Pittsburg, PA
Fans Troll Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jack Suwinski For Looking Directly at Solar Eclipse
All across the United States, people dropped what they were doing to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse Monday afternoon, and the baseball world was no exception.
Cleveland was right in the middle of the path of totality, so the Guardians opened the gates to Progressive Field early and allowed fans to watch it from there. About an hour later, the eclipse passed over Pittsburgh, although the city wasn’t quite in the path of totality.
Still, the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to bear witness to the rare astrological event as well.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Kevin Gorman shared photos of several Pirates players wearing specialized protective lenses, looking at the eclipse as it passed over PNC Park. Mitch Keller, Andrew McCutchen, Marco Gonzales and Jared Jones all had the glasses on correctly and were able to see the moon pass in front of the sun.
Jack Suwinski, on the other hand, was pictured with the glasses on his forehead. He appeared to be staring right at the eclipse, squinting.
While staring at the sun on a normal day is bad for one’s eyesight, it is widely accepted that looking directly at a solar eclipse with the naked eye is even more dangerous.
Of course, Gorman’s photo could have captured just a split second when Suwinski was staring at the eclipse without his glasses. After all, he did have the lenses resting on his face.
Pittsburgh Baseball Now’s Danny Demillo confirmed as much with the photos he posted of the Pirates watching the eclipse. Suwinski was wearing the glasses on correctly in Demillo’s picture.
Still, fans immediately ran with Suwinski’s blunder and were quick to mock him on social media.
Many made memes, while others apparently tried to profit off of the situation. In a since-deleted tweet, one sports bettor supposedly wagered $20 on Suwinski striking out in his first plate appearance of Monday night’s game between the Pirates and Detroit Tigers.
The bet did not hit, however, as Suwinski drew a five-pitch walk to lead off the bottom of the second.
The 25-year-old center fielder then singled up the middle in the bottom of the third, scoring his second run of the night a few batters later. He is now batting .194 with a .592 OPS in 2024, despite Pittsburgh’s torrid 8-2 start to the season.
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Pittsburg, PA
MLBPA affiliate withdraws image lawsuit against Pirates’ parent company and Sheetz
An affiliate of the Major League Baseball Players Association withdrew its lawsuit against the parent company of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the convenience store chain Sheetz Inc. that alleged unlicensed use of players’ names and images on social media.
MLB Players Inc., a union business subsidiary, filed a complaint on Aug. 14 in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh claiming violation of Pennsylvania law regarding the unauthorized use of name and likenesses, common law misappropriation of identity and unjust enrichment. MLB Players Inc. asked for an injunction against the team and Sheetz in addition to damages.
The team said the following day that a verbal agreement had been reached. MLB Players Inc. filed a notice of voluntary dismissal on Dec. 23 in the suit, which named Pittsburgh Associates and Sheetz as defendants.
The Pirates announced a jersey patch sponsorship deal with Sheetz on June 21. The suit alleged posts on Instagram, X and Facebook by the team and Sheetz improperly used the images of Paul Skenes, Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen, Nick Gonzales, Carmen Mlodzinski and Connor Joe.
Another likeness lawsuit filed by MLB Players against DraftKings Inc. and Bet365 Group Ltd. in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Sept. 16 is pending.
MLB Players also sued FanDuel and Underdog Sports in New York Supreme Court on Sept. 16, alleging improper use of names, images and likenesses. The suit was shifted to federal court in Manhattan on Oct. 18. MLB and FanDuel filed a notice of voluntary dismissal with the court on Nov. 19 that was approved by U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams. The suit against Underdog remains pending.
Lawyers for DraftKings, Underdog and Bet365 have not responded to requests for comment.
Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh Steelers offense could throw new twist at Ravens in playoff clash
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers will not be benching Russell Wilson against the Baltimore Ravens, but they could use Justin Fields more. Now fully recovered from an abdominal injury he suffered against the Philadelphia Eagles, head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged that he is open to using Fields against the Ravens.
The ‘Justin Fields package’ has been talked about extensively this season, but circumstances have consistently pushed back the possibility of Fields getting more involved with a package weekly.
Now, Tomlin says that could certainly happen as Fields is healthy, and the team clearly needs a spark.
“I’m certainly open to utilizing Justin. He has an awesome skillset and we’ve done some of that in the past,” Tomlin said. “We’ve done that less in that last couple of weeks because he experienced an injury that slowed some of that. But in an effort to win this game, I am open to any combination or combinations of divisions of labor in an ability to do so.”
Fields missed two games with an abdominal injury. Before that, the Steelers had used Fields as a runner and, sometimes, a passer, which had mixed results throughout their package’s deployment.
While it seems that Fields will not start against the Ravens, he could see some time where he could make an impact, whether on the ground or through the air.
- BETTING: Check out our guide to the best PA sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.
Pittsburg, PA
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