Being a Pirates fan of 30ish years is like no other relationship I’ve ever had. I don’t know exactly when I became aware of them, but I vividly remember Sister Sledge being played an awful lot. I’m also old enough to remember the horrible teams that immediately followed. The drug scandals that embarrassed them even more. Like most kids my favorite player was Dave Parker. I didn’t know what cocaine was, had me convinced that anyone who had it, used it or sold it was the devil incarnate and was attempting to steal my soul, or some such. Mind you, this was before Twitter. Before the internet. Hell, this was before my neighborhood even had cable. The only thing I knew was my favorite player had it, and ABC after school specials taught me to fear it as much as unmarked vans with tinted glass. Needless to say, I was crushed. It was like finding out that Santa not only didn’t bring gifts, but was actually the guy who stole my bike.
I grew up. Learned cocaine wasn’t as horrible as I had been told, but by this point the Pirates were. Then Barry Bonds came. I remember watching him track down a line drive in left field, and at a full run he barely looked like he was walking,Cheap NFL Men Custom Jerseys. He tracked down a ball that the venerable Lanny Fratare had announced as a double the second it left the bat. Barry caught it as if it was hit right at him and jogged back to the dugout like he didn’t just made an all-star catch. Like it was routine,Cheap New England Patriots Jerseys. The first pitch of the bottom half of the inning Barry swatted the ball over the left field fence, opposite field, at Three River Stadium, with that perfect swing. He made every facet of the game look so easy. I was in awe.
Then Francisco Cabrera happened. Drabek left. Bonilla was gone. Bonds was gone. Just like that it was over
Since then I’ve gone back and forth with my interest level, but I’ve always loved the Pirates. I mean…being born in Pittsburgh in the 70’s its impossible not to. And over the 10 or so years I’ve been guilty of…how shall we say…over-reacting to things involving the Pirates. Sometimes my anger was justified, like the Aramis Ramirez. Sometimes it wasn’t. Was it worth getting that mad over the loss of Laroche, Morgan, McClouth and the rest of a team that had lost 90 games? No, But I did. At the time I was furious,Cheap nfl jerseys, but not because I loved the players like I did Parker or Bonds, but because this meant the start of yet ANOTHER 5 year plan. The 4th or 5th reincarnation of such a plan, God knows how many we have had by now.
As this applies to today, I’m not angry that they signed Russell Martin. I actually think it’s a good signing, and not nearly as over-priced as some make it out to be. Lots disagree, and they’re entitled. Some see it as more of the same. It has to be an improvement; I can’t imagine Martin being any worse than Barajas. But therein lies the reason the signing pisses me off. It’s because, yet again, the Pirates failed. Martin will be the 5th different catcher since 2006 on opening day. (Humberto Cota, Ronny Paulino, Ryan Doumit, Rod Barajas). By signing Martin they are admitting Michael McKenry is not their long term solution, like Doumit and Barajas before him. They certainly haven’t given up on 2009 first round pick Tony Sanchez per say, but this has to be an indication that they don’t think he is going to be ready anytime soon. This isn’t exactly a vote of confidence for how he has developed. He might not be a complete bust, but he sure isn’t a success, either.
And that’s kind of the whole point. In the past 20 years of all the rookies, trades, and signings …almost NOTHING HAS WORKED. The Giles/Jason Bay trade was certainly a good one, but the best result of that was a 72 win season in 2004. Andrew McCutchen has been great and reminds me of Barry in some ways. AJ Burnett turned out better than most people thought, though not without a rough start. In his first trip to Bradenton he got his face rearranged, by practicing bunting of all things. Oh, the irony of that. If that’s not the perfect microcosm of the last 20 years of Pittsburgh baseball, I don’t know what is.
But in twenty years….that’s it. Jason Bay,Cheap nfl jerseys, McCutchen and one season (so far) of AJ Burnett. What else could you say they have done right? Three different ownership groups, 5 GM’s, far too many coaches… At some point doesn’t the law of averages demand that the SOMETHING go right for them? Doesn’t it?
Twenty other teams passed on Mike Trout in 2009. A lot of very smart baseball people who know more than I ever will about the game missed him and drafted someone else. At age 21 he just overwhelmingly won ROY and narrowly missed MVP. How can so many people be SO WRONG about a player that looks SO OBVIOUS? Albert Pujols wasn’t drafted until the 13th round. How the hell does THAT happen?
Because it happens in baseball. Because despite all the advanced saber metrics and scientific approach to scouting and development, there is still a lot of guesswork. A lot of errors,cheap jerseys wholesale. A lot of luck.
Can’t the Pirates just get SOME good luck? Why does a team with deep pockets like the Angles get to be the beneficiary of twenty other GM’s mistake? As if Anaheim needed the help. I’ve, I don’t believe Bob Nutting is as horrible as some think, and I honestly believe he is trying. I think he’s trying harder than his predecessor actually. I think he wants to win, but like everything else in the last twenty years, almost everything that’s been done has been done wrong. Its inexplicable how many things have gone wrong. At some point something has to work out, doesn’t it??Even if it’s just dumb luck?
I’m not mad at Bob Nutting, or Russell Martin or the scoreboard. I’m just mad that we have another new catcher, AGAIN. Every decision seems to remind me of all the moves that preceded it, and how they have almost universally failed.
So if I over react to an innocuous comment about the scoreboard getting rebuilt, or cry foul at every roster move, you will have to forgive me. After almost 20 years of mistakes, errors and plain ole’ dumb luck I tend to think every move by the Pirates is a bad one, mostly because they all have failed, even if the logic behind them is flawless. It’s a force of habit at this point. Hopefully, someday I will be wrong more often. Hopefully I will be wrong A LOT.