Pirates Series Win Over Cardinals = Righting the Ship?

"El Torro" OWNS the Cardinals This Year

What a difference two days make.  If you could go back in time like Mary McFly and "Doc" to just 3 days ago you would have seen numerous fans (myself included) that were awaiting the death sentence for the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates.  Everything was "doom and gloom" for the Buccos, and because of that most fans dreaded the upcoming series against the pesky Cardinals who seem to rule the roost that is the NL Central.  Deep in the recesses of my brain there is always optimism for the Pirates.  Maybe its the fact that growing up in the late 80s and early 90s I got to see my favorite players (Andy Van Slyke and Bobby Bonilla...never really cared for Barry Bonds, plus he was my brother's favorite player.) dominate on the diamond and have successful seasons for the black n' gold.  Maybe its that I've always said that a Pirates World Series would be sweeter than a Steelers Superbowl (I've lived through 2) and a Penguins Stanley Cup (I've lived through 3).  Nonetheless, this team was making it extremely hard to root for them 3 days ago.  The 9-0 victory Tuesday night seemed to be like a blind squirrel finding a nut.  I even wrote yesterday how this team needs to perform at this level for more than one night for me to get giddy about their chances of competing again.

That is where I start the next paragraph...with the same sentence I had in the past post.  As much as I enjoyed seeing the Pirates win 5-0 last night (especially on national TV), THEY NEED TO PLAY AT THIS LEVEL CONSISTENTLY for me to completely buy in to this group of "Battlin' Buccos".  There have been some really positive signs from this series.  A dominant start my James McDonald Tuesday night, an above par performance by Wandy Rodriguez last night, and Pedro Alvarez hitting the snot out of the ball (8-13 with 3 HRs vs the Cardinals).  Add all that up and you could get some serious MOJO working in your favor.  Now here lies the predicament that the Pirates faced when they last won a series (no surprise it was against the Cardinals as they beat them in 19-innings), you have to keep winning.  The Pirates have struggled against some sub-par competition, and that is what they have ahead of them as they now travel to Milwaukee to face the Brewers in a 3 game set, then its back to PNC Park where the Cubs and Astros come in for 3 game sets a piece.  I've decided I'm not going to throw out the gauntlet anymore by saying the Buccos need to win 5 of 6, or anything like that.  I'm going to suggest to everyone reading this, including myself, to just take it on a game by game basis.  Things should be good for the Pirates if the rest of the starting rotation follows McDonald and Rodriguez's precedent set the last two games.  Jeff Karstens takes the mound tomorrow for the 1st against the Brew-Crew, then AJ Burnett gets on the bump. 

I tweeted this last night (you can follow us on Twitter - @bngblitz) and I think that most Pirates fans and players are slowly starting to realize.  The city of Pittsburgh is a city that is accustomed to winning.  Not just winning games, but championships.  This goes all the way back to the 60s with the Pirates, the Steelers of the 70s, the Penguins of the 90s, and the Pens and Steelers in the early 2000s.  The Pirates have struggled for so long its almost as if the culture in Pittsburgh became happy with mediocrity.  People saying this season "at least we will break the winning streak".  Screw that.  I'm a Pittsburgh fan, and I want my favorite teams to win championships, not just win more than they lose.  Pirates fans should have high expectations because their favorite team plays in the city that has been called on more than one occasion "The City of Champions".