The Streak lives … for now
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Streak lives. For now.
The Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t find a way to end 18 consecutive years of losing. Not even after four months of hanging around the NL Central lead. Not even after centerfielder Andrew McCutchen came of age and developed into an All-Star. Not even after closer Joel Hanrahan and his bushy goatee turned into one of the most effective stoppers in the game.
The record will say 72-90 thanks to a miserable 10 weeks to end the season in which the Pirates plummeted from first-place — yes, first-place — on July 25 to fourth by late September, a very distant speck in Central champion Milwaukee’s rearview mirror.
So which team are the Pirates? The one that flourished in spring and briefly became the buzziest team in baseball of the one that faltered in the fall?
The answer is both.
“We have to acknowledge that ultimately we didn’t reach our goal of making the playoffs and getting to the World Series, but we’re better than what we were last year,” said Hanrahan, who finished with 40 saves. “I think you also have to acknowledge that this isn’t the ‘Same Old Pirates’ that you’ve seen last three or four years.”
True, but then again the team had nowhere to go but up after finishing with the worst record in the majors in 2010.
The rise, at least until August, appeared to be meteoric.
Kevin Correia steadied the top of the rotation. McCutchen and Neil Walker evolved into franchise cornerstones. Manager Clint Hurdle gave the clubhouse a much-needed jolt, his mix of enthusiasm and competitiveness creating an environment stirring echoes of Jim Leyland.
The small library on Hurdle’s desk — including biographies of Pirate greats Bill Mazeroski and Roberto Clemente — hinted at his respect for the team’s storied past. He was just as quick to dismiss nearly two decades of futility.
The Pirates have been bad for a long time. That’s not his problem. While he knows growing pains are part of the process, he’s not big on excuses. He wanted to win, and win now.
“We’ve still got more work to do, the record isn’t what we want,” Hurdle said. “But steps were taken to building something I believe that’s going to have significance. That’s the goal for next season is to finish what we start.”
Pittsburgh’s scrappy play caught the imagination of a town eager to embrace a winner.
The team drew over 1.9 million fans to PNC Park, the fourth-highest total in club history. Average attendance grew by over 5,000 a game and the Pirates saved their best baseball for the best teams in baseball, winning home series against Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit.
“We held our own against playoff-contending type teams,” Hanrahan said. “We showed what we can do.”
Even if they couldn’t do it over 162 games. The pitching staff eventually wore down, with Correia and fellow starter Paul Maholm ending the season on the disabled list. Third baseman Pedro Alvarez couldn’t stay healthy. Neither could outfielder Jose Tabata or just about anybody who worked behind the plate.
Trades for Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick just before the deadline failed to provide the kind of offensive spark needed to keep up when the Brewers got hot. Lee broke his hand during his first week in town and Ludwick fizzled.
Luck was hard to come by too. The season’s turning point came on a muggy night in Atlanta, when a botched safe call in the 19th inning allowed the Braves to win and served as a precursor for a 10-game losing streak that ended any hope of the playoffs. The tailspin lasted well into September, taking the prospect of a winning season along with it.
General manager Neal Huntington knows it’s easy to let end of the season overshadow the sometimes intoxicating first 100 games. The end was as painful as the beginning was blissful, to be sure. Yet the club posted a 15-win improvement over 2010, the highest one-season jump since 1989-90.
Taking the next step will be difficult, though the pieces are in place to be competitive in a division that could look radically different next spring.
St. Louis and Milwaukee are both facing the prospect of losing superstars Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder through free agency. There no such worries in Pittsburgh, where the core is in place until at least 2015.
Holes remain, however, particularly in the middle of the lineup. The Pirates finished 23th in the majors in batting average and 27th in both homers and runs.
Huntington says the Pirates will pour the revenue from increased ticket sales back into the club but don’t expect them to open the checkbook for the likes of Pujols.
The team still has to be smart about where it spends its money. Free-agent signings Lyle Overbay and Matt Diaz didn’t pan out, though the Pirates could free up some money if they don’t pick up the option for Maholm.
“There are some pieces we need to fortify,” Hurdle said.
Whomever walks into the clubhouse on Opening Day next April will find a different atmosphere than the black cloud of pessimism that hung over the franchise for years.
Hurdle’s boundless enthusiasm has rubbed off on his players.
“I think we tried to play some exciting baseball,” Walker said. “We hit some bumps but I think what you saw is we kept fighting.”
Even if The Streak won. Again.