By Brant Newman
I've been a Pirates fan since the 1960s. I went to sleep at nights with a transistor radio under my pillow, listening to the Gunner and Nellie King. When
the Pirates won the World Series in 1971, I ran through the streets of Claysville as if it were V-E Day. I've remained a faithful fan through the decades,in good times and, for the past 16 years, bad.
But at age 50, I have my doubts about whether I'll ever see another Pirates game in person again. The reason: I refuse to be played for a dupe, and that's what anyone who goes to PNC Park these days is. The Pirates' current ownership, led by the Nutting family, is charging major-league prices for Triple-A baseball.
They talk a good game about a new era, new leadership and prosperity being right around the corner, but they're sure not putting their money where their
mouths are. The Pirates are consistently among Major League Baseball's bottom feeders in terms of payroll. They have based draft picks on whether they could sign them on the cheap, and when they have signed veteran free agents, they've spent unwisely, for the most part.
The MLB business model, which allows teams like the Yankees to spend as much on two players (A-Rod and Derek Jeter) as the Pirates do on an entire roster, is part of the problem. But the Nuttings' refusal to spend money on quality free agents who could help the team is another.
Fans are growing tired of watching rebuilding plan after rebuilding plan. With the exception of a handful of players, the minor-league system is not exactly brimming with talent, and we've seen what the current roster of major-leaguers has accomplished the past couple of years.
I'll continue to watch as many Buccos games as I can, but until team owners show a true commitment to the fans, I'll be doing so from my easy chair, saving a lot of money by eating my own hot dogs and drinking my own beer.
Trivia #3: From which other team's farm system did the Pirates draft Roberto Clemente?
A new home
7 years ago
I think that was Montreal?
ReplyDeleteI never got to 'run through the streets of Claysville' after a Pirate win, but was 9 when they won their last World Series and begging my dad to stay up to watch.
I always looked forward to the Claysville Baseball league taking a bus over for that one Pirate game a year I got to see. I remember wanting to grow up, work in the city, and thinking of all the games I would go see.
Now? I'll catch them a couple times a year, but until ownership actually ponies up and puts a product out there, no more.
I'm not holding my breath.