http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The Pirates' Pedro Alvarez signs autographs for fans before his first game Wednesday at PNC Park against the White Sox.
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review
How odd.
My intent Wednesday night was to capture a sure-to-be rollicking atmosphere for the debut of third baseman Pedro Alvarez, the Pirates' best power-hitting prospect since Barry Bonds in 1986. But the first person I encountered was a PNC Park vendor who, as it turned out, was walking home 45 minutes before the first pitch.
"What's the crowd like?" I asked, as we stood near the CCAC Campus on Ridge Ave.
"Not much of one," he said. "They just sent 30 of us home 'cause there aren't enough (fans) in there."
Signs grew more ominous as the ballpark came into view. Traffic around the ticket booths, described by a team official as an all-day trickle, was still just that: a trickle. I approached a 24-year-old fan named Alex Harrington and asked, "Are you buying tickets to see Alvarez?"
"Who?" he said.
Oh, boy. I said the name again, and while it seemed to ring a bell, Harrington wasn't here for Alvarez. He was here to take a buddy from Chicago to see the White Sox and "to kill some time."
Let's Go Bucs!
Surely, the next person I approached would be pumped for Pedro-palooza, even if the Buccos had lost nine straight. But I swear this is what Mike Biosko, a middle-aged man from Cranberry, told me when I asked if he and his buddy had come for the Alvarez unveiling.
"No, we're here to see if they lose 10 in a row," he said.
Seriously? You drove in from Cranberry just for that?
"Yes," he insisted.
At that point, I wanted to call up Pirates owner Bob Nutting and MLB commissioner Bud Selig and scream into the phone, "Do you see what you people have done to this fan base?"
Seconds later, a man named Ernest Hindman, 31, of South Park, turned the momentum ever so slightly. Hindman hadn't been to PNC Park since Opening Day and might not have come again if not for Alvarez, whom he was excited to see.
About two hours earlier, 37-year-old Troy Karlik of Coraopolis heard a voice in his head while cutting his lawn. He hadn't been to the ballpark in two years.
"Maybe the Pirates are making an effort," said the voice, Karlik's own. "Maybe it'll make a difference."
He paid $9 for a ticket.
Pedro Alvarez walks during the fifth inning Wednesday against the White Sox at PNC Park.
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review
Mike Quarantillo, a junior at Pitt and a big basketball fan, had texted four of his friends earlier in the day. The text read, "Alvarez is coming up and (former Pitt basketball star) DeJuan Blair is throwing out the first pitch. We're there."
And so they were, but I got the feeling a lot of these folks felt like Hindman, in that they grudgingly opened their wallets and weren't exactly brimming with unbridled hope.
"I was happy to find out about Alvarez," Hindman said. "But he's potentially the last Pirate I'll ever care about if this plan fails."
Do you see what's at stake here? Do you see why it's imperative that the Pirates put some pieces around Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen? Do you understand why it's so critical that Nutting follows through on the promise to spend more money when the time is right?
That time is growing near.
I just wonder if the Pirates get the message. You wouldn't think so, judging from the fact they announced the Alvarez promotion in much the way Robert Irsay announced the Colts' departure from Baltimore a quarter-century ago (Irsay secretly moved his team in the middle of the night).
The Pirates put out a news release after their loss Tuesday night, saying, essentially, that they were pretty darned sure Alvarez would be here the next day.
Not exactly a PR blitz. Then again, I'm not sure a PR blitz would have added much to the paltry crowd of 15,218, which was much better than projected as of Monday but still 23,278 under capacity.
Some stood and clapped when Alvarez walked to the plate in the second inning. Some chanted his name. Some gave him a polite ovation after he struck out on a massive swing.
Quite frankly, though, it seemed like any other dead weeknight game at PNC Park.
How sad.
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