Pirates fans rode an emotional roller coaster Monday as the team opened its home season at PNC Park: Anticipation. Elation. Disappointment. They got it all.
Coming into the 2019 season, the Pirates had won five consecutive home openers. That streak came to an end as they fell to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5, in 11 innings.
It was a heart-wrenching result for the faithful who began the day tailgating, the odor of sizzling hot dogs and burgers wafting through North Shore parking lots, portable speakers turned up to ear-splitting levels and lines 40 people long at the portable potties along West General Robinson Street.
Despite hand-numbing temperatures befitting a late-autumn Steelers game, fans showed up in force: The team announced paid attendance of 37,336, a sellout, and high above last year’s paltry 30,186, the lowest for a season opener in the history of PNC Park.
Some fans arrived at least five hours before the opening pitch at 1:05 p.m. to set up their grills and pour a beverage, celebrating the end of six long, cold months without baseball.
Chris Merrill, 27, was among the many who were undeterred by temperatures below freezing early in the day. At a tailgate before the game, he said he was more concerned with the run-scoring ability of the Pirates’ lineup and the team’s pitching staff living up to its potential.
“It’s Pittsburgh,” he said. “We’re not expecting 80 degrees. This ain’t San Diego.”
The low on Monday dipped to 25 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. It eked up to 37 beneath a nearly cloudless sky by game time, barely within the normal range of 36 to 56 degrees on April 1, said NWS meteorologist Tom Green. For the record, the high for the date is 83; the low, 11.
For veterans of springtime tailgating and the hit-or-miss conditions that come with it, a key to enduring hours outdoors is simple: layers. Fans donned stocking caps, down coats, scarves and gloves, with some hyping their favorite team by dressing in full-blown pirate costumes, eye patches included.
Fan Ryan Naples, 26, said opening day generates a unifying force bound by the perennial hope that the Pirates will somehow exceed expectations, whatever they may be.
Monday marked his first opening day at the ballpark, possibly the only game he will attend all year. There’s no matching the buzz of a season that’s still pretty much a blank slate — the Pirates came home from a weekend in Cincinnati with a 1-1 record — enough for him to turn it into a ritual moving forward.
“We were talking about making this a thing to do every year,” he said.
After the disappointing loss, many fans blew past a reporter trying to gauge reactions to the game.
One who would share his thoughts, Logan Phillips, 30,of Carmichaels, Greene County, said he was encouraged when the Pirates took an early 4-0 lead.
"At first they played awesome. It was a solid start," Mr. Phillips said. Citing the club's relief pitching, he said, "It just slowly fell apart."
But he pointed out that there are 159 games left: "Going forward, they have a solid future."
Carl Zappa III, 31, of Mount Washington, is a fan of extra-inning games.
"I enjoy getting free baseball," he said. "I'm not pleased with the outcome."
Matt McKinney: mmckinney@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1944 and on twitter @mmckinne17. Staff writer Kevin Flowers contributed.
First Published: April 1, 2019, 9:13 p.m.
Updated: April 2, 2019, 12:48 a.m.
