Comments on: The Curse of Barry Bonds

By: Steelstealth

Steelstealth — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 18:51:00 +0000

Barry Bonds was a great player before the physical transformation we saw with the Giants, but he wanted to leave Pittsburgh, and wasn’t exactly a friendly person when he wore a Bucs uniform. I think we should avoid talk of any “curse”, or imagined dark cloud, because it smacks of a mediocre franchise like the Chicago Cubs or Cleveland Indians. The more the fan base believes uncontrollable forces are at work, that doesn’t help the home team.

True, this losing streak(taken over from the Phillies), has been beyond frustrating as fans. No doubt there have been several cases of bad luck, and that only adds to the frustration level. But much of the damage has been self-inflicted, like bad management decisions.

19 years is a long time, but we should always remember this franchise has a rich winning tradition, ranking among the top one-third among current cities. It’s a proud history which includes some of the greatest players ever, and more batting champions than the Yankees. In fact, only the Yankees, Cards, and Red Sox have won more World Titles for their respective cities than the Bucs. The vast majority of current MLB teams would love to have a storied tradition like the Pittsburgh Pirates.

So while we’re all anxious to finally end this embarrassing record(the Orioles are close behind), looking at the big picture helps. While those great players and teams can’t come back from the past to help now, this heritage is still an important part of this franchise. The iconic “P” on the cap of today’s Andrew McCutcheon is identical to the cap worn by Roberto Clemente. We just don’t want to toss away tradition as if it’s old technology. Instead, let’s continue analyzing the current situation, while holding the organization accountable. Ending the streak is doable, necessary, and the club must find a way to make it happen soon. At the end of the day, it will be the actions of the club which will be the difference, and that will be stronger than any perceived “curse”.

By: leowalter

leowalter — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:55:00 +0000

Nate : I don’t care if you have 7 differnt pitches such as Yu Darvish supposedly has.If you can’t command the strike zone,you are going to get lit up in MLB. ALL orginizations stress prospects working on their command first,pitch selection afterwards.

By: James S

James S — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 04:13:00 +0000

The curse of Barry Bonds was having that @$$hole in the clubhouse at all.

By: Lee Young

Lee Young — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 02:11:00 +0000

It’s all my fault for leaving Pittsburgh in Oct ’79. Sure, we won the WS,but since then we have had the druggie 80s, the heartbreak 90s, and then the losing streak.

Now that I am retired, perhaps I need to move back, to save the Buccos?

Curse of the Foo, indeed.

By: John Bailey

John Bailey — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 23:11:00 +0000

Curse of BamBreamO is funny. Sid cashed in on his one and only big payday and left for Atlanta, you can’t blame him. But sometimes I still do.

By: Nate

Nate — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:50:00 +0000

Additionally, the fastball-throwing development reduces the trade value of younger pitchers are their stats are not as good as pitchers that can use their full arsenal down low. Heredia can throw like 8 pitches and NH probably has him throwing 95% fastballs. Such an idiotic one size fits all approach.

By: Nate

Nate — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:49:00 +0000

It’s not really bad luck or even bad management (although it was pretty absymal), I think the main things is player development. Right now we have Pirates developing players to the goal of not “power” but “gap power”, sounds dubious. We have the Pirates developing pitchers as fastball throwing when yes, they should be working on their fastball, but also developing a 2/3/4 pitches in the minors. When are these important secondary pitchers going to be developed – AA, AAA, MLB? Has this strategy even produced a single above average pitcher since 2008?

Unless the development paradigms change, the Pirates are going to have “bad luck” forever. Drafting some guy with a high ceiling isn’t enough, the development of the player is the key and of the utmost important.

By: Tim Williams

Tim Williams — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:38:00 +0000

The numbers might not have been that strong, but Presley and d’Arnaud provided a spark at the top of the lineup. The offense was noticeably different after they left, and the team immediately went in to a slide.
I think a big reason for this was also because those guys were injury replacements themselves. When they went down, the Pirates moved to their third options at each position.

By: Mike Zimmerman

Mike Zimmerman — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:16:00 +0000

I mean, Chase D’Arnaud? Really? You’re better than this, he was a terrible baseball player last season, his injury had nothing to do with the downfall.

By: ecbucs

ecbucs — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:06:00 +0000

I understand what you are saying but I still don’t believe that the Cubs were only market for Aram. The market would not be limited to contenders. Diamond Backs could have seen him as replacement for Matt Williams, Rockies needed to find someone to take Chris Stynes place. At the least the team should not have needed to send Lofton along and should have gotten better return. IIRC, I’m not even sure that DL tried to see if anyone else was interested in him.