Man Up and Walk Out You Pansies!

Irate Pittsburgh Pirate fans staged a pregame rally on Saturday before their game against the Washington Nationals. In an attempt to show principal owner Bob Nutting their displeasure in the teams unwillingness to make the economic sacrifices needed to field a successfull baseball team. The disgruntled fans urged spectators to walk out following the 3rd inning and wear green as a sign of the owners greed. They were unable to garner much support though, as only a few thousand of the more than 26,000 fans walked out, with many of the protestors being booed as they left. The demonstration was likely hurt by the rare Pirate offensive rally in the second inning that left the Bucs leading 6-1 by the time the arranged walkout rolled around.

Pittsburgh baseball fans may be the most lackadaisical fans in the majors. Even during the midst of their last quality days in the early 1990's, they seemed to just not care. My uncle and Pittsburgh native disgustedly tells stories from the 1991 NLCS when he was able to go the Three Rivers Stadium an hour before a deciding Game 7 and purchase tickets at the window. This was for a game that could send the Pirates to their first World Series since 1979, and Pittsburgh couldn't even field a sellout crowd!

I'm not sure what it would take to get this town upset about the ownership. The Pirates are ranked 27th out of 30 teams in total payroll, and are one of only 4 teams with a payroll under $50 million. They haven't had a playoff appearance or even a winning record since 1992. Their hot start at the beginning of this season marked the first time they'd had a record above .500 since 1992 as well. The MLB revenue sharing agreement that was ratified in 2002 has led to more available money for the Pirates, yet their payroll is nearly $20 million lower than it was in 2001, even though MLB requires that all revenue sharing income be spent to "improve performance on the field". Since 2001, when Pirate ownership convinced Pittsburgh to build a $216 million PUBLICLY FINANCED stadium, the Pirates haven't finished higher than 4th in the NL Central division.

A 2005 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found that the team is profitable, but it is unclear where those profits are going since ball clubs are not required by MLB to publicly disclose finances. The article also noted that ball clubs in similar markets were increasing payrolls. In 2005, the Milwaukee Brewers were also in a 12 year stretch of losing seasons, but had been increasing their payroll from a lowly $27.5 million in 2001, to just over $40 million in 2005, and, after opening their finances up to public audit have since increased it to more than $70 million this year. The results are clear, as the 2007 Brewers have the best record in the NL and are currently 14 games above .500 and 7.5 games in front of the Cubs for 1st place in the NL Central. Meanwhile the Pirates, with a payroll of $38.6 million(just over half of the Brewer's), are 10 games under .500 and 12 games behind the Brewers.

It's long overdue for the Pirate ownership to take responsibility for the quality of their baseball team. They have consistently refused to pay quality players, instead opting for a strategy of trading the good players. As long as Pittsburgh sits back and doesn't question the way they are running this once great team into the ground by allowing 14 consecutive losing seasons(and counting), they will not improve. So next time you have the opportunity, man up and walk out for an inning. You don't even have to leave the game, but do everything you can to tell Bob Nutting that you don't like watching a team lose year after year after year. Especially when they're doing it in a stadium built with 216 million of your hard earned dollars.