Comments on: The Pittsburgh Pirates and artisanal baseball

By: Louise

Louise — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:04:57 +0000

Pittsburgh Pirates should be always competitive enough to keep pace with the others. I really like them; they’ve always been my favourite teams in MLB. Just read about them here: http://www.piratesdaily.com

By: Tom Guarriello

Tom Guarriello — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:19:50 +0000

I feel so bad about recommending my Buccos to you, Grant. Sixteen straight losing seasons. Sigh. But, we are a scrappy bunch this year and I have a strange feeling that we might just break .500. That would be a joy! More likely, however, the prospect of still another year of dashed hopes! No…I will not despair…Beat ‘em Bucs! We will appreciate our wins so much more than those smug front-runners. Right? Someday…

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:12:39 +0000

As a proud Cubs fan who grew up in Chicagoland, I have to defend my team here! I have to say that nothing would make us happier than a World Series championship–I don’t know anyone who can stand the “lovable losers” tag, every single Cubs fan I’ve ever known hates that.

Whew, Grant, you’ve brought up a much harsher subject than maybe you expected!

By: Christopher

Christopher — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:11:33 +0000

Yes thank you Nigel. I grew up in Chicagoland as a rare breed: a White Sox Fan from the North Side. But GOD help me if I’d turned out to be a Cubs fan who make losing look gauche and entirely unsportsman-like . It’s not beautiful losers, its preppy douchebags clinging to losing because, well, a life of privilege means never having to lose, unless you want to in order to buy some sort of failure cred. That’s not artisanal — that’s buying distressed jeans at J. Crew. Gag.

By: Nigel Mellish

Nigel Mellish — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:14:03 +0000

“But what if we’ve got this all wrong. I wonder if we should take a page from Leonard Cohen and think of the Pirates as beautiful losers. ”

Don’t do that, then you’ll be @ssholes like Cubs fans (and Red Sox fans until they finally won)

By: Rick Liebling

Rick Liebling — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:56:38 +0000

I grew up loving the Pirates of the late-70s/early-80s: Pops Stargell, Foli, Gardner, Madlock, Moreno, Parker, Tekulve, the Candy Man. LOVED the Pirates. Still loved them in the late-80s: Bobby Bo, Bonds, Van Slyke, Smiley, Drabek, Jose Lind, Sid Bream, Jeff King. Then I stopped rooting for them. Not because they were losing, I can live with that, but because the management was so God-awful. No plan, no idea how to build a team. I have a very eclectic, non-geographic, rooting interest: Red Sox, Steelers, Red Wings, Arsenal FC. What they have in common is strong management. Alas, the Bucs are still in the wildernss on this issue.