Pittsburgh was a baseball town before it was ever a football town. The Pirates were playing (and winning) World Series before the Steelers existed. Baseball used to be king around here. During the twenty year losing streak, all of that was erased. The Pirates became a city-wide (and nation-wide) joke. There was one Pirates jersey worn for every thirty Steelers jerseys. The Pirates were accomplishing nothing, and nobody cared. That's what makes the last year so incredible for this team. They made Pittsburgh into a baseball town once again. The fact that they were able to do that, despite being the laughingstock of Western PA for two decades, means something truly amazing must have taken place. Let's take a look at this amazing season.
It started last winter. The Pirates were coming off another late season collapse. Any baseball passion that had been rekindled around here had been crushed. Many called for the team's front office, led by GM Neal Huntington, to be fired. Owner Bob Nutting presented an ultimatum: either the Pirates would win in 2013, or people would get fired. Many thought the current management team was hopelessly incompetent, and were essentially hoping we would lose just so they would be fired. Huntington had other ideas. He would prove them all wrong.
The Pirates had what must have been (correct me if I'm wrong) the best offseason in team history. Huntington scraped together what seemed to be spare parts from around baseball, who all turned out to be stars. Russell Martin was a defensive prowess behind the plate, Mark Melancon was lights out out of the bullpen, Jeanmar Gomez turned out to be a stellar long-reliever, and of course Francisco Liriano rose up to be the team's ace on the mound. We didn't know it at the time, but Huntington set the Pirates up for success long before Opening Day.
The regular season was a six month dream for fans who haven't seen winning baseball in their lives (like me). We got off to a fast start, posting twenty wins in April. One memory I have from PNC Park in the very early stages of the season was a comeback win vs. the Cincinnati Reds, in which we were down 5-0. This set the stage for the rest of the season, in a way. The Pirates made comeback wins their trademark. Any deficit of four runs or less in a ballgame was not worrying from a fan's point of view.
The Pirates' success this year came from their pitching, as it has for each of the past three years. Francisco Liriano was a revelation. He was dominant from the moment he made his debut at the beginning of May, all the way up until his last playoff start five days ago. He was especially prolific at PNC Park, posting a 1.81 ERA there. He quickly became the team's stopper, putting an end to any losing streaks, or getting a much needed win against a division rival. AJ Burnett came back as less of a dominant ace, and more of a scrappy, get-it-done-somehow type of pitcher. That style suits him well, in my opinion. Charlie Morton returned from his Tommy John recovery about midway through the season, and was very impressive. Jeff Locke faded down the stretch, but I still appreciate his impressive stuff from the first half of the season. Gerrit Cole exceeded all expectations that came with his billing as our top prospect. He came up in mid June, and pitched six shutout innings. He consistently has a fastball that sits at 98 MPH, and his curveball has improved by leaps and bounds. Down the stretch in August, September, and October, he was especially impressive and crucial to the team's success.
This season was full of pitching gems, walkoff wins, incredible comebacks, packed PNC Parks, Greg Brown outbursts, and so many memories. I'm not mad that we didn't win the World Series. Yes, I wish we beat the Cardinals. We were bested. We went down honorably. I'm proud of this team.
Besides, there's only optimism for the Pirates' future. With almost all of the core players on contract, this team will only get better. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to resign Marlon Byrd, and maybe AJ Burnett. Besides them, all the key players on the field, in the rotation, and in the bullpen are locked up. Top prospect Jameson Taillon (starting pitcher) seems to be poised to make his MLB debut next season. If you want to know what to expect, he's been rumored to be better than Gerrit Cole. If that's true... Wow. OF Gregory Polanco had a breakout season with AA Altoona. He will be bursting onto the scene in 2015, maybe even as a September callup in '14. And if you want to look way ahead, pitchers Tyler Glasnow, Luis Heredia, and outfielder Austin Meadows all appear to have bright futures.
It looks like we're in for many fun summers to come at PNC Park.
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