There’s something about an underdog

One of my favorite cartoons growing up was Underdog. Sure, it predates me by a few years, but having an older brother who grew up in the early ’70s helped indoctrinate some of that era’s culture into me. I think that explains my bizarre obsession with Scooby Doo as well.

Underdog wasn’t the prettiest cartoon. It had its specks, and the voice track sometimes seemed a little off with the action on the screen. But the concept of a nobody shoeshine boy becoming a superhero always appealed to me.

So, as I recently fielded phone call after phone call from my Pennsylvania friends lamenting the record 17th losing season of our beloved Pittsburgh Pirates, Underdog popped into my head.

The question was asked time and again: Why do we continue to root for the Pirates?

They never shell out big bucks to buy quality free agents, and they’ve been awful for so long my youngest nephew and niece can’t even remember when they won last — and they’re only 17 and 15. They routinely put out terrible teams with players who quit on them (“Operation Shutdown” Derek Bell comes to mind), and they always say the same things.

“We’re turning the corner,” the owner Bob Nutting will crow as he touts the new management team as the “best in baseball.” How’s that working out for ya, Bob? Headed toward 100 losses, aren’t we?

The Pirates have turned the corner so many times in 17 years that they’ve done a U-turn, parked back in the garage and hung up their cleats.

So, as I tried to talk all of my friends off a ledge, I tried to figure out a reason we continue to root for a team that hasn’t posted a winning season since I was 14. The only reason I could come up with was this: I like the underdogs.

Why root for the Yankees when all they do is shell out hundreds of millions of dollars for the best team money can buy?

Where’s the suspense in that? That team is supposed to win. A few years ago I rooted for the Boston Red Sox to win the World Series because they hadn’t won in forever and were the underdogs against the hated Yankees. Unfortunately, the Red Sox are now just as bad as the Yanks — buying players and winning with guys supposedly jacked up on HGH and who knows what else.

At least with my Pirates I’m pretty sure no one has used performance-enhancing drugs, because if they did, they’re due a refund.

I’ve always been drawn toward the underdog; there’s just something more compelling about David beating Goliath compared to Goliath whooping David.

I think it’s human nature to want the guy who looks most like you, the average Joe, to come out the winner. It gives us hope that we too can overcome long odds and be winners.

Unfortunately for my Pirates, I don’t see much winning in sight. But at least I can say they’ve won a World Series in the past 100 years (my apologies to our resident Cub fan, Jim Bayne.)

Jeff Say feels as though this column was like an AA meeting. Hi, my name is Jeff, and I’m a Pirates fan. Are you a Bucco fan as well? Let Jeff know at .