Am I Turning Into My Grandma?
by John Lease
Will Pirates fans have to wait as long as Cubs fans have for another World Series title?
As the Pirates prepare to move into a record tying 16th consecutive losing season, I think I’ve turned into my grandmother Grace Lease. My grandmother, grandfather, dad, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. were and are all Cub fans. My grandparents actually remembered the Cubs’ last World Series win over the Tigers in 1908. Of course, grandma was fairly young at the time, being only 10. I was born in
We made yearly vacation trips to
Here I was, a youngster and a fan of a really good team. The Pirates were in contention each and every year—1979 marked the 6th time the Pirates had won the NL East—and of course the Cubs had never won it. Even 1984 didn’t bother me, because the Cubs became the first team to lose a division series after being up 2-0. It was about the last straw for my grandmother, though. She passed on in 1986 after 78 years of waiting for another World Series winner, and only 41 years of just another NL title. The Pirates of the mid ’80s were just dreadful, but they rebounded nicely and pulled in three consecutive titles, losing in the division series each time in 1990 thru 1992, a little more heartbreakingly each time.
But what’s happened since? The Cubs are a contending team each and every year, the Pirates have won 75 games only twice in 15 years! What does Pirate management, and their fans, repeat as a mantra? The financial system is stacked against them. It’s received wisdom that the Pirates can’t compete. Never mind the fact that other teams of even smaller market size have competed. Is
The Pirates, with an outstanding ballpark built at taxpayer expense, aren’t even a long shot every year. They are a no shot. That ballpark, by the way, was supposed to help the Pirates compete, since Three Rivers Stadium was supposedly holding them back. Then came revenue sharing. It’s made the Pirates extremely profitable. But wins seem to be on the same track.
So I sit and grumble each year about how unfair the system is, ‘they’ are against the Pirates, and how ‘real’ teams wouldn’t waste money on outlandishly expensive players. But just like my grandma, I know it’s not true. But facing the truth hurts too much.
26 March 2008 08:09
Great title. And a great job of calling out an owner who’s too cheap to spend enough money to compete. The situation reminds me of the Philadelphia Eagles. Excuses are running out for these small market teams.
26 March 2008 08:49
The team is riddled with puzzling moves over the past few years, too. Hopefully, the answer was the removal of Dave Littlefield as GM. They have just 3 Top 100 Prospects (Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker & Steve Pearce). They have had mediocre draft success over the past few years.
And what about the Matt Morris trade? What made sense there?
Even better is the ‘02 offseason trade for Matt Herges only to release him prior to the start of the ‘03 season. One of the prospects they gave up in that trade… Chris Young, San Diego’s #2 starter.
Small market teams have been successful and big market teams have fallen flat on their face… it’s about quality of decisions. I’ve been a Phillies fan all my life and seen them just piss away money and then cry “we’re not a true big market team.” Now the team is thriving thanks to some really great moves over the past 10 years (including NOT trading Ryan Howard and instead trading Jim Thome) the Fightin’ Phils are true contenders.
27 March 2008 10:30
I’m going to go on record here predicting Zach Duke for comeback player of the year… one of these years anyway. I saw him pitch in AAA and he was absolutely disgusting. That was about four years ago now, and I’ve never understood what his problem has been in the majors, but maybe a new regime will have the solution that’s been eluding him.
27 March 2008 20:00
I’ve always enjoyed your writings John, nicely done. And I’ve always been partial to your Pirates from afar in Beantown. We are Family was so fun, this former 16 y.o. got caught up in it way up here. O
27 March 2008 20:26
I’ve always enjoyed your writings John, nicely done. And I’ve always had a soft spot for your Pirates from afar here in Beantown. “We are Family” was so fun, this former 16 y.o. got caught up in it way up here. 1979 Pirates roster is filled with many of my all time favorite players (along with the ‘75 REDS & of course, the ‘75 Red Sox).
I hope that you see a light at the end of that tunnel and that the Bucs be competitive soon and return to their former Glories.
28 March 2008 13:40
Ray, I know you’ll always keep a warm spot for the last team Bernie Carbo played for, the Pirates. Or the last team Luis Tiant played for, the Pirates. Old Red Sox never die, they just play their last few games either with or against the Pirates, ala George Herman Ruth.