Like you expected it to end any other way. The final Pirate game of the 2009 season was a forgettable 6-0 loss that involved seven Pirate pitchers and an 0-for-13 performance with runners in scoring position while the Buccos kept on the trail to make Homer Bailey this generation’s version of Mike Hampton (four of his eight wins were against the Bucs and he held us to just six runs in 25 1/3 innings in those four starts). A lot of interesting and good things have happened to the Pirates this year, but almost none of them happened to the Major League squad and while they were worth watching down the stretch for Andrew McCutchen, Andy LaRoche, Lastings Milledge, Garrett Jones, and some of the young starters, they were also very, very difficult to watch these last three months.
Like I said before, the season review is coming tonight and the off-season stuff is going to start probably tomorrow with an off-season wish-list, but for now I want to thank everyone that’s read this blog during the season. The Pirates haven’t had a winning season since I started blogging in 2005, and yet each of the five seasons I’ve done this, traffic has grown significantly. I’ve always thought of this as a testament to Pirate fans, who do still exist, and who are as smart and passionate as the fans of any other baseball team out there despite the hand we’ve been collectively dealt over the past 17 seasons. Thank you all for sticking with me to the bitter end once again. I couldn’t do this without you.
