So our Pirates have their first playoff game since 1992 tonight, and i still seem to have a few Pirates-related pieces of unlicensed and generic merch in my queue so I might as well get these all out now. With the now-or-never aspect of the one game Wild Card round, there's an off chance the Pirates season ends with a loss to the Reds. Only that isn't gonna happen, and this crop of unlicensed Buccos paraphernalia will help with the positive vibes.
The shirt at the top of this post came from Doug back in July. It's a pretty high-quality unlicensed Pirates shirt, so much so that you'll catch a number of these shirts on just about any crowd shots at PNC Park. By using the tagline "Raise the Jolly Roger," you can allude to the Pirates by their celebratory slogan without ever mentioning the team by name. There are way crappier ways to use the skull and crossbones effect to represent the Pirates in an unlicensed/generic fashion, which we'll get to towards the end of this post.
Here's another July dealie from Hammar, which is a great generic way to show love to the Pirates' bullpen for only five bucks. I'm pretty baffled why only Jason Grilli's number 39 and Justin Wilson's number 37 are represented on a few of the sharks when there's quite literally more sharks at the bottom. It seems like blacking out three sharks instead of throwing on maybe Mark Melancon's 35, Jeanmar Gomez's 30 or Tony Watson's 44 would be way more work, but then again I'm not an unlicensed vendor popping out $5 shirts.
And this last one is from Jesse in early August. Remember above where I mentioned the spectrum of good-to-bad skull and crossbones as Pirates name/logo replacements? This…this is a bad one. I mean, the skull is wearing a bandana with MORE SKULLS on it. We get the point. But at least it falls back on the tried and true PITTSBURGH BASEBALL naming convention to side step using the officially licensed Pirates name. Gotta make sure the buyer knows what's up.
That about clears out my submission inbox as it relates to generic Pirates gear. With it being so long since the last Buccos playoff berth, ANY legit or unlicensed merch is passable. Remember, fandom doesn't come with a price ceiling or floor, just get out there to support your Pirates. Even if it's five bucks and looks hastily thrown-together. Much like most Pirates lineups from 1993-2012.
Go Buccos!
If you have any unlicensed Pittsburgh sports gear, or awesome generic sports gear from any team, send them to me and I'll post them.
(thanks to Cotter for the banner pic)
