Why Won’t the Pirates Collapse in 2013

Mr. Negative and Mr. Positive were at a Pirates game a few weeks ago.  Mr. Negative was sitting on field level on the third base line watching the game.  He was complaining about the Pirates 2 decades of losing, complaining that the Pirates should have kept Sid Bream even though he couldn’t run faster than a Turtle, complaining they should have brought in Jimmy Leyland for a second tour of duty when they had the chance.  He was just overall complaining about any and every move the Pirates have made since that last winning season.  Oh yeah, he complained that the price of the Pirates gear was too high and refused to buy anymore until they ended the streak.  Despite being where there could be a play he did not have his glove and wasn’t watching because he didn’t expect much excitement to happen.  He’d been given  a ticket by his friend and had nothing better to do so he decided to go to the game.  Don’t get me wrong, you could probably talk a looonnnggg time if you were interested in bemoaning those miserable 2 decades, but I got tired of hearing the guy. 

So, after grabbing a hot dog I decided to sneak over to the other side of the field and try to elude the ushers watching for those trying to improve their seats.  Not wanting to sit next to another Mr. Negative I scoped out the seats.  As luck would have it, a buddy of mine just happened to be walking by.  After talking a few minutes and talking about Mr. Negative, he said he had to go.  He was only able to catch a few innings, but went to every game he could no matter how much of the game he could catch.  He also just happened to have great seats and offered his ticket to me.  Perfect.  I walked down to the seat with only a glance from the usher as I had put the ticket in my front pocket proudly displaying my catch.  When I got there, next to my buddy’s seat was sitting Mr. Postive.  Mr. Positive was obviously the exact opposite of Mr. Negative.  Mr. Positive actually was wearing a game worn uniform from Neil Walker, Mr. Pittsburgh.  He had paid 10 times what the uniform was worth in an auction just so he could own it.  He was wearing a beehive hat which once belonged to Kent Tekulve with stars all over it.  He had his oversized outfield glove on one hand and a foam black and gold number one finger on the other. 

I found my seat and before I was there for a minute Mr. Positive decided that I looked like a prime candidate for a conversation about the Buccos.  He started off the conversation by saying, “got yours?”  I thought for a moment, looking around to see if there was some message on the scoreboard that could explain his question.  Then, realizing I had not eaten my hot dog and was walking around with it in my hand, I said, “Yeah!  I can’t go to a game without getting a dog.”  Mr. P looked a little frustrated and after pumping his number 1 at the sight of an A.J. Burnett strikeout returned to the conversation.  No, man, I’m talking about playoff tickets.  Do you have your playoff tickets yet?  What?, I thought to myself.  I didn’t even know it was possible to get playoff tickets this early.   He said, “I’ve got a source at the MLB office that got em for me.  Since I don’t have a source in MLB I told him no, I don’t have mine yet.  Another A.J. strikeout and he returned his attention to the conversation.  He continued.  Oh, the Pirates are definitely going this year.  There is no doubt about it, as LannyFrattare would say.  I was not about to ruin the guy’s optimism by reminding him of the last 20 years.  I was curious about why he was so sure.  I mean I gotta admit, I think this team is good, but they have had their issues in the second half.

So, Mr. P proceeded to break down every facet of the Pirates.  Here’s what he said:

What is one thing every quality team has?  What is the common component on championship teams?  What is necessary to stop or slow down a great offensive team most of the time?  An ace pitcher is a necessary on a great team.  But, even better than an ace pitcher is a great pitching staff.  As a fan of the Pirates, I’ve looked at the Giants, Cardinals and Tigers and thought, why can’t the Pirates get lucky with just one pitcher and find an above average talent or one that develops into an above average talent.  Why can’t they just happen upon a Justin Verlander one time?  They’ve missed on so many pitchers in the last 20 years it’s mind boggling.  Do you remember can’t miss Kris Benson.  They could not pick a winner if they drafted players from other teams.  Meanwhile the Cards are growing them on trees in the back yard. 

Just then Pedro deposits a ball into the Allegheny and Mr. P goes berserk.  After he calms down a bit, he turns to me and practically shouts out, “Burnett.”  Again, not quite sure how to react to his exclamation, I just repeated Burnett figuring he’d expound upon his exclamation.  He started up again.  A.J. Burnett.  He is the ace the Pirates had been missing.  His record this year does not reflect his aceship, but he is the no doubt leader of the staff.  Since the Yankees discarded him he has consistently kept the Pirates in games that he has pitched.  Unfortunately, he can’t buy runs for his team in the games that he pitches.  But, he sets the tone for the staff.  He shows them the type of outing that he expects when he takes the mound.  Last year he practically caused an underachieving James McDonald to turn into a Cy Young pitcher through his mentoring.  Unfortunately, you can’t get blood from a turnip or however that saying goes and McDonald returned to previous form.  Needless to say, the Pirates have their ace.   Not to be selfish, but when I was hoping the Pirates would luck upon a dominant starter I was thinking more of developing one.  I wasn’t thinking of another team handing one to the Pirates.  But, hey, I’m not complaining.  Burnett is exactly what the Pirates have needed and he was pretty much handed to them on a silver platter.

I said I was really hoping the Pirates would be able to develop their own staff ace.  There just happens to be 2 pitchers currently in the rotation that just might fit into that category and down the road a year from now there just may be another.  But, that down the road thing has been a dream in the past 2 decades when it come to the Pirates.  So, Mr. P focused on talking about the 2 guys currently in the rotation that are the great hopes for Pirates fans, and so far they haven’t disappointed.  The first to arrive this year to the Pirates was Jeff Locke.  I think his nerves got the best of him his first start.  Not to say he didn’t pitch well, but he was probably just a little jittery in his first start of the year.  He started some games last year, but the reality was that if he pitched well this year he was the man for a spot in the rotation.  Pitch well, he has.  In fact, he has gone from number 4 or number 5 in the rotation to arguably 1 or 2.  After his last start he was number 4 in the NL in ERA at 2.06.  He hits his spots and eats up innings.  He has made an argument to appear in the All-Star game for the Pirates.

I was just hoping for the Pirates to come across one of those ace quality pitchers.  But, the Pirates have all of a sudden found 2.  I’m sure you’ll find “experts” that would say to you they knew Jeff Locke would be a star and there was no question he would one day provide the Pirates with quality start after quality start.  To the everyday fan though, he is just another minor leaguer that Pirates Nation hoped would be the next Doug Drabek or John Smiley and not the next Tom Gorzelanny, Kip Wells and Ian Snell.  Let me also qualify the term found by saying the Pirates did not find that second pitcher, which most of you loyal Pirates fans, have guessed by now is Gerrit Cole.  The Pirates did not just find Gerrit Cole.  They suffered through a hideously bad season in order to finish with the worst record in the league and qualify for the right to pick Gerrit Cole.  They did choose to make the right choice, it looks like, to pick Cole which is a victory in itself for the previously draft challenged Pirates.  Cole has not disappointed in his small sample size of chances in the rotation.  He is one of those players that fans will buy tickets in advance to see.  He has triple digit heat and in his first few appearances did not even throw his best pitch, slider and managed to win his first several starts.  You can’t teach a 100 m.p.h. fastball.  Props to the Pirates also for being able to sign him, which is not always easy.  Look at who the Pirates took a chance on last year and who was the number 1 pick this year.   Sometimes you just can’t sign the players you draft. 

So, the Pirates have that veteran ace, they have 2 young guys that are looking like future stars, they have another guy in Wandy Rodriguez that can compete and provide quality starts if he can stay healthy and they have another guy in Charlie Morton that is coming off a year off rehabilitating from reconstructive surgery, but has pitched effectively previously.  Then you have another guy, Jeanmar Gomez, that came out of the bullpen and again surprised everyone and shut down  opponents  in the starts he was given.  Not to mention, James McDonald, and Jeff Karstens who are currently trying to work through injury issues.  If those guys come back the Pirates have some serious starting pitching depth or trade bait if the Pirates decide to go that way.  Oh yeah, there’s this other guy named Francisco Liriano who the Pirates signed to take one of the spots in the rotation that has pitched way above expectations.  That’s up to 9 options.  Wait! Geez, there’s this other guy in AAA that has been called upon a few times and pitched well.   Let’s see 5 rotation spots, 10 possibilities.  Sounds like a good situation to be in.  I remember a few times in the last 20 years where the Pirates had to reach down to AA for a spot starter because the cupboard was bare in AAA. 

Mr. P was putting together a good case just talking about starting pitchers for me to start researching my relatives to see if, in fact, I might have some connection to the MLB office.  But, he had much more to say.   Although he hated to take his eyes off the field for one minute of the game, he did take an opportunity between innings to take a break and grab a dog himself.  Even though he was frustrated with my confusion earlier concerning playoff tickets and hot dogs, he agreed that you cannot go to the park without getting a hot dog. 

He returned just in time for an Andrew McCutchen at bat.  But he hadn’t finished talking about the pitching staff.  He blurted out something about Rolaids.  He was busy eating his dog so I figured even though he couldn’t go without them he was in need of some stomach relief.  I happened to be carrying some with me and offered him one.  He again looked back at me with an “are you kidding me” look.  I again looked at him with an “I’m clueless” look.  He said relief man of the year.  I’m sure he wanted to add stupid to that, but he refrained.  He said, Grilli, he’s got to be the favorite at this point.  He, of course, was talking about Jason Grilli and his phenomenal first half.   The Pirates, chose to trade Joel Hanrahan in the offseason, with the idea that Grilli had what it took to close games.  Uh, Yeah that one come to fruition.  He practically converted all his opportunities the first half.  Just recently blew his first save.  But, he still leads the league in saves.  Oh, by the way the Pirates got this set up man from Boston, that pretty much makes any game a 7 inning event, because he and Grilli shut the door in the 8^th and 9^th.  I glanced over to the third base side and Mr. Negative had found a sucker to listen to his rant.  The guy was frantically trying to get the beer vendor’s attention, no doubt to drown Mr. Negative out.  Mr. negative would have said why trade away a proven closer.  Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli are the answer to that question.  Apparently Mr. Huntington knew what he was doing there.    But, it’s not just those two in the bullpen.  All cylinders have been humming all season.  Justin Wilson, Tony Watson, VinMazzaro.  They are on top in most categories for bullpen staffs. 

Aha!, Uncle George, my dad’s third cousin once removed is a dentist in Milwaukee and always brags about how he once gave Bud Selig a checkup back when Bud was with the Brewers.  I gotta text Aunt Mary to see if I can get him to give Bud a call about those tickets. 

Just then Andrew McCutchen rips one over the Clemente wall and the fireworks go off.  Last July, Mr. Positive said.  I’m thinking about the fireworks after McCutchen’s home run and I agreed with him that fourth of July fireworks are awesome.  I  added to the conversation that I like how they are able to make them look like certain things like the flag.  But, I really like the loud ones.  He stared at me for a moment in amazement, then said he was talking about Andrew McCutchen’s July last year, when he went on an absolute tear, ripping the cover off the ball.  He was a lock to win the MVP if he continued.  It was a sight to watch him on that roll.  Frankly, it would be too much to expect anyone to keep up the pace he was on.  At the same time I don’t think it is beyond possible that he could do it and I think A.M. expects nothing less than to perform at that level.  Mr. Positive could not smiling  while he was talking about McCutchen.   I would have thought he was the proud father talking about his son.

Darn phone, why isn’t Aunt Mary answering my text.  That first series has to be almost sold out. 

Just then Neil Walker loses the grip on his bat and it flies into the stands behind first base.  Looks like someone got conked on the noggin with it.  Mr. Positive said, “left field.”  I said yeah, that guy probably didn’t expect that to happen.  It came right out of left field.  By this time Mr. Positive realized we weren’t on the same wavelength and said Starling Marte plays left field like a man possessed.  He can track down most balls that come anywhere near him and when he can’t get to one Andrew McCutchen will.  I know I had been following his minor league journey and heard stories about how good he was.  Then, he adds to his legend by hitting a home run on his first at bat in the Majors.  He can be a little reckless on the basepaths, but I prefer to call it aggressive.  I think Clint Hurdle sees it my way too most of the time.  Marte is talented and is a dual threat in the field and on the basepaths.  Until he arrived the hope was that Jose Tabata would fulfill the expectations that surrounded him.  Marte quickly claimed left field and has not looked back. 

I knew I should have got that new Iphone.  Do I have to drive to Milwaukee to get an answer from Aunt Mary.  Why did I wait so long to try to get these tickets?

Pedro Alvarez hits a screamer to Center field, but it’s caught.  Bull, Mr. P says.  I said no I saw it pretty clearly and he did catch it.  The big bull, El Toro, Pedro Alvarez.  He’s hitting now, has his average up in the 240s and is knocking them into the Allegheny,  and everywhere else around PNC park.  He’s the guy the Pirates took as a can’t miss first rounder.  I have to admit, I’ve not always had faith that he was going to become the power hitter that the Pirates projected him to be.  Earlier this season he looked like he was lost at the plates many times.  There were a few occasions he struck out with men on base and if the fans were in charge they would have driven him to Indy.  But, Neil and Clint had faith that he would come around and he did.  I’m not sure if he’ll ever hit for average, but if he can put 40 in the stands every year most will be satisfied with that. 

During the 7^th inning stretch Mr. Positive started to talk about Clint Barmes and how his signing was a poor decision.  I couldn’t believe my ears.  He actually had something bad to say about the Pirates, but then I realized what was coming.  He started to talk about Jordy Mercer and how if Barmes hadn’t played so bad Mercer would have been stuck in AAA.  The Pirates have tried to find a shortstop for years and whoever they brought in either couldn’t hit or played horrible defense or both, the list is long.  Yes, Cesar Izturis, has a great name, but he could not play shortstop worth a darn.  Right now, at least, Mercer is giving us hope that there is light at the end of the shortstop tunnel. 

Melancon comes in and proceeds to strike out the side.  Pirates take advantage of the other bullpen and score 3 runs to pull ahead by 2 and Grill shuts the door in the 9^th.  Game over.  Mr. Positive is ecstatic. 

As I’m leaving PNC with a big smile considering the prospects for the rest of the season, I ran into Mr. Negative.  He’s walking toward me with a bat in his hand and a big bandage wrapped around his forehead.  I asked him what happened?  Darn Neil Walker wears the wrong kind of batting glove and his bat flew out of his hands and hit my head.  I told him the problem with you is that you can’t see the positives because you’re too busy thinking about the negative things that have happened to the Pirates.  Enjoy the ride with this team.  They have a lot of talent, and the upside is tremendous.  If nothing else it looks like you got a free bat out of the deal.

Finally, Aunt Mary returned my text.  She talked to Uncle George and he said that he doesn’t remember working on Bud Selig, but he gave Roger Goodell a root canal, and he could probably get some Pro Bowl tickets.  Thanks, but no thanks.  I heard they’re paying people to go to that game.   Back to square one.

Go Buccos.