Hopelessness springs eternal for Pirates fans

It’s been a winter of discontent for Pirates fans.

It started Dec. 1 when the Pirates traded catcher Jacob Stallings, a player beloved by fans and his teammates, not long after he won a Gold Glove award for his excellent 2021 season.

It was perceived by the Pirates faithful as yet another hit in a series of them dating to last summer when Pittsburgh dealt popular All-Star second baseman Adam Frazier to San Diego for prospects.

Or when closer Richard Rodriguez was traded to Atlanta, and relievers Austin Davis to Boston and Clay Holmes to the Yankees last July for — prospects.

Opening Day of the 2022 season is here, and members of the Pirates fan base want to see a winning — or even competitive — team on the field.

Buffalo Township resident Tim Davis said he hasn’t followed the Pirates since the 1990s. He said he would regain interest if the team won more games and management increased payroll.

“The owners won’t spend money,” Davis said, while shopping at Dick’s Sporting Goods at Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer. “There’s no point in being excited because they get rid of their talent.”

The notion that Stallings was traded to Miami for a 3-7 pitcher named Zach Thompson and a couple of minor league prospects, pitcher Kyle Nicolas and outfielder Connor Scott — who may well pan out someday — didn’t assuage the feelings of fans tired of hearing about the future.

“They don’t care enough about winning,” said Sylvia DeMarco, 87, Mt. Washington. “I blame owner Bob Nutting, because he’s not doing what he should be doing for the Pirates and for us, the people who go to the games. He’s just not producing, and he won’t spend the money. I think that’s wrong.”

Crafting a winner?

In March, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington told the Tribune-Review that ownership plans to craft a winner.

“Nothing changes as far as what we need to do to build a winning team,” he said at the time. “It’s all the same stuff we talked about before and respect the fact there are a lot of different people in that room who worked really hard to figure out a way to get it done and get us 162 games this year.”

It’s a hard sell for fans.

Seated at a table at Breakfast at Shelly’s restaurant in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood, DeMarco talked about being a Pirates fan and attending games since she was 12 years old.

But she has no plans to go to a game anytime soon unless Nutting starts doing things to her satisfaction.

“I’d like to see him get some better players and spend some money so we can have a decent baseball team,” she said.

The Pirates are not expected to win much of anything this year. They lost 101 games last year. Some pundits are predicting they’ll be even worse this year and not even reach the 60-win plateau.

Oakmont resident Ronald Tejchman is tired of what he perceives as greed on the part of ownership.

“Players are constantly moving to other teams or they finally get a good player, but then two or three years later they are gone,” said Tejchman at a Walmart store in the Pittsburgh Mills shopping complex.

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Interest left when ‘Cutch’ did

The Pirates’ perceived callousness when it comes to trading away popular players is nothing new. In 2018, they dealt center-fielder Andrew McCutchen, the 2013 National League Most Valuable Player, to the San Francisco Giants. McCutchen was beloved in the Pittsburgh region.

Jim Bosco, owner of Major Stokes restaurant in Greensburg, said he lost interest in the Pirates when McCutchen and other stars were traded.

“I can’t name a single player on the team,” said Bosco, who added that watching the Pirates now is like watching basketball “between the Washington Generals (perennial losers) and the Harlem Globetrotters.”

“Until they care about winning, I don’t care about them.”

Ironically, one of the players the Pirates received in the McCutchen trade, All-Star centerfielder Bryan Reynolds, is the new face of the Pirates’ self-imposed financial constraint. Reynolds is in a standoff with Pirates management over $675,000 — the difference between the $4.9 million annual salary Reynolds is asking for and the $4.25 million the Pirates are offering.

It’s headed for arbitration and, after this, Reynolds may not be long for the organization.

A diehard fan

Despite the gloomy outlook, not all Pirates fans have given up hope.

“If they have a 50-50 chance to win, I will watch and go to the game,” said Jim Dreskler, 64, Hempfield.

He was the only one of a dozen fans surveyed in the Greensburg area who knew the names of more than five current Pirates players.

“You have to be of a certain age to still be a Pirates fan,” said Dreskler. “We grew up with them. I followed them then, I’ll follow them now.”