Pirates need to get going

PITTSBURGH -- If you are a Pittsburgh Pirates executive, which of these numbers is most troubling?
A) 14.
B) 1-7.
C) 4.5.
D) 6.00.
E) 11,000.
Any way you look at it, things aren't adding up very well for the Bucs in the second week of the season. And if ever there was a season screaming for the Pirates to do well, it's this one.
The Pirates' last winning season was in 1992 when they won their third straight National League East pennant. That's 13 years of frustration with another one on deck.
The Pirates are off to a 1-7 start that has them 41/2 games out of first in the N.L. Central standings.
The team's pitching was so unimpressive during opening week that it produced an earned-run average of 6.00 against the Brewers and Reds (nobody's favorites to win a title).
Monday, the Dodgers posted eight earned runs.
Another place the Pirates were hoping to fare well this season is at the gate. That's because they're hosting the All-Star Game for the second time in 13 seasons.
The Pirates have sold approximately 11,000 full-season ticket plans -- not bad for a city the size of Pittsburgh but not the amount baseball executives hoped they would sell.
All-Star Gameticket tie in
That's because the Pirates tie All-Star Game/Home Run Derby tickets to their season packages. Season-ticket holders are likely to be the only baseball fans who have a crack at face-value All-Star Game and Home Run Derby tickets.
But so far, so good at the box office-- Monday's crowd of 39,129 was the second-largest in PNC Park history.
On a sunsplashed Monday afternoon, PNC Park's seats were pretty much full by the time of Zach Duke's first pitch.
It's too bad those customers didn't take home more pleasant memories.
Fortunately for the Bucs, there's room for improvement with those other numbers. Make that plenty of room.
Left fielder Jason Bay, the Pirates' most consistent player, will fare better than Monday's dismal 1-for-5 performance that included two inning-ending groundouts.
"J-Bay is probably the main guy on our team," first baseman Sean Casey said. "He's swung the bat well so far, but there are going to be days when you don't get hits and especially in a timely fashion.
"We're going to be counting on him all year long to be driving in some big runs for us," said Casey, who went 3-for-5 in his first home game in a Pirates uniform.
Bay leaves sevenrunners stranded
If Bay ends up finishing the season just short of 100 RBIs, look back at the home opener and cringe because he went to bat four times with a combined seven runners on base and none advanced.
"It's opening day -- you have 39,000 people come out and you want win, give them something to cheer about," Bay said.
"I'm sure there were a few times where a few guys were trying to do a little too much, myself included. You want to win so bad," Bay said. "This isn't the kind of game where you can kind of try hard, you have to try easy. It's easier said than done."
First-year manager Jim Tracy says it's too soon to give up on 2006.
"[Eight games are] not enough of a sample to judge what type of baseball is going to be played," Tracy said. "I thought our bullpen did a very nice job of keeping the game [within reach]."
Tracy was referring to the work of relievers Ryan Vogelsong, Matt Capps and John Grabow who limited the Dodgers to one run in Monday's 8-3 loss.
But Los Angeles batters tagged Duke for seven runs in five innings.
"He had a tough time today, but it happens to everyone," said Tracy after his first home game as the Bucs' manager. "What we have to keep in mind is that he's 22-years-old.
"[Home opener starter] is not an easy task for guys who's been in the league for eight or nine years," Tracy said. "His mechanics were off a little bit today."
Bay said, "It's not the start we were looking for. If we were playing our best and losing, I think that would be a cause for concern. But we haven't been playing the way that we are capable, that's for sure."
He's right. The Pirates won't continue to lose seven out of every eight games and their pitching staff won't surrender six or more runs every game.
In the past two years, Major League Baseball has been about ending droughts (the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time since 1918, the White Sox for the first time since 1917).
Thanks to three magic rides from 1960-79, the Pirates aren't anywhere near baseball's monumental championship droughts (Chicago Cubs, 1908; Cleveland Indians, 1948).
But they have only played meaningful games in September once (1997) since their last pennant.
And despite five years of playing in a revenue-generating ballpark on the city's North Shore, the Pirates haven't sniffed a .500 record.
With 25 weeks to go, there's plenty of time for things to turn around.
But the bleeding needs to stop immediately. Few teams that fall double digits below .500 in April recover to contend.
XTom Williams is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at williams@vindy.com.