But the Braves will destroy all of you and leave your seasons to be the nourishment of carrion birds.
Decent throw and he would have had him, actually. Which kinda surprised me.
I think Yadi was really looking forward to gunning the kid down, hence the wry smile. Love it.
Neither one of you can bring me down today. It was what I was hoping for, the end of the streak, the most embarrassing and humiliating streak of all time. When I was a kid, I remember hearing about the Phillies and their 16(?) year streak of futility and thought how that record would NEVER be broken. The Pirates, I’m afraid, will have this record long after I’m dead.
But the streak is over. Now, everything is gravy. If they win the division, that’s great! Dare I dream World Series? One can only hope the stars align. Because even though I grew up in Pittsburgh and have had some of the best sports memories of any kid in any city (the Pirates won 2 WS in the 70’s and were always competitive, the Steelers now 6 SB titles, and 3 Stanley Cups for the Pens), my first love is the Pirates and baseball. As a Pirate fan, the last 20 years have been very painful for me.
This year, I’m going to enjoy every moment from now to whenever the ride ends.
Who would be the Pirates best WS opponent? The Red Sox, a matchup of the 1903 classic and first WS? How about the Tigers, matching up the 1909 opponents, and also against our beloved Jim Leyland, the best manager the Pirates had in my lifetime? Or, how about the Orioles? That would be cool. Two run down franchises rising up from the ashes to rekindle the 1979’s rivalry!
Yes, today dear baseball fans, us Pirate fans can actually dream about these types of things. And boy, does it feel good.
On a side note, the Dodgers would like to thank Charlie Culberson of the Rockies for his efforts on their behalf last night. Much appreciated, Charlie.
While I can’t share your WS hopes (you’d have to get through the Braves to get there), congrats, Stink Fish Pot! It’s been a hell of a year, but gotta give the Pirates credit, everyone was waiting for the inevitable collapse - the snatching of defeat from the jaws of victory - and the Bucs refused to cave. I’d love to see the Pirates win the Division.
I’ll definitely take the win, but I really felt for that guy.
On a related note, I’m a little disappointed that Truman Burbank hasn’t made his way here yet to point out that if the Dodgers play .500 ball from here on out, the D-Backs can no longer catch them.
A great preview of the ALCS last night - Jon Lester was as good as he’s ever been, which is what it will take to beat Max Scherzer again in October. And whodathunk Koji Uehara, of all the damn random pitchers you could name, would be the shutdown closer we’ve needed here for years.
The Pirates have now officially set themselves up to enter the history books this year: First team in the modern era of MLB to lose 24 straight! Let’s go Bucs! 81-81!
Ha. Actually, looking at the way things are, I’d be a fool not to think that the far and away favorites for the NLCS based on the way they are playing overall are the Braves and Dodgers. It’s going to be weird having three playoff teams from the NL Central and then those two and that’s it.
I don’t think any of the NL Central teams is as good as either the Dodgers or Braves.
Thank you. I find baseball fans to be the most sincere and honest, and I appreciate this from a fellow baseball fan who can understand the depth of suffering. I have actually received a number of congrats from Cardinals fans, one of which said that it will be hard for him to root against the Pirates even if they meet his Cards in the playoffs. I have no doubt he will, but the feeling is there. It’s a great story for a team that truly has no publicly embarrassing players (that I know of). The owner is the enemy here, and who can’t get behind a team that is winning I spite of, and not because of the owner? I have a feeling that the Pirates, if they do get into the playoffs and if they do advance, will have one of the largest bandwagons in recent memory.
Hop on! There is plenty of room!
This is one of the cruelest things I’ve ever read in my life.
I would have to agree with you if we take a look at things from the all-star game until now. The Dodgers are winning at an historic pace, and the Braves have I think 84-85 wins already. So they are two teams that will be tough outs in the playoffs.
I really would like to see the Pirates win the division. Now that they’ve broken the string of futility, it would be nice to see them take the next step. Nothing is a given however, and if you look at the last two seasons, the Pirates have had a couple of epic collapses down the stretch, especially last year. However, this year feels different. The Pirates also got their closer bsck (Grilli) and we have two bona fide closers now with him and Melancon. That is a good thing headed into a playoff run.
If the Pirates win the division, they will get to play a longer series, and they still have the best pitching in both starting and relief pitching in the NL (era-wise). That is huge. If they get to the WS, it would still be a large surprise, but I’d give them a punchers chance if they win the division.
Winning the division means they didn’t collapse. And since they are being chased by two good teams, (Reds and Cards) they really can’t take their foot off the gas pedal. One bad week and they are out of the playoffs, and that’s a fact. So they will still be fighting until the end.m the odds that the Pirates could keep the lead in the central and not play well down the stretch means the Cards and Reds will also play sub 500 baseball. I don’t see a 3 way collapse in the Central.
I can’t believe I’m actually talking playoffs in September. I’m all giddy!
In non-game-related news, it appears the Angels may be dropping “of Anaheim” from their name. Which is good, in that the current name is absurd and should be trashed. But bad in the sense that they are looking to go even further toward being a real second LA team, including the possibility of moving (back) into LA proper.
This Cleveland fan has been where you are (enjoy the hell out of it!), and I’ll definitely be pulling for the Pirates to make the playoffs and have a great run.
As a Cardinals fan I do, of course, hope the Cardinals do as well as possible, but aside from that, it’s hard to root against the Pirates, and I wish them well. (Except I occasionally want to say, teasingly, to the Pirates fans: “All you really wanted was a season over .500, right? Okay, so you can stop winning now.”) Actually, all five of the top NL teams have something to like about them; and if I were The Baseball Gods, I’d have trouble deciding which team to bestow my favor upon.
Well the baseball gods must’ve thought so too. My Tigers got spanked 20-4 yesterday.
I’ll go say 20 Hail Clementes as penance.
No sweat! Yeah, the 70s and 80s were brutal as a Bravos fan. Currently, the Miami Marlins fans (both of them) seem to be staring at a long drought until their current owner dies (or is pushed ;)).
Maybe the owner can take all that extra merchandising money and use it to keep the winning streak going. Yeah, I know, but just maybe…
That was ridiculous. One of the few times, I’ve wanted there to be a mercy rule in MLB.
Well, excepting the Cards of course. Actually, wait, I just thought of something to like about the Cards! They lost the season series to Atlanta and won me $20! I like that! 
I keed. I keed. The Cardinal are a worthy and respectable opponent although I do miss seeing La Russa in the dugout.
Is it time for playoff predictions? Or should we make that a separate thread?
I’ve been posting my little update every Sunday. But yes, this has been a noteworthy week. Clinch is right around the corner. What is the elimination # for the Giants today? (goes to check) Ah, it is 3 for both the Giants and dog-assed Padres. I’m going to enjoy this week.
I’m in the awkward position of rooting for a Giants win over the D-Backs today so that they:
- have a slightly worse draft pick
- drive LA toward clinching all the sooner so that they can
- have more nights like last night where they rest key players while at the same time
- get Matt Kemp as many big league at bats as possible before the playoffs.
AZ needs to lose as much as possible for 2-4 to happen. SF needs to win a little for 1 to happen. September baseball is always strange isn’t it?
I was wishing for a mercy rule - the Tigers pitchers were not in a happy mood. The Sox batters looked almost apologetic at times. Hopefully we saved a few of those runs for the Bronx.
Don’t look now, but it seems as though the Yankees are right back in the Wild Card race. With Granderson, Jeter, and A-Roid back in the lineup, it actually has some meat to it. It would be nice to see Rivera get another ring, though the planets have to align themselves for it to happen. The Tampa series in the last week could be the difference.
If they only had to play the Blue Jays and White Sox, they’d be odds-on favorites to get in.
The 7 upcoming games against the Red Sox, 4 against Baltimore and 3 against the Rays will make the difference. If they can do well in those, they can look forward to closing out the season against the pathetic Astros.