Pittsburgh Pirates: Time to set things right
Predicting the World Series Champions is unquestionably quite difficult. This is because there are a number of strong aspirants for the title. Starting from the New York Yankees to the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers
and the Milwaukee Brewers; there are certainly many contenders.
Not that I have deliberately omitted other potentially strong teams which have a record of winning the title in the past, the aforementioned teams have in the recent past shown classic performances. Teams like the Tampa Bay Rays, San Francisco Giants, Detroit
Tigers or Cincinnati Reds can only be overlooked at the expense of being analytically wrong.
They all are fantastic teams. However, there are some underdogs that also require our attention. They are the teams which had in the past, won from division titles to the World Series titles. However, in recent years, their performance has been surprisingly
unsatisfactory, if not lack-lustre.
Take for example the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team which won their last World Series title back in 1979. More than three decades have passed since that achievement and the team has struggled to win any major title. The inability of the team to exert itself
raises more questions than answers, but a look into it will be advisable.
Ever since they came in the Central Division, from the East, the Pittsburgh Pirates have not won any division title either. Not that they have lacked quality players. They probably had a pool of talent to rely on. However, what was found lacking was the
team combination which to date, remains a distant dream.
The fact that it is not being able to make their way into the postseason, let alone winning the division title, tells a sorry tale of the team. For the last 19 years, their losing streak is certainly quite disconcerting for any professional team. Much to
the chagrin of the fans, even last year the team failed to win many games.
The past season saw the Pittsburgh Pirates lose more than 80 games. Such a display does not make good commentary for a team that needs to urgently improve their performance. Nonetheless, there is another prominent factor in the team’s failure to live up
to the fans expectations.
In the Central Division of the National League, the team is faced with a number of highly strong teams which if not unconquerable, have remained tough to take head on. For instance, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates have to double their efforts, strategise
a workable plan, to be able to compete at this level. The club understands the dismal performance they have had over the past few years. The time has now come to dig themselves out this ditch and try to acquire players that can make a positive impact for them.
But that seems quite unlikely for now. The team does not have the calibre of players which the St. Louis Cardinals has. It is not about the Cardinals alone. When a team is faced with the likes of the Milwaukee Brewers which has several strong hitters and
pitchers, it is never easy to be the winning side.
Chicago Cubs are another strong contender in the League. In the face of such rivals in the division, the Pittsburgh Pirates will be looking to reassess their approach. They will want to induct some quality and experienced players to improve their performance.
After all, three decades is way too long to not win any major title.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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