The Pittsburgh Pirates Have Many Hidden Heroes.
There are the men who play on the field every night, whose jerseys we wear, whose names we chant, whose triumphs we celebrate, whose losses we mourn. They are a special kind of hero – the ones on the baseball cards – they are members of an elite brotherhood just 750 strong who every year captivate our minds and our hearts playing a child’s game on a very grown-up stage. But for every Major League Baseball team that takes the field each night, there is another team working behind the scenes to make sure every game goes off without a hitch – for the players and the fans. They are the Hidden Heroes of baseball – and these are their stories.
For Pittsburgh Pirates In-Game Host Joe Klimchak, Being a Fan is a Job Requirement
If you want to find Joe Klimchak during a Pirates game at PNC Park, just look for a crowd of people and chances are, he’s right in the middle of it. And he either knows the names of half the people around him – or he’s asked their names and filed them away for later. Aside from the guys in the uniforms out on the field, Klimchak is one of the most recognizable members of the Pirates organization. And although he begins his workday reviewing scripts and schedules – not taking BP and stretching – his job description is, in essence, very similar to that of players on the team: give fans coming to the park the ultimate baseball experience every single game. And like them, the field is his stage.
Joe Klimchak is the Pittsburgh Pirates’ In-Game Host. He’s the first to tell you that first and foremost he’s a Pirates fan and that he’s a lucky man. He’s the guy who welcomes you to every game, introduces people throwing out the first pitch, plays “Spot the Cow” with eagle-eyed fans and has people lined up for a chance to balance a cookie on their faces in an attempt to get it into their mouths before Jared Hughes can. And he’s undeniably good at what he does.
“This is my dream job,” he said, while reviewing his game day schedule from the press box an hour before the first pitch during a recent game against the Cubs. [pullquote align=”left” cite=”Joe Klimchak” link=”” color=”#000000″ class=”” size=””]“I am a Pirates fan and to get to do this every day. There really is no other job I want in the world but this.”[/pullquote]
That game day schedule, by the way, is an eight-page Excel spreadsheet, that details – sometimes in thirty-second increments – everything involving the “game presentation.” It provides Klimchak a roadmap for his workday – which begins two hours prior to every game and ends in the ninth inning. In addition, he receives scripts for each of the scheduled on-field announcements and in-game breaks he does prior to and throughout the game.
“Preparation is huge. Matt Zidik, the game presentation manager, and his amazing staff, do such an excellent job at putting everything together for us,” Klimchak said. “When you’re going live, that’s a big video board out there. You have got to know what you’re doing and be prepared.”
After arriving at the park on a game day and picking up and reviewing his schedule and scripts, Klimchak eats in the media/staff dining room and then hits the field. Once there, he meets up with cameraman and 30-year Pirates employee Wally Srocki (who is instantly recognizable as the man in the Pirates jersey that says “Camera Guy” on the back) and Host Producer Andrew Corbett, a seven-year Pirates employee and second generation one at that.
On this day, Klimchak issued a general welcome to fans pouring into the seats and noted that it was Education Day at PNC Park. He then rolled into introductions of the Moe’s Pirates Parrot Sidekick for the game, season ticket holders and employees being honored by Ryan Homes for their Employee Day at PNC. Between announcements he sipped water, reviewed his scripts, discussed upcoming breaks with Corbett and chatted up the few dozen people standing on the field. That’s relatively standard practice for him – wherever he is, if there’s someone around, he’s trying to get to know them better. And it’s genuine, too, not just part of the job description.
“I love engaging with people. To be in this job, if you aren’t good at that part, you shouldn’t be doing it,” he said when asked about the instant rapport he creates with Pirates fans on the field and in the stadium. “I give my mom and dad all the credit for that – they raised me right.”
After the ceremonial first pitch and the national anthem, the in-game portion of Klimchak’s day begins in the left field bleachers. Upon arrival, he’s approached immediately by people asking to be in the games. That decision is not always up to him, many times Srocki or Corbett, who make it to the location for the first games of the day earlier than him, have already picked people out of the crowd.
“If I had to pick one thing I don’t like about my job, it’s disappointing fans,” Klimchak said. “If I had my way, we’d put everyone on – but I get 200-250 requests to play each day and we only do around five games a night.”
His tips for getting selected?
“You have to be wearing a Pirates shirt or team colors,” he said. “And we want people who help add to the excitement of the game and are willing to have fun. You’re performing in front of sometimes 38,000 people – you can’t get shy when we turn the camera on you.”
The sheer number of eyes watching every game can be daunting, even for someone who’s been doing this for 12 years, Klimchak admitted.
“Before every game I always ask myself ‘Is this the night I end up on YouTube?’” he laughed. “It hasn’t happened yet, but I know it can.”
For the first few years he held this position, he said he talked a lot faster due to the natural anxiety that comes with performance. “But the more experience you have, the more you understand the flow and can be naturally more relaxed about how you approach everything.” For instance, he reviews his scripts before the game and before each segment, but never does a break with them in his hand or reading from them. “I like it to be more spontaneous than that,” he added.
He also takes to heart advice he once heard from Pirates Manager, Clint Hurdle. “He said – I think it was to Josh Harrison – when you’re at the plate, you have to have a slow heartbeat. I heard that and thought, I can use that too,” Klimchak said. “You have to be aware and strong out there – and always paying attention, because the moment you’re distracted, you can flush the whole thing and fast.”
He also draws on observing and constantly learning from everyone around him. “Our PA Announcer, Tim DeBacco, is a big influence,” he said. “I learned a lot of style points from him.”
So, how did the only sixth grader in his class of 187 at Todd Lane Middle School in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, who had to go to speech class for poor articulation, end up speaking to crowds of nearly 38,000 people 81 times a year?
“Persistence and perseverance,” he said.
Klimchak was raised a Pirates fan, thanks to his father. “I grew up wanting to be a player, but I realized early on, in little league, that I wasn’t destined to be a player,” he recalled. “But I knew I wanted to work for the Pirates and remember thinking how cool it must have been to be Art McKennan, announcing Pirates games. He was one of my heroes.”
With that goal in mind, Klimchak attended Grove City College, majoring in Communications, while pursuing his dream of working for his hometown major league team. By this time, Tim DeBacco had taken over announcing duties at Three Rivers Stadium, with McKennan serving as his back-up.
“Art was getting older and I felt like the Pirates needed a back-up for their back-up. So I wrote lots of letters to them telling them so,” he said. “I got a lot of rejections. But eventually, Art got too old to do the job and the Pirates held auditions for a new back-up PA Announcer for Tim in early 1994.”
Out of eight finalists – Klimchak got the job and, on May 26, 1994, announced his first game for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the New York Mets. “It was the biggest thrill of my life,” he said recalling the moment with perfect clarity. “I could have died that day.”
Early on, in addition to acting as DeBacco’s back-up, Klimchak also worked as a scoreboard operator. In 2005, after the move into PNC Park, the organization decided to test out doing a baseball quiz on the Riverwalk and he was tapped for the job. He would leave his post in the scoreboard to do the quiz, then run back and finish up work. Every year after that they added more breaks and spots until six years ago, when it became the full in-game show that fans see now.
Aside from Pirates broadcasting and announcing greats, Klimchak grew up admiring game show hosts Richard Dawson and Bob Barker. “For a kid who grew up loving baseball and game shows, to have a chance to do game shows in a ballpark? I’m incredibly blessed,” he said smiling.
He especially loves the games that let the fans feel like they’re participating – like Beat the Bucco, Treasure Hunt and Know the Burgh trivia for the Mystery Box. Most of the games take place out on the Riverwalk, where there’s more room to move around, and are never without a big crowd watching.
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”-Klimchak” link=”” color=”#000000″ class=”” size=””]“It’s pretty amazing what you can get a person to do if they know they’re going to be on the scoreboard,”[/pullquote]Speaking of the Mystery Box game, contrary to popular belief, if a fan guesses the wrong box, they DO NOT get the primo prize offered in the other box. “If they win a bottle of clam juice, they get the clam juice,” he said, praising the in-game staff for finding the “creative” booby prizes. During this game, the contestant walked away with a slinky, instead of a bat autographed by John Jaso. “What you see is how it really plays out,” he added.
The same thing is true of the Pierogi Races – which always seem to come out very close by the end of the season. “They aren’t rigged. Most of the time, the fastest Pierogi wins.”
On four occasions between 2001 and 2007, Klimchak himself was a Pierogi – three times as Chester Cheese and once as Oliver Onion. His unofficial record is 3-0, though, he laughed. “The time I was Oliver I lost, but that one was staged, so I don’t even count it.” One turn as Chester, in which he won the race by diving across the finish line, even netted him Play #10 on one of Sportscenter’s Top Plays of the Day in 2006.
Beyond his in-game hosting duties, Klimchak also does work with Pirates Productions on Pirates 365 and lends his skills to all sorts of organization functions. He hosts season ticket member parties, emcees Pirates Charities events, works on the fitness and nutrition partnership between the Pirates and Chick-fil-A and spends time hosting activities in Bradenton during Spring Training. “They keep me busy and I love every minute of it,” he said.
While he’s quick to say that every day he works at PNC is a highlight for him – three moments stand out in his mind as unforgettable.
One was the opportunity to emcee the 30th anniversary celebration of the Pirates 1979 World Series win in 2009. “I mean, I was wearing my pillbox hat, jumping up and down on the shag carpet in my parents’ living room watching it happen – and then there I was on the field announcing the anniversary. How does 10 year-old Joey Klimchak get here?” he said incredulously.
A second highlight was announcing Kent Tekulve’s first pitch to start the 2014 Wild Card game. “Teke was one of my heroes,” he said. “To introduce him. That was unbelievable”
The final highlight is part of an on-going event at PNC Park that speaks to a very important part of who Joe Klimchak is: Faith Nights.
“I feel very fortunate to get to emcee the Faith Nights here,” he said of the annual event Hurdle introduced in 2013 with the help of Pirates Chaplin Brad Henderson. “It’s an incredible program. On Faith Night, as a Christian, I can profess my faith over the microphone.”
It is his faith that enables him to do his job with confidence and clarity, he said. “I carry the peace of the Lord with me everywhere in the ballpark and I trust. I just trust. That’s a big part of it.”
There’s also another person who plays a very big role behind the scenes, making it possible for Klimchak to live out his dream. “My wife does so much for me and for my family,” he said. “She is almost raising our two kids by herself in the summer – because for 81 games, nights and weekends, I’m here at the ballpark.”
While he admits that missing out on those moments is one drawback to the job, he knows he’s got a pretty sweet deal going on. “Other than being away from my family, it really it what it looks like – a dream job,” he said.
And when he thinks about other tracks he could have taken, even in his career with the Pirates, he’s confident this path is the one he should be on.
“When I think about going into broadcasting, the life of a broadcaster would have been great,” he said looking out over the field. “But here. This is where God wants me.”
Slide through a typical day at PNC Park for Joe
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