Your fault

One of my favorite kinds of sports writing is the essay that blames the fans for the team's poor performance.

The same people who complain that the Pirates should shake up the rotation are the same ones who beef about the club never fully giving its young players a chance.

This from "Yeah, they stink, but that's what you wanted" by John Perrotto.

My view is this. Fans can say whatever the hell they want to say. They can be as hypocritical and irrational as they want. People who expect calm, rational consistency to argument or observation should join a book club, and even then they will probably be disappointed. Such clarity rarely characterizes leisure-time diversions.

Following a sports team is a hobby. And it's a hobby, I think, that's good because you can do it carelessly. The fans have plenty of things to worry about - their health, their jobs, their families, you name it - and they don't need a scolding because they carry the teddy bear upside-down. Or sit him in the mud, and then complain that he's dirty.

This is not a comment so much on the start and end of Perrotto's otherwise good essay, but on the whole way some of us bicker and flame one another as the Pirates continue to disgrace the family name.

It's not fair, I think, to blame the fans for not rooting correctly. Or even for having ill-informed expectations. These things should be expected, tolerated, and maybe even encouraged. If you want more mature fans, you have accept the immature ones and retain them over the many years it can take to learn some first principles.

In other news, this team sucks. For example, did you see the bench last night? Mike Edwards, Humberto Cota, and Jose Hernandez. Not much different than Ben Grieve, Benito Santiago, and Abraham Nunez. They did a good job loading up on depth before the season, but it only took a few injuries to return them to this condition.

As soon as the pitchers begin a string of mediocre-to-good starts, the batters will stop scoring runs. That's what I expect. The pitchers can't be this bad much longer, and since the team now lacks several of its best hitters, opposing teams will have no problem avoiding our few good hitters in their best situations.

The only way the Pirates continue to score as many runs as they have been scoring: guys like Jose Castillo and Chris Duffy have to step up and play like stars. That, or the opposing teams have to use only the back end of the bullpen to protect their 7-0 leads.