Pirates Enjoy Big Increase in Ticket Sales

With Opening Day almost here, the Pittsburgh Pirates have sold nearly 40% more tickets than at this time last year, team officials say.

Pirates Ticket Manager Norm DeLuca said about 550,000 tickets have been sold so far, up from about 395,000 sold prior to Opening Day 1985.

He said about 31,000 tickets have been sold for the Pirates’ 1986 season opener against the New York Mets at Three Rivers Stadium Tuesday night. Last year, 47,335 people attended the opening night game after a balmy spring afternoon.

Last season, the Pirates drew only 735,900 fans at Three Rivers Stadium, better than only the Cleveland Indians in the major leagues. This year, DeLuca said, the team hopes to draw about 1.4 million fans.

“We feel that is realistic. We have done that before,” he said.

DeLuca said Pirates fans calling for tickets “are very encouraged (about the team), especially about the new, young players.”

He said the Pirates are trying to overcome any resistance that may have developed among fans because of last year’s dismal season on the field, when the Pirates finished last in the National League East, and last September’s baseball cocaine trials in Pittsburgh.

“We have to prove to them that the problems we had in the past, the drug thing, is in the past,” DeLuca said. “Winning is the ultimate goal. No matter how much effort we put into it, the guys on the field have to win for us to be successful.”