I’m not exactly sure how to start this blog post because well I never thought I was going to have to blog about the Pirates losing 82 games this season, at least up until the beginning of this month.  Then the thought started to cross my mind.  But that is beside the point because today the Pirates clinched their 20^th consecutive losing season with a 4-3 loss to the Reds.

The Pirates had a legitimate shot of fending off this unwanted title for at least one more day as they took a 3-2 lead in to the 9^th inning.  Behind another superb start from Wandy and Garrett Jones’ 26^th homerun of the season, the Pirates had their 78^th win of the season in their sights as they handed a 1-run lead to closer Joel Hanrahan.  Hammer had blown 3 saves all season to this point. Yes he has had questionable control and his velocity wasn’t quite has high this season, but the guy has been one of the best in the game for the past 2 seasons and was the primary reason why the Pirates were 69-0 when taking a lead to the 9^th inning.  With all that said the Pirates are now 69-1 in those situations as Hanrahan blew the lead in the 9^th today.

Didn’t get to watch the game today, but in the bottom of the 9^th apparently Jose Tabata made a costly base-running error.  This is leading to questions as to whether he or third base coach Nick Leyva is at fault for the blunder.  I feel as if this is just a cherry on top of such a devastating collapse: a potential bust costing the team a “key” win in such a bonehead fashion. But that is beside the point because after seeing the way Tabata has played this season, I don’t really expect much from him anymore.

However at this point, in this season, a mistake on the base paths is minuscule compared to the fact that the Pirates were 63-47 and are now going to finish under .500.  Honestly, if there is some sort of explanation for the past two decades of ignominy, which to an extent there is, it would be thicker than the average college textbook.