The Pirates Aren’t Actually A New Team

This post is a Guest Post from our reader Kaitlin Rulon. Take it easy on her, this is her first time.

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The past couple weeks there has been this team, the Pirates, atop the National League Central division. I thought to myself, “The Pirates? Unless it’s a Disney movie, I’ve never even heard of them. They must be new. And to be in first place right now? You go, Pirates!”

To stifle my curiosity, I did a little research on these so-called Pirates, and supposedly they’re located in Pittsburgh. Who knew?!  I always thought it was weird that Pittsburgh, home of steel and Mr. Rogers, didn’t have a major league baseball team. Any city that has societal contributions that large deserves themselves a team!

You can imagine my surprise when I found out that the Pirates are far from new. They’ve actually been in the league for…like…ever. I know right?! I had no clue either! I surveyed 100 people about whether or not they knew who the Pittsburgh Pirates were and not one person knew what I was talking about.*

I figured at least people in Pittsburgh have to know they have a baseball team. I mean, I’m from Kansas City and I’ve at least heard of the Royals. Although, I never waste my money going to see them (unless it’s T-Shirt Tuesdays – I will never turn down a free t-shirt).  I talked to a few friends in Pittsburgh and, until recently, none of them knew they had a baseball team in their midst.

“Anytime I want to go to a baseball game, I drive to Philly or Cleveland. And to think, we’ve had a team all along,” one friend told me.

Heck, Roberto Clemente didn’t even know who the Pirates were and he spent his entire Major League career on the Pirates. It’s a shame, really.

I read through the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh City Paper archives, and it seems as if until about 2-weeks-ago, the press didn’t even know Pittsburgh had a baseball team. In fact, I read an article from 2009 in which Pittsburgh mayor, Luke Ravenstahl, dedicated a day to the success of professional sports in Pittsburgh, stating he “couldn’t be more excited for all of our teams. The city of Pittsburgh is so proud of the Steelers and Penguins.” Now that the people of Pittsburgh know the Pirates exist, maybe the day of recognition will include the new-and-improved team.

New or not, I’d like to give a shout out to the Pirates for currently having an above .500 record, a feat that has proved basically impossible for them the past two decades.  They also sent three players to the MLB All-Star game: Kevin Correia, Joel Hanrahan, and Andrew McCutchen. (all of whom will probably be traded before the trade deadline just out of habit but the Pirates front offices) McCutchen was surprised when he was told he was voted to the All-Star game saying, “Nobody really knows much about that game around here.” He was also surprised to find out that teams can play past September.

* – Other professional franchises you may not know exist: Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Bengals, Sacramento Kings, Detroit Lions

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Want to contact Kaitlin and congratulate her for a job well done? You can follow her on Twitter: @kaitlinrulon

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