"An Early Pirates are .500 Celebration post, all are welcome" Mon Sep-02-13 07:24 AM by Y2Flound
I hate having to make this post early, but I am fairly confident that they will not be jinxed at this point and I will be out of the country (hopefully) when they win game 81 and did not want to miss my chance to celebrate before it was old news.
There are few real Pirates fans left, but this is something we deserve for possibly being the most loyal fans in the history of sports...for the bandwagon jumpers or everyone who just enjoys a good story: come along, it's a fun ride for everyone.
As of September 2 2013 I'm 31 years old and married. The last September the Pirates had 81 or more wins:
- I was 10 years old (not married) - George Bush Sr was President - Bud Selig became the interim commisioner of baseball - End of the Road was the #1 song in the country - Ruby Ridge and Hurricane Andrew had just happened - School Ties, Last of the Mohicans,and Captain Ron were released in theaters. The Mighty Ducks came out that October - A gallon of gas was $1.05
The Pirates roster that year included (besides the obvious) Kirk Gibson, Lloyd McClendon, Tim Wakefield and Bob Walk
I could go on and list all kinds of things that have happened since the Pirates were last .500 including 3 presidents who each had 2 terms, the internet, and many players who play for your favorite teams being born.
The point is this is historic, what happens in the playoffs and the rest of the way, that is house money, icing on the cake. This is seriously the kind of thing that I think most people can't even fathom as sports fans because none of you have ever gone through it. It's a record across the 4 major American sports and probably one that will never be broken.
People have lived their entire lives and gone to college never seeing the the Pirates have a winning season. This really should be America's team. If you have no rooting interest in the rest of the baseball season or your team is out, there is no reason for you not to be pulling for the Pirates.
Let's celebrate this thing that should never be a real accomplishment because it's just a .500 season, yet is a really big deal.
1. "I'm pulling for ya'll, it's been a brutal run." In response to Reply # 0
Few things can touch the lows of rooting for the Lions, so it takes things like two decades of sustained "we don't even have a chance" to move my needle for other teams. I won't congratulate you yet, even if it's almost a mathematical certainty, but good luck.
4. "That's beyond something I can even imagine" In response to Reply # 2
I'm now ready to accept we will break .500 with 2 wins needed, still have reservations about even making the playoffs despite ESPN giving us a 98% chance or whatever.
The World Series? Can't even picture how that works.
Hopefully these moves will help because our offense is becoming anemic and our pitching is starting to get a little worse. I honestly have trouble seeing past the 1 game wildcard and pretty much have 0 faith in winning the division, but 20 years of losing does that to you.
5. "long time coming...congrats" In response to Reply # 0
my pops whole side of the fam is in pgh, many a summer was spent riding up and down the hill district, then out in wilkinsburg or homewood. i got love for the burgh
my 1st live games were @ 3 rivers during the bonds/bonilla/van slyke era & youre 100% right on the suffering fan base shit
10. "I know you're not thinking this far..." In response to Reply # 0
but it's gonna be tough sledding for your boys in terms of the division race. As of the end of this week, the Cardinals are done with division opponents...meanwhile Pittsburgh and Cincy have to play each other like 6 or 7 more times.
...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft
11. "I have 0 expectations to win the division" In response to Reply # 10
Maybe I'm a pessimist, maybe I'm a realist, but my real hope is that we get to host the wildcard game. The city deserves a playoff game, not a 1 and out road game.
13. "It's still very wide open, prior to yesterday's win we were blown out..." In response to Reply # 10
in three straight by the Reds and Pirates combined. We play them 7 times over the next 7 days, anything can happen.
We need Wainright to come out like Wainright today in Cincy and not that imposter that got shelled for 9 runs in 2 innings just 5 days ago against the Reds at Busch.
The rest of our pitching staff is all first and second year guys. Anything can happen.
17. "Card's bullpen as a whole is getting worn the fuck out..." In response to Reply # 13
because no one besides Waino can seem to go more than like 5 innings. They "rested" Waino a couple of weeks ago and then the start before the one you mentioned, let him throw damn near 130 pitches, cuz they needed someone to pitch deep into a fucking game for a change.
...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft
and down 4 in the 6th inning and just about to break 100 pitches, he's still in, because Matheny doesn't want to dip into that bullpen again. This is the kind of game Westbrook ass should be used for.
...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft
14. "it really is pretty incredible, the Royals came close but even they" In response to Reply # 0
mustered up 83 wins in I believe '03 & '93 (their playoff-missing streak is longer though).
The stretch has been almost as long as Philly's title-less streak across all four sports from 83 to 08.
I think Pittsburgh won five titles collectively in that stretch (even though I know you don't root for the Steelers, just sayin).
I'll ride for The Buccos this go-round tho, might as well.
Word to Kent Tekulve.
I recall being 10 myself when I was still going with my pop to The Vet to see the Phillies seemingly play the Pirates four times a year (we had a 16-game plan but they seemed to stack us with Pittsburgh games) back when Barry & Bobby Bo were babies in '87 or so.
Bucco fans were less annoying than the Steeler fans I would come across as I got older.
And honestly I ain't seen those fans now in ages, baseball doesn't even feel like the same sport anymore to me really.
Pirates moved to another division, MLB once #1 is now more like 3rd but the go-to for old folks & stat nerds, etc.
I'm getting off track, it's been a long time since y'all & .500 been acquainted, so welcome back & good luck trying to knock the Dodgers off track.
23. "last time pirates were .500...." In response to Reply # 0
i was sleeping in a bunk bed listening to games under the covers. lanny frattare's call on bonds' walk-off HR in this game is still burned in my memory (didn't even see the video of it till the 6:00 news the next day):
not even gonna pretend like i stuck it out though. i jumped ship sometime around the end of the giles era. still think MLB's salary situation is a joke, and it's dumb to get invested in a sport where your team is playing with two arms tied behind its back every year.
i also think breaking the streak is counterproductive in a way. the pirates situation had become such a national embarrassment, i was hoping it would spark some sort of movement towards revenue sharing, a salary cap, or anything to level the playing field. that's over now, as MLB can point to the 2013 pirates and say anyone can win under the current system. but it was probably a lost cause anyway. baseball really is america's game, where the rich are given every possible advantage while the poor get sold a dream year after year.
whatever. i'll root for the pirates. i'm happy for the team and happy for a city that deserves way better than this. but really, all this hoopla over a .500 season is kind of pathetic. these are table scraps. better than starving, sure, but you're still eating off the floor.
"i smack clowns with nouns, punch herbs with verbs..."
28. "100 moments from the Pirates losing streak- amusing read" In response to Reply # 0
This is really long, but some great moments highlighted here, some I didn't even know like this story:
67. Daniel Moskos drafted instead of Matt Wieters (6/7/2007) – I’ve pointed out how Littlefield passed over hard-to-sign players for guys who were signable with lower upsides. Bryan Bullington over B.J. Upton. Neil Walker over Jered Weaver. If you want another story, how about Brad Lincoln. The Pirates took Lincoln fourth overall that year. A lot of more successful pitchers went after Lincoln. Two years ago I was told a story from a scout with the Pirates at the time. I mentioned how the scouts begged Littlefield to take McCutchen in 2005. They didn’t win in 2006. The scouts loved a left-handed prep pitcher that year. They loved him so much that Littlefield went to see him pitch. It was a cold game, and the lefty had a bad outing. Based on that one start, Littlefield crossed the guy off the list, even though his scouts were high on this player. Who was that pitcher? Clayton Kershaw.
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