A Q&A session with Pirates management at the team’s fan fest Saturday afternoon was “slightly more confrontational than it had been Friday night, when season-ticket holders comprised the audience grilling” team President Frank Coonelly, GM Neal Huntington and manager Clint Hurdle, according to Tom Singer of MLB.com. Fans asked “provocative questions about the team's player-development philosophy,” and the execs were “prepared with patient, thoughtful and detailed responses” (MLB.com, 12/15). In Pittsburgh, Bill Brink wrote under the header, “Pirates Brass Catches Some Flak From Fans At Fest.” Coonelly on Friday said, “We're going to learn from the good times. We're going to learn from being 16 games over .500. We're also going to learn from the fact that we have failed over the end of the season and we're going to figure out how to finish.” Coonelly said that the team's signing bonus from its TV rights deal with Root Sports "helped the Pirates spend heavily in the amateur draft before the new collective-bargaining agreement limited draft allocation” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 12/15). MLB.com's Singer in a separate piece wrote PirateFest was a “huge success, with a record 16,986 fans attending the three-day event.” That total represented "an increase of more than 400” from last year (MLB.com, 12/16).
A MODERN-DAY PIRATE: The Pirates on Friday unveiled a new alternate home uniform that is an update of the uniform first introduced in ’70. It will be worn for Sunday home games and includes a new mustard gold cap and pullover style jersey. The team also introduced a new batting practice cap (Pirates).
