Allegheny Yinzers? Pirates’ Double-A affiliate to rebrand for 7 games

Entering its 21st season as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Double-A affiliate, the Altoona Curve has decided to pay homage to its parent Major League team and the city it resides in two hours west.

For seven select weekend home games in 2019, the Curve will be known as the “Allegheny Yinzers.” For these games, the Curve will wear “Yinzers” uniforms that will be on display this weekend at PiratesFest at PNC Park.

“One of the trends in Minor League Baseball over the last few years have been changing team names or rebranding for a period of time that ties into the market,” Curve general manager Derek Martin said in a news release. “Most teams have changed their names to food items, and I wanted to be different.

“When I was watching the Steelers game the day after the tragic shooting in Pittsburgh, (former Steelers coach and Pittsburgh-area native) Bill Cowher talked on the CBS broadcast about how Pittsburgh is a tough community and everyone would come together because we are ‘Yinzer Nation.’ After about the 10th time that Cowher said ‘Yinzer’, I knew we needed to do something revolving around Yinzers.”

To the uninitiated, “Yinz” is the Pittsburgh term for the plural of you. A “Yinzer,” as defined by Google, is defined as “a native or inhabitant of the U.S. city of Pittsburgh in Western Pennsylvania.”

The “Yinzers” will make their 2019 debut during the first Saturday home game of the Curve schedule (April 19). Other game dates for the Yinzers are May 31, June 13, June 29, July 6, July 26 and Aug. 8.

The Curve promises “various Pittsburgh celebrities” will be announced for appearances at the games. And, of course, Yinzers merchandise will be available for sale.

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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.