Mark Madden: Remember how this ends, Pirates fans

Friday was opening day for the Pirates’ home schedule. Or Opening Day. Depending on how you feel about it. (Thanks, Jim Bouton.)

There is a groundswell of enthusiasm for the Pirates given their 5-2 start after a 13-9 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Friday was supposed to be a blackout — everybody wears black — to commemorate the 2013 NL wild-card victory over Cincinnati that saw Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto drop the ball because he got rattled by the crowd at PNC Park.

Or maybe it’s to honor the Scorpions. Blackout — I really had a blackout.

The Cueto moment was cute but wholly overrated. A few local media slugs describe it as the greatest moment in Pittsburgh sports history.

Yeah, except for winning six Super Bowls, five Stanley Cups, five World Series, a collegiate football national championship, countless other moments baked into those events and a bunch of standalones like Mario Lemieux’s comeback from cancer.

Bill Mazeroski won the 1960 World Series by hitting the only Game 7 walk-off home run in the event’s history. The Pirates’ victory over the New York Yankees remains the World Series’ biggest upset ever. That might outdistance Cueto dropping the ball.

I’ve also heard Cueto’s fumble described as the Pirates’ Immaculate Reception.

Not quite.

The Immaculate Reception ushered in a decade of dominance for the Steelers: Four Super Bowl victories. The Pirates haven’t won a playoff series since and haven’t qualified for the postseason since 2015.

So why all the negativity, fat boy?

Because you need to remember how this ends.

Bringing back Andrew McCutchen is great PR, as is almost extending Bryan Reynolds’ contract. (The Pirates almost keep a lot of players.) The Pirates sell nostalgia and hope. Mix that with a 5-2 start, you got legit hype and some utter foolishness.

But Bob Nutting has owned the Pirates since 2007 and never has shown even a slight inclination to spend what it takes to win. That won’t change. (The Pirates’ current payroll is $71.65 million, third-lowest in baseball.)

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The Pirates draft and trade for prospects and will occasionally hit a pocket of decency. That happened from 2013-15. You’d like to think that’s coalescing now.

But Nutting will never spend what it takes to maintain a good team. That won’t change. The Pirates won 98 games in 2015. Nutting disassembled that roster because it got too expensive.

Nutting wants maximum profit. He will tease fans to reach that end. But he won’t consummate. Not ever.

Bucco fans are exulting that the Pirates are the best team in Pittsburgh. The Penguins seem in decline. The Steelers seem stuck in a rut of mediocrity.

But the Penguins and Steelers always try (and spend) to win. The Pirates are a hillbilly swindler’s con.

If Nutting owned the Penguins, Sidney Crosby gets traded. If Nutting owned the Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger never signs a second contract. Forget about Stanley Cups and Super Bowls.

If MLB had a salary cap, it wouldn’t make the Pirates more competitive. Nutting would spend just above the minimum. That’s how Nutting operates.

When you tell me the Pirates are ascending, don’t forget who owns them and how he runs them.

Because ultimately, that’s how this ends. Like 2015. That’s the best-case scenario. Before anything concrete gets accomplished. If you think otherwise, you’re delusional or stupid.