The Pittsburgh Pirates Deserve Better

A sea of overjoyed fans draped in black and gold as far as the eye could see was on its feet, pushing PNC Park to capacity on a crisp October afternoon. This was the atmosphere I faked a doctor’s appointment to enjoy during my sophomore year of high school in 2013, when the Pirates made the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. I had been to 100 Pirates games, but never before had I experienced Yinzer energy rocking the North Shore midday in October. Something special was happening, almost tacitly understood by my 40,000 fellow Pittsburghers disregarding school and work obligations that day. For all we knew, it might be another 20 years until playoff baseball returned to the Steel City.