Pirates' losing seasons keep piling up
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- Yanks avoid sweep, beat BoSox
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- McCann powers Braves to win
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- Cubs rally in 8th to stun Phils
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More on MLB:
- Perry: Twins make more with less
- Rosenthal: Yanks' woes not over
- Ringolsby: Quentin for MVP?
- Power Rankings: Cubs on top
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Yes, the year was 1992, and under manager Jim Leyland the Pirates barged to 96 wins and a third straight division title. Over the following winter, though, Bonds took his act to San Francisco, and rotation stalwart Doug Drabek signed with the Houston Astros. As a result of those personnel losses and others, the Pirates in 1993 tumbled to a fifth-place finish and a record of 75-87. More failures — many more — were to come.
In fact, the 2008 Pirates find themselves on the cusp of an unfortunate kind of history. If the Pirates once again finish below .500, then they'll tie the 1933-48 Philadelphia Phillies with a record 16 consecutive losing seasons. Needless to say, the Pirates and their fans would prefer this not to happen. So will they be spared this humiliation, or are they about to be bludgeoned with the history book?
At this writing, the Pirates are four games below .500 and on pace to finish the season with a 77-85 record. While that would be their best mark since 1999, it would also, quite obviously, allow them to tie the dreaded record. In order to avoid said dreaded record, the Pirates are going to need to go at least 44-40 over their final 84 games. That's not out of reach. On the other hand, from this point in the season forward, the Pirates haven't been four games over .500 or better (the mark they need to achieve an 81-81 record this season) since ... wait for it ... 1992. So perhaps going 44-40 the rest of the way actually is a tall order for a team like the Pirates.
As for current indicators, they mostly paint a grim picture. The good news for the Pirates is that their schedule is going to get a little easier. To date, Pittsburgh's opponents have a cumulative winning percentage of .506. The Pirates' remaining opponents, however, have a cumulative winning percentage of .500, a bit of a drop-off. Of course, the Pirates have played four more games at home than they have on the road, and that, as you know, will even out the rest of the way.
Here's where we get to the really bad news. According to runs scored and runs allowed, the Pirates should be two games worse in the standings than they actually are. So the Pirates, believe it or not, are "lucky" to have the record they do. In fact, just the Washington Nationals, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, and San Diego Padres have worse run differentials than the Pirates. Ill portents, those.
Then there are the injuries. Phil Dumatrait is out for about another week with bursitis in his rotator cuff, and the disappointing Ian Snell is battling elbow problems. At this point, Snell is expected merely to miss his next start, but with the way he's been pitching a stint on the DL might actually be advisable. As well, while Tom Gorzelanny maintains that his shoulder now feels fine, he's still experiencing decreased velocity. His is a situation to monitor.
All things considered, the Pirates do appear bound for a 16th consecutive losing season. What should also be disheartening for their fans is that, unlike the situation in, say, Tampa, all that losing and all those high draft picks haven't led to a bounty of young talent. It's perhaps uncharitable to say that the Pirates' farm system is as bad off as the major-league squad, but that's mostly accurate. The Pirates, for all their losing, aren't poised to get better in the foreseeable future.
Looking for a bright spot? Well, new GM Neal Huntington, while he's had a mostly quiet tenure thus far, hasn't proved himself to be as demonstrably overmatched as his recent predecessors were. As well, the recent drafting of Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez shows that the Pirates, at long last, are willing to target upside with their top picks. That's a refreshing change of course.
With that said, the Pirates still have much, much work to do, and in the here and now they remain a bad team. Perhaps even a historically bad team.
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