After 14 years of losing, I would hate to berate the Pirates for actually trying at something and succeeding. But when their new found skill turns out to be ballot stuffing and cheating the all-star voting system, then someone has to step in and say something.
How laughable is it, that the worst team in baseball is trying so pathetically hard to get as many Pirates starting in the mid-summer classic as possible. Even if Jason Bay has 40 homeruns at the break and Freddy Sanchez is hitting .450 how could anybody associated with the shipwreck that is the Pittsburgh Pirates even be mentioned with the word all-star.
The Pirates are currently 26-51, owning the worst record in the National League and a mere ½ game out of worst place in all of baseball. (Only the Royals record is worse, but those same Royals just swept the Pirates in three games). The Pirates are 17 games back and have an elimination number of 70 and it is not even July. They have lost 11 games in a row, nearing the modern franchise record and are 8-31 on the road, worst in baseball. Against lefties they are a pathetic 6-20 and have already allowed 406 runs this season. They are on pace to lose 108 games.
How do any of those aforementioned statistics warrant representation in an all-star game? Not only are you rewarding failure but you are punishing fans who will shell out a lot of money to view this game. No Pittsburgh baseball fan wants to pay hundreds of dollars to witness the same ham and eggers they can watch everyday, with 724 of their closest friends in a near empty PNC Park. As per Major League Baseball rules, every team needs one rep. Ok, fine, bury Jason Bay as a reserve and make sure he never sees that field. He does not deserve it.
Jason Bay’s batting average is 24th best in the National League. He has the 17th most runs in the NL, 18th most hits. His 67 strikeouts are the 10th worst in the league. He has fallen to 7th and 8th in homeruns and RBI’s respectively not to mention a horrendous June. Do any of those stats warrant top vote getter for an outfielder in the National League?
Its laughable, sad, pathetic and a crime. And then Bay along with the Pirates management has the nerve to thank the fans. The Pirates earlier in the season admitted they were paying employees to stuff the ballet boxes and delete their cookies online to vote as many times as possible and beat the system. Pirate and baseball fans are not voting these bums like Bay and Jack Wilson into the game, yet salaried Pirate employees are sitting around punching ballots while the Pirates squander back-to-back 4-run leads to lose two games to the Kansas City Royals. Major League Baseball is laughing off the whole situation and the Pirates have once again been relegated to the laughing stock of baseball. Other teams must find this hilarious. While just about everyone else is pushing hard for a playoff run and scouting possible trades, the Pirates are sitting in front of their computers deleting cookies and giggling as Jack Wilson climbs up the charts for shortstop just about the same time he made his 11th fielding error of the season. Nobody on a team that is 26-51 deserves to be an all-star let alone start. Seeing Jason Bay on that field and any other undeserving Pirate will make the game an even bigger laughing stock. Just picture four Pirates taking the field to start an all-star game. There might be a 10-run rule before the second inning.
If only these sorry sorry Pirates would put this much effort into evaluating talent and scouting prospects maybe they would not be chasing history with a 14th consecutive losing season and 11-straight losses.
Let’s go Bucs, but more importantly lets go vote. Ha.
Questions, comments or votes for any outfielder besides Jason Bay can be sent to
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