Pirates fan attempts to put pressure on team with marquee seat, hilarious shirt at ALCS

After yet another depressingly mediocre season, Pittsburgh Pirates fans have been making their frustrations with team ownership known through protests, petitions and other efforts to put pressure on Bob Nutting to sell the team. But one disgruntled fan took his public condemnation of Nutting to a whole new level over the weekend.

If you tuned in for any portion of Saturday's TV broadcast of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians on TBS, chances are you probably saw this man. He was sitting in the first row of seats, immediately behind home plate, wearing a Pirates hat and jersey, along with a black and gold t-shirt bearing the phrase, "SELL THE TEAM," in bold letters.

Pittsburgh Clothing Co., the apparel company that designs and sells the shirts, posted a pair of screenshots on X during the game showing the fan's prime seating on the broadcast, accompanied by the message, "Not all heroes wear capes," as well as a link to purchase the shirt online.

The shirt, which comes in a variety of colors and designs, also features an image of a Pirate ship on the back with a direct message to Nutting: "Abandon ship, Bob! Sell the team."

Angry Pirates fan's message to Bob Nutting, team ownership will likely fall on deaf ears

Pittsburgh sportswriter Dejan Kovacevic called attention to the one-man protest on social media and provided some context immediately following the Yankees' series-clinching Game 5 victory.

"For all the #Pirates fans who complain nonstop there's nothing they can do ... take a look at this," Kovacevic posted on X. "He'd told me he was about to buy a 'stupid expensive' ticket in Cleveland to get his message out. And he wound up on TV all night. Pretend boycotts send no message. This does."

We applaud this fan for his efforts and Kovacevic for his belief that demonstrations like this one will actually send a message to team ownership. But as billionaire and Western Pennsylvania native Mark Cuban observed earlier this year, even the public outcry from the fanbase won't be enough to move the needle in convincing Nutting to sell the team. He still profits from his ownership of the team, whether they win or lose. As he sees it, he has no incentive to sell.

So, kudos to this frustrated fan for fighting the good fight, but it's unlikely that his efforts will be anything more than a humorous anecdote in the saga of Nutting's disastrous ownership tenure.

More Pirates content from Rum Bunter