Confession time: On the last day of the Pirates season, I rooted for the Braves against them. If that sounds counter to true fan behavior, I can grant that. I had my reasons, though. Well, reason.
See, in winning the penultimate game of the year, they had attained exactly my predicted number of wins. I would win the family pool regardless, but I've never hit the number exactly. In fact, this is only the third time a Forster has nailed it; Paige had the prior two. This season, on the field, Pirate fans had to squint for to see silver linings. That's all I'm doing - celebrating my accuracy despite it deriving from my team's futility. I wish I'd been wrong in a certain direction.
Here's another one: On Memorial Day, the Pirates were on pace to win 60 games. The final 2/3 of the season saw the departure of Derek Shelton and a long period of .500 baseball. At the tail end, strategies more closely resembled spring training than a team trying to win. They have a lot of young talent to evaluate, and many pitchers and position players got reps. I feel oddly hopeful about 2026.
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