Don't tell me the Pittsburgh Pirates aren't involved in postseason play.

There are former Buccos all over the rosters of eight teams that qualified for the playoffs this year. Only one of those teams — the Chicago White Sox — had no connection to the Pirates at all and look how quickly they got ousted.

So let's examine this for a moment.

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Chicago Cubs. Aramis Ramirez's bat disappeared in the postseason — again — and Daryle Ward hit a robust .216 off the bench this season. The Cubs didn't hit at all in getting swept by the Dodgers and their hitting coach was Gerald Perry.Oops.•

Milwaukee Brewers. Salamon Torres was their closer, Jason Kendall their catcher. They got to the playoffs anyway.Dale Sveum took over the managerial reins in mid-September and former Pirates general manager Ted Simmons was on the coaching staff.Alas, the Brew Crew got bounced in four games by Philadelphia and Sveum is not under consideration to manage the team next year.Oh, well.•

Los Angeles Dodgers. Hey, Mike Easler was their hitting coach and he's from the Pirates' glory years. Joe Beimel has been an effective left-handed relief specialist in L.A. ... oh, yeah, Pittsburgh released him.Don't forget the contributions of Jason Schmidt to the Dodgers' postseason run. OK, he missed the whole season due to injury.Let's move on.•

Los Angeles Angels. Who can forget Gary Matthews Jr.?He had a cup of coffee in Pittsburgh and became a star after he left here. He also became a free agent bust in Anaheim.Ouch.•

Boston Red Sox. Defending world champions? Now we're getting somewhere! Jason Bay's bat faded in the final few games of the ALCS, but he did play well after his trade to Boston.Sean Casey still can't run and the BoSox started Mark Kotsay at first base instead of him. That hurts.Tim Wakefield got hammered by the Rays in his lone playoff start, when his team needed his knuckleball to flutter into the catcher's glove instead of over the fence.Still looking for some positives here.•

Tampa Bay Rays — The Cinderella story of baseball, going from worst to first, hitting postseason homer on top of postseason homer — with no former Pirates on their roster.George Hendrick is on the coaching staff, though. That has to count for something.•

Philadelphia Phillies — Drum roll, please. Success has been found.Matt Stairs drilled a Jonathan Broxton fastball deep into the night in Game 4 of the NLCS, snapping a 5-5 tie and propelling the Phillies toward the National League pennant.And Matt Stairs wanted to stay with the Bucs after putting together a solid season wearing the Black-and-Gold at PNCPark.The Pirates didn't want him back.I hope he appreciates that when he cashes his playoff check.John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle.