It’d be an understatement to say that Frank Coonelly raised some eyebrows when he touted the Pirates’ TV viewership in a June 29 Post-Gazette story about the club’s attendance struggles.
“Our television ratings remain in the top five in MLB, so we know that Pirates fans are following the team,” the Pirates president told the PG’s Elizabeth Bloom. “We understand that we need to provide a compelling reason for all of our fans to come to the best ballpark in baseball.”
That made Wednesday’s Facebook-exclusive broadcast of the game against the Washington Nationals an interesting test of Coonelly’s theory about where the team’s fans have gone, and you might be surprised to learn that the 2-0 Pirates victory drew well.