My grandfather bought a Bucco Brick when PNC Park opened. His father was born in the early years of the franchise and was a lifelong fan. He would often make the trek from Westernport, Md., after his shift at the paper mill to root on the Bucs. He passed on his Pirates fandom to my family for generations. Pirates baseball is in our blood.
The brick with my great-grandfather’s name was a source of pride in my family. It was a visual reminder that our family’s history is intertwined with the Pirates. Win or lose, we love our team.
I was deeply saddened to hear these bricks had been removed (“Pirates left to explain why personalized ‘Bucco Bricks’ from PNC Park ended up on scrap heap,” April 8, TribLive). Every year, my family would make the six-hour trek to Pittsburgh from Richmond, Va., to root on our team. Every year, we would find my great-granddaddy’s brick.
My granddad died unexpectedly in 2018. My most treasured photo with him was taken in the summer of 2017 beside the brick of my great-grandfather.
I am a fourth-generation Pirates fan, and I hope my kids will be fifth-generation fans, but it is becoming harder to support a franchise that seemingly does not care for its fans.
Let’s go Bucs.
Brydon John DeWitt
Wake Forest, N.C.
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Editor’s note: Pirates owner Bob Nutting on April 12 issued an apology for the handling of the Bucco Bricks removal process and promised to expedite a solution.