Ready for another season of Pirates baseball
I was flipping through the channels Monday night as I was preparing my after-work snack, and something caught my eye as the dial settled upon ESPN Classics.
There was Bert Blyleven, dazzling (in non-HDTV) Pirates鈥� gold, pitching against the Baltimore Orioles. I, unexpectedly, came across Game 5 of the 1979 World Series!
The Buccos trailed 3-1 in the series and were reeling, facing elimination when Chuck Tanner gave veteran Jim Rooker the key start. Rooker responded with five strong innings, allowing only one run on three hits.
Blyleven, a starting pitcher (managers used to do crazy things like that back in the day) came on in relief, tossing four shutout innings on three hits.
While Rooker and Blyleven kept the Orioles鈥� bats at-bay, the Pirates came alive in the late innings.
Shortstop Tim Foli tripled in one run and then later singled in two more. Bill Madlock went 4-for-4 and Dave Parker laced a double and single. Phil Garner also had a pair of hits and turned a nifty double play with Foli in the later innings to end a threat.
Tanner managed the game with a heavy heart with the passing of his mother.
Rooker鈥檚 start and Blyleven鈥檚 performance in relief sparked the Pirates, who overcame a 3-1 deficit to win in seven games.
The final out was a fly to center fielder Omar Moreno. Lanky reliever Kent Tekulve showed his hops when he jumped off the mound as the speedy outfielder squeezed the ball.
The title capped an eventful two decades of baseball in my life. I was five months old when Bill Mazeroski brought the World Series title to Pittsburgh for the first time since the 1920s.
I came of age as a baseball fan later in the decade, probably around the start of division play. The 1970s were a pretty good decade for the Pirates, definitely fun to watch (and pretend to be in neighborhood wiffle ball games. Everyone had a Willie Stargell windmill warm-up swing.)
Unfortunately, as I aged, the Pirates鈥� fortunes waned, giving me a taste of what it must be like to be one of the Cleveland Browns鈥� faithful.
But, I was given the legacy of being a Pirates鈥� fan from my family and with the start of another season on Thursday, I鈥檓 back on board.
I realize being a Pirates鈥� fan these days can bring on a lot of scorn and disdain, but, hey, it鈥檚 America. Everyone is free to cheer (or not cheer) as they see fit.
Apparently the weather system that is providing this week鈥檚 wonderfully dreary, chilly, damp conditions, will be present in Detroit when the call to 鈥減lay ball鈥� resonates through Comerica Park. But, that鈥檚 the peril of 鈥渟pring鈥� baseball north of the Gulf of Mexico.
I鈥檓 looking forward to my 58th season as a Pirates鈥� fan. I鈥檓 a fan. The men on the roster deserve the hopes and expectations a fan has for his favorite team. I don鈥檛 make predictions. Unless organized crime is involved, I can鈥檛 see how anyone can, with certainty, predict a 60-win season or anything similar. Kick the dirt, throw the ball and hope the Pirates score more runs than the other team.
And, if anyone out there playing in the Pirates 2018 fantasy league happens to read this, I do plan on drafting Jordy Mercer at some point. Mercer ain鈥檛 flashy, but he sure has been steady for Team Clemente over the years.