The Pirates might not have put the Cardinals on the wrong side of history, but they put the MLB on notice. (Credits: Keith Srakocic/AP Photo) |
For the better part of the last year and a half the Pirates remained an intriguing, happy-go-lucky story. A dormant, yet historic franchise who finally started to see the light at the end of the tunnel had gotten everyone's attention. Sure, they had an energetic, stud hitter by the name of Andrew McCutchen, an emerging young pitching staff with legitimate potential and a manager by the name of Clint Hurdle who knew a thing or two about turning around a battered franchise. In the simplest form, they were a nice tale that got us through the MLB dog days of July and August. But there was little substance to their emergence, it didn't seem like it would matter when October came knocking. That all changed this week. The Pirates are absolutely, positively for real.
You're right, they didn't pull off the five-game sweep of their division rivals. No, they will not join the vaunted '27 Yankees and other great teams as the only ones to do so. There will not be a well crafted ESPN segment detailing their five game dominance. Save the semantics, this team made its statement and made it in deafening fashion.
When you go into a five-game series, especially one against the team you're in direct competition with, all you can hope for is a 3-2 split. Most teams would sign up for that right away. Yet, you have to realize the level of the team (and historical franchise) they were playing. Right now there is no better run organization than the St. Louis Cardinals, who as a nice little historical tidbit, have never been swept in a five-game series. The Pirates were down 1.5 games entering this series and most people thought they'd be content simply staying in it with either a 3-2 or 2-3 split. I mean, when you're the Pirates and you're on the verge of making your first October Classic in over 20 years, you accept whatever you can get. Pittsburgh took more.
The simple fact that the Pirates were one win away from turning the 2013 Cardinals into the wrong kind of history is enough for legitimacy. Yet the way they did it, allowing only 6 runs in four games, is what's most impressive. Of course while getting shellacked 13-0 in the series finale isn't exactly "putting a stamp on it," you have to realize the Cardinals (a 62-win team at that point) were fighting for their dignity, their pride and a division that they were losing the grip on. Pittsburgh didn't just beat any team 4-1, they beat an elite team in elite fashion. Pittsburgh is a World Series contender.
I'm not going to sit here and throw numbers at you to why they have a legitimate chance of winning it all (cough...cough their pitching from top to bottom), I just want you to take a minute to realize that the novelty of the Pirates should have just worn off. This team is extremely talented and well managed. If you don't agree, then let this statement resonate in your head for a while: They just beat a 63-win team, four times in row in the thick of a division race.
Professional sports are a result-based business, the Pirates are producing the results that make us think October and even deeper. See you late into the fall, Pittsburgh.
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