Phil Coyne, Pirates Usher Since the Great Depression, Retires at 99

Three ballparks. Fourteen presidential administrations.

Eighty-one years.

That’s how long it’s been since Phil Coyne became an usher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

And now, at the age of 99, he has decided to retire.

Coyne has been escorting fans to their seats since 1936, the same year the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted its first members, a group of five players that included Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth.

At the time, Coyne was 18 years old, and the Pirates’ games were played at Forbes Field. Coyne grew up just a few blocks away. In 1935, he was in the stands when Ruth hit the final three home runs of his career.

These days, Coyne is not so steady on his feet anymore, he explained, and he attends “balancing school” once a week. But he’s as sharp as ever.

“I never thought I’d go back to school again,” he joked. “If I didn’t carry my cane, I guess I’d be a lot younger.”

So on Friday the Pirates announced that Coyne would be retiring.

He has ushered about 6,000 games, pausing for four years to serve in World War II, where he was deployed to Italy, France and Germany. For many years afterward Coyne worked as a machinist, and ushered on the side, before retiring from that job in 1980.

Frank Coonelly, the president of the Pirates, paused on Monday to praise Coyne before heading into a planning meeting to discuss Mr. Coyne’s 100th birthday celebration on April 27.

“After 81 years you better get something better than a watch,” he said. “In my time here, and I’ve been here for 11 seasons, he never missed a day of work.”

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