Pirates minority owner Litman dies at 87

PITTSBURGH -- Eugene Litman, a real estate developer who was a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates since the mid-1980s, has died of respiratory failure.

Litman, who was 87, died Monday.

Litman developed and managed shopping centers and apartments and also was a co-owner with his brothers Archie and Lenny of the Pittsburgh Rens of the American Basketball League in the early 1960s. The ABL was a forerunner to the American Basketball Association.

In 1985, Litman was part of a group that invested millions of dollars in a public-private consortium that bought the Pirates and operated them for 10 years.

Most of those investors dropped out when Kevin McClatchy bought the team in 1996, but Litman also joined his group. Even though he was a part-owner, Litman still purchased the same four front-row season tickets behind third base he owned since the Pirates played at Forbes Field.

Litman was an active sports fan, attending spring training each year, and once tried to buy a United States Football League franchise for Pittsburgh.

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