Steelreign : The 2013 Pirates: A New Era Dawns

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What a year it was along the banks of the Allegheny for the Pittsburgh Pirates and everybody who ventured down to PNC Park this season to watch them. Coming off two straight seasons that ended in collapses leaving the Pirates below the .500 mark, the Pirates were making progress that set the stage for what they accomplished this season. In the previous three seasons, the Pirates had 57, 72 and 79 wins and entering 2013 there was a strong feeling the losing streak would end, but they would have to overcome a 1-5 start were very little went right. It didn't take long for the Pirates to get over that 1-5 start and after a 6-0 win over Atlanta on April 19th, the Pirates were 8-8 and would never fall below .500 again on their way to a 94 win season and their first post season appearance since 1992.
The years between 1992 and this season were frustrating and each year that passed was exceedingly painful, as ownership continued digging the hole of ineptitude deeper and deeper, subjecting us fans to an increasingly worse product on the field, the lone exception being the team that played way above it's head in 1997 before finishing with 79 wins. The turning point finally came when Bob Nutting replaced Kevin McClatchey as the owner and hired Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington to run the baseball operations. By this time, however, the franchise was in shambles with very little talent in the minor league system and a major league roster that even though it had some talent, it was nowhere near being contenders, but yet a certain segment of the fanbase expected the Pirates to become contenders overnight, while the rest of us knew it was going to take some time to build this franchise the right way.
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What Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington had to work with wasn't much, but they had two good building blocks in Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker. Their first draft pick to start the rebuilding process was Pedro Alvarez, in a 2008 draft class that also included Jordy Mercer in the third round and Justin Wilson in the fifth round. They signed Dominican Players and free agents like Starling Marte, Francisco Liriano and Russell Martin. They traded for the likes of Jeff Locke, Charlie Morton and Mr. #STFD himself, A.J. Burnett. At the trade deadline this year they gave up little in the way of prospects to get Justin Morneau and Marlon Byrd. Throughout this entire process, regardless of all the criticism from the illogical but vocal Nutting is cheap crowd, Coonelly and Nutting never waivered from their plan of building this team through the draft. The only real failure they have had was manager John Russell but they fixed that with the hiring of Clint Hurdle.
Clint Hurdle came to Pittsburgh with a plan of his own, a plan that started with changing the culture in the clubhouse with a positive can do attitude and re-bonding the Pirates with the city of Pittsburgh and the fans. His demeanor was a complete 180 degree difference from that of John Russell and exactly what the team needed and his personality has rubbed off on everybody in that clubhouse in a very positive way. While he may not be the best when it comes to managing a pitching staff or other elements in game situations at times, Hurdle has made a huge difference in making his guys believe that it is their time to win and boy oh boy have they responded and the PNC crowds have loved it, as 2,256,862 people made their way to the best #BUCN ballpark in all of baseball. Attachment 5409
While it was disappointing that the Pirates season ended in the NLDS after having a 2-1 series lead, it is only the beginning for this team, unlike the 1992 team, where the game 7 loss kicked off the 20 years of misery that ended this season. The Pirates are a young team with a solid core of talent who will be around for awhile and with alot more talent in the system behind them, the Pirates look to be very relavant for years to come.
This was a season a lot of us have been waiting on for 20 years and a season that some fans have never seen in their lives up to this point. It was a season filled with lots of special moments that include Gerrit Cole's first and very memorable Major League start and Travis Snider's pinch hit grand slam. Perhaps the most memorable moments were Marlon Byrd's first Post Season Homerun in his first Post Season at bat in the same Wild Card game that Russell Martin hit 2 homeruns to lead the Pirates to their first post season win since 1992. This was a season that the Pirates checked off quite a few things on the preseason check list, a .500 season--Check, a winning season--Check, making the playoffs--Check and winning a playoff game--Check.
While the Pirates didn't win the division, a playoff series or win the World Series, they had a season to remember and one that they and we the fans can be proud of. Instead of being a national joke, the Pirates were the national feel good story and the way we fans packed and energized PNC Park with chants of "Cueto..Cueto", well that got everyones attention as well and really impressed the folks at MLB Network. This was a statement year for Pirates baseball in Pittsburgh and it was a loud one made by the team and us fans. The message was that Pittsburgh is a baseball town once again and we're gonna be here for a while. Watching on TV, the intense atmosphere created by the fans, against Cincinnati in the wild card game, was absolutely amazing and was my favorite moment this season and made me think of how far and how much things have changed since the 5k to 10k crowds of a few years ago. You know things are changing for the better when A.J. Burnett catches hell for wondering why there wasn't more than 22,000 for a Thursday game in the middle of September to watch a contending team, when in 2010, you'd be lucky to get that for a September series. This ain't 2010 any more, it's 2013 and a new era has dawned for the Pirates and us fans.
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Attached Images

• Raise it.jpg (11.0 KB)
• PNC Fireworks.jpg (9.9 KB)