This week I am going to plug two blogs after missing this section last week. Both of these blogs come from the great supplier of blogs, the MVN Blogging Network. But this is a baseball blog, not a general sports blog; therefore, here is the link to MVN’s MLB page, click HERE. Both of these logs will be coming from the NL Central.

The Milwaukee Brewers are one of my picks to make the Cubs sweat going down the stretch run thanks in part to the acquisition of the Brewers new SP CC Sabathia. Therefore, the first link is the one I was going to provide last week; better late than never. Please frequent Brewers Bar for more than your fair share of Brewers talk. I would add some detail about the author(s) of this site but they don’t have an About Me/Us page on their site.

Next we have a team trying to dig itself out of the ashes of not being in the playoffs since 1992. Yup, you guessed it, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Please check out MVN’s Pittsburgh Lumber Co.’s site for further insight on how the Pirate’s fanbase is coping with the loss of outfielders Jason Bay (Boston) and Xavier Nady, not to mention the loss of one of the best left-handed set up men in the game, Damaso Marte (both with the Yankees). They are trying to rebuild not only the major league team, but also their minor league system which was also in poor shape. We all wish GM Neal Huntington well in this endeavor, for baseball’s sake. Pittsburgh can hopefully be a significant baseball town once again with the right plan put into play.

Here’s a short bio on the two authors of Pittsburgh Lumber Co.

Matt Bandi: I grew up in Pittsburgh and currently I reside just outside the city. I received a marketing degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006. I began blogging about the Pirates in September 2006 at Wait ‘Til Next Year, and joined Pittsburgh Lumber Co. in September 2007. At 24 years old, my memories of winning baseball in Pittsburgh are very limited. But I will be there when the Pirates finally reach the pinnacle, and nothing will be sweeter than that triumph.

Randy Linville: I am currently living and thriving in suburban Dayton, OH with my wife, two kids and a border collie/mix dog. I was raised in Cincinnati, OH and attended Anderson High School. I went to Miami University (Ohio) and received a degree in Paper Science Engineering from MU (yep, I’m a geek). My wife and I lived for five years in Berkshire County, MA. We moved back to Ohio in 2000. I am a devout Christian and serve as a deacon in my church. I also coach my son’s baseball and basketball teams. I’ve been a Pirates fan since the late 1970s and have fond memories of the 1979 World Series team. In addition to the Buccos, I follow Notre Dame, the Raiders and the Lakers. I am a huge, huge fan of the Brady Bunch. I began blogging for Most Valuable Network in May of 2004 after stumbling across a help wanted sign on the WWW for a Pirate blogger. I’ve been here ever since. The site has undergone some changes, in name, format and in personnel, and, unfortunately, the archives from those earlier years are lost.

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