Dry Land: Winning After 20 Years at Sea With the Pittsburgh Pirates

Dry Land follows Pittsburgh Pirates fans as they navigate the longest streak of losing seasons in the history of major American pro sports. The Bucs' 20-year drift raises provocative questions about why we root for sports teams in the first place. Why would fans invest emotionally in a team with so little to offer? And why do fans who openly describe themselves as "masochistic" and "delusional" stick around?

Charlie Wilmoth chronicles the losing streak and explains how the Bucs finally built a team strong enough to challenge it. Meanwhile, he profiles fans in their teens and twenties who have never seen the Pirates win, and older ones waiting for the team's first winning season in a generation. Stir-crazy after two decades at sea, fans of all ages seethe at the Pirates' ownership and at each other, all while holding out hope that next year might somehow be different. Their loyalty is either inspiring or insane. And after two decades of choppy water, their luck is finally about to change.

"The Pittsburgh Pirates' transformation from record-setting losers to perennial contenders might be this century's best baseball story, and Charlie Wilmoth is the best person to tell it." - Rob Neyer, FOX Sports

"Pirates fans are like no others. After years of sharing his unique insights at Bucs Dugout, Charlie Wilmoth deftly captures the wildly varied emotions of Pirates fans in this excellent book." - Rob King, ROOT Sports

"With a sense of humor and point of view that could develop only through firsthand experience, Charlie Wilmoth chronicles a team and fan base hitting rock bottom, then rising to the top in a redemptive 2013 season. Dry Land examines what motivates fans to remain loyal after decades of losing, and follows them as their skepticism washes away during the Pirates' playoff run." - Tim Dierkes, MLB Trade Rumors

Charlie Wilmoth has run BucsDugout.com since 2005. He is a staff writer for MLB Trade Rumors and the co-host of the Bucs Dugout Podcast. Wilmoth was born and raised in Wheeling, West Virginia, an hour southwest of Pittsburgh. He lives in Columbus.