Best performance in 41 years, PIT fans who are warm even with ‘exciting foot baseball’
The Pittsburgh Pirates dominated the National League (NL).
Pittsburgh’s blast at the beginning of the season is heating up the major leagues. It’s the best season start in the last 40 years.
In the home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers held at PNC Park on the 28th (hereinafter Korean time), Pittsburgh won 6-2 by effectively tying up eight hits, including starter Mitch Keller’s good크크크벳 pitching and Connor Joe’s and Rodolfo Castro’s home run.
Pittsburgh, which continued a steep rise of 9 wins and 1 loss in the last 10 games, maintained the highest win rate in the NL as well as the Central District with 18 wins and 8 losses (0.692). It is 1.5 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers (16-9), second in the Central Division, and one game ahead of the Atlanta Braves (17-9), second in the NL.
Based on the first 26 games of the season, this is the best performance since 1992 (19 wins and 7 losses). Pittsburgh advanced to the National League Championship Series with a record of 96 wins and 66 losses that year, ranking first in the NL East for the third consecutive year. It
Pittsburgh’s team color these days is mobility. On this day, Andrew McCutchen, Jack Swinsky, and Brian Reynolds succeeded in stealing and shook the Dodgers defense. As of this day, the team’s 37 stolen bases is first in both leagues. It is 6 more than the second place Cleveland Guardians (31).
It is no exaggeration to say that Bae Ji-hwan was at the forefront of running baseball. On this day, in the bottom of the 6th inning with a 6-2 lead, 2 out and 1st baseman Mark Mathias participated as a major runner.
On the 26th and 27th, against the Dodgers, Bae Ji-hwan poured out 5 hits, 5 steals and 4 runs in 2 games, showing the essence of ‘baseball’. Local media highlighted Bae Ji-hwan’s presence by using the expression ‘going crazy’.
Pittsburgh coach Derek Shelton said after the victory over the Dodgers that day, “We are playing a high-level game. That’s what stands out the most.” So there are things we can do consistently. It starts with the defense,” he said, giving high marks to his defense.
In this atmosphere, Pittsburgh’s home stadium should be packed with full crowds. Of course, there are also plenty to see. Recently, infielder Drew Madge, who debuted in the major leagues at the age of 33, is adorning local media every day.
However, box office success is not following the results. As of this day, Pittsburgh mobilized 195,047 people in 13 home games, recording an average of 15,004 people per game. The average crowd is 28th out of 30 teams.
Of course, Pittsburgh is a representative small market club. However, if the performance is this good, the fans have to react, but the increase in the number of spectators is not as explosive as expected. Compared to the same period last year, it increased only by 25.3%. Pittsburgh was also ranked 28th in average attendance at this time last year.
The period in which baseball fans gather the most during a season is May-June, and teams capable of postseason continue to be successful in the second half. In the case of Pittsburgh, we have to wait until next month, but now the box office performance is disappointing.
When the crowd for the Dodgers game on the 27th stopped at 12,152, the AP said, ‘The Pirates are starting the season incredibly well, but they are not attracting many fans. Including the game on this day, the number of people in the last 4 consecutive games has been below 13,000,” he said. The largest spectator capacity at PNC Park is 38,753. It is not even half full.
Since then, the momentum of this season is considered to be the best.