The Pittsburgh Pirates will once again do battle in the National League’s Central Division in 2013. The division will be minus the Houston Astros as the team has moved to the American League West. This will probably be a negative for the Bucs since they won 12 of 17 games versus the Astros last year.
The Pirates have the dubious distinction of the most consecutive losing seasons in major professional sports history. The streak currently stands at 20 years as the team suffered through a late-season collapse in 2012 to finish with a 79-83 record.
However, a winning season might be in the cards for 2013 as the team has not only a strong core of young position players and accomplished veteran pitchers, but also a deep, talented farm system.
The team’s renewed emphasis on acquiring and developing amateur talent should provide fans at each of their minor league affiliates with ample opportunities to watch exciting players. The following list includes brief information on all six of those franchises:
Indianapolis Indians (AAA): The Pirates’ AAA team plays at Victory Field in beautiful downtown Indianapolis. Victory Field opened in 1996 and has a seating capacity of 12,200. The Indians, who play in the International League, should feature the Pirates’ #1 draft pick and the first choice overall in 2011 in right-handed pitcher Gerrit Cole. Cole’s stay in Indianapolis may be brief, however, as the Pirates expect him to join their rotation by mid-season.
Altoona Curve (AA): The Altoona Curve will once again represent the Pirates in the Eastern League. The team hosts league foes at Peoples Natural Gas Field, a 7,200 seat facility. The Pirates’ #1 selection in the 2010 draft, hard-throwing righty Jameson Taillon, should suit up for the Curve for at least the early part of the upcoming season.
Bradenton Marauders (A-Advanced): Bradenton, Florida-the spring training home of the Pirates-is also the home for the parent club’s entry in the Florida State League. The home field is historic McKechnie Field-a 6,500 seat stadium. The team’s roster this year is expected to include a pair of top talents from the Dominican Republic in shortstop Alen Hanson and outfielder Gregory Polanco.
West Virginia Power (A): West Virginia’s capital city of Charleston has served as the home for the Pirates’ representative in the South Atlantic League since 2009. The club’s stadium is West Virginia Power Park, a 4,500 seat facility nestled in the middle of downtown. The team should have highly-regarded prospect Josh Bell back to start the 2013 campaign. Bell, an outfielder with major power potential, had most of his 2012 season wrecked by a knee injury.
Jamestown Jammers (short-season A): The Pirates’ short-season A team this year will move from State College, PA to Jamestown, NY. The season commences in mid-June after the amateur draft. The team will play its home games at Russell Diethrick Park, which has a seating capacity of about 3,000. The park has been in existence for over 70 years, but extensive renovations in recent years have made it a top-notch minor league facility.
GCL Pirates (Rookie): The GCL Pirates also start their season in mid-June. The team’s primary purpose is to give experience to mostly first-year players and some graduates of the Pirates’ teams in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. They train and play their summer games at the Pirate City complex in Bradenton.
Patrick Hattman is a long-suffering PittsburghPirates fan and longs for a return of the Pirates of his youth when they put some of the city’s best-ever baseball teams on the carpet at Three Rivers Stadium.
