2011 Bucs, Results Over Process, By Tom Trudeau

During my recent trip to Pittsburgh, my Pirate-fan family members couldn’t stop harping on the luck that the team has benefitted from in 2011. They weren’t the first people to call the Pirates’ run improbable, or more specifically, point out the pitchers’ “smoke-and-mirrors-success.”

When Jason Heyward lined out to Neil Walker Monday night, starting a double play as Tim Hudson got caught being a pitcher trying to run the bases, my cousin texted me “the amazing luck continues!”

Maybe it’s time everyone stopped getting caught up in what the Pirates should be doing and instead just kept rooting for them to keep getting good results.

Two recent articles about got me thinking about this. The first was a recent story by Dave Cameron from Fangraphs.com, in which he opens up to his readers about his cancer. He writes:

“ …there are times in life that you’re not making a decision, and knowledge of the probability of outcomes just doesn’t help at all. You are just rooting for one specific result, even if you don’t have any control over whether it occurs or not.”

We are all rooting for Dave, who asks that we all consider donating both blood and platelets to the Red Cross.

The second was a post on Riveraveblues.com about Freddy Garcia, who is enjoying something of a Jeff Karstens-esque type season. In it, Ben Kabak writes:

“I don’t care if what he’s doing is sustainable for the long-term because it doesn’t have to be. It just has to work the rest of the season.” 

Who cares if the Jeff Karstens’ ERA is two full runs lower than his FIP? It’d be nice to have a long-term ace on the Pirates’ staff, but for this season I’ll choose to focus more on rooting for Karstens’ excellent results to continue. The beauty of sports, the greatest reality television around, is that improbable things happen and the best team doesn’t always win.