Pirates beef up spring training security at LECOM Park

While the Pittsburgh Pirates did their final tuneup before the start of the Grapefruit League season on the main field at LECOM Park, the security staff in Bradenton stood just outside the stadium gates for its last bit of prep before spring training truly gets underway Saturday.

Most of the staff’s job will be the same as in past years, when LECOM was called McKechnie Field, with one key addition. Outside the main gate now are five walk-through metal detectors patrons will have to pass through to watch Pittsburgh face the Orioles on Saturday and attend any other game throughout February and March.

“We’ve decided to take the approach to add five walk-through metal detectors at our main gate,” said Jeff Podobnik, the Pirates’ first-year senior director of Florida and Dominican Republic operations. “Our staff is going through detailed training right now of this process in preparation for opening day (Saturday).”

The addition of metal detectors comes through a league-wide mandate as part of Major League Baseball’s best stadium operations practices for 2017. The mandate requires all spring training ballparks to have some sort of metal-detection system, like the ones that have been required in the majors since 2015. The Pirates settled on walk-through machines rather than wands to keep entry relatively efficient.

The process will be simple. Spectators will approach signs telling them what they can and cannot keep in their pockets before stepping through metal detectors. They can keep their belts on, and leave change, keys, wallets and watches in their pockets, but they’ll have to put cell phones, cameras and computers off to the side. If the walk-through machine is triggered, it will light up to quickly point out where it sensed the metal, so a security guard can bring in a wand for a second check.

It was a fortunate coincidence for the organization that the new requirements have come in place this year. Podobnik had previously served as the director of security and contract services at PNC Park in Pittsburgh before coming to Florida during the fall. With his past experience, he was able to take point on the decision-making process at LECOM.

“We know that the walk-through metal detectors are a lot faster than wanding, so it’s all about the training and communication with our fans,” Podobnik said. “Hopefully if we can educate our fans that we now are going through metal detection here at LECOM Park, it will make their process of getting into the game a lot faster.”

This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Pirates beef up spring training security at LECOM Park."