Another horrendous Pirates baseball season wears on Pittsburgh's psyche

In 1979, Jimmy Carter was president of the United States.

A meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant outside Harrisburg held the nation’s attention.

And 63 Americans were taken hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Iran.

It also was the year the Pittsburgh Pirates won their last world championship.

Fans now seem resigned to the idea that a return to winning baseball for the Pirates is a pipe dream. The best they hope for is a pleasant night at the ballpark.

“It’s just sad because you have one of the most beautiful ballparks in baseball,” said Fred Resh, 64, of Lower Burrell, a partial season ticket holder. “It’s just a shame.”

It’s been 41 years since the Pirates won a World Series. Before that, their longest drought was 35 years, from 1925 to 1960.

But the beauty of spring and summer baseball still draws fans to the park, no matter the team’s record. In 1979, the team drew 1,435,454 to cavernous Three Rivers Stadium. In 2019, a team with a record of 69-93 drew 1,491,439 to PNC Park.

“Pittsburgh is a sports city, and they love their teams. There’s people that will love the Pirates no matter how bad they’re doing,” said Matt Michalko, 30, an upstate New York native who moved to Brentwood in 2008.

Those fans are people who have made a tradition of going to games and will do so regardless of the team’s performance, he said.

It is unlikely many folks, even the most loyal fans, are holding their breath for another winning season.

“A few years ago, when they got competitive and started competing for the division, their attendance skyrocketed. People went and they got excited because they were winning and they were in the playoffs,” said Tommy Moore, 71, of West View, a Pirates partial season ticket holder. “Right now, I don’t see an avenue with the direction they are taking to get back to (the playoffs) anytime soon, no matter what they say.”

John Clark, a sports management professor at Robert Morris University and a baseball fan, says the anger being expressed by Pirates fans isn’t all bad for the team.

“I think it’s really frustration that most people are feeling,” Clark said. “At least it’s not apathy. If people are apathetic, we’re done.”

And there are enough dedicated fans to ensure that won’t happen.

One of them is Tom Dinga, 65, of Ford City, who has held Pirates full or partial season tickets since the late 1990s.

“You have to stick with them,” said Dinga. “You always tell your kids that you’re a fan if you stick by them through good and bad. Unfortunately, there has been more bad, but I think they’ll be better … but then I’m a hopeless romantic.”