2011 Pittsburgh Pirates season
| 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Results | |
| Record | 72–90 (.444) |
| Divisional place | 4th |
| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Robert Nutting |
| General manager(s) | Neal Huntington |
| Manager(s) | Clint Hurdle |
| Local television | Root Sports Pittsburgh |
| Local radio |
WPGB-FM (Steve Blass, Greg Brown, Tim Neverett, Bob Walk, John Wehner) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the franchise's 125th season as a member of the National League and 130th season overall. The season was the first with manager Clint Hurdle, who was hired to replace the fired John Russell. After going a major league worst 57–105, they enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence, winning more than 70 games for the first time since 2004 and being covered significantly in the summer due to being involved in the pennant race, but they still locked up their 19th consecutive losing season.
The Pirates won their opening game against the Cubs in Chicago 6–3.Neil Walker led the offense with a grand slam in the fifth inning, becoming the only Pirate other than Roberto Clemente to hit a grand slam on opening day. Pittsburgh blew a lead the following day and lost, but scored two runs in the final inning of the series finale to finish their first series with a 2–1 record. Pittsburgh defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in two of three games during their second series, marking the first time the Pirates had won the majority of games in two consecutive road series since 2007. Pittsburgh came home to face the Colorado Rockies; winning one game out of four. In the second game of the series, the Pirates prevailed in a 5-hour, 10-minute game which lasted 14 innings. After an injury to starting pitcher Ross Ohlendorf, the bullpen combined for 11⅓ scoreless innings—the most for the Pirates since 1900.
During the April 9 game in Pittsburgh, a local man was arrested in the left-field seating section. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the man "appeared to be drunk, bothered fans in his section and belligerently refused to cooperate" when he would not leave at the game at the request of PNC Park employees and police. While being escorted from the section the man struck a ballpark employee, which was met with officers putting him under arrest after "Tasering him to little effect before clubbing him in the neck, head, side and legs." The entire incident was captured on video. He was charged with public drunkenness, resisting arrest, and two additional misdemeanors. In a related incident, a woman was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, and defiant trespassing. After yelling at the officers making the initial arrest, she then "resisted an officer's attempts to remove her from the park" while yelling obscenities.
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Wikipedia