The Pittsburgh Pirates fans have had some rough times over the years, but this time the hurt feels personal. The team has been struggling on the field for sure, but that’s nothing new. What is new is that even the soul of the franchise is getting whittled away—brick by brick. And fans are left screaming from the stands, “Sell the team!” 

These chants have almost become a part of the soundtrack at PNC Park. It’s the only loud thing among the empty stands, the vibes, and the respect the team claims to have for its fans. Because the team recently hit fans with something so bitter that even they didn’t see it coming. Hundreds of personalized fan bricks, those small tribunes outside the stadium that so many people paid for, some even in honor of their loved ones—vanished!

There were no warnings and no heads-up. The bricks were there one day, and gone the next. Later, the team said the bricks were stored for renovations. But fans didn’t pay heed to their explanations, because the Pirates didn’t break this news themselves; fans only found out from KDKA. And this behavior speaks volumes about the direction the team is headed and their current mindset. And Travis Sawchik summed it up best.

The senior baseball writer at theScore said, “As a lifelong Pirates fan, a former employee, and a former season-ticket holder, I don’t believe the morale around the team has ever been worse.” And where is the lie? The fans were already mad about the team sitting on money and not spending it. And add to that the brick debacle—of course, fan sentiments were bound to burst. And no, that was not all that made fans see red.

The Pirates even went ahead and replaced a right-field tribute to Roberto Clemente with a hard lemonade ad. Let that sink in: they replaced a legend, a Hall of Famer, and a humanitarian’s tribute with an ad. Similarly, the fans were given no heads-up. Forget fans—even Clemente’s son was clueless and called out this behavior. The team said it was an honest mistake. But that’s the issue; it’s always a mistake and an oversight, and fans are tired. Through the rebuild, the losing seasons, and the fire sales, they have stood. Now, they don’t seem to want to do it anymore.

Fans are revolting by not even going to watch the games anymore. Even with Paul Skene‘s pitching, there is hardly a crowd! The paid attendance for his start was just 10,402, but only half that number was even in the park!

Pittsburgh Pirates fans are done waiting for change

The state of the team is ugly—so ugly that it has become a local issue, with videos, news articles, and social media posts about them slapped everywhere. This is especially horrible, given that this was the year they were supposed to pivot from being the “usual” Pirates. They have Skenes in the mix, and even Bubba Chandler is coming up as a top prospect. But building a team around stars? That’s not what pirates do! Fans are simply bored, and the lack of investment by the team is a huge reason why.

The Pirates opened this season with the 26th lowest payroll. This isn’t a one-time thing; under Bob Nutting’s ownership, they have ranked 26th or even lower in payroll for 17 of the last 19 seasons. Things are that dire. Look at the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays—they are building around their stars, unlike them, and Pirates fans are not blind. They just saw their team cruise through the off-season without signing a single free agent to a multi-year deal.

They signed Tommy Phan and brought in Andrew McCutchen, but if we’re being honest, they are band-aids, not long-term solutions. And even after the mess, Nutting went on in an interview to say what a “fine steward” of the team he was. For fans, it feels like a joke, because the opening day payroll this season was $14 million less than in 2016. The team is shifting into reverse, and fans are not okay with this change.

Do you think now, with Nutting about to complete two decades as owner next year, he might bring some change to the team? Let us know your views.