Being a Pirate fan in California gives me few opportunities to watch my team play, though when I do have the chance, I rarely pass it up. With snobby ESPN only airing “good” teams, I must rely on local broadcasts, TBS and WGN. The Bucs usually play the Giants (local) and Braves (TBS) 6 teams per season each. About two thirds of those are televised locally. And they play the Cubs about 15 or so times, with maybe 6 or 7 on WGN. I try to catch all of those games. Occasionally, the White Sox (WGN) or the A’s (local) will show up on the Bucs’ schedule, thanks to interleague play. I don’t miss those either. So in a normal year, I get to watch maybe 15 Pirates games on TV.
When the Pirates come to town to play the Giants (or A’s) I usually just go to one game. Partly because of money but also due to the jinx I put on them. Over the course of 18 seasons, the Pirates have probably not won more than a third of the games I’ve attended. I saw them win last year at San Francisco, which may have been their first victory I witnessed since I watched them beat the Rockies in Denver in 1999. The Pirates have enough trouble winning; I don’t want to exacerbate the situation.
So where do I turn to get my fix? I often frequent the Bucs’ official MLB site as well as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s coverage. I’m a fan of Dejan Kovacevic’s Q & A on the Post-Gazette site. I visit ESPN.com and CSB Sportsline too. I’m also fortunate enough to be friends with a handful of baseball fans (Even my wife! Though, since she’s from Rhode Island, she likes the Red Sox), none of which are Pirates fans, unfortunately.
Other than that, I have my overactive imagination. I have been known, over the years, to make lists of the Pirates’ roster, projected roster for the next season, guesstimated statistics, player salaries (taking arbitration into account, of course), potentially attractive free agents, and so forth. Sometimes I even have imaginary conversations with Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson as I fall asleep at night.
So maybe I’m using this blog as therapy. A way to cope with fifteen frustrating years. Or maybe the imaginative, and optimistic, part of me hopes that this will have a sort of butterfly effect on the Pirates, if not a more direct effect. Maybe Bob Nutting will read this and think ‘Wow. This fan’s optimism and bravery inspire me. I think I’ll go trade for Russell Martin and Brad Penny.’ But he’ll probably just think ‘Damn. We can do whatever we want and they’ll still like us. Suckers.’
2 comments:
"Maybe Bob Nutting will read this and think ‘Wow. This fan’s optimism and bravery inspire me. I think I’ll go trade for Russell Martin and Brad Penny.’ But he’ll probably just think ‘Damn. We can do whatever we want and they’ll still like us. Suckers.’"
The later most likely.
Good read though very funny. I am looking forward to future articles.
Thanks for reading, sir. Go Warriors?
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