They're opening three new drinking areas in PNC Park, and that's a can't-lose proposition.
Games continually evolve, and the biggest changes in baseball may have come off the field. For decades, we heard what a lousy baseball venue Three Rivers Stadium was. That was indisputable.
Now the Pirates play their home games in a baseball palace, but it seems like large numbers of people don't even watch the games. At any given point during a home game, you'll find people slowly walking the concourse like a mall, looking for ways to spend money.
The Pirates have paid attention, and that's why they're jamming new places to buy alcohol in small spaces that hadn't been used efficiently through the park's first 14 seasons.
There's been a generational shift in the way consumers approach the ballpark experience. Sometimes it seems like the baseball is a backdrop for being in a trendy place, especially on the weekend nights that draw so well.
The cliche used to be that people attended Pirates games for fireworks and bobbleheads. Now they're on board to take selfies and sip craft beer.
When PNC Park opened, there was a controversy over bringing in outside food and drinks. Kevin McClatchy made a fool of himself, petulantly slamming sandwiches and water bottles into a regulation-sized cooler bag while he complained about the attention given to the issue.
Is anybody brown-bagging homemade chipped ham on Wonder bread these days? More likely people are forking over large bills for one of those Primanti Brothers' "Hey Where's The Meat On This Thing?" specials, at the usual sports venue markup.
Of course, it's never been purely baseball. Old timers tell of a section at Forbes Field where gamblers would congregate to indulge their affliction by wagering on everything. Will the next pitch be a ball or strike? Batter swings or doesn't? Ground ball or fly? Fair or foul? Yes or no on a Kiner home run? Legend says the section was constantly hopping with the compulsive action.
But it still seemed as though the game was the thing, at least more than it may be now in a world of limited attention spans. One of the new drinking areas will offer a lousy long-range view of the field, but it will be augmented by a series of TV screens. So you're basically experiencing the game the way you would if your living room was really loud.
The Pirates are at last enjoying success after a 20-year drought, yet it seems like people have one eye on the game, and the other on their phone or the racing pierogis. Scoreboard watching exists, but now it's for the cheesy game show knockoffs. That's assuming ticket buyers aren't prowling the concourse in search of Dippin' Dots, the perennial ice cream of the future.
The Pirates have raised ticket prices and have an incredibly confusing price scale, yet people are buying more tickets than ever. They're coming out to the ball park in record numbers, and buying a lot more than peanuts and Cracker Jack.
Maybe somebody can update the lyrics of the traditional seventh-inning stretch song to include the limited edition ales and sandwiches loaded with fries and cole slaw.
Will there be a point where someone's lasting first-game memory isn't a three-run homer or spectacular catch, but rather the turkey burger topped with fresh mozzarella and washed down with a $9.25 hipster brew?
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--BUILDING PROJECT
Wonder if Titans fans are excited about the prospect of a 77-year-old coordinator fixing the team's 27th-ranked defense with over the hill Steelers players?
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--LET'S MAKE A DEAL
It could be a tough NHL trading deadline based on the prices teams are paying for rental players.
Daniel Winnik should help the Penguins' bottom six forwards, but they had to give up two draft picks (including a second-round choice) plus a marginal player to get him.
There was no doubt New Jersey would trade Jaromir Jagr, but the Devils were able to pry second and third-round draft picks from Florida for him.
Trading is already restricted by salary cap considerations. The Penguins are pretty well hamstrung in that regard, unable to take on a significant contract unless they also unload one.
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--UNWANTED ATTENTION
Here's a message line you don't expect to see in the day's e-mail list:
"Statement from the Pittsburgh Pirates Regarding Photo of Mohammed Emwaz."
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