{"id":666673,"date":"2026-04-06T16:34:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/666673\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T16:34:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:34:25","slug":"pittsburgh-pirates-owner-bob-nutting-says-opening-day-felt-really-different-with-ss-konnor-griffin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/666673\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting says Opening Day felt \u2018really\u2019 different with SS Konnor Griffin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pirates owner Bob Nutting said the energy at PNC Park at the team\u2019s home opener Friday \u201creally feels different\u201d after the Pirates pumped up their Opening Day payroll north of $100M for the first time in franchise history with the call-up of SS Konnor Griffin<\/a>, according to Kevin Gorman of TRIBLIVE.com. Gorman wrote the arrival of Griffin, a 19-year-old shortstop who is baseball\u2019s \u201cconsensus No. 1 prospect, gives the Pirates another potential superstar to pair with\u201d P Paul Skenes. A year ago, Nutting \u201cbore the brunt of fan frustration\u201d following six consecutive losing seasons. An offseason that \u201cbegan with billboards demanding he sell the team became a boiling point, as a plane carrying a banner that read \u2018SELL THE TEAM BOB\u2019<\/a> circled the ballpark before the home opener.\u201d Nutting said, \u201cI really respect and appreciate the concern last year. People were angry. … If you care enough to get an airplane to fly over the ballpark, you really care deeply about the team. I\u2019ve always cared deeply about the team. … I\u2019ve tried to make the decisions, whether they\u2019re popular or unpopular, that I believe were in the best interest of building a long-term, sustainable winner here in Pittsburgh.\u201d Gorman wrote the team \u201cpromised to be aggressive in trade talks and free agency.\u201d Nutting reiterated his stance that the Pirates\u2019 \u201cintention every season is to build a playoff contender\u201d but \u201cinsisted that in a small MLB market like Pittsburgh, it is necessary to build a foundation first\u201d (TRIBLIVE.com, 4\/3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

NEW BEGINNINGS: In Pittsburgh, Noah Hiles wrote at a time when it is \u201cmore difficult than ever to maintain one\u2019s attention, those who attended the home opener weren\u2019t there for the ballpark snacks, intermission entertainment or Instagram photo opportunities,\u201d they \u201cwere there to enjoy a baseball game.\u201d The Pirates franchise \u201cfinally gave them a product worth watching,\u201d and they \u201cwere there to consume the action.\u201d P Mitch Keller said, \u201cI took a moment before the game just to kind of look around, take it all in. It kind of felt like a playoff crowd.\u201d Hiles wrote Pittsburgh has \u201cbeen begging to fall back in love with its baseball team.\u201d It would \u201clove to have more days like Friday,\u201d but that relationship cannot \u201cbe rekindled overnight.\u201d Friday\u2019s home opener \u201cwas a fantastic afternoon at the ballpark, but there\u2019s still more work to be done on the Pirates\u2019 end — and they know it\u201d (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4\/4<\/a>).<\/p>\n

GOOD SIGNS: SPORTSNET PITTSBURGH\u2019s Jake Mozarsky wrote whether it is a home run or a well-timed single, the Pirates\u2019 orange traffic cone celebration has \u201cbecome a signal that things are moving in the right direction for the Bucs.\u201d In mid-March, when Fanatics released a Pirates T-shirt that \u201clikely should have featured the \u2018Hoist the Colors\u2019 slogan,\u201d it instead read \u201cHoist the Cone.\u201d Rather than ignoring the error, the team \u201cbrought the meme to life\u201d during a series against the Reds. Pirates OF Jake Mangum asked a Great American Ball Park employee if it \u201cwould be possible to obtain a traffic cone, and after a cone was brought to the dugout.\u201d The cone made its debut during a March 31 win against the Reds. The next day, Pittsburgh \u201cgot five dominant innings\u201d from Skenes and secured back-to-back victories (SPORTSNET PITTSBURGH, 4\/3<\/a>). In Pittsburgh, Matt Press wrote fans are \u201ccompletely leaning into the cones.\u201d There were fans who \u201ccarried around smaller replicas to hoist in celebration,\u201d while others \u201copted to wear a cone as a hat\u201d (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4\/3<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pirates owner Bob Nutting said the energy at PNC Park at the team\u2019s home opener Friday \u201creally feels…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2402],"tags":[5,4,10,776,64,4297],"class_list":{"0":"post-666673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-pirates","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-pirates","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","13":"tag-pittsburghpirates"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116358733321647500","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}