Pittsburgh Pirate Manager Chuck Tanner said there...

Pittsburgh Pirate Manager Chuck Tanner said there is still hope the investment group he represents will be able to purchase the financially-troubled Pirates.

“We’re neck and neck coming down the stretch,” Tanner said. “I was down last night and I was down when I came to the park. But I got a phone call from one of my men after I’d been here about an hour this morning and we’re still in it.”

Pirate President Dan Galbreath confirmed that Tanner’s group is still in the running to buy the franchise. Tanner has acknowledged that eastern Pennsylvania car dealers James Peruto and Vincent Piazza are the key members of his investment group.

Galbreath said Tanner’s group and a private-public coalition sponsored by Pittsburgh Mayor Richard Caliguiri are the frontrunners.