Pirates practice walk-off home runs, still lose

The Pittsburgh Pirates aren't just about NAVY Seal training exercises, dagnabbit. They can have fun too! You'll see!:

When [Brandon Inge's] turn to "hit" arrived, he didn't short-change himself. He took a mighty hack -- without a bat. He watched the imaginary baseball disappear. Then he beat his chest and began to trot.

He slapped five with a first-base coach who forgot to exist. He pumped his fist a couple of times as he rounded second. He low-fived a third-base coach who was nowhere to be found. Then he fired his cap into the sky ("I had to flip the hat. I didn't have a helmet.") and jumped into a sea of Pirates humanity...

That'd be new infielder Brandon Inge practicing his walk-off home run swing/trot/celebration.

The Bucs hit just three walk-off home runs last year. But I guess it doesn't hurt to dream. Wonder when they're going to start working on the second-half collapse drill? They seem to be really good at that one.

Inge can pretend to hit walk-offs all he wants, he's never going to live up to Mike Morse's precedent when it comes to imaginary home runs:

Neil Walker with the afternoon's money quote:

"Yeah," said second baseman Neil Walkers <sic>. "You don’t see many walk-offs with nobody pitching and nobody on."

You sure don't, Neil... You sure don't.