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Fillipponi: Pittsburghers Aren’t The Only Ones Who Don’t Like Baseball.

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(Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

(Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

Andrew-Filliponi

Reporting Andrew Fillipponi

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“Where the #%!@ is everyone!”

I had to utter that line a dozen times.  I was walking around the upper deck concourse of Progressive Field in Cleveland and I felt like I had broken into my neighbor’s house. There were whole sections of seats roped off.  Concession stands closed for business.  Was I in the right place?  I thought the game was in the second inning?

It was.  Just no one seemed to care.  You think baseball apathy in Pittsburgh is at an outer space level, check out Cleveland.  It will cheer you up.  The Indians have the best record in baseball (11-4), and the worst attendance (14,000 fans a game).   The number of empty plastic seats outnumber fans sitting in them by 2:1.

I sat behind home plate with a perfect view of the field for 12 dollars.  Cleveland wants a winner (so they say), they currently have one, but they’re not paying attention.  I’d like to think if the Pirates were in first place we’d get more than 13,000 fans for a Sunday matinee.

Is that right?  Or would it take something more to win you over?  If the Bucs had the best record in the National League, would that get you to the ballpark?

View Comments
  • Mitch

    You can’t expect fan attitudes to change after a good first 10% of the season. This would be like seeing the Lions go 2-1 and expecting the city of Detroit to view them as a winning team rather than just a few lucky games.

  • King James

    Everybody has Cavs playoff fever!!!

  • Ryan Glover

    Um, I can watch the Penguins, an organization that has done EVERYTHING right by it’s fans, causing it to become the fastest growing sports franchise in the United States

    ….or I can watch the Pirates who’s management has shown time and time again that fans don’t matter, not when they get revenue sharing regardless of how many fans walk in the door. The Pirates need to do more than just win, they need to realize who their customers are and cater to them. People say Nutting is just running the Pirates like a business. Any business knows that their nothing without their customers. Nutting isn’t running the Pirates like a private business, he’s running them like a Government subsidized business. You don’t have to worry about the fans when you’ve got the life-line of revenue sharing. So I don’t have to worry about the Pirates when I’ve got the life-line of the Penguins.

    You reap what you sow.

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