2011 Pittsburgh Pirates Review: The Unbelievable First Place Bucs

The month of May

was tough on Pittsburgh fans with the unbelievable news of Kenny passing away. My son and I, probably just like you, adored Cotton Candy…..Lemonade…RIP big guy.

The Pirates finished up the month of May with a 25-28 record after putting up 13 wins and 13 losses. Brandon Wood and Dusty Brown are on the roster. Andrew McCutchen is batting .247. Jose Tabata is under .250 as well.

Colin Dunlap walked away from the job as Pirates beat writer. It was a really cool move.

The team had more road series wins at the end of May than the team had in 2009 and 2010 combined. Unreal.

June

The Pirates finished the month of June with a 41-39 record with Matt Diaz batting cleanup and Brandon Wood as their DH.  The team was two games behind the Brewers and eventual World Champion Cardinals.

The Bucs won 16 games and lost 11 in June, the most wins in a month since 2007.

When the team headed to Cleveland they were riding high, coming off a big three game sweep. In this post, we tried to figure out just who this team was playing in PNC Park with an assortment of replacement level players.

Any momentum came to a screeching halt in Cleveland. The Tribe swept the Bucs.

But the team came right back. They went nose-to-nose with the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox series was insane.  We thought the city might burn.  The image of the rain coming down on Jose Veras will stay with us for quite a while.

The Bucs ensured having a winning record in interleague league play. The team ensured they would be .500 at the halfway point. Shit was getting crazy. Especially within the media….

Signs of the apocalypse?  Fans were holding up We Love Nutting signs….

But without question, even worse danger signs were surrounding the Pirates.

July

The Pirates finished July exactly where they were after June.  Two games above .500 at 54-52.

How they got there has been well documented.  The video by Benstonium ‘Jerry Meals Said It’s Safe’ was a huge hit.

The one thing about this month that sticks out to us as we look back is the lineup and the subs used against the Braves that night.

Xavier Paul in left, Garrett Jones and Steve Pearce in right, Neil Walker at second, Andrew McCutchen in center, Pedro Alvarez at third, Lyle Overbay at first, Ronny Cedeno at short, Michael McKenry behind the dish, Jeff Karstens started.

Subs included Matt Diaz, Tony Watson, Joe Beimel, Brandon Wood, Jose Veras, Chris Resop, Eric Fryer, Jason Grilli, and Daniel McCutchen.

Nine of those nineteen players won’t be on the opening day roster for the Bucs in 2012. Crazy