This weekend’s admittedly non-epic showdown between the Sox and Pirates marks the fourth consecutive year the two teams have met. You may care about this, perhaps because you are from Pittsburgh or because you legitimately care about interleague baseball. Or, conversely, those may very well be the exact same reasons you shrug this one off and chalk it up to scheduling quirks and the inherent flaws of having two extra teams stinking up the National League.
Whatever the case, these inexplicably regular meetings have yet to yield anything genuinely cool. You would think an annual series would provide something at least remotely notable or interesting, but instead we get the lamest franchise in the National League and, save for 2006 and 2007, not even a raison d’road trip out of the deal. How disappointing.
But it doesn’t have to be! If there is anything we as Sox fans know, it’s that any team and any player can be despised, booed and absolutely hated for any reason – any reason at all! So in the spirit of breathing life into a usually useless series, let us douse the fire with gasoline:
Damaso? More like Dama-No! While not an especially bad pitcher, Damaso’s poor track record of allowing inherited runners to score made him the expendable piece of the 2005 Sox’ bullpen. As a supersub and great bat off the bench, Rob Mackowiak was a great return from Pittsburgh for Marte; as an everyday centerfielder, he was less than stellar. Damaso did well for himself in Steel City, ultimately heading to the Yankees along with Xavier Nady; Mackowiak brought quasi-notable pitching prospect Jon Link back from San Diego, but currently remains a free agent. Thanks for nothing, Pittsburgh!
Revenge for Uncle Cliff. June 29, 2006. Bottom of the ninth. Zero outs. Score tied at six. Pirates 3B Freddy Sanchez sends a Cliff Politte fastball out of the park for a Pirates walk-off. Sanchez had not hit a home run in 38 games; Politte would go on to to pitch only another 8.1 innings in the major leagues. Sanchez may be a good hitter, but he also effectively KILLED a World Series hero. ¡Viva el Politto!
Domination Across the Nation. The Sox are 13-8 all-time against the Pirates, including a near-record for runs scored in an interleague sweep (37 in 2008). If you can’t own the best, own the worst. Death to the Pirates!