Out of the Blue....and into the Black (and Gold)

I promise not to make this a habit, but allow me again to forget about the Jays for a moment as it has been a magical ride of season for my other favourite team – The Pittsburgh Pirates.  They have already ended 20 consecutive losing seasons of baseball and they are on the cusp of clinching a playoff spot.

So in light of the playoffs, I hereby give you the Top Ten reasons why everyone should make the drive to Pittsburgh for the post-season*

1. The Ballpark.  PNC is consistently ranked as the best (or one of the best) ballparks in all of baseball.  Amazing architecture looking out over the river and the city, great seats & site lines, fair prices and you get the best walk to the park in all baseball.  Start from the downtown, over Roberto Clemente bridge to the North Shore and the park.  FYI, there are three yellow bridges in total; the other two are named after Andy Warhol and Rachel Carson.  The vibe around the stadium is lively with lots of bars, impromptu parties and outdoor events.

 

2. The Shark Tank Bullpen

Shark Tank

Additionally, Jason Grilli who was/is their lights out closer for most of the year (until injury) is nicknamed “Grilled Cheese”.  His fill-in Mark Melancon may be the best reliever in all of baseball this year and has been nicknamed THE NORTH SHORE STRANGLER by some Canadian bloggers.  His vacant eyes and menacing look are quite terrifying!

 

3. The History

The Pittsburgh Alleghenys joined the National League in 1887!  They were renamed the Pittsburg Innocents** for a year in 1890 and then became the Pirates in 1891 after they literally “pirated” away players from other teams.  How freaking cool is that?

This is a team with a deep history that includes Honus Wagner, Willie Stargell and Bill Mazeroski - the only man to win Game 7 of a World Series with a HR.

Of course is is also the team of Roberto Clemente, a trailblazer for Puerto Rico, a genuine “humanitarian” and a baseball Hall of Famer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente

There are not enough words to do Clemente justice. I am happy to lend you some books on the Man if you wish....I have a few (including a graphic novel).

4. The Canadian Connection

·   Russell Nathan Jeanson Coltrane Martin, Jr. - Born in Toronto and grew up in Quebec, he leads the majors in runners caught stealing with 34 and a spectacular 42 percent caught stealing rate.  Don’t run on Jussell!  Martin has also been great at the plate with some memorable walk-offs AB’s this year.  I hated him for ditching Canada at the WBC, but he said he wanted to be fresh for the MLB season and playoffs.  Others laughed, but the man is a prophet.  All is forgiven Jussell.

·  Justin Morneau – I love Morneau, but quite frankly he is a shell of his former self after all the injuries.  He may not even be an upgrade over the platooon of Gabby Sanchez/Garrett Jones a.k.a GI Jones, the Pirates were running out most of the season.  But Morneau could get hot and he is experienced.  More importantly, the trades to bring Morneau and the Byrd Man to Bucco Nation represented something bigger.  It essentially was Pittsburgh telling the baseball world “Fuck It - We are going for it!” 

5. Cutch

Andrew McCutchen is awesome.  There are a million reasons why.  This link should give you a reason to love him too.

 

On June 3, 2009, after the Pirates traded their starting center fielder to the Atlanta Braves, McCutchen was called up to the majors for the first time.  He made his debut the next day, playing the now vacant center field spot and batting leadoff against the New York Mets. He singled in his first career at-bat. He ended the day with two singles, one RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base in four at bats.  He recorded his first career four-hit game five days later, against the Braves, in a 7-6 Pirates loss.  The Rook was on fire.

On that August long weekend, my wife and I suddenly found ourselves with a packed car and nowhere to go. I somehow convinced her that a Pirates game would be a great idea.  I think I offered her some outlet mall shopping.

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=85

Anyways, less than two months after his MLB debut, against the Natiionals, Cutch went 4-for-5 with three home runs and six RBIs. He hit a solo home run in the first inning to lead off the game, a two-run shot in the fourth inning, and then a three-run homer in the sixth off.  I will never forget that night; PNC was electric and filled with hope.  It is one of my top three baseball memories.  The other two being the Jays 1989 ALCS Game three win over Oakland (I've never been to a louder sporting event) and the night we were at Fenway with front row, dugout seats to see Jose hit his Blue Jays record breaking 48^th HR.

But I digress.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, I love Cutch. I love that he turned down free agency and stuck with the Pirates, I love his attitude and I love that he has helped transform the Pirates into winners.

6. Patience has paid off

In addition to Cutch, Pedro Alvarez (El Toro!), Gerritt Cole (Cole Train), Starling Marte & Neil Walker are all integral home grown Pirates.  It has been a painful few years, but the patience of management has paid off and the high draft picks have turned into all-stars.  And there is more on the way next year in the form of Canadian phenom- Jameson Taillon

7. The Food and Beer

• Their former catcher Manny Sangueillen has his own BBQ joint at the park.  He serves food and signs autographs every game. Awesome! Manny's BBQ

• This is a Primanti Bros sandwich.  I mean sure you cooouuld have your french fries and coleslaw on the side, but why not put it all in the sandwich!

• In addition to Yuengling everywhere, PNC is rated as the 4th best stadium for craft beers and the 5th cheapest prices in MLB - Beer Prices!

8. AJ & Liriano - The island of misfit SPs

A.J. Burnett is the pitcher everybody wants, and then doesn't want and then you want him again.  Does that make sense?  Everyone in Toronto is familiar with the good A.J. and the bad A.J.  The Yankees are familiar with both as well.  But you know who showed up in Pittsburgh, humbled and willing to be a leader?  Just the good A.J.! (so far).  The fact that New York has been paying most of his salary the past two years just makes it even sweeter.

You know who else is amazing?  Francisco Liriano.  With an ERA below 3.00, more than a K/inning and 15 wins he has been a fantastic free agent signing.  It was a huge risk and some laughed when he got injured just as he signed the contract, but it is the Pirates who are having the last laugh on this one.

9. Manager Clint Hurdle

Actually, this probably should not be a reason on this list as Clint seems to be a pretty poor in-game strategist.  But the players love him, the city loves him, and he has managed to stay upbeat after two consecutive epic collapses in 2011 and 2012.  Oh and he looks like Grimace!

 

I guess he does deserve to make the list.

10. Greg Brown

I have been listening to the Pirates radio broadcasts for a few years now on the MLB Atbat app.  It’s a wicked app.

The Pirates move their announcers back and forth from radio to TV and the best play-by-play guy by far is Greg Brown.  He is doing more TV lately so it is another reason why I sprung for MLBTV for the final month of the season.

Brown grew up in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and was a die-hard Pirates fan in his youth. Brown enrolled at Point Park College and landed an internship with the Pirates' promotion department in 1979, where his duties included serving as the backup Pirate Parrot!!!!  He then worked in the Pirates' front office for 10 years in a variety of roles for the sales, broadcasting and public relations departments. He was also the public address announcer in 1987.

Brown spent five seasons (1989–93) doing play-by-play for the Pirates' Class AAA affiliate in Buffalo, NY. He also hosted a sports talk show on WGR radio. For three seasons (1991–93), Brown was the colour analyst on Buffalo Bills radio broadcasts and also hosted pre-game and post-game shows for the Bills games. He also called basketball games for the Buffalo Bulls.

Brown is known for his call "Raise the Jolly Roger" after every Pirates win.  He also utters "Clear the deck, cannonball coming!" on home runs hit by the Pirates.  He is not a homer like Hawk Harrleson as he is not afraid to criticize the team. But his passion for the team is infectious.

Hmmm.... I guess this is really a reason to stay home and watch the games on TV instead.  Ah screw it, let’s go to Pittsburgh!  Maybe we can meet Greg and give him a big hug...or this guy.

This is not Greg Brown, but I really wanted to include this photo.

* I will definitely regret this blog entry if they don’t end up hosting a playoff game.

** Not a typo.  Around the time the team just before adopted the Pirates nickname, the United States Board on Geographic Names forced the city of Pittsburgh to undergo a controversial name change by having them drop the "h" at the end of the name, making the team's official name the "Pittsburg Pirates" from the adoption of the Pirates nickname until Pittsburgh was able to get the "h" restored to its name in 1911.