The city of Pittsburgh awoke today with a strangely bright star shining in the sky. The areas under trees or buildings were cooler and more poorly lit, while open spaces were brighter and warmer. I'm told this is called "The Sun" although it seems odd to name this phenomenon after a supermarket tabloid.
By now, thankfully that strange phenomenon is over. With an afternoon tilt scheduled at Wrigley Field there's hope that the Pirates' recent "not hitting" streak is just a similar aberration.Think of it this way. Last night was trash night, but the garbage men failed to remove my trash. I just can't be disappointed in that. They take the trash 55% of the time. That's an 89-73 record, a playoff trash team in more seasons than not. The trash season is a long season, lasting 52 weeks a year, and there's just no way to expect these guys - every Thursday morning - to consider the possibility that there could be trash in the trash cans in front of my house. They'll get it next week, of that I have no doubt. If not, the week after. By the end of the year, they'll have gotten it more times than not. The breaks even out.
Baseball is like that too. 83 times, the 2006 Cardinals went home as losers. Think about that - 83 days of failure is a lot of failure. I screwed up my job at the rubber factory in Strongsville, Ohio, eleven days in a row and that was it for me. Yet that Cardinals squad screwed up 72 more times than that and ended the year as World Champions.
So yes, the Pirates scored only one run in a series. Yes, that was a home series against the Reds. Yes, they got one-hit Tuesday, and rebounded the following day by being shut out on 90 pitches by someone named Homer.
Well, you don't go 94-68 without losing 68 games. That's a well known fact, but less apparent is that a team that goes 103-59 actually must lose 59 games. Even at 14-20, we have a lot of losses to go and a lot more wins. The championship dream endures.
They're off to a great start today anyway!
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