Building character
Pirates insist losing toughened them up, helped them progress
PITTSBURGH — For anyone who thinks all the losing on the North Side is harmful to the process or to the development of the young players the Cubs are counting on, the Pittsburgh Pirates have a message:
‘‘One, it’s not harmful,’’ All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen said. ‘‘And, two, the Cubs aren’t even close to what we’ve been through.’’
If McCutchen wanted to add a third thing, he might suggest looking at the standings, where the Pirates are tied for first place with the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central after beating the Cubs 3-2 on Sunday. And with a pitching staff ranked second in the majors that features a Cy Young Award candidate in lefthander Francisco Liriano, who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before settling for a no-decision.
If ever the heavy burden of losing was going to adversely affect a team’s ability to develop a young core of players capable of winning big games, it would have done so to these Pirates, most of whom are too young to remember the last time Pittsburgh had a winning baseball team (1992) before this season.
But homegrown Pirates such as McCutchen and second baseman Neil Walker sneered at any suggestion that players on consistently losing teams get soft and tolerant of losing. If you eventually put together enough players who can pitch, hit and catch the ball, regardless of any legacy of losing, you can win in September and even in October, they said.
‘‘I don’t think it makes us any more hungry, but I think it makes you more focused to be a little more sharp day in and day out at certain times when its easy to lose focus,’’ said Walker, who, like McCutchen, endured four consecutive losing seasons with the Pirates until this season.
That’s just a small fraction of the 20 consecutive losing seasons by the Pirates, a record for any of the four North American major-league sports.
‘‘We’ve been through the 99 losses, the 105-loss seasons,’’ Walker said. ‘‘And those are absolutely some of the worst times I’ve played in baseball, just getting the crap kicked out of you day in and day out for an entire season. But I think getting dragged through the mud makes you a stronger player, makes you a more focused baseball player at the end of the day.’’
So Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, Darwin Barney and Welington Castillo have yet to play on a winning team in the majors. So left-hander Travis Wood, the Cubs’ lone All-Star, works another strong six innings, posts his 23rd quality start and has an ERA that barely touches 3.00 — and has another no-decision and a losing record to show for it. So? ‘‘Everybody likes to make assumptions about what everybody’s feeling in this game,’’ said Barney, who won two NCAA championships at Oregon State. ‘‘All that desire and competitiveness is there. Obviously, this game is a lot more fun when you’re winning. . . . That’s obviously what we’re trying to move toward.’’
In fact, McCutchen said there’s a benefit to the process.
‘‘It’s a big mental help because you experience the losing; you know how that feels,’’ he said. ‘‘You have to overcome a lot of adversity when you’re losing.
‘‘You learn a lot of things. I believe it makes your skin a little tougher. It only makes you a stronger player. Once you start winning, you remember how losing felt. You don’t forget about that. You’re going to strive to keep winning. You don’t want to lose again.’’