Thursday, July 14, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
DETROIT -- The ceremony might have lacked the Olympic formality of lighting a new torch for the next venue, but the All-Star baton has been passed from Detroit to Pittsburgh.
Before the gala at Comerica Park had concluded, officials from the Pirates and representatives from the city and county sat down over eggs and coffee at a breakfast meeting Tuesday with the staff of Major League Baseball. Their sole focus was on July 11, 2006, the date of the 77th All-Star Game.
"It really was the kickoff for next year's event," said Kevin McClatchy, the person most responsible for bringing the All-Star Game to PNC Park. "We've got a ton of work to do, but there's no reason why we can't put on the best All-Star Game ever.
"How we do this All-Star Game is how people will perceive us as a city. I think everybody's going to rise to the occasion. People are proud of their city and want to show it off," McClatchy added. "It's not the Pirates' All-Star Game. It's Pittsburgh's game."
About 60 people from the city and county made the trip to Detroit to see how things work at baseball's annual gathering of stars, from the receptions to FanFest to the transportation plan to the parties.
Among those attending the breakfast were Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, Mayor-in-waiting Bob O'Connor, Mark Schneider of the Sports & Exhibition Authority and Joe McGrath of the Greater Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau. Also in Detroit were representatives of the Allegheny Conference, Aramark, Levy Restaurants and C.B. Richard Ellis, the company that manages PNC Park.
In truth, work already has begun on the 77th All-Star Game. Morgan Littlefield, director of special events for Major League Baseball, already has made several trips to Pittsburgh and will be making more in the months ahead.
No relation to Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield, she is responsible for FanFest, a sort of baseball theme park that runs for five days as part of the All-Star events. FanFest drew 100,000 visitors at Cobo Hall in Detroit, and the open views of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center will give it an airy feel. Plus, the convention center is much closer to the ballpark than it was in Detroit, and organizers envision a lot of pedestrian traffic.
"We're excited about it. It's a beautiful building," Littlefield said of Pittsburgh. "We feed off the energy of the ballpark when we're closer to it."
The focal point of Pittsburgh's FanFest will be on the 119-year history of the Pirates, including a number of items from the Hall of Fame. Also being celebrated will be the rich history of Negro League teams such as the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays.
Claude Molinari of the convention center trekked to Detroit to prepare his "to do" list. For one thing, it'll be a two-week job to unload and set up 200,000 pounds of exhibits, roughly equivalent to 150 tractor trailers. He figures the convention center will need 300,000 square feet of wall-to-wall carpeting and will need to procure a number of lifts to handle the 400 rigging points for exhibits and signs hung from the ceiling.
"It was really worthwhile being here," Molinari said.
Security requirements also were apparent.
In addition to Detroit and Michigan State Police, security details in Detroit included the FBI, ATF agents and National Guardsmen who periodically checked Cobo Hall for hazardous substances.
For the Pirates' front office, the Detroit experience was an opportunity to see how things ran and a chance to think about new approaches for next year.
A red carpet parade of the All-Star players was a new addition to the baseball pageant this year. Players rode in convertibles from the Fox Theater to Comerica Park before Tuesday's game, and that red carpet parade would be well-served by a ride across the Clemente Bridge.
A behind-the-scenes tour of Comerica Park was arranged to see how the Tigers converted storage space and nooks and crannies into interview rooms. Attention also was paid to the use of parking lots for galas and parties.
In addition, notes were taken on the ballroom space needed for pregame news conferences. The news conference announcing the World Baseball Classic was a cramped affair. The media horde also had to be squeezed into and out of an adjacent space for player interviews at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
"It's been a wonderful event. Detroit set the bar high, and we want to reach or surpass that bar," said Patty Paytas, vice president of communications for the Pirates. "There are some logistical challenges that will require coordination and cooperation. I think everybody is eager to get going on it. People are already generating ideas on how we can do things."
One of the first orders of business for next year is to unveil the logo, which already has been created for Pittsburgh. It will be shown soon at a news conference and then put on display at PNC Park, probably when the Pirates return from their road trip in Chicago.
As representatives of the host city, McClatchy and Ogden Nutting, the West Virginia newspaper magnate who has made the largest investment in the Pirates' ownership group, sat next to the commissioner in the front row boxes of Comerica Park at Tuesday night's game.
"I challenged everybody before we left that we have a lot of work to do," McClatchy said. "Our marketing slogan in 1997 was Let's Go To Work. We're going to have to go to work all over again to pull it off."
But Pittsburgh will be at the center of the baseball universe for five days next summer, and the potential is on everyone's mind.
"We're going to have a lot of people in our city looking for places to spend their money," McClatchy said. "The city has an opportunity to show itself off."
(Robert Dvorchak can be reached at bdvorchak@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1959.)
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