OnlyBucs

123433262F2334222A410 wrote: 8 in a row, look at them go

let's play two !!

10 days or so ago there was a faint whisp of the Pirates pushing toward a .500 record. Now 8 in a row in the loss column.



Brubaker, Thompson, and even Kellar pitching better than anyone could have hoped for 2 weeks into the season. The pen, however, is wearing really thin, and the offense often doesn't show up.



In many respects, another year of losing Pirate baseball. But, perhaps, with the number of younger players appearing on the scene, brighter days are ahead.

7D51595E5572455343300 wrote: 10 days or so ago there was a faint whisp of the Pirates pushing toward a .500 record.  Now 8 in a row in the loss column. 



Brubaker, Thompson, and even Kellar pitching better than anyone could have hoped for 2 weeks into the season.   The pen, however, is wearing really thin, and the offense often doesn't show up. 



In many respects, another year of losing Pirate baseball.  But, perhaps, with the number of younger players appearing on the scene, brighter days are ahead.



   


162 games is a lot different from 50 games.  It's a long, tough season.



With LMGs, we get what we get.  They're LMGs for a reason. 



So, we can pretty much strike out the "in many respects."  Just is.



I was being sold that it's "on the horizon."  One would think that a guy who lives on the water should know that the closer you get to the horizon, the more it keeps moving away. 



It reminds me of the original board some of us were members of.  Just because we won a weekend series against the Phillies several years ago, some guy (I'm sure several will remember "Alvy") wrote- that we were "on the cusp."  Alvy was no Nostradamus.



What a mistake.  The club went on one of the worst skids in modern times and finished so far back that they had to add more digits to the standings.



Never heard from the guy again.

Yes, the coastal waters of Maine do offer an opportunity to look to the East until you can see no further. However, what you also recognize is that what you are seeing is not the end, but only the beginning of a new more distant view.



In short, I like the fact that the Pirates are playing (debuting) a slew of younger players. I expect that many will fail, but there are encouraging signs that some of these players, most of whom fall outside the range of the team's Top 10 prospects, can contribute to the next winner in Pittsburgh, and that when some of the team's more highly rated prospects arrive, that the team could again be successful.



And, while I enjoyed the recent uptick in the team's performance (have to embrace the good), I am not so naive as to believe that they were suddenly wild card contenders. I have had too much suffering as a Pirate fan for most of the past 40+ years that have seen 6 short seasons of success that were plagued with too many seasons of 100+ losses.



And, while the Three Rivers are not as vast as the sea, their constant flow similarly offers a spirit of adventure to all who are willing to see where they may lead. Conversely, there is enough water in any of the Rivers to drown anyone's hopes and fantasies.



So --- 8 losses in a row. Give me more today if tomorrow may be brighter.

Tomorrow will be significantly* brighter if and only if the team is willing to do what it takes to acquire the type of roster that the more successful clubs have.



Some of those teams will go through their lesser cycles. If we can time it so that our successful period aligns with that, then we can trade places with them for a while.



I have doubts that the first paragraph will happen to go very far during post-season play.

That's for more than one reason. But, the RS should be much better than what is seen today.



Then, there's the issue that there are other clubs/fans that are thinking the very same thing. They're not likely to help us any. We have to do it.



*Different people have different definitions of what "significantly" means.

2E020A0D0621160010630 wrote: Yes, the coastal waters of Maine do offer an opportunity to look to the East until you can see no further.  However, what you also recognize is that what you are seeing is not the end, but only the beginning of a new more distant view. 



In short, I like the fact that the Pirates are playing (debuting) a slew of younger players.  I expect that many will fail, but there are encouraging signs that some of these players, most of whom fall outside the range of the team's Top 10 prospects, can contribute to the next winner in Pittsburgh, and that when some of the team's more highly rated prospects arrive, that the team could again be successful.



And, while I enjoyed the recent uptick in the team's performance  (have to embrace the good),  I am not so naive as to believe that they were suddenly wild card contenders.   I have had too much suffering as a Pirate fan for most of the past 40+ years that have seen 6 short seasons of success that were plagued with too many seasons of 100+ losses.      



And, while the Three Rivers are not as vast as the sea, their constant flow similarly offers a spirit of adventure to all who are willing to see where they may lead.  Conversely, there is enough water in any of the Rivers to drown anyone's hopes and fantasies.



So --- 8 losses in a row.  Give me more today if tomorrow may be brighter.


Profound stuff, Maine. This is a transition year from having a roster of many vets few teams want to one becoming dominated by first year players. Next season will see more youngsters, some of whom are looked upon as the core to the next competitive team.



No one wants to wait as all of this happens. We’ve gone through 20 straight years of losing and we don’t want to go through that again. However, total rebuilds take time. It took Huntington about five years to achieve success. It took the Astros three years of 100-loss seasons before they began to compete. Why anyone would expect BC to achieve success in half the time is a mystery to me.



So the simple reality is that it takes time to completely rebuild. And not just remaking the major league club, but players throughout the system, as well as coaching staffs, development staffs, etc. Making it more difficult was a year lost to Covid which wasn’t as bad for GMs who were established with their organizations, but really threw a wrench at a guy who was just a few months on the job.



BC’s doing it the only way possible, especially given who he works for. Again, no one likes that it’ll take time but I keep reminding myself that it isn’t Huntington who’s in charge now. That makes it easier to take.

GM Year W L % Cumulative Comments

Littlefield 2001   28      47 0.373 - Hired 7/13/01

Littlefield 2002   72      89 0.447 0.424

Littlefield 2003   75      87 0.463 0.440

Littlefield 2004   72      89 0.447 0.442

Littlefield 2005   67      95 0.414 0.436

Littlefield 2006   67      95 0.414 0.431

Littlefield 2007   62      79 0.440 Terminated 9/7/07

Littlefield- Total 443    581 0.433



Huntington 2007     2        4 0.333 - Hired 9/25/07

Huntington 2008   67      95 0.414 0.411

Huntington 2009   62      99 0.385 0.398

Huntington 2010   57    105 0.352 0.383

Huntington 2011   72      90 0.444 0.398

Huntington 2012   79      83 0.488 0.416

Huntington 2013   94      68 0.580 0.443

Huntington 2014   88      74 0.543 0.457

Huntington 2015   98      64 0.605 0.476

Huntington 2016   78      83 0.484 0.477

Huntington 2017   75      87 0.463 0.475

Huntington 2018   82      79 0.509 0.478

Huntington 2019   69      93 0.426 Terminated 10/28/19

Huntington- Total 923 1,024 0.474



Cherington 2020   19      40 0.322 - Covid

Cherington 2021   61    101 0.377 0.362

Cherington YTD 2022   24      36 0.400

Cherington- To Date 104    177 0.370