A.J. Burnett has 57 strikeouts, just one punchout behind Yu Darvish for the Major League Baseball lead.   When Burnett was acquired from the New York Yankees, if you squinted hard enough, it looked like a really good deal for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Damn, was everyone wrong.  It’s been a remarkable deal for the Bucs.

Coming into 2013, everyone on planet Earth said it would be highly unlikely for the Bucs right-hander to be as good as he was last season.

They were right.  Burnett is blowing away what he did in 2012.

Just how good has the Bucs ace been this season?  Let’s compare his strikeouts with the strikeout leaders on his former team.  Burnett has 21 more strikeouts than the New York Yankees strikeout leader, C.C. Sabathia.

If you take the total number of strikeouts from Hiroki Kuroda and David Phelps and add them together, Kuroda and Phelps have combined to only equal what Burnett has done.   Add up the strikeouts that Phil Hughes and Andy Petite have chalked up this year and it’s just 50 strikeouts.

So yeah, A.J. Burnett is on a roll. Thank you, New York Yankees.  Sure, some will say baseball just recorded the most strikeouts in a month in its’ history, and that’s true.  But Burnett has piled ‘em up against some formidable competition – including 14 in two outings against St. Louis, nine against the Dodgers and eight against the Reds.

Last night against a strong Washington Nationals lineup, Batman spent seven innings toying with the Natitude, allowing just five hits and one run.  He picked up his third win by going deeper into the game and giving up just one walk as he grabbed his third straight win.

And oh, yeah…  he leads the National League in strikeouts.

So, what’s next for the North Little Rock native?  As the strikeouts keep piling up, so will the wins, but the 36-year old is in the final year of his contract, with a hefty portion of that sum being picked up by those generous Bronx Bombers.  The question is going to start popping up more and more.

Is Burnett playing for another contract?  It sure does seem like it.  He mentioned retiring after the season, but teased about sticking around Pittsburgh.   Would the Bucs extend an offer to Burnett, and would he be willing to stick around in the ‘Burgh and solidify his cult status?  Neal Huntington alluded to the fact that he would talk to Burnett, but the Bucs GM also said he won’t negotiate through the media.

You’ve probably already thought about this, but what contending club won’t want him at the 2013 trade deadline?   If Burnett keeps rolling along at this pace, it would be a crushing blow to the heart and soul of the team, let alone the city.

It’s nearly impossible to think a Burnett trade at the deadline could happen now.  The Bucs are playing well even without some of their best offensive talent hitting on all cylinders.

It all adds up to a great problem to have.  A pitcher – in possibly the final year of his career – is having a career year.

And he’s doing it in a black Pittsburgh Pirates jersey every time he goes to the mound.

The PNC Park fans thank A.J. Burnett for his effort during the 2012 season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates never made it to second base.  Second base.  Second freaking base.  The Pirates went quietly into the autumn afternoon fallng to the Atlanta Braves in the final game of the 2012 season by a 4-0 score.

The game left plenty to be desired.  It was apparent that the Pirates had places they would rather be.  For the first time this season at a game that we attended, I felt ripped.

Maybe it was because the first picture we took of the day was so, shitty.

Alex Presley stands in the outfield behind A.J. Burnett. Mandatory credit: RumBunter

A bunch of Atlanta relievers combined with Ben Sheets to hold the Pirates to four hits.

While we were circling for a parking spot, the Braves followed the successful formula to beat the Bucs.  Michael Bourn walked, stole second base and then stole third base.

A sacrifice fly plated Bourn.

It happened again in the fourth inning, after Burnett tried his best to hold Jason Heyward close at first base after Heyward reached on a single.  Burnett nearly picked him off after catching the big man leaning toward second.   A pitch later Heyward was standing on second base and Dan Uggla ripped a single to the right center field gap giving the Braves a 2-0 lead.

Chipper Jones came out on deck in the fifth inning, but A.J. Burnett must have been pissed off about all the stolen bases on him and decided to pick a runner off first base.  Burnett made a nice play to end the inning on a hot smash up the box to leave Jones in the on-deck circle.

Chipper Jones made his appearance to a rousing ovation from the PNC Park crowd an inning later.  Jones didn’t disappoint.  On the first pitch from Burnett, Jones ripped a single to right field.

Chipper Jones waves to the PNC Park crowd after he ripped a single into right field in his final regular season at-bat off A.J. Burnett.

Heyward singled off the clunky glove of second baseman Josh Harrison and then Freddie Freeman groundout to Burnett.

After Burnett speared the ball out of the air,  Pedro Alvarez failed to cover the bag at third base.  Burnett couldn’t get a grip on the ball, so he quickly looked at second base, but tossed to first for the out.  The play moved Jones and Heyward into scoring position.  Dan Uggla walked and then light hitting J.C. Boscan plated Jones with a single.

Heyward would score on a Juan Francisco ground out that should have been a double play ball, but Jones coudn’t get a handle on the ball.  GFJ would toss to Burnett for the out.  It was the last out Burnett would get in the 2012 season.  Clint Hurdle came to the mound and the crowd cheered for Burnett as he politely tipped his cap.

A.J. Burnett exits after pitching 5.2 innings in his final start of 2012.

Burnett pitched 5.2 innings.  It was obvious Burnett didn’t have his best stuff as he allowed eight hits and gave up four earned runs.  Chad Qualls relieved the Bucs ace and got a quick groundout to end the inning.

Chris Leroux struck out the side in the eighth inning, but we didn’t see big velocity from the right hander.  He didn’t need it and made it look easy.  Damn, we trust he gets a shot next year.

Andrew McCutchen got the biggest ovation of the day, when Hurdle pulled him from the game in the eighth inning.

Pittsburgh Pirates MVP Andrew McCutchen says goodbye to the PNC Park faithful.

And then at 3:22 pm the season came to an end.  I gotta admit it stung a little bit.

Jose Tabata made the final out of the 2012 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates Photo: RumBunter

it’s 3:22 and the 2012 season is over Pittsburgh Pirates fans

The Pirates finish at 79-83.

Thanks for everyone who has stopped in at RumBunter this year.  The site has taken off with the help of so many people, but especially Cocktailsfor2, MVP Adam, Jeff and McEffect.   Each of these gentlemen have worked hard to provide you with their insight on one hell of a ride this season.   We can’t thank them enough.

Ahhh, the dreadful ‘players only meeting’ was called this afternoon by Pittsburgh Pirates starter A.J. Burnett.  We looked at some of the teams that have called players only meetings this season.

The list isn’t really impressive:

The Boston Red Sox.  Yikes.

The Miami Marlins.  Yikes.

The Los Angeles Angels.  Heh, maybe there is something to this.

“We needed to clear the air.” Burnett said

Pirates manager Clint  Hurdle hinted in the pre-game that it might not have been the first time the players met behind closed doors.  Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t.

Wonder if it lookeed like this?

We can’t help but wonder what the topics were on Federal Street today.  The Andrew McCutchen beanball?  The Pirates actions at the trade deadline–which refers to the report that some Pirates holdovers weren’t thrilled with what management did at the deadline.

We doubt that was it.  But if it was, it would be a good time to leave that in the past.

Our gut tells us A.J. was leaning back in his chair at the front of the room telling the kids to relax.  We can see Burnett as an intense guy for certain, but this probably wasn’t the time to let it all out.

We remember Burnett telling a reporter after a recent victory that the atmosphere wasn’t anything like October.  It’s time for the Bucs to take a breather and calmly focus in on the task at hand.  The team has had a good run, but remember the motto at the beginning of the season?

Finish.