Pirates ownership has spent 13 years turning the ‘Cueto’ game from a beginning into a relic

Emma Lingan of Rum Bunter argues that Pittsburgh Pirates ownership, led by Bob Nutting, has wasted the momentum of the famous 2013 NL Wild Card victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Marking the 13th anniversary of the game featuring Johnny Cueto dropping the ball and Russell Martin's home run, Lingan asserts that what felt like a new era has instead been reduced to a distant relic due to repeated organizational failures.

While the Pirates posted a winning record in 2026, Lingan highlights that the team still missed the postseason and has not won a playoff game since beating Cincinnati 6-2 on October 1, 2013. The author contends that the electric PNC Park environment proved the city would embrace a winner, making ownership's inability to sustain competitive baseball over the subsequent thirteen years especially painful for fans.