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Pirates postseason run is different than before

PITTSBURGH – In 2013, the Pittsburgh Pirates wiped away a losing streak 20 years in the making.

In 2014, they’re building a new streak of their own.

For the second-straight year, the Pirates are in the postseason. A year to the day of the most magical night in Pittsburgh sports history, the Pirates look to continue a push to a sixth World Series title.

This year just seems different, though. The success almost seems expected.

A record number of fans came to PNC Park this season, expecting to see a winning baseball team. They got that 51 times as the Pirates tied for the best home record in the National League. In the process, 2,442,564 people saw a game at PNC Park – a franchise record.

Fans didn’t enter the gates for the bobbleheads and fireworks shows. They flocked for Andrew McCutchen diving catches, Josh Harrison hits and Gerrit Cole fastballs.

The best part of this Pirates team is just that: they’re a team. A really good team.

In McCutchen, Pittsburgh has an endearing ambassador to baseball who happens to be the reigning Most Valuable Player and has made a strong case to repeat the honor. In Harrison, they have one of the most fun players in the game who carries with him one of the best underdog stories in sports. In Cole, they have a legitimate homegrown ace who will emerge into one of the most feared pitchers in the majors, if he isn’t already.

That’s not to mention Starling Marte (who is performing at the highest level of his four-year MLB career), Jordy Mercer (who has developed into a reliable starting shortstop), Neil Walker (who has put up career numbers), Russell Martin (who has also put up career numbers), Francisco Liriano (who has duplicated last year’s success) and Edinson Volquez (who followed Liriano’s path and pitching coach Ray Searge’s advice to become a solid starter).

There’s also Gregory Polanco, Travis Snider, Mark Melancon and Vance Worley. And 12 other guys, stepping up in their own ways, who lifted the 2014 Pirates from mediocre assumptions to extraordinary accomplishments.

When the Pirates let Justin Morneau, Marlon Byrd and A.J. Burnett walk in the offseason, the Pirates’ front office was ridiculed for not keeping core pieces from the 2013 National League Division Series team.

How could they possibly make the playoffs again without these three?

The trio signed for a combined total of $44.5 million; Morneau went to the Colorado Rockies, with Byrd and Burnett both landing with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Morneau ended up with the NL batting title, edging Harrison, and Byrd put up solid numbers with a .264 batting average, 25 home runs and 85 RBIs. Burnett, the most pined for, led the league in losses (18), earned runs (109) and walks (96).

Oh ya, and the Phillies are sitting at home this autumn while the Pirates are in the playoffs – again.

Morneau would have helped the Pirates, which signed Ike Davis two months into the season, but also carried three or four marginal first basemen throughout the season. Keeping Byrd in Pittsburgh would have blocked Polanco from making his major league debut and starting with a hot start to his career. Byrd would have also taken time away from Snider, who turned in the best season in his four MLB years.

Burnett would have taken the Pirates pitching staff, which finished eighth in the majors, behind even further. Acquiring Volquez, for a steal of $5 million, lifted Pittsburgh to that mark.

It’s Volquez who takes the hill tonight against the San Francisco Giants. It’s Volquez who will help set the season as over 40,000 black-clad fans try to duplicate the energy of last year’s Wild Card game against the Cincinnati Reds.

It’s Madison Bumgarner who opposes Volquez. And while he doesn’t tote the same sing-songy name as “Cueto,” he carries some of the best credentials in the National League.

18-10 record.

2.98 ERA.

219 strikeouts.

Bumgarner is on fire. So are the Pirates.

Since May 2, the Pirates are 79-54 which is the second-best mark over that time.

At one point this season, the Pirates were eight games under .500 and yes, they enter today with a two-game losing streak to close off the regular season.

That won’t matter tonight. This one game is all that matters.

Though it doesn’t matter as much as Oct. 1, 2013. Some people waited their entire lives to see playoff baseball. Now, fans in the region waited less than 365 days.

The Pirates have come a long way. They’re contenders.

This success is expected.

(Peaslee, a Youngstown native, is a sports writer for the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times. He can be contacted at mpeaslee@heraldstaronline.com and followed on Twitter at @thempeas)

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