BRADENTON, Fla. — Maybe the karma is there.

Josh Kinney was born in 1979, the last year the Pirates won a world championship. He attended his first major league game at Three Rivers Stadium in 1990, the first of the Bucs’ run of three successive division titles in that decade.

Now the Coudersport native and veteran relief pitcher is in the Pirates’ camp the year after the team ended a 20-year run of losing seasons and non-playoff appearances.

“I told my agent I wanted to sign with a winner,” Kinney said. “That’s why I’m here.”

Oh, one more thing.

He turns 35 on March 31 — on Opening Day at PNC Park.

His best birthday present would be to be there.

“I grew up a Pirate fan,” the Port Allegany graduate said. “I remember those teams from the playoff years ... Jose Lind, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla ... I wanted to be those guys.”

But Kinney has done something those guys never did. He won a World Series.

And he took an odd route to get there.

The hard-throwing right-hander originally signed with the River City Rascals of the Frontier League, just looking to break into professional baseball. Two weeks later, the St. Louis Cardinals signed him as a non-drafted free agent.

Kinney’s first pitch in the big leagues was hit for a home run by Atlanta’s Ryan Langerhans. But Kinney stayed the course, pitching well enough as a late-season call-up in 2006 to make the Cardinals’ postseason roster.

He wound up getting a World Series ring. And despite owning just one regular season win in his career, Kinney picked up a win out of the bullpen in the playoffs that year.

“I have no clue about that regular season win, but I beat the Mets in the playoffs,” Kinney said, chuckling. “That one, I remember.

“I was a young guy when we won in 2006. I didn’t take it all in like I should have. We felt like we were going to win again. When you go all the way through and snatch the grand prize at the end ... It’s special. But you always think it’s going to happen again.”

Instead, Kinney has struggledto rebuild his career since that Series celebration eight years ago.

He required Tommy John surgery during spring training the following year, then fractured his elbow while rehabbing. By 2010, he was removed from the postseason roster. After pitching briefly for the White Sox in 2011, Kinney signed a minor league contract with Seattle in December of that year.

“I made the team in 2012 and felt like I was back,” he said.

Kinney posted a 3.94 earned run average and 36 strikeouts in 32 innings with the Mariners that season. But in spring training of last year, he fractured a rib, developed pneumonia and began the season on the 60-day disabled list.

“Seattle figured it was going to win last year and I was confident I’d get recalled to the big club when I came off the DL,” Kinney said. “By the time I got healthy, the team was 12 games below .500 and I was stuck in Triple-A.”

He averaged a strikeout an inning with Tacoma in 2013.

“By August, I was pitching better than I have in my life. I was pitching better than guys who were getting called up. It was disappointing,” Kinney said.

That’s why he’s in Bradenton, trying to make the Pirates’ 25-man roster despite the organization’s pitching depth in the bullpen.

“A team that’s winning or plans to win is going to use pitchers they believe will help them win,” Kinney reasoned. “You need a glob of pitchers to get through a major league season anyway.

“It’s hard making any major league roster. I don’t worry about the situation or the numbers. You take this game day to day. If you try to project even a month down the road, your ship is sunk.”

Through his first three Grapefruit League appearances with the Pirates, Kinney worked three scoreless innings, striking out two and allowing two hits.

“There’s a real family feel here,” Kinney said. “This is a team full of great character. The atmosphere is friendly and full of energy.

“We’ve probably been the most exciting team to watch in spring training. I mean, spring training baseball is showing up, getting your work in, get the game over and don’t get hurt. That’s not how it is in this camp.

“We’re stealing bases, sliding hard, playing great defense, really getting after it. That’s how baseball is supposed to be played. We’re setting a tone for the start of the year and that’s a good sign,” Kinney added.

He only hopes he gets added to the roster by the end of the month.

“I’m here to do my best and if that’s not good enough, I can live with it,” Kinney said. “I know I’m getting a fair, good look here. And that’s all I want.”