The Three Day Reality Check: Pirates Contender or Pretender?

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher (above) Paul Maholm (6-10) and his Pirate teammates had a rough weekend series against the St. Louis Cardinals winning one of three.  Both Maholm and Kevin Correia (11-8) got roughed up by one of MLB's deepest and most powerful line up's. The difference in runs scored was 18-9 in favor of the Cards over the three game series.

Call gut it a gut feeling but the results of this weekends Pirates/Cardinals series did not come as a shocker.  I felt like I was watching the old Pirates playing on Friday and Saturday with all the runs the Cards had piled-up and the lack of starting pitching. The wave has crashed and the high of being MLB's sweetheart team and feel good story is now over. July, August and September baseball is much, much different than April, May and June ball.  St. Louis skipper Tony La Russa knew the importance of this weekends series and threw his three best pitchers at the young contenders.  And, both the Pirates and the fans can thank LaRussa for allowing us to see, first hand, how far away our beloved Battlin' Buc's are from becoming that fighting and nasty team that it needs to be to be a serious division contender let alone playoff team. It will take perseverance and character to stay competitive the rest of the way. The dumb luck of youth is on their side, but, Pirate's Mgt. needs to add someone who has been in a pennant race to help lead this team into being a "contender in September".  Other good news is that they had enough wins that this past three game skid (going back to the Houston series) didn't hurt them as much in the standings as much as it did in their guts. It was a reality check given to them by probably the second or third best top-to-bottom line up, not team, in MLB.  


Anytime a team scores more that three runs in a game the pressure is on this powerless line-up to manufacture runs. Which is what the Pirates did to scratch out a win during Sunday's game.  The problem is that the Pirates needed to make it happen in every game of the series but only managed to do it during the final game which went 10 innings. That's the difference between a team like St. Louis who can drive in runs at almost every spot in the batting order and the Pirates who have to wait for the top of the order to have a realistic chance of getting someone on, let alone a home run. The top three team batting leaders combine for an average of .257. The leader is All-Star Andrew McCutchen who's hitting a scorching .280 while the third is Lyle Overbay with a dismal .233 average- now that's money well spent! Now, how can we as fans expect the same Pirates management team to go out and acquire the needs of the team if they thought Overbay was the answer at first base. That's a $5 million mistake that was supposed to cure the problem and bring some respectability to the position. But instead of looking at other positions of need, Pirates' management have to be looking at the possibility of signing another first baseman before the trade deadline. That's been the Pirates problem for so many years. Paying too much money for either over-the-hill or overrated talent. The Pirates would have been better suited to shuffle first base prospects in-and-out from the farm system until someone proved their worth. Next-up are the NL East's second place Atlanta Braves (59-43) for four games and then off to Philadelphia (64-36) for three games against not only the National League's but MLB's best team. A real test and show for these Pirates and fans will be the results of these next two series'. The last time the Phillies and Pirates met, the Pirates took two out of three from them back in early June. 


The 2011 season will be won or lost in the month of August. A quick look at the month of August reads like a list of Pirates' demons. Six games against both the Cardinals and Brewers, and, three games each against the Giants, Reds, Cubs and Padres. The Cubs are the only team one has to feel good about and they gave the Bucco's fits during the last series. A very competitive upcoming schedule for a team that has struggled against the upper echelon of the National League. The question is while every team that is competing for a division title is looking to get better before the trade deadline, will the Pirates use some or all the money that the fan's have spent this season by showing up and supporting their team and put it toward acquiring top notch talent? 

A New Era of Pirates Baseball

Those Battlin' Buc's

  The energy is different, the names of both the coaches and players have changed and so has the attitude of these 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates.  After nearly a generation in which the organization had to continually dig itself out of  poor personnel decisions, cheap ownership, poor coaching and false promises to it's fans, the Pirates seem to be poised to make a move into the middle. The crowded ranks of MLB's average teams. All that said, I remain cautiously optimistic and remind myself that it is only May. But, I still can't resist the visions of fighting for a playoff spot in late August and September.  
  These Bucco's have a certain energy surrounding them, an aura so to speak. They are winning the games they used to lose and getting the breaks. No matter what sport, all teams that try to break through to that next level go through it. In football, it's a team like Tampa Bay or Arizona finally going to a Super Bowl. In basketball, it was like the Chicago Bull's landing Michael Jordan and growing with him. And in Hockey it was like our beloved Penguins drafting Mario Lemieux to completely change the culture of a futile franchise. An example of this sports karma, so to speak, went on display last night during Jose Tabata's "catch" in the eighth inning against the Dodgers. If it's ruled a trap, the Pirates probably don't win the game against the troubled Dodgers. The Dodgers are going through ownership troubles of their own and MLB has taken over operations of the team. That hasn't even happened here. But, that's sports and one could say the Pirates and the Dodgers have changed spots in the landscape of MLB. 
  We've seen special teams and seasons before in Pittsburgh where things just seemed to the right way. It's the "benefit-of-the-doubt" factor that teams must earn . For example, the Steelers's phantom touchdown against Miami last season that gave the Steelers a one-point win on the road.That Miami win became a even bigger win at the end of the season when it came to playoff seeding.  Big Ben's QB sneak that was ruled a touchdown in Super Bowl XL. And, Sidney Crosby leaving game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals with an injury, with his team down 1-0 to the defending champion Red Wings, only to watch his Penguins pullout a 2-1 win and capture the cup. 
  These Pirates have this type energy and momentum going for them. An energy that won't come  from opening up a checkbook.  A much needed change for a team that has had the grayest of clouds hanging overhead on the sunniest summer of days. I don't see this team playing for just a .500 record. This team wants to win. The Battlin' Bucs have as many wins as the Rangers and the Giants to tie last year's World Series teams with 18 wins. Remain in third pace behind perennial division leader St. Louis and last year's upstart Cincinnati Reds. The Buc's won the series against both teams earlier in the season. But as all Pirates fans know the true test will come against Milwaukee. The Pirates will travel to brew-town after they wrap-up this series against L.A. I like this series for the Buc's for a number of reasons. But, the main one is that it's on the road where the Pirates are 11-8 this season.