The 2009 Pirates - Good While it Lasted

You’ll pardon me. I live in Pittsburgh. This is May, the point at which we call out-of state family and ask, “What color is the sun again?”

The Pittsburgh Pirates lost for the 17th consecutive time to the Milwaukee Brewers last night. No team in 40 years has lost 17 straight baseball games to another team, but no baseball team is quite like the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are hoping not to set another record involving the number 17 - the most consecutive losing seasons by a professional sports team. Any professional sports team. The loss dropped the Buccos to 12-14. The Pirates year got off to a promising start, but any thoughts of a Pirate variety of Hope and Change are starting to fade, and it’s just possible that the franchise may have its own version of the Curse of the Bambino. And let me be the first to coin it: the Curse of Jason.

Jason Bay, the Pirates’ best player, was traded to the Boston Red Sox on July 31, 2008. Since then the Pirates have gone 29-50. That won’t get it done in the majors. That wouldn’t even get it done in Congress.

“Mixed emotions,” Pirates General Manager Neil Huntington said about trading Bay.

Jason is currently batting .322 with the Red Sox. He’s hit 7 home runs and has a slugging percentage of .644. Nothing mixed about the emotions he’s brought to Boston.

But the Pirates didn’t just hand Bay to Boston, and it’s worth examining what they got in return:
-Fenway Park’s 8th-most senior hot dog vendor “Sparky,” who is just wonderful with the kids.
-200 boxes of fireworks.
-A $1,000 gift card to the Chinese factory where bobblehead dolls are made.
-25,000 placards designed to look like real fans when seen on high def TV.

For the record, I haven’t given up on the 2009 Pirates just yet. Also for the record the Pirates got the following players in return for Jason Bay:
-Andy LaRoche, .253, 1 home run
-Brandon Moss, .208, 0 home runs
-Craig Hansen, relief pitcher, 0-0, 5.68 ERA
-Bryan Morris, pitcher, the cornerstone of the Jason Bay trade. Diagnosed April 19th with a “tight shoulder.” Out four to six weeks at Class A Lynchburg. This follows a strained biceps that ended his 2008 campaign and toe surgery during the offseason. Prior to the trade, while with the Dodgers, Morris had reconstructive elbow surgery.

Come on, Sunshine.