Growing up, I went to Three Rivers once each summer with my uncle who was a Buccos fan. I was used to going to the Vet where big crowds were normal. We'd go out to Pittsburgh without tickets on a Sunday afternoon and I'd think we'd end up sitting up top in the outfield...nah. Some of those years we ended up right behind the dugout in the first row or two. Pirates drew very poorly considering how good they were back then. Pittsburgh has such a great baseball history but the city is definitely all about the Steelers.
Having said that...when they were a wild card team several years ago the city was juiced.