Kirschman: Pirates’ success attracts bandwagoners

This April, I went to a Pirates game. I bought my $10 ticket the day of the game and happily sat in left field with plenty of legroom. This April, I went to a Pirates game. I bought my $10 ticket the day of the game and happily sat in left field with plenty of legroom. It’s a routine that hasn’t changed much for me since I started watching the Bucs.

Then the Pirates started doing something they haven’t done consistently for 18 years: They started winning games.

And as the Bucs climbed the National League Central standings, ticket prices started to climb as well. During the time when the Pirates hovered around first place, I had to look for tickets in advance — a lesson I learned well when the only tickets I could find for the Pirates-St. Louis Cardinals series were standing room only. Not fun in the 95-degree heat.

Everyone, it seems, loves a winner.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved that the Pirates were winning. I loved that PNC Park was full. Finally, the stands were filled with people wearing Pirates shirts instead of Steelers jerseys and Penguins hats. People showed up to watch the game instead of the fireworks afterward. The most exciting event of game night was no longer the pierogi race.

Then, the Pirates started losing again. The Bucs went on a 10-game losing streak from July 29 to August 7. They gave up 28 runs in two games to the San Diego Padres -— one of the worst offensive teams in the league.

During the skid, the Pirates dropped to 54-59 and third place in the National League Central standings, 9.5 games back from the first place Milwaukee Brewers.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting some kind of slump from the Pirates this season — although I didn’t quite predict the 10-game slide. Teams don’t often move from 18-straight losing seasons to ending the season in first place. I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t expect many of the Pirates’ new “fans” to disappear with the skid.

I’ve been a Pirates fan since I was five years old, when my dad first took me to Three Rivers Stadium. He’s been an avid fan from the moment he was born, I think, and knows more about the Buccos than anyone I know. He’s been waiting for the Pirates to win again since 1992.

But he never stopped watching and neither did I. We tuned in to the Bucs almost every night. We watched the losing streak reach double digits, become old enough to drive and reach the point where it could legally buy tobacco. We never left and I know plenty of other Pirates fans that didn’t either.

Those fans, the ones that stayed through all the losing seasons, are also the ones that tuned in during the 10-game losing streak. During the Bucs’ 13-2 loss to the San Diego Padres on Aug. 6, my dad said something very reasonable: he never even expected to be considered a contender in the National League Central this year and that this season was more than he expected and hoped for.

Even though the Pirates are further back in the standings now, they aren’t in last place and 27 games back, either. I can’t help but wonder how many of the fans sitting in PNC Park gave up on the Pirates and refused to watch them around the ninth or 10th losing season. Those same fans are the ones that booed the Bucs during their last homestand and will disappear if the Pirates don’t climb to the top of the standings again.

My brother is one of those fans and every time he tries to talk about the Pirates with me now, I kindly remind him of this fact. He always tells me that “.500 isn’t the goal.” He’s right, it’s not. But it’s definitely a start. If the Bucs break the 18-year streak of losing season and finish above .500 this year, I’ll be happy.

If they don’t take another step next season, I won’t be happy. But I’ll never stop watching.

So maybe that’s why, as much as I’m enjoying this season — and yes, despite the losing streak, I’m still enjoying this season — I can’t help but feel annoyed at all the fair-weather fans crawling out of the woodwork. I’ve always been a firm believer that if you can’t support a team when it’s down — and the Pirates couldn’t have been much lower — than you don’t deserve to celebrate its success.

(I’ve also followed the Oakland Raiders since I was a kid, so I know suffering.)

Perhaps the most irritating of these fans are the ones who have an opinion on everything, but don’t really have any knowledge to back that opinion up. A guy behind me at a loss to St. Louis earlier this season  berated the Pirates pitching staff for a solid 15 minutes, asking everyone within earshot when the Bucs were going to get some decent pitchers.

Obviously Mr. Pitching Staff hadn’t been paying very close attention to the rest of the season, but must have heard on the radio that the Pirates are battling for first place and decided to come to the ballpark.

The Pirates’ pitchers have been the team’s greatest strength this season, ranked ninth in the Major Leagues with a collective 3.70 ERA.

Now the 9-1 loss to the Cardinals that night wasn’t the best pitching performance by any means. But it’s the offense that’s struggled for the Pirates this season, certainly not the pitching — a fact of which I was going to inform my new friend until the guy next to me beat me to it.

Sometimes I wish people would have to pass a test before they’re allowed into a game. I think plenty of Pirates fans would fail this season.

PNC Park would be a much happier place without them.