Joe Manganiello made his name in hit movies and TV shows such as Magic Mike and True Blood. But long before he graced the silver screen, Manganiello bled black and gold.
A native of Mt. Lebanon, Pa., approximately 15 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh, Manganiello proudly sports his Steelers, Pirates and Penguins gear across the world, making a point to attend as many home games as possible when he lands back inside the Steel City.
And while the Steelers and the Penguins have given Manganiello plenty of championships and playoff runs to celebrate in recent years, that third team — the Pirates — has not.
While Manganiello says he still loves his Pirates, he can't help but feel more than a little bit disappointed in how the organization is run from the top down.
“Of course, I’m a huge Pirates fan," Manganiello told our own Jason Rollison during a recent appearance on The Buccocast. "I love the Pirates and I love the park and I love going to games. I’m actually going to be back in a couple of weeks for a Children’s Hospital benefit. I’m on the board of trustees there and I come back and do events every year … I love it.
"It’s heartbreaking, if I had to choose a word, it’s heartbreaking — it’s hard — to root for a team that, I think, on an organizational level, isn’t committed."
In recent years, the Pirates have traded superstars in Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole, and the team infamously pinches pennies when it comes time to reward a player for his success. Rather than ink that next major contract, the Pirates opt to send the player away for future assets, a tactic that hasn't generated much goodwill with the fans.
Or with Manganiello.
"It broke my heart when we got rid of McCutchen," Manganiello said. "He’s such a great guy, such a great ambassador to the game and an MVP. He’s the kind of guy who you build a statue of outside of your stadium."
While losing McCutchen hurt Manganiello, the issue runs deeper, something he noted as he continued.
“Moves like that hurt because, in the past 20-odd years, the contending teams — the chances we had at winning — were with McCutchen and the gang," Manganiello said. "And that’s not to say that we don’t have great pieces right now, and that there aren’t some great players and it isn’t a fun team to watch. It’s just, I want a team that’s committed to winning, and I think that starts at the top.”
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