A Pirates Legend

The Sunday Red Sox Excursive

They may be just a .500 baseball team, but this year’s version of the Pittsburgh Pirates is looking very competitive. On Sunday, the Red Sox’ Andrew Miller held off the “still without postseason baseball since 1992″ Pirates to capture his first win of the season. It was an encouraging outing for Miller, but it was the Pirates who took two of three from the Sox.

It’s hard to dislike the Pirates because they have not been a threat to anyone for 20 years. Almost back to the days where they had a role in the New England sports scene. Back in 1986, the AA-Nashua Pirates gave home to some of the best prospects in the Pittsburgh system. the roster included guys like Bobby Bonilla, Bip Roberts, Felix Fermin and Jose Lind. The Pirates have old ties to New England and there was a day you could see the Pirates ‘buccaneer’ logo on hats and shirts

Nashua, NH is just 45 minutes north of Boston but could not systematically support a growing franchise and the team left town. That was 25 years ago and since then, Holman Stadium in Nashua has been home to independent league teams.

Over in Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Phillies own all of the headlines while the Pirates organization is just not competitive enough to play with the big teams. Some suggest they shouldn’t even be in the big league; that they are a farm team to the rest of Major League Baseball. The baseball fans there have suffered since 1992. This is a far cry from their football counterparts the Steelers, who battle for AFC supremacy yearly with the Patriots.

Maybe this is the year that the Pirates shake things up. The Red Sox are just trying to clear their heads and make their way past this NL road stretch and get back home to American League baseball.

It’s not even so much as the Red Sox’ struggles with San Diego at home and Pittsburgh on the road, as it’s — what would they do if this team made the World Series? Regardless of Kevin Youkilis ‘ opinion about the interleague rules being a disadvantage to AL teams (with which I agree), you cannot play both Adrian Gonzalez and Ortiz together on the road in NL Parks. If you think the Red Sox are going to win the World Series in 2011, then this is an obstacle which must be overcome. No Chicken Littles.

Perhaps no one of us could have predicted this level of resurgence from Ortiz, but if you believe Ortiz’ return to vintage skills is legitimate and that the Sox will make the World Series, then this is a question to be addressed. It doesn’t matter for today, but if Boston were to face Philadelphia in late October, how do you think that would play?

Supernatural Friday-Pirate Legends and Myths of Virgina

Because valuable cargoes traveled through the Chesapeake Bay, trade in Virginia often came to a standstill when pirates patrolled sea lanes and threatened vessels could not leave the safety of ports. During one six-week period, not a single ship dared to leave the safety of Virginia shores. Edward Teach, Blackbeard, as he was more known as, was the main cause of this maritime panic. Using a summit, now referred to as Blackbeard's Hill, the pirate and his watchmen had an open view of the Chesapeake Bay, which the British navy ineffectively protected. Author Deborah Painter told me a legend about Blackbeard the pirate. He was killed off the shores of North Carolina and his head was brought back to Hampton to be suspended from a pole on a pier at Sunset Creek, just a mile from where Ms. Painter works. The story goes on that, to this day, the decapitated pirate searches for his head in the Chesapeake Bay. The Scot ordered that the head be boiled in boiling water and thoroughly cleansed. As a sign to other pirates, Blackbeard's head was cut off and hung from the bow of a ship. Meanwhile, his corpse was simply thrown overboard. Then, the head was hung on a pole and placed at a point on the James River, also known as Blackbeard's Point. When the Scot went ashore he made a present of Blackbeard’s skull to the governor of the Virginia colony. Then the legend says that the skull was tipped with silver to become a drinking vessel. Today, Ocracoke, with its history of piracy and maritime warfare is now a quiet island famous for vacationing tourists. The citizens of Ocracoke still continue to speak in the old English dialect, known as brogue. According to legend, Blackbeard's skull cup still exists around the island, even spurring accounts of locals and visitors sipping from the skull of the South's deadliest pirate. Blackbeard and other pirates reportedly sailed the waters around Assateague Island and used the island as a hideout and as a place to bury their treasure. Whether it is true or not, standing on the island and looking out to sea makes the tales almost believable. One can breathe in the salt from the sea and hear the seagulls as they scream while soaring overhead. As I swept my gaze to the sea and watch a couple of ponies standing in the beach, I almost swore I could see a ghostly pirate ship forging through the white-capped waves. Then the vision vanished as I snapped some photos with my camera.

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