2007-06-30 Pirates Baseball game at Pittsburgh
Pirates batter Nationals (from Washington D.C.)
Despite a much-publicized effort to display fan discontent during the Pittsburgh Pirates' 15th consecutive losing season, only a few thousand fans at most left their seats in protest following the third inning of saturday night's game against Washington Nationals.
Only a few thousand fans, if that, left the ballpark immediately following the third and it appeared that many of the fans who vacated their seats returned not long after leaving.
Organizers who staged a pregame rally outside PNC Park wanted fans displeased with the Pirate's low-spending ownership to walk out of the ballpark-fittingly, on a night the club gave away bobblehead dolls honoring former Pirates pitcher Bob Walk.
The Pirates' big six-run second inning and a baseball-perfect night with clear skies and temperatures in the high 70s may have combined to deaden the fans' enthusiasm for the long-planned protest, which included a pregame rally chiding the ownership for refusing to spend money on free agents and upgrade the Pirates' talent.
