All Entries in the "Reflections on the Pirates" Category
The Jolly Roger Has Broken Out
For the first time since 1992, the Pittsburgh Pirates have a winning record heading into the All-Star Break. Ironically, the last time the Pirates compiled a winning season was the same year, 1992. Here we stand in 2011 watching an assembly of young talent get better each week. Clint Hurdle has done a great job managing [...]
Pirates Enter June Respectably
What has only happened a handful of times in the past 20 years seems to be breathing again. It is now June and the Pittsburgh Pirates are flirting with .500. The Pirates have one of the worst streaks in all of sports, in fact it is the worst. Eighteen consecutive seasons with [...]
Mediocre Better Than Bad in Pittsburgh for the Pirates
Pittsburgh got rolling into 2011 with a 4-3 first week. Think about it, they can finish 25 games over .500 if they keep this up. So far, there have been a few surprises as well as a few disappointments. Since this is the Pirates, let’s start with the disappointments. Evan Meek [...]
A Winning Hiatus in Pittsburgh
People know Pittsburgh as one of the “City of Champions”. While the Steelers and Penguins have had recent success, the Pirates have been cellar dwellers and have has loosing seasons for 18 consecutive years. This is definitely not the team they were in the 1970s. Like the Kansas City Royals and Colorado Rockies, [...]
Remembering Chuck Tanner and Winning Championships
Chuck Tanner sadly passed away on February 11th. One thing you will never hear me criticize when writing about Pittsburgh is the loyalty that fans have shown to those who have given their best. Sometimes, one’s best isn’t enough to win a championship. Fortunately for Chuck Tanner, his best was good enough to claim a [...]
Scouting Legend Bill Lajoie Goes to Heaven as a Pirate
Editor’s note: This article was first published on Bucs Prospects HERE on December 30th. As far as Pirates fans should be concerned, the biggest mistake Bill Lajoie made was joining the organization 20 years too late. You Bucco fanatics have no idea what you missed and what Detroiters like me gained. Allow me to explain. Hired [...]
Why today’s Pirates might consider reusing the mold of the 1960 World Champs
This article was originally posted on Bucs Prospects back on the 19th. I hope baseball fans enjoyed watching Game 7 of the 1960 World Series on MLB Network. I didn’t think it possible to fulfill the build-up, but it absolutely did. Maz’s homer was hardly the only drama, it was baseball at its best with [...]
Pirates Still Not Serious About Winning
New skipper Clint Hurdle will have an array of things working against him. Most notably would be the Pittsburgh Pirates front office. No big names were offered anything to come to Pittsburgh this season at the recently held Winter meetings. A couple of acquisitions were made, and a decent Buc flew South to Arizona. Scott [...]
The Pittsburgh Pirates: After the Dust Has Settled
Of the 25 Pittsburgh Pirates who took the field on Opening Day 2008, 7 remain with the organization today. General manager Neal Huntington has turned over his depth chart methodically and added a number of talented prospects to his farm system. Doing so was not easy. Huntington sent away All-Stars in Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, [...]
Boston Adds a Bat
The Red Sox have aquired a new left handed bat and insurance if 3B Mike Lowell needs to miss any time in the second half. This will be an upgrade over Jeff Bailey, Adam Bates and even Mark Kotsay (who can still play in the OF). Here is what Boston’s sports talk radio station WEEI, [...]
Pirates will remain sellers as deadline approaches
After suffering through 16 consecutive losing seasons, many Pirate fans wonder how any team’s management could be more inept; how any team’s ownership could be more stingy. And who could blame them? The streak of sub-.500 finishes will soon be historic. Image by Matt Bandi, MVN via Flickr The sudden and unexpected trade of All-Star [...]
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