2007 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 2007 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 126th season of the franchise; the 121st in the National League. This was their seventh season at PNC Park. The Pirates finished sixth and last in the National League Central with a record of 68–94.

2007 Pittsburgh Pirates
LeagueNational League
DivisionCentral
BallparkPNC Park
CityPittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1]
Record68–94 (.420)
Divisional place6th
OwnersRobert Nutting
Kevin McClatchy
General managersDave Littlefield
Neal Huntington
ManagersJim Tracy
TelevisionFSN Pittsburgh
RadioWPGB-FM
(Steve Blass, Greg Brown, Lanny Frattare, Bob Walk, John Wehner)
← 2006Seasons2008 →

Overview

The Pirates began 2007 with a new majority owner, Robert Nutting, and the dreary fact that they could surpass the Philadelphia Phillies as owners of the longest consecutive losing seasons record in baseball, having last had a winning season in 1992. However, in spite of finishing 5th in the NL Central, the Pirates were hoping that their 2nd half momentum from 2006 would carry over into 2007.

In addition to NL batting champion Freddy Sanchez and slugger Jason Bay, the Bucs acquired Adam LaRoche from Atlanta in January, hoping to boost offensive power. In addition, they re-signed pitcher Shawn Chacón, acquired from the Yankees last summer, and signed Tony Armas Jr. to help bolster their starting rotation, led by Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny.

Just before the All Star game, team CEO Kevin McClatchy announced at the end of the season he would be stepping down from the position. He maintained that he would "remain as the active leader of the organization" to give the team ample time to find a successor and "ensure a smooth transition into the next chapter of Pirates history."

Regular season

The Pirates' season started well, as they swept the Houston Astros in Houston for the first time since 1991, when the Astros played in the Astrodome. However, that initial success didn't carry for very long, as the Bucs proceeded to lose 11 of their next 13 games. The Pirates pulled out of their early slump to post a 12-12 record at the end of April. May, however, would to be quite tumultuous, as Tony Armas was sent to the bullpen for poor performance, Zach Duke struggled mightily, the bullpen blew several late leads, and closer Salomón Torres was stripped of his closer's duties, in favor of youngster Matt Capps after Torres blew a 2-run ninth-inning lead against the San Diego Padres on May 31.

After the All-Star Break, the Pirates started off by losing 7 games in a row, and 8 out of 9 overall. Paul "Big Poison" Waner's number 11 was retired in a pregame ceremony at PNC Park July 21, 2007, conducted in part by members of his family and Pirate greats Bill Mazeroski and Ralph Kiner.

Fans protest

Frustrated by the consistent losing, poor drafting, and the ownership's inability to retain players due to payroll constraints, fans led by Pittsburgh Business Executive Andrew Chomos organized a much-publicized walkout for June 30.[2] There was also a pre-game protest rally outside the stadium, including the appearance and speaking of former Pirate Doc Ellis, who stated he has been "embarrassed to be called a Pirate over the last 15 years". Despite the best efforts by the Pirates to downplay the protest, it became so publicized that management was forced to acknowledge its existence. Then Pirate CEO Kevin McClatchy resigned 2 days after the protest. The protest periodically appeared in news articles as it did in the August 2010 issue of Sports Illustrated and was also a topical conversation on ESPN and CNN programs.

Season standings

NL CentralWLPct.GBHomeRoad
Chicago Cubs85770.52544–3741–40
Milwaukee Brewers83790.512251–3032–49
St. Louis Cardinals78840.481743–3835–46
Houston Astros73890.4511242–3931–50
Cincinnati Reds72900.4441339–4233–48
Pittsburgh Pirates68940.4201737–4431–50


Game log

2007 Game Log (68–94)
April (12–12)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 2@ Astros4–2 (10)Capps (1–0)Qualls (0–1)S. Torres (1)43,8031–0
2April 3@ Astros3–2Bayliss (1–0)Wheeler (0–1)S. Torres (2)31,2382–0
3April 4@ Astros5–4Gorzelanny (1–0)W. Williams (0–1)S. Torres (3)25,9613–0
4April 6@ Reds1–6Belisle (1–0)Maholm (0–1)17,8373–1
5April 7@ Reds5–7Harang (2–0)Armas (0–1)Weathers (2)15,8253–2
6April 8@ Reds6–3Duke (1–0)Milton (0–1)S. Torres (4)14,0014–2
7April 9Cardinals0–3Looper (1–1)Snell (0–1)Isringhausen (2)38,4294–3
8April 10Cardinals2–3 (12)B. Thompson (1–0)Wasdin (0–1)Isringhausen (3)12,4684–4
9April 11Cardinals2–3Franklin (1–0)S. Torres (0–1)9,9594–5
10April 13Giants5–8Ortiz (1–1)Duke (1–1)22,1174–6
April 14GiantsPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for August 134–6
April 15GiantsPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for August 134–6
11April 16@ Cardinals3–2Snell (1–1)An. Reyes (0–2)S. Torres (5)43,0265–6
12April 17@ Cardinals6–1Gorzelanny (2–0)Wainwright (1–1)42,4466–6
13April 18@ Brewers3–7C. Vargas (1–0)Maholm (0–2)22,3316–7
14April 19@ Brewers5–7Suppan (2–2)Duke (1–2)F. Cordero (5)17,3866–8
15April 20@ Dodgers2–10Wolf (3–1)Armas (0–2)43,8456–9
16April 21@ Dodgers3–7 (10)Broxton (1–0)Bayliss (1–1)48,9956–10
17April 22@ Dodgers7–5Gorzelanny (3–0)Tomko (0–1)S. Torres (6)46,7417–10
18April 24Astros3–0Maholm (1–2)W. Williams (0–3)13,0628–10
19April 25Astros4–3 (16)Wasdin (1–1)Moehler (0–1)8,2019–10
20April 26Astros5–3Bayliss (2–1)W. Rodríguez (0–3)Grabow (1)12,05610–10
21April 27Reds3–1Snell (2–1)Milton (0–4)S. Torres (7)22,63811–10
22April 28Reds1–8Belisle (3–1)Gorzelanny (3–1)29,51411–11
23April 29Reds5–9Harang (4–0)Maholm (1–3)18,40911–12
24April 30Cubs3–2Capps (2–0)Wuertz (0–1)S. Torres (8)11,43712–12
May (11–18)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordRecord
25May 1Cubs6–8Cherry (1–1)Bayliss (2–2)13,08212–13
26May 2Cubs1–7Marquis (4–1)Snell (2–2)21,76512–14
27May 3@ Brewers4–2Gorzelanny (4–1)Bush (2–3)S. Torres (9)15,60213–14
28May 4@ Brewers0–10C. Vargas (3–0)Maholm (1–4)40,19013–15
29May 5@ Brewers3–6Suppan (5–2)Duke (1–3)F. Cordero (11)40,36113–16
30May 6@ Brewers4–6Villanueva (3–0)Grabow (0–1)F. Cordero (12)37,76113–17
31May 8@ Cubs4–3 (15)Bayliss (3–2)Cotts (0–1)S. Torres (10)39,70814–17
32May 9@ Cubs0–1Marquis (5–1)Gorzelanny (4–2)40,26414–18
33May 10@ Cubs6–4Maholm (2–4)C. Zambrano (3–3)S. Torres (11)41,10115–18
34May 11Braves1–4Davies (1–1)Duke (1–4)M. González (2)23,37615–19
35May 12Braves2–9James (4–3)Armas (0–3)34,77515–20
36May 13Braves13–2Snell (3–2)Lerew (0–1)19,48416–20
37May 14Marlins7–0Gorzelanny (5–2)Willis (5–3)12,95817–20
38May 15Marlins3–9Mitre (1–2)Maholm (2–5)12,76917–21
39May 16Marlins3–4Tankersley (3–1)Capps (2–1)Gregg (2)15,08617–22
40May 17Marlins7–2Chacón (1–0)Nolasco (1–2)9,58218–22
41May 18D-backs11–5Snell (4–2)D. Davis (2–5)32,68219–22
42May 19D-backs8–9Slaten (1–0)Capps (2–2)Valverde (15)30,67719–23
43May 20D-backs2–5Ra. Johnson (2–2)Maholm (2–6)Valverde (16)24,28219–24
44May 22@ Cardinals4–9Wainwright (4–3)Duke (1–5)42,67919–25
45May 23@ Cardinals3–5K. Wells (2–8)Snell (4–3)Isringhausen (11)42,24519–26
46May 24@ Cardinals1–3Looper (6–3)Gorzelanny (5–3)Isringhausen (12)44,29619–27
47May 25@ Reds10–4 (10)Bayliss (4–2)Weathers (1–3)36,45520–27
48May 26@ Reds9–5Grabow (1–1)Arroyo (2–5)32,28021–27
49May 27@ Reds14–10Duke (2–5)Saarloos (0–4)27,20922–27
50May 28@ Reds0–4Lohse (2–6)Snell (4–4)17,90522–28
51May 29Padres4–1Gorzelanny (6–3)D. Wells (2–3)S. Torres (12)15,79423–28
52May 30Padres0–9C. Young (6–3)Maholm (2–7)12,73423–29
53May 31Padres2–4 (11)Meredith (3–2)Sharpless (0–1)Hoffman (16)14,96623–30
June (12–15)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
54June 1Dodgers4–5Wolf (7–3)Duke (2–6)Saito (16)20,16423–31
55June 2Dodgers3–1Snell (5–4)Kuo (0–1)Capps (1)31,93124–31
56June 3Dodgers4–5Billingsley (4–0)S. Torres (0–2)Beimel (1)23,45824–32
57June 4Dodgers5–6D. Lowe (6–5)Maholm (2–8)Broxton (1)15,83624–33
58June 5@ Nationals7–6Chacón (2–0)Bacsik (1–2)Capps (2)19,16925–33
59June 6@ Nationals5–6C. Cordero (1–0)S. Torres (0–3)24,75525–34
60June 7@ Nationals3–2Capps (3–2)C. Cordero (1–1)25,62226–34
61June 8@ Yankees4–5 (10)M. Rivera (2–3)Capps (3–3)54,24026–35
62June 9@ Yankees3–9Clemens (1–0)Maholm (2–9)54,29626–36
63June 10@ Yankees6–13Henn (2–0)Chacón (2–1)54,29226–37
64June 12Rangers7–5Duke (3–6)Millwood (2–6)Capps (3)21,15827–37
65June 13Rangers8–1Snell (6–4)R. Tejeda (5–7)16,11028–37
66June 14Rangers0–6Loe (2–6)Gorzelanny (6–4)17,21428–38
67June 15White Sox4–2Maholm (3–9)Garland (4–4)Capps (4)26,64729–38
68June 16White Sox1–6Buehrle (4–3)Van Benschoten (0–1)36,61029–39
69June 17White Sox8–7Chacón (3–1)Masset (2–3)Capps (5)26,83030–39
70June 19@ Mariners5–3Gorzelanny (7–4)M. Batista (7–6)Chacón (1)24,52031–39
71June 20@ Mariners0–7Jeff Weaver (1–6)Maholm (3–10)23,55331–40
72June 21@ Mariners0–3F. Hernández (4–4)Van Benschoten (0–2)Putz (20)22,95031–41
73June 22@ Angels4–5 (11)S. Shields (1–2)Bayliss (4–3)43,54531–42
74June 23@ Angels1–10K. Escobar (9–3)Snell (6–5)44,01031–43
75June 24@ Angels3–4 (10)Bootcheck (2–1)Capps (3–4)42,34631–44
76June 26@ Marlins3–2Maholm (4–10)Willis (7–7)Capps (6)11,04432–44
77June 27@ Marlins7–5 (10)Chacón (4–1)Gregg (0–3)Capps (7)11,22233–44
78June 28@ Marlins7–9Olsen (6–6)Duke (3–7)31,62833–45
79June 29Nationals3–2Capps (4–4)Rauch (3–2)32,36134–45
80June 30Nationals7–2Gorzelanny (8–4)Bergmann (1–5)26,95935–45
July (7–17)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
81July 1Nationals2–3Bacsik (2–5)Maholm (4–11)C. Cordero (14)19,14935–46
82July 2Brewers3–10Villanueva (6–0)Kuwata (0–1)14,45535–47
83July 3Brewers6–2Youman (1–0)Gallardo (1–1)25,41636–47
84July 4Brewers5–3Snell (7–5)C. Vargas (6–2)Capps (8)35,87837–47
85July 5Brewers6–3Gorzelanny (9–4)Sheets (10–4)Capps (9)15,13438–47
86July 6Cubs8–4Maholm (5–11)Marquis (6–5)27,86839–47
87July 7Cubs1–7Lilly (8–4)Van Benschoten (0–3)33,29339–48
88July 8Cubs6–2Youman (2–0)C. Zambrano (10–7)22,47040–48
89July 13@ Braves1–9T. Hudson (9–5)Snell (7–6)38,92240–49
90July 14@ Braves4–5Wickman (2–2)Chacón (4–2)44,04140–50
91July 15@ Braves1–5Carlyle (4–2)Maholm (5–12)30,75640–51
92July 16Rockies8–10Hawkins (1–4)Van Benschoten (0–4)Corpas (2)16,42340–52
93July 17Rockies2–6Fogg (5–6)Youman (2–1)21,60440–53
94July 18Rockies3–5Francis (10–5)Snell (7–7)Corpas (3)19,28540–54
95July 20Astros1–2Oswalt (9–6)Gorzelanny (9–5)Lidge (2)33,54140–55
96July 21Astros7–3Maholm (6–12)W. Rodríguez (6–9)32,06841–55
97July 22Astros0–1W. Williams (5–11)Youman (2–2)Lidge (3)22,40441–56
98July 24@ Mets4–8Maine (11–5)Snell (7–8)49,12241–57
99July 25@ Mets3–6Glavine (9–6)Gorzelanny (9–6)B. Wagner (23)44,90641–58
100July 26@ Mets8–4Maholm (7–12)Ól. Pérez (9–7)52,15042–58
101July 27@ Phillies1–8 (7)Moyer (9–8)Van Benschoten (0–5)37,13642–59
102July 28@ Phillies5–10Durbin (3–2)Youman (2–3)45,14942–60
103July 29@ Phillies1–5Kendrick (5–1)Snell (7–9)40,03042–61
104July 31Cardinals4–6Wainwright (10–8)Maholm (7–13)Isringhausen (21)24,08542–62
August (17–13)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
105August 1Cardinals15–1Armas (1–3)Looper (8–9)17,04143–62
106August 2Cardinals5–4 (11)S. Torres (1–3)B. Thompson (6–5)19,13244–62
107August 3Reds4–13Belisle (6–8)Snell (7–10)22,87444–63
108August 4Reds8–9 (10)Burton (3–1)Capps (4–5)Weathers (21)33,46644–64
August 5RedsPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for August 2844–64
109August 7@ D-backs8–3Gorzelanny (10–6)Owings (5–6)25,34045–64
110August 8@ D-backs6–10Éd. González (5–2)Maholm (7–14)Valverde (34)23,08245–65
111August 9@ D-backs2–4S. Davis (9–10)Chacón (4–3)Valverde (35)22,31645–66
112August 10@ Giants8–7Grabow (2–1)Chulk (4–4)Capps (10)41,92346–66
113August 11@ Giants13–3Armas (2–3)Lincecum (6–3)43,10547–66
114August 12@ Giants5–0Gorzelanny (11–6)Zito (8–11)41,97648–66
115August 13Giants3–1Maholm (8–14)Cain (4–13)49–66
116August 13Giants3–10Lowry (13–7)Youman (2–4)25,43449–67
117August 14Mets4–5J. Sosa (9–6)Torres (1–4)B. Wagner (27)25,27749–68
118August 15Mets8–10Maine (13–7)Morris (7–8)B. Wagner (28)18,24149–69
119August 16Mets10–7D. Marte (1–0)Heilman (7–5)Capps (11)36,44750–69
120August 17Phillies8–11J. D. Durbin (5–2)Gorzelanny (11–7)37,07250–70
121August 18Phillies11–6Maholm (9–14)Moyer (11–9)38,15251–70
122August 19Phillies8–4Snell (8–10)Romero (1–1)31,27752–70
123August 20@ Rockies4–2D. Marte (2–0)Fuentes (0–5)Capps (12)22,68253–70
124August 21@ Rockies2–9T. Buchholz (6–4)Armas (2–4)21,13653–71
125August 22@ Rockies11–2Gorzelanny (12–7)Fogg (7–9)20,62954–71
126August 23@ Rockies5–1Maholm (10–14)F. Morales (0–1)20,38055–71
127August 24@ Astros8–3 (15)Youman (3–4)Driskill (0–1)41,40356–71
128August 25@ Astros4–1Morris (8–8)Patton (0–1)Capps (13)41,10957–71
129August 26@ Astros4–5McLemore (3–0)Chacón (4–4)Lidge (13)42,56457–72
130August 28Reds6–4Gorzelanny (13–7)El. Ramírez (0–2)Capps (14)58–72
131August 28Reds3–2Chacón (5–4)Bray (3–1)Capps (15)17,66959–72
132August 29Reds0–8Harang (14–3)Snell (8–11)14,19159–73
133August 30Reds4–5Burton (4–1)Capps (4–6)Weathers (29)12,64359–74
134August 31@ Brewers2–3Gallardo (6–4)Armas (2–5)F. Cordero (38)35,68959–75
September (9–19)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
135September 1@ Brewers3–12Bush (11–9)Youman (3–5)34,19059–76
136September 2@ Brewers4–7Suppan (9–11)Osoria (0–1)F. Cordero (39)39,33959–77
137September 3@ Cardinals11–0Snell (9–11)K. Wells (6–16)42,23860–77
138September 4@ Cardinals2–6Piñeiro (5–3)Morris (8–9)Franklin (1)42,30060–78
139September 5@ Cardinals8–2Armas (3–5)Mulder (0–1)42,29961–78
140September 6@ Cardinals4–16Jiménez (2–0)Bullington (0–1)42,33061–79
141September 7Cubs6–1Gorzelanny (14–7)R. Hill (8–8)24,48962–79
142September 8Cubs1–5C. Zambrano (15–12)Snell (9–12)33,37362–80
143September 9Cubs10–5Morris (9–9)Trachsel (6–10)21,86163–80
144September 10Brewers9–0Armas (4–5)Villanueva (7–4)13,68364–80
145September 11Brewers1–6Gallardo (8–4)Bullington (0–2)11,96264–81
146September 12Brewers7–4Grabow (3–1)Turnbow (4–5)Capps (16)10,56665–81
147September 14@ Astros4–3Sánchez (1–0)Qualls (6–5)Capps (17)35,35266–81
148September 15@ Astros7–9Gutiérrez (1–1)Morris (9–10)Lidge (15)40,42566–82
149September 16@ Astros3–15Backe (1–1)Maholm (10–15)35,71566–83
150September 17@ Padres0–3Cassel (1–0)Van Benschoten (0–6)Hoffman (38)33,55766–84
151September 18@ Padres3–5Maddux (13–10)Gorzelanny (14–8)Hoffman (39)30,62966–85
152September 19@ Padres3–5Meredith (5–6)Capps (4–7)26,35466–86
153September 20@ Padres3–6Tomko (4–11)Morris (9–11)Hoffman (40)27,02066–87
154September 21@ Cubs8–13Eyre (2–1)Osoria (0–2)41,59166–88
155September 22@ Cubs5–9Hill (10–8)Duke (3–8)41,27166–89
156September 23@ Cubs0–8Zambrano (17–13)Gorzelanny (14–9)41,36466–90
157September 25D-backs6–5Torres (2–4)Lyon (6–4)Capps (18)14,56967–90
158September 26D-backs5–1Morris (10–11)Hernández (11–11)16,28968–90
159September 27D-backs0–8Owings (8–8)Van Benschoten (0–7)11,33568–91
160September 28Cardinals1–6Springer (8–1)Grabow (3–2)30,60368–92
161September 29Cardinals3–7Wainwright (14–12)Gorzelanny (14–10)35,16968–93
162September 30Cardinals5–6Wells (7–17)Bullington (0–3)Isringhausen (32)25,66468–94
Legend:         = Win         = Loss         = Postponement
Bold = Pirates team member       Source = baseball-reference.com[3]

Record vs. opponents


Source: [1]
TeamAZATLCHCCINCOLFLAHOULADMILNYMPHIPITSDSFSTLWSHAL
Arizona4–24–22–48–106–15–28–102–53–45–15–410–810–84–36–18–7
Atlanta2–45–41–64–210–83–34–35–29–99–95–15–24–33–411–74–11
Chicago2–44–59–95–20–68–72–59–62–53–48–73–55–211–56–18–4
Cincinnati4–26–19–92–44–34–112–48–72–52–49–72–44–36–91–67-11
Colorado10–82–42–54–23–33–412–64–24–24–34–311–810–83–44–310–8
Florida1–68–106–03–43–32–34–32–57–119–93–43–41–62–48–109–9
Houston2–53–37–811–44–33-24–35–132–53–35–104–32–47–92–59–9
Los Angeles10–83–45–24–26–123–43–43–35–54–25–28–1010–83–35–15–10
Milwaukee5–22–56–97–82–45–213–53–32–43–410–62–54–57–84–28–7
New York4–39–95–25–22–411–75–25–54–26–124–22–44–25–29–98–7
Philadelphia1-59–94–34–23–49–93–32–44–312–64–24–34–46–312–68–7
Pittsburgh4–51–57–87–93–44–310–52–56–102–42–41–64–26–124–25–10
San Diego8–102–55–34–28–114–33–410–85–24–23–46–114–43–44–26–9
San Francisco8–103–42–53–48–106–14–28–105–42–44–42–44–144–13–45–10
St. Louis3–44–35–119–64–34-29–73–38–72–53–612–64–31–41–56–9
Washington1–67–111–66–13–410-85–21–52–49–96–122–42–44–35–19–9


Detailed records

MonthGamesWonLostWin %RSRA
April2412120.50086106
May2911180.379132150
June2712150.444112137
July247170.29290127
August3017130.567182153
September289190.321122173
Total16268940.420724846
GamesWonLostWin %RSRA
Home8137440.457373390
Away8131500.383351456
Total16268940.420724846

Roster

2007 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters
NamePosition
Chris DuffyCF
Jack WilsonSS
Jason BayLF
Adam LaRoche1B
Ronny PaulinoC
Xavier NadyRF
José Bautista3B
José Castillo2B
Zach DukeSP

Statistics

Hitting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pitching

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Source:2007 Pittsburgh Pirates stats at Baseball Reference.com

Awards and honors

2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAAIndianapolis IndiansInternational LeagueTrent Jewett
AAAltoona CurveEastern LeagueTim Leiper
ALynchburg HillcatsCarolina LeagueJeff Branson
AHickory CrawdadsSouth Atlantic LeagueGary Green
A-Short SeasonState College SpikesNew York–Penn LeagueTurner Ward
RookieGCL PiratesGulf Coast LeagueTom Prince
RookieDSL PiratesDominican Summer LeagueN/A
RookieVSL PiratesVenezuelan Summer LeagueN/A

References

  • Game Logs:
1st Half: Pittsburgh Pirates Game Log on ESPN.com
2nd Half: Pittsburgh Pirates Game Log on ESPN.com
Walkout by Pirates fans gets blacked out [2]
Pirates Fan Protest, Walkout Still On For Weekend [3]
Pirates fans group pushing in-game walkout Saturday [4]
'Fans for Change' ready for Pirates protest [5]