BY JOE POSNANSKI
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com
July 1, 2013
The most amazing thing about this amazing Pittsburgh Pirates story is that, by any measure of logic, it should not be happening. Sure, almost every year in baseball there’s at least one surprise team – Washington in 2012, Milwaukee in 2011, Cincinnati in 2010, Tampa Bay in 2008 and so on – but once that surprise team reveals itself, everyone can usually look at the team and say: “OK, yes, I didn’t see that coming but now I understand why it’s happening.”
After all, Washington had Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper and a bunch of talented young players.
After all, Milwaukee had Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun and four solid starters.
After all, Cincinnati led the league in home runs with league MVP Joey Votto leading the way.
But these Pirates? Even now, at the halfway point, with the best record in baseball, you can’t help but wonder: How the heck are they winning? For two decades, the Pirates have had a losing records and any good Pirates fan can list off the bounty of blunders the team has made over that time.
Acquire over-the-hill veterans? Check! (Jeromy Burnitz, Raul Mondesi, Lyle Overbay, Jose Hernandez, etc.)
Make head-scratching trades? Check! (Traded for Matt Morris and his entire salary when all of baseball watched on in horror; traded away Jose Bautista and Aramis Ramirez just in time for each to emerge as stars; traded away Jason Schmidt just in time for him to emerge as one of baseball’s best pitchers, etc.)
Draft gaffes? Too many to count! (Bryan Bullington with first pick in 2002; Brad Lincoln ahead of Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum and Max Scherzer; Daniel Moskos over Matt Wieters; drafted Mark Appel in 2012 and failed to sign him.)
General silliness? Yes! (Last year, an email from assistant GM Kyle Stark was leaked to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. In the email, he said that the three things the Pirates needed to do in development was get players to (1) “Dream and be creative like a hippie”; (2) “Have the discipline and perseverance of a boy scout”; (3) “Be crazy and take risks like the Hells Angels.” Stark went on to reference the Hells Angels several more times, at one point saying that one great thing about them is “They’re not consumed or swayed by what others think.”)
Of course, every team in baseball makes mistakes – and there are always reasonable-sounding reasons behind them – but the Pirates’ mistakes always felt a little bit grander. In 2005, a loud rumor spread that Philadelphia wanted to trade them prospect Ryan Howard for pitcher Kip Wells. Later, everyone denied that it had been offered, but it is telling that the rumor had PITTSBURGH turning down the deal. Well, what could Pittsburgh do with a guy like Ryan Howard anyway? The next year they traded Wells for a reliever named Jesse Chavez.
Here’s the crazy thing: It’s not like the Pirates have changed philosophies. No, the last two or three off-seasons, the Pirates have basically done EXACTLY what they have always done: Thirty-something veteran signings! Head scratching trades! Draft gaffes like the Mark Appel thing! You betcha.
Only, somehow, some way, all of it has worked in the most spectacular way.
Look: When the Pirates traded with the Yankees for pitcher A.J. Burnett in February 2012, the overwhelming takeaway across baseball was that, once again, the Pirates were allowing themselves to be a landfill for other teams' overripe and overpriced free agents. “Addition by subtraction,” was a popular headline after the deal. This year, before he tore a calf muscle while running in the outfield, Burnett had a 3.12 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 89 innings.
Look: When the Pirates signed 29-year-old Francisco Liriano – after two injury-plagued and generally lousy seasons – he celebrated by promptly breaking his right arm at his home. He said he hit a door or something. Same old Pirates! But since his return in early May, Liriano has essentially pitched like a miniature version of Sandy Koufax, going 7-3 with a 2.23 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning.
Look: Last year the Pirates played well for four months. In their “playoff push” – a 16-36 finish that prevented them, once again, from even finishing .500 - they acquired 33-year-old Wandy Rodriguez. He’s had some injury trouble lately but before that, he was pitching well too.
In fact, the whole Pirates staff is pitching amazingly well. Pittsburgh leads all of baseball with a 3.13 ERA. Thirty-six year old Jason Grilli – a closer for the first time in his career – has pitched like Mariano Rivera (27 saves, 1.72 ERA, 8.4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk). Twenty-eight year old Mark Melancon, who is on his fourth team and was acquired in a December trade, has been almost unhittable in the middle innings (league hitting .199 with one home run in 40-plus innings).
And, 2011 first overall pick Gerrit Cole is now up and pitching, and though he’s going through some early bumps, the Pirates have won all four of the games he has started.
The Pirates magic has really come down to their pitching and outstanding defense (especially in the outfield where Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen have been electrifying). Their offense has been less-than-mediocre. They are ninth in the league in runs scored, 11th in on-base percentage and – illogically when you look at their record - they have been especially bad (.228/.317/.332) with runners in scoring position.
But, they’ve hit enough. Four homegrown Pirates have been at the core of this Pittsburgh revival:
— McCutchen is a superstar, he might have been the best player in the league last year. He’s off to a bit slower start, but he’s still a great player. He’s just 26.
— Marte is a defensive wizard in left field and he offers some power (eight homers) and lots of speed (eight triples, 22 stolen bases). He’s just 24.
— Pedro Alvarez was expected to become a superstar when the Pirates took him with the second overall pick in 2008. That hasn’t quite happened – he struck out 180 times last year and is on pace for even more this year, and has had trouble getting on base – but he does hit with tremendous power and this year could be the first Pirates hitter since Willie Stargell 40 years ago to hit 40 home runs.
— Neil Walker, a hometown kid, moved from catcher to third base and is now settled at second base, where his defense has been good and his offensive game is varied enough to put him at the heart of the team.
Can the Pirates keep winning? Every Pirates fan knows how the last two years went – Pittsburgh was flying high in late July and then utterly fell apart in the dog days of August and September. This year’s team has a million questions, but mainly this one: Can they continue to get this kind of amazing pitching out of a rag-tag group of free agents, trades and one pitching phenom?
Well, Sunday afternoon, against Milwaukee, they started Charlie Morton – a 29-year-old pitcher who resuscitated his career by precisely copying the wind-up delivery of Roy Halladay. He gave up one unearned run in the first and breezed through the second when the rains fell.
After a long rain delay, Pittsburgh brought in Vin Mazzaro, who is on his third team in three years. He pitched five perfect innings.
In came Justin Wilson, a homegrown lefty reliever who has pitched well all year – one scoreless inning.
In came Bryan Morris, a righty-reliever who came over in the Jason Bay trade – one scoreless inning.
In came the suddenly indomitable Jason Grilli – one scoreless inning.
In came the suddenly unhittable Mark Melancon – one scoreless inning.
In came another homegrown lefty reliever, Tony Watson – three scoreless innings.
On and on it went, into the 14th inning. Then Pittsburgh first baseman Gaby Sanchez came up. He was an All-Star with Miami a couple of years ago. The Pirates traded a player and a compensation draft pick for Sanchez last year and were generally lampooned for the move. He hit a hard ground ball toward second that Rickie Weeks could not quite come up with. Then, against all odds, Sanchez stole second base. It was hit first steal of the season. He had one stolen base last year too.
Three batters later, 30-year-old catcher Russell Martin came up as a pinch-hitter. The Pirates signed Martin for two years and were general lampooned for the move. Martin rolled a single through to center field, scoring Sanchez, winning the game. It was the Pirates 51st win in 81 games. They are on pace to win 102 games this year. Afteward, a shaving cream pie was thrown in Martin’s face and everyone celebrated the sheer absurdity of it all.
Does any of it make sense? Maybe not. But it’s a wonderful thing about sports, baseball in particular. Sometimes you can just let go of reality and enjoy the magic for as long as it lasts.
Joe Posnanski is the national columnist for NBC Sports. Follow him on Twitter @JPosnanski.Click here to subscribe to Joe's stories.
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