PITTSBURGH _ The path Starling Marte traveled from the home dugout at PNC Park to his position in left field for the first inning of the Pirates' 4-3 win Tuesday lasted 49 steps. For the first few, his head was down. Marte then looked up and saw a fan to his left holding a white placard on which this message was written in black tape: "Let He Without Sin Yell the First Boo." Marte smiled.
In the weeks before his return from an 80-game steroid suspension, Marte had wondered what reception he might receive from Pirates fans the day he was reinstated from the Major League Baseball restricted list. The response, in general, was supportive _ a sonorous chorus of cheers with a smattering of boos. It was about what he had hoped for, but not dared to expect.
"(Marte) made a mistake," said Herb Ohliger, 19. "I don't know the full story. I don't think anyone does, except for him. But I'm willing to forgive the first one."
It was a typically adventurous night for Marte. The two-time Gold Glove winner made a sliding catch in the first inning and went 1 for 3 with a single, a pickoff, a walk and a run scored. The jokers were there, too. After Marte struck a pop fly in his first at-bat, a fan, holding one child in his arms and another by the hand, hollered, "Get him back on the steroids. He stinks!"
The No. 6 jerseys dotted the crowd of 20,462 Tuesday night, Marte's first night of paid work since he was suspended April 18 after testing positive for Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, earlier this spring. Some fans admitted they felt rather conflicted about Marte's return, welcoming a player charged with cheating, but many dusted off their jerseys anyway.
In 2013, Marte's first full season as Pirates left fielder, Rob Judge, 42, and some friends bought season tickets in the left-field bleachers at PNC Park. Judge figures they've been to almost every home game since. From their seats, they've had Marte's back.
In June 2014, Judge had gastric bypass surgery and dropped from 600 pounds to 320. Later that season, as Judge and his buddies waited for the Clemente Bridge to clear after a Saturday night fireworks show, he noticed Marte walking nearby and said hello. "You got skinny!" Marte said. As Judge retold the story Tuesday, he beamed. For his 40th birthday, he used gift cards to buy a Marte jersey. So that's the shirt Judge wore Tuesday, and that's why he wore it.
"Starling pays attention to the fans," Judge said. "He knows the people."
There was similar sentiment from Ashleigh Welshons, 22, and Michael Caroccia, 25, who donned signed Marte jerseys that had been stashed away since April. From time to time over the past few years, they have made a habit of waiting outside the players' parking lot as traffic clears on the North Shore in hopes of waving hello as players drive by.
Three times now, Marte has stopped to chat.
"Do you want me to sign?" he asked the first time.
"No, we just wanted to say hi," they replied.
"Hey!" he said.
The second time, Marte signed their jerseys. Welshons and Caroccia don't recall any other player stopping for them, and they think they'd remember if another had. On their way to the ballpark Tuesday, Welshons told Caroccia people seem to forget other Pirates _ Francisco Cervelli, Antonio Bastardo and Marlon Byrd, to name a few _ also were popped for PEDs.
"I hope everyone doesn't boo him," she said.
"The past is in the past," Caroccia said. "Everyone learns from their mistakes. You live and you learn."
Ohliger and Tyler Weeks, 22, were wearing Marte jerseys from the Dominican Republic's run in the World Baseball Classic this spring. They got them on sale at a sporting goods store, 70 percent off, and waited until Tuesday to debut them.
"He knows he made a mistake," Weeks said. "He owned up to it. If people want to boo him, I don't blame them. Once he starts producing again, everybody will forgive him and love him."
The loudest boos were reserved for Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers star suspended for 65 games in 2013 for violating the league's drug policy. He is jeered prior to every at-bat at PNC Park. It seemed to be a day of reckoning for Pirates fans: How would they react after one of their own used steroids? But many viewed the circumstances of Marte's suspension as different. He didn't pass blame or he hadn't ratted anyone out like Braun did, a few fans said.
Listening to the radio Tuesday, John and Linda Henry, 61 and 66, heard a caller say she was going to PNC Park for the first time this year. It had become a special occasion, the Henrys said. They appreciated that Marte apologized to fans and asked for forgiveness.
"If he screws up again," John Henry said, then waved his hand dismissively, "get that guy that threw the baseball in the river the other day to throw (Marte) in the river." He laughed. "But I don't think he should be thrown in the river right now. He's a human being."
Linda Henry was wearing a John Jaso jersey. He's her favorite player. She got a photo with him last year at a restaurant. John Henry, meanwhile, wore a Jung Ho Kang jersey. Kang now is the Pirates' only player on the league's restricted list. He is stuck in South Korea, unable to obtain a United States visa after pleading guilty to his third drunken-driving charge.
John Henry paid good money for the shirt, so he wears it. He finds it's easier to pardon Marte.
"(Kang) had three chances," he said. "I ain't throwing my jersey away because he turned into an idiot."
