AJ Burnett Brings Plenty of Heart to the Pirates' Table



Pirates ACE - AJ Burnett

 - Chris Haney (@CHaney43)

This past offseason a lot of people questioned the acquisition of A.J. Burnett. I can honestly say that I was not one of them. Some thought he stunk with the Yankees, which may be true, but pitching for the New York Yankees is a completely different monster. I was able to go to a Yankee game earlier this year, and it was an eye opening experience to say the least. I’m used to the Pirates fans cheering for effort alone, but Yankee fans yell for the smallest mistake, and some players can not reach their potential in that type of atmosphere. 


I remember texting Jeff about the possibility of the trade, bringing Burnett to the Burgh. He was not overly crazy about it, which was understandable. My thought was...what could it hurt? The Pirates pitching had been average at best, and the rotation needed someone with experience, and we got a lot more than experience. When Burnett had his first start I thought to myself...maybe this guy won’t fit in with the Pittsburgh crowd. He didn’t show much emotion at first, but certainly showed what he was about with his play. As time went on you could tell that he was slowly becoming a “Pittsburgher”. The one moment that sticks out in my mind was the fist pump he gave after being taken out in the 7th inning against the Giants...which was his 10th win on the season. After the game he was quoted as saying: “I'm proud to take the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I'm proud, man. I'm proud to pitch for these players, these fans.” When in the hell was the last time you’ve heard that from a Pirates player??

After watching last night’s game it hit me like a Mack truck...he is the Gary Roberts of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Roberts was the veteran who was a fierce competitor, and left everything on the ice for the Pens back in 2007. Burnett, like Roberts, brings it every single game. If you watch him when he is on the bench he is extremely focused, and doesn’t talk to anyone. He is all about winning, and isn’t afraid to “fight” to make that happen. After striking out Hanley Ramirez last night he walked off the field, but not without staring down Ramirez and yelling “Sit the F--K down!”.   Gary Roberts (and other guys like Billy Guerin) were also brought in to teach the "young bucks" how to win.  When Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were inexperienced Roberts taught them how.  Burnett has the most experience on the Pirates' roster and can be a wealth of knowledge and experience for this young club.  I'm almost certain he is teaching James McDonald, Neil Walker, and Andrew McCutchen a thing or two about being in contention and how to handle losing skids like the Pirates are in now.

Burnett's attitude is the type of attitude the Pirates need in order to get out of this little skid. If only every player on the team played like this.
 

I personally would like to see Burnett a Pirate for a long time for no better reason than the fact that I love what he brings to the game. 


Keep the faith Bucco fans!!