Come With Me as I Embark on a Lifetime of Pirates Fandom
I am ahbsolutely clueless when it comes to the sport of baseball. Here’s why:
I was born and raised in Upland, California, which is located about 30 miles from the city of Anaheim. When I was in elementary school, my best friend had season tickets to the Anaheim Angels. So, whenever his mom didn’t want to go to a game, I would typically go in her place. Between that and the occasional game with my family, I have been to quite a few Angels games. Moral of the story is, I was pretty much raised to be an Angels fan. (Luckily for me, the Angels won a World Series in that span, so all things considered, I did good for myself.)
As my friend and I grew apart, so did my love for the Angels, and eventually, the sport of baseball as a whole. That was probably right around the time I went to high school; about 2009.
I’ve spoken, occasionally, on this platform about my (fairly) recent decision to clean up my life, and get sober. In doing so, I’ve really honed in on my interests, most notably, the city of Pittsburgh. One thing I have noticed, in my interactions with other Steelers fans during this journey I’ve begun, is that they are just as passionate about the Pirates as they are about the Steelers. That passion is palpable. One thing about Pittsburghers, yinz LOVE your sports. And, I’m just trying to be like yinz. So, I will be. I’m making a concerted effort to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates this year, and join my new friends in their fandom. With that being said, when I inevitably sound like a scrub talking about this team, now you know why.
Pirates Start the Season 3-0
I picked a fun time to jump into the mix and join yinz in rooting for the Buccos. There’s a ton of optimism surrounding this team, as they’ve started out strong, winning three straight to begin the year.
The first game that I had the pleasure of watching live this season was the 9-3 win over the Marlins on Saturday. This game just happened to be RHP Jared Jones’ major league debut. Jones had a hell of a debut, striking out 10 batters and securing the win. According to the Pirates Radio Network, Jones had 22 swings-and-misses, which is the most in any pitching debut since 1992.
As a guy that’s just getting his feet wet with this team, I’ve read about, and seen, all of this optimism surrounding RHP Paul Skenes; and rightfully so, considering he was selected number one overall by the team in 2023. However, this guy, Jared Jones, fell under my extremely ill-informed radar, and watching him sling that thing today was electric. Needless to say, I can see why there’s so much optimism for this team in the coming years. While I don’t know, yet, how all of this stuff works, I do know from my Pirate-fan-friends who are educating me through this process that it’s reasonable to expect to see Skenes in a Pirates uniform fairly early into this season; this point was seemingly made valid today (Saturday) during Skenes’ dominant Triple-A debut.
The Pirates’ batters filled up the stat sheet, led by Connor Joe, who had two doubles, a single, and 2 RBIs. In fact, C Henry Davis was the only Pirate held without a hit, although he got walked twice. The Pirates, who won the series against the Marlins, will be looking to start off the 2024 season with a road sweep when the two teams meet again on Sunday.
I know it’s still extremely on in the year, and I don’t know shit about baseball, but I’m excited to see what this team can do this season if they stay healthy. And, I’m excited to learn from my readers about what the hell is going on in the first place; I concede to you Pirate lifers on this one. Joe Block of the Pirates Radio Network said it best Saturday during his broadcast: “Better days are ahead.”
Raise it.
Follow me on twitter: @jay_newm
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