A Dodgers Fan in Pittsburgh
by bearface on Apr 7, 2010 8:14 AM PDT
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PrintThanks to Passover, an amazing wife, and a ton of coffee I spent the last two days doing the 7 hour drive from NYC to Pittsburgh and back to watch baseball in my 12th major league stadium, including my 7th that I was actually watching the Dodgers play.
I figured as it was opening day, it might be worth reporting this one back to you guys. As you can imagine, there were some highs and lows. I'll start with the lows first.
Lows
The city of PIttsburgh. I don't know how to describe it. The people of this town move around like ghosts with blank, depressed stares on their faces. Having spent nearly all of my life in Los Angeles and New York, two cities with separate but equal reputations for not being all that welcoming to guests, I was blown away at how unfriendly Pittsburgh was. There were multiple instances of people just not talking to us at all - completely ignoring questions or friendly conversations and staring the other way.
I have seen the Dodgers play in San Francisco, Denver, New York, and Philadelphia and I've always been treated nicely by most. Sure there are the occasional trash talkers, but that's part of the fun. It's the being ignored thing that I thought was so strange. Anyways.
The game. If you think it was tough watching the Dodgers lose to a team with a payroll worth less than the Yankees starting rotation on TV or on ESPN gamecast from your desk, try waking up at 430 am, driving 7 hours and doing it surrounded by 35,000 Pirates fans who haven't seen their team above .500 in who knows how long, and probably won't for the rest of the season. As you all saw, the bats looked good (5 runs on 12 hits), the fielding looked lazy, and the pitching looked shaky at best. As a longtime Dodger fan, it's tougher to watch the Dodgers give up 11 runs to a bottom tier team than it is to watch their bats struggle against a mediocre pitcher.
Primanti Brothers. I've wanted to try this legendary Pittsburgh burger for I don't know how long, and it was absolutely awful. No flavor at all. Just like the rest of the town. Snap!
Highs
PNC Park. It is pretty much exactly how it looks on TV. Absolutely flawless with stellar views of the city, perfect weather, and a great walk over the Roberto Clemente bridge. $43 (marked up on StubHub) got us about 19 rows behind the Dodger's on deck circle with great views of the plate and of first base. This was on opening day, mind you. I can't imagine what tickets go for mid season. In case you were wondering, I only saw maybe 50 Dodger fans. In comparison a game at Shea Stadium or Citi Field will bring out a few thousand, easily.
view from my iPhone - objects in camera are closer than they appear.
PNC Park's location. And you'll see why. After walking around the stadium taking some pictures (and dealing with some really obnoxious hecklers), we walked back over the bridge to downtown Pittsburgh. The first building on the left was the Renaissance Hotel in Pittsburgh. I immediately noticed a couple of cops standing outside and thought "hmm, I wonder if the Dodgers are staying at this hotel." They were. No less than 20 minutes (and a trip up the street to Starbucks) a white bus pulled around to a number of young kids and autograph seekers waiting outside the hotel.
Out walked a miserable bunch of millionaires - Vicente Padilla, Don Mattingly, Andre Ethier, Jonathon Broxton, Jeff Weaver, and Manny Ramirez. None of them acknowledged any of us, except for Mattingly after I screamed "Donny Baseball!"
Being severely disappointed (though not at all surprised) we went back to our hotel, showered, changed and grabbed an outdoor spot at a bar/restaurant about 8 buildings up across the street from the hotel. A lot of players came and went, most not so recognizable from afar, though Manny was. He ignored fans again on the way in, kind of a dick move to be honest. About 30 minutes later, one Ned Colleti walked by. Here was our conversation.
Me: "Can I take a picture with you?"
Ned "Um, who do you think I am?"
Me; "You're Ned Colleti."
Ned "Um, sure."
Me: "You did a great job putting the team together this year" (a lie, but I don't blame him, I blame his budget)
Ned: "Yeah, it would've been nice to win today."
Me: "There's 161 games left - I wouldn't stress."
Ned: Blank stare.
Me: "Thanks!"
About ten minutes later Andre Ethier walked by and into the 7-11 across the street. A bunch of kids followed him and waited outside for autographs, but I didn't want to bug him. Plus I think my wife would leave me for him.
Anyways - I hope you all enjoyed the read. Would I suggest the trip to Pittsburgh? Not in particular, at least not unless you're trying to complete a list or get some autographs or something. Think Blue!
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Your conversation with Ned is hilarious
Great stuff. Thanks for the recap.
The stadium does look gorgeous on TV.
I bet it’s not always so pleasant when Ned encounters Dodger fans. You should have mentioned Santana or Bell to see if he’s developed a flinch.
by Little Blue Bicycle on Apr 7, 2010 9:05 AM PDT up reply actions
Most people tend to be very cordial when actually meeting people
Who they may criticize elsewhere. I mean its really hard to confront someone in person. Even those who criticize the McCourts would be hard pressed to actually be rude to them in person.
Last season, I was in SF for the last series with the Giants in September and one day I was walking through AT&T and saw Dr. Charles Steinberg. The last time I saw him was at the DT event in May and he could not have been nicer, this time he was rather curt and just said AT&T was a nice ballpark.
I was half-way joking, bh, but half-way not. I’ve given some talks lately that resulted in unpleasant moments during and afterward, all because I dared to suggest that slavery had something to do with the Civil War. Keyboard courage seems to be emerging from the basement all round.
by Little Blue Bicycle on Apr 7, 2010 9:29 AM PDT up reply actions
I wonder what would have happened
if you told Ned you thought he was Logan White:)
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I get the feeling
that a lot of people confuse him with Frank McCourt – not because of looks as much as mere confusion.
After a game at Camelback this year
A lot of Dodger execs, including Frank and Ned were milling around the stadium after the game. Frank had a huge crowd behind the left field bull pen while Ned was left standing at a table nursing a water with no one even thinking about approaching him. I felt a little bad for the guy.
My wife says that I'm the expert at the "blank stare"
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
The last time I saw the Dodgers in Pittsburgh...
…people threw stuff at me from the upper deck of Three Rivers. Luckily, I was wearing my souvenir LA helmet. I always think about that (and being threatened in Atlanta and Baltimore) when I hear people complain about Dodger Stadium.
by Little Blue Bicycle on Apr 7, 2010 9:03 AM PDT reply actions
I don't mind heckling as much as i mind a-holes.
At Camden, I went with my wife who’s a New Yorker and a Yankees fan – it was probably 85% Yankees fans compared to 15% Orioles fans. We were fine in Baltimore.
I’ve experienced a bit of it in New York and Philly but not as much as you would expect, SF was a different story but its hard to take baseball fans seriously when they’ve got a Blackberry in one hand and a wine cooler in the other.
Safety in numbers, perhaps. I was with two obvious Yankees fans when we were surrounded in the car by a group of folks who didn’t like Yankee fans.
by Little Blue Bicycle on Apr 7, 2010 9:22 AM PDT up reply actions
The last time I was in Pittsburgh
I covered the Pirates’ final home game in the 1992 playoffs. I believe it was Barry Bonds’ last game as a Pirate in front of those fans. It was also the last baseball game I covered for nearly 15 years.
Bob Walk got mad at me.
It was my first experience covering baseball on artificial turf and my legs got sore during the long time I was down there before the game – it was like standing on concrete.
But driving into Pittsburgh, I thought it was a beautiful city.
Why was Bob Walk mad?
I remember that game because I made 13 sports bets with one of my friends that school year, and I was 12-1 against him. The only loss was delivered via the bat of Francisco Cabrera, the arm of Barry Bonds, the slide of Sid Bream, and the cracking voice of Sean McDonough.
not until barry changed teams and hat sizes did we all realize just how great that moment was – unable to throw out a semi-disabled sid bream from deep short…
anyone with a good memory or time on their hands explain to me how the hell sid bream was running for himself in that situation?
Bob Walk
Eight-time winner of the “millionaire professional athlete who looks like a mechanic from Boone, North Carolina who has more recently slept in an alley than washed his hair” award
Your description of the people sounds the exact same as my experiences in Denver. Not like I am the friendliest person in the world, but even the simplest questions to the person next to me were ignored.
I'd suggest not wearing a shirt that says
“Elway was Overrated” next time.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Only an idiot would criticize Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is a great city with great fans. Try your drivel on Pittsburgh fans during football season brainiac.
Forget the moronic trivia and stick to the game. No one wants to hear a no account’s opinion of the ball players. Are you sure you’re a Dodger fan?
I want to hear his account
I rather enjoyed it.
Thanks for speaking on behalf of the rest of us though.
by Michael White on Apr 7, 2010 10:12 AM PDT up reply actions
It is
Since he’s only registered as a TBLA member he’s obviously a Dodger fan so we will see how this goes. He’s new, most of his posting was today.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I feel fairly confident that a hobbling Bill Buckner would beat this Mookie to the bag.
by Eric Stephen on Apr 7, 2010 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions
Don't sweat it
you were bound to upset anyone from Pittsburgh. They have probably already nailed this on the Buc’s Corner BB, they are thin skinned lot.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Hi
I’m from Pittsburgh, a Pirate fan and a frequent reader of True Blue LA (the Dodgers are a team I like – I’m not a full blown fan – but they’re a team I don’t mind cheering for when the Bucs are ineludibly eliminated from the playoffs…or a .500 record). I just wanted to try and clear up a few things regarding the original posters miserable experience here in the ’Burgh.
The main point I want to make is that these 17 years have made most Pirate fans a cynical bunch. Even after some really good work (I feel, anyway) by Neal Huntington last season, a lot of people here seem to project Dave Littlefield’s ineptitude and Kevin McCLatchy’s frugality onto Huntington and Bob Nutting and have doomed this rebuilding plan from the gun. As such, they have already gone into ‘F the world – especially teams with big payrolls…like the Dodgers!’ mode.
Plus, no one really has experience with the friendly give/take relationship you have with other baseball teams fans’ when you have a decent team. We all sort of immediately expect ‘the streak’ to be pounded down our throats by any and all opposing fans. Look, we have to deal with turdball Cubs, Brewers (!), Reds, and (not as often, thank God, but still terrible) Braves, Phillies, and Mets fans, who all (for the most part) make it a point to be as obnoxious and dimwitted as possible. That’s kind of what we have grown to expect from other teams fans.
At Steeler games, in contrast, the good-natured back and forth banter is widespread most likely because the Steelers have a very strong reputation (for breaking the law..I kid) of winning. Hockey games, well, that all depends on who the Pens are playing but since the Kings AREN’T the Flyers or Capitals, I’d assume the same would apply. The same goes for football although there certainly is more of a history between the Raiders and Steelers than the Pens and Kings – save for Lemieux/Gretzky.
Also, a lot of the people there on Opening Day are there because, well…it’s Opening Day and they’re there with their kids because they promised them a month ago they would take them to Opening Day and now they missed the first inning because they didn’t expect it to be so hard to park (how could you not?), and wow they just got ripped off paying $20 to park there’s a garage right here for $5 and what they’re batting the pitcher 8th?!, what the hell?, and Ross who-en-dorf is pitching tomorrow?, etc. Now, I’m not saying we don’t have a solid fan base because we certainly do. But most of those cynical hermits that were mentioned in the original post and that I described a bit earlier are so delusional about this team that they just don’t want to take the chance with a random guy wearing blue and white.
As far as Primantis goes…ya, I guess it depends on what sandwich you got. I go with the Pittsburgh-er Cheese Steak with no Coleslaw and then drench it in ketchup, but I can understand where you’re coming from with the no flavor with some of the sandwiches.
So, overall it’s nothing personal, I’m sure. The ‘suck’ of the past nearly two decades have made us cautious about engaging opposing fans. Now, if you would have been sitting next to me, however, I would have gladly engaged in the friendly back and forth.
I'm getting hard on myself, sitting in my easy chair.
Thanks for taking the time to give an excellent response
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Agreed.
Didn’t occur to me that Pittsburgh baseball fans might be incredibly hardened from these dry years. We Dodger fans should consider ourselves fortunate that our biggest complaint is no WS appearance in 21 years – at least we’ve had some contenders in between, so it could have been a lot worse. I wonder if Dodger fans were at their surliest during the bleakest of the Fox years?
I do have to say that if you have to “drench” a sandwich in ketchup (or catsup), I don’t get the point of paying for it in the first place.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Plus on the sandwwich comment
As a Clipper fan I am incredibly thin skinned about their craptapulous history so I have empathy for those who root for moribound franchises. However i don’t understand the non – friendly, blank stare approach, then again it was bearface so maybe I wouldn’t be so friendly either if a bear started talking to me.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Ha!
At a certain point, rooting for a horrible franchise becomes comedic (see my Raiders fandom). Al Davis keeps me grounded.
On the fan spectrum, the Raiders still went to the Super Bowl recently, the Dodgers have been to the NLCS 2 years in a row, the Lakers have won like 50 championships and ditto for USC. You seem to be in pretty good shape.
As for me, I have the New York Giants (the best sports moment of my life was a few years ago), the Dodgers (last 2 years aren’t bad at all) and then a big drop off. Clippers (complete failure), Oregon State football (getting better but no Rose Bowl since the 60’s), and my alma matter hasn’t beaten Gonzaga at basketball (our natural rival as the only 2 teams in the conference not in California) since my sophomore year of college. I have more of a mixed bag and the Dodgers are a clear number 2 in terms of recent success.
by Michael White on Apr 8, 2010 3:23 PM PDT up reply actions
I am a big guy
6’ 4’’, 235 with a big beard. thus bear-face. that being said, i’m a also a big teddy bear. bear-face, again. i’m a pretty nice dude and non threatening, so it’s not like I was being a dick.
Can anyone 6'4 with a beard not be threatening:)
You sound like Merlin Olsen, minus around 50 pounds.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
A lot of this depends on age.
I was 5 in 1988. My dad and my older brothers remember it well, I don’t. For me, I don’t see much of a difference between that or a Cubs/Giants/Pirates etc. fan who hasn’t ever seen their team win. Yeah – we’ve been good the last 2 years, but before that I’d only seen the Dodgers win 1 playoff game since I was 5 years old.
Well, remember...
that would be one more playoff game than any Pirate fan 18 or younger has had the chance to see, let alone win. At this point, people take the Pirates as a funny novelty. They go because it’s something to do. …not necessarily because they really enjoy baseball. They have this attitude of, ‘dude, it would be totally sweet if we win tonigh! but they’re probably gonna lose because the owner, what’s his name? won’t spend 18 bajillion dollars to keep Nate McLouth and Jason Bay.’ I think that was the kind of person you encountered with the blank stare. Especially if you said something like…‘Hey man, what’s up with your rotations FIP?’
It doesn’t surprise me though because it’s those same people that can’t distinguish between the new management team and the old one, or, and I’m 100% serious, that don’t know there is a new management team.
Back to Primantis: I just really like ketchup.
I'm getting hard on myself, sitting in my easy chair.
FYI
my questions that got blank stares or rudeness…
“what is the name of your mascot?”
“how old is Andrew McCutchen?”
“what is the best thing to order at Primanti bros?”
and
“do you know where in the stadium we can find some pierogies?”
I’m not much of a shit-talker, at least not when my team is losing. I did throw around the “Enjoy the last time your team will be above .500 for a while” comeback around. But again, I don’t mind fans talking shit to me when my team is losing ESPECIALLY when I am a guest. It was the other stuff that bothered me.
as sports go – LA does pretty well, and I’ve been a NY FB Giants fan my whole life, so I don’t have a ton to complain about – but Pittsburgh does well too. The Steelers are, well, the most successful franchise ever. The Penguins just won it all a year or two ago. Pitt has made the big dance every year since 2002, including a 2009 Elite Eight appearance. So the Steelers suck. So what? The Dodgers sucked for a while too and the Clippers have always sucked.
Well to be fair
those are kind of hard questions (at least very specific and you can’t just make up an answer),
I think you may just have asked some dumbasses.
LA
Even in the bleakest years Dodger’s and King’s fans always seem to find something from our teams we can enjoy. I think its one of the cool aspects of the culture of LA. Even on this board, most of the vitriol we all felt at the ownership is now gone that Spring is here and baseball is on.
But to really put this to the test, we have several Clipper fans on this board to interview to get some data :)!
The Dodger's Are your Back up Team
Cool. People are also a crap shoot. Sometimes you get good ones and sometimes you just get a bunch of a-holes. I took a trip through the Canada and the East Coast one year, and I got a lot of unfriendly Canadians and the most friendly people were from: New York City??? You never know.
Also everyone’s probably nicer in the Summer than just going through the winter, when I went to Cleveland and Western Pennsylvania in the Summer one year, I couldn’t believe how friendly people were, would say hi to me on the street, kind of freaked me out at first but got used to it fast and really liked it. But didn’t go to Pittsburgh, maybe everyone is a jerk? :)
Are you implying that this FanPost is not?
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Apr 19, 2010 10:01 AM PDT up reply actions
The more I think about it
If a sandwich has cole slaw (and I am assuming it is a creamy slaw, not a vinegary one) between the slices of bread, it couldn’t have been very good to begin with, otherwise why cover it up with that gloppy stuff?
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
If you tried it, you would probably love it,
then talk about how bad it is. Way to dismiss something you know nothing about and have never tried. I used to do that when I was six.
It IS vinegar based cole slaw, and it’s not used to cover anything up. The restaurant started in the 30’s and began putting everything on the sandwich so that truck drivers could eat it all at once and get back on the road quickly.
Stay classy, LA.
Way to pre-judge me based on one measly comment
If you tried it, you would probably love it, then talk about how bad it is.
At least I stated my assumption (about what kind of slaw), which does make a huge difference.
And then you are going to judge all of LA by my one comment? You are the guest here, not me, so: way to represent Pittsburgh, western PA., or wherever you’re from with class. You are welcome here if you want to make constructive comments, but if you just want to be snide, I’d rather you simply leave.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Pittsburgh trip
Having seen the Dodgers in many cities (L.A., Anaheim, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Montreal, and Pittsburgh), I’m kind of surprised that the Pittsburgh folks were unkind or that you didn’t have a good time. I was in Pittsburgh about three or four years ago, and the fans were very gracious and friendly. In fact, my experience is that if you get out of California (don’t know if it’s a geographic thing or a rivals thing), fans in every city were generally very nice and friendly. Some folks talk smack, but all in the nature of good fun. Midwestern fans (in my experience) are probably be the best combination, in terms of knowledge of the game, friendliness, and being gracious hosts. I wish Dodgers fans would (as a whole) be as gracious to others as they have been to me and my family/friends.
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