it's weird when you look at it on paper

Sometimes I feel like the Pirates aren't that bad. Nate McClouth has turned into a superstar in center field. Xavier Nady continues to over achieve. Jason bay has returned to form. LaRoche's bat will start to come around. Jack Wilson is above average for a short stop. Sanchez is Sanchez. Doumit is a far above average hitting catcher.

Our starting pitchers can't possibly pitch this badly all year. And our bullpen is bad, sure, but isn't everybody's? We're only 3 games under .500!

Yes, some days I feel that we're just a power-hitting 3rd baseman and an ace pitcher away from breaking the 81-win barrier.

Then reality sets in. There is no depth behind any of our good players. Many of the guys I think are good would just be platoon position guys on other teams. Our minor league system is bankrupt. We get 9000 people in the stadium on weeknights. Our owners don't care if we win. We lead the league in promotional give-away nights because everyone is so sick of the Pirates and won't come to the stadium otherwise (and the Penguins are freakin sweet this year).

This year we will tie the Phillies. Next year it will be ours. An unprecedented number of losing seasons in a row. Only the Pirates.

Hope I've made your day a little brighter. :) Maybe sometime this week I'll write about the few positives of our organization.