Mlodzinski’s Disaster Start Dooms Pirates vs. Tigers
Understanding Website Code: What You’re Looking At
What Is This Content?
Important: The content you provided isn’t an article or story—it’s website building code (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) that makes a webpage work. Think of it like the blueprint and plumbing behind a house—you don’t see it when you visit, but it makes everything function.
Breaking Down the Pieces
1. Tracking & Analytics (The "Counters")
- What it does: Counts visitors, tracks what they click, helps the site owners understand their audience
- ELI5: Like a security camera that counts how many people walk into a store and which aisles they visit
2. Header & Navigation (The "Front Door")
- What it does: Creates the top bar with the logo, menu button, and social media icons (Facebook, Twitter/X, Email, Comments)
- ELI5: The welcome mat and signage at a store entrance
3. Slide Menu (The "Hidden Drawer")
- What it does: The slide-out menu that appears when you tap "MENU" on mobile
- ELI5: A pull-out drawer with all the store departments listed
4. Advertising Slots (The "Billboards")
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- What it does: Reserved spaces where ads will appear (like a "wallpaper" background ad)
- ELI5: Empty picture frames waiting for advertisements to be hung
5. Social Sharing Tools (The "Pass It On" Buttons)
- What it does: Lets readers share articles on social media or email them to friends
- ELI5: Photocopiers at the store exit so customers can share flyers with friends
6. Email Share Form (The "Write a Letter" Popup)
- What it does: Styles the popup window when someone clicks "Email this article"
- ELI5: A pre-addressed envelope with nice stationery ready to go
7. Analytics Suite (The "Data Scientists")
- What it does: Multiple tracking systems measuring different things (audience demographics, engagement, traffic sources)
- ELI5: Different specialists taking notes: one counts people, one notes ages, one watches what they buy
8. External Scripts (The "Specialist Workers")
- What it does: Loads Twitter’s official tools so "Tweet" buttons and embedded tweets work
- ELI5: Hiring Twitter’s own staff to manage the Twitter sharing station
Step-by-Step: How This Code Becomes a Webpage
| Step | What Happens | Analogy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Browser downloads HTML | Getting the blueprint |
| 2 | Reads structure (headers, divs) | Framing the house |
| 3 | Applies CSS styles | Painting and decorating |
| 4 | Runs JavaScript | Turning on electricity & plumbing |
| 5 | Loads external scripts | Calling in specialists (Twitter, Google) |
| 6 | Fills ad slots | Hanging billboards |
| 7 | Displays final page | Opening for business! |
Key Takeaways
This code is for a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article page (note the URLs referencing
post-gazette.comand a Pirates baseball story from 2026)It’s template code — the same structure wraps every article, with only the story content changing
Heavy on analytics — 6+ tracking systems show modern news sites rely heavily on audience data
Mobile-first design — Slide menu, touch-friendly icons, responsive ad slots
Ad-supported — Multiple ad placements (wallpaper, standard slots) fund the journalism
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Where’s the actual article text?
A: It’s not in this code! This is the wrapper—the article content gets injected into this template from a database when you visit the URL.
Q: Why so many analytics tools?
A: Each measures something different: Google for general traffic, Comscore for industry ratings, Chartbeat for real-time engagement, etc. Advertisers demand detailed data.
Q: What’s "GTM-P73RLR"?
A: A Google Tag Manager container ID—like a master key that loads all tracking codes through one doorway instead of pasting each separately.
Q: Why remove some code with comments like "Removing 6/1/2020"?
A: Developers leave notes when disabling features. Here they removed an "ABD" script (likely Audience Behavior Data) and Krux tracking (Salesforce advertising tool).
Q: Can I see the real article?
A: Visit the URL in the code: https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2026/08/17/pirates-carmen-mlodzinski-tigers-mlb-yohan-ramirez/ (though 2026 dates suggest this is test/future-dated code).
Summary
You’ve seen the engine room of a modern news website. This code handles:
- Layout & branding (headers, menus, styles)
- Audience measurement (6+ analytics systems)
- Revenue (ad slots, ad tech integrations)
- Social distribution (share buttons, Twitter widgets)
- Reader tools (email sharing, comments)
- Responsive design (mobile menu, adaptive ads)
Next time you read an article online, remember: there’s ~200 lines of code like this working behind the scenes to deliver those ~500 words of story!