Oh man.
The last time the Buccos (Pittsburgh Pirates) were in the playoffs was a long time ago. And now they face off against the St. Louis Cardinals. I’ve got some tension to live in here.
More than 23 years ago I married into a western PA family. Like most of the great things in my life, I had no idea what I was getting into. I fell in love with a beautiful big-haired girl who said “yinz” and came from a long line of Pittsburgh sports fanatics. Growing up watching in Georgia and watching TBS I was a die-hard Braves fan, even through the Bob Horner/Dale Murphy (and Rufino Linares/Biff Pocoroba) era. Kim can still tell you who started for the 79 Pirates. On the night of Sid Bream’s historic run & slide I did the dance of joy in my living room alone, shouting silently into the night. We had some stuff to work through.
21 years ago Barry Bonds was a skinny, fast, strong ballplayer–before his head was awarded its own zipcode. I rooted for Kim’s Buccos when they didn’t play the Braves, but I still pulled for my Bravos. They had an impressive string of 14 consecutive playoff runs. But at some point in our recent history, I became a Bucs fan. There hasn’t been much to get excited about over the past 20 years. Sub-par baseball, lackluster performances, losing seasons and losing good ballplayers to other organizations have been the norm. I’ve been the Chaplain for our local minor league baseball team for the past 7 seasons. The team was affiliated with the Pirates for 5 of those years. I got to know many of the players in the pipeline, and I truly became a fan, invested in the journey of the men who wear the black and gold.
But the other 2 years we’ve been a member of the Cardinals’ organization, including this past year. I had to switch gears and get my mind around the fact that I’m speaking into the lives of Cardinal players now. And I want to root for the guys I get to know.
But now that the Bucs are facing the Cards in the National League Division Series, and knowing that they could very well be playing the Braves in the next round…
I guess I have a choice:
Option A: no matter which team wins (unless it’s the Dodgers) I come out on the winning side. Levi is a huge Braves fan, while Isaac is a Buccos man at heart.
Option B: no matter which team wins (including the Dodgers) other guys I love and root for are done for the year.
I think I’ll go with Option A. I like winning. But I’ll be wearing black and gold and a Pirates ball-cap for the foreseeable future.
Here’s the a different outcome
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