2008 Pittsburgh Pirates season

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2008 Pittsburgh Pirates
250px
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record 67–95 (.414)
Divisional place 6th
Other information
Owner(s) Robert Nutting
General manager(s) Neal Huntington
Manager(s) John Russell
Local television FSN Pittsburgh
Local radio WPGB-FM
(Steve Blass, Greg Brown, Lanny Frattare, Bob Walk, John Wehner)
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The 2008 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 127th season of the franchise; the 122nd in the National League. This was their eighth season at PNC Park. It was the first under new president Frank Coonelly, general manager Neal Huntington, and manager John Russell. Unable to improve on their 68–94, last place finish during the 2007 season, the Pirates had not had a winning record or made it to the playoffs since 1992, and finished 67–95 for their 16th straight losing season. The season was the final of play-by-play announcer Lanny Frattare, whose 33-year tenure as Pirates' broadcaster was the longest in franchise history.[2][3]

Regular season

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See also: 2008 Major League Baseball season
The Pirates play the Tampa Bay Rays at PNC Park
File:Sunset at the Pirates Game.jpg
Pirates play the Cincinnati Reds at an evening game in August 2008

On November 5, 2007, John Russell was introduced as the Pirates manager, replacing Jim Tracy.[4] Team management cited three areas that the franchise hoped to improve: "refocused emphasis on fundamentals", holding players to a higher standard, and signing younger players.[5] The Pirates won their season opener against the Atlanta Braves, by the score of 12–11, in 12 innings.[6] The Pirates played their home opener against the division-rival Chicago Cubs on April 7, losing 10–8, also in 12 innings.[7] The Pirates started out the season with a 7–7 record after the first half-month; however, after a five-game losing streak they began to struggle, finishing out April with an 11–16 record. The Pirates losing continued as they dropped three of four to the Washington Nationals to begin May. The team fought back, winning six straight games—the most consecutive since 2004,[8] to bring their record within one victory of a .500 record. Throughout the remainder of May the team struggled, but never fell more than four games under .500. Throughout the early months of the season closer Matt Capps was perfect, getting saves in 15 consecutive opportunities. However, on June 10, Capps gave up a two-run home run to the Nationals, losing his first decision of the season.[9] In addition, Capps would blow saves in two of his next three appearances; however, he achieved his first win of the season after an extra-inning victory over the Baltimore Orioles.[10]

Pittsburgh went 6–9 in interleague play,[11] including two wins against the New York Yankees who returned to Pittsburgh for the first time since the 1960 World Series.[12] On July 12, in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pirates came back to win a game that they trailed by six runs in the seventh inning. It was only the second time in the past 25 years that the Pirates won at home after scoring runs in the seventh, eighth, ninth, and extra innings.[13] The Pirates finished out the remainder of July with a 6–9 record—50–58 overall. On the final day of July, the Pirates made a deal with the Yankees to send outfielder Xavier Nady and pitcher Dámaso Marte in return for Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen, Ross Ohlendorf and José Tábata.[14] Later in the day the team became involved in a three-team deal in which the Pirates sent Jason Bay to the Boston Red Sox in return for four players from the Los Angeles Dodgers.[15] The Pirates won seven of the first 18 games in August before dropping ten consecutive games to close out the month. Pittsburgh entered the final month of the season 21 games below the .500 mark. On September 7, the Pirates lost their 82nd game of the season, tying them with the Philadelphia Phillies as the only two franchises in professional sports history to have losing records in 16 consecutive seasons.[16][17] The Pirates concluded their season on September 28 with a victory against the San Diego Padres.[18] The team became the second in the Pirates' 122-year history to have no pitchers to win 10 games.[19] The performance of the pitchers lead the team to fire pitching coach Jeff Andrews after the season.[20]

Standings

NL Central		 W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago Cubs 97 64 0.602 — 55–26 42–38
Milwaukee Brewers 90 72 0.556 7½ 49–32 41–40
Houston Astros 86 75 0.534 11 47–33 39–42
St. Louis Cardinals 86 76 0.531 11½ 46–35 40–41
Cincinnati Reds 74 88 0.457 23½ 43–38 31–50
Pittsburgh Pirates 67 95 0.414 30½ 39–42 28–53


Game log

2008 Game Log (67–95)[21]
March (1–0)
April (10–16)
May (15–13)
June (12–15)
July (12–14)
August (7–21)
September (10–16)
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = Postponement
Bold = Pirates team member

Record vs. opponents

2008 National League Records

Source: [1]
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona – 3–5 2–4 2–4 15–3 2–7 4–2 8–10 2–5 3–3 3–4 4–3 10–8 11–7 3–4 4–2 6–9
Atlanta 5–3 – 0–6 3–3 4–3 10–8 3–3 4–2 3–6 11–7 4–14 2–5 5–1 2–5 2–5 6–12 8–7
Chicago 4–2 6–0 – 8–7 5–1 4–3 8–9 5–2 9–7 4–2 3–4 14–4 5–2 4–3 9–6 3–3 6–9
Cincinnati 4–2 3–3 7–8 – 1–5 6–2 3–12 1–7 10–8 3–4 3–5 6–9 4–3 5–1 5–10 4–3 9–6
Colorado 3–15 3–4 1–5 5–1 – 5–3 3–3 8–10 4–3 3–6 0–5 5–2 9–9 11–7 3–4 4–3 7–8
Florida 7–2 8–10 3–4 2–6 3–5 – 4–2 3–4 5–1 8–10 10–8 3–2 4–2 3–3 2–5 14–3 5–10
Houston 2–4 3–3 9–8 12–3 3–3 2–4 – 4–3 7–8 5–2 3–4 8–8 3–3 7–1 7–8 4–2 7–11
Los Angeles 10–8 2–4 2–5 7–1 10–8 4–3 3–4 – 4–2 3–4 4–4 5–2 11–7 9–9 2–4 3–3 5–10
Milwaukee 5–2 6–3 7–9 8–10 3–4 1–5 8–7 2–4 – 2–4 1–5 14–1 4–3 6–0 10–5 6–2 7–8
New York 3–3 7–11 2–4 4–3 6–3 10–8 2–5 4–3 4–2 – 11–7 4–3 2–5 5–1 4–3 12–6 9–6
Philadelphia 4–3 14–4 4–3 5–3 5–0 8–10 4–3 4–4 5–1 7–11 – 4–2 4–2 3–3 5–4 12–6 4–11
Pittsburgh 3–4 5–2 4–14 9–6 2–5 2–3 8–8 2–5 1–14 3–4 2–4 – 3–4 4–2 10–7 3–4 6–9
San Diego 8–10 1–5 2–5 3–4 9–9 2–4 3–3 7–11 3–4 5–2 2–4 4–3 – 5–13 1–6 5–1 3–15
San Francisco 7–11 5–2 3–4 1–5 7–11 3–3 1–7 9–9 0–6 1–5 3–3 2–4 13–5 – 4–3 7–0 6–12
St. Louis 4–3 5–2 6–9 10–5 4–3 5–2 8–7 4–2 5–10 3–4 4–5 7–10 6–1 3–4 – 5–1 7–8
Washington 2–4 12–6 3–3 3–4 3–4 3–14 2–4 3–3 2–6 6–12 6–12 4–3 1–5 0–7 1–5 – 8–10


Detailed records

Roster

2008 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters
Name Position
Nate McLouth CF
Freddy Sanchez 2B
Jason Bay LF
Adam LaRoche 1B
Xavier Nady RF
Ryan Doumit C
José Bautista 3B
Jack Wilson SS
Ian Snell SP

Statistics

Hitting
Pitching

Awards and honors

  • Xavier Nady named National League Player of the Week for the opening week of the 2008 regular season.[24]
  • Ryan Doumit was named the co-National League Player of the Week, along with Ricky Nolasco, for the week of June 9.[25]
  • Nate McLouth was elected to the 2008 National League all-star team.[26] He batted 1–4, and threw a runner out at home plate from center field in the 11th inning, stopping the game-winning run.[27]
  • Jason Bay was selected as the winner of the Chuck Tanner Award for "professionalism, cooperation and availability to and with Major League writers best assists them in carrying out daily responsibilities."[28]
  • Nate McLouth received the Roberto Clemente as "the Pirates player who best exemplifies the standard of excellence achieved by Clemente."[28]

Transactions

Pre-season

(October 29, 2007 – March 24, 2008)

In-season

(March 25, 2008 – October 29, 2008)

Draft Picks

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Main article: 2008 Major League Baseball draft
2008 Top 10 Rounds Draft Picks[73]
Rd # Player Pos DOB and Age School
1 2 Pedro Álvarez 3B (1987-02-06)February 6, 1987 (aged 21) Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee)
2 48 Tanner Scheppers RHP (1987-01-17)January 17, 1987 (aged 21) California State University, Fresno (Fresno, California)
3 79 Jordy Mercer SS (1986-08-27)August 27, 1986 (aged 21) Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Oklahoma)
4 114 Chase d'Arnaud SS (1987-01-21)January 21, 1987 (aged 21) Pepperdine University (Malibu, California)
5 144 Justin Wilson LHP (1987-08-18)August 18, 1987 (aged 20) California State University, Fresno (Fresno, California)
6 174 Robbie Grossman OF (1989-09-16)September 16, 1989 (aged 18) Cy-Fair High School (Cypress, Texas)
7 204 Benji Gonzalez SS (1990-01-16)January 16, 1990 (aged 18) Puerto Rico Baseball Academy and High School (Gurabo, PR)
8 234 Jeremy Farrell 3B (1986-11-11)November 11, 1986 (aged 21) University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia)
9 264 Matt Hague 3B (1985-08-20)August 20, 1985 (aged 22) Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Oklahoma)
10 294 Drew Gagnon RHP (1990-06-26)June 26, 1990 (aged 17) Liberty High School (Brentwood, California)
Note
  • Age at time of draft.

Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Indianapolis Indians International League Trent Jewett
AA Altoona Curve Eastern League Tim Leiper
A Lynchburg Hillcats Carolina League Jeff Branson
A Hickory Crawdads South Atlantic League Gary Green
A-Short Season State College Spikes New York–Penn League Brad Fischer
Rookie GCL Pirates Gulf Coast League Tom Prince
Rookie DSL Pirates Dominican Summer League N/A
Rookie VSL Pirates Venezuelan Summer League N/A

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: VSL Pirates

See also

References

  • Game Logs:
1st Half: Pittsburgh Pirates Game Log on ESPN.com
2nd Half: Pittsburgh Pirates Game Log on ESPN.com

Notes

  1. ↑ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
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