"Pirates Charities on Root Sports Auction" raises more than $600,000 for charity

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Pirates Charities, in conjunction with ROOT SPORTS, are pleased to announce the seventh annual "Pirates Charities on ROOT SPORTS Auction" raised a record of more than $600,000.

All proceeds from this year's auction will go to Pirates Charities and three non-profit organizations that assist returning service men and women in Western Pennsylvania. The service organizations benefitting from the 2014 auction are the Wounded Warrior Project, Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania Inc., and Operation Troop Appreciation.

"We thank our great fans for showing their support for another successful and record breaking auction," said Pirates President Frank Coonelly. "Thanks to their generosity, we together will be making a meaningful difference in the lives of our returning veterans. We also thank our partner ROOT SPORTS for their remarkable generosity and effort on behalf of our returning service men and women."

The auction took place on Tuesday, June 10 as ROOT SPORTS broadcasted this year's on-air auction during the evening's game live from the Rivertowne Brewing Hall of Fame Club inside PNC Park. During the event, the Pirates sold out of the 3,000 available Pirates Charities/ROOT SPORTS VIP and VIP-PLUS Bags that included a baseball autographed by an individual Pirates player, a baseball autographed by a Pirates World Series hero, an exclusive New Era adjustable "camo P" cap, a ticket voucher good for 2 tickets to for a 2014 Pirates baseball game, and a Pirates t-shirt and more. The VIP-PLUS Bags also included an authentic Pirates home white or black alternate game jersey autographed by their favorite player.

Fans also had the opportunity to bid online on the Pirates autographed, game-worn black jerseys with the specially designed digital camouflage lettering and numbering from the Tuesday evening's Military Appreciation Night. The online auction took place from Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. through Wednesday at 5 p.m. and the Pirates jerseys together raised nearly $50,000.

In addition, all proceeds from the in-park Pirates Charities 50/50 Raffle were donated to this very important fundraising effort.