Another Champion In Our Lifetime

Roberto218 · Post by **Roberto218** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:14 am

I was born on August 31, 1956. I am 62 years old. I became a Pirates fan during the 1960 World Series. I asked my Dad who was playing when the game was on tv. He said it was the Pirates and the Yankees. I said, what about the Indians? My Dad said that the Indians were not playing. Had the Indians been playing, I probably would have been an Indians fan. But given the choice between a Yankee and a Pirate, the decision was easy. I had no idea what a Yankee was but I knew what a Pirate was. Accordingly, for the past 59 years, I have been a Bucs fan. World Championships I 1960, 1971 and 1979. For the first 23 years of my life, I thought it was normal to win a World Series every 9 or 10 years.Times have changed! 1979 was 40 years ago. I am 62 going on 63. My mom lived for almost 96 years, and my dad almost 89 years.

The question posed is an obvious one: what are the chances of the Pirates winning a World Series in my lifetime or your lifetime?

I just don’t know. How many years to the next Bucs championship?

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:48 am

I think we can see that the Nutting regime is not legitimately trying to win a championship. Unless they change their philosophy to something more than "do the best we can with a very low payroll" there will never be another championship under this leadership.

ChitownBucco · Post by **ChitownBucco** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:53 am

I was born late in 1977, so was not even 2 years old for the Last World Series win.

became a fan at a tough time in 1985, and was crushed by the 3 failures to make it back to the world series in the Van Slyke/Leyland years.

I'm faced with wondering if i'll ever see a Championship at all in my lifetime.

I think major changes will need to be made in the upcoming CBA bargaining for it to have a decent shot of happening.

Ecbucs · Post by **Ecbucs** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 2:28 am

I was born in 1956 and think the best chance for the Bucs to win the World Series is for baseball to greatly expand the playoffs to be similar to hockey and basketball.

Otherwise the team isn't going to be in the post season very often.

So my bottom line is I don't expect to see the team as World Series champions again in my lifetime.

And I think realizing that has made me less of a fan than I used to be for both the team and MLB in general.

DemDog · Post by **DemDog** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 2:34 am

I've been witness to 3 WS Champ teams. Also around during some miserable years including the 20 straight losing seasons. My love for the team never wavered.

But now with my health declining and the current ownership and it's lowball payrolls and unwillingness to do something significant to make this team a consistently in the picture for a WS team I most likely will not see another one.

My desire is for those of you who have never been able to enjoy the happiness of the Bucs winning the WS to be able to do so. There is nothing like seeing our favorite team parading around downtown Pittsburgh with a WS trophy in hand.

PMike · Post by **PMike** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 2:13 pm

I was born in 1982. I have wondered if I would ever see the Pirates win one. I'm a Pens and Steelers fan and it's been fun to watch them win championships. But neither of those compare to the Pirates winning a championship for me. It would be an incredible experience.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 2:57 pm

It's very difficult to win a championship. A lot of teams are after the same thing. Injures and slumps and just plain bad luck play into it. A lot of good teams don't win the prize. The Red Sox went 86 years without a championship. It took the Cubs 108 years. And those teams were trying!!! The Pirates are not trying. They're just not. Their goal is to be as competitive as a shoestring payroll will allow. That's not really trying. Other teams are making legitimate efforts and even most of them will fail. It's a race TBMTIB chooses not to participate in. But they're making money meeting their own goals. They know that runs counter to the interest of the fans. So they have to BS us to pretend our team has a legitimate chance.

I love the Bucs. Always will. Rarely miss a game on TV. But I'm a realist. I see how it is. But that life long interest was forged by the likes of Clemente, Mazeroski, Groat, Law, Friend, Face, Alou, Oliver, Mota, Burgess, Virdon, Giusti, Hebner, Drabek, Candy, Pops, Teke and so many more members of competitive teams. The kids growing up in the modern Pirate era have only a few star players who are moved when their salaries get too high for Nutting and largely noncompetitive teams. I don't see how younger generations of fans will develop a lifelong affinity for the Bucs. They are lured to the ballpark with fireworks, bobbleheads, concerts, animated scoreboards, prizes, etc. Attendance sags because Nutting is trying to attract fans with everything except what would work: a good team.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 4:55 pm

I am another one of those older Pirate Followers. I was only 8 in 1960 so I do recall some of the exciting season and World Series. The World Championships of 1971 and 1979 were much more enjoyable since I was older. I remain a dedicated fan of the Pirates, but under the current ownership, and the uneven playing field of MLB , I doubt if the stars will allign in order for the Pirates to win another championship in my lifetime. As a final note I thought we would make it in 1991 or 1992, but it wasn’t in the cards. Also the Wild Card Game of 2013 which my son and I attended is the most exciting Bucco game that I ever attended.

IABucFan · Post by **IABucFan** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 6:00 pm

I'm 37, born in 1981. I became a fan in 1990. As a nine year old, I just picked a team that was good at the time and said, "That's my team." It helped that my dad was/is sort of a Pirates fan, too. But, I'm a Pirates fan for the same reason I'm also a San Francisco 49ers fan, even though I've never lived in either city. Both were good when I was a little kid.

I would love to see another championship, but I doubt it happens. And I'm relatively young. If I live a "normal" life of 80 years, I still have 43 chances. Statistically, it should happen. But...

...statistically, in a five team division, you should win a division title once every five years or so. The Pirates haven't won one in 27 years. In a 15 team league, you should be in the LCS every 7-8 years. The Pirates haven't been in one in 27 years. You should be in the World Series every 15 years. The Pirates haven't been in one in 40. And you should win one every 30 years. Again, the Pirates haven't won one in 40. Honestly, rather than a World Series, I'd settle for a division title. Baby steps.

I try to be as positive as I possibly can be, but let's face it...the Pirates are losers. They are accustomed to losing. It's like it's in their DNA. I thought they were going to break out of that mold in 2013-2015, but those years didn't lay the groundwork for anything. They got lucky on three reclamation projects (Burnett, Liriano, and Martin) and arguably on a fourth (Volquez). It's overtly evident that their strategy is to hope that some project succeeds. If he does, they'll be successful. If he doesn't (ala Vogelsong in 2016), they'll be abysmal. Either way you slice it, it's not proactive in terms of putting a winning product on the field. it's hoping that every so often, you get lucky.

johnfluharty · Post by **johnfluharty** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 6:28 pm

I was 9 in 1979 when the Pirates last won it all and I have been a fan ever since. Now, I am less upset with Nutting than I am with baseball itself. To me, without better revenue sharing as well as a floor and cap, baseball will never be truly competitive again. Sure, Nutting could spend a little more, but never close to $200 million.