ESPN’s Jeff Passan said the Pirates are “great at screwing things up,” as the news surrounding the team is “not often great,” according to Jason Mackey of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Passan appearing on Pittsbugrh-based KDKA-FM mentioned instances with a sign for Baseball HOFer Roberto Clemente, the Bucco Bricks at PNC Park, and “players trying to take a swipe at fans.” Passan said Pirates owner Bob Nutting is “seen as somebody who has a passionate fan base, who has arguably the most beautiful stadium in Major League Baseball and completely wastes it.” Passan: “That’s a hard thing to come to terms with as a fan. If we have everything in place, if we built the stadium and have our passion, where’s the reciprocation? What are you giving back to us? Why don’t we have a team that’s worthy of our stadium and our fans? It’s a super reasonable question to ask. It’s one Bob Nutting has no answer to at this point.” Passan said “nothing has crossed my radar that would suggest” Nutting is going to sell the Pirates. He added, “To suggest there’s no possibility for a sale with Bob Nutting would be false. But there’s no indication at this point that it’s in the offing.” Passan on league matters said, “I’m not sure if the timing is necessarily right for Major League Baseball to go after a cap and a floor in this collective bargaining agreement, just because their media rights deals still have not been taken care of at this point” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 6/27).
ESPN’s Jeff Passan talks Pirates’ reputation amid recent on-, off-field issues
