Losing to Win
The Buc's season has long since been decided, but this weekend's final series could have some lasting effects for the organization. Unfortunately, if the Pirates want those lasting effects to be positive, they will have to lose as much as possible.
In today's PPG, Dejan Kovacevic reports that the Bucs are one of three teams "fighting" for the second slot in next year's amateur draft. How important that slot would be is yet to be determined. In some years, drafting second is no different than drafting fourth as the talent available is too close to call. However, in some drafts, there is a huge difference in those slots.
I still don't have a good handle on next year's draft class (these things usually start to truly gell in the April or May before the draft), but drafting higher is obviously always better because you have more control over your destiny. This puts Pirate fans in a weird position. It's pretty hard to call yourself a fan when you are actively rooting for your team to lose (even if it means a possibly brighter future).
Here's an acceptable solution. Root for the Bucs to win their remaining games, but also root for the Rockies and Devil Rays to do so as well. The Bucs will remain in the second slot for the draft and no fan will have to compromise their "fan integrity".
So, I will be doing a little scoreboard watching this weekend. It will be sort of a Bizarro version of a pennant chase. Is there anything more strange than being a Bucco fan?