How bad is your favorite team? Maybe they are really bad or,
if you are lucky, maybe they are really good. They could also fall somewhere in
the middle – like toiling between the eighth and ninth spot of the NBA playoffs
every year middle – but fans are too emotional to ever admit being in the
middle.
For years the Pittsburgh Pirates were one of those teams
that were really bad. Really, really bad. Just ask Bryan Fyalkowski who used to
write the Route 30 Detour for us. A tortured Pirates fans for all of his years
on earth, the years of losing certainly got to him.
espn.com
But now, as of this very week, the Pirates are winners.
After 20 straight losing seasons, the beloved Buccos have reached 81 wins meaning that
no matter what they do the rest of the way they will finish .500. Just talk to
a Pirates fan and you will see what it feels like to get a monkey the size of
an entire city off your back.
The greatest news of all is that the Pirates have the
framework in place to keep winning. Last year looking like the year that they
were finally going to do it until a wretched final month and a half of the
season derailed their chances. This season they finally did it, and they can do
it again going forward.
At the core of the Pirate’s recent success is All-Star
outfielder Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen is only 26-years-old and is working off
of one the most team-friendly contract in all of baseball after signing a6-year $51.5 million extension prior to last season. “Cutch” has also been able
to keep his name in the National League Most Valuable Player discussion for the
last two years, going for 31 home runs, 96 RBI, and a .327 average last year
followed by 18 home runs, 75 RBI, and a .320 average through 135 games this
season.
Even though he plays in Pittsburgh, McCutchen is marketable
as well. He has a notable endorsement with EvoShield, a company that makes
protective athletic gear such as McCutchen’s shin guard. He is most known,
though, for his appearance on the cover of the popular video game MLB 2013 The Show.
Most importantly, in this day and age when the actions of
athletes are often overblown, McCutchen has managed to stay away from it all.
Keeping a clean image in the current social media ultra-microscopic climate is
essential and something that McCutchen recognizes which helps to boost his
approval amongst fans and endorsers alike.
It is difficult for an MVP caliber player on-the-field to be
just as effective off-the-field, but McCutchen is doing just that. Now that the
Pirates have broken the 20-pluc year curse, McCutchen’s marketability will
continue to climb and he will continue to put Pittsburgh on the baseball map.
Follow Kevin Rossi on Twitter @kevin_rossi.
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