My Experiences: Stadium 1; PNC Park

One of my earliest memories about the game of baseball, and one of the earliest memories I can recall is my father attending one of the last baseball games in the history of Three Rivers Stadium. While he watched the Pirates play in Forbes Field in the early part of his childhood, Three Rivers Stadium was the venue where the Pirates called home for their last two World Series titles.

In 1971 and 1979, the Pirates were champions of baseball. This year marks 41 long years since the Pirates last were crowned champions of the baseball universe, but not all has been bad in between 1979 and 2020.

However, when I think of the Pittsburgh Pirates, I do unfortunately think of a losing baseball product. I was only alive to see three winning seasons and have never seen them play in the National League Championship Series (NLCS). While the Pirates can be summed up as a losing ball club these days, one bright spot remains for this franchise. PNC Park was officially opened in an exhibition game vs. the New York Mets on March 31st, 2001. I think about March 31st of this year, and I wish baseball had begun and was still continuing on for the entire 2020 season.

Despite no baseball right now in the United States, I like to reflect on another one of my earliest memories. My father attended that March 31st ball game against the Mets, and he can remember being the first person to have a Pepsi out of one of the machines. He remembers the soda tasting absolutely horrible, and he politely asked them for a new one. They vendors did pour him another one, but I can’t help to feel like the Pirates and PNC Park were going to leave a bad taste in his mouth for years to come.

I can remember being just four years old and crying and hollering like a baby because I was not going to the baseball game with my dad on that March 31st afternoon. Like any youngster, I looked up to my dad and wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be a Pirates baseball fan. I wanted to be a baseball player like he was, and I wanted to go to PNC Park like he did.

Through the years, I do think my father felt sorry that he didn’t take me on that trip. I think the bad omen of the awful tasting Pepsi and the food poisoning he got after the game was enough karma for him to think about taking me to some ball games someday soon.

Growing up, my dad was a fan of the Montreal Expos as well, and I soon became a fan. It was just a few years later the Expos would leave Montreal, Canada for Washington D.C. The Nationals just never have had the same ring to me as the Montreal Expos, and I hope in the future baseball returns to Montreal.

Another story I can think of about my father and PNC Park was my dad calling a Vladimir Guerrero home run to his buddies. My dad’s friend decided when Vladdy was hitting would be a great time to beat the half inning rush to get a snack, but he would forever be sorry for it. Guerrero is one of the all-time great right fielders. In his prime, he was a five tool player and also an MVP. Growing up, he was my favorite player and remained fairly consistent until back injuries and other injuries derailed his career.

Now, his son Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a member of a Canadian professional baseball team as well. Playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, I was able to see him play last summer at the Rogers Centre. It was only fitting that my dad saw Vladimir Guerrero hit a home run and I saw his son hit a home run.

While I still have not shared my PNC Park experience, it is important to understand some of the back story to some of my favorite PNC Park moments that I’ve experienced in person.

Through the years, I’ve been to several Pirate games. I saw the Pirates lose 10-0 against the Yankees at PNC Park. This was the first series the Yankees had played in Pittsburgh since the 1960 World Series. I saw the Pirates lose 5-0 to the Cubs when Jake Arietta threw a gem against the Buccos on a Tuesday evening. Lastly, I saw the Pirates lose most recently to the Braves last season.

I’ve seen my share of Pirates losses, and that will happen when you play 162 games a season. However, I’ve seen my share of Pirates wins as well. I saw the Pirates walk it off against the Dodgers as Jonathan Broxton blew the save. I’ve seen the Pirates clobber the Diamondbacks from the box seats. I’ve seen the Pirates best the Reds while sitting in the Lexus Club seats, and I’ve seen the Pirates beat the Dodgers in a Saturday afternoon game in which Francisco Liriano hit his first career home run down the left field line.

I attended that game with two buddies of mine Jake Mercer and Cortland Smith, and they can recall that I called Francisco Liriano’s three run shot. While I was mostly joking, I think it was fitting since my dad had called a home run in PNC Park that I did as well.

PNC Park is the first professional baseball stadium I have ever attended, and it made me fall in love with the game. There’s something special about being in a stadium that’s good for my soul and can put me in the greatest of moods.

Many hesitate to the commitment of going to a baseball game because it is known to take several hours, but I can think of truly nothing more therapeutic than watching a live ball game.

From my experiences at PNC Park, I knew I wanted to see all 30 MLB stadiums. I’ve seen all 30 on tv and in pictures. However, nothing beats the feeling of being there in person.

What’s special to me about PNC Park is the proximity to Heinz Field which is absolutely by design. It allows the franchises and teams to help each other out, and it is a great marketing tactic. Speaking of a marketing tactic, the giveaways and free things at PNC Park is like nowhere else I’ve been in pro baseball. The marketing tactics are all about drawing people into the game to buy food, drinks, and tickets. Otherwise, the product would not be as successful as it is.

Another thing that stands out to me about PNC Park is of course the Primanti Brothers food right in the stadium. This restaurant was unique to Pittsburgh, but has since expanded to many other areas. The Pittsburgher Sandwich is some of my favorite ballpark food that I’ve had.

The marketing tactics of the Pirates and the food are great, but the field itself and the infrastructure behind the stadium is what truly set this stadium apart from many that I’ve been to. The stadium is designed in such a great way with the 21 foot wall in right field to celebrate the life of the late and great Roberto Clemente who wore the number 21 during his career in Pittsburgh. The riverwalk outside the stadium is such a pleasant area to be, but be sure to look out for river bound balls if the Buccos are hitting batting practice on your walk into the stadium.

It is also not a debate that the Pirates have the best skyline in view from their stadium that I’ve personally seen. Some other parks have nice views, but none have beaten the landscape behind the outfield of PNC Park.

Though the Pirates have surely never had the best product on the field, they do the little things that bring fans back again and again. The landscape, food, and giveaways have been a huge success in the first 20 years of PNC Park. My experiences watching the Pirates play baseball has not always been the best, but I’ve never had a bad experience at this park over newrly 20 years of attending games.

If there’s any recommendations or ways to improve PNC Park, I would say it is not stadium related, but rather organizationally related. However, that’s a discussion and debate for another day.