PITTSBURGH — Forget about the losing.

When it comes to the Pittsburgh Pirates, all news is good news in Patty Paytas' corner.

The 1977 Butler graduate, employed by the Pirates for 18 of the past 24 years, recently was appointed the organization's new vice president of community and public affairs as part of a restructuring of the club's communications department.

Paytas will now lead the development of Pirates Charities, which the Pirates revived late last year.

"We had Pirates Charities back in the late '80s and early '90s, but it just went away,"Paytas said. "It wasn't all that big before.

"Now it's so much bigger. Its goals are a lot bigger."

That is evidenced by the new Pirates Charities' first project, a partnership with the Boys &Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania to renovate a dilapidated indoor swimming pool at the Shadyside/East Liberty Boys and Girls Club into a year-round baseball and softball training complex.

That new facility, featuring indoor batting cages, pitching machines and training rooms, opened in February. Pirates Charities contributed $165,000 to the project, with another $75,000 coming from the Roberto Clemente Foundation and the remaining $60,000 from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund.

The facility gives nearly 3,000 youngsters a place to hone baseball and softball skills year round.

"In its previous form years ago, Pirates Charities could never have dreamed of accomplishing a project like this,"Paytas said. "Now we're hoping it becomes the norm."

Paytas had served as the Pirates' vice president of communications since 2002.

"The biggest difference in my job duties now is I'm dealing with all good news,"she said. "Dealing with the news media in recent years hasn't always been positive given our won-loss record in recent years.

"Now it's all positive. I'm working toward improving our community and I'm excited about it."

In conjunction with Pirates Charities, Paytas also will serve as the team's primary liaison with civic and nonprofit organizations.

The Pirates' overall strategic community relations and minority outreach efforts fall under her umbrella as well.

"We're hoping to announce our next two major projects sometime this summer, but nothing's definitive yet,"Paytas said.

She said Pirates Charities will cover the team's entire marketing region, including Butler County.

"Ultimately, our goal is to touch communities throughout the tri-state area and show the Pirates are proud to be a member of this region and care about making it better,"Paytas said.

Pirates Charities is placing an emphasis on "supporting youth programs focused on health, fitness and education by developing partnerships with those who share in that mission," she said in describing its mission statement.

Paytas is also responsible for raising money for Pirates Charities. The prime fundraiser is a golf tournament July 19 in Fox Chapel. Clinics and donations also help the cause.

Besides the Western Pennsylvania Boys &Girls Club, the YMCA, Make A Wish and Cystic Fibrosis are among nonprofit organizations the Pirates are heavily involved with.

"There are a lot of good causes out there,"Paytas said. "One of the factors in what we decide to do is making sure there is structure in place to take care of the process after we leave.

"I give credit to (Pirates chief executive officer)Kevin McClatchy and (majority owner)Bob Nutting for caring enough about this part of the Pirate organization to commit full-time staff to it.

"All projects start with an idea and the right people in the room to get it done," she added.

During her years with the Pirates, Paytas has booked Pirate Parrot and player appearances, coordinated national anthem singers, worked on Cap Day, etc.

"Change is good — especially this one," she said.