Remember, there’s only 2 days left to like Baseblog on Facebook, follow on Twitter or Tumblr and be entered to win ten free months of Sports Illustrated. Keep spreading the word and at the end of January we’ll find out who wins! In the meantime, the “Reliving SI Covers” mini-series will feature some of my favorite covers from the NL Central Division since the year 2000. Take a look at today’s installment.

Ouch. The Pittsburgh Pirates have not been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for a very long time.

Like, a long time.

The last time the Buccos were on the cover of SI, I was not even three months old. Barry Bonds was a member of the squad, his last year with the team before signing with the San Francisco Giants as a free agent. Coincidentally, it was also the last time they had a winning season. Their record was 96-66 and they have not reached 80 wins since.

The date was May 4th, 1992. The National League Central division wasn’t even around back then; Pittsburgh was part of the NL East. As you can see below, Barry Bonds was on the cover. The Pirates got off to a fast start, won 96 games and the division, and lost in the playoffs.

Some superstitious folk have suggested that an SI cover jinx exists. The opposite may be the case for the Pirates. Nineteen seasons since the one that included this cover, the Pirates haven’t posted a winning record. Perhaps the editors at SI could throw the Buccos a bone and give them some cover love.

My suggestion: do a photo shoot similar to the Game On cover mentioned in the Milwaukee Brewers edition of this series. Highlight some other young stars under 25, like Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates’ star center fielder. Throw in guys like Starlin Castro, Clayton Kershaw or Pablo Sandoval for good measure. Then, BOOM! McCutchen gets some nice recognition, goes on to hit 30 home runs and the Pirates head into the last two games of the season with at least an 80-80 record.

It’s as easy as that. Right? Right?

« »