Walking the Plank: Is this finally the Pittsburgh Pirates’ year?
May 26, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Starling Marte hits a double in the 3rd inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. At right is Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
OK, I know. The last two years have taught us that what happens early on in a baseball season is not always conducive to predicting where a team will finish in the standings. That has been made painfully clear.
When the Pittsburgh Pirates’ free fall started last year, I had a moment of clarity while other people were talking about the Pirates still having a chance for a playoff spot. Before the bottom fell completely fell out of the Pirates’ 2012 season, I was telling anyone who would listen, “I just want to see them win.”
Being a Pirates fan my entire life got a whole lot harder as the years went by. I grew numb to the Pirates being the punch line of how not to build or run a Major League Baseball team. I got angry as I saw four expansion teams enter the league – and two of them actually win the World Series – and still the Pirates couldn’t get their act together.
That’s why last year’s collapse hurt so much. For the first time in 19 years, I saw a chance for the Pirates to do something that I had not seen since before my oldest son Tyler’s birth: complete a winning baseball season. Was that so much to hope for?
In years past, yes it was. The Pirates were simply, and as kindly as I can put it, a very bad baseball team. Every year as hope sprung eternal for all the other MLB teams at the beginning of spring training, it continued to evade the Pirates’ grasp. Enough has been written over the years of the many reasons why the Pirates were not even as good as other teams Triple-A ball clubs, so I’m not going to re-hash it any more.
Last year, though, I could see a young, exciting group of players coming together and learning their craft. It was no fault of theirs that the Pirates had not won in 20 years. They were a group that was not looking back; they were looking to build that legacy of bringing a winner back to Pittsburgh. You could see it in the energy they played with.
May 24, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett pitches in the 1st inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Sprinkle in the addition of pitcher A.J. Burnett as a legitimate leader on and off the field and I loved what I was seeing. That’s what made last season’s finish so painful. The Pirates finally had a team that not only had talent, but truly wanted to win for a city that for the most part hard simply became fed up with (or completely indifferent toward) the Bucs. They had the Steelers and the Penguins to root for, so the Pirates had become a forgotten commodity.
I couldn’t help but notice how many younger fans were coming out to PNC Park to check the team out. These were their fathers’ Pirates. They were playing exciting, winning baseball and were a fun team to watch, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Which leads us to the 2013 edition of the Pirates. Through nearly two months, they are again playing winning baseball. Their organizational depth is something they have not had in a long time. If the Pirates continue playing at their current level, they will be in a power position for the first time in years at the July 31 trade deadline.
Adding Wandy Rodriguez and Travis Snider at the deadline last year helped, but they need as much help at least offensively as they can get. Many baseball pundits have already identified the Pirates as serious buyers as talks start to heat up. I’m very curious to see the rumors that start swirling.
Now I would be lying though my teeth if I said that this year’s Pirates team hasn’t already made me nervous numerous time this year. I would also be lying if I said that it hasn’t been as fun as hell to watch. These guys buy into manager Clint Hurdle as well as each other. Is Hurdle the man that is going to finally step up and get the job done, or will the first wining Pirates team in a very long time be doing it with a new skipper at the helm? I’d like to think not.
Hurdle has brought an attitude of accountability that this team has lacked for a long time. I mean seriously, tell me during the Jim Tracy or John Russell era that you didn’t want to go in Pirates dugout and check both of them for a pulse? You can never say that about Hurdle. He is attentive and involved in every aspect of the game.
As the Pirates battle back to respectability, their fans can only hope for more of what they have seen already this year: a team that refuses to quit at any time and is intimidated by no one. Is there room for improvement in a lot of areas? Absolutely. That being said, I as well as Pirate fans across the country will wait, watch and hope that this is the year. I mean, they can’t do it to us again, could they?
A full summer of winning baseball is the only thing that will ease Pirates’ fans pain.