Pittsburgh Pirates Starting to Believe
By Matt Shetler
There are moments during a lengthy baseball season that seem magical. Moments that are jaw-dropping.
Moments that pull a team together and more importantly moments that make you believe.
Drew Sutton’s walk-off homer Tuesday night could be that moment for the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates that does all of that for this team.
Sutton’s blast capped off an 8-7 victory over the Houston Astros, a game they had no business winning, and propelled the Bucs to a season-high eight games over the .500 mark, a mark they haven’t hit in the last 20 years.
More importantly it gives off a feeling that not only the fans, but the players in the clubhouse are starting to believe that this could be a special season for the Pirates.
Before we overreact, there’s a lot of baseball left to be played and there’s no point on jumping to conclusions that this team will make the playoffs or even finish over .500, but there no denying that there is a special buzz around this team right now.
Give A.J. Burnett a great deal of credit for the way the Pirates have come together as a team.
Remember how loose the 2009 New York Yankees were with the additions of Burnett and Nick Swisher to that team. It’s wasn’t about Burnett’s numerous shaving cream pies for that team, but it was about that one word-team.
That Yanks team played loose, had fun together and played as a team.
Certainly I’m not about to compare a Pirates team to a Yankees team, but that same feeling is there.
Just watching these guys not only on the field, but in the dugout as well, you get the sense that they believe in themselves as a team and it has been a very long time since we can say that as a Pirates team.
Winning games like Tuesday night’s, one’s where you have no business winning, only adds to that belief.
Believing you can win is half the battle and this Pirates team believes that more and more by the day.
In turn the fan base should start to believe as well.
I for one, believe that this team could do something special the rest of the season.