How much more can you take? (with poll)

I’ve been a Pirates fan since the days of Stargell, Sanguillen, Parker, and Tekulve. as I stated in the fanpost, I know what and why NH is doing what he’s doing, and I cannot see another way to return to another championship other than complete rebuilding from the minors up. yet such a wretched lineup as today’s game shakes my faith, much in the same way a religious person’s faith might be shaken after a horrible natural disaster.

I meant this fanpost not as troll material, but as a serious question, one that I hope to answer for myself (I have not voted in my poll yet). I am glad that you still have faith, Wilbur — if someone like yourself, who follows Pirates prospects better than anyone outside the PBC, still has faith, then there is hope for all.

that it’s still early for this management team, but i can say with at least a modicum of confidence that the answer to your first three questions is “probably”, whereas two years ago the answer to all three would have been “not a snowball’s chance in hell”

Pirates fan for life.

(Unless, of course, Bud Selig manages to land a team in SLC… that might cause issues. But I don’t ever see that happening, so yeah…)

many people there realigned their focus and enthusiasm to youth hockey, and retained only a passing interest in pro hockey. if I decided “I’m done” with the Pirates (and note that I haven’t voted in my own poll yet), that doesn’t mean I gotta become a Nationals fan (or change to any other team), or throw out my Roberto Clemente baseball cards. hopefully my 2-year-old son will want to try baseball when he’s older, and my wife and I will be behind him every step of the way. my point is, one can be a baseball fan without following a MLB team.

you’re right that it’s a bad poll question, though… there’s no “none of the above” option. just as I took a break from MLB following the 1994 work stoppage (and devoted my energies to grad school and playing in punk rock bands), I’ve decided that I need a break from these Pittsburgh Pirates.

I’ll be 40 next year… I work a full-time job that I love but has long hours, and have a young family at home that I love even more. right now, my “recreational” time is just too scarce to stay up late to catch the final score for a West Coast game, or “watch” a game via yahoo’s boxscore on a slow home computer with a dialup connection, or stay at work a little later so I could write a fanpost like the one above. (partially because I became a first-time father after I started writing it, it actually took me 2 years to finish my previous fanpost, re: which Pirates would you choose for the Atari RBI Baseball game.) and right now, I simply cannot justify my time and energy with such a guaranteed unrewarding short-term return.

finally, please understand I mean no slight to anyone here — I admire and respect your youthful enthusiasm, and hope the rest of you stick around until (if?) the PBC finally turns it around. but as a wise man once said, “I gotta go now.”

peace out!

Luckily, losing 100 games is pretty difficult. I’d take the 63+ win side of the wager for any team. I don’t expect the Pirates record to be substantially different than it has been the past decade or so.

that Nutting would make such a rash and impulsive move by firing NH that way. If anything, I think Nutting is willing to take a new approach of leaving the difficult decisions to FC and NH and simply giving a “yes” or “no” when it comes to his approval.

And with a team president in FC that actually knows how a MLB team should be constructed (as opposed to a clueless media mogul who abused it like a bad fantasy team), and a GM in NH that has experience with taking a small market team and making it competitive (as opposed to bad talent evaluators and money managers like Bonifay and Littlefield), I would feel confident putting my trust and faith in them.

It’s funny when I read and hear people talking about “more of the same” with all of the moves being made. Then I have to remind them that the days of “Operation Shutdown”, Pat Meares, Jason Kendall, Jeromy Burnitz and other bad baseball/money moves are over.

If NH did what the fans want, like sink a bunch of money into players who weren’t worth it, put all of his eggs in the free agency basket, and put less emphasis on the draft and player development, then it actually WOULD be more of the same!

But it’s not. What he’s doing is taking the same approach that Branch Rickey did five decades ago that laid the groundwork for what became the ’60 World Series team. And it took moves like using a Rule 5 draft pick on a skinny outfielder from Puerto Rico, knowing that someday he could blossom into the first Latin-born star and an icon in the sport.

I don’t want a guy who just spends ridiculous amounts of money just to look like everybody else. I want someone who knows baseball, and what it takes to win. And while we won’t see the proof immediately, I’m fairly confident that guy is here. And for that, I can wait to see his work come to fruition.