Larry Brown Sports

Avast ye, matey’s! It has been said that Halley’s Comet might appear on Earth twice in a typical human lifetime. The same could be said of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Somewhere on the spectrum of winning the lottery a few times in a row and finding one of those stamps with the upside-down airplane on them lies a Pirates championship run. Since the last time the team was spotted playing in October, the team has found a way to lose 90-or-more games nine times while finishing 13 games or more behind first place all but one season since 1992. The team came into being in 1887, when it was designated as hailing from “Pittsburg.” At some point in history, the team added an “H,” left out a lot of “W’s” and has elicited a flurry of “Z’s.” The result has been a laughingstock where one is not warranted, kind of like a Bob Saget variety show.

It’s safe to say that William Kidd, Bartholomew Roberts, and Blackbeard never swung in on any chandeliers in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. At least those guys knew how to make someone walk the plank. The poor schmos in the Steel City have had a tough enough time finding a way to walk the 90 feet down to first base. It probably explains why there is a long list of managers that have been sent to Davey Jones’ locker, from Gene Lamont to Pete Mackanin, and John Russell. Perhaps Garrett Jones (no relation to Davey) and Jose Tabata could have learned a thing or two from Long John Silver about how to properly execute a hit-and-run. Coming off their 18th consecutive losing season, it is safe to say that things for Pittsburgh’s resident baseball team have been AAARRRRRR-duous.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3 in 14 innings Friday night. Both teams were shutout from the 7th inning on until the Pirates won things on a Jose Tabata walkoff double off the wall in right field.

The big question after the game was why the Rockies decided to pitch to Tabata with two outs and a man on in the 14th when relief pitcher Garrett Olson was on deck. Pittsburgh players were convinced a mind game intended to trick Colorado worked.

As Pirates writer Colin Dunlap explained, Pittsburgh sent Andrew McCutchen on deck even though he was really in the hole. They think seeing McCutchen on deck was enough to convince Colorado to throw to Tabata even though the right move would have been walking him to face the pitcher.

Tabata is Pittsburgh’s leadoff hitter and he’s batting .344 on the season. Olson is a relief pitcher who hardly ever bats. Nice call Jim Tracy, or maybe he just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible after the long night.

Previewing the 2011 MLB season, we’ve already named the Phillies, Yankees and Red Sox the top World Series favorites. Last week we looked at the how the NL Central might shape up with the Cardinals, Reds, Brewers and Cubs. Thursday: Pittsburgh Pirates; Friday: Houston Astros.
The Bottom Feeders: Pittsburgh Pirates

Off-Season Moves: The biggest — though not big — move for the Pirates this off-season involved trading left-handed pitcher Zach Duke to the Diamondbacks for righty Cesar Valdez. Duke went 8-15 last season with a 5.72 ERA, while Valdez went 1-2 with a 7.65 ERA in nine games for Arizona last season. In two seasons in AAA, Valdez was 13-16 with a 5.90 ERA.

Strengths: If nothing else, the Pirates are young. The active roster boasts nine players born after 1985 and only six born before 1982. New addition Lyle Overbay is the oldest at 34, while the youngest, starting outfielder Jose Tabata, won’t turn 23 until August. The organization has at least some hope for the future if the young players at the top of the order — Andrew McCutchen (pictured above), Tabata, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez — progress as expected. Though not a top team in either category, the Pirates fall right around the middle-of-the-pack in both doubles and triples, which is higher than they they rank in just about anything else.

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We’ve ripped on the Pirates a number of times for a number of reasons. A few years ago their fans had a walkout to protest the ineptitude in the organization. Between not having a winning season since 1992 and trading away all their talented players, the fans have been given a lot of reasons to be unhappy. The Pirates also were riding a 12-game losing streak until Saturday night, and they got a heap of negative press for firing one of their pierogis recently, as I found out reading Mondesi’s House. No joke.

Andrew Kurtz is one of 18 people who dresses up in a pierogi costume and runs in the race the Pirates hold at PNC Park every home game. The Pirates fired Kurtz for negative comments he posted about the team on his facebook page, so Kurtz’s mom went crying to the newspaper about the situation. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, here’s what Andrew Kurtz said on his facebook:

Coonelly extended the contracts of Russell and Huntington through the 2011 season. That means a 19-straight losing streak. Way to go Pirates.”

It’s hard enough running an organization where you haven’t won since ’92 and you’re in the middle of a 12-game losing streak. It’s even harder to break that spell and turn things around when you have pissant pierogis ripping management and creating even more negativity within the organization. People may be laughing at the Pirates because the story is humorous and petty, but I think they did the right thing. It’s funny that they fired a pierogi as if that would be the answer to their problems, but the guy asked for it. Maybe things will work out for him running hot dog races at minor league parks.

Sources:
Pirates’ PR Nightmare Continues with Pierogi Dismissal [Mondesi's House]
Out at the plate: Pirates dump outspoken pierogi [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

The Pittsburgh Pirates are rarely talked about. It’s been years since they’ve had anything to be excited about because they keep trading away all their decent or better players.  But now they have center fielder Andrew McCutchen, a young outfielder who last year said he was “just a step away from reaching his dreams.” Now at the Major League level for the second straight year, McCutchen is a symbol of hope for a deprived fan base.

The Pirates haven’t had a winning season since 1992 so the people of the Pirates organization can’t help but smile watching him play. Pirates outfielder Ryan Church commented on McCutchen’s wheels saying, “He’s so damn quick, it’s amazing. It looks like he’s just floating through the air.” It’s no surprise to read that when McCutchen was called up from Triple-A last year people said he was playing “like a 10-year veteran.” McCutchen has been turning heads in the big leagues ever since.

Despite my praise of McCutchen, I’m not crazy enough to think the Pirates winning season drought of 17 years will finally come to an end. Still, Pirates fans should be smiling when they get to see their speedy leadoff man and center fielder for he is their future. If their farm system can keep producing young talent like it has with McCutchen, we may soon see a different team competing for a top spot in the NL Central.

Sources:
Biding his time [Midwest Baseball Magazine]
A reason to believe in Pittsburgh [ESPN]

The Pirates have been an easy target for my derision lately, and that of MLB in general since ’92 — their last winning season. They haven’t even won 80 games in that 17 year span and they seem to be content with their bottom-dwelling status as the farm team for everyone else. Their GM Neal Huntington is treating his roster almost as if it’s a joke, taking the phrase “trigger-happy” to a whole new level.

In just over a year, the Pirates have traded away Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Nate McClouth, Freddy Sanchez, and Jack Wilson. That’s a semi-decent team right there. Look, I understand the financial constraints in the game as well as anyone and how hard it is for teams to compete on an annual basis unless you have the pockets to sign All-Stars each off-season. Thing is, that doesn’t mean the team’s GM has to go overboard in trading away every single halfway decent player with talent like they have swine flu.

I understand if you acknowledge that you won’t be competing in the near future and that you’re trying to get value in the meantime. I understand if you feel you want to start from scratch and get rid of all bad contracts. Here’s my problem: I’m still waiting to see what they got back for All-Star Jason Bay so you better make it worthwhile if you’re going to trade a player. Secondly, you have to keep at least one good player with experience otherwise you’re running a Triple-A team out there and that’s when this happens.

So while Huntington’s treating his team like a farm club, might as well jump in and get in on all the action. I hear they have good bullpen catchers to warm up your pitchers.

I guess when you haven’t had a winning record since the days Terry Bradshaw was quarterbacking the Steelers, you’re bound to start thinking outside the box. Not only have the Pirates thought outside the box, GM Neal Huntington has swooped in on Taj Mahal, snatching up two potential pitchers with non-draftee free agent contracts. Now how exactly did he get hot on Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh’s trail? MLB Blogs explains:

The two Indian pitchers were discovered while participating in the Million Dollar Arm competition in India last year to find the strongest and most accurate arm in the country. Singh and Patel emerged as the winners and were then invited to train with University of Southern California pitching coach Tom House in the US. After months of training, the two pitchers — who had never played baseball before entering the contest — threw in front of numerous Major League scouts earlier this month.

Hey, I’m not saying these guys are gonna be winning Cy Youngs or anything, but anyone who’s seen cricket bowlers knows that Indian athletes have some damn good arms. With a good amount of work, I’m sure they could turn out to be serviceable one-inning relief guys. On another note, for the skeptics out there, I’m sure you could combine this news with the Xavier Nady trade to the Yankees and say the league puts pressure on the Pirates to act in the best interest of MLB. Who knows? Maybe some of that is going on. Oh, and on a different note, I wonder how the ratings were for that show.