It would be such a simple tactic for Jim Tracy to employ, such a simple message to send.

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Before pitchers and catchers report Thursday for the official opening of spring training, the Pirates' new manager could just grab a piece of chalk, walk up to the big board in the clubhouse and scrawl out an oversized "8" and an equally large "2" right next to it.

As in 82 victories.

As in the number it would take for the franchise to top .500 for the first time since 1992 and end the longest active stretch of futility in the four major professional sports.

As in a firm, tangible goal the players might embrace.

As in ... well, forget it.

Tracy wants no part of it.

"No, no, not at all," he said, shaking his head emphatically when the topic was raised. "More important than the number, I think, let's focus on what is necessary to get you to that number and beyond, as well as the consistency you have to bring to the ballpark everyday."

He paused and shook his head again.

"To hell with the number. That will take care of itself."

Asked if he has felt, in meeting Pittsburgh baseball fans, a clamor to see the team win again, he replied, "Absolutely, and I understand that. You know something? One of the intriguing elements of this challenge for me coming here was knowing the rich tradition of this organization. But you just don't set a ceiling like that."

The men to whom Tracy reports apparently feel no differently.

"Obviously, it's a monkey we'd all like to have off our backs, and that includes the city," owner Kevin McClatchy said of the losing streak. "But I'm not looking at a number."

"I understand the mantra, the label of not having been to .500 for X amount of years. No doubt, that would be nice to put behind us," general manager Dave Littlefield said. "But those are steps along the way to what you want to do. The reason we're all in this is to win a World Series and to build an organization that's going to compete on a yearly basis."

To that end, Littlefield acknowledged, raising the victory total from 67 to 82 would be a welcome development.

"Certainly, improving the record to that degree would be a nice step."

It would be rare, too.

In the Pirates' 119 seasons in the National League, they have had 26 losing seasons in which they won 67 or fewer games. They have followed those with a winning record only six times. The most recent occasion not involving a shortened season was 1958, Danny Murtaugh's first full season as manager.

Tough turnaround Only six times in their 119 years have the Pirates followed a losing season of 67 or fewer victories with a winning record. One of those resulted in the franchise's first winning season: Year W-L Year W-L 1891 55-80 1892 80-73 1917 51-103 1918 65-60-* 1942 66-81 1943 80-74 1947 62-92 1948 83-71 1957 62-92 1958 84-70 1981 46-56-** 1982 84-78 * Season shortened by WWI ** Season shortened by strike

Of the 26 teams in Major League Baseball to have 67 or fewer wins between 2000-04, just five became winners the next year. Only one, the 2003 Chicago Cubs, made the playoffs.

That is why it seems far more within the Pirates' grasp to emulate the vastly improved Milwaukee outfit of last season.

When the Brewers came to PNC Park for the final weekend in late September, they did so with an effervescent manager, Ned Yost, trumpeting his team's shot to finish with a winning record.

The streak of losing seasons they carried into the year? Twelve, same as the Pirates.

Their victory total the previous year? Sixty-seven.

The Brewers fell one win short of becoming winners, getting rubbed out of the final two games by Kip Wells and Zach Duke, but they wiped away their losing streak by finishing .500 and were none too embarrassed to beam about that.

"How do you get to the top of the stairs without getting on the first step?" Yost said that weekend. "It's a building process, and your first major step has to be playing .500 baseball."

The Pirates' first step toward improving this offseason was an upgrade in payroll, from $35 million last season to a projected $47 million for the roster the team should have for the April 2 opener at Milwaukee.

The next was the hiring of Tracy and an all-new coaching staff.

The capper was a winter spending spree unrivaled in franchise history, an investment of $17 million in five newcomer veterans -- first baseman Sean Casey, outfielder Jeromy Burnitz, third baseman Joe Randa and relievers Roberto Hernandez and Damaso Marte -- all of whom have contracts that expire after the coming season.

The moves have many in the organization glowing.

"You can just tell, as you look at what's happened and even back in minicamp, things are different," assistant general manager Doug Strange said. "And I think everybody feels that."

But Strange, too, rejected the relevance of 82 victories.

"Obviously, we need to break that string of losing seasons, but our goal is to be good beyond 2006."

The Pirates have explained their decision to add so many one-year players as merely filling holes where there were no immediate internal solutions, rather than an abandonment of the youth movement they started last season. And yet, there is cause to believe the team feels pressure to win now.

For one, the All-Star Game will place Pittsburgh and its team on an international stage. It surely would delight the Pirates' management if the baseball world arrived with the Pirates being the talk of the town.

For another, the All-Star lure has been greatly responsible for a 31 percent increase in the pace of season-ticket sales this winter. The home crowds are expected to be the largest since PNC Park's inaugural year, and the Pirates have expressed an urgency to captivate what essentially is a captive audience.

As McClatchy said in an August interview, "I think we need to go out and put a good team on the field because we'd like for all of our fans to stick around in the long term."

With most personnel matters complete, the difference between the Pirates fielding a good team or another poor one will be determined largely by the players. And most of them speak in confident tones on the matter.

"I don't see why we can't win," catcher Ryan Doumit said. "Seriously, we've had a winning tradition in the minors. A lot of us younger guys have won in the playoffs or even won championships. We know we're capable of winning. Now, with the addition of other guys who have been on winning teams ... hey, it's go time. It's time for us to blossom."

"There's no doubt in my mind we can win, man," closer Mike Gonzalez said. "The attitude is key. It seemed like, these past couple years, guys weren't too sure of this or that. It's just a whole different vibe that's going on right now. Not downgrading the manager and players from last year, but ... everything feels new."

As for setting a goal of 82 victories, the players offer views more mixed than those of management.

"Well, you don't really want to go into a season striving to be average," left fielder Jason Bay said. "But, if you're going to win a championship, you've got to start somewhere, have something in mind. You're not going to go from 67 wins to a World Series."

"There's a sense of pride, collective pride, that comes when you're winning, and it's so important to have that," Duke said. "So, yeah, 82 would be a start. That's the first thing we have to find. We want to get above .500 and, beyond that, just keep improving."

"I haven't been here for all 13 years, obviously, but I'd love to end this streak," infielder Freddy Sanchez said. "Losing is tough on us, and I know it's tough on the fans. I think this is the year we could do it."

"I look at the start of this season as something special, and I think other guys do, too," Wells said. "That's when we hope to begin something from the success standpoint that hasn't been done for a while."