As a baseball fan, I’m not crazy about Interleague play, but since its inception, I’ve been waiting for one team in particular to visit Pittsburgh — the New York Yankees.
They finally arrived this past week, with all the pomp you’d expect from what is arguably professional baseball’s most storied franchise. My son and I were in the stands for Wednesday’s game. It was a 10-0 drubbing of the Bucs. After seven innings, with the score 8-0, we left, which is something I rarely do.
Lots of other folks had been waiting a long time for a Yankees appears in the ‘burgh. In two days (the third game was rained out), more than 77,000 showed up. Even though PNC Park was packed on Wednesday, it was a quiet place. That might have been because the Pirates themselves showed little sign of life. But I think it’s more the nature of the fans.
PNC Park is a great place to watch a ballgame. Unfortunately, it’s also a great place to eat, wander around, people-watch and go to the bathroom. It always seems to me that the people at PNC are interested in just about anything but the baseball game. I’ll grant you, the crowd was probably more engaged during the Pirates 12-5 win on Tuesday night. But anytime I’m at PNC, I don’t feel like fans are paying much attention to the game.
Pittsburghers like to brag about what great fans they are, but I don’t see it. I don’t see it at Steelers games either, but that’s another story …
Meanwhile, I wonder how many Pirates fans realize what a true baseball treasure we have playing shortstop. Jack Wilson is old-school, hard-nosed and plays with joy. If you’re at the ballpark and bored with people-watching, spend some time watching how Wilson plays the game.