In some ways, the protest worked

I don't know how many of you read the Fanhouse on a daily basis, or read it beyond what I post over there. I'm sure some of you do and lots of you don't and whichever it is is fine. I'm not trying to force the Fanhouse on anyone or anything, but I will say that every day MJD writes a column called The Debriefing which is probably my favorite morning (when I wake up in the morning) sports read. And today, he used the column to single out the Pirates' ownership and the problem they've created for baseball. It's a great read and while it won't be anything new to any of you, it's proof that to at least some extent, the walkout on Saturday had some kind of effect.

When I said that it failed, I was talking more about my observation of the people that did or didn't walk out, what they were saying, and how into it they seemed to be. That was depressing to me. But I think a lot of the truth is that the people that would've walked out five years ago did just that and didn't come back for one game to prove a point. And that's OK too. But what the protest has done is draw attention to the type of owners that the Nutting family is. There are a lot more people around the country now, people that watch Baseball Tonight, people that read Yahoo! Sports, people that read the Fanhouse, that understand just what is going on here in Pittsburgh, and awareness is never a bad thing. The question now is, how do we keep the awareness up? How do we keep this thought in people's minds?

I don't know the answer to that. People can stop going, but tell me the honest truth: as a Pirate fan do you think to yourself, "Man, it sucks what Jeffrey Loria is doing in Miami" or do you think, "Eh, Loria can do what he wants down there. No one cares about baseball in Florida."? What's your gut reaction to the Florida Marlins? I know what mine is, and I'm sad to say it's the second one. I know that's not the case and I know Loria is just as bad as the Nuttings, if not worse, and I know he's driven Marlin fans away, but it's still my gut reaction when I seen an empty park down there (PS- please don't hate me, Marlin fans). Sure, not going to Pirate games will send a message to the owners, but it'll send a message to everyone else, too. One reader sent me an e-mail today that suggested that we start a grassroots tradition at the park to show our increasing frustration with the ownership. Something as simple as not singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" or, I dunno, throwing the stupid t-shirts from the t-shirt toss back onto the field. That seems like a great idea on the surface, but damn does it have to get some coverage for it to work. Any ideas?