Pittsburgh Pirates Information
The city that produces the best sheets of steel seems to be turning out great hitters – Pittsburgh has 24 batting champions and 36 hall of famers. They are banking on that pedigree to improve their 5th in the league standing in ’06. The Pirates began ’07 with a new owner, Robert Nutting. More changes happened when team CEO Kevin McClatchy announcing that he would be stepping down from his role at the end of the season. After the All Star Break, the Pirates lost 8 out of 9 games overall. Ticket holding fans are watching closely to see if they can pull up and improve their ’06 standing.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have won five championships in their franchise history, but you’d have to go back to 1979 to find the last championship team. That team was led by Bert Blyleven on the mound and Willie Stargell at the plate. This team is hoping to find a similar type of leadership from their up-and-coming group in 2004.
The Pittsburgh Pirates recently moved into their new ballpark, PNC Park at North Shore. The design is what will bring in the most baseball fans. It has a two-deck design, and the highest seat is only 88 feet from the field, meaning that every fan will have a good angle to the game and will be able to see most, if not all, of the action. The deepest part of the ballpark isn’t straight away center, as in most parks, but left center field, where the field extends to 410 feet. The left field wall is only six feet high, but the right field wall is raised to a level of 21 feet in honor of the legendary Pirate outfielder, #21 Roberto Clemente. The park was also built along the Allegheny River, and the distance to the river from home plate is 443 feet and 4 inches, straight to right center field. The most amazing thing about this ball field could be it’s relative inexpensiveness when compared to other similar ball parks, only costing the city $216 million.
Although the Pirates traded all-star outfielder Brian Giles to San Diego late last season, his missing presence won’t really be felt until this season, so he would be the biggest loss to this team. They still have perennial all-star catcher Jason Kendall behind the plate and leading off the lineup, and Jose Castillo will look to take over at second base this season. First baseman Craig Wilson will be asked to drive in more runs this season, a position he’s never had to fill on other teams.
The biggest off-season acquisition for the Pirates was definitely the pickup of closer Jose Mesa from Philadelphia. When the Phillies traded for Billy Wagner from Houston, Mesa was made easily expendable. After last year’s all-star closer Mike Williams was traded at the trading deadline, Julian Tavarez was asked to take on the task of closing ball games, and although he was successful 11 times, the organization felt they needed an established closer to step in and lock down on opposing hitters. Kip Wells and Kris Benson will lead the starting rotation, and Josh Fogg will look to build on a productive 2003 season in 2004. With Oliver Perez and Ryan Vogelsong rounding out the rotation, the average age of the five starters is just over 26 years old. Lloyd McClendon, the third year manager of the Pirates, will have his work cut out for him when he takes charge of this young staff. McClendon is well known for his passion of the game, but without a leader like Giles in the dugout, it could be a long year for the group from Pittsburgh.