Pittsburgh Pirates 2008: A Different Kind of Preview

Scribe Written on March 30, 2008

From the sports blog Steeltown Sports

This preview has nothing to do with players, coaches, or statistics.

There are plenty of those around from various sources, with varying levels of sarcasm and seriousness. I'm not going to bother.

As most Pirate fans know, the team that takes the field March 31, 2008, in Atlanta to face the Braves is not noticeably different than the one that left the field in Pittsburgh Sept. 30 after falling 6-5 to the St. Louis Cardinals.

I think my fanship has become so detached that I didn't even notice that the aforementioned season-ending loss gave Kip Wells another win against his former team.

I really haven't been paying much attention at all to how Spring Training has unfolded. I catch a headline of how well (or not) one of the Pirate starters did, or which guy who wasn't going to make the team anyway hit a late home run...

I don't take much from Spring Training, anyway. You really can't.

I mean, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays finished 18-8. That's the highest winning percentage in both Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. Anyone want to put a dollar to my two that Tampa doesn't finish in last place? Or even odds they'll finish worst in the AL? Again?

I revisited last year's Pirate preview at BurghSportsGuys.com (a small-ish, but very intelligent message board for Pittsburgh fans that I highly recommend).

I had a thought that I could almost substitute it for this year's preview.

I'd just tweak a couple of names, make up a couple of far-fetched reasons to be optimistic, pick a few of the many reasons to doubt, and otherwise (somehow), write 2400 words on the subject.

I think my attention, instead, has been focused on the people who run this long-suffering ballclub. And there hasn't been much to watch the past few months. Despite the obvious change in management, the tell-tale item that has remained the same is the ownership.

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written on March 30, 2008 Sports

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