Hey Mark Madden, Still Think The Pirates Have Collapsed??

Sep 12, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle (13) looks on against the Chicago Cubs during the eighth inning at PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Mark Madden (and many others) said a short while ago that the Pirates are in the midst of a season ending collapse.  He said they were done.  It was over.  No Morneau + no Byrd + no Polanco + no Burnett = no chance!

What a joke.

After starting the year 10-18, the Pirates have went 22-16 since.   Do the math Madden, (if you can) that is a 580 win %.  They passed up the Reds, they are only 2 games behind the Cardinals, and they are sitting at 2.5 games out of the NL wild card spot.  Let me repeat that in case you didn’t hear me.  THEY ARE 2.5 GAMES OUT OF THE NL WILD CARD SPOT!

That doesn’t seem like much of a collapse to me?

In fact, it seems very much like a team that has found their sea legs and are now keeping pace with the rest of the division leaders.  Not only have they came back from a total disaster of an April, but with how they have been playing recently they are poised to sprint past some of those same teams in the standings in a matter of weeks.  If you haven’t noticed, which judging by your commentary you haven’t, they are easily one of the hottest teams in the National League right now.

Let me repeat that in case you didn’t hear me.  THEY ARE ONE OF THE HOTTEST TEAMS IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE RIGHT NOW!

The fact that you’ve been continually harping that the Pirates are doomed while they are in the midst of a 14-8 stretch (.636 win%) shows either an absolute lack of awareness and/or a blatant disregard for logic.   Either way, you should be ashamed at how poorly you analyze baseball.

I mean, I know you don’t watch the games, but at least you can look at the scores afterwards?  The results are right in front of you.

So by all means, keep it up buddy.  You’re just continuing to lose credibility and you’re making me and other insightful people like Dejan Kovacevic look like baseball gurus.  I’ve been right.  You’ve been wrong.  Period.

Your mindless clamoring to bring up Greg Polanco when it really wasn’t necessary to do so is a perfect example of how you know nothing about this sport.  How much impact did you really think that Polanco was going to make?  Honestly.  Tell me.  How much?

He is an unproven rookie who has never played at this level.  Not even as much as a swing before Tuesday.  He’s NEVER seen pitchers like this and as I said from the beginning of your asinine argument to bring him up prematurely, his impact will be marginal at best, at least until he gets comfortable, which could take weeks if not months.  He is 3 for 14 in his first 3 games.

Can you admit that all this whining about Polanco was ludicrous? Of course you can’t.

In fact, you said a month ago that if they DIDN’T bring Polanco up immediately that they’d be completely out of it in June.  It’d be too late to salvage the season you said!  (Imagine me grabbing the bridge of my nose and cringing in pain while I shake my head at how idiotic of a statement that really was)

Too late in June?  And you call yourself a genius? Did you realize there are more than 3 months left in the season at that point?  Or did you think that the season ended in July?

Bottom line is, despite your unfounded, un-researched, unsubstantiated, and uneducated claims of the Pirates inevitable demise, they sit here very much alive in the division and find themselves in the midst of a blistering hot streak.

So read up.  Here’s a prediction for you.  (This one will actually come true)

The Pirates went 10-16 in April, 15-14 in May, and are now 7-4 in June.  They will continue to win despite having to piece together a starting rotation.  They will be over .500 by the all-star break.  And they will be poised to make a heck of a lot of noise in the 2^nd half of this season.

And as for me?

I will continue to cheer for my favorite team, like I always have.  I’ll continue to appreciate the incredible talent that makes up this roster and takes the field every day for us, especially the reigning MVP of the league.  And I’m going to continue to relish in the fact that you are always wrong about the Pittsburgh Pirates, you’ve been wrong this entire offseason about the Pittsburgh Pirates, and most importantly, you will continue to be wrong about the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Stick to soccer Mark.  It’s more your speed.