Monday, June 7, 2010

PNC Park

Sorry for the delay in getting my trip to Pennsylvania up here.  Lots of Yuengling made me kind of tired, plus the frustration of having to wait two hours through rain in Pittsburgh diminished my interest in making that post.

The game in Pittsburgh was a perfect example of how frustrated I can become with the powers that be in Major League Baseball.  I sat through a downpour from 7-9 until I called it quits and left, but I was able to see enough of the stadium to decide it wasn't worth it to go back.  They really do have a nice stadium, I just wish I could have seen a pitch that night.

Location: PNC Park is located right across the Allegheny and was a 15 minute walk from my hotel, the William Penn Omni.  The Omni was really nice, and you take a trip over the Roberto Clemente bridge which they close down before the games for pedestrians.  It was a cool walk over the river, and you can see the pictures below.  Downtown Pittsburgh is kind of depressing - it's a microcosm of what America used to be, and is a lesson to major cities to diversify your industry. Thank goodness Houston has energy AND healthcare.

The bridges

View from the bridge

Back down the bridge towards downtown

Ballpark:  The view from behind home plate is amazing.  Downtown Pittsburgh, from that view, looks really beautiful  It was a little tough to navigate from center field, where my seat was, because you have to go up a level to get to the field box seats.  My seat was a perfect home run seat, so I was hoping to grab my first home run/foul/batting practice ball of the trip.

View from center

Scoreboard

Behind the plate

Food: They had gourmet burgers, BBQ, waffle cones, buffalo tenders, the same wing place as they did in Toronto (called Quaker Steak and Lube), a Reuben dog, perogies, and gyros.  I had a couple Yuengling's and grabbed a pastrami sandwich on my way back to the hotel drenched from the rain.  The SCPI was $10.25 because they had a $2.50 hot dog option - the large draft was $7.75.


Game: Well the game got started about an hour after I left, and the Pirates lost late in the game to the Giants 6-4.  I can't imagine the game was that fun to play, especially for the outfielders.  I did score my 6th giveaway of the season - a Pirates hat I probably will never wear.  Still, kind of cool.  I also talked baseball with a recent college grad and his father, who worked game days at the stadium.  It was good to talk to some locals and I gave them compliments on their park.

View from my seat

Summary: Wish I could have seen a game, and maybe I'll come back when I start training for my job in NYC.  I haven't made up my mind yet.  The giveaway plus the beautiful stadium, the food selection and the beer choices give PNC high marks - it's definitely in the top tier thus far.

Location: 8
Ballpark: 8
Food: 8
Game: 5 (not the Pirates fault)
Overall: 8


Record: 15-5
Giveaways: 6 (Pirates hat, Padres sticky calendar, A's Suggie, Marlins mariachi, Tigers Harwell memento, Reds team picture)

1 comment:

katherine said...

nice arthur miller reference. i'll assume it was deliberate.