Eulogy: Here Lies The 2011 Pirates

It is with my deepest regret and most humble sorrow that I greet you here under these circumstances. Times like these are never easy, no matter how many times you have experienced it before.Last night, August 30, 2011, at 10:58 PM EST, the 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates lost their recurring battle with baseball respectability. After suffering a series of major setbacks following the All-Star break, the Pirates fell to the ML worst Houston Astros for the second straight night, this time by an embarrassing 8-2 count.

The 2011 Pirates had an out of nowhere run but appeared to be greatly slowed by an epic umpiring mistake by Jerry Meals on that other fateful night in Atlanta. Up until that point, though, the 2011 Bucs seemed as if they were going to beat the odds. They were given little chance coming into the season after being diagnosed as Pirates, official medical name baseballii suckitus, which is believed by most to be an incurable and untreatable form of a professional sports organization. But the 2011 Bucs were resilient and started the season strong by winning a series in St. Louis, the NL Central juggernaut that is a considered a small market in hockey and football, but does not seem to effect them in baseball; or the complete opposite of Pittsburgh.

The Bucs continued to play inspired baseball before dropping 6 straight games and receiving a second opinion from local experts saying that Small Market Syndrome was beginning to set in as well. This is also believed to be a debilitating disease, especially remarkable for a team playing the in the same town as two teams that are at odds trying to get UNDER the salary cap each year in their respective sports. But on May 18th, the mighty Bucs pushed back!

There was no quit in this bunch, who won 33 out of 54 games between May 18th July 20th. But as the outlook of a full recovery from being the Pirates was about the made, reality began to set in. The Bucs dropped 2/3 to the Cards before heading to Atlanta for a 4 game series. The Bucs took the first game and appeared poised to do so many times in the second game but they couldn't pull away. 19 innings later, the Braves went for the W, but the Bucs looked as if they were able to hold them off. Sadly, it only appeared that way. The Braves received a favorable call for umpteenth time in series history and the Bucs battle for hope began slip from their grasp.

These brave and admirable 2011 Pirates would lose 11 of their next 12 games following the Jerry Meals debacle. Despite taking 2 out of 3 from defending World Champ Giants, it appeared as if the Bucs had officially taken a turn for the worst. Smack in the middle of that 12 game nightmare, the Bucs sought reinforcements, only to see both of the acquired players be sent to the DL. The ugly pace continued by losing 3 straight in Milwaukee but there was a slight glimmer of hope after taking a series from the Cards. However, the Bucs lost a tough series to the Reds, again with some fishy umpiring, and then dropped 2 out 3 to Milwaukee again. With a series loss last weekend in St Louis, the Bucs were on life support and the prognosis was grim.

After dropping the first game of the Astros series in a come from ahead, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory fashion, the Bucs were in need of real miracle ( not a  phony "Texas' one) to put off the inevitable. But game 2 against the Stros only made it worse and machines have since been turned off. It is now that I somberly ask you to offer your memories of this special season, the one we all hoped, but never fully believed, would be different.

Also, IT WAS A FLUKE.

Lincoln gets first W of season

After two tough outings against St. Louis, Brad Lincoln and Co. helped Pittsburgh to a convincing 7-0 shutout over the Cardinals Saturday in St. Louis.
Lincoln pitched six innings of shutout ball for his first victory of the season. He also did it against the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter (8-9).
Carpenter hasn't had a Cy-Young calibier season, although he is still tough to beat, especially for the Bucs.
Pittsburgh (62-70) had 11 hits and took control of the game in the fourth when it put up four runs.
Lincoln got into the act in the fourth with a two-run double. Neil Walker hit his 11th homer of the year.
The Cardinals (69-64) are fighting for a spot in the playoffs, and can't afford to lose any ground on the division-leading Brewers.
The Pirates have 11 shutouts this year, which are the most since 2005, when the club had 14. The pitching has been strong this season if you take away the 10 game skid towards the end of July.
Jeff Karstens is on the mound this afternoon for the finale.
It was also nice to see the Bucs showcase some of their young talent on national TV. It would be nice to see them on FOX in about three years in October.
For those of you who are keeping score, Pittsburgh would have to go 22-10 in the final 32 to break .500.
It won't happen.

A simple question

If the Pirates fail to win 82 games this year, will you consider 2011 a success due to the fact that they have surpassed last season's total?

Acquisition versus Utilization of Resources

The discussion the other day mentioning Tim Alderson got me thinking about the operating model the Pirates are using. They are doing an above average job of stockpiling young, talented prospects. And while they should rightfully be congratulated for no longer drafting the 2011 equivalent of Bryan Bullington; they cannot, as some fans would seem to suggest, merely flip the switch to autopilot, nudge these talented young players through the minor leagues a year at a time, and watch the pennants start rolling in around the year 2015 or so.

The truth is the Pirates have had talent in their system before. Yes, Dave Littlefield’s draft strategy can only be described as a ‘1980s New York Jets’/ ‘1990s Cincinnati Bengals’ level of horrendousness. That doesn’t mean however that over the past two decades the farm system has been nothing but a barren wasteland of filler has-beens with nary a legitimately talented major league prospect anywhere in sight.

(Pirate Farmland before Albert Einstein Neal Huntington’s Coronation)

It is not my belief that the Pirates had only a talent acquisition problem. I believe they have actually had a player development problem. To be sure, a few actual top-flight 1^st round picks, and an infusion of talent from Latin America would have certainly be a welcome addition. Championship rosters are not solely assembled from near can’t miss 18 year olds however. To sustain any level of consistent success, you need to have an assembly line level production output of mid-range players and backups who can do their job, and do it well. How many of those type of guys have the Pirates brought along in recent memory? Burress suggested Nate McClouth, and that is about it. And I can tell you they have never found the occasional diamond in the rough type player who comes out of the late rounds of the draft and turns into a perennial All-Star.  I know that situation is exceedingly rare, but the division rival Astros grabbed Roy Oswalt in the 23^rd Round in 1996 and the Cardinals only had to spend a 13^th Round pick in 1999 to acquire sure fire hall of famer Albert Pujols.

 Both team’s scouts should be lauded for these unreal finds. But their stories did not end on the day the selection was made. Houston and St. Louis developed and groomed these guys into the players they are today. How much credit can be given to the club’s minor league and player development staff, and how much was an internal and immeasurable desire within those players to become the champions they are cannot be quantified. I am reminded here of the old coach’s saying however that “luck is the residue where talent meets hard work.” I question whether the Pirates management of the past, and by extension he current group of geniuses in charge, have been willing to put in the effort to really provide every opportunity to utilize the vast reserves of talent that has now been so heralded as a sign things are finally turning around for this beleaguered franchise. Here is hoping, but I remain cynical.

A Breath Of Fresh Air

With their 2-0 shutout of the detestable Brewers yesterday afternoon, the Bucs managed to split the 4 game series as well as the 10 game homestand. That is a vast improvement over the direction the team was heading coming into that stretch and they weren't exactly playing the dregs of the NL, either. The Bucs went 5-5 against the 3 teams they are currently looking up at in the standings and had just one of the two awful calls in the Reds series gone their way, they would have gone 6-4 and would be 62-67 instead of 61-68, not that it is a huge difference. But at this point, when you're playing to avoid adding to your own record of retched play, every win helps.

The big surprise yesterday was the performance of LHP Aaron Thompson in his MLB debut. Thompson was a first round pick by the Marlins many moons ago and the Bucs picked him up off waivers from the Nationals in December. He went 4 1/3 IP, allowing 4 hits and 2 BB, but no runs. Jason Grilli earned his first MLB win in roughly 2 year by pitching 2.2 PERFECT innings and Veras worked a scoreless 8th. The Hammer came out for the 9th and struggled yet again, putting the arrogant Ryan Braun on via a single to lead things off and walking the Brontosaurus before striking out the side to end the game.

The Bucs offense did not manage a whole lot, collecting only 4 hits and scoring both runs on sac flies by Cutch and Walker respectively. But those 2 runs were enough to win it and give the Bucs a well earned split before moving on to St. Louis tonight. There is something cathartic about splitting with the Brewers at this point and I nearly taunted their fans walking to their cars in the North Side as I was driving home from work yesterday. But then I realized I was a Pirates fan and have no room to make fun of any ML team, even Cleveland.

In other Bucs related news, John Perrotto thinks the FO needs to loosen the purse strings more in order to make any real noise. Ok, that isn't exactly news, but his point is obviously well taken. I agree that Nuthouse does need to spend more on the ML club, but I think he also needs to spend wiser, too. With Overpaid and hopefully Diaz off the books, and the possibility of Doumit and Snyder as well, that takes over $21M off the books based on what they would be owed under their 2012 options. Add in Maholm and that number goes to $30M. That amount of cash available, whether they extend Maholm or not, could greatly help improve the MLB club if of course they find the right guys at the right time when the stars align and the moon is in the second house and the right baseball people agree the right baseball move can be made if the guy agrees that he is willing to take a paycut to play for a team that is coming off it's 19th straight losing season.

Shake, Rattle, and Rolled Over

According to the PG and DVE's Sean McDowell yesterday, an earthquake with a 5.9 magnitude rocked Pittsburgh. If you are not a newspaper trying to over sensationalize an event or a 50+ burned out hippie pothead ,who is also one of my favorite DJs ever, you realized that the epicenter of the earthquake was nearly 300 miles away. I personally felt the quake in my office in Oakland and know of many others around town who did as well. But on the North Shore last night, it was the Brewers' bats providing the shaking and the Bucs' pitchers providing the quaking.

The detestable Brewers took the 3rd game of the 4 games series by crushing the Buccos by a final of 11-4. Ross Ohlendorf was on the hill for the 1st time in months and looked no worse for the wear, giving up 7 runs in the second innig ( 4 earned) and allowing 11 hits over just 5.0 innings of work. Games like this need not be recapped, so I am going to toss a changeup and  give the floor to our readers with a list of questions that you can answer in the comments section. I suggest copying and pasting the question or at least putting the correpsonding number with each answer. You should all know the drill by now anyways, this is a total SmizBlog ripoff anyway!

1.) Why can't the Bucs beat the Brewers?
2.) Which NL Central Squad do you loathe the most?
3.) Which NL Central player do you loathe the most?
4.) What will the Bucs final record be for 2011?
5.) Which player on the current Major League roster will have the best career, either as a Pirate or otherwise?
6.) Which player currently in the Bucs minor league system will have the best Major League career?
7.) What was Huntington's best move as GM and why?
8.) What was his worst?
9.) What the worst roster move of the last 19 years?
10.) Who should the Bucs target in free agency during the upcoming offseason?

Splitsville

While it didn't look too promising after the day game, the Bucs were able to split last night's double header against the detestable Brewers. Despite Karstens pitching 7 strong innings, giving up 2 ER and fanning 5 while walking only 1, the Bucs weren't able to help him out and he left the game trailing 2-0. Tony Watson then surrendered 4 runs in the 8th and the ever arrogant Ryan Braun slammed a 2 run HR off of Joe Beimel for good measure. Ryan Ludwick did manage to launch his first Bucco homer in the 8th but the solo job wasn't enough as the Bucs fell by a final of 8 to 1.

With a 7 run loss fresh in their minds, the Bucs didn't have much time to dwell as game 2 started promptly after the end of the first and featured former Cy Young winner Zach Greinke vs Mike Brad Lincoln. The Crew jumped out to and early 2-0 lead in the first, but the Bucs got one back in the bottom of the inning with a Walker RBI single and then tied it with a Doumit solo shot in the 4th. Lincoln would cruise the rest of the way and after the Guy Who Cried got out of a jam after surrendering a single and walking the pitcher Greinke in the 7th, the Bucs offense took over. GI Jones started off the fun with a  leadoff single and he scored 2 batters later when Josh Harrison doubled him home after Diaz had been HBP. After Suckdeno fanned for the 1st out, Cutch was called upon to PH and he was able to draw a walk as well as see Diaz trot home on a wild pitch to make it 4-2. Tabata then plated Harrison with a double, putting him and Cutch on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Paul singled Cutch home and Walker was walked to load the bases for Doumit, who singled home Tabata to open it up to 7-2. Seeing the Bucs do a number like this on the Brew Crew felt pretty great and GI Jones came up for the 2nd time in the inning, hitting a sac fly that looked as though it was going to be his first career grand slam. Walker then scored on another wild pitch and the Bucs had a 9-2 lead.

I feared that the game was from over at the point, but Chris Leroux pitched scoreless 8th and 9th innings to give the Bucs a much needed 9-2 W. This is their first win over the detestable Brewers this season and also the first for Jake Taylor as the Bucs skipper. Of course, he doesn't notice things like that.

With KC gone to the DL, Ohlendorf will take the hill tonight looking to ensure the Bucs at least a split of the series. Ohlendorf had gone just 8.2 IP in his 2 starts earlier this season before going down to injury and will be looking to lower his 7.27 ERA.

With the solid performance from Lincoln last night, you have to wonder where he fits in the Bucs rotation for next season? Leave  your thoughts and opinions in the comments as always.