Pittsburgh Pirates: 8 Insane Reasons for the Pirates' Dizzying Free-Fall

Baseball is a long season. There are highs and there are lows. The Pittsburgh Pirates captivated a nation this summer by claiming first place toward the end of July.

Then along came a trip to Atlanta and a 19-inning ballgame, featuring a very high-profile blown call by an umpire that resulted in a loss, and then... well... things just haven't quite been the same for those Pirates since

Enter Murphy's Law. (Whatever can go wrong... will.)

As of Aug. 6, they had gone 1-11 since that fateful night and plummeted right out of contention in the N.L. Central Division.

Bad starting pitching. Bad hitting. Bad fielding. Bad bullpen. Bad luck.

Well, here are eight bad reasons for their misfortune.

Badly written, of course...

8. PNC Park Is a Hitter's Park... and There Aren't Any on the Team

Fairly self-explanatory. The Bucs have been struggling at the plate all season. Recently, the Pirates stranded 16 base runners over a 15-hit effort against the Padres,

In fact, if every Pirate position player raised his average just 10 points, they'd probably be... just as lousy.

7. On Fireworks Night at PNC Park, They're Usually Provided by the Other Team

The Cubs sure launched some sky-rockets as they swept a four-game series at PNC Park...

6. Pirate Fans Always Wonder Which 5 Pitchers They'll Get to See That Night

Whenever Clint Hurdle takes the ball, he looks toward the bullpen and shouts, "NEXT!"

5. Pirates Pitchers Have Perfect Aim...They Keep Hitting the Center of the Bats

Fifteen home runs yielded over the past five games.

Bucs' bleacher fans got a great view of this one by the Cubs' Tyler Colvin as it sailed into the Allegheny River.

4. The Pirates Refuse to Consider a Name Change to the Pittsburgh Cicadas

Too bad. The cicadas show up every 17 years.

Which is more frequently than the Pirates do.

3. In Pittsburgh, Baseball Season Ends When the Steelers Report to Camp

Hey, it's an 18-year tradition.

2. "Light Up Night" in Pittsburgh Involves the Padres and a Scoreboard

In just two games over Aug. 5-6, the Padres scored a team-record 28 runs.

When Pirates fans did the wave, it was probably a wave goodbye to whatever pitcher was getting yanked at that particular time.

This is usually preceded by Clint Hurdle yelling, "NEXT!"

1. Bad Breaks

Seems like everyone on the Pirates is taking one at the same time.