This day took a while and after anticipation for some time, I am taking some time to reflect on my experience at an MLB ballpark that I have wanted to see for sometime the most, that being PNC Park.
I have now been to 12 out of the 30 MLB ballparks to date and I feel that even if you are not a Pirates fan, PNC Park is a must see baseball attraction. The view of the Pittsburgh city skyline is nothing short of spectacular and even visiting teams broadcasters have said such including Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper.
Quite a few ballparks set off fireworks when the home team hits a home run and wins a game. To me what sets PNC Park apart from the rest of the crowd is seeing the fireworks right beyond the batters eye in center field looking at the city skyline especially at night-time is nothing short of spectacular even as a fan of one of their divisional rivals.
I am glad that the Pirates are relevant today considering their history because for this franchise to go 20 years without a playoff appearance was simply a shame. Furthermore, when smaller market teams can compete in any sport, that makes the sport better, not just from markets such as New York.
Of the 12 current MLB ballparks that I have visited, I rank PNC Park #2 and I took a tour of the park during my stay in the ketchup city. Some of the parts of the park I got to see included the press box, dugout, clubhouse and the club suites from each of the team’s 5 world series championships. It is believed that the bat from Babe Ruth’s last hit is stored in that ballpark and there are bats stored on a wall of famous professional baseball players including Honus Wagner. In the clubhouse, there is a batting cage that has part of the turf from the Steelers final game at old Three Rivers Stadium from December 2000.
I went to two games and in the first game, I was standing by one of the concession stands in left field and all the sudden, Sean ‘Gatorade puncher’ Rodriguez hit a home run that landed a few feet from where I was standing. I have watched many games where the Cubs have played there and while I knew the ballpark played big, the outfield plays bigger than what I have seen on TV for many years.
The ballpark has a couple of statues located outside the venue, Willie Stargell in left-field and a Roberto Clemente statue. During the second game, there were many kids in attendance and I pray that this continues to happen at other ballparks because one of the most important priorities of the commissioner is to engage the youth in this sport for numerous reasons.
One of my favorite ways to summarize events, places or people is by using the one word to describe something strategy. However, it is very difficult to use one word to describe PNC Park because depending on where fans are sitting in a game, one gets a unique perspective when sitting just below the press box and sitting and a different one in the outfield bleachers. I was anticipating a great experience and I got that and some extra Heinz ketchup condiments to supplement the great fan experience (not that I like ketchup), but you get the idea.
ryanhackman1026 