Greetings from PNC Park in the Steel City. The Pirates of Pittsburgh take on the Dodgers of Los Angeles in a game between two old and respected franchises who have had different levels of success in recent history. The Pirates are five-time World Series champions, but the last one was in 1979 and are now in the midst of a span of 16 consecutive losing seasons. The Dodgers just have one more World Series title than the Pirates, but have won two in the 80s and have enjoyed some moderate success in more recent history. These trends have continued to this season, with the Dodgers holding a 4.5 game lead in the NL West and barring a monumental collapse, they should win the division and be heading to the playoffs for the third time in five seasons, while the Pirates are again one of the worst teams in the majors. These two old-time franchises are on different levels at the moment, but a win is a win and each one wants it, no matter where they are in the standings.
In a game that started close but never low scoring, an eight run 7th inning by the Pirates blew the game wide open and was the key to their 15-8 victory. Neither starter pitched effectively, with both Zach Duke of the Pirates and Chad Billingsley of the Dodgers both lasting to the 5th inning and giving up five and six earned runs respectively. Five of the runs against Billingsley were from the bat of Adam LaRoche, who hit a solo homer in the 4th and a grand slam in the 5th. At this juncture of the game, the score was 7-4 (Duke started out in the 6th and was responsible for one of the men on base), but the Dodgers were able to get three runs off the Pirates relief from the bats of Russell Martin, Andre Ethier, and Angel Berroa to tie the score at 7 in the 7th. The Pirates just blew their three run lead and their first two batters were retired in their part of the 7th, but then, the bats awoke in a big way. RBI’s by Andy LaRoche, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jason Michaels, and Freddy Sanchez combined with a two-run Ryan Doumit home run led to their big eight run outburst. With just six more outs that needed to be recorded, the Pirates bullpen held on easily to get the win.
The only things I’ve heard about the Pirates is how great their stadium is with an incredible view of downtown Pittsburgh, and after seeing pictures online, I was pretty sure that part would be outstanding. But after that, I didn’t know much. The Pirates have been one of the most irrelevant franchises in Major League Baseball for my entire life, so not much is ever said about them. But when I actually went, I got to see that they still have great fans, even in the middle of a 16 losing-season stretch. The place was by no means packed.. it was actually one of the least attended games I went to.. but the people that were there were really impressive. They were incredibly smart and knew a lot about the game and their Pirates. While enthusiasm wasn’t incredibly feverish when all their runs were scored, it was definitely more jovial than I thought it would be for a team as insignificant as the Pirates. It probably even compared to some of the top teams in the league’s reaction to runs being scored. I mean.. it wasn’t as loud, but for the ratio of people who attended to the noise produced, it was probably pretty even. That was the most impressive thing.. there was still solid support for their extremely shitty franchise. Maybe that had to do with the stadium experience, which was a definite plus. In order to get people to come to such a bad brand of baseball, there has to be low prices for everything. And damn.. they were real low. I had a seat directly behind first base five rows up for TWENTY SIX DOLLARS. That is so effing low, like you have no idea. I paid like $60-70 for the Nationals and a similar (and probably a little worse) seat and roasted them for it because their team is really bad too. The Pirates understand they have to get people into the gates and hopefully get them on board as lifelong fans. The food was also real cheap. They had $1 hot dogs available to the fans, which were real popular. Parking was also the cheapest yet.. $5 but that was across the river in downtown Pittsburgh as a late night special so its always available, but I think the stadium has a huge influence on that price being set since its so close to the stadium. It proved to be just another way the franchise takes it easy financially on their fans. As for the actual stadium, it was as picturesque as advertised. I never knew Pittsburgh was scenic, but with all of the bridges over the three rivers and its clean looking downtown, it most certainly is.. and this view is on full display from all areas of the ballpark. There was also some charm too, but mostly just from all the old time season ticket holders who have been going since the 70s, like a group who was next to me. So, with everything considered, I’m going to give the Pirates a B+ and 5th overall, ahead of the Royals but behind the Phillies. I’m really surprised that I turned out putting them that high with the somewhat tepid fan base that was actually present, but I can totally tell that if this team was good, this place would be off the hook. But even with a bad team, they still put on a good show with the amazing prices and amazing stadium with its totally sexy view, making Pittsburgh a nice and fan-friendly place to see a game.
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