As A.J. Burnett walked off the mound after the third inning Thursday night, his first start since an elbow injury derailed his All-Star season in July, a bat signal appeared behind him, glowing green above the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel’s iconic arch.
It was a theatrical moment dozens at PNC Park had anxiously anticipated, a secretly planned show of support three days in the making. When Burnett, 38, a Batman enthusiast, took the field again in the fourth, he saw smaller bat signals lighting up the Gulf Tower and Penn Avenue Place.
“That’s by far the coolest thing that’s happened to me in my career,” said Burnett, who plans to retire after this season.
The idea was hatched in Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s office Tuesday, the morning news of Burnett’s return was plastered in print. Peduto already had discussed projecting the bat signal on buildings Downtown during the playoffs, but this seemed an even better time.
Plus, the inaugural Wizard World Comic Con is in town this weekend.
“The stars aligned for us in Gotham City,” said Katie O’Malley, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office.
Tuesday, with a go-ahead from the Pirates, Peduto’s office contacted Thomas Tull, chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures, which produced “The Dark Knight” trilogy that was partially shot in Pittsburgh. Tull offered to cover the cost of the project — “We don’t really have a bat-signal budget,” O’Malley said, laughing — and Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara gave permission for the trademarked bat signal to be used.
Next, Peduto’s office phoned Rob Long, creative director of Clear Story, a Pittsburgh-based creative services firm specializing in architectural lighting design. Long, in turn, called up fellow Washington, Pa., native George Dodworth, CEO of Lightwave International, which has put on laser shows across the globe.
With a short window to plan and pull off the project, Long and Dodworth decided on laser projection rather than high-powered video projection. They went to the stadium Tuesday to scout out spots and compile a schematic list of options and design recommendations, which they sent to the Pirates and the mayor’s office.
“A.J. means so much to this organization and to our fans,” team spokesman Brian Warecki said. “So we were excited about the concept.”
The mayor’s office got approval from the three building owners, and a plan was in motion. The lighting experts managed to pull off a test run Wednesday night with only a few pedestrians stopping to snap photos. The lasers were set up beyond the batter’s eye in center field and beamed across the Allegheny River.
Determining the exact moment to turn on the lasers was a little tricky. Neither party wanted the display to distract Burnett. Long and Dodworth wanted it to be dark before they illuminated the city, and the Pirates wanted it to be early on after a good inning from Burnett. He allowed three runs in the first, in bright daylight.
After a scoreless third, Long said, “the conditions were just right.”
“The money shot of the night, in my view, are the shots of A.J. on the mound with the bat signal projected on the Renaissance Hotel behind him,” Long said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if photographs of that become posters of his legacy.”
Burnett took to Twitter early Friday morning and posted a photo of that scene — him pitching before a bat-signal backdrop — and added the caption, “Incredible! Straight up Legitzburgh!”
In a statement released Friday night, Peduto thanked DC Comics and Warner Bros. for permission to use the bat signal and Tull for sponsoring the projection. He added the following quote from James Gordon, Gotham City’s fictional police commissioner: “The signal goes on and he shows up. That’s the way it’s been, that’s the way it will be.”
Warecki said there were many to thank both inside and outside the organization for bringing the project to fruition. He applauded the ballpark operations team, led by Chris Hunter and James LaGuardia, and senior director of marketing Brian Chiera.
“It really was a collaborative effort,” O’Malley said. “It was a fun idea and something fans seemed excited about, a great rallying cry and show of support.”
Stephen J. Nesbitt: snesbitt@post-gazette.com and on Twitter @stephenjnesbitt.
First Published: September 11, 2015, 9:03 p.m.
Updated: September 12, 2015, 12:06 a.m.
