Is this all a dream?

By Travis Bromer

One game out of first place, a 47-43 record, three all-stars, and high expectations. Who are these guys and what have they done with the Pittsburgh Pirates? At the very least someone should tell them its the all-star break. Usually at this point in the season they are fighting for last place and have no hopes for a .500 record. On second thought lets hope no one tells them and they keep this sham up all summer.

I am not and do not pretend to be a Pirate fan. Personally them winning or losing has no effect on my feelings about baseball or the team. However, it always makes me happy to see any Pittsburgh team doing well. It makes the fans happy, it makes the city seem like a better place, most importantly it gives us a sport to pay attention to during the summer. Even if you never cared about baseball or the Pirates it has always been fun to go to PNC Park. Now you can go there and enjoy more than just the view of the city and the food, you can actually watch a competitive baseball team.

I have boycotted Pirate games since 2004. I have always turned down free tickets and refused to buy any Pirate merchandise. I did this out of disgust. I was disgusted by 18 consecutive losing seasons, not even making an attempt to put together a winning team, the constant trading away of talented players for "prospects", and the lack of respect for their fans. With the rapid turnaround and apparent interest in winning I am thinking about ending my boycott. I will continue to holdout until I see an example of them wanting to win beyond this year. To me that means either trading for a solid major league player at the deadline or at least not trading away Paul Maholm for a "prospect". Just imagine the attitude toward baseball this city would have if the Pirates made a trade to win now as opposed to three years from now.

This biggest question in all this great baseball is, can it continue? Really there is no answer, only time will tell. The team's roster is not much different from last season's when they lost over 100 games. So it is hard to stand up and say they will keep it up. I am still afraid the bottom will fall out soon and they will lose ten in a row. I hope they can keep this up, it would be truly amazing if they shocked the league and snuck into the playoffs. Remember to keep it all in perspective even if this team does not win the division we should be happy. At this point even a .500 record is a great season.