Stephen Strasburgh was big news last week- and merchandise vendors both home and on the road knew it.  Pittsburgh is finding out the same thing this week, with Pedro Alvarez arriving in Pittsburgh and the big leagues yesterday.  The team quite a few tickets once fans had heard Alvarez had been called up.  Additionally, according to this Bill Brink piece, the Pirates added 3,000-4,000 pieces of merchandise added to the team store with the young hitters name on it yesterday, and you one could expect more to come.

The Pirates will not benefit in the way that Strasburg helped the Nationals.  Why?  Because the news media didn’t show up in droves, and because as an everyday player he is going to have to show his value over time.  He would have had to hit four home runs yesterday to come anywhere close to the press coverage that Strasburg got. But as the Brink piece points out, Pirate fans are looking for anything positive.  They want to care and the buzz in the stadium might carry over.

It needs to be exciting to be in the stadium.  There needs to be some cache to saying you were then when.  And bringing Alvarez up is the beginning.  Now- the team just needs to put some pieces around him.