Its Such a Nice Park

At what point does the term "rebuilding" stop applying to a team? How long does a fallen mini-dynasty have to pull itself back up before we label the team moribund, inept, and not worth our time?

The scene was dramatic. 2 outs. Bottom of the 9th inning. 7th game of the National League Championship Series. The visiting Pirates lead the hometown Braves by a single run. The bases are loaded. Up to the plate strides the last hitter available on the Atlanta bench, Francisco Cabrera, to pinch hit for the pitcher's spot in the order. The Pirates are one solitary out away from a trip to the World Series...

... Cabrera rips the Stan Belinda offering into the hole between shortstop and third. David justice trots home from third uncontested to tie the score. Aging Sid Bream, running on two bad knees, rounds third and dashes for home like some sort of wounded chariot from Ben Hur. Pittsburgh leftfielder, and NL MVP, Barry Bonds unleashes a line drive throw towards home plate. The ball arrives. Bream slides. Portly backstop Mike LaValliere catches the throw and flails towards Bream. Powdery earth and white chalk scatter and flutter into the night air. Bream is safe. Atlanta goes to the World Series.

The Pirates walked off of the field that October night at Fulton County Stadium, descended into their clubhouse, and, with the departure via free agency of Bonds and Drabek, the Pirates have not been heard from since.

Or rephrased. The Pirates have not played a meaningful baseball game in 16 seasons.

Sure, Pittsburgh hosted the 1994 All-Star Game, and that was a fantastic baseball game. Sure, the bright new PNC Park was the scene of the All-Star game again in 2006.

And thats about it.

The shame of it all is that, for this writer's money, the Pirates play in baseball's best ballpark.



I took that picture on an overcast July day in 2005 when 4 friends and I wrapped up a 3-day ballpark road trip by watching a Pirates-Rockies contest at PNC Park. The day prior to arriving in Pittsburgh I enjoyed a sunny afternoon game at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. Two days before PNC I had been very impressed by Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers. But PNC was special. With the river beyond right field, the city skyline visible beyond the outfield, and a yellow suspension bridge (conveniently an official color of Pittsburgh's 3 major sports teams) a few thousand feet away in very very very deep centerfield, PNC Park is an unbelievable venue for a baseball game.

And the Pirates have failed to play a game of any significance since well before it opened its doors in 2001.

The odds aren't in their favor of changing that this season.


Pitching

Paul Maholm, whose greatest claim to fame may end of being that he struck out Billy Crystal in Spring Training in 2008, is the Pirates' best pitcher. He brought his ERA under 4.00 last year and logged more than 200 innings. The 6'2 lefty is not a staff ace, but he's a good big league starter and can be counted on to pitch intelligently, if not dominantly, this season.

He is joined in the rotation by Ian Snell, who possesses a 95 MPH fastball but only 1 winning season at the big league level, and Zach Duke, who has yet to come within sight of repeating his promising 2005 campaign. The 4th and 5th slots will be filled by Russ Ohlendorf and Jeff Karstens. Both came over from the Yankees in last season's Xavier Nady trade. As of this writing, neither starter has been able to recreate in the big leagues the success they enjoyed while climbing through the minors.

Even with a two-month DL hiatus built into the middle of his 2008 season, closer Matt Capps still posted a sub-1.00 WHIP and tallied 21 saves. He could be the closer on just about any team. That is a claim that we can't honestly make about most of the other key member of the Pirates team. The relief corps features Hawaii-born Tyler Yates (he walked more than 1 hitter per every 2 innings pitched. Thats alot), lefty John Grabow (2.84 ERA in 2008) and youngsters Sean Burnett and Jesse Chavez, the later consistently struck out more than a hitter per inning in the minors. So he's got that going for him. Which is nice.


The Guys in Charge of Scoring Runs

The corner infielders for the 2009 Pirates could easily fit the classic line from Bang the Drum Slowly, they are "a million dollars worth of promise worth two cents upon delivery." Adam LaRoche and brother Andy each have shown teases of well-above-average talent but have yet to produce much for the Pirates. Adam's penchant for starting the season in miserable slumps, and Andy's horrific .152 BA effort in the second half of last season are not what the Pirates management has in mind.

The middle of the diamond is superb. Second sacker Freddy Sanchez took home the 2006 NL batting title and has hit over .300 in two of the last three seasons. Shortstop Jack Wilson is a good glove man who is beloved by Pittsburgh fans and not entirely inept with a bat in his hands. Centerfielder Nate McLouth is a bona fide star. He hit 26 homers, stole 23 bases and drove in 94 runs on a pitiful 2008 team. His upside is huge. Catcher Ryan Doumit hit .318 last year with 15 homeruns. His .858 OPS is just about a dream come true for a catcher who possesses decent defensive skills, which Doumit does.

Right and left field will feature a combination of Eric Hinske (signed away from the Rays), Brandon Moss (who came over in last season's Jason Bay trade), Craig Monroe, and the speedy Nyjer Morgan (53 stolen bases last year between AAA and the Big Leagues).

Prediction:

Worst Pirates team since Francisco Cabrera ripped out the teams heart and ate it? Certainly not. A team worthy of striking fear into the hearts of the Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers, and Astros? Hardly.

77-85 5th Place NL Central