I would like to start off by saying that unlike many of you, I do not get the opportunity to watch, or listen to, the Pirates play regularly. For now, I mainly work nights, which causes me to miss most of the action. I usually rely on the recaps provided by Charlie and David to give me more in depth info a box score cannot.

I am going to refer back to a game against the Reds, the one where Cutch was HBP by Chapman in the 9th inning. This, I believe, should have been the turning point of the 2nd half for the Pirates. Cutch was visibly, and very understandably upset. We all saw his post game explosion in the dugout. I was pumped by that...I was so ready for the following night's game because I thought the Bucs would come out and get back at the Reds. They didn't. Not even close. It later reminded me of the following...

I live near Buffalo, NY, and am "lucky" enough to hear all about the Buffalo Sabres. I don't really follow hockey closely, but I understand it enough to listen to games and post game radio shows. There was an incident against the Bruins where Lucic ran into Sabres goalie Ryan Miller. This, along with hitting your team's quarterback after a play, should never happen. In a normal situation, the team (Sabres) would have crowded around Lucic and made sure he would never do that again. Possibly, on the next draw, a fight would break out. In any case, the "victim" should show the other team that what they did was not okay. The Sabres did not do that, and neither did the Pirates. If the Pirates wanted to be taken seriously, they have to respond to situations such as the one that presented itself in that game.

Of course, this is not the sole reason as to why the Pirates are struggling as of late. Not so hot hitting, less than stellar pitching, etc. But I think a team's attitude, how they respond to difficult situations, and how other teams perceive the kind of team the Pirates are is undervalued. What's been the turning point in your mind?