Feb 25, 2017 5 min read

Is the window closed?

Remember that Pirates window that opened in 2013 after 20 years of losing? It might be closed for a while, which could mean going back to the good old days when people went to PNC Park for the view, the food and the fireworks.

Last season, the Pirates went back into their below-.500 comfort zone for the first time since 2012. They’ve been under .500 26 times since 1980. The bad news for Pirates fans is that the owner of their favorite team knows he can still make a nice buck if his team stinks.

Enough goodwill and new fans were created in the three seasons prior to the .484 finish last year to sell plenty of tickets for the foreseeable future. Nice crowds during the 20-year losing streak proved that.

While the Pirates were coming close and getting no cigar in 2013, 2014 and 2015, the Chicago Cubs were rebuilding and now they have a great young team, a farm system loaded with prospects and a local TV deal waiting for them in a couple of years that should be worth in the neighborhood of $2 billion.

The St. Louis Cardinals aren’t going away, either. They are, because of their huge, multi-state footprint, a top-10 revenue team and one of the best run franchises in American sports.

The Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers will be fighting for the crumbs in the National League Central.

Prior to free agency taking full effect and the huge disparity created by the difference in local TV money, those were three of the best franchises in Major League Baseball. They haven’t been to a World Series in a combined 100 seasons. Thirty-eight years for the Pirates, 27 for the Reds and 35 for the Brewers.

Spring training is supposed to be the time when all fans can be at least a little optimistic about their team’s chances. There are lots of interesting stories to cover in Pirates spring training with the big switch in the outfield and a search for a starting rotation, but 2017 looks like another uphill struggle to mediocrity.

But, hey, there’s a good chance that the Penguins will still be playing in June and It’s only five more months until Steelers training camp.

Play ball!

• It also might be a while before Pitt basketball returns to the glory days, if there ever was such a thing.

There have been some embarrassing moments this season – the kind that can set a program back. Which was worse, losing to Louisville by 55 points or being part of the greatest comeback in Wake Forest basketball history?

Pitt scored one basket in the last 15½ minutes Wednesday night at Wake Forest and blew a 19-point lead. Think about all the time spent practicing over the last five months. At least half of that time was spent working on ways to put the ball in the basket. How can a team go 15½ minutes without figuring out a way to do it? Could the Pitt women’s team have figured out a way to put the ball in the hoop once? The men managed to do it four times in the entire second half.

• It happens every year in every professional sport. The trading deadline approaches and contending teams have to decide if they need to mortgage a little – or maybe a lot – of their future to win now. It always comes down to a simple decision for a general manager, who’s making big bucks to make big decisions. Can this guy who’s available give me a good chance of winning a championship this season? If the answer is yes, the GM has to pull the trigger. Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford is a few days away from the March 1 deadline and he will have the last word on whether the addition of one or two players can make the difference this year.

Multiple injuries, especially on defense, will play into his decision, but if the player who he believes increases his chances of winning another Stanley Cup is available, no price is too high to pay.

The Penguins have won four championships in 50 years. They have a window that’s been open for several years and will stay open for quite a few more. Win now and worry about the future in the future.

• Before he walked it back, PGA player Pat Perez took a lot of heat for saying that Tiger Woods is done and is only competing now to work as a walking billboard for all of his sponsors. Sorry, but it’s hard to disagree with that.

Perez is ranked 67th in the world. Tiger is at 704.

• Starting Marc-Andre Fleury in goal at Heinz Field against the Philadelphia Flyers would have been a nice gesture. And I don’t think the Penguins’chances of winning is reduced by one percent when he starts in goal.

• You might miss the excitement that comes with the intentional walk this baseball season. Major League Baseball got the MLB Players Association to agree to eliminate the four wide ones by having the manager signal from the dugout. That’s the only idea for speeding up the game that was accepted. Why would players object to a 20-second pitch clock, another proposal by the owners? And how did the owners get themselves in a position to require the players’ approval on rules changes?

I did some quick math and skipping the pitches on intentional walks will (unofficially) shorten games by an average of 12 seconds.

John Steigerwald writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.