My name is Charlie Franson. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a deep love for baseball. My team of choice has always been the Pittsburgh Pirates. Since about 1987, I have followed them religiously. They are one of my passions. I read, listen, and watch as much as I can about the team from the bottom to the top. I’ve always been fascinated with how a team gets made and how players are developed. Through drafts, trades, and signings, a team does what it can to bring in players that fit their scheme or plan for how they can reach the top. It is not a perfect system. Mistakes are made. Mistakes can be costly and can set a team back for years. Hopefully, mistakes can be used as lessons of what not to do in the future or at least give a team an idea of what paths might not be the best to not follow again. That’s not always the case.
The Pirates are an example of a team that didn’t always adapt well. Baseball strategy changed. Spending habits in the league changed. The Pirates failed to adapt to those recently and that led them to where they are today. The Pirates are in the middle of a total rebuild. Budget restraints and a lack of productive player development destroyed the potential shown early in the previous decade. The hope of a dynasty slipped away like it did in the early 1990’s. Three years of excitement faded into the abyss of what could have been.
Can the Pirates be winners again? Absolutely. Will it be soon? Depending on your definition of “soon,” maybe. The Pirates are constantly a team of question marks and untapped potential. Success always hinges on a multitude of different things going right with a very thin margin of error. In baseball, like life in general, things don’t always go according to plan. There needs to be more than one way to win or more than just one guy to get the job done. There has to be talent waiting in the wings to swoop in and take over. That’s how this team can win.
So where do I fall into this?
I am here to talk about the Pirates. I am a glass half-full type of fan. I try to be as impartial and objective as I can. I give credit where credit is due along with blame. I started a podcast last week. Now I am putting together this blog and this website. In those things, I will house my thoughts and feelings about where the Pirates were, how they got here, and where they could be going. This is a lot of fun for me. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Bucco Fever Podcast 