Pittsburgh Pirates off to a winning mark in April

First off, let's set the record straight...I am a New York Yankees fan and always will be...however, if the Bronx Bombers don't win the World Series this year, which I don't think they will, there are three teams that I hope can at least pull off what the Tampa Rays did last year...well, maybe that it too much to ask, but at least if these teams can have a winning record - Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, and Baltimore Orioles...

When I was a kid, way back in the late 1970s, these three teams were always in the playoffs and at the very least, in playoff contention going into the last few weeks of the season...

These are three franchises that have a wonderful rich history...but for the last 10 plus years, they have wallowed in the basement of their division after poor management decisions, poor drafts, injuries, and the inability to sign their best players to long-term deals...

Pittsburgh Pirates - I will go on record right now and openly admit that I am rooting for the Pirates...in fact I went out and bought a Pirates ballcap and a Roberto Clemente t-shirt...the Pirates were fierce competitors back in the day...and I am talking pre-Bonds...here was their lineup: 1st base - Pops Stargell; 2nd base - Scraps Garner; 3rd base - Mad-dog Madlock; short - Tim Foli; catcher - Ed Ott/Steve Nicosia; left - Bill Robinson; center - Omar Moreno; right - The Cobra, Dave Parker...and they were led by a good manager and a good person, Chuck Tanner...at the right is the team logo during the We are Family era...as of today, the Pirates are off to a good start as they stand at 11-7...

Kansas City Royals - the Royals annually won the A.L. West with Whitey Herzog as manager...they had a team of 1st base - John Mayberry; 2nd base - Frank White; 3rd base - George Brett; short - Freddie Patek; catcher - Darrell Porter; left - Willie Wilson; center - A.O., Amos Otis; right - Al Cowens; dh - Hal McRae...

Baltimore Orioles - Earl Weaver's team always just missed out of the playoffs in the late 1970s...but in 1979, the took the East and eliminated the Angels to win the A.L. Pennant before blowing a 3-1 lead to the Pirates in the World Series...back then they wore their orange Sunday Special jerseys at home at Memorial Stadium...Weaver would have his tomato plants growing in the bullpen...this was before Cal Ripken was playing...Mark Belanger manned the shortstop position and Eddie Murray was just a young buck...

So maybe the baseball Gods will look down on these franchises and give them a winning season because their fans sure deserve it...