Pittsburgh Pirates - This NEEDS TO BE the Year

-- by Tony Borrelli

This has to be it. I can’t stress that enough. I am in desperate need of this. My entire life and I have never seen it happen.

The Pirates need to finish .500 or better.

I’m a realist, not too be mistaken for a pessimist. I see things and have a mild optimistic outlook on the way they could turn out. That’s what I’m doing with the Pirates this year. They have me hooked again for the third year in a row hoping that this is it. I said it two years ago when they were surging, and they collapsed around the midway point because of a horrible call at home plate (THE turning point of the season). I said it last year when 'Cutch had the best month of baseball, and then the Pirates fell apart in July yet again. And now at the start of July of 2013, here I am again.


I’ve been alive 23 years now. In baseball terms (when rooting for the Pirates), that’s a long time. In standard times, I’m still a young “adult.” Most people have memories from the time they are 3 years old or greater. So with that standard, I have memory of 20 years of Pirates baseball. All 20 years have been losing seasons. I have never seen a .500 ball club and neither have my friends.

I can watch highlights and stories about the Fam-a-lee but I wasn’t there. I can’t be as emotionally invested of something that happened 30 years ago compared to something that is happening now. I keep thinking as I watch games “am I watching Pirates baseball history? Is this going to be remembered as the team that turned the franchise around? Can this be the year the Pirates go .500? Make the playoffs? Win the World Series? Is the collapse coming?”

My answer to most of those questions: yes.

I believe that this team could be remembered in history. After a painful 20 years, a team that can make that first crack at winning will be remembered for just about anything. They won’t be the most important team in Pirates history, by a long shot, but a nice footnote or blurb. If down the road, say that within the next five years, a Pirates team wins the big one, this team and last year’s team will be points of discussion. And the 30/30 will follow (sarcasm, but I’m sure it would be great).

In another 20 years, I think analysts and ‘Burghers are going to look back and say “that team in 2013 changed the face of the franchise and made everyone take notice.” And finally, everyone is starting to take notice. From the big wigs at ESPN, to the analysts, to the 86-year-old woman with #LETSGOBUCS in vinyl letters on her Buick, everyone is taking notice. It’s contagious. I get goosebumps thinking about the Pirate Fever sweeping my little suburban community 45 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. It’s the most excited I have ever seen this community about professional baseball.

If the Pirates can finish .500 I’ll be thrilled. That’s a win in my book. That’s as good as going to the playoffs and losing first round. If the Pirates finish their next 12 into the All-star break winning 6 and losing 6 (what I think is more than generous), then they go into the break with 57-36 record. That means out of the next 69 games, the Pirates would need to win 25 of them. That’s barely over 1/3 of their games. That would get them to .500 and that is manageable at the least. The collapse that would have to happen for the Pirates to miss the playoffs would have to be historic. And there is no precedent for that right? If this Pirates baseball team can play .500 ball the next 81 games, they make the playoffs without a doubt. And we all need to see what playoff baseball is like. Hope for .500 fellow ‘Burghers.

World Series? I was kidding. But there is my optimism for the day. The rest of it is REALISM. The Pirates are for real and so are my hopes for a winning team.

But here is my real concern for the day and maybe the only fact that I’ve presented in this heavily opinionated piece: The Pirates' hitting needs to improve. As of late, Marte, 'Cutch and PEDRO?! have come up huge and are putting good wood on the ball. But Pedro has shown in the past that he is streaky, Marte is still so young and that scares me (and excites me for the future), and 'Cutch is human and won’t bat .450 every month.

Their pitching has kept them in games for the first half of the season and they’ve found ways to win close games, which is the mark of a good team, but their hitting needs to come around and the Pirates can be a real force in the NL.

Special thanks to avid Pirates fan Tony Borrelli for his insight on our beloved Buccos. Every fan has his opinion, and it should be heard! We will gladly any time you have something to say, Tony!