Gothamist enhancer Part IIGothamist also features this weekend’s matchup between the Evil Empire and the Relentless Whining Losers but neglects to mention the real Clash of the Titans going on in New York this weekend: my beloved Pirates are in town to play the worst team that money can buy. (OK. That’s not fair. Second worst.)
My rooting interests have always been strange. As I kid growing up in Queens I picked the teams that I would follow for the rest of my life for strange reasons. I chose the New Orleans Saints and the Detroit Red Wings for their symbols (the fleur-de-lis and winged wheel, respectively). I chose the Lakers because of an airlines commercial starting Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that is lost to the ages. And I chose the Pirates because a young benchwarming Ugarte was on a little league team called the Pirates that went undefeated in 1978. The next year Willie Stargell and Sister Sledge took the Lumber Company to the World Series, cementing my devotion to the Pirates and weaning me from the Yankees. (I confess to still bandwagonning the Yankees so that I can care about baseball in October. And my first pro game actually included someone telling me “They aren’t booing, they are saying “Looooooou!,” so I have a deep affection for the Yanks.)
The Pirates used to play in the NL East along with the Mets, so I could always see them at least a few times a year. I saw the 18-inning marathon that included an old Rusty Staub saving the game for the Mets despite being swapped between right and left field with Clint Hurdle on virtually every batter to keep him as far away from the action as possible. I got on camera during the Banner Day festivities (yes, I taped it; no, I didn’t save the tape) between the games of a Mets-Pirates doubleheader in 1987 with my friend Chris (a Yankee fan wearing a Yankee hat) while holding a spray-painted cardboard box that said “Pirates Rule!” when the intricately illustrated bedsheet of a Mets flotilla sinking a pirate ship was caught in the wind just as the camera trained on it when WOR was going to commercial. I saw the great Pirates teams of the early 90’s before the team ran out of money and dove into the cellar.
With realignment, the Pirates moved from the NL East to the NL Central. Then MLB “unbalanced” the schedule so that teams play more games against their division rivals. Now the Pirates play at Shea for only one series a year. That series is this weekend, so you will see me there rooting on a team of youngsters (Kip Wells, Josh Fogg, Oliver Perez, Bobby Hill, Craig Wilson) and overpaid mediocrity (Raul Mondesi, Randall Simon). With pride.
Tonight, the future of pitching (Kip Wells) faces its past (Tom Glavine). Saturday afternoon, its more of the same as Oliver Perez meets Steve Trachsel. The series wraps up with the unrealized potential of Kris Benson meeting the pitcher Art Howe tried to send to AAA, Jae Weong Seo. Yes, that is exactly as well as I can sell the Sunday matchup.
Except maybe like this: Doesn’t it seem like perfect weather for an April game?
See you at the ballpark Saturday and Sunday.
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