Piratefest!
I never thought we'd get back to a Piratefest. The last time we went was almost six years ago! We had gone the year before, too, so we were on our way to establishing an annual tradition, until China and things like that changed our plans.
It was a surprise to us that Piratefest was scheduled for a weekend in December. It's hard to think about baseball during winter, and I had long suspected Piratefest was held in winter if only to make the players appreciate Spring Training in Florida. But this offseason it was before Christmas even, so we were able to go. Randy and I took Myles, Brigid, and Randy's grandson Collin, and in Pittsburgh we met up with my sister Kate and her daughter Evangeline.
More after the jump
The whole point of Piratefest is to generate interest in Pittsburgh's professional baseball team. I intentionally use the word "generate interest" because in the past twenty years, Pirates baseball has yet to produce a winning season and thereby "excitement" might be hard to come by. Every offseason they must try to convince the increasingly skeptical fanbase that this next season will be different. For our family, we prefer to use our Pirates fandom as a way to teach humility and faithfulness.
Piratefest is geared especially toward families and kids. There were, of course, inflatables!
Pitching
Hitting
And a favorite with all of us, a chance to act like real sports broadcasters. This year we even got thumbdrives with our video.
Myles and Collin went first.
Then Brigid and Evangeline wanted to try, but they needed their moms to help with all the reading.
Oh yes, there are reasons this is called Piratefest, and not just Baseballfest. There were actual Pirates in attendance, but we did not get to see much of them. At one point, manager Clint Hurdle was next to us signing autographs, briefly, before some of the staff had to escort him to another official activity.
And Myles really wanted to see Andrew McCutchen, but we could never get close enough. Myles had been hoping for an autograph from his favorite player, but the line was hundreds of people deep for hours.
We did get to hear him sort of rap "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Piratefest is definitely one of those activities we would love to attend every year. The kids had a blast, even if they didn't get that close to Pirate players.
Just after Christmas, the Pirates organization made a surprising trade. Reliever Joel Hanrahan, a player so effective and popular he had his own catchphrase ("Hammertime!"), and who had just participated in Piratefest, was traded to the Boston Red Sox. It was perplexing to many fans, but I think maybe we should have seen it coming. Even though Hanrahan was among the "stars" at Piratesfest, he did not appear on the free 2013 calendar that had been distributed by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review to all fans. It was almost as though someone knew that Hanrahan wouldn't be a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013. If I look at the calendar by month, I wonder what the calendar tells us about the trades we might see this season, and maybe when they may happen.
January: Clint Hurdle.
February: Ballpark view from behind homeplate.
March: A.J. Burnett
April: Andrew McCutchen
May: James McDonald
June: Wandy Rodriguez
July: Pedro Alvarez
August: Clint Barmes
September: Neil Walker
October: Michael McKenry
November: Random fans
December: The Pirate Parrot.
Additionally, the Pirates only have four game-day promotional giveaways that name a specific player, Andrew McCutchen on April 20, A.J. Burnett on May 18, and Pedro Alvarez on August 4, and Neil Walker on August 18. Seems to be confidence that Alvarez and Walker will still be with the Pirates after the July 31 trade deadline; their calendar months and giveway dates could indicate this. McCutchen and Burnett, on the other hand---I just hope their early appearances on the calendar and the promotion schedule don't foretell mid-season trades.
It was a surprise to us that Piratefest was scheduled for a weekend in December. It's hard to think about baseball during winter, and I had long suspected Piratefest was held in winter if only to make the players appreciate Spring Training in Florida. But this offseason it was before Christmas even, so we were able to go. Randy and I took Myles, Brigid, and Randy's grandson Collin, and in Pittsburgh we met up with my sister Kate and her daughter Evangeline.
More after the jump
The whole point of Piratefest is to generate interest in Pittsburgh's professional baseball team. I intentionally use the word "generate interest" because in the past twenty years, Pirates baseball has yet to produce a winning season and thereby "excitement" might be hard to come by. Every offseason they must try to convince the increasingly skeptical fanbase that this next season will be different. For our family, we prefer to use our Pirates fandom as a way to teach humility and faithfulness.
Piratefest is geared especially toward families and kids. There were, of course, inflatables!
Pitching
Hitting
And a favorite with all of us, a chance to act like real sports broadcasters. This year we even got thumbdrives with our video.
Myles and Collin went first.
Then Brigid and Evangeline wanted to try, but they needed their moms to help with all the reading.
Oh yes, there are reasons this is called Piratefest, and not just Baseballfest. There were actual Pirates in attendance, but we did not get to see much of them. At one point, manager Clint Hurdle was next to us signing autographs, briefly, before some of the staff had to escort him to another official activity.
And Myles really wanted to see Andrew McCutchen, but we could never get close enough. Myles had been hoping for an autograph from his favorite player, but the line was hundreds of people deep for hours.
We did get to hear him sort of rap "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Piratefest is definitely one of those activities we would love to attend every year. The kids had a blast, even if they didn't get that close to Pirate players.
Just after Christmas, the Pirates organization made a surprising trade. Reliever Joel Hanrahan, a player so effective and popular he had his own catchphrase ("Hammertime!"), and who had just participated in Piratefest, was traded to the Boston Red Sox. It was perplexing to many fans, but I think maybe we should have seen it coming. Even though Hanrahan was among the "stars" at Piratesfest, he did not appear on the free 2013 calendar that had been distributed by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review to all fans. It was almost as though someone knew that Hanrahan wouldn't be a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013. If I look at the calendar by month, I wonder what the calendar tells us about the trades we might see this season, and maybe when they may happen.
January: Clint Hurdle.
February: Ballpark view from behind homeplate.
March: A.J. Burnett
April: Andrew McCutchen
May: James McDonald
June: Wandy Rodriguez
July: Pedro Alvarez
August: Clint Barmes
September: Neil Walker
October: Michael McKenry
November: Random fans
December: The Pirate Parrot.
Additionally, the Pirates only have four game-day promotional giveaways that name a specific player, Andrew McCutchen on April 20, A.J. Burnett on May 18, and Pedro Alvarez on August 4, and Neil Walker on August 18. Seems to be confidence that Alvarez and Walker will still be with the Pirates after the July 31 trade deadline; their calendar months and giveway dates could indicate this. McCutchen and Burnett, on the other hand---I just hope their early appearances on the calendar and the promotion schedule don't foretell mid-season trades.
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