Now hear this, now hear this. Oops, I forgot that I am not on deck at PNC Park, standing on the topside of the SS Bucco, or on the bridge as the chief navigator for Captain Hurdle as he steers the Pittsburgh Pirates toward the MLB postseason harbor.
I can hear Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown screaming a warning to the captains’ of the opposing teams, as one of the Bucs’ launches a baseball into or near the Allegheny River. “Clear the deck, cannonball coming.” I can also hear the opposing managers warning their infielders when Pirates outfielder Gregory “Speedy Gonzales” Polanco, takes off from first base with larceny on his mind. “Hold the tag, Polanco is coming.”
The Pirates have employed some of the most prolific base stealers in the history of the sport. Matty Alou, Maury Wills and Omar Moreno are a few that instantly come to mind. See it doesn’t matter how fast a baseball player may be, he must always stay in contact with the bag and he must always make contact with home plate in order to validate any effort to advance or score. If a player slides feet first, beats the throw but is ultimately called out when he over slides the bag or home plate, why waste a baserunner?
These are volatile and competitive times in MLB. Every pitch, every hit, and every out is crucial because any and every team is only one pitch, hit, walk or diving catch from making the playoffs. Gregory Polanco is young and talented and if he remains healthy, you can circle his name to accomplish many great feats in baseball, but one of the things that he must learn post haste, is body control.
He must harness all of the kinetic energy that he possesses and focus it on a reaching the next base safely, not stealing a base then being called out because of the lack of body control. That one unsuccessful effort could leave the Pirates and all of their fans at home watching the post season as opposed to drinking a “brewski” and wolfing down a dog, while cheering on the Buc’s as the compete in the 2015 playoffs.
Now hear this Pirates fans, don’t be like Chicken Little walking through the 2015 season, monitoring every time Andrew McCutchen is hit by a pitch moaning: “My, oh, my, the sky is falling. I must run and tell the lion about it.” The lion understands that; “if you snooze, you lose.” The Pirates can no longer afford for Pedro Alvarez to get and remain hot. Why? Well because in the land of MLB as in all other sports, a player can be both a liability and an asset. However in the case of Pedro Alvarez or any other performer, the pros must always outweigh the cons.
At the present except when it comes to marketing purposes and selling tickets, the negatives of Mr. Alvarez are outweighing the positives. This should be the Pittsburgh Pirates “everyday” infield: 3rd base-Josh Harrison, shortstop-Jung Ho Kang, 2nd base-Neil Walker, 1st base-Sean Rodriguez. When we include the outfield of Marte, McCutchen and Polanco, there may be only two of the starting nine of the Pittsburgh Pirates that don’t have just above average “wheels” but may possess downright blazing speed; Neil Walker and the designated starting pitcher taking the mound that day maybe being the only exceptions. As the Pirates sail toward the All-Star break, herein lies a warning from the “Swami.”
“Incoming couch potato, incoming, by the way the Pizza deliveryman is here.” If Pittsburgh wants to make it to the post season, fan like- ability will not be the deciding factor. As in everything else in life, when the smoke clears, the nice guys’ may just well be the ones finishing last.
Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412.583.6741
He is also a contributing columnist for urbanmediatoday.com
Follow him on Twitter@ultrascribe
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