When the New Year’s Eve bells of 2015 chimed into 2016, I was in church but shortly thereafter I went home, drank a “Grand Marnier” hot toddy, and smoked a cigar, (which I only do on New Year’s Eve or early in a.m. on New Year’s Day).
Shortly after I participated in those two vices, or at least they are “vices” for a preacher man, or so I am lead to believe, I fell into a deep trance like sleep. I dreamed that I had covered the “trifecta” of Pittsburgh sports; a Stanley Cup Finals in which the Pittsburgh Penguins brought home a Lord Stanley Cup; a MLB World Series in which the Pirates beat the New York Yankees for a second time; and ast but certainly not least, I covered Super Bowl 51 in Houston which was a rematch between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers, with the Steelers hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in victory.
That dream has been squashed already because I did not cover the Penguins drive for the cup in 2015-2016 but nevertheless I still enjoyed ride like everyone else whether they were fans, foe or a member of the media.
Next up, can the Pittsburgh Pirates climb out of the abyss, excuse me, I meant to say the hole that they have fallen into, get up brush off the dirt and sail into the 2016 MLB postseason?
Well if any team can do it, maybe we can take a clue from the Pirates late-great, Pie Traynor who would remind the cynical, bandwagon Buc’s fans by saying; “Who can? The [Pirates can,] or American,” or something like that.
Also, the Pirates have a manager in Clint Hurdle that will never give up until the “Fat Lady” sings at least a couple of verses. Hurdle had this to say after the subpar outing of Jonothon Niese one of his most consistent pitchers in 2016. “He was in the zone, but a lot of those times the execution was lacking. A lot of balls got up a little bit, more so than normal.”
Niese had this to say about his performance. “I’ll put the results of this game behind me. I’m gonna take each game one game at a time.”
The performance of Niese left many observers wondering whether the sudden injuries to Pirates catchers Francisco Cervelli and Elias Diaz, forcing Clint Hurdle to sign catcher Erik Kratz from the Los Angeles Angels and have Kratz behind the plate in less than 24 hours had a negative effect on the game, but Niese would have none of it.
“He’s [Kratz] good. He knows what he is doing back there. He called a great game.”
As far as Erik Kratz being thrown into the fire and basically taking a 24 hour crash course, such as watching videos that helped him scout the opposing hitters, Kratz took it all with a grain of salt.
“It’s been twelve hours now but it [learning] never stops. [Not even] for Stewart and Cervelli, the guys that have been here for a while.” I
also suspect with a young up and coming secondary, the Pittsburgh Steelers may have some defensive growing to do, but overall the Pirates, the Steelers and the Penguins have relatively young teams and the future seems as bright as “high beams in your eyes;” not only for the Steelers and the Penguins but I have a sneaking suspicion that before it’s all over, the Pirates may sneak up on the one of the wildcard spots in the MLB NL.
A trifecta of Pittsburgh teams just reaching the playoffs and competing for a championship should be good enough for fans from the Steel City. After all, the fans and the media don’t have to play the game.
Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412.583.6741
Follow him on Twitter@ultrascribe.
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