THE BULLPEN

Back at the beginning of baseball season, I wrote an open letter to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In that letter, I begged, pleaded, and implored the Pirates not to break my heart for a 20^th straight season. I figured that we, the fans (those that are left) had been put through the wringer enough and did not deserve to suffer through another deplore season of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball club. True, I didn’t expect the Pirates to make the playoffs this year, either. I would have been happy to finish 82-80, finally, a winning record. But, I must say, the Pirates find a new way to break my heart every year, more so than any jagoff I’ve ever dated. They teased me again this year by flirting with the postseason and even first place in the NL Central. And then, they broke my heart. I guess I should have seen it coming. What team commits 7 errors in a game to a team that is over 30 games under .500? What team lets the other team steal 7 bases in one game? What team does not know how to bunt runners over? The answer to these and, so many more questions like these, it’s maddening, is the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates would rather have Navy SEALS instruct their team on team building and leadership, instead of teaching these guys the fundamentals and how to play winning baseball. Bob Nutting would rather mandate that his players shoot clay pigeons at his resort than to get rested in the midst of a rough stretch of games. So consider this an open letter to Nutting. Please, sir, I’m begging again. This time I’m begging you to sell the Pirates. Surely, you’ve taken enough of the fans’ money. Can’t you, please, let someone that knows how to win purchase the organization. All you know how to do is run it into the ground.