It would probably be patently dumb to make too much of this story, but it's still pretty funny.
A sign in front of the [Stroll Inn] on Fairhaven Road said, "If the Pirates lose, you win." The promotion called for a discount of a nickel off a pitcher of beer after every loss by the Pirates, who haven't had a winning season since 1992.
An email sent on May 12 by Pirates account executive Angela Criscella said, "An occasional joke and jab is expected here and there, but to create business by ripping on the home team is ridiculous and in my opinion distasteful." She urged bar patrons to "take your business away from the Stroll Inn and to other local restaurants instead."
This supposed boycott isn't coming from the Pirates - the article later quotes a Pirates spokesperson who hadn't heard of it. It sounds like it's just a Pirates employee who lacks a sense of irony. I suppose it's good that at least one Bucs employee is ready to unironically stick up for the team, but here she just sounds humorless. In a weekend when the Bucs are doing this silly promotion where they reduce ticket prices on certain seats based on runs scored, and doing it while simultaneously losing every game, I think the Stroll Inn's promotion is pretty funny and on-point. You don't even have to think of it as being disrespectful. It's just part of the goofy irony of being a Pirates fan. If I hadn't developed a sense of absurdity about all the losing, I probably would have quit following the team by now.
For what it's worth, it actually sounds like the team wouldn't even dislike the bar's ultimate intentions:
"It was a consolation -- like, hey, you may be sad about the Pirates losing, but we're going to give you a discount," [owner Estelle Aversa] said.
"They were just having fun, trying to bring in more people, actually, to come and watch the games," bar customer James Fagan said.