Aw Geez, this is a Rill Problem

Hello darkness, my old friend. The Pirates have managed to get back down to .500 thanks to a dismal August performance (11-17 .393) and an even worse start to September (4-13 0.235). A new 14 game season starts today. Can the Bucs win 8? Prior probability leans towards "No." Still, the 2012 team will clinch a top five spot for the past 20 years. If they can get two more wins, they will pass 1993 and 2003 which finished with 75 wins. 1999 and 1997 round out the best losers with 78 and 79 wins, respectively.

Standings for Sep 19

1992  87  61 .588 --
2012  74  74 .500 13.0
1999  73  75 .493 14.0
1997  74  80 .481 16.0
2003  72  82 .468 18.0
1994  53  61 .465 17.0
1993  69  80 .463 18.5
2004  67  81 .453 20.0
1998  69  85 .448 21.0
2011  68  86 .442 22.0
1996  67  85 .441 22.0
2002  67  86 .438 22.5
2007  66  86 .434 23.0
2006  64  87 .424 24.5
2000  63  88 .417 25.5
2008  64  90 .416 26.0
1995  55  78 .414 24.5
2005  62  88 .413 26.0
2009  56  90 .384 30.0
2001  55  91 .377 31.0
2010  51  98 .342 36.5

Wow, it's August and I'm still following Pirates baseball. The 2012 squad is still on top of the teams from the past 20 years. The Pirates have consistently improved their winning percentage as the months go by. In the past few years, August has been a pretty dismal month for Pirates baseball. Their best August performance in the past five years was 2007 when they played .567 for the month. Their second "best" was .321 in 2009.

Split W L RS RA WP
April 10 12 58 66 .455
May 15 13 89 110 .536
June 17 10 146 110 .630
July 17 9 130 105 .654

Unfortunately, the 2012 Pirates are losing ground against Cincinnati who simply refuses to lose. The Pirates are three games back in the NL Central, but tied with Atlanta for the top two wildcard spots, and four games ahead of St. Louis and Los Angeles. At least we aren't the 2012 Astros. They went 3-24 in the month of July. They performed slightly better than that against the Pirates in July going 1-7, for a marginally better .125 winning percentage.

 Watch the 2011 team plummet in the rankings in the next few weeks. At the end of July they were only three games into a ten game losing streak. The 2011 team won't catch 2012's current win total of 59 games until Aug 20th. At least 2011 finished better than 2010, 1995, or 1995, none of which finished with 59 wins.

Standings for Jul 31
2012  59  44 .573 --
1992  55  48 .534 4.0
2011  54  52 .509 6.5
1997  53  55 .491 8.5
1999  50  53 .485 9.0
2004  49  53 .480 9.5
1994  49  55 .471 10.5
2008  51  58 .468 11.0
2003  49  57 .462 11.5
1998  50  59 .459 12.0
2002  49  58 .458 12.0
1993  47  57 .452 12.5
1996  48  59 .449 13.0
2000  46  58 .442 13.5
2009  44  58 .431 14.5
1995  36  49 .424 14.0
2005  44  61 .419 16.0
2007  42  62 .404 17.5
2001  41  64 .390 19.0
2006  40  67 .374 21.0
2010  36  67 .350 23.0

The 2012 team is still ahead of their predecessors as we head towards the end of July. It was around this time last year, July 26th to be exact, when the Pirates lost a 19 inning game against the Braves on a questionable call. This prompted a 1-11 downward spiral and a pretty performance after that which wiped out a decent start by the 2011 squad. Hopefully, the 2012 team can sustain their current momentum and make up the 0.5 game against the 2012 Reds.

Standings for jul 22
2012  54  40 .574 --
1992  52  43 .547 2.5
2011  51  46 .526 4.5
1997  49  50 .495 7.5
1999  46  49 .484 8.5
1994  46  49 .484 8.5
2002  47  52 .475 9.5
2004  44  49 .473 9.5
1993  45  51 .469 10.0
1995  35  40 .467 9.5
1998  47  54 .465 10.5
2008  46  54 .460 11.0
2003  44  53 .454 11.5
2009  42  52 .447 12.0
1996  43  54 .443 12.5
2000  42  54 .438 13.0
2007  41  56 .423 14.5
2005  41  56 .423 14.5
2001  38  59 .392 17.5
2010  34  61 .358 20.5
2006  35  64 .354 21.5

First Place!

A four game sweep of the Astros has propelled the 2012 Pirates to the top of the standings. They are 1.5 games ahead of the 1992 Pirates and 2.0 games ahead of the 2012 Reds. The 2006 Pirates 3-13 performance since the last update earns them the new cellar dweller spot. Halfway through the season only three Pirates teams have made it above the .500 threshold in the past 20 years. One team finished above .500. Which way will 2012 go?

The 2010 team did not reach the current 2012 team's win mark of 46 until September 6th.

Standings for Jul 5
2012  46  36 .561 --
1992  44  37 .543 1.5
2011  45  41 .523 3.0
1997  42  43 .494 5.5
1999  40  41 .494 5.5
1994  39  41 .488 6.0
2008  40  46 .465 8.0
1993  38  44 .463 8.0
2004  37  43 .462 8.0
1998  40  48 .455 9.0
2009  37  45 .451 9.0
2007  38  47 .447 9.5
2002  38  47 .447 9.5
1996  38  47 .447 9.5
2003  37  46 .446 9.5
2005  36  46 .439 10.0
2000  36  47 .434 10.5
1995  26  35 .426 9.5
2001  32  51 .386 14.5
2010  30  52 .366 16.0
2006  29  57 .337 19.0

Still in second

The 2012 Pirates still trail their 1992 counterparts and the 2012 Reds by four games. The 1999 Bucs inched up to tie for second. The big losers in the past ten days has been the 2010 squad, extending their losing streak to 12 games and falling to the worst Pirates team in the past 20 years at this point in the season.

Standings for Jun 18
1992  38  27 .585 --
2012  34  31 .523 4.0
1999  34  31 .523 4.0
2011  35  35 .500 5.5
1998  35  37 .486 6.5
1997  33  36 .478 7.0
2008  34  38 .472 7.5
2009  31  35 .470 7.5
2005  31  35 .470 7.5
2002  32  37 .464 8.0
1996  32  37 .464 8.0
1993  30  35 .462 8.0
1994  30  36 .455 8.5
2007  30  39 .435 10.0
2000  29  38 .433 10.0
2003  28  39 .418 11.0
2004  26  37 .413 11.0
2006  26  44 .371 14.5
1995  17  30 .362 12.0
2001  23  43 .348 15.5
2010  23  44 .343 16.0

Welcome

I started a small project last year where I compared the 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates record to their previous records from 1992-2010. Since 1992, the Pirates have had a grand total of one winning season. This year, I'll post some occasional updates on how the Pirates are doing compared to their predecessors, because, frankly, this is usually the only way the Pirates look semi-competitive. So here are the June 8th standings heading into Interleague play. The 2012 team looks to be in a bit of pennant race with the 2012 Reds and the 1992 Pirates, both two games ahead.

Standings for Jun 8
1992  31  25 .554 --
2012  29  27 .518 2.0
1999  29  28 .509 2.5
1997  31  30 .508 2.5
2011  30  30 .500 3.0
1998  31  32 .492 3.5
1993  27  28 .491 3.5
2005  28  30 .483 4.0
2008  30  33 .476 4.5
2002  29  32 .475 4.5
2009  26  31 .456 5.5
2000  26  32 .448 6.0
2004  24  30 .444 6.0
1996  27  34 .443 6.5
1994  24  32 .429 7.0
2007  26  35 .426 7.5
2003  25  35 .417 8.0
2010  23  35 .397 9.0
1995  14  24 .368 8.0
2006  22  39 .361 11.5
2001  18  40 .310 14.0