Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?: Finally, some closure

When I started this blog it was primarily to write about how I see things as a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. I realize I'm not a baseballexpert by any means, I analyze things to death on this blog because that's how I think about things. But I have noticed that with few exceptions, I haven't talked much on here about being a fan, so that's what I'm going to do now. In this post I'm saying to hell with things like OPS and VORP. Let's talk about things that matter to fans. Let's talk about karma.

I write about baseball because I played baseball, because I know baseball, because I love baseball, because something about the sport of baseball lends itself to writing and something about writing about baseball clears my head. I'm certainly a baseball fan before I'm anything else, that's for sure. It doesn't mean I don't pay attention to any other sports. I certainly take advantage of the Pens' "Student Rush" tickets (I was actually there last night to see them lose to Vancouver) and like everyone else in this city, I'm a Steeler fan. Maybe not on the same level that I'm a Pirate fan, but let's just say that I haven't shaved since New Year's Eve because it's bad luck to shave during the playoffs (and because I shaved during last year's playoffs, I'm completely convinced I may have inadvertantly cost us the AFC Championship game, have I mentioned that I may be insane and I actually fear for my health if the Pirates ever make the playoffs?).

Anyways, the reason that I'm finally dipping into football on this blog is because of what Sunday's game means to Pittsburgh fandom, Pirates fans inclusive. Since October 14, 1992 this has been a cursed city in terms of sports. The Sid Bream incident set off an unprecedented run of bad karma for Pittsburgh professional sports. Before that play, the Pirates where 3-time division champs with World Series aspirations (if the other two years couldn't be the year, certainly 1992 would), the Pens were 2-time defending Cup champs with the best player in the world hitting his prime, and the Steelers had just hired a new coach named Bill Cowher. In other words, things couldn't get much better. Just take a quick look at some of the thing's that've happened since that crushing night (the years might not be perfect, but I am only one man and it is late at night, or early in the morning, whatever):

January 1993, Mario is diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.
Spring 1993, the Pens are upset by the Islanders in the NHL playoffs, derailing their quest for a third concsecutive cup.
Summer 1993, Andy Van Slyke crashes into a center field fence trying to save a home run, breaking his collarbone. He is never the same.
October 1993, the Pirates wrap up their first losing season.
August 1994, the baseball strike, Pirates finish with their second losing season.
October 1994, the first NHL lockout begins.
January 1995, after recording a Super Bowl rap video, the Steelers somehow manage to lose at home to an awful San Diego Chargers team quarterbacked by Stan Humphries. The Chargers will go on to lose to the 49ers by a million points in Super Bowl XXIX. Also, the shortened NHL season begins without Mario Lemeiux.
October 1995, make it three for the Buccos.
January 1996, the Steelers lose to the Dallas F-ing Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX in what was a very winnable game except that Neil O'Donnell went colorblind in the fourth quarter, costing us an upset on the level of Rams over Patriots.
Late Spring 1996, the Pens lose to a hockey team from Florida whose fans are obnoxioius as hell and throw rubber rats on the ice whenever they score. The Pens lose this series in 7 games and, as the obvious theme goes, were better than the team they lost to (who got swept in the finals if my memory serves me).
October 1996, you got it, the Pirates finish with their fourth losing season in a row.
Spring 1997, Mario Lemeiux retires at the age of 32 due to his chronic back problems, battle with cancer, etc.
August 1997, Kordell Stewart becomes the Steelers starting quarterback
October 1997, not only do the Pirates finish with their fifth losing season in a row, but they were close enough to a division title that they kept Cam Bonifay's job safe until halfway through 2001, a truly catastrophic turn of events.
January 1998, the Steelers lose to the Broncos, a team they beat during the season, in Pittsburgh to propel John Elway to his first Super Bowl title.
October 1998, Pirates continue sucking.
Late 1998, the Steelers have their first ever losing record under Bill Cowher.
October 1999, Pirates wrap up 7 years of futility and looking back we should've seen the 6 more years of shenanigans coming.
October 2000, make it 8.
Late 2000, Lloyd McClendon is hired. In the words of Douglas Adams, "This has made a lot of people very angry and is widely considered to be a bad move."
Spring 2001, the Pens lose to a team from New Jersey in the Eastern Conference Finals. This is the last they will see of the playoffs.
Late Summer 2001, Dave Littlefield is hired. See "Late 2000, Lloyd McClendon is hired"
October 2001, nine is not fine for the Pirates, in fact they lose 100 games.
January 2002, the Steelers lose an incredibly painful game at home to the Patriots in which the Pats score points in ways previously inconcievable to man (I hate you, Troy Brown).
March 2002, Operation Shutdown.
October 2002, the Pirates hit double digits.
January 2003, Joe Nedney takes a dive after a missed field goal in overtime of a Steelers/Titans playoff game, gets the roughing the kicker call, and is given another field goal attempt, which he hits to end the Steelers season, then bragged about his acting skills (*this entry is disputed as all of Pittsburgh put a curse on Nedney for this and he literally tore his ACL during the next season's opener and hasn't kicked since then.. karma's a bitch, Joe, that's why this post is being written).
Summer 2003, Bill Cowher and Mike Mularkey decide a passing offense is where it's at with catastrophic results.
October 2003, HOLY SHIT! PIRATES FINISH WITH LOSING RECORD (that's 11)
Spring 2004, Pirates sign Raul Mondesi.
October 2004, Pirates finish with their 12th straigh losing year. Also, the NHL begins it's year long vacation.
January 2005, the 15-1 Steelers lose to the Patriots, a team they manhandled during the regular season, at home for their 4th home AFC Championship loss in 5 tries at home under Bill Cowher.
October 2005, the Pirates finish with an almost unfathomable 13th straight losing season
December 2005, Dave Littlefield is given $15 million to spend. Also, the Cincinatti Bengals win the AFC North and the world begins spinning in reverse.

That's a shitload of bad karma since the Sid Bream Game. The Steelers lost 4 AFC Championship Games to teams they should've beaten. The Pens saw their star get cancer, their best team (the 92-93 Pens) get knocked out of the playoffs, lost two conference championships (at least one of which to a team they should've beaten and the other of which they lost to the Devils, which no one likes to do), and had a number of bad ownership things happen that I didn't even bother to try and chronicle here. The Pirates lost and lost and lost and lost and lost. Sure, the Steelers got to the Super Bowl on a dropped Hail Mary, but it was in a game where they were big favorites at home and still nearly bit it. And yeah, the Steelers and Pens had good records for most of the time frame and sure, some very good things happened (PNC Park, the Rob Mackowiak game, the fact that Cowher's teams spent so much time in the playoffs, the first year of Mario's return, the early part of Kendall's career, Brian Giles, Jason Bay, winning the draft lottery to get Crosby), but the fact remains that after Barry Bond's terrible throw to the plate on that fateful night, Pittsburgh teams were either chokers or flat out awful. Every good Steelers and Pens season was like a clear summer night when something in your bones tells you that rain is coming. Every Pirates season involved getting hopes up, only to have them crushed back down to the size of an M&M, then having to watch the M&M get eaten. The city's sports teams were helplessly surrounded by the bad karma of the Sid Bream play, the play which ended one of the all-time worst stomach punch games ever.

Enter Sunday, January 15, 2005. The Steelers, as big underdogs, raced out to a big lead. As things fell against them over and over again in the second half, they held on. They kept things together after one of the all-time bad karma plays ever (Bettis' fumble) and pulled out a huge, improbable win, the biggest win of Cowher's career (please, let's not even argue this, this is way bigger than the AFC Championship win over the Colts because of what's transpired in the last 10 years), a big win in a big game they were supposed to lose. Before that game, Pittsburgh teams couldn't win big games they were supposed to win, let alone ones they were supposed to lose. It was like a pall hanging over the city. And I know what you're thinking now, "Stop this, we haven't won anything yet, there's more games to play," but the truth is, it doesn't matter because I'm not even talking about winning a Super Bowl this year. The karma's been reversed. We didn't win a Super Bowl in the year Franco made the Immaculate Reception, but that big playoff win, in a game the Steelers were supposed to lose, springboarded the Steelers to many more playoff wins in the six seasons after Franco plucked that ball off the turf. In that same vein, the Steelers may not win a Super Bowl this year, the Pirates may not finish with a winning record next year, and the Pens are still in deep trouble. But win the Super Bowl or not, no one can take Sunday's game away. Winning that game Sunday was like stepping outside of a smoke-filled room and taking a huge breath of fresh air. We finally have a bookend for Sid Bream.