Bill Batterman is the There’s just something about PNC Park. Erected beginning in 1999 at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers and overlooking the magnificent Pittsburgh skyline, the $216 million home of the Pirates has proven bewildering to the club from the Brew City since its opening in 2001. While the Pirates entered 2006 with a miserable 188-215 lifetime record at PNC, good for just a .467 winning percentage, the Bucs have decimated the Brewers in their new home.
The Pirates’ ownership of the Brewers began in 2001 when the Brewers were swept in each of their first two trips to Pittsburgh’s new digs, a two-game and four-game series, respectively. The Crew managed to salvage one win in their final four-game series at PNC but the Pirates finished their inaugural season 9-1 against the Brewers. The series in June, however, hurt even more than usual. After sweeping the Cubs in a three-game series at Wrigley that improved their record to 38-34 and moved them into second place in the National League Central, the Brewers celebrated by donning their now-infamous “sweep suits” for the flight to Pittsburgh. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel described the jovial scene:
Jamey Wright was wearing a bright red, pin-stripe suit, black shirt and rose-colored glasses. David Weathers sported a shiny silver zoot suit right out of the Roaring ’20s. Chad Fox stepped out wearing a colorful plaid outfit that could have been made from the curtains of a seedy motel.
Allen Levrault wore an electric aqua-color outfit that came without batteries included. Curtis Leskanic opted for a canary yellow suit with matching shirt. And, last but not least, Jeromy Burnitz donned a leopard-print model that would have stood out even in the San Diego Zoo.
“You think these guys will make Mr. Blackwell’s list?” manager Davey Lopes asked. “And I don’t mean his good list.”
Asked to explain the sartorial madness, Burnitz explained, “These are our ‘sweep suits.’ We’ve been waiting to wear them.”
The rest is now all-too-familiar to Brewers fans. After being swept by the Pirates, the Crew headed home and found themselves below .500 for good, soon to lose eleven consecutive games to close out the month of July. In fact, they won just 30 of their final 90 games and continued their losing ways in 2002 (56-206) and 2003 (68-94), winning just 37.2 percent of their games from the time they donned the sweep suits until the start of the 2004 season. During that time, the Brewers went 9-14 at PNC Park.
Unfortunately, the team’s woes did not end with the infamous sweep suits. With an exciting new management group and rising expectations, the 2004 edition of the Brewers got off to a solid start and entered an early July series in Pittsburgh with a 41-34 record after sweeping the Rockies in Colorado. Only a half-game behind the Cubs for the National League Wild Card and a manageable three-and-a-half behind the division-leading Cardinals, Milwaukee was once again brought crashing down to earth by their Steel City foes.
Doug Davis was shellacked in game one of a doubleheader on Friday that the Brewers lost 8-1 and Johnny Wholestaff fared even worse in the nightcap as Matt Wise, Dave Burba, Jeff Bennett, and Matt Kinney combined to surrender 13 runs on 14 hits and five walks while striking out only one Pirate. The weekend contests were more respectable but a pair of awful starts by Wes Obermueller and Chris Capuano helped the Bucs secure the sweep and send the Crew back to Milwaukee only three games over .500. The team bounced back to sweep the Cubs but went just 26-56 the rest of the way and finished last in the Central, five games behind Pittsburgh.
The Brewers looked to have finally overcome the PNC curse in 2005 but once again the Pirates managed to spoil the team’s fun. With a chance to secure their first winning season since 1992, Milwaukee needed to win two out of three on the season’s final weekend. Standing in their way, of course, were the pesky Pirates, who at 65-94 had nothing to play for but pride. The Brewers won the first game, 6-5, to guarantee that their streak of consecutive losing seasons would end at thirteen, but they needed just one more win to finish the year above the .500 mark. The Pirates would have none of it, however, as they bested Milwaukee 5-1 and 3-1 over the weekend and the Crew had to settle for an 81-81 campaign.
With the calendar turned to 2006, the Brewers’ dreadful play at PNC has continued unabated. Thanks to some awful pitching by their injury-depleted staff and some ridiculous slugging by the Bucs, the Brewers once again suffered through a sweep at the hands of the Pirates. This time, the four consecutive losses drop the Brewers to 26-28, two games below .500 and barely within binoculars range of the division-leading Cardinals and Wild Card-leading Dodgers.
Once again, the Crew will have an opportunity to turn things around. With an offense that has consistently been among the best in the National League and a pitching staff with nowhere to go but up, the Brewers are not doomed to a repeat performance of their 2001 and 2004 meltdowns. With a lengthy homestand awaiting and a June schedule spent largely at Miller Park, Milwaukee has a chance to get back on track and right back into the Wild Card race.
And look on the bright side: at least they only have six more games at PNC.