A Different Environment

Let's Go Bucs, at Rifrafters Campground

Tonight I found a streaming broadcast of the Pirates Cardinals game while I stay holed up in a quaint little cabin in the New River Gorge, West Virginia. Rifrafters campsite has wifi (sweet), which has come in handy while it rained all day (yuck). So I've got a St. Louis broadcast of the game, and I always love hearing the other team's announcers' perspective on the Pirates. The play by play guy just pointed out that the crowd has hung on every pitch tonight, and he commented that it was a different environment -- a new experience if you will -- at PNC Park. They also commented that the three biggest surprises they've seen have been the bullpen, the team's energy, and that "it's a pretty complete ball club."

The Times They Are A-Changing

I think I just spent 7 hours at PNC Park. And most of the time I sat there watching every pitch. And get this. So did everyone else at the stadium! Mindblowing. Have things officially changed? Sure, you can't say you've done much if a series in July represents the biggest series in your ballpark's history -- but still, you can only get there one season, one series, one game at a time. And what a pair of games. What a series so far, with the Bucs taking the first 3 (of 5 total) against the previously first place St. Louis Cardinals on a beautiful, historic, and epic July night in the 4-1-tizzle. 

How about this? During the second game when they played Pirate trivia (or whatever the hell stupid game) with a fan -- you know, the game where you win a hat or wind breaker and then have to choose whether to keep it or take the Mystery Box? In my experience at PNC Park this moment -- this fan trivia game -- is the most exciting point of the night. The box, we have to know what's in that box! Tonight, though, I heard not a ripple, not a rumble, not a remote interest in the mystery box. Nobody gave a damn that the dude got an old school Duck Hunt / Super Mario Brothers classic Nintendo game (phenomenal mystery box prize by the way). People actually waited for the end of the innings to get up and pee or  go stuff their face. No one loitered in the aisles. People got yelled at if they did!

Pirates fans came to see the game. They came to see a pennant race not a pierogi race. Remarkable. You can feel the difference. You can hear it. I met my season ticket neighbors to the left, a nice older couple named Steve and Something I Forget. I can't go the rest of this week and weekend, but I sold my tickets to friends. Steve and his wife said they'll make sure everyone behaves. I even took pictures tonight. Oh, and let's not overlook the fact that I caught a launched hot dog. Pictures to follow.

What a phenomenal crowd. You could feel a buzz at the ballpark (without even drinking). Tremendous seats, too, by the way. Row C rules. 

Did you know that they do actually shoot real hot dogs out of those launchers? Take a look at this rubbery wiener (that I did not eat). It also came with a voucher coupon for a dog if you didn't want to eat that one. I did redeem the coupon and enjoy a red hot with relish, onions, and Heinz ketchup.

Mixed Feelings as 2013 Season Tickets Begin

Remember the Pirates actually played meaningful games down the stretch last year -- they just played them miserably. Tonight begins Meaningful Baseball Phase II at PNC Park when the Pirates host the first place St. Louis Cardinals. Many have called it the most important series in PNC Park history. In a bizarre twist, because of a rain out earlier in the year, the Cardinals actually come in for a rare 5 game series, including a double header on Tuesday. Five games in four days!

Even more exciting my second half full season ticket package officially begins tonight as well! I should be doing cartwheels and swinging from the chandelier, right? But here's the problem -- I have to go out of town this week! I leave Wednesday morning for West Virginia for a short camping trip at the New River Gorge before continuing on to Winston-Salem, NC for my cousin's weekend.

I can't make it to tonight's game because of kickball. So I traded these in the week I bought the tickets to go to one of the games against the A's. Tomorrow I can make it to the double header (sweet) but then I'll miss the rest of the Cardinals series and the weekend set against Colorado. :-(

Worst case scenario? The Pirates win tonight, Wednesday and Thursday, and lose the double header (the 2 games I attend) on Tuesday. That will really piss me off if they do that. 

Otherwise, I feel fine missing out on the "biggest series in PNC history" because it will only really matter if another series down the road claims that same title. I'll make it to the next biggest series in PNC history.

I had no problem selling all the games I'll miss. My cost per ticket came out to 24$ each (so 48$ per game) and I'll sell them at that price or lower to friends -- since they still get a discount over the regular price and better seats than you could get from the box office. For fireworks games I will see what I can do on Craigslist. I got 125$ for the game Saturday Aug. 3 against the Rockies. I sold Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday to friends!

Changing Experience

Check out this great article by AP write Ted Anthony about the new experience evolving at PNC Park this year. This quote demonstrates the point of this blog perfectly: ""For 20 years, it's been the Penguins and the Steelers. And the Pirates have been the afterthought. And now the Pirates are in the conversation. They're relevant," says Scott Kaminski, 45, a lifelong Pirates fan and college baseball player who is now an attorney in neighboring West Virginia. "For 20 years it's just been, `Well, let's go see a Pirates game for something to do,' or `Some great players coming into town,' or "It's a great ballpark.'" Now it's `Let's go see the Pirates.'"" 

Season Tickets, Baby!

Done! Official season ticket holder, 2013. Purchase made. More later.

All Aboard the Pirate Ship?

As you may know, last year (2012) I bought season tickets for the second half after the Pirates showed they could compete. This blog -- Season Tickets, Baby -- documents a new, changing experience at PNC, a shift in perspective. It hopes to follow a fan base refocusing -- from fireworks and free t-shirts to pennant races and trade acquisitions; from dippin' dots to developing prospects.

I felt satisfied with my purchase last year. I got about a month and a half of good, meaningful games, and I sold enough tickets to make back most of my original cost. But the late season collapse (twice) -- coupled with increased ticket prices this year (seriously?) -- left me convinced I shouldn't re-up my package. My thinking leveled out over the off season, feeling good about Russell Martin, a full year of Wandy, etc, but still didn't think it wise to purchase a package at the beginning of the new year. Why not wait again like last year and see if they demonstrate the ability to compete at a high level consistently?

Now ticket prices have settled down a little bit. No, I'll never get outfield box seats for 12$ a ticket again -- tremendous deal last year -- but it came down from 24$ to 21$. Last year I bought the remaining 45 games -- every home game left -- but right now the full season prorated package only gives you 30 games. I don't know why they don't give the full package, but I actually like it better this way, given the price increase. In other words, I can pay closer to the same overall price, and just get two thirds as many games -- rather than getting the same number of games at a significantly higher cost.

Approaching the midway point this year it sure looks like the Buccos will stay in it. (All of the "Are the Pirates for real this year?" talk started in May, and the team has only improved since.) Of course, it looked that way last year, didn't it? But you can see the obvious differences in this year's team: Russell Martin and Starling Marte; a legitimately powerful Pedro; lock-down, playoff caliber bullpen; an incredibly deep starting rotation; and Andrew McCutchen hasn't fully heated up yet.

The Pirates, on June 28, 2013, reached first place in the NL Central, passing the Cardinals for the best record in all of Major League Baseball, nearing the halfway point in the season. That certainly bodes well. Ruhl well, as we say in the 'Burgh.

Let me consider a few reasons not to buy, though. One, if Tricia starts grad school in the Fall she probably won't attend games with me in September :-(. Two, the Pirates pitching can not sustain this level of run prevention. Three, it's the freakin' Pirates. Three solid reasons, to be sure, but not enough to make the risk outweigh the reward at this point...Let's buy! I think. What do you think?

Cole's Debut Absolutely Tremendous

I've never seen PNC Park so electric for a whole game. I've seen moments like that, but people were hanging on every pitch from Cole tonight. Tremendous. Absolutely awesome. That is exactly what I'm talking about when I'm talking about a new experience at PNC Park. Phenomenal. And he pitches to contact, that's the best part, rather than trying to blow everyone away. Who else throws 98 and pitches to contact?!? Fantastic.

Chicago Thinks Things Have Changed at PNC Park

I wanted to get season tickets last year to witness a change at PNC Park. I want to see the transition from losing to winning baseball. I want to see the ballpark here in Pittsburgh evolve from a place to watch pierogi races to a place to watch pennant races. I want to see this question get answered: is there a new experience at PNC Park?

Well, some of the people at the Chicago Sun-Times seem to think that this change has already taken place. They site examples like signing Andrew McCutchen to a long term deal and signing Jason Grilli this offseason rather than letting him go to a team like the Cubs that offered a little more money. Interesting article...

Discount Pirate Tickets

The Pirates currently have a great discount ticket promotion running! Called 'How Many K's' they took a dollar off of ticket prices for every strike out Pirates pitchers threw over the course of three games last week. They racked up 23 K's, so they took 23$ off the ticket price for lower outfield box seats. So the lower outfield box seats cost 9$ and the second tier just 5$. I bought a pair for Tuesday and a pair for Thursday -- just the kind of price I look to pay when it comes to the Pirates! 

Love the Pirates Hot Start!

Now, you have to admit, the voyage on the Titanic started off great, with people mingling and drinking hot toddies. Obviously we know how it ended: icy cold, face down, ass up. So, while I love the Buccos' great opening month of April, let's not raise the Jolly Roger so far up our own ass that we can't see the big picture.

All signs look good, though. Well not all. They started the season a miserable 1-5 with absolutely no hitting. And even during the recent 12-4 stretch we've seen some awful starting pitching. But, 1) I'm exaggerating the negatives, and, 2) the positives far outweigh these negatives ... so far.

As you know from last year, the decision of whether or not to buy a season ticket package weighed heavily on my mind during the first half of the season -- until finally I gave myself the go ahead around the midway point. I decided before the season started this year, based on two factors, that I would have to play wait-and-see again before even considering buying in. If you combine the terrible, miserable, awful garbage baseball to which the Pirates reverted in August/September 2012 with the franchise's decision to significantly raise ticket prices this year, you can see why. 

Let me sum up the ticket price increase the following way: for the exact same seats that I had last year it would cost me twice as much (per ticket) to get the same package this year. Last year I got a pro-rated full season ticket package in July, for all the remaining home games, at 12$ per ticket, for tickets whose face value was 24$ (lower outfield box seats near first base). That turned out to be an absolutely great deal! Going into this year, for the exact same tickets, they would have cost 24$ per ticket after the discount! In other words, this year's discounted price (for the full season package) has the tickets priced the same as last year's face value price. Doesn't that seem insane when you put that way??? 

I guess it just shows how great a deal I got last year. Speaking of last year, that reminds me (and here's a warning: this post is about to take a turn). Fucking A, that was the year for god's sake, ugh!!! Losers!! Sixteen games over .500 with 2 months to play ... the worst collapse in baseball history?!? Twenty consecutive years of losing -- the longest such stretch in modern professional team sports history ... first, you totally blow the season, and then you go and jack up the prices?! 

This post started in a positive way ... and it concludes with the following sentiment ... It's Riverhounds time!!! Let's just hope there isn't yet another blog in my future.

Reconsidering Season Tickets Again Next Year

Down the stretch last season I swore off investing in the season tickets again next year -- because the final third of the season was just so miserable. So many of the games I went to were awful, just miserable baseball games, stacking up losses, giving up tons of runs, diminishing crowds. But. Then I remembered my bottom line. I originally spent 937$ for 2 tickets to about 40 games, lower level, near first base. Very good seats at 12$ a ticket -- 50% off the regular price for those seats. Then I sold a third of my games -- just a third -- and made back $627. So, for selling a third of my tickets, I made back two thirds of my cost. I ended up spending about 300 bucks for 25 games worth of tickets. It brought my total cost down to 6 dollars a ticket -- for what normally costs 24$ + fees.

So I'm facing the same decision as I was last year.. If they are hovering at or above .500 for most of the season, with a chance of contending going into August/September, I do want to be there. The question is this, though. Will I still have an easy time selling my tickets if they don't perform as well in the first half of the season? Should I wait again until June or July to see how things play out? I'd love to replicate the same experience -- invest about $1000, sell a bunch of games, and make back a big chunk of my money. The point being this. If you were going to buy these tickets at face value, and go to 5 games, just 5, for 2 tickets it would cost you $250 (or more with fees). I only ended up spending $300 for about 25 games. So why not? 

The only reason not to is if I'm worried that I won't be able to sell the tickets as easily this year. But here's the thing. The fireworks and other special event games are always sold out, and I will always be able to sell them. Labor Day and July 4th games will be easy to sell no matter what.

I guess the other reason not to buy before the season starts is if there is a strong possibility that they will suck. If they're in 4th place all year, I don't want to go to any games. Maybe one. But that's my whole thing. I absolutely want to go to as many games as possible if they are contending -- but if they suck again, I have zero interest at all. Absolutely none.

The smart thing to do of course would be to wait until halfway again like last year. But if I buy early I can get a better choice of seats. And I can start selling them earlier than last year. Plus I'll have opening day tickets as well. And I'll just get to enjoy all the benefits of being a season ticket holder all year, which is nice -- if, IF, I'm going to go -- IF they don't suck! Jeez I am going in circles again just like last year! You can see why this is a tough call -- it's the freaking Pirates.

EDIT: I now just realized they have raised prices significantly. I guess that means I would have to ask for more when selling them, but there is not the same 50% deal for the Outfield Box seats that I got last year. Last year they were 24 at regular price. They cost 12 for the full season plan -- the only ticket level that was offered at 50% off. This year they are 28 regular price for normal games and even more, 33 bucks, for premium games (which are every Saturday). With the discount they are 22 and 26. That sucks!!! Last year, this tickets cost 24 for FULL PRICE. This year, the premium Saturday games cost 26 WITH the discount. In other words they cost more this year after the season ticket price discount than they did last year at REGULAR cost. That's insane. I mean, if they spend more on players and development, that's fine, I'm ok with that, so we'll see. We'll see.

So, on one hand that makes me want to buy them less. But on the other hand, given that the price has gone UP, it kind of makes MORE sense to buy season tickets -- so I don't end up paying regular price for a dozen games and spending way too much.  Aye yay yay. 

Bucs Steal Martin from Yanks, Headlines From Steelers

On the eve of a potentially make-or-break Steelers-Ravens game, rife with story lines, the Pirates stole the headlines, at least for a few hours.  That's not the biggest coup in this story, though.  

It's a far too familiar story in Major League Baseball.  All-star player available on the free agent market.  His current team apparently just doesn't have the money to make an adequate offer.  An opposing team swoops in, offers a chunk of cash, and snags the guy away.  Only this time it was the Pirates taking the player away from the Yankees!  

Former gold glove, all-star catcher Russell Martin, signs a two year, 17 million dollar deal with the Bucs!  Cheers Neil Huntington!  Well done. Hmmm I may be reconsidering my adamant stance against re-upping my season ticket package.  Martin has worked with McDonald and Burnett before.  By one man's measure, he was the second best catcher in the league at framing pitches from 2007-2011.  That is an invaluable skill!  At 30 years old, he's in his prime.  This move leaves Michael McKenry in the role he is best suited for, back-up catcher, rather than one he is far less qualified to play -- platoon catcher (or even, god forbid, a starter, yikes), which is also great news.

nice 'stache dude

Now, it is a lot of money, and who knows, it may have been better spent elsewhere.  But I think it is clearly a defensive upgrade, and he has the potential to hit 20 homeruns.  Plus it's only a two year deal.

I've collected a few other interesting articles:

• Another look at pitch-framing
• Another one, with fantastic charts and graphs
• Some counterpoints against the Martin signing
• New York Post coverage

Oh, and check this out.  Here's a list of available free agent catchers and their age. Martin is younger than all of them. Napoli can hit but isn't really a catcher.  Normally I would expect the Pirates to go for, oh I don't know, the Kelly Shoppach's of this list.  In fact, this entire list -- except for Napoli -- is exactly the kind of guy that the Pirates would normally get in this situation.  Hell, there actually are 3 former Pirates on this list!

• Rod Barajas (37)
• Henry Blanco (41)
• Mike Napoli (31)
• Miguel Olivo (34)
• Ronny Paulino (32)
• A.J. Pierzynski (36)
• Brian Schneider (36)
• Kelly Shoppach (33)
• Chris Snyder (32)
• Yorvit Torrealba (34)
• Matt Treanor