THE BULLPEN

Now that the Pittsburgh Pirates 2012 season is but a memory, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on their 79-83 campaign. There was the Barajas walk-off homer against Philly in May. How about the Sutton walk-off homer versus Houston in June? Then there was the McKenry-Barmes back-to-back doubles off of Aroldis Chapman, who at that point was virtually unhittable. AJ Burnett made a good case for comeback player of the year. Pedro Alvarez proved he does know how to hit major league pitching. And who could forget that at the 2/3 point of the season the Pirates were a season-high 16 games over .500. Good times. Then there was the 7 error debacle against the Cubs. The no hitter thrown by Homer Bailey. The failed bunts, the runners left on base, and the countless stolen bases against them. Bad times. I remember these times the most because there were so many of them and they were the most recent. Clint Hurdle said that this team’s motto would be “Finish”. They did not do that. They only thing they finished was a record 20^th losing season. Yes, the 2012 season is a memory for Pirates fans, a bad memory at that. All I can say is go Steelers and get the lockout resolved, NHL!