For the Pittsburgh Pirates, there is no next year

Following a quiet off-season, the Pittsburgh Pirates enter 2016 hoping a large group of top prospects are prepared to make significant contributions to the big league club down the stretch.

In 2006, the Pittsburgh Pirates started their “We Will” campaign.  Of course, that year is well remembered as the year the Pirates decided to commit to the rebuilding effort.  The next year, Neal Huntington would be brought in as the new general manager, and the completion of the rebuild process was brought to fruition in just six years after a rotating door of front office staff and players failed to reverse the losing streak that nearly forced the team to move.

The “We Will” campaign was meant to embody the work ethic and integrity expected of every member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.  Instead, it became the target of ridicule from many fans.  The banners hanging from the façade of PNC Park did not help matter as disgruntled fans poured out following loss after loss.

Even in success, Pirates fans couldn’t dodge the pangs of defeat.  Following the success of the team in 2013 making a laughingstock of Johnny Cueto in the wild card game and taking the Cardinals to the brink of elimination before melting down in game five of the NLDS, the fans and players expected more, but who could have possibly anticipated the wonders that were Madison Bumgarner and Jake Arrieta?

Sure, the storyline was the same following both losses, next year they have to win the division if they want to avoid that feeling again.

In an offseason where Pittsburgh lost the boy from the suburbs in Neil Walker, its caped crusader in A.J. Burnett, the 11 game wonder in J.A. Happ, and full circle retiree Aramis Ramirez, it hardly seems plausible the Pirates have much of a chance for this to finally be their year.  They have yet to manage to overtake the Cardinals, who, despite not looking quite like a 100 game winner on paper, managed to once again hold off the “Battlin’ Buccos” for a third consecutive year in what has become the best rivalry in baseball almost out of nowhere.  Winning will do that for a team.

This year, the Pirates have to contend with the Cubs.  They have taken the lackadaisical approach to spring training under the whims and unorthodox managing style of Joe Maddon, but the Cubs are still the odds on favorite to break the 107 year old streak and claim the World Series title for the north side of Chicago.

The Pirates have battled through a disappointing spring statistically.  They finished the spring campaign 8-21-2, just a game better than in 2010.  The Pirates went on to lose 105 games that year, although they finished 40-41 at home.  It also gave the Pirates the number one overall pick in the annual first year players draft, which they promptly used to draft UCLA star Gerrit Cole.

This year, the Pirates certainly seemed destined to not repeat that dreadful season, but can they manage to not repeat the swift exits from the postseason that are practically etched into the mind of the players and team’s fan base?  Will the Pirates even be able to make the playoffs in a league where the competition has dramatically improved each of the last two years?  Will Andrew McCutchen once again be forced to say their sights are set on next year come October?

There is no next year for the Pirates.

A decade later, the “We Will” campaign would be a perfect slogan for this group.  The pages are blank; the slate is clean.  Only they control the story of the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club 2016 season.  It will probably be filled with agonizing losses and exhilarating triumphs.  It will be a season of firsts for some players.  The “twin towers,” as Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow are known are certain to excite this summer, if only for their potential and not for their performance.

Oh, don’t be mistaken; the Pittsburgh Pirates will be competitive for years.  The sun is far from setting on entertaining baseball along the north shore, and before it does, a parade will almost certainly be thrown along the streets of downtown to celebrate the accomplishments of those that made this city believe in baseball again.  The next generation of little league players will be straining to catch a glimpse of whomever may still be on the team hoisting that prized Commissioner’s Trophy.

For now, it’s a team poised to embark on the journey of a new season.  It’s long and windy road will be filled with ups and downs.  There may be tears and, certainly, tales of sore throats and walk-off wins on late nights, but this city will embrace the team they once again call their own.  They will ride out the journey in hopes of seeing this small market club defy the odds.  Pittsburgh embraces its own.  We’re all in this together, from the players to the media covering it to the fans and everyone in between.

We are family forged by baseball and passion for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and it’s opening day.  Soak in every moment of it because you never know if someday you may be retelling every moment of the season the Pittsburgh Pirates finally stopped saying next year.