Dunlap: Pirates Motivated By Underdog Role
BRADENTON (93-7 The Fan) - Maybe these Pirates have been talking to Hines Ward.
Remember --- and he will tell you about it --- no one ever gave him a chance.
Or maybe these 2016 Pittsburgh Pirates have simply been watching and listening to many of the national media reports as the regular season inches closer.
Remember --- and those reports will remind you again and again --- that the Cardinals and Cubs are the teams who should finish 1-2 in the National League Central.
Or maybe, just maybe, the Pirates are looking for a common theme, a unified rallying point as they push through drills here at McKechnie Field.
It seems they have found it.
It seems they are all on the same page.
It seems they love the underdog role. Man, do they love the underdog role.
And, hey, whatever fuses a squad together can't be all that bad.
You see, almost to a man here at Spring Training, the tenor of this organization has been some variation of the same theme, which goes like this: "Everyone is looking at us as the third best team in the division before the season even starts, and handing the top two spots to the St. Louis and Chicago."
Many seem to be because of the acquisitions of those clubs and the relative quietness with which the Pirates went about their offseason.
As Pirates starter Jeff Locke eased into his chair early on Tuesday morning to be interviewed by "The Fan Morning Show," he was one of many who stuck to a refrain that is buzzing around this camp.
"I don't even know why we're even playing this year," Locke said, half-tongue-in-cheek. "We've already been counted out."
"That's the most fun part, that's the best part about what we get to do every day. We get to come out here and prove a lot of people wrong. I know there was that 20-year stretch of 'We'll get 'em, we'll get 'em' and we never got 'em. But we're not the Pirate teams of the past. We're a lot more confident, a lot more talented."
Catcher Chris Stewart, who joined the show shortly after Locke, expressed a similar sentiment.
"In our clubhouse, we're not concerned with it," Stewart said. "We're concerned with ourselves, getting ourselves ready for Opening Day. And we're going to go out, and we're going to try to treat every game like it's a playoff game, no matter who we're playing...We've done that the last three years, and it's worked out pretty well."
Stewart's full interview with "The Fan Morning Show" can be heard here:
There is no doubt that the Pirates' method of doing business contrasts with that of their larger-market competitors. But, while many opine that the Pirates' conservative approach will hold them back, Locke believes that it may give them an edge.
"The guys that they always bring in here, the free agents, the guys from the outside - I feel like there's a purpose here with this organization," Locke said. "They don't just bring in a bunch of guys that have baseball bats and just [say], we'll figure it out from there."
Locke's full interview with "The Fan Morning Show" can be heard here:
Even before this camp began, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle did a segment with 93.7 The Fan and pretty much said the same thing --- that many who watch this game and report on this game are looking at the Pirates' chances as dwindling of winning the division because of what the Cubs and Cardinals did in the offseason.
As this team has convened for camp and Grapefruit League games are now underway, it appears as if that underdog approach is, undeniably, one of the most easily discernable features of what's happening here.
For that, I say "good." Whatever you can find as a rallying point can't hurt.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
