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If you've paid any attention to sports news today, you already know that the Pittsburgh Pirates' internal books got leaked somehow. Furthermore, you know that the Pirates have "won by losing" as so many talking heads have spouted on radio and TV today. In fact, they've "won" by a tune of about $29.4 million in 2007 and 2008.
Apparently, most people are up in arms about the Pirates. I listened to MLB Radio on Sirius today on my way home from work where Jim Bowden (I think) said that the Pirates' spending pocketing of all that revenue sharing cash would end up being a huge problem in the next collective bargaining agreement. While Bowden may be correct in his conclusion, he (and many others whom I heard or read from today) is completely off base when it comes to how they feel about the Pirates.
The Pirates are not the devil.
At least, they aren't the devil any more than the Yankees or Red Sox are the devil.
Here's why: Pittsburgh, according to MLB representatives, has fully complied with the rules governing spending*. As such, they are playing by the same set of guidelines as every other club, including the big boys like New York, the middle guys like St. Louis, and the so-called poor paupers like Florida. Pittsburgh, however, has taken a different route to the ultimate goal of every professional sports team. Making a profit.
Sure, it's an ugly way to get there - jettisoning players such as Jason Bay, Jack Wilson, and Matt Capps to keep payroll at a bare minimum, but it's a legitimate way to earn money. And, as the leaked numbers prove, Pittsburgh is making money.
Of course, many people (and most pundits) aren't willing or able to understand that. Instead, they've been focusing on the sentimentality and illusion of playing the game "the right way." The Yankees, they all say, play the game the right way. They abide by the rules and pay their luxury tax so that they can acquire the best players to help them win. The Yankees play to win they say.
Wrong. Well, not wrong in so much as not correct enough.
The Yankees don't play to win - they play to win so that they make money. By the transitive property, the Yankees play to make money - and I'm not begrudging them of that in any way. Going back to the Pirates, most say the Pirates play to lose. I say the Pirates play to lose to make money - once again meaning, the Pirates play to make money (just like the Yankees).
In short, neither the Yankees nor the Pirates are living up to the sentimental "play the game for fun" idea. Both teams, like every other professional franchise, are playing to make money. Do you honestly believe that there would be a professional league in any sport if the teams/players/owners etc. didn't make money? If you do, look no further than the XFL or the women's soccer league.
Finally, going back to the Pirates one last time, consider the following: If you were offered two jobs, one where you worked 5 days a week for a decent salary, and the other where you worked 2 days a week for a salary slightly hire than the first job, which would you take? I'm guessing the second choice - which is essentially the same choice the Pirates made.
You see, the Pirates aren't the devil; they are simply too much like us. We'd rather our sports players be heroes and our sports teams live up to lofty goals like "playing to win" rather than dealing with the bottom line. Unfortunately, it's the bottom line that keeps sports going - and because of that, the Pirates aren't the devil, they just aren't any better than you or I.
*There is some debate about this point. If it is eventually discovered that Pittsburgh has somehow circumnavigated the rules and lined management's pockets with cash, well, then Pittsburgh might be the devil after all.
Image source: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1280&bih=648&q=pittsburgh+pirates&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
Don't take any of this the wrong way, but...
ReplyDeleteDefending the decisions that are made by the Pirates brilliant management team is like trying to douse a burning building with gasoline.
Hooray Pirates! You saved money by not paying players to play. You made a profit which is what every team intends to do in the game. You worked less and got paid more....
You know what? That's horse @#$%!!!
They are a professional ball club. They should act like it. Do some research. Scout your division. Develop your team. And for God sake, put a product on the field that people will come to see. You want money? Put butts in the seats.
If you want to talk about playing the game for the love of the game or the fun of it, winning is the product of that "fun" and that "love". The only reason to go out there (in any sport for that matter) is to prove you are the best at what you do. The Pirates do nothing but prove they have better things to do than play baseball. This is why the Pirates will never be more than the #4 sport in the city of Pittsburgh. The Steelers, Penguins, and Pitt football are all ahead by miles.
We still love you, Pirates but Bob Nutting can go to hell.
Yours truly,
The Proto-typical, cheering on the inside, face-palm sporting, self-loathing, self-deprecating Pirates Fan.
First, let me say thanks for the comment - I don't often step into the "opinion" arena on my blog...at least not lately, but I was hoping to hear some dissenting views!
ReplyDeleteSecond, my point is that any observer has to take "feelings and emotions" out of the equation. The Pirate management has run the team like it is some sort of cutthroat business. They've maximized profits at every corner - often to the detriment of the product (in this case, wins). However, as a business they've been successful thus far (as a team they've been terrible).
Now, I do suspect that their current business plan has been shot full of holes - they can no longer cry "we are so poor so we have to trade away our yearly all-star." I fully expect the Pirates to at least dabble in free agency - more because they now have to in order to save face with their few remaining fans (and perhaps more importantly, the other 29 ball clubs).
Few remaining fans is an understatement. I think there are about 300 of us or so and I'm not even sure I count.
ReplyDelete