Veterans and rookies bring excitement to Pirates’ season
This morning I woke up to read the sports page and my heart skipped a beat.
The headline read 鈥淧irates Romp Rockies 14-3 for the Sweep.鈥� Using a 458-foot home run and four runs driven in by Rodolfo Castro, and with the help of Andrew McCutchen蘑菇视频 RBI double which he followed up in the 2nd with a 442-foot home run that gave the Bucs a 9-0 lead, the Pirates grabbed third place in the NL Central and remain just two games out of first place.
Could this be the magic, at last? Are the Pirates finally climbing out of the basement from last season蘑菇视频 dismal 62 and 100 record?
On Tuesday, Jack Suwinski slugged two homers and drove in three runs for a 5-3 victory. Hope springs eternal as the Pirates celebrated outscoring the Rockies this week 33-9, hitting the most runs in a series for the first time in over a decade, since they did it in July 2000 against San Diego. With their current record, a winning season for a revitalized Pirates ball club doesn鈥檛 feel unreasonable.
On the banks of the North Shore, PNC Park stands as the finest gem of all the ball parks in the land, and it蘑菇视频 pure joy to watch a game there as the boats glide up and down the Allegheny against the dramatic backdrop of the Clemente Bridge behind center field, just in front of the magnificent Pittsburgh skyline. I always take visiting friends and family to a game there when I want to really impress them. But the glittering eye candy is simply not enough now. Every Pirates fan is longing for the good old days when we were play-off contenders.
All this hope is making me giddy, and I鈥檓 now having flashbacks from a decade ago when Andrew McCutcheon and AJ Burnett rallied the Pirates for a dream season of 94 wins and 68 losses. That season finally ended the longest stretch of losing seasons (20) in North American Baseball history and catapulted us into the playoffs for the first time since 1992. The atmosphere at that wild card game against Cincinnati was electric and brought back memories of the golden years in 1971 and 1979, when likes of Willie Stargell, and The Great One, Roberto Clemente, led the pirates to World Series Championships. The able pitching of Steve Blass, Nellie Briles, Kent Tekulve, Bruce Kison, Doc Ellis, John Candalaria and Dave Giusti, who were among the greatest pitchers in the league, steered us on to victory.
In 2013, Clint Hurdle was named NL Manager of the year and McCutcheon was named the league蘑菇视频 MVP. Pedro Alvarez tied for the most home runs in the league at 36 and Francisco Liriano was awarded NL Comeback Player of the Year. Can Cutch lead us to another golden season like 2013?
On March 28, I made what I considered to be a pilgrimage to Bradenton for the final spring training game at Lecom Park. I had long promised my dad, the late Patsy Petro, that I would accompany him and mom to spring training some year, but it never happened. Now I was here at last, thinking of him and hoping to get a quote from Cutch about his return to the Pirates.
Although I arrived two hours early to watch warm-ups, my attempt fell flat, but I did get to talk with several rookies before the game, and their excitement was contagious. They all beamed when I asked them what it was like getting to practice with McCutcheon. Brenden Dixon was platooning at third base that day, where I got to see him make a difficult catch and throw to first base for the out.
鈥淲hat蘑菇视频 it like getting to play with Cutch?鈥� I asked him.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 totally awesome. It蘑菇视频 the opportunity of a lifetime, and he蘑菇视频 a really great role model for us younger guys,鈥� said Dixon.
Ernny Ordonez agreed, noting that the Bucs look very strong this year. Keep your eye on these up and coming players. Both are now playing for the Pirates鈥� High A farm team, the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
Can McCutcheon and Bryan Reynolds, our great veteran players, light the spark for a winning season? The rookies seem convinced of it.
I know it蘑菇视频 early, but the Pirates are already playing like contenders for the pennant. As for me, I will hold onto hope as I picture my dad smiling with every victory. As Emily Dickinson wrote: 鈥淗ope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul 鈥� and sings the tune without the words 鈥� and never stops at all.鈥�
Let蘑菇视频 go Bucs!
Paula O鈥機onnell is a resident of Uniontown and long-time Pirates fan.