One of baseball's feel good stories of summer, near and dear to my heart, might just walk off the plank.
Two weeks ago the Pittsburgh Pirates were actually leading the NL Central. That never happens.
Then at the trade deadline, instead of shipping away the entire starting lineup, the Pirates actually added two over-the-hill bats. Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick are minor upgrades, but again that never happens.
Even after getting back to "normal" in recent days, a strange tide is rising along the Three Rivers.
There's hope for Pirate fans, hope that hasn't existed since 1992. Sadly that year is seared into memory.
Three outs away from a pennant, an unfortunate series of events culminated in a Barry Bonds throw that couldn't catch former Bucco Sid Bream, the slowest man in baseball, running on one leg.
After watching the NL pennant slip away the previous two years, Pittsburgh struck out.
It's been 18 years and counting since they've even sniffed at winning, until now.
Following the Pittsburgh's 2011 season, I've maintained that I'm anxiously optimistic that the organization could really be turning around.
While the tide is rising, this season success is starting to fell like a facade.
Aside from centerfielder Andrew McCutchen, who's a bona fide star, the Pirates have two serviceable young guns (Neil Walker and Jose Tabata) and not much else. Offensively it shows, they're at the bottom of the NL in just about every batting category.
Somehow pitching has been the strength of this team. But it feels like the soft-tossing starting rotation was built on a house of cards. Kevin Correia, Paul Maholm and Charlie Morton had all been surprisingly good through 95 games, but not so much recently.
Just like 1992, this season appears to have been derailed in Atlanta.
A horrendous home plate call in the 19th inning cost Pittsburgh a chance at win. Where did umpire Jerry Meals have to go at 2 a.m.? Then the next night, they again lost in extra innings.
As the Pirates fade out of the pennant and into oblivion, it's easy to overlook all their success. This team is relevant again.
I hope the Buccos can right the ship and get back on track today. Is 82 wins too much to ask this year?
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