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McClatchy becomes a real Pittsburgher
Wednesday, April 07, 1999 By Robert Dvorchak
Kevin McClatchy came to Pittsburgh as a salesman, and promptly encountered his toughest sale of all.
He had to sell himself to the city and Major League Baseball as a qualified buyer of the Pirates. He had to sell post-strike, low-budget baseball in a football town. He had to sell a five-year rebuilding plan on the field to dubious fans. He had to sell the new ballpark. And he still has to sell tickets like never before to make it all work.
Those who have worked with McClatchy, who served as national sales manager for his family's McClatchy Newspapers, have long ago stopped selling him short.
"Kevin is extraordinarily tenancious, to the point it catches you off-guard," Mayor Murphy said.
No laid back Californian could have pulled it off. McClatchy, a homeowner in Shadyside where he lives with his dogs, Bucco and Bo Jackson, sold himself as a Pittsburgher.
"He's an authentic Pittsburgher, like he's been here his whole life. He's become a Pittsburgher faster than anybody I know," said Allegheny County Commissioner Mike Dawida.
Bond attorney Chuck Cohen, who befriended McClatchy during the failed Regional Renaissance Initiative fight, noted: "He was not embraced by the community anywhere to the degree he deserves. He really is a determined young man."
Coming from Sacramento, he invested in a baseball team that was at or near the bottom in wins, attendance, franchise value and stadium revenues. The new ballpark remedies a lot of those ills.
McClatchy could have triggered an escape clause in February of 1998 after the tax referendum failed. He could have triggered it in November when the Legislature failed to come up with the state share of ballpark funding. But he kept plugging away until all the pieces fell into place.
Those who work under him credit his perseverance.
"Kevin's greatest asset is his patience," said Steve Greeneberg, one of McClatchy's key aides as vice president for ballpark development and communications.
"He loves baseball. He really is committed to this city. He sees the value of the way things were. He wants to bring back some of the elements to remind people of how great baseball was.
" He wants baseball not only to survive but to prosper," Greenberg said.
McClatchy has already reached back to connect with other eras. Willie Stargell was brought back as a special assistant, and this spring, Bill Mazeroski was in spring training working with Pirates infielders.
Unlike owners who seek the solitude of their private boxes, McClatchy sits behind home plate to watch games. In 1997, he even traded his field level seats to sit in a nosebleed section in right field when a fan used a bedsheet banner to ask him to switch.
The franchise, awash in debt for years, showed a profit the past two years.
"When you think about where this franchise was and where baseball was in 1994, he's done an amazing job," said baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
Selig has appointed McClatchy to baseball's blue ribbon panel on economics, which is charged with remedying the gap between rich teams and small-revenue franchises.
Today's groundbreaking is a milepost for McClatchy. He's been selling its importance for more than three years.
"The day the ballpark starts coming out of the ground," McClatchy said, "you're going to see a change in attitude, not just about baseball, but about Pittsburgh."
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