Pittsburgh's Other Team: The Pirates

By: Melissa Cunningham

In sports rivalries are formed and forged through many factors. One factor is geography, such as college football rivals like Ohio State and Michigan or Florida and Florida State. These rivalries prospered because of how close these schools are and that every year these teams play and local bragging rights are at stake. Another factor is star power; a lot of sports rivalries are products of the teams’ major stars being marketed. An example of that can be found in my last blog, the Penguins and Capitals rivalry is fueled by the two mega stars of hockey: Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Another example of this type of rivalry happened in the 1980’s when the Lakers and Celtics were bitter rivals; their feud was spurred on by those teams’ mega stars Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Another factor in forming rivalries is history and tradition. The Yankees and Red Sox have a long rivalry that started because the Red Sox traded star player Babe Ruth to the Yankees which led to numerous championships for the Yankees and a long title drought for the Red Sox. This feud has lasted almost a century because of the rich tradition of these two teams and the legacy of players who played and participated in the rivalry.

But looking at all these factors, there is one reason that may shine above the others: Greatness. All the great rivalries in sports are centered on teams that fight over championships and playoff spots. So where does this leave the teams that are not winners? Outlining all the factors that I have laid out I will show why one Pittsburgh team is not engaged in a rivalry currently. The Pittsburgh Pirates were not always like this, they used to be a team that was great, that contended for titles, and that had rivals. But today is a different story.

The first factor is geography. The closest two teams distance wise to the Pirates are the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians. The Indians play in the American League and the Pirates play in the National league, meaning these two teams do not play regularly and never really had enough in common to forge a rivalry. The Phillies and Pirates were once bitter rivals, when they were in the same division and when they were fighting for a playoff spot. Back in the 1970’s both teams desperately fought for the right to represent the National League East in the playoffs. But when the Pirates stopped contending for titles and when the league redevised their divisions, this rivalry fell to the wayside. The Pirates were in the National League Central and the Phillies were in the National League East. This meant these teams would only play just 6 games against each other a year. But more importantly it meant there was little to no playoff implications when these two teams played.

The second factor was star power. This did not use to be a problem for the Pirates. In the early seventies the Pirates had one of the true stars of baseball in Roberto Clemente. This transitioned to the late seventies when the Pirates had Willie Stargell and Dave Parker. Even the early nineties saw the Pirates have stars such as Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Doug Drabek. But the economics of baseball and losing game after game wreaked havoc on the Pirates. The Pirates lost their three stars of the nineties to free agency. Pittsburgh being a small market town could not afford to pay these stars the same wages they could make by testing the waters of free agency. When Bobby Bonilla left Pittsburgh he went to the New York Mets where he became the highest paid player in the National League. Pittsburgh could not lure star free agents into the city with the incentive of money. The only other way to entice free agents is a shot at a world championship. Unfortunately the Pirates now hold the pro sports record for most consecutive losing seasons. Meaning they have no star power in Pittsburgh.

The third reason was history and tradition. The current Pirates have no historical significance to spark them. Back in the early nineties the Pirates fought the Atlanta Braves consistently for the right to go to the World Series. The Braves’ fans would bring foam tomahawks and the Pirate fans would bring foam pirate hooks. This rivalry was forming and when former Pirate Sid Bream slid home to beat the Pirates and send the Braves to the World Series; it looked like the seeds were planted to start a rivalry rich with history and tradition. Unfortunately that was the last winning season the Pirates had and when you no longer stay in the playoff picture, you are no longer relevant.

As I said, the major reason for rivalries is greatness. The Pirates have not been great for a long time and because of that the new generations of fans have not seen them have a winning season. Baseball’s economics and a long series of bad management have made the Pirates into a place no team should ever be: a laughing stock. The Pirates are just now trying to get back to winning baseball. They are trying to establish new stars like Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker, while investing money into their draft picks to make stars of the future.  Only time will tell if the Pirates can become great and maybe establish a rivalry of their own and give their loyal fans a true reason to cheer and more importantly a true reason to care.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente