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Pirates aim to get the Steelers Nation fan base to PNC Park
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Pittsburgh Pirate Jeff Karstens (foreground) and pitching coach Ray Searage (background) are interviewed by members of the media yesterday afternoon at the Butler Institute for American Art.
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ goal this season is to make it the World Series and to get the Steelers Nation fan base to PNC Park
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
With Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expiring in 10 months, Pittsburgh Pirates management and players agree that a salary cap that could help restore competitive balance to baseball is unlikely.
Pitcher Jeff Karstens said he’s not an economics expert but he admitted that a cap could help small-market clubs like the Pirates and Cleveland Indians compete against the big-spending New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
“Which would be nice, but look at the Rays and what they did a couple of years ago with the payroll they had,” said Karstens, referring to Tampa Bay’s surprising World Series appearance in 2008.
General manager Neal Huntington said the price of negotiating a salary cap is too steep for a billion-dollar industry.
“It’s very unlikely,” said Huntington who spoke to several hundred Pirates fans during Thursday’s luncheon at The Butler Institute of American Art. “The players union has been very adamant in their opposition.
“If you look at the NHL, it took them a year shutdown to get a salary cap,” Huntington said. “The baseball players union is significantly stronger than the NHL players union was.
“Would it make impact for us? Sure,” Huntington said. “But even with the salary cap in the NFL, you have teams that win one or two games. And in the NBA, you have teams that win less than 10 of 80. In the NHL, you still have teams that fall far behind.
“In baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Colorado Rockies, the Cleveland Indians in and out, Minnesota — they show that organizations that may not be at the top echelon of the payroll but make good, smart business decisions ... that it is very feasible to win in major-league baseball.”
The Pirates (57-105 in 2010, 34 games behind the Cincinnati Reds) are coming off their 18th-straight losing season, the record for professional sports. Although stopping the skid doesn’t appear likely anytime soon, second baseman Neil Walker said the mood of the fans he’s been meeting this week “is very optimistic, certainly more than it’s been in the past.”
Karstens agreed.
“It feels like the fans are behind us,” said Karstens who was 3-10 in 2010 with an earned-run average of 4.92. “We have one goal to get to the World Series and get the Steelers nation fanbase to PNC Park.”
Despite topping 100 losses, Huntington said the Pirates drew 1.6 million fans to PNC Park.
Walker said faith in the team’s quality of pitching and the core of young players (centerfielder Andrew McCutcheon, shortstop Ronny Cedeno) are why.
“We know we are capable of doing good things, not down the road a couple of years but right now,” said Walker, the Pittsburgh native who batted .286 in first full season.
“The fans have been great,” Huntington said. “They are still passionate about Pirates baseball. “They see the depth in the system. We have an incredible fanbase that we need to reward by playing winning baseball.”
Walker was impressed with he setting.
“This museum is absolutely incredible.” Walker said. “Of all the stops we make, the turnout here is one of the biggest.”