2007 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The Pittsburgh Pirates' 2007 season marked the 126th season of baseball in Pittsburgh.

Overview

The Pirates began 2007 with a new majority owner, Robert Nutting, and the dreary fact that they could surpass the Philadelphia Phillies as owners of the longest consecutive losing seasons record in baseball, having last had a winning season in 1992. However, in spite of finishing 5th in the NL Central, the Pirates are hoping their 2nd half momentum from 2006 will carry over into 2007.

In addition to NL batting champion Freddy Sanchez and slugger Jason Bay, the Bucs acquired Adam LaRoche from Atlanta in January, hoping to boost offensive power. In addition, they re-signed pitcher Shawn Chacon, acquired from the Yankees last summer, and signed Tony Armas, Jr. to help bolster their starting rotation, led by Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny.

Just before the All Star game, team CEO Kevin McClatchy announced at the end of the season he would be stepping down from the position. He maintains he will "remain as the active leader of the organization" to give the team ample time to find a successor and "ensure a smooth transition into the next chapter of Pirates history."

Regular season

The Pirates' season started well, as they swept the Houston Astros in Houston for the first time since 1991, when the Astros played in the Astrodome. However, that initial success didn't carry for very long, as the Bucs proceeded to lose 11 of their next 13 games. The Pirates pulled out of their early slump to post a 12-12 record at the end of April. May, however, would to be quite tumultuous, as Tony Armas was sent to the bullpen for poor performance, Zach Duke struggled mightily, the bullpen blew several late leads, and closer Salomon Torres was stripped of his closer's duties, in favor of youngster Matt Capps after Torres blew a 2-run ninth-inning lead against the San Diego Padres on May 31.

After the All-Star Break, the Pirates started off by losing 7 games in a row, and 8 out of 9 overall. Paul "Big Poison" Waner's number 11 was retired in a pregame ceremony at PNC Park July 21, 2007, conducted in part by members of his family and Pirate greats Bill Mazeroski and Ralph Kiner.

Fans protest

Frustrated by the consistent losing, poor drafting, and the ownership's inability to retain players due to payroll constraints, fans organized a much-publicized walkout for June 30.^[1] There were also some pre-game protest activities outside the stadium, including the appearance and speaking of former Pirate Doc Ellis, who stated he has been "embarrassed to be called a Pirate over the last 15 years". Despite the best efforts by the Pirates to downplay the protest, it became so publicized that management was forced to acknowledge its existence. The protest periodically appears in news articles as it does in the August 2010 issue of Sports Illustrated.

Season standings

Roster

Game log

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

Awards and honors

2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Freddy Sanchez, 2B, Reserve

Farm system

References