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Thursday, July 24, 2003

There is outrage and bitterness across the region toward the Pirates, and understandably so. For the second time in less than two years the team has deeply wronged its fan base. For the second time in two years, the team has said to its fans: "We don't care about you."

It's the worst thing a sports team can do.

In 2001, it was the brazen ticket increase days after the completion of a 100-loss season.

This week, it was the inexplicable trade of Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton to the Chicago Cubs with virtually nothing coming back in return.

Fans have yet to forget or forgive the first time they were insulted by Pirates management. It will be harder still to forget this one.

Fans form special bonds with their teams. The loyal ones don't expect a championship every year. They don't even expect winners every year. But they expect to be made to feel their team cares, that their team is trying.

By literally giving away Lofton and Ramirez to lower their payroll, the Pirates broke that bond with their fans. It doesn't matter that a precarious financial situation might have forced the Pirates to make this trade. Didn't the fans build the team a new stadium just to make certain these situations would never again occur?

It only matters that there was an apparent total disregard for the fans and how they feel.

What the Pirates have now are fans who have stuck with the team through 10 losing seasons and who would have stuck around for more saying they're through.

My e-mail bin overflowed with angry people, some of whom actually described themselves as heartbroken. Most of them vowed to drop their support of the team, many of them said they would discontinue their purchase of tickets. Almost unanimously they expressed disgust, disappointment and disillusionment with owner Kevin McClatchy and General Manager Dave Littlefield.

Fans understand trades. They know they're part of the business. They fully understand that a veteran such as Lofton, who will be with the Cubs for only the rest of the season, will not bring much in return. But what is not expected and what is at the heart of the fans anger is not so much that the Pirates didn't get anything for Ramirez, but that they are unable to keep their good young players. Ramirez just turned 25 a month ago. He has his shortcomings, but his promise is enormous. He is on his way to his second 100-RBI season. Many more figure to follow.

If you can't keep a young player such as Ramirez, what's the sense of having a team? What's the sense of drafting and developing young players if you're going to send them elsewhere just as they're ready to bloom?

So what if the Pirates have some highly regarded young pitchers in their system? Will they be able to keep Sean Burnett? Will they be able to keep John VanBenschoten?

It's not as if the Pirates were about to lose Ramirez to free agency. He's more than two seasons away from becoming a free agent. He was a player to build around, not a player to discard in order to remedy fiscal irresponsibility by upper management.

How can fans even dream of a winning season, let alone a championship, if they know the team can't keep its young players?

There is a belief that when the full trade develops -- the Pirates are to receive one more minor-leaguer from the Cubs -- the deal will seem more balanced. Don't believe it. There is no cherished prospect awaiting the Pirates, no player who offers immediate help. All the Pirates will get is another player who has a chance to make their team some day, not a player who has a chance to lead their team some day.

Perhaps the most damaging aspect of this deal is what it has done to the credibility of Littlefield. He's a smart guy with a deep appreciation and understanding of the game who has worked hard to improve the Pirates. If anyone can lead the franchise out of this cycle of losing, it's Littlefield.

But his reputation with the fans has been deeply harmed by this deal. He's being compared to Cam Bonifay, whose various deals -- all with McClatchy's approval -- have the Pirates where they are today.

Littlefield's no Bonifay, far from it. But you would have a hard time getting Pirates fans to believe that today.