Pittsburgh is Experiencing a Baseball Revival.

July 20, 2010. I think the city of Pittsburgh was counting down the days until the Pittsburgh Steelers hit training camp at St. Vincent College. One year later, the city sees its long-time lowly baseball team, the Pirates in first place with a game on Milwaukee in the NL Central. That’s right! The Pirates are in first place and Pittsburgh sports fans, regardless of the Pirates record, are not counting the days down to Steelers camp. Instead they are being drawn to the Bucco bandwagon that is filling up faster than the Titanic filled up with water and sank. Of course the NFL is still in a lockout that may come to an end within days, but the Pirates could have fans watching games through September and possibly into October.

OK, some are thinking that most Pirates fans and I are looking too far into the future, like we are running the Steelers and Penguins championship parade route in our heads already. Yes, we may be in over our heads with the Pirates right now. But come on, can you blame us? Especially fans like myself who were not old enough or alive to see the 1992 season. Then again, maybe we didn’t want to be there to see Sid Bream send the Braves to the World Series that year. Think about all the things that have happened since then. We’ve had three different Presidents, gas was a lot cheaper, and Bill Cowher was just starting out as the new Steelers head coach. So the steel city has suffered with America’s pastime for more than a while. A team that used to be the dominate sport of Pittsburgh, long before the Steelers turned the corner in the 1970’s and the Penguins drafted a young French-Canadian named Mario.

While critics may see this as a phase in the Pirates season that could soon disappear as quickly as it began, it has made those who believed that the Pirates would someday turn the corner feeling like prophets and reeling those fans who were getting away back to PNC Park this summer. In mid-June, the Pirates began to show signs of a .500 team, even after being swept by Cleveland. Pittsburgher’s believed that this team may have something going for them. It’s almost like in the film Major League when an Indian’s fan thinks, “Maybe they aren’t so f*#king bad.” Pirate merchandise has been flying off the shelves. McCutchen jerseys, “hammer time” shirts for Joel Hanrahan and Neil “the Pittsburgh Kid” Walker shirts are seen all over town along with caps and other t-shirts. Then there is attendance. The Pirates have shattered attendance records (with a little help from Phillies and Red Sox fans) in June and July. 26,000 + fans came to PNC Park tonight against the Cincinnati Reds on a hot, humid Tuesday night, and there were no bobblehead or t-shirt giveaways. There were no fireworks or .38 Special after the game. People came to see and support a young group of players who are making this town remember why they love baseball. The close division race, the scoreboard watching, the tight late-inning games, and the feeling that every game matters. Pittsburgh can only hope that the Pirates continue their success as the hot days of summer soon become the early days of fall. For now, baseball is back in the steel city and it has those old enough to remember a good Pirate team thinking back to those gold old days. For those who have never seen a winning Pirate team, this may be the year, and hopefully, a new chapter in a 125 year-old story.