Dollars & Sense - The Man Behind The Winning Pirates

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.

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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.

Guest Post- Maybe All Games Shouldn't Count

My name is Michael Rochonchou and I am currently a sophomore majoring in finance at Virginia Tech. I love sports and everything about them; however, I am not very good at them. So, I decided it would be best if I got involved with sports in a different way. I have had a passion for New York sports since I can remember.

To be honest, I couldn’t even tell you how the 2012 MLB All-Star Game even ended. Actually, I couldn’t tell you what happened the last 3 innings. The weird thing is, though, that I love the game of baseball and rarely miss my favorite team’s game. I am fed up with the All-Star Game and I feel it is the most poorly run all star event in all professional sports. In 2002, the MLB All-Star Game was held in Milwaukee and ended in an infamous tie. After a mild uproar, Bud Selig, Commissioner of the MLB, decided to have the All-Star Game dictate home field advantage of the World Series starting in 2003 (the team that represented the winning side would play the first game at home). Sounds like a decent idea, right? Wrong. But at least they are trying to make it better, right? Eh, well, still wrong. In my eyes trying to make the All-Star Game count is a half-ass attempt to make more money without putting much thought into it. 

If you wanted to have the game “count” for something as important as home field advantage, why let the fans vote? It is clearly a biased way to get the most popular players, yet not always the best players, on the team (Ex. Matt Kemp (who turned it down), who hasn’t played half the season, got voted in over Andrew McCutchen who had one of the best first halves in baseball). Fans, much like myself, will vote for their favorite players, not always the best. I understand that fan interaction is a crucial part of the game, but why not let them choose from a set list of reserves? Even after all that, it is hard to believe that the fans’ voting isn’t even the worse part about player selection in the game. At least one player from every team? Honestly? Is baseball that worried about the players’/organizations feelings? This is the best baseball league in the world, not 4^th grade intramural baseball where every kid gets a trophy at the end of the game. It is clear they just want to expand their market and get more people, but don’t make the game count if that is your main goal. The BEST players at each position should be playing even if that means the whole Yankee lineup trots out on the field after the National Anthem. 

Manage the game like a real game if it counts for something as important as home field advantage. Matt Cain, starter for the NL All Star team, pitched 2 quick innings only giving up 1 hit. They then proceeded to take him out. But why? To make it fair to the other players? That’s odd… if it was based on fairness per say, why would the fans vote on the starting players? Matt Cain has pitched fantastic this year in the first half, including a perfect game. If it was a regular game, there wouldn’t be a doubt he would stay in the game. Not to mention some of the best players only got 1 or 2 at bats. Beltran giving way to the undeserving fan favorite Bryce Harper? No thank you. 

Basically, all I am saying is that if you want to make the game fun don’t make it count. How hard is it to say whichever team in the World Series has a better record gets home field advantage. But, if you want to make the game count changes have to be made not only by the commissioner but also the mangers of the game.  Every All-Star Game has flaws, and they are basically inevitable. Someone needs to knock on Bud Selig’s door and tell him to see the All-Star Game for what it is --fun.