Want to work with the Pittsburgh Pirates for spring training? Here’s how

The 2020 Grapefruit League Season schedule has been announced. The fields at LECOM Park are being tended. In the air, hangs the anticipation of a new Major League Baseball season and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Spring Training in Bradenton.

It’s almost time for spring training as the Pirates begin preparing for their Feb. 22 home opener against the Minnesota Twins, but the annual hardball preseason action wouldn’t be possible without a small army of volunteers who work with the Pirates organization each year.

The Pirates are the only MLB team to use volunteers as key members of their spring training staff and those volunteers come from the Bradenton Pirates Booster Club.

Members serve as ushers, greeters, program salespersons and more at both LECOM Park and Pirate City.

You can be part of that organization by contacting club president, Mike Roteman, at 412-260-7232 or email mrmike7777@yahoo.com. You can also contact Debbie Tropeck, secretary, at 412-512-8001.

“Being a volunteer at spring training is a lot of fun,” Roteman said. “We get to meet a lot of interesting people at the ballpark, we establish lasting friendships with our fellow booster volunteers and the Pirates offer many rewards and perks to us, including a breakfast at Pirate City to start things off on Jan. 21.”

This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Want to work with the Pittsburgh Pirates for spring training? Here’s how."