Baseball Pirates Cause and Effect:

Baseball Pirates

Cause and Effect: Pittsburgh Pirates - Will They Ever Be Winners Again?

The Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team has not had a winning season since 1992. This paper reviews the causes and effects of trials and tribulations experienced by the team, by examining whether the team suffered because of bad owners, free agency, bad players, bad managers or other causes including escalating salaries.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in their 15th consecutive losing season. Why? The reason is certainly not a lack of support or fans. In fact, a general review of the Internet reveals there are, despite the losses, hundreds of Pirate's fans, people committed to the team that would like to see them win (Spagnolo, 2007). In fact, Spagnolo (2007) notes more than two million people attended games last season despite the constant losses. The answer is the Pirates suffer not from one cause, but from a combination of causes that result in poor playing and lack of camaraderie among team members.

Fans of the Pirates note the 2006 trade deadline deals resulted in the acquisition of bad players (Spagnolo, 2007). Yet another reason cited by many for their lack of wins is the lack of rivalry between the Pirates and another high-profile baseball team. Typically, rivalry leads to intensity, which in turn can result in winning games. Some also blame the lack of attention to the Pirates, as their games are not typically aired on national TV (Spagnolo, 2007) as another reason the team fails to perform well when under the spotlight. Such lack of attention and support can lead to self-defeating spirits among team players. Self-defeating thoughts can also spiral out of control when a team loses one game after another. It has gotten to a point where a Pirates player is more likely to expect to lose than win. The concept of mind over matter applies here. If the team managers were to infuse players with a greater sense of camaraderie and a winning approach to playing, the team may perform well.

Often the media uses derogatory terms when describing the team, such as the team that "spoiled" the best stadium in the nation (Spagnolo, 2007). Proclamations as this can also turn sentiment into reality, and cause poor self-esteem among players. It seems as though the owners and managers have also made poor choices when it comes to trading and keeping players, trading out certain players that may have helped the team achieve victory, and adopting players that did not affect the team positively. Some team members during the last decade experienced injuries resulting in further loss of good players.

There is also evidence of team managers hiring players who averaged well over the "average" number of strikeouts one would expect from a decent player (Spagnolo, 2007). Even celebrities have commented on the Pirates, bashing them in public or mocking their attempts to establish themselves as a legitimate force to be reckoned with in the baseball field. In summary, one may conclude the Pirates continue to experience loss because of multiple causes.