If you walk up to any Pittsburgh sports fan and mention the name Sid Bream, you may get an earful of words that would make a small child cry. Yes, Bream broke Pirates fans hearts in 1992 when he beat the tag of Mike LaValliere to send the Braves to the World Series and the Pirates into a 21-year tailspin that only ended last October with a memorable victory over the Reds.
After that victory last October, the relevance of what Bream did vanished in the eyes of some fans, but to most, he is still the “traitor” that crushed the hearts of a fan base.
What they don’t know is Bream shouldn’t be the villain, but the victim. Following the 1990 season, Bream was a free agent and looked to resign with the Pirates as management had made it known he was first priority for that offseason. What management failed to do, though, was offer a number that was even close to market value for a first basemen of his caliber that was their “top priority.” It was the first of many of these decisions the Pirates front office would make over the next few seasons that led to the “streak” as the small-market club simply couldn’t handle large contracts. (This problem has since ceased to exist with the current ownership and management group that is currently in place.)
The Atlanta Braves would offer Bream a contract of market value, but Bream and his family knew Pittsburgh was home and where he wanted to spend his career, so he told the Pirates he would take the three-year offer if they would give him a no-trade clause along with it. The team would not accept the small incentive and Bream was a Brave. Last summer, in an interview with WTAE TV, Bream explained how painful it was to leave Pittsburgh for another team.
“To leave here was not an easy thing,” Bream said. “Very, very emotional for me.”
The move wasn’t because of a grudge with teammates, an organization, or a city, but it was simply a business deal in which Atlanta signed him to the right deal while Pittsburgh played him off in their plans.
It was also business on that October night in ’92 when Bream was walked on four pitches and continued to do his job by advancing to second, then scoring on a single in which the left fielder ignored a teammates opinion of field placement and was unable to make an accurate throw home.
At the time, it was a good way for fans to vent the loss and the fact that the team that lost that night would never again play together on the same field. It also was a humorous way to explain the countless losses, mishaps and collapses of the organization from 1993 – 2012, but that is over now.
The Pirates are back to winning, the streak is over, the playoff drought is over and the hate for Bream should be, too.
(Photo Credit: Brad Mangin)
