"Buy the team Wiz Khalifa" - Pirates fans call for new ownership amid team's PR tactics despite a lackluster record

Bottom of the NL Central with a 39-61 record, the Pittsburgh Pirates have endured a rough season. They haven't reached the postseason since 2015, and their playoff drought appears likely to continue.

On Sunday, singer/rapper Wiz Khalifa, who was raised in Steel City, turned up at PNC Park to throw out the ceremonial first pitch ahead of the game against the Chicago White Sox. Images of the musician's visit later made rounds on Instagram.

"Pittsburgh’s own Wiz Khalifa on Yinzerpalooza weekend!" the team posted

Commenting on the post, plenty of angry fans, who are fed up with the team's poor showing year in, year out, called for owner Bob Nutting to sell.

Such is the desperation to see Nutting's regime end that many supporters even jokingly proposed to sell to Wiz Khalifa himself.

"Buy the team Wiz" a fan commented

"Hey Wiz can you buy the team?" another fan wrote

Screenshot of fans' comments on Instagram (Image from - Instagram.com/@pittsburghpirates)

"Sell the team bro im sick of this" a fan replied

"NUTTING DOESN'T EVEN FOLLOW HIS OWN TEAM, SELL THE TEAM BOB." another fan responded

"SELL THE TEAM!!! #bobnuttingsucks" another fan posted

"Wiz is great PR for this team. Sell the team!" another fan shared

Pirates' season goes from bad to worse as they get outplayed by the White Sox at home

Having struggled against most of the high-quality teams they have faced this season, Pittsburgh's already difficult season dropped to a new low over the weekend, as they struggled against the Chicago White Sox, another team having a rough year.

Winning all three games quite comfortably in the end, the White Sox were able to record a sweep at PNC Park, drawing frustration from the home crowd. The Pirates' offense, which has been an ongoing concern this season, continued to struggle for production, putting up only seven runs across the series. The White Sox, in contrast, scored 27 times.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Alvin Amansec