Mailbag

The Pirates got a mere two of three from the Dodgers in Los Angeles, dropping the finale Wednesday night, 5-2. The good news is, of course, that they won two of three from the Dodgers on the road, and the better news is Freddie Sanchez collected six hits over the last two games of the series (including his 50th double), and now is hitting a league-leading .347. Second-place Miguel Cabrera of the Marlins is at .338. The Buccin' Ear refuses to jinx Freddie by saying anything more about it.

The subject of Freddie neatly segues into the eagerly awaited Volume 2 of The Pirates of Penance Mailbag. In the September 19 post "Not in Our House!", the Buccin' Ear, discussing players who had shown improvement in the second half, made this observation:

"Then there's Salomon Torres, whose yeoman work in place of Mike Gonzales has earned him the Buccin' Ear's vote as most valuable Buc this year."

Bern1 of Pittsburgh had this to say about that:

"Salomon instead of Freddy Sanchez as MVP??? I dunno, Buccin' Ear. I gotta differ with you on this one."

Well, voting against Freddie in anything this year is like casting a vote against mom, apple pie or even truth, justice and the American way. So I could take the easy way out and say Salomon is the most valuable pitcher. But I'll hold the line and say that at worst, Torres is a co-MVP.

The case for Freddie doesn't need to be made; it's self-evident. Torres? Well, let's just say that anybody who appears in 90+ games, is a reliable setup man, gets better as the year goes on and takes over as closer has to get some serious props. That he has gone 10-for-10 in save opportunities is rather remarkable. But what clinches it for me is that he lent some stability during an interminable stretch of the season when the young Pirate starters were flat-out bad and rarely went more than six innings, on the rare occasion that they got that far. Torres and Matt Capps pitched nearly every day and rarely failed, although both endured a couple of rough stretches. It's not too strong to say, all-in-all, that Torres helped to salvage a strong measure of respect for the Pirates in the second half. The pitching staff without him would have been just as out to sea as the everyday lineup without Freddie.

Add to it that he's a top-notch team guy who never says a discouraging word, and I rest my case.

Another reader, commenting on the Bucs' three-game sweep of the Mets, sounded nearly metaphysical. JD wrote,

"I hate and love this so much. Nothing beats racking up wins, but taking this optimism into next year will cause unspeakable pain."

Hmmm...Well, JD, we can say the same thing about life in general, I guess. How, indeed, can we give our hearts away each year to hope when we know all that time brings us is one step closer to shuffling off this mortal coil?

Perhaps we need to think of Rodgers and Hammerstein here. These wise words may offer you and all of us Pirate fans some comfort:

"When you walk through a storm
Keep your chin up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At he end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone."

Which brings to mind the famous words of Earl Weaver. Advised by born-again outfielder Pat Kelly, "You have to walk with the lord, Skip," Weaver replied, "I'd rather walk with the bases loaded."

Actually, though, JD, the Buccin' Ear thought you penetrated deeply into the question of Pirate futility with this portion of your post:

"It feels so good to win, I sure wish they would do it more often."

Amen, brother, amen.

Existential questions also raised their head in this post from Paul from Denver. He too was struck by the latest Tracyism of the Week, which appeared in the September 15 post "This and That." After Tracy said that even special players have to have a first at-bat, the Buccin' Ear mused,

"...wonder how many special players we missed over the years who never made an appearance? And if special players play but never appear and are therefore never seen, did they really play at all?"

Paul responds,

"...and if a batter strikes out but there's no one there to watch him, did he realy whiff? Nice to see RG chanelling a different "JP" these days -- Sartre vs Juan Pierre, I mean."

The Buccin' Ear thinks that if he can get Jean-Paul Sartre mentioned on his blog, he's done his work well. And in the same sentence with Juan Pierre, no less.

Come to think of it, Sartre wrote at least two books whose titles, at least, have relevance to being a Pirates fan: "Being and Nothingness" and, especially, "Nausea." And certainly all Pirates fans need this JPS classic: "The Reprieve."

And finally...the death of Syd Thrift also drew commentary, and the Buccin' Ear joins in the general lament. Syd took his knocks, but anybody who could swing trades for Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke, Mike LaValliere, Doug Drabek and a host of other contributors and take a team like the '85 stinkeroos and turn them into three-time division champs never should have had to apologize for nuttin'.

RIP, Syd. We could use you now.