Pirates Strengthen Roster with Wandy and Starling

Things are going so well for the Pirates they were able to move a guy who has won a career best 6 straight starts to the bullpen.

Starling Marte homers
on the first pitch of his major league career

So well, in fact, that top hitting prospect Starling Marte, promoted to the Big Leagues Thursday, hit a homerun on the first pitch he saw as a Pirate.  The first pitch!  You'd think a 23 year old whose never played in the major leagues before, leading off the game no less -- the very first batter of the game -- you'd think he might take a pitch.  Get a feel for things.  Relax for a moment.  Maybe take a deep breath.  Work the count a little.  But if there's one thing Pirates lead off hitters don't do, it's show patience.  Marte took a whack at the first pitch and sent it sailing over the left field wall.  Magical.  You can watch the homerun here.

Speaking of magic, the day before Marte was promoted, General Manager Neal Huntington waved his magic wand and acquired one of the best left handed pitchers in the National League, Wandy Rodriguez, from the Houston Astros.  No, I didn't say Ryan Ludwick.  I said Wandy Rodriguez, a guy who has totaled 10 wins above replacement in the last 2 and a half seasons.  The Pirates already have a right handed, 35 year old starting pitcher making over 10 million dollars, most of which is being paid by a larger revenue club.  Now they have a left handed, 35 year old starting pitcher making over 10 million dollars and being paid mostly by his former team.  

Yes, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who, by the way, have now hit more homeruns this year than all of last year, the Pixburgh Pirates, redheaded step-brother of the Penguins and Steelers, the Pirates currently employ two starting pitchers who make over 10 million dollars.  Earlier this year they signed their best player to a contract that runs through 2018.  They've spent more money on the draft than any other team since 2007.  Should we have seen this on field turnaround coming?  Well, no.  It's not like they have been dumping money into the team for years.  Yes, they did add rather than subtract last year at the deadline, but still, other than the draft spending, this is all new.  This will take some getting used to.  I need to say it again. The Pirates added a good, expensive player at the trade deadline.  And this:  The Pirates top hitting prospect came up and made an immediate impact on the big league club.

And let's not overlook the timing of both of these events.  All season fans and pundits have wondered when Marte, a youngster from the Dominican Republic, would be called up from the minors.  Now, with the acquisition of Rodriguez, also a native of the Dominican, the timing is perfect -- and perhaps not coincidental.  "I'm happy to have another Dominican in the clubhouse," Marte said. "He's a veteran guy and I hope to be able to pick his brain. He can lead me in the right direction." -- reports Tom Singer for MLB.com

So not only are they 14 games over .500, have the third best record in the National League and a 77% chance of making the playoffs, according to ESPN.  It's not just that they have the leading NL MVP candidate and the best pitching staff in the division.  They're doing it all the right way.  They've acquired and developed talent -- McCutchen, Alvarez, Walker, McDonald.  They've added some of the right veterans -- Burnett, Barajas, Hanrahan, and now Wandy Rodriguez.  They have more players on the way or chips to trade -- Taillon, Cole, Marte, Heredia.  

I made it to 4 games on the last homestand and easily sold the other 2 games.  All is well in Season Ticket Land and I'm looking forward to more home games starting August 6th, a long homestand against the western division...

Season Tickets for the rest of 2012!

Outfield Box, Section 107, Row R, on the aisle

My heart skipped 19 beats -- one for each year of losing -- as I gave my credit card number to Kevin, my Pirates rep dahn at PNC Park. ...Four Four Three Oh... Was I really ready to buy the second half full ticket plan? ...Seven Nine Three Three... 38 Pirate games? ...Six Six Eight One... This was my chance to hang up. Get ready for Steelers training camp. Maybe watch golf. ...Expiration date? ...Three digit security code?

It was done.

Congratulations, Joe...

Oh my God.

We're excited to have you on board for the second half...

Fucking A. Bob Nutting now has my entertainment dollar. A whole lot of my entertainment dollars. I was ready.

I bought in with a 10-game package last year during July, the one successful month of Pirates baseball. It was fun. It was crowded. It was loud. It was Joel Hanrahan saving meaningful games. It was... Major League Baseball. And it mattered (for a month). Ephemeral, yes. And August and September were extremely enervating. Nevertheless, Pirate fans had a taste, and it tasted good.

When you're a kid, your goal is to play in the major leagues. When you're an adult, your goal is to watch the major leagues. But I moved to Pittsburgh in 1996 and there hasn't been real major league baseball here since the Great Barry Bonds roamed left field. I'm not sure if I would call it a plan, or a goal, but I've always wanted to be a season ticket holder for a winning baseball team. But when? Wait until the Pirates start winning and then get on board the next season? No, that would risk missing a magical first winning season. What if it was a 95 win playoff team that came out of nowhere? So maybe try to anticipate a winning season and get on the bandwagon at the beginning? But that wouldn't make sense with the Pirates. You'd risk buying a full season plan for another 65 win season, year after year (after decade).

Phenomenal View of the infield at an outfield price!

For the first half of the 2012 major league baseball season the decision to buy Pirates season tickets weighed heavily on my mind. I'm way (waaaay) over going to PNC Park just to eat footlongs and Boooo as loud as possible. That's only fun when the tickets are free and you only go twice a year. And if you don't care about seeing competitive professional sports.

But I do, and last year, for those 2 weeks in July, that's what I saw. Competitive, professional, sports. So I was ready. I had my entertainment dollars lined up to hand over to Bob Nutting. But was he ready? Are the Pirates ready?

That's the question this blog hopes to answer over the next 3 months. Is there a Brand New Bucco Experience at PNC Park? I'm the next generation of season ticket holders, so I'm about to find out...