Fiddy denies it was a publicity stunt: “It’s apparent in his excitement on the mound that he released the ball too early, clearly not a stunt.”

Either way, it worked.

Tom Brady snacks out at Yankee Stadium doubleheader (VIDEO)

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady — hidden behind a beard, funky paperboy hat and shades — takes in Game 1 of the Pirates-Yankees double header at Yankee Stadium Sunday.

Brady — who looks like he was picking the peanuts out of his Cracker Jack — has been making the rounds lately. He's been spotted at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes and is just probably just killing time in New York before the Belmont next month.

Girardi would be 'shocked' if CC returns to mound by May 26: Report

CC Sabathia will probably hanging around the Yankee Stadium training room when the Yankees take on the Pirates during Sunday's doubleheader, but that might be as close as he gets to the mound for a while.

Manager Joe Girardi said his injured starter, who was diagnosed with “degenerative changes” in his right knee, was flying back to New York Saturday after receiving cortisone and stem cell injections into the knee, but it’s becoming more apparent that the lefthander will spend more than the minimum 15 days on the disabled list.

“I would be kind of shocked,” Girardi said when asked if Sabathia could return when eligible on May 26. “There hasn’t been a lot of history on this, but because they want the procedure to obviously be as successful as possible, he is on crutches. And it’s not because the knee is sore, they just don’t want him to put any weight on it. My guess is we’ll evaluate him Monday or Tuesday and see where he’s at and go from there.”

There’s no time frame for Sabathia’s return and the 33-year-old hurler probably won’t be rushing back into action when he dumps the crutches.

"They don't want any weight on it," said Girardi. "My guess is we'll evaluate him Monday or Tuesday and see where we're at."

 Until he gets a better idea from the doctors and the training staff, Girardi isn’t going to worry about when Sabathia will return.

“To me, you focus on the guys that are in the room, and that’s what I try to do all the time,” he said. "You’ve got to win with the guys in the room."

"For now," that means keeping Chase Whitley in the rotation.

Pablo Sandoval swings at a pitch already in the catcher's mitt (VIDEO)

Pablo Sandoval was just a little behind this fastball from Pirates pitcher Charlie Morton Tuesday night, taking a wild swing after the ball was already in the catcher's mitt. 

The Kung Fu Panda's  bumbling hack at the ball was, of course, only a split-second reaction to protect baserunner Brandon Belt who was stealing second base on the play.

Sandoval's cartoonish ploy worked. Catcher Tony Sanchez's throw sailed high into center field allowing Belt to race to third.  He eventually scored the Giants only run on a sacrifice fly later in the inning.

Thanks to Cut4 for the Goofy GIF.

Andrew McCutchen has hard time chasing ducks off the field at PNC Park (VIDEO)

Andrew McCutchen is pretty territorial when it comes to his turf out in PNC Park and — when a gaggle of ducks invaded his space Monday night — the Pirates outfielder tried to humanely shoo them away.

It was late and Pittsburgh was clinging to a 10-9 ninth-inning lead over the Giants, so one of the Pirates bullpen catchers had seen enough and came out waving his arms to get rid of the feathered intruders.

It worked.

But it was the Giants who ended up with their own ducks-in-a-row and beat the Pirates, 11-10, in a 13-inning marathon.

Happy Cardinals fan tries to kiss Pittsburgh reporter live on-air (VIDEO)

WTAE Action Sports' Guy Junker does his best to be upbeat after the Pittsburgh Pirates' surprising season ended after a Game 5 NLDS loss to St. Louis.

While recapping the game during a live broadcast outside Busch Stadium, a red-maned female Cardinals fan walks over and tries to give the reporter a gentle kiss on the cheek.

Junker handled it like a gentleman and smiled. A kiss meant for all Pirates fans.

Wife of Reds Mat Latos reportedly attacked by Pirate fans outside PNC Park

The wife of a Cincinnati Reds player is claiming she was attacked by a group of Pittsburgh Pirates fans and punched in the head before Tuesday night's NL wild-card playoff game — while police and security guards virtually ignored her.

Dallas Latos, who is married to Reds starting pitcher Mat Latos, tweeted out that she was punched three times and grabbed by the hair by an angry female fan at a sports bar outside Pittsburgh's PNC Park.

The Reds-Pirates game was Pittsburgh's first appearance in the playoffs since 1992 — and the end of 20 straight losing seasons.

Mrs Latos tweeted: "Look. Check the police report. I was ambushed in the Budweiser bar, grabbed by the hair, drug down & punched in the head multiple times."

A Pittsburgh police desk officer could not confirm whether Mrs Latos had filed a report of an assault on Tuesday night. 

"Got punched in the head at least 3 times by a pirates fan so this has been cool," Latos tweeted.

Got punched in the head at least 3 times by a pirates fan so this has been cool.
— Dallas Latos (@DallasLatos) October 2, 2013

She claims she was threatened by the boyfriend of the woman who attacked her. Latos, who married her husband in 2010, says she was appalled by how poorly the security at PNC Park and Pittsburgh police handled the alleged attack.

"Every opportunity was given to pirates security to deal with this before it happened. Unbelievable," she said.

"Only said something bc I’m shocked by how s****y that was handled by PNC security. Beyond," she added.

Mat Latos did not play in Tuesday night's Wildcard playoff game. The Reds lost 6-2, moving Pittsburgh into the NL Divisional Series against St. Louis — while Cincinnati's season is over.