Pittsburgh city council taking step to try and stop Pirates embarrassment

Once upon October, the North Shore was a parade route, not a reminder of what’s missing. Instead, PNC Park is quiet again — another year where the gates close before the leaves turn. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ 71-91 finish didn’t just miss the mark; it extended a full decade without postseason baseball, a dispiriting run that’s turned patience into apathy for large parts of the fanbase. That’s the larger embarrassment here: a franchise with a jewel of a ballpark and a passionate market that keeps being asked to wait.

What makes 2025 sting even more is how close the bones of a contender already are. The pitching staff, fronted by a legitimate Cy Young threat in Paul Skenes, gave this team a fighting chance nearly every night. But the bats never held up their end. Pittsburgh finished dead last in MLB in runs scored and hovered near the bottom in home runs and OPS. When your rotation and bullpen buy you a margin for error and the lineup can’t cash it in, it’s not just frustrating, it’s wasteful.

Pirates’ bats stalled, now the city is swinging: Council seeks change

Now, City Council is stepping in to apply pressure where it matters. Councilor Theresa Kail-Smith is pushing for the city and the club to sit down, talk plainly, and explore what levers the municipality can pull to “help guide the ship.” The premise is simple: a healthier Pirates product means a healthier Pittsburgh.

“The businesses generate revenue, the city generates tax revenue,” Kail-Smith said, underscoring an economic reality everyone in the region understands when the ballpark hums.

She’s not wrong. PNC Park is an engine, not just an address. The Allegheny River backdrop, the Roberto Clemente Bridge, the walkable North Shore with its bars and restaurants — on game nights that matter, the whole area becomes a festival. The problem isn’t the setting; it’s the stakes. You can’t line the streets with energy when the season keeps ending in late September. The civic aura is built in; the competitive urgency is not.

So what does “guiding the ship” look like for a team that can pitch but can’t slug? It starts with ownership and the front office aligning investment with the roster’s reality. Skenes’ prime should be paired with impact hitting. The arms have done their job; it’s time for the lineup to meet the moment.

City Hall can’t write the lineup card, and it can’t guarantee wins. But it can raise the temperature. Public scrutiny, formal hearings, and clear benchmarks create accountability that fans have begged for. If the club wants to keep touting the “beautiful ballpark experience,” it needs to commit to building a team worthy of it — because the team’s performance is the single biggest driver of all that surrounding revenue and goodwill.

The council’s move isn’t a cure-all, it’s not echoing fans' sentiments to sell the team, but it is a line in the sand. After ten straight Octobers off, the message is unmistakable: the status quo is no longer acceptable for the city or its fans. Whether the Pirates treat this as noise or a nudge will shape 2026 and beyond.