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Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Dream Is Over... For Now

I'll begin this the same way I began my last post: Wow.  That's the only word that comes to mind.  When I look back on what has taken place in the Pirates organization since the end of the 2012 season, all I can say is, wow.

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.



Sunday, October 6, 2013

Definition Of Home Field Advantage

Wow. That's the only word that comes to mind right now. Wow.  I'm writing this at 9:20 PM, on Sunday, Buctober 6th, 2013.  I just got home from PNC Park, where I witnessed the best crowd I've ever seen (having been to Steelers games at Heinz Field and Penguins playoff games at the old Civic Arena).  From 2 1/2 hours before first pitch, to long after the final out, the people of Pittsburgh were all hands on deck.

The game was scheduled for a 4:37 first pitch. Naturally, I arrived at the stadium at 2:15.  I walked across the Clemente Bridge, tipped the saxophone guy, and grabbed a free "#WeBelieve" sign.  I, along with a few hundred others, waited about 15 minutes for the stadium gates to open. At 2:30, when they finally opened, many fans sprinted inside in order to get the best standing room and bleacher spots.   The Cardinals were still out taking batting practice, and some fans went down to the front row to get some early taunting in.  As we walked in, each fan was given a black rally towel complete with "Raise The Jolly Roger".

The ballpark was packed by 4:10.  There was a mix of booing and "Let's Go Bucs" greeting the Cardinals as they were introduced.  As soon as PA Announcer Tim DeBacco said "Aaand for your Pirates" the crowd leapt to their feet, screaming and waving their towels.  Likable players like Jeff Karstens, Michael McKenry, and AJ Burnett drew loud applause, but the big noise came for the starting lineup. Few got a louder ovation than manager Clint Hurdle, who was greeted by a bowing-down Pirate Parrot.

Pirate ace Francisco Liriano cruised through the first inning, drawing cheers for each strike, and standing ovations for each out.  PNC got rocking early when Marlon Byrd hit a single with men on 2nd  and 3rd, giving the Pirates a 2-0 lead.  Liriano would play with fire throughout the day, and eventually he gave up two runs to tie the game, off of a 2 RBI single by Mr. October, Carlos Beltran.  Those runs were controversial, however, because shortly before Beltran's single, Jon Jay was called safe at third on a play where he should have actually been called out.  Liriano, along with the fans, bounced back and got out of the inning.  The fans went bananas as Liriano walked off the field, as they knew it would be his last inning.

The fans chanted the pitcher's name again (KEL-LY KEL-LY), although it didn't seem to rattle Joe Kelly like it rattled Johnny Cueto on Tuesday.  Joe Kelly did his job superbly.  The problem was,  he wasn't very efficient.  The Pirates got his pitch count up, and we won the game getting hits off of their bullpen.

In the bottom of the 7th inning, a sacrifice fly scored McCutchen to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead. That didn't last long, as Carlos Beltran led off the 8th with a home run to tie the game.  Once again, the crowd stayed in it through thick and thin.  Trust me, I've been to some tough losses. Take September 20th vs. the Reds. We blew a three run lead in the 9th.  After that, half the crowd left and the rest were dead silent. Tonight was the polar opposite.  After Mark Melancon let up that tying home run, the fans stood up and cheered louder.  And it worked.  Melancon got out of the inning with no further damage done.

What the Pirates did in the bottom of the 8th inning is what made this night unforgettable. That inning along was a rollercoaster of emotions.  Andrew McCutchen led off with a double, only to be thrown out at third on a ground ball off the bat of Justin Morneau.  That was a depressing blow to the rally, but Marlon Byrd came through with a single that moved pinch runner Josh Harrison to third.  Pedro Alvarez came up to bat, so Cards manager Mike Matheny decided to play some chess.  He brought in lefty Kevin Seigrist, because Pedro tends to be worse against left handed pitchers.  Pedro took matters into his own hands.  He threw the statistics out the window, and lined a single to left, scoring Harrison to give the Pirates the lead.  Russell Martin followed that up with a single to up the lead to 5-3.   No exaggeration, I felt the floor beneath my feet shake as the crowd went wild.

When Greg Brown yelled "It's Grilled Cheese Time!" as closer Jason Grilli trotted out for the ninth, the sea of black was pulsating.  My ears may still be ringing in fact.  Grilli didn't let a leadoff single by Matt Adams get to him.  He got the next three outs in short order.  The fireworks shot off, "New Pirates Generation" was blasted over the PA, and the crowd went nuts. It's something I don't think I'll ever forget. We stayed to hear some TBS guy interview Pedro, but we couldn't hear it.  We walked the winding path down the rotunda, as a loud Lets Go Bucs chant was shared by the thousands exiting the ballpark.  The Clemente Bridge was essentially a victory parade. Everyone was in good spirits waiting in line to get their car.  Pittsburgh collectively smiled.







Wednesday, October 2, 2013

The Pirates Finally Made It

What a night.  What a night for the Pirates, what a night for the fans, what a night for Pittsburgh.  If there had been any doubt surrounding whether Pittsburgh was embracing its baseball team, last night cleared it up.  Sure the Pirates have had plenty of cool moments at PNC Park over the past few years. All of those paled in comparison to what occurred last night on the North Shore.  Michael McKenry had his iconic homer in 2011 (accompanied by an even more iconic call from Greg Brown).  That, however, preceded a monumental collapse which all but erased the shine from that memory.  Drew Sutton had a memorable walkoff homer in 2012, only to suffer the same fate as McKenry's blast.  Nothing compares to winning.  Nothing compares to the scene that unfolded last night.

It started hours before the first pitch.  fans flooded Federal Street and the Clemente Bridge starting around 5:00.  There were long lines at the stadium gates, which opened at 6:00.  Fans quickly filled up the standing room sections, and the entire stadium filled out shortly thereafter.  A record 40,547 showed up.  The blackout was pulled off incredibly well. In addition to that, the Pirates handed each fan a black "Raise The Jolly Roger" rally towel.  The place was ready to explode during the announcement of the starting lineups.  Chants of "Let's Go Bucs" drowned out most of the Cincinnati names, save for Brandon Phillips who drew a Baltimore Ravens level of booing.  All that was left was for Andrew McCutchen's mother to nail the National Anthem, and the game was off and running.

It started appropriately enough, with Francisco Liriano striking out Shin Soo Choo in impressive fashion.  The night continued smoothly for "Frank The Tank", who pitched seven innings giving up just one earned run.  The crowd roared with every strike, and exploded with every out made by the Reds.

When the Pirates came to bat in the second inning, you knew times had changed in Pittsburgh. Pirate killer Johnny Cueto took the mound.  Time after time, he had dominated the Bucs in Pittsburgh. This time was destined to be different.  He gave up a solo shot to Marlon Byrd to start things off in the second.  As I said before the game, "if the Pirates score first, the crowd can essentially take it from there". That they did.  They mercilessly chanted "CUEEE-TTOOO, CUEEE-TTOOO" before every pitch.  It obviously got into the Reds' ace's head, because he literally dropped the ball as he was getting ready to pitch to Russell Martin. Just dropped it. He had to walk about five steps off the mound to retrieve it.  It was an embarrassment; he had just let the 40,000+ on hand affect the game. On the very next pitch, Martin launched a towering home run into the left field bleachers.  The Buccos would chase Cueto after just 3 and 1/3 innings.

The Pirates took a 6-2 lead into the top of the ninth inning. Closer Jason Grilli enters from the bullpen. He promptly struck out the first man he faced, induced a shallow flyout on the second, and the third grounded out to the Pittsburgh Kid, Neil Walker.  The dugout, the stadium, and the city erupted after that last out.  It took a while, but the Pirates finally have a memory worth showing off.  Let's be honest, you were sick of seeing the highlight of that McKenry home run.



Note: Am I the only one who was extremely annoyed by TBS showing the clip of Sid Bream's slide in '92 before the 9th inning? Horrible timing.