Game 142 Precap: F*ck you, Pirates
I don't even care who wins. The Pirates just tried a squeeze with a runner on third and one out in the top of the sixth inning that was so predictable the Reds pitched out and Alex Presley slid right into an out. Nick Leyva was literally whispering to Alex Presley on third base, as if he wanted the entire world to know it was coming. I'm not watching the end of this game. I don't think I'm watching any more Pirate games this year.
If this team doesn't make .500 I hope next season they only get 3,500 people a night at PNC. What a joke this season has turned into. At least the Cubs, Astros and Indians didn't deceive their fan bases into thinking they had anything to get excited about. What a betrayal.
Who's that guy that always said this? I don't always read the comments here so excuse me if he's said it recently:
They're still shitty.
I said it a couple weeks ago, and I'll say it again: This team won't break the streak. If you would have asked me whether or not they'd break it back in June, or July, I would have laughed; THAT WAS REAL BASEBALL. What kills me, what absolutely kills me about this year, is that these very same guys who are stinking up the joint played the very best baseball IN THE WORLD for two months. THAT is the betrayal. And I don't want to hear about the trade deadline; the guys we got are better than the guys we gave up, and they're playing better, too. Hurdle's puzzling decisions mean nothing when the team scores 5 by hitting the ball out of the park. It's only when every run is crucial that he would even think about suicide squeezing. That play doesn't get considered when we score 3 in the 1st and 2 in the 3rd. I'm back to checking the scores in the morning, and waiting for the inevitable 82nd loss, which should come sometime around the 26th. Peace, Bucs fans. Out.
You were sitting somewhere in the Carolinas and I was sitting in my family room in Florida watching the game. As soon as the "suicide" squeeze "failed" I turned off the game and my wife and I watched a netflix comedy streamed through our ROKU. My wife couldn't believe I turned off the game. I was gradeschooler who went to game 7 in 1960 (left field bleachers) and attended games in 1971 and 1979 series. I watch almost every Pirate game, and last night was one of the few times I have turned the game off in over 50 years.
You can argue about whether Barmas should be playing. I, however, can live with a very good defensive shortstop who hits .230 as long as he does the little things, sacrifices, moving runners along etc. This was a suicide squeeze and what I guess you have to call a semi-pitchout. If it had been a complete pitchout 3 feet outside, Hannigen would never have gotten back to the plate in time. There is no excuse, however, for Barmas not getting his bat on that ball. That is all he had to do to prevent erasing a runner at 3rd with less than 2 out. Even if he had to throw his bat at the ball, which he didn't have to do, he has to make contact.
I'm going to go back to a metaphor that Pat used in his season preview. When you're four years old, you know Christmas comes on December 25th. Now on October 15th, that's no big deal; come December 15th, it's friggin' excruciating. To torture the metaphor even more, a couple years ago--when Cutch's ceiliing was a matter of debate, when Gerrit Cole hadn't thrown a pitch on the professional level, when Marte was a guy with a lot of tools--was October 15th. This year? Well, it's not Christmas, but it's December 15th, and that's why this season has been so maddening, because this club is so goddamn close to delivering the goods. Still, this team is a work in progress--Marte is just here, Cutch is just starting to deliver on his immense promise, Cole and Taillon are not here yet. I've seen people here talk about betrayal, and I can understand the feeling--you only get so many shots at the post-season, and watching this club punt that chance has been maddening. Still, if you want to talk betrayal...well, think about 1985, when the team was losing 104 games with Marvelle Wynne and Steve Kemp and Joggin' George Hendrick, and you had the drug trials going on in a courthouse downtown, and the club was drawing 9,000 paid a game, and there was no guarantee that in 1986 there wouldn't be the Tampa Pirates or the Portland Pirates. That's what betrayal feels like. This club is a work in progress. It's December 15th, after all.
@wkkortas I think we have quite a few guys over the last month the can replace the last name on their jerseys with "Boo."
NO MINE...BUT I LOVE IT...LOL
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buffone71 said
Awesome...another sweep. And we have a 4 game series with the Cubs at Wrigley coming up, who just swept us at home. And the Brewers are just a half game behind us. 4th place and 20 losing years, here we come. This team should change their name to the Pittsburgh Possums - they play dead at home and they get killed on the road.
I wanted to believe so badly that a collapse wouldn't happen this year. I think all of us maybe had something like this lurking in the back of our minds though. It just seems so... cruel. Like, I actually feel heartbroken right now.
Surprise...surprise.. lol But people just keep going to the park paying for 20 year failures... Stay home and drink cool aid cheaper than beer at PNC... And you will not be paying for this circus:-)
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This owner is a piece of garbage, Robert Nutting is the 10th richest MLB owner!!!! 10th!!!!! 1.4 billion dollars he's worth. If he doesn't want to spend the money, then sell the team to someone who wants to give the city of Pittsburgh a winner. Need 3 new starting pitchers, we need to spend about 12-15 million a year on one shut down pitcher. And another big bat. So another words we need to spend a additional 40 million a year. But we won't cause Nutting don't give two shits about Pittsburgh, he's from west Virginia that back door hillbilly fuck!
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Ya know what pisses me off even more than (or at least as much as) this soul crushing losing streak? Stupid people like you. There is so much to be angry about with this stretch. The Pirates, despite the rest of the NL desperately trying to lose their out of the playoffs, continue to do stupid things like that uber-predictable squeeze (isn't that why baseball has signs in the first place? Couldn't a tip of the cap and touching your belt buckle at first have sent the same friggin' message?) and it's costing them games. Clint Hurdle is a bad manager. He has been bad all season but the team won so people overlooked it. However, blaming money on the losing streak is idiotic. The Pirates spent nearly $70M on Cutch this winter but does that matter? Of course not. People wanted a starting pitcher this offseason so they got AJB. People wanted to trade prospects for big leaguers so they dealt for Wandy. LA went out and spent so much money, they are now almost certain to be over the luxury cap next year. You know what it's getting them? Just as much frustrating baseball as we have in Pittsburgh only at 4 times the cost! Crap like this bugs me because you overlook so many valid and infuriating problems to spout off the same tin foil hat crap that stupid people have been yelling about for years.
Awwwww boo whoo kentucky. shut up you idiot, dont need a break down of everything. Go kill yourself
@TanTrax35 If you believe that the team's failure over the past month has anything to do with Nutting's willingness to spend money, then clearly you do need things broken down for you. As for killing myself...nah, no thanks.
Clint Hurdle and the Pirates organization makes me sick, kids watch games and look up to the players. Im sick to see this team and management throw game after game. Clint has to be the worst manager I have ever seen. He wont play small ball to try to score runs when he has runners on second with no outs, but will try a squeeze with one out and the chance to take the lead. I myself feel betrayed and all the fans who have paid alot of money to go watch the games should feel the same when this organization used them to make thier money and know they tell the team to throw games to help the big market teams get to the playoffs. 19 years of losing and finally fans have someting to cheer about and the chance to get above 500 and this is how we are repayed for our loyal support.
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"(W)hen this organization used them to make thier (sic) money and know they tell the team to throw games to help the big market teams get to the playoffs."
Oh, my sweet Jesus...I suppose next you'll tell me that Bob Nutting was behind the grassy knoll in Dallas.
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It might seem odd to say, but it really feels like I have been betrayed this year.
All throughout the year, I kept telling people that this franchise is getting better. The farm league is bolstered by some of the best prospects in the game, Cutch was given a contract that this organization has never given out, the pitching staff was one of the best in the NL night after night, and Walker and Jones were having pretty damn fine years.
In response, all I would get was "These are the same ole Pirates, they won't win a thing." In the end, that seems to be the case. It is inexcusable for this team, with this talent, to fall off so hard. It is inexcusable for players who fail to grasp the basic fundamentals of the game to still be given a chance to play. It is inexcusable for a manager to continue to not put out the best lineup possible.
I loved what Hurdle has done, but it looks like he is not the man that will get this team over the hump. His over-thinking has cost the Pirates way too many games lately.
From top to bottom, this entire organization has botched this season from the trade deadline on. I gave up tickets to a couple games later this season to friends and family, I just cannot support the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates anymore. If by the grace of some god that the Pirates make it to 82 wins, it better not be celebrated. This is the most disappointing season in the all my years of following this team.
@GamingPessimistHow did they botch the deadline? Hunter Pence has been terrible and so has Shane Victorino. They needed a pitcher and the one they got (in exchange for meaningful prospects) has been very good. Wandy has pitched really well for the Pirates, they just haven't scored any runs for him. They couldn't have known Snider wouldn't stay healthy and Brad Lincoln's ERA since the deal is almost 4 so it's not like they gave up "the missing piece." The team has faltered badly since the deadline but I don't think that the deals made (or not made) have anything to do with it.
@kentuckypirate28 @GamingPessimist
With all due respect, have you checked the standings since the trade deadline?
Given that NH gave up several minor league players and that extra draft pick, it would be reasonable to expect the Pirates to have improved since then at the MLB level. Instead, the *exact opposite* has happened.
Measured by wins and losses, the team is clearly less talented since the trade deadline.
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@gonfalon @GamingPessimist Obviously the W-L record sucks, but what I'm saying is that I don't think that the team did a bad job at the deadline. I hate losing the pick and I would have liked to see a LOOGY but beyond that, I believe that what the team gave up was less than what they got back. It seems at least plausible that the two "flashier" moves they could have made (Pence/Victorino) would not have helped the team at all and it would have cost them more to get either one of them. I believe that the team's struggles since the deadline has more to do with the guys who were already here (Cutch/NFW/AJB/J-Mac) than the guys that they failed to bring in.
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I've been a Hurdle fan but he's just been indefensible the past month or so. At this point, I really hope the Pirates at least reach out to Tito. The players can have all the KFC and Iron they want.
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The stinkiest part of his series is that we have a manager who is being out-managed by Dusty Baker. That's an impressive feat in a limbo sort of way.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one that just turned it off either... That may be the DUMBEST move this team has done yet!!!
