Strangest Pirates home opener ever

If a Pirates home opener were played in the Twilight Zone, this is probably what it would look like.

Ninety minutes before the first pitch with the Milwaukee Brewers, the normally teeming streets and sidewalks around PNC Park were practically empty. There were no pedestrians marching to the ballpark across the Clemente Bridge, no souvenir sellers, no vendors hawking bottled water, no scalpers asking “Who needs tickets?” — and no saxophone guy.

The nearby restaurants where you would normally have to wait for a table had no lines.

All that could be seen near the gates of the ballpark on Federal Street were a few straggling fans walking in no particular direction and looking like they might be survivors of “The Night of the Living Dead.”

“I’m just here walking around, just seeing what’s going on,” said Pirates fan Joe Smith, 60, of the North Hills. Smith said he would be in the stands if the Pirates were allowing fans into PNC Park. “This is really strange. I hope it never happens again. It doesn’t seem like they’re going to be opening it up to fans at all, not until at least next year.”

Standing in front of PNC Park about 90 minutes before the first pitch and you would never know today is the Pirates home opener. pic.twitter.com/MT1SiJTVLr

— Paul Guggenheimer (@PGuggenheimer) July 27, 2020

Smith wasn’t the only subdued Pirates fan walking around. Jim Maholage, 56, of Murrysville said he follows the Pirates through every game they play.

“It’s been a tough summer,” Maholage said. “There’s nobody here. It’s the Pirates opener. There should be 35 (thousand) or 40 thousand people here.”

So what would make a fan want to come to the ballpark when they’re not allowed in? Maholage said it was important to him just to be close to the game.

“I’m just glad there’s finally a sporting event in town,” Maholage said.

Donna Mangold, 71, of Bloomfield was so glad to have the Pirates home playing ball again that she and a group of friends were tailgating in front of the locked left-field gate on Federal Street.

“It’s just fun. The game’s inside, and we’re as close as we can get and we’re with people that we care about that are true fans. We’ll hear the noise,” Mangold said. “None of us have missed the home opener in I don’t know how many years. I haven’t missed one since 1980.”

If fans were having a hard time understanding before Monday why they wouldn’t be allowed into PNC Park, the point wa driven home earlier in the day when news broke that at least 14 Miami Marlins players and staff members had tested positive for covid-19.

The Marlins canceled their flight home from Philadelphia after playing three games against the Phillies over the weekend, and their home opener Monday against Baltimore was postponed. Another game between the Phillies and the Yankees in Philadelphia was postponed as well.

Fans are not allowed inside PNC Park for tonight's Pirates home opener but some fans have showed up anyway. pic.twitter.com/MNI79n98mq

— Paul Guggenheimer (@PGuggenheimer) July 27, 2020

Nick Pelescak, 38, of Carnegie is a Pirates season ticket holder. As he dealt with missing his first home opener since 2006, he worried that the spike in covid cases for one team could spread to other teams and wipe out what’s left of the baseball season.

“These guys, unlike NHL and NBA players, they’re not in a bubble and they’re traveling,” Pelescak said. “I think there’s a good chance it could happen because (Major League Baseball) doesn’t have the capacity to do what other leagues are doing.”

Meanwhile, Pelescak spent Monday making the most of an event he couldn’t see inside the ballpark. The father of two was making like a kid himself, standing out on the Riverwalk beyond the right field stands, glove in hand, and catching a souvenir baseball.

“Usually I’m in (PNC Park) catching baseballs during batting practice. But, you know, they held BP at the same time they usually do, so I got one on the Riverwalk.”

While not being able to see the Pirates in person has been disappointing, clearly some Bucs fans are adjusting.