“Cueto, Cueto!”– 11 Years Ago, Pirates Fans Pulled Off The Ultimate Postseason Mind Game

How can you not be romantic about baseball? I apologize in advance for how often I'm about to type that line with the MLB postseason now upon us. My Phillies fortunately got a first round bye to get their crap together after a less than ideal finish to the season but there's no shortage of fans who believe their squad has what it takes to make a run. 11 years ago today, a very special moment happened in baseball history. No, it wasn't a walk off grand slam, perfect game, or some other typical on-field performance, but something that required some 38,000 people to pull off. The Pittsburgh Pirates were playing the Cincinnati Reds in a play-in game (meaning the winner actually made the postseason) after a 20 year gap from their last postseason appearance and to say the Yinzers were excited would be an understatement... If you pay attention to baseball at all than you've probably heard about the issues fans have with Pirates ownership. Just this year, they sent first baseman Rowdy Teller down to AAA when he was just 4 at-bats away from collecting a performance bonus of $200,000, and that's just the most recent example of poor leadership. Back in 2013, the story was much of the same, but the team found a way to stay in contention and the fans knew they'd be needed if they were going to pull off a win. The Reds were starting Johnny Cueto, who at the time was one of the better pitchers in the game. The season before he racked up 19 wins and a 2.78 ERA and the year following he cracked the 20 win mark with a 2.25 ERA. This season he had only started 11 games due to injury but had pitched phenomenally in those few appearances and certainly wanted to lead his team on a deep run to the World Series. So when Johnny Cueto took the field on October 1st, 2013, the Reds were feeling pretty confident and that feeling was only amplified when he breezed through the bottom of the first inning, allowing only a 2 out walk to Andrew McCutchen. But in the bottom of the second, things unraveled quickly... The first batter of the inning was Marlon Byrd who hit a solo homer to left field which got the crowd's blood pumping. After a Pedro Alvarez line out, the moment that will always be remembered happened. Russell Martin stepped into the box and the crowd began chanting a name. No, it's wasn't the name of their hitter, but the last name of the opposing pitcher, which is something I'm sure Cueto never expected to hear. A few pitches into the at bat, with the count 2-1, it happened. Cueto had stepped off the mound to regroup at chants of "CUETO, CUETO, CUETO" echoed and when he went to put his glove back on, he dropped the ball. He dropped the ball! While it may seem small now it was proof that the crowd's tactics were working and they were in his head. But what happened next is what made the moment a piece of baseball history. Martin took the next pitch deep for another home run, the first time in Cueto's career he allowed two home runs in one inning. Honestly, just watch the video because you have to feel the moment to understand it. https://twitter.com/colin_dunlap/status/1841095071547933008 Though there was a lot of baseball left to be played, it was pretty much all over at that point. The Pirates would go on to win 6-2 with Cueto taking the loss and it was on to the NLDS, where the Bucs would wind up losing to the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite the season not ending as they wanted, we need to thank the Pittsburgh fans for giving us this all-time moment. I am so excited for playoff baseball...