You know, I really thought that this was the year the Pittsburgh Pirates were going to make positive strides.

Really. But I duped myself after watching losing season after losing season since 1993 that this team could attain that elusive .500 record.

I told myself the addition of first baseman Adam LaRoche, teamed with outfielder Jason Bay (a perennial 30-homer, 100-RBI, 100-runs scored player), infielder Freddy Sanchez (last year's National League batting champ) and a year's development by all the young starting pitching would make for a very good year.

Again, that "good year" would be a .500 record.

I believed the Pirates just had to turn the corner this time. The National League Central Division is not that competitive. The Milwaukee Brewers, who themselves had gone almost as long as the Pirates with a losing record until two years ago, when they hit .500, are good, but not great.

The biggest difference between Milwaukee and the Pirates is the Brewers have a bevy of great, young, talented hitters, while the Pirates have only a couple, but no one looked stronger than Milwaukee out of the gate.

I didn't expect miracles, but thought that if the Pirates were competitive early enough, stayed close, then maybe, just maybe, they could make a move late in the season.

Every year I joke that I hope the team can stay competitive by at least Memorial Day before starting to drop in the standings.

The Pirates were 19-22 after an 11-5 victory May 18 over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Nothing to write home about, but still in the thick of things in the NL Central.

Then, the bottom dropped out. Five consecutive losses, capped by a three-game sweep by the St. Louis Cardinals, dropped the Pirates to 19-27.

A three-game winning streak followed — perhaps a sign the brief slip-up would not plunge the team too deep. So, the day before Memorial Day, the Pirates were five games below .500 and only a handful of games out of first place.

Not bad, but since Memorial Day, the Pirates have lost 10 of 14 to fall to 26-37, including last weekend's sweep by the suddenly surging New York Yankees.

A tough 5-4 loss Friday was followed by a 9-3 defeat at the hands of 44-year-old Roger Clemens, who was making his first start of the year and first as a Yankee since 2003.

With national media in attendance and all eyes looking to Yankee Stadium, I hoped the Pirates would show America that they could play with the big boys, taking advantage of the national stage.

They couldn't. They followed up with a 13-6 drubbing on Sunday and saw themselves slowly falling down the crowded less-than-mediocre standings.

Oddly enough, they're still in the single digits in games out of first place, so I suppose you can't write them off yet.

It's closing in on mid-June and I'm just looking forward to enjoying the rest of my summer.

I just won't be looking forward to following Pirates baseball the rest of the year.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.