April News: Surprising Pirates, and a Bittersweet Farewell

As T.S. Elliot put it, when he wasn't writing about cats, April is the cruelest month.  Not sure if that is the case thus far in these months, but it has been a surprising one as far as your Pittsburgh Pirates are concerned.

The Buccos won the season opener and the following day began a six game losing streak.  Not only that, in that second game, future Face of the Franchise Ke'Bryan Hayes was injured - and it will take a Zapruder Film like study of the game tapes to see just exactly how he was injured - and was sent to the Injured List and hasn't been seen since.  Typical luck of the Pirates, we all said.  Funny thing, though, that since that 1-6 start the Pirates have gone 6-3, and now sport a record of 7-9 and are not in last place in the NL Central Division.  They've done so with some surprisingly good pitching, especially out of the bullpen, but nobody should be kidding themselves.  They are a rebuilding team with a lot of holes and a lot of shortcomings, but for the last nine games, at least, it's been fun tuning in and thinking that, hey, we might see a pretty good ballgame tonight.

So nothing cruel from the Pirates so far this April.

Meanwhile, a bittersweet note was sounded from the other end of General Robinson Street last week with the news that Steelers free agent running back James Conner had singed a contract with the Arizona Cardinals.  Thus ends an eight year saga of James Conner Football in The Burgh, four at Pitt, four with the Steelers, and there may well have never been an athlete in Pittsburgh sports annals for whom you wanted to see succeed more.

My first lengthy piece on Conner was written in November 2016, and it told the story of Conner's triumphs and travails at Pitt, including his overcoming cancer and making it back to Pitt for another season where he established the ACC record for touchdowns scored in a career.  

When Conner was drafted by the Steelers the following Spring, it had "storybook" written all over it, and I couldn't remember a Steelers draft pick that I wanted to see make it big so badly as I wanted to see James Conner do so.

Conner showed flashes of brilliance in his four years with the Steelers.  In his second year, 2018, he had over 1,000 yards combined rushing and receiving, scored 13 touchdowns, and made the Pro Bowl.  Too often, though, Conner couldn't stay on the field due to injury.  He missed fourteen games over the course of his four years, and often times he had to leave games due to injury.  The ability to say healthy is a skill every bit as important as being fast, being able to catch a ball, or being able to elude tacklers, and for whatever reason, those injuries plagued Conner's time here.  Were all of those injuries the result of undergoing months and months of rigorous chemotherapy while in college?  One has to wonder.

Conner left town on a classy note, issuing a statement thanking the city, Pitt, the Steelers, and all the fans for their support over the years.  I am sure that everyone who enjoyed watching James Conner play at Heinz Field for the Blue & Gold and the Black & Gold over the last eight years hopes that he finds good health and lots of success with the Cardinals.