Perrotto: Pirates Need to Copycat Orioles’ Promotion

The Baltimore Orioles will hold one of baseball’s more unique promotions of the season on Saturday.

The first 15,000 fans at Oriole Park at Camden Yards will receive David Rubenstein bobblehead dolls. That might be an even bigger draw than the Orioles’ opponent — the Cincinnati Reds and the wonderous Elly De La Cruz.

So, who is David Rubenstein? He’s the principal owner of the Orioles and a bit of a folk hero in Maryland since buying the team from Peter Angelos’ estate last season on opening day.

Why is Rubenstein popular enough to get a bobblehead? Because he has promised to do everything in his power to deliver Orioles’ fans their first World Series since 1983.

What endears Rubenstein to the Orioles’ faithful is that he is willing to use his checkbook – or electronic funds – to back up his words.

The Orioles’ player payroll was $105 million last season when Rubenstein took control. That figure has risen to $167 million this season, according to the invaluable Cot’s Contracts website.

The increase is 59 percent, an impressive figure for a franchise in the nation’s 26th-largest media market.

The Pirates play in the No. 23 market, yet their payroll is $91 million, just slightly up from $87 million at the end of last season.

To put the payroll rises in perspective, the Orioles’ increase is the equivalent of signing Juan Soto, and the Pirates’ increase is the cost of Tommy Pham.

The Pirates rank 26th among the 30 major-league teams in payroll, and the Orioles are in the middle of the pack at 15th.

What would the payroll be this year if the Pirates had a 59-percent increase? It would be $138 million, easily the highest in franchise history and larger than 10 other MLB teams this season.

So, how can the Orioles raise their payroll by 59 percent while the Pirates and owner Bob Nutting boost payroll by five percent?

I’m not privy to either team’s financial records, but I know people in MLB’s central office who are, and they dispute the idea that the Pirates lost money last year as has been reported in some circles.

And these sources are agenda-free, neither pro-Nutting nor anti-Nutting. They have no reason to curry favor with Nutting or discredit him.

One advantage the Orioles have is owning a regional cable television network, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). The Pirates, on the other hand, play second fiddle to the Penguins with SportsNet Pittsburgh.

The difference in TV money is a factor. However, it isn’t enough to allow the Orioles to spend $76 million more than the Pirates on players.

Perhaps an attendance boost could help the Pirates narrow the financial gap. The Pirates have drawn under 9,000 fans – paid tickets, not fans in attendance – in five of their first 10 games at PNC Park this season.

It’s hard to blame the ticket-buying public, though. The weather has been brutal for the most part, and the Pirates are an exasperating team to watch with their mental and physical mistakes.

The Pirates will have three bobblehead giveaways this season, starting with a Paul Skenes promotion for Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians. The Pirates have not decided who to feature on July 19 against the Chicago White Sox and Sept. 6 versus the Milwaukee Brewers.

Here’s an idea: Steal a page from the Orioles’ marketing playbook and have a Bob Nutting bobblehead night. Sept. 6 would be the perfect date as the Pirates will be out of the pennant race, and most fans’ minds will be on the Steelers – and maybe Aaron Rodgers and/or Shedeur Sanders.

The Pirates could call it BOBblehead Night. Surfside and Michael Brothers Hauling could be the sponsors.

It would be a surefire sellout.