DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
A weekly feature aimed at rounding up a whole lot of odds and ends from a whole lot of time spent around our local sports teams …
• Maybe it’s seeing all these sellouts this year — 12 now — but the Pirates have placed at least some thought into the concept of expanding PNC Park, I’ve been told by a very high-ranking executive. It’s barely even preliminary, but all processes start somewhere.
The catch, of course, is that PNC sits on the most finite of footprints, bordered by three streets and one river. Three sides are impossible to expand, and the river option would never happen because, as the executive told me, the view of Downtown is such an integral part of the stadium experience. Good for them on that count.
So what’s left?
There’s some modest room to grow that isolated collection of seats in right-center field. That’s probably the most viable and palatable option. Those could expand upward and back without inconveniencing the upper riverwalk, and without disturbing the view.
For those who don’t know, PNC is the majors’ smallest park, with a slightly lower capacity than Fenway. But if they can continuously squeeze additional capacity into ancient, locked-in Fenway, they can pull it off here, too.
• Want some idea of how much Mike Tomlin uses the media to manipulate his players’ mindsets? Stephon Tuitt has been getting some rave reviews of late. But when word leaked that Tomlin had been one of those doing the raving at a private meeting of the Steelers’ minority investors, Tomlin approached the responsible reporter during a practice the other day to state that he now needed to find a way to publicly cut down Tuitt, the second-round rookie defensive end, so Tuitt doesn’t get full of himself.
• Rob Scuderi had a terrible season for the Penguins. There’s nowhere to hide from that. But I’ve heard in the past week that he was much more affected by that broken ankle sustained last October than has been publicly disclosed. His mobility already had taken a step back from his tenure in Los Angeles, and this only worsened it. To his credit, he not only never complained about it. No one even knew other than those working most closely with him.
• Don’t expect Pedro Alvarez back in a regular role anytime soon. The Pirates’ real plan is to get him the occasional at-bat off the bench and insert him into the lineup when a favorable situation presents itself. This is what I like to call the Rob Mackowiak treatment. Find exactly the right pitcher-batter matchup, and make the most of it. Build self-esteem. In the interim, he can get some lessons at first base — grounders were being fielded there this very afternoon — and, above all, take his mind off the mess he was making across the diamond.
• Neil Walker assured me late last night this occasion of his back trouble is nowhere near as bad as previous episodes. He expects to be back soon. He also expects to take extra measures when dealing with hotel rooms. Don’t laugh at that. Anyone who has had back issues knows how hotel beds can set everything back. They cave in the middle.
• If you thought James Conner looked big and bruising in the Pitt backfield last season, just wait. Conner told me that, while his weight hasn’t changed, he’s packed on some serious density. Could have fooled me. Visually, he looks a lot different.
• Justin Brown is turning a lot of heads in Latrobe. Kid catches everything. He’s got good speed, that wiry receiver build and the athleticism to make it count. Coaches and teammates love him, too. He’s No. 15, if you’re looking for a number to target while watching the preseason opener vs. the Giants tomorrow.
• Wonderful description from Dick LeBeau as to why preseason matters …
• Good dude: Lance Moore.
• Anyone expecting Sidney Crosby to open the season with anyone other than usual linemates Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis flanking him will be mistaken. Or so I was told a couple days ago. It’s not a matter of bowing to Sid. It’s a matter of going with what works, at least at the outset.
• The Penguins and Riverhounds don’t have much in common, but there is this: Both need to do a better job of communicating with the various youth organizations in town. Both are making a lot of people mad. I’ll leave that there for now.
• When the Hounds get around to hiring a new coach, expect him to have a strongman role. He’ll be coach, GM … everything but overseer of the youth stuff. Which is exactly right. You want to be taken seriously as a pro team, then you’ve got to take the pro team seriously.
• Edinson Volquez’s stuff had ridiculous movement last night, didn’t it? He allowed only one hit through his seven innings against the Marlins and, other than the occasional missed command, he was untouchable.
I had Volquez and Charlie Morton seated next to each other late last night and asked both — somewhat uncomfortably on their end — whose four-seam fastball moves more. Volquez pointed to Charlie. Charlie just smiled. His does move more.
But here’s the catch: Volquez then told me he only threw four four-seamers all night. Four! Which means that those sinkers were hitting 94 mph!
Volquez just smiled. Charlie can’t do that.
Excellent site, DK. I have been a long-time reader but never posted. But this is a great site and I love the info in AZ. Also, I can give you suggestions next time in Phoenix metro of what to do and not be bored.
Welcome, Mr Beam Me UP!
Oddly enough, was at the game last night and the people behind me were talking about where they could add seats. One idea was to get a new scoreboard and raise it the other said to rip out the left field rotunda. I hope not! Love standing out there.
Title for Friday Tidbits:
“Loose Lips From a Tight-leafed Notebook!”
Nice!
The Penguins and Riverhounds are making youth teams mad, but not mad enough at this point for you to reveal why?
I’m looking forward to seeing what Lance Moore can do in the slot in this offense.
Curious, what prompted you to write “Good dude”?
My 2 cents on PNC Park expansion:
1.) Raise the scoreboard and build more bleachers atop the admin. bldg. 2.) Open the windows of the restaurant to create grand balconies (a la Heinz Hall). That area can definitely be reconfigured for more than just pups in the park nights. -CW
What would be the price for a Steelers-free version of this site?
These Friday “insider” columns are worth the price of a subscription. Very good stuff, DK.
I concur.
200 characters very limiting. Can’t express opinions or engage in debate. This needs to be changed.
I get 280 characters, but even that is not nearly enough.
Are multiple posts not an option for you?
As a champion of run-on sentences, I tend to agree. Need restriction, though.
Regarding the character limit, I had a professor in school tell us, “If I gave you more time for the exam, all I got was more. It wasn’t any better.” Not that such a sentiment would apply to any of us here. I’m sure that if DK finds it feasible to increase the limit, he will.
I’ve learned to be more succinct and not repeat myself. Amazing what you can fit into 280 characters when you do that. Efficient writing makes for better reading.
Agreed.
That downvote was from me
One of the pleasures of watching games on a big screen tv, is to see the movement on the pitches. The look on some of the batters faces was true amazement. The CF camera in PNC really helps, too – unless Manny is grilling too many burgers.
Recall Rod Scurry – almost as amazing
Too funny, Patrick. Was wondering why the center field cam was hazy on a perfectly clear day. Now I know!
Hope you are right about the Hounds. They have expended way too many resources in an effort to become the top youth soccer development organization in western Pa. No question in my mind, with the same people running both, that it has come at the expense of the pro team.
Don’t touch PNC. It is perfect the just the way it is. I just read an article that Cleveland is reducing their number of seats from 43,000 to 38,000. They’re cutting out some seats in little attended upper right field to build a restaurant and kids zone. Don’t Touch IT!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree. Well, except for making the centerfield wall less of an eyesore.
Cleveland has the 2nd lowest attendance in MLB. They can’t draw flies.
Agreed. Don’t touch it.
Well, they can touch the Charities sign if they really, really want to.
Given the amount of $ invested in this whole enterprise, someone should be able to come up with a solution to the hotel bed problem.
Contact Tom Bodette!
He is only in charge of the lights. Beds are someone elses domain.
Dejan,
Don’t know what you did but at exactly 3:00 the Big Black Bar went away. Thanks.
.
Nice column, by the way. I finally got to read it.
Hard to believe PNC Park is nearly half as old as Three Rivers Stadium. Often talk about how the Bucs could be drawing 45-55K with little problem on weekend dates. The left field seating area is one area that might be re-workable.
Probably about a decade away from needing some significant maintenance work – depending on who is paying. Seems like a good time to do the expansion, if feasible.
Restricted supply creates demand. 45k is too high and 55k is crazy. If you always think a ticket is available, you’ll wait and then something comes up. Restricted supply makes you buy in advance. 39k is a good number, park won’t look as empty on weeknights.
55k? They’d sell out opening day, and if they were in a pennant race, maybe a half dozen more games. There is value to being able to advertise with the words “….consecutive sellout.” At most, another 5k seats would add revenue. Any added seats wouldn’t be high-revenue seats.
Instead of “Friday Insider” whattya think of this heading : “Loose Items from a tight-leafed notebook” ?
I think that was the name of Bruce Keiden’s “stream of consciousness” weekly article. Dejan will come up with something if he needs to at all.
As to Scuderi, did he come back too soon and is there any reason to expect any improvement this season?
Baseball America polls MLB Managers each year for their list of “Best Tools” in each league. The 3rd Best Fastball? Edinson Volquez.
.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/majors/2014-major-league-best-tools/
DK> love the insider tidbits, every bit adding to the value of this-here site.
I do think its imperative the Bucs figure out how to get 2-3K more seats in.. I do think RF is the way to do it, and also wondering if they’d think about a 3rd deck behind home plate?
The cost to build the structure for adding 3rd deck would be astronomical. Also, logistically, it couldn’t happen during the season without shutting down entire sections of seats for months at a time. Construction only in the off season would take years. No chance it will happen.
That’s me running like I stole a month of all of this info for less than one cup a coffee.
Fenway still has seats that think it’s 100 years ago when people were smaller then. It’s a sardine can… it’s been over 10 years since I’ve been there, but was talking to someone that went to a NYY game, said it’s still tight. Fenway = Antique car. PNC = Benz S500
Good comment on Tomlin manipulating, or trying to manipulate, his players through the stinking media.
What a piece of work Tomlin is.
I get it that PNC was kept small to create ticket demand.
But if the Pirates hadn’t been a laughingstock for so many years, they could have built a 44-45,000 seat park.
A workable option is to raise the scoreboard, and expand the left-field seating area.
Disagree on 45k. Add seats to get capacity up to 39k+ pushes SRO to over 41k+
Capacity
37,898 (2001-2003)
38,496 (2004-2007)
38,362 (2008-present)
Record attendance 40,493 (October 7, 2013)
I think a small increase like that would be difficult to break even on unless it was a dirt cheap solution like simply throwing up elevated bleachers somewhere.
I have no clue what kind of profit they make on a given ticket, but if you figure a reasonable sellout target is may 30 games/yr adding a couple thousands seats isn’t gonna make you a ton of money. Major stadium modifications aren’t cheap( i.e. Heinz Field).
easier way to raise revenue? raise prices.
And don’t forget that it’s the food/drink revenue once fans enter the park that has the highest profit margins.
PNC is pretty close to perfect. But, I wouldn’t mind seeing it bumped to 41k max, with the ability to add another 1,500 SRO as they have in the past. I love what STL did this year. I’m no architect, but adding something unique like that would be very cool.
YES keep this in perspective, adding seats means a few here and there, but no way anyone thinks (or should) be adding up 45k or even 42k. They can figure out how to get up to 40k + SRO that would be very good.
Also, not popular I’m sure, but what they NEED to do is keep raising ticket prices, especially on high-demand weekends in the summer. Prices too low as they are now. And yes, I’ll duck for cover.
I expect Scuds to have bounce back season for sure. He is what he is, a quality veteran defensemen.
Prepare to be disappointed. Only way Scuds has a good season is if Scott Harrington puts on a Scuadri jersey and plays in his place.
Good info all over. I really like the videos sprinkled in with the stories. Gives you a real feel for the people involved.
I like the videos as well but not embedded like they are. Embedding them in morning java and firday insider is less of an issue but putting them ina column is tough especially if the rest of the column assumes you watched the video. Its not always convenient to crank up the volume or pull out the headphones to play a video.
The videos are good, as long as watching them isn’t essential to reading a full story.
Cleveland sold out every game from 1994 to 2001 because they were serious contenders. Do you think at that time they would have thought in a million years they would have to renovate to reduce seating 13 years later. I hope we’re at the start of an 8 year run, but fortunes chang
Every1 thinks adding seats is good idea based on last 2 years. Everyone forgets all the pick-your-own-seat nights from 2001-2011 (I was there). Let’s see a commitment long-term to winning first. 2 yrs a franchise doesn’t make.
Ballpark expansions usually look like a wart on an attractive face. Fenway’s a perfect example. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
The was a whole focus group study that meant to examine what PNC Park 2.0 would look like. More bar space is definitely a part of it as well…