2013 Pittsburgh Pirates: A re-birth of a franchise

The 2013 season was a great one for the Pirates, as they enjoyed their first winning campaign since 1992, their first postseason berth since 1992, and technically, won their first postseason "series" since 1979, after defeating Cincinnati in the National League Wild Card game at PNC Park on Tuesday, October 1. Pittsburgh didn't get it done in the NLDS, falling to the mighty Cardinals in a deciding fifth game, but this was a season I, and thousands upon thousands of other Pirates faithful, will certainly never forget.

Below, I'd like to share some thoughts about the magical ride:

--If you've ever seen the movie The Natural, starring Robert Redford, you're probably familiar with the scene toward the beginning of the film where the struggling and last place New York Knights are playing before a sparse home crowd, as Roy Hobbs, Redford's character in the movie, quietly arrives to change things forever. The final scene of the movie has the red hot Knights playing on the same home field, before a packed and excited crowd, as they take on a fictional Pirates team in a one-game playoff for the right to go to the World Series. As I think about the real Pirates 2013 season, I can't help but think of that movie. On April 7, while bowling in my local league, I watched Pittsburgh fall to 1-5 after a loss at Dodgers Stadium. The lanes my team bowled on that night were situated right next to the TV, but it was hardly a distraction for me, and certainly not for most of the bowlers at the alley. It was just your typical Pirates loss. And while I certainly didn't expect a last place finish, especially after two straight late summer flirtations with contention in the previous two seasons, I couldn't have envisioned in my wildest dreams that Pittsburgh's fledgling baseball team would improve upon its 79-83 record from 2012 by a whopping 15 games and make the postseason for the first time since before Bill Clinton was in office. But that's exactly what happened. In between was a magical ride, as the Pirates flirted with, not only first place in the National League Central Division, but with the major's best record, as they battled the tough and talented Cardinals and Reds for divisional supremacy. The Pirates missed out on the division by three games, as St. Louis captured the crown, as well as, the top seed in the National League. But Pittsburgh did make its way to the NLDS, thanks to one of the most memorable nights in team history. On October 1, the Pirates defeated Cincinnati in the National League "single-elimination" Wild Card Game, before a raucous and baseball starved crowd at PNC Park, that came dressed in black and was alive and loud the entire night. To finish my "Natural" narrative, five nights later, on October 6 (almost exactly six months to the day after that apathetic baseball night in April), I was back at that same bowling alley, and on the exact same lanes next to the exact same TV, as I tried to concentrate on my bowling match while I watched the Pirates defeat St. Louis in Game 3 of the NLDS to go up 2-1 in the series. PNC Park was electric that night, as were most of the people at the alley. Believe me when I tell you, it was the most alive I've ever felt watching a Pirates game. When Pedro Alvarez drove in Josh Harrison with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Jason Grilli slammed the door in the ninth, it was the single greatest feeling I ever had after watching a Pirates game. Unfortunately, it was the last great feeling of the season, as the Cardinals came back and won the next two. However, I'll never forget everything that transpired between April 7 and October 6, and how this city was transformed and transfixed by its often forgotten baseball team. After 20 years, it was great to be in-love with baseball again.

--Fortunately, there are enough wise Pirates fans who didn't forget about the history of the team. While 2013 certainly seemed like the "birth" of the franchise, it was actually just a "re-birth." Many people might not know this, but the Pirates are one of the most successful teams in the history of baseball. Pittsburgh actually played in the very first modern World Series, back in 1903. All-in-all, the Pirates have nine National League pennants, and five World Series titles. Furthermore, the Bucs won nine Eastern Division titles from 1969- 1992 (including six division titles in the 1970s).

--The great on-field success over the years is obviously due to the many greats who have donned Pirates black and gold. From Honus Wagner to Roberto Clemente to Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski, Ralph Kiner Barry Bonds and the Waner Brothers, the Pirates are certainly more than well-represented in Cooperstown.

--But while the Pirates may be the most glaring example of a once proud franchise that suffered a dark period, they're certainly not alone. I suppose someone had to suffer the longest losing streak of all the small market teams, but what about other once great and successful baseball organizations that got lost in the wake of free agency and the disparity between big and small baseball markets?

-Cincinnati Reds. The Reds have had a big resurgence in recent years, but they also endured a lengthy postseason drought of their own, missing the playoffs for 15 straight years, before finally capturing the NL Central crown in 2010. While Cincinnati has enjoyed postseason success three of the past four seasons, it hasn't been back to the Fall Classic since 1990--a 4-0 sweep of the A's. Like Pittsburgh, the Reds enjoyed a great deal of success in the 70s, winning six NL West titles, four NL pennants, and back-to-back World Championships in '75 and '76. The Reds also have nine total pennants and five World Series rings.

-Baltimore Orioles. From 1966-1983, the Orioles captured six American League pennants and won the World Series three times. However, the O's haven't been back to the Fall Classic since '83 and have only made three appearances in the postseason--including just once since 1997.

-Kansas City Royals. From 1976-1985, the Royals captured six American League West titles, advanced to the World Series twice and won it after defeating St. Louis in 1985. Unfortunately, Kansas City hasn't been back to the postseason since, with only a handful of winning seasons to brag about.

--The Pirates have been criticized for having an inept front office and frugal owners for the better part of the past 21 seasons (and rightfully so), but can we honestly assume that all the above mentioned teams were just as inept? We're talking about a group of small market franchises that appeared in 14 World Series from 1966-1985 and won seven titles. Isn't it a little coincidental that, of the four franchises, only one has been to and won a World Series since '85? Is the main source of the lengthy struggles ineptitude, or is the core of the problem the growth of local TV revenue for large market teams, which, in turn, drastically increased the amount of money those teams could spend on top of the line free agents? I'm leaning toward the latter.

Whoa, this is longer than I thought it would be. I think I'll share more thoughts at a later time. Enjoy this one for now, though!

Go Bucs in 2014 and beyond!

Pirates lose Game 4 of NLDS, off to St. Louis for epic Game 5 on Wednesday

I'm always preaching about the awesomeness of the NFL playoffs and how a game is such an emotional roller coaster because of the lack of "tomorrows."

Today, on Monday, October 7, 2013, I'm glad there will be an October 9, because the Pirates will still be playing baseball, despite a 2-1 to St. Louis in Game 4 of the NLDS at PNC Park.

Like most Pittsburgh fans, I just assumed business would be taken care of in front of the home folks, but the Cardinals are not the Cardinals for nothing, and they usually have something up  their sleeve, elimination game or no elimination game.

That something was rookie pitching sensation Michael Wacha, who pitched 7 1/3 hitless innings before yielding a one out home run to Pedro Alvarez in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull the Pirates to within a run, at 2-1.

Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, Josh Harrison was caught stealing later in the inning on a hit and run. And in the bottom of the ninth inning, after Neil Walker drew a two-out walk, Andrew McCutchen popped out to end the game and send the series back to Busch Stadium on Wednesday.

I'm obviously very disappointed in Monday's results, and I know a lot of people are already chalking up a win for the Cardinals, but I have a feeling Wednesday will be a special day for Bucco Nation.

You see, manager Clint Hurdle named rookie phenom Gerrit Cole as the Game 5 starter. It was a gutsy move by Hurdle, because if Cole struggles, and the Pirates lose, he'll be second-guessed by people who will say he should have gone with the veteran A.J. Burnett.

But like I said, it is a gutsy move, and maybe it's just the eternal optimist in me, but my gut tells me Cole will show the baseball world just what kind of phenom he truly is.

As for the Cardinals starter, they'll be trotting out Adam Wainwright, their ace and the man who shut down Pittsburgh in Game 1. However, no man is perfect, and I have the feeling that Wainwright's curve ball won't be curving as much as it did last Thursday, and the Pirates are going to get them some.

Not only am I predicting a Pirates victory, I'm predicting an easy win.

Regardless of what happens, though, I  think it's important to remember just how magical this season has already been. I hate to be like one of "those" fans that I always argue with online, but there was no sin in how the Pirates lost Game 4.

The Cardinals are tough, and like most great teams, they know how to win when their backs are against the wall. If Pittsburgh falls on Wednesday, hey, it wouldn't be the first team to lose to the Cardinals.

World Series or not, I honestly think this is just the beginning for these Pirates. They don't look like a team that's going to struggle for respectability in the ensuing seasons. If I had to make a wager, I'd say they have a really good chance of being the Tampa Rays of the National League and competing for many more years to come.

Big picture, I remember the days when anticipating a Game 5 was nothing more than a fantasy. Now, it's a reality. And in terms of the emotions I felt while watching Game 3, Sunday afternoon and into evening? It was by far the most fun I've ever had watching a Pirates game.

Nothing will take away how that game made me feel, and I just hope Wednesday is another great chapter in an already remarkable story.

Ah yes, there is still one more tomorrow for these Pirates, and I actually wish it was tomorrow and not Wednesday.

I shouldn't be pumped up, but I am.

Let's Go Bucs!

Pirates playoff intensity: Get some!

After not having much to be intense about over the past 20 years, the Pirates are sure making up for lost time in 2013.

After a thrilling, 5-3, victory over the Cardinals at PNC Park in Game 3 of the NLDS on Sunday, Pittsburgh can clinch a trip to the NLCS with a Game 4 win at PNC on Monday afternoon, and it's going to be intense and emotional.

How do I know this? Because that's how the entire season has been for me since about late June. On a  Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, when the Pirates came back from three runs down in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game and then won it in the 10th inning to complete a sweep of the Angels, I became emotionally invested, and my emotions continued to be heightened the rest of the summer.

It's funny that I was so intense all summer, because, really, with regards to at least a wild card berth, Pittsburgh didn't have a ton to worry about once a 7.5 game lead was established, following that previously mentioned exciting win in California.

But when all you're used to is NFL intensity, it gets kind of hard to not think of every baseball game as do or die. I remember pacing the floors of my apartment during the Pirates 16 inning loss to Arizona, and that was all the way back in August--a loss that shaved the Pirates wild card lead to 7.5 games with 39 to go.

Two weeks ago, when the Pirates blew that 5-2 lead against Cincinnati in the top of  the ninth inning, it felt like the end of the world. I seriously woke up the next morning feeling like I did after that infamous Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS.

Of course, the Pirates would eventually be OK in the "making the playoffs" department, and actually clinched their first postseason berth with a win at Wrigley Field  on September 23, and it did relax me a little.

Instead of worrying about if and when Pittsburgh would clinch a postseason berth, I used that week as a chance to celebrate, even though the Pirates still had a relatively realistic shot at winning the NL Central. Of course, the Cardinals still had a two game lead with six to play, and I knew the chances of catching St. Louis were pretty slim.

Therefore, I slowly began to anticipate the probable Wild Card play-in match-up against the Reds to be played on the Tuesday after the regular season finale. The only question would be where the game would be played. Both the Pirates and Cincinnati clinched a wild card berth on the same day, and when the two teams met for the final regular season series of the year at Great American Ballpark, the Pirates were a game ahead, and if they took two of  three, they would host the game. If the reverse happened, the Reds would host the game.

Truthfully, I was only mildly concerned about where the game would be played. I mean, it's baseball, and home-field advantage (at least for one game) probably isn't that important. However, I still desired a game at PNC Park, simply because I knew just how awesome of an atmosphere it would be.

Thankfully, Pittsburgh actually swept the Reds to clinch home-field, and much like I had anticipated, the fans were JACKED for the game. Thanks to Twitter suggestions from several Pirates players, there was a black-out, as the fans donned black shirts for the game, which made PNC Park look at awful lot like the Oakland Coliseum during an old Raiders game from the 70s--kind of fitting, I suppose, cause, you know, Pirates/Raiders.

Anyway, back to the dreading part for Yours truly. I'm not going to lie. Despite the sweep in Cincinnati, I kind of felt like the Reds were just lying in wait for Pittsburgh and wanted to show the Pirates what postseason baseball was all about.

I thought about it, and I thought about it, and I thought about it for days--this kind of thing is normally reserved for playoff football.

When the moment finally arrived last Tuesday evening, at 8:07, I was very nervous. In fact, I didn't want to watch or listen to the game. I simply wanted it to be over with.

I had to pick my mom up from church, right after work, and the route took me right past PNC Park during the "win or go home" battle. I was simply amazed at all the boats that were parked in the river, just outside the park, as well as, all the people sitting and watching  the events unfold as they stood along the shore, across the river--it was quite the sight to behold.

Still, though, I couldn't turn the radio on, and I didn't want anyone to give me any updates (after all that build up, the last thing I wanted to hear was something like "Reds 4, Pirates 0, top of the third").

After I dropped my mom off at her house, I drove to my place. As I walked by the other apartments to get to mine, I listened for cheers from my neighbors, and I heard nothing.

About an hour after arriving home, I finally started to check social media, and that's when I realized things might be going fairly well. In addition to that, I turned my cell phone on (had to shut it off. I didn't want any updates from anyone, via text), and that's when I saw a text from my uncle, "Where the hell are you?" (I was supposed to watch it over his house, but I was just too damn scared), and my brother "Are you nervous?"

I turned my phone off again, and I paced back and forth until maybe 11:30 or so, and that's when I finally knew the Pirates had won. It was such a great night, a night that I didn't get to experience live, but I sure felt like I played.

What felt so unnatural to me was the fact that the Pirates had to be in St. Louis to play Game 1 of the NLDS less than 48 hours later. I wanted like a week to celebrate such a great night--but this isn't the NFL playoffs we're talking about.

Speaking of the NLDS, you know what I discovered? It was quite hard to get my emotions back up for Game 1. I don't know if it was the fact that I had a volleyball match, or the fact that it wasn't "win or go home," but I just didn't have it. Don't get me wrong, I was pretty disappointed when I discovered that Pittsburgh was down, 7-0, fairly fast, but I guess I was just flat--much like the players, I suppose.

It's been an incredible ride, and after 21 years, a learning experience.

Baseball playoffs are intense, but even the most intense fan can't keep up the intensity every day.

But then there was Game 3 and sweating in the form of bullets--more on that in another post.

Let's Go Bucs!

Pirates clinch first playoff spot in 21 years after thrilling victory at Wrigley Field

It's amazing how the times and technology (and a bad TV) can make something truly memorable.

On Monday night, I was following the Bucs Dugout gamethread on the Internet, when I noticed everyone reacting to the fact that Starling Marte hit a ninth inning home run to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. 

As soon as I read that, I immediately began to try to turn my TV on. Now the reason I wrote "try" is because my TV has been dysfunctional for a very long time, and instead of biting the bullet and getting a new one, I've just gotten used to the process of holding the "power" button on my remote and allowing the set to warm up and finally turn on--a process that takes about 10 minutes, give or take. 

While I was doing this on Monday, I was also visiting the Cardinals official team website on my laptop computer because St. Louis was playing the Nationals (the only team left who could destroy Pittsburgh's postseason prospects), and I wanted to keep tabs on the score because a Washington loss combined with a Pirates win would give the Buccos their first postseason berth since before Bill Clinton was President. 

Beings that the Pirates are currently chasing St. Louis for the NL Central crown, I suppose I had mixed feelings about a Cardinals win, but any postseason berth is wonderful, and since you don't get to see "clinches" everyday, I was rooting for St. Louis, at that moment.

Anyway, while continuing with the whole "trying to turn my TV on process," I heard people talking on my laptop. Turns out, a "live look-in" of the Pirates/Cubs game popped up on the Cardinals site, thanks to MLB.com, the flagship site that houses every team's official website, so as I was still trying to get my TV to turn on, I was standing in front of my laptop, watching Jason Grilli get the second out of the ninth inning, thanks to a force-play at second base.

There was a runner on first, and the count on the Cubs batter was 2-2. Just then, as I anticipated seeing closer Jason Grilli punch out the last batter, so Pittsburgh could clinch at least a tie for the second wild card, MLB.com stopped the feed (dirty play). In the meantime, my TV came on, so I quickly turned to WGN, Chicago's superstation that I get on my basic cable package (the Pirates cable station, Root Sports, isn't available on basic cable, so I was hoping the Cubs game would be on WGN). Turns out, after all that trouble, I realized the Cubs game wasn't on, so I turned the TV off and turned the radio on (why didn't I just check WGN's website for its tv listings? Shut up!). 

Just as I turned the radio on, I heard the final play of the game. With Nate Schierholtz on first base, Ryan Sweeney hit a pop fly single to shallow right-center field, that right fielder Marlon Byrd misplayed. Schierholtz would have wound up at third, anyway, but because of the error by Byrd, Chicago's third base coach decided to send Schierholtz home. A split second after Byrd's error, Pirates all-world center and potential MVP Andrew McCutchen, who was backing Byrd up on the play, picked the ball up and threw it toward home plate, missing two cut-off men. First baseman Justin Morneau, like Byrd, a late August acquisition, grabbed the baseball, a la Derek Jeter, and threw to catcher Russell Martin who tagged Schierholtz for the game-ending out. 

I reacted like I would normally react following a big Steelers win, because on September 23, with a playoff berth on the line, any baseball win by the home team is special. 

About 20 minutes later, the Cardinals defeated Washington, and the goggles and champagne were plentiful in the Pirates clubhouse. 

I'm glad the Pirates celebrated like they hadn't reached the postseason for 21 years, instead of maybe the business-like celebration a more postseason savvy team might have. 

After six Presidential elections, the fans deserved as much. 

Pirates end four-game losing skid, knock off Cardinals, behind masterful performance by Liriano

Francisco Liriano started the skid by giving up 10 rounds in only two innings, last Friday night in a 10-1 loss in Colorado, and he ended it, Wednesday night, by pitching his best (and maybe more important) game of the season. Only needing 94 pitches, Liriano pitched a complete game, as the Pirates ended their four-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory in St. Louis.

Pedro Alvarez (29) and Garrett Jones (11) got things going for Pittsburgh in the first inning by smacking solo home runs, and Starling Marte plated two in the fourth inning with a double to give Liriano all the cushion he would need.

The victory was much-needed for the Pirates, one night after losing in 14 innings. Leading 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, left fielder Marte dropped an easy pop fly, resulting in a two-base error and eventual game-tying hit with two away.

After two straight end-of-season meltdowns, a loss like the one to the Cardinals could have been hard to come back from. However, maybe this Pittsburgh team really is different.

We shall see.

It is worth noting that the Pirates participated in memorable marathon clashes in each of the previous two seasons. In 2011, Pittsburgh lost a 19-inning affair to the Braves after Jerry Meals blew a call at home plate. From there, the Pirates would go on to lose 43 of 62 down the stretch to finish completely out of the race at 72-90.

Last August, Pittsburgh got the better end of a 19-inning affair, this time against the Cardinals, but it still wasn't enough to spur the team to victory, as the Pirates would suffer a second-straight collapse and a 20th straight losing season.

So, maybe they're right when they say there's no such thing as momentum in baseball.

All I know is the Pirates are 71-48 and gave me a nice sigh of relief.