Is it safe to separate the Pittsburgh Pirates from past failures?
By Matt Shetler
Coming into the 2013 season the common opinion among most Pittsburgh Pirates fans was that they would have a hard time buying into this team until they showed that they could put together an entire season.
After back-to-back collapses it’s awfully difficult to argue that point with anyone.
May 27, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Travis Snider (23) receives congratulations from teammates after scoring in the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Call me crazy, but this team just feels different than any of the others that we have seen during the past 20 years.
Yeah I know that everyone could have said that in July last season when the Bucs were 16 games over .500, but this still just feels different.
At no time during the past 20 years have Pirates fans entered the end of May feeling as good about the team as many should right now. I’m not proclaiming the Pirates a World Series team or even a playoff team. I’m not even ready to go out on a limb and suggest that the Bucs will put an end to 20 consecutive losing seasons.
But what I am suggesting is that this team has earned the right so far to be separated from those teams.
Through two months of the season this team has competed with the best teams in the game and have not only held their own but sit 12 games over .500. I think that’s enough so far to separate them from the past 20 teams, especially the past two teams that have taken nose dives to finish the year.
This team has shown no effects from what turned out to be the biggest collapse in baseball history.
I often find it funny to hear Pirates fans talk about how they would never follow the team again after last season’s collapse. Yet once the Pirates start winning this season, they are all back on board the bandwagon.
But while that’s funny, it’s also the great part of the game of baseball. Every year brings something different, even though it hasn’t seemed that way in the city of Pittsburgh.
But that’s also why this team should be judged on their merit this season and not what has happened over the course of the past two decades. Their success so far has earned them that, at the bare minimum.
Hopefully as the calendar turns June, we can start to quiet the talk of losing streaks and collapses and enjoy the ride with the 2013 Pirates.