Gettin’ Carried Away

One of my travel goals is to visit all 30 Major League Baseball parks before I turn 30. I’ve been to Comiskey/U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox), Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs), Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees), Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox), Angel Stadium (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) and Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers). Last week, I went to my seventh baseball stadium: PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Getting to PNC Park

We stayed a few miles from the city, so our hotel shuttle bus dropped us off right in front of the (6th Street) Roberto Clemente Bridge, which is shut down for a short time on game days to only allow for pedestrian traffic. Walking across the bridge almost seems like a right of passage… to see a great ballpark. If you’re not a baseball fan, you should know that the Pirates team is pretty much the saddest franchise in the MLB. Just watch the first half hour of the movie Major League (about a terrible Cleveland Indians team) to get an idea of just how bad the Pirates can play sometimes.

If you do drive to the game, you’ll have to cross one of the other two bridges on either side of 6th Street in order to get across the Allegheny River. However, I recommend walking (if you are close enough) or taking a taxi/hotel shuttle to the park.

Once we crossed the bridge, we decided to walk around the park before picking up our tickets from the Will Call window. Side note: since the team isn’t all that great, you could probably get tickets the day of the game. However, if the Pirates are playing the Cardinals, the Cubs, the Red Sox or the Yankees, the game might sell out, as fans of those teams travel to Pittsburgh to see the game. One of the first unique things I noticed about PNC Park was the ticket machines scattered around the perimeter. I’ve seen machines like this at movie theaters, but I’ve never seen one outside a baseball park. This seems pretty handy if the lines for the ticket windows are pretty long; however, you really don’t have to wait in much of a line these days.

Pre-game Inside PNC Park

After we picked up our $26 tickets, we shuffled into the ballpark (1.5 hours before game time), we made our way up to the 100-level and walked right in. I was surprised no one was there to check our tickets, so I can only assume that anyone can walk around on the 100-level concourse, regardless of where your seat is located. You can’t do that in other stadiums. When we found our section, however, there was an attendant there to check and make sure we were headed to the right seats.

After walking down what seemed like 50 stairs, we finally arrived to the lower box seats along the first baseline. Another attendant escorted us to our seats, and he even had a towel with him to wipe down both of them. I really didn’t expect that. I was caught a little off guard, so I didn’t get a chance to the tip the guy. I felt I like I should have after that kind of service. It’s amazing what $26 will get you when a team is playing so poorly. We were 10 rows up from the field and about 150 feet from home plate! We started taking pictures and people-watching when one of the mascots, the Parrot, came out and started riling up the crowd. He even played with some of the Arizona Diamonbacks players a little bit while they did their pregame warmups.

One thing I must give to the Pirates: for being the worst team in the MLB, they sure have the best opening. When you’re at PNC Park, you’ll see several opening videos with really cool graphics. This includes stereotypical, “arrgghh-me-matey” pirate talking about the battle ahead and a pirate ship battle to the tune of Carl Orff’s “O Fortuna” score from the Carmina Burana opera. Finally, a Superman opening announces that starting lineup.

Food and Drink at PNC Park

After about five innings, we decided to head back up to the concourse to look for a bite to eat. PNC has everything from hot dogs and pizzas to pierogi and kielbasa. I came across a Pop-A-Dukes stand in Pop’s Plaza (behind the third base side) that sold gyros, and since I’d never had a gyro at a sporting event before, that’s what I decided to eat. I opted for a Pepsi (I prefer Pepsi parks to Coca-Cola parks). My boyfriend chose a good ol’ fashion hot dog and a Yeungling, a locally brewed beer. As far as beer goes, you can really get anything: Miller, Bud, Coors, Iron City, Lebatt, etc. If you don’t want to spend money on food, PNC is one of the few parks that allows you to bring in outside food and unopened, non-alcoholic bottles of water or pop.

All in all, PNC Park is a great ball field. I think it’s worth it to make a trip out to Pittsburgh just for a game. And hey, Heinz Field is just up the street, so maybe you can catch a concert or a Steelers game while you’re there, too. 7 down, 23 to go!