The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 5 of 7)

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Larry Thornberry asks, "So where will the new baseball fans come from?"

I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Pittsburgh an argument can be made that the people filling the stadium aren't really baseball fans at all. As the Pirates limp through a second decade without a winning season, attendance is solid, if not spectacular. What brings so many people to part with large sums of money for the privilege of watching our bungling Buccos?

It seems that the baseball experience has been effectively shifted from going out to watch a ballgame and maybe having a hot dog or pack of peanuts and a cold drink. Instead it's now about going out to partake of the wide assortment of foods available, pick up a bobble head doll and stay afterwards for a spectacular fireworks display. Throw in the chance to look across the river at the city skyline on a pleasant evening, and you have a mix that draws thousands each night, many of whom probably neither know nor care that the performance on the field is seriously deficient.

There was a joke that was current in the early days of PNC Park, when the assortment of foods available for game goers was widely touted as a drawing card:

"Want to go out and see the Pirates?"

"Nah. I'm not hungry."

p>Provide food and bobble heads and fireworks, and Pittsburghers will flock to the stadium in droves, and not many of them will ever notice what percentage of the players are black, white, Asian or otherwise, unless maybe they take a look at the bobblehead someday. It's not about baseball anymore, it's about the experience. It's all in the marketing. br> -- Mark Fallert br> Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania /p> p> Larry Thornberry replies

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