Kevin McClatchy is out

Kevin McClatchy has liquidated his position in the Pittsburgh Pirates:

Former Pirates managing general partner Kevin McClatchy has sold his remaining shares in the team, ending a 13-year relationship that began with the newspaper heir ensuring that the club remained in Pittsburgh.

McClatchy’s spot on the five-man Pirates board of directors will not immediately be filled.

“This was a personal decision that I felt was best to make at this time,” McClatchy said in a statement issued Wednesday by the Pirates. “I care deeply about this organization, the city of Pittsburgh and the people of this region. While I will no longer play a role with the club, I will always passionately support the team in any way that I can.”

He hasn’t been in control for a couple of years, but now he’s really and truly out.

Pirates fans can choose to remember McClatchy in any number of ways, be it as the fair-haired boy whose stewardship resulted in 13 straight losing seasons, or the man who, according to the article anyway, saw his investment in the Pirates appreciate some 300% in those 13 years while (a) demanding that Pennsylvania taxpayers build him a shiny new stadium; and (b) putting almost zero dollars into things that would translate into a winning product on the field.

Now that I think about it, I think I’ll choose to remember him for both of those things.