Going, going, gone...

My therapist tells me that I moved twenty-five hundred miles from home to get away from my parents. That may be but unintentionally I also moved a continent away from beloved Pittsburgh Pirates and I think that may be the reason why they have sucked for over a decade.
The relationship with my folks has flourished these past fifteen years. We talk all the time now, get along great and I am actually helping them find a place close to me for next winter. Alas, my relationship with the Buccos has not faired so well.
Things got better with my folks with open conversation and trust. We developed faith by saying what we meant and meaning what we say. Our relationship is built on love, understanding and faith. For the Bucs and me? Well that is an entirely different story. There is faith on my end, but no longer trust. And I have no idea where they’re coming form these days.
In the 1970’s you could always count on the Pirates to field a team that challenged right down to the wire and often times came out champions. They even had two players, Roberto and Willie, who were good enough to be mentioned by only their first names. The rest of the cast: Bob Robertson, Bob Veale, Steve Blass, Manny Sanguillen, Ed Ott, Frank Taveras, John Candelaria, Phil Garner, and Jim Rooker: you could go on and on with the supporting cast of guys that helped the black and gold to two World Series titles in the decade.
Even when Dale Berra was turning Three Rivers Stadium into a stop on the Columbian coke train you believed that this organization was committed to winning and sure enough they brought us Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke, Bobby Bonilla and three years in the early nineties.
But then it just fell apart. And I just can’t help but blame myself. This was no Jason Thompson, Joe Orsulak, Johnny Ray transition. This has been a complete and utter failure on all levels. The management, the coaches and the players have all conspired to lose 1135 games since 1994. That’s an average record of 76 – 86 for the past thirteen years. That is pathetic. That is expansion numbers.
And I just have to blame myself. I went away and took my trust and faith across the country. I really thought that this would be the year. They signed Jeremy Burnitz, stealing him from Baltimore, the got Joe Randa, they had some young players that could hit, like Jack Wilson and Jason Bay, and Zach Duke was the hottest pitcher in the league the end of last year.
But alas, the faith and trust, they do not work. They do not keep this team from finding itself and 5 and 17, the worst record at this point since 1957. They are batting .225 with runners on base and giving up runs in the first inning in 14 of 22 games. 24 first inning runs to the other guy. But it’s the bonehead plays: the missed cut-offs and bad base-running that hurt the most.
Last night Jeremy Burnitz, with two outs and a man on first, went against one hundred years of baseball wisdom and instead of keeping the ball in front of him on a single, dove for the catch and it squirted away and went for a triple that drove in a run. Instead of two outs and two on and a force at every bag, it’s another run and a man on third. That’s what I’m talking about.
So the faith of the man who wanted to believe is slowly dying. I think of the games I’ve gone to in my life and remember the thought that my team would win like I remember when it felt like the world like Americans. My beloved Bucs are striking out and I am too far away to make a difference. I guess it’s only a matter of time until football.