MLB’s Pirates Embrace Pittsburgh’s Identity with Steelworker Gear

“What is more Pittsburgh than steelworkers and the steel industry?”

On opening day of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2026 Major League Baseball season, the players unveiled their new dugout home run celebration at Citi Field in New York. And they didn’t have to wait long.

In the first inning, Pirates newly acquired second baseman Brandon Lowe hit a two-run home run, which would be the first of two dingers for Lowe on opening day.

Lowe rounded the bases and as he approached the dugout he was handed a helmet to wear as he walked through the dugout accepting congratulations.

This helmet, however, was no ordinary baseball headgear.

In homage to Pittsburgh’s Steel City history, Lowe donned a steelworker’s welding helmet. The helmet signified the hard-working, gritty nature of many a steelworker, a character trait the Pirates hope to encompass this season.

Celebrations in the dugout after a teammate hits a home run have become standard fare in MLB for many seasons. The revelry, known as a celly (as in celebration), is the players’ way of showing they are tough and resilient. Just like a steelworker.

At the request of the players, United Steelworkers District 10 Director Bernie Hall and a small group of steelworkers had donated well-worn steelworkers gear – including the welding helmet, hard hats and steelworker jackets – before the season began.

“The Pirates reached out to me several weeks ago and the players had an idea where they wanted to do something that connected the city of Pittsburgh,” said Hall. “And what is more Pittsburgh than steelworkers and the steel industry? We talked about it, kicked around a couple of ideas and one of the Pirates had an idea. He thought about a welding helmet.

“So, we went back and forth and got a number of different items together that steelworkers commonly use in the workplace. We provided them to the team, and they chose that helmet and welding shield to use for their home run celebration.”

The donated steelworker items were not new. They had been used in the mills for many years and some of the hard hats bore the Pittsburgh “P” logo on them, a common sight in the area’s mills.

After all, Pittsburgh’s National Football League team is named the Steelers.

“We gave them a number of hard hats. To the players’ credit they didn’t want anything new and shiny,” said Hall. “Some of the guys in the mill donated their helmets and we gave them the welding hood.

“The welding helmet they used was donated by a gentleman named Troy Stephenson. He is from the Mon Valley US Steel mill. Here’s worked there over 25 years and he still works there. The welding helmet and hard hat belonged to him. They wanted authentic, and we were happy to provide it for them.”

Pirates right fielder Ryan O’Hearn, who also wore the helmet after homering in the sixth inning, remembers saying don’t make it pretty. Lowe added that they did not want anything new.

“Eventually we thought, ‘OK, what’s more Pittsburgh than a welder’s mask?’ O’Hearn recalled saying. The players stressed that it had to look authentic.

“It’s not pretty,” O’Hearn told Pirates’ Insider writer Jason Mackey. “It’s definitely used. But I think it’s a good representation of who we want to be as a team and the kind of people who live in Pittsburgh: tough and gritty.

“We know our fan base includes a lot of blue-collar workers. We wanted to represent them.”

USW’s Hall grew up in the Center Township area of Pittsburgh and, of course, is a lifelong Pirates fan. He’s been a steelworker for 26 years, starting as a journeyman industrial mechanic at the now-closed Zinc Corporation of America’s Monaca smelter.

Hall is a fourth-generation steelworker and the idea of melding two of his favorite things – steelworking and baseball – got him thinking of an old Sports Illustrated photo of Pirates star Willie Stargell and the Steelers Terry Brandshaw, posing with steelworkers in 1979.

“That’s a pretty cool photo from Sports Illustrated,” said Hall. “I was a big sports fanatic growing up. I had seen this picture before and it always stuck with me. When they called me about this, that old picture immediately popped in my mind, with the steelworkers and our hometown sports teams.”

Pittsburgh’s economy may have shifted to higher education, healthcare and technology in the 21^st century, but making steel is still in the blood of many Steel City families.

“There are still thousands of people employed in the steel industry in the Pittsburgh region,” said Hall. “Obviously, we don’t have the big steel mills like we did in the 1950s and 60s that lined the rivers in every town, but steel is still a big part of our identity. It’s part of our culture. I think today most people identify with it because they may have not worked in a steel mill, per se, but they have aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents that did. Just about anybody that comes from Pittsburgh will tell you they were related to somebody that has been a steelworker.”

Representing Pittsburgh without hard-working steelworkers is like highlighting manufacturing in Detroit without mentioning the auto workers.

“This was an idea driven by the players,” said Hall. “It’s really been a sense of pride for a lot of our members. They chose to do that. They are wearing our gear and the gear of guys going to work in the mill every day. We are proud of that.”