PNC Park Become a Reality

On Wednesday April 7, 1999 The Pittsburgh Pirates broke grounds for PNC Park. The event began at 1:30 PM at Three Rivers Stadium where the Pirates played the Montreal Expos. After the game all Pirate fans were encouraged to assemble at the Roberto Clemente Bridge (formally the sixth St. Bridge) at 5:30 PM to attend a party that would include a ceremony to that commemorated the renaming of the Sixth Street Bridge as the Roberto Clemente Bridge.

The Bridge would be closed to all traffic at 5:00 PM. The extravaganza was a party that was free to the public and included food vendors, two bands and a host of dignitaries. Roberto Clemente's family was well represented as Vera, his widow, as well as his two sons Roberto Jr. and Luis. All three of them spoke to the crowd. Clemente's former teammate and current Pirate broadcaster Steve Blass emceed the event, which had the formal ceremony at 6:30 PM.

In the days prior to the ceremonies Pirate owner Kevin McClatchy told the media. "We are throwing the bridge party and PNC Park groundbreaking festivities to show our appreciation for the support this region has shown us."

Fans who were unable to attend the game were also encouraged to come. After the Clemente Bridge ceremony a local High School band led the crowd form the span over to the site where the new PNC Park would be built. 

The Parks' groundbreaking party began at 7:30 PM and was emceed by long-time play-by-play Pirate broadcaster Lanny Fraterre. The crowd listened on as Gov. Tom Ridge, Mayor  Tom Murphy, county Commissioners Mike Dawida and Bob Cranmer, Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy spoke to the crowd. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, PNC Chairman Thomas O'Brien were at the event as well.

At 8:20 PM Pirate and local officials along with three students, who had won an essay contest, performed the official task by digging silver shovels into some dirt near where home plate would be.

Shortly after, the crowd watched on as a laser light show began. The festivities also included machine that sent clouds of fog, 60 foot high "flyguys" dressed as Pirates, and a "virtual tour" shown on a 20-foot-by-27-foot Sony JumboTron screen. A sign with PNC Park on it was lit with fireworks and then an eight-minute fireworks display was set off from river-barges located in the Allegheny River.

Nearly two years later to the date on April 9, 2001 PNC Park opened as scheduled. The event would include another terrific ceremony but it was also tempered by the news that, in the morning, Pirate fan favorite, Hall of Famer Willie Stargell had passed away of a stroke.

The Pirates treated the crowd of 36,954 with a video that recalled the beloved man whose teammates called "Pops". After the showing of the video remembering Stargell the crowd stood and applauded for two minutes.

Only days before, a Bronze Statue of Stargell had been unveiled just outside the Park. Fans brought flowers and placed them at the foot of the Statue.

A host of local dignitaries were at the opening day ceremony where Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge told the fans "The opening of PNC Park reaffirms Pittsburgh's status as a world-class city, full of all the amenities that make Southwestern Pennsylvania such a wonderful place to live."

The ball used for the first pitch was brought into PNC Park by a parachute team of four Navy SEALs. Kevin McClatchy who wore a Pirate jersey with the number 8 on it in memory of Stargell threw the first pitch.

The game itself was not particularly what the fans wanted to see. Just as was the case when Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium the Pirates would drop the opening game in the brand new ballpark. The Cincinnati Reds, who had spoiled the opening day for Pirates fans in 1970 when Three Rivers Stadium opened, did the same for the inaugural game at PNC Park. This time the final score was 8-2.

A Pittsburgh area native Sean Casey the Reds first baseman went 4-for-4 on the day with 5 RBI and stole the show. The starters, for the contest were Todd Ritchie for the Pirates while Chris Reitsma went for the Reds. Ritchie gave up the first hit in the contest in the first inning. Reds left fielder Dmitri Young became PNC's first base runner after a Ritchie pitch hit him. Casey then stepped to the plate. On a 1-0 pitch Casey smacked the offering into the right field seats driving in young and giving the Reds a 2-0 lead. Reportedly the fan that caught that historic blast took the ball home with them.

The score remained that way until the sixth inning when the Reds Casey was at it again. This time against a drawn-in infield he poked a single that plated the Reds third run of the contest. In the bottom half of the inning the Pirates finally scored their first ever run at PNC. After Aramis Ramirez, Kevin Young and Pat Meares all reached base on singles, pinch hitter John Vander Wal hit a grounder to Red third baseman Aaron Boone who botched what would have been a double play. Ramerez scored the Pirates first run at PNC, and the bases remained loaded with no one out. On the next play Boone redeemed himself when he fielded another grounder and  began a 5-4-3 double play, but Young scored and now the score was 3-2 Reds.

In the eighth and ninth innings the Reds would score 5 more runs. Casey again was the culprit as in the ninth inning he smacked a 2 run homer.

After the game Casey talked with reporters about his first inning homer. "That was really special. It really was," he said. "It really was. I was just hoping to get a hit. I thought it would be neat to be the first one to get a hit here. If I had tried for a home run, I probably would have grounded out to third."

With the building of PNC park came many new and wonderful things for the fans to enjoy. Unlike the other parks in the past, PNC was built with the baseball fans best interests at heart. As large ballparks go it is an intimate place. The highest seat is only 88 feet from the field. There are simply no bad seats in the Park. Additionally, nearly everyone is treated to a wonderful panoramic view of the city as well as the opportunity to stroll wherever they choose.

Like Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium, PNC has the facilities to cater to the corporate fan. Only PNC Park has more of them. Also those who would like to enjoy a meal while watching the game there is the Outback in the Outfield. Outback Steakhouse is a restaurant that has a party deck. There are also many favorite local restaurants such as Primanti Brothers, Atria's, and many others where a fan can grab a bite to eat while enjoying the game. PNC Park also has handicapped seating arrangements in every section of the park.  

The Park itself hearkens back to the past. Gone are the symmetrical outfield walls and artificial field that were everywhere in the cookie cutter stadiums. In their place are irregular outfield fence dimensions, and now the games are played once again on grass. It is 325 feet down the left field line. It gradually opens up toward left center where the power ally is 389 and eventually ends up at what is called the left center nook area where it is 410 feet from home plate. The right field line is only 320 feet but the 21-foot wall in right field offsets that. In the right center power ally it is 375 and 399 dead centerfield.

Many experts consider PNC Park as the best in all of Baseball. With all the subtle and not so subtle differences that it offers it seem easy to draw that conclusion. Many of the new ballparks are built using red brick. PNC on the other hand was constructed with limestone. The limestone renders the park a unique rustic appearance that is rather appealing. What's more, everywhere you look both inside and out side the park there are countless reminders of the Pirates rich tradition.

Pittsburgh based PNC Bank Corp. bought the naming rights for the building in August of 1998. The deal will last until the year 2020.

Although no truly significant games have happened in its brief four year lifetime a huge game is scheduled to happen in 2006. On July 20, 2004 Major League Baseball announced that Pittsburgh would be the host city of the 06 mid summer classic.  

In his announcement Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said. "This ballpark is spectacular. It certainly played a critical role," said Selig. "I wouldn't be standing here today if PNC Park didn't exist. 

It is reported that the three-day event will bring over 100,000 visitors to the city and will generate an estimated $ 50 million in revenue. The game will also provide an opportunity for the City of Pittsburgh to show itself off in front of the entire nation. Pirate owner Kevin McClatchy was instrumental in convincing Baseball to give the 06 event to the City. 

Interviews with the real experts about PNC Park and the Parks of the past. 

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Pirate broadcasters Bob Walk and Steve Blass. Because Walk had played his entire career in the cookie cutter era and now works in the announcer’s booth at PNC and many of the new ballparks, I thought his perspective would be an interesting one. Blass had begun his career at Forbes Field and then moved into three Rivers Stadium and now he too works at PNC. Their comments were rather insightful.  

Additionally I spoke with Pirate Manager Lloyd McClendon who played all of his career in the Cookie cutter era but now manages in PNC as well as other new ballparks across America. His information was as expected very interesting.

On the same day I spoke with a couple of fans. Both were carefully selected as I was looking for people who would have been at Forbes Field, Three Rivers Stadium and finally at PNC Park. Their perspectives were entertaining and of course opinionated. I left all five interviews just as they are in a question and answer format!

Pirate fan Denny Harrold from the Greensburg area.

Magoo: What did you like about Forbes Field?

Harrold: Just the openness, the grass field which we didn't have when we went to Three Rivers.  Schenley Park The difference was that it was like a party atmosphere when you walked up to the park all the bars and everything they were right there.

We parked... there was this one guy that had a house he just let people park behind his house. We always parked in the same spot... and he would save a spot for us... It was beautiful I loved it!

Magoo: Now how did you feel about Three Rivers as a baseball park?

Harrold: It never felt the same. I never felt like that was a baseball park. It was a football Stadium.

Magoo: Why is that?

Harrold: The artificial turf I never liked that ... I always liked the grass field.

Magoo: How about the closed in feeling that was there.

Harrold: I never liked it... Now this (PNC Park) is like heaven. It's like night and day here at PNC park.

Magoo: So you like this place.

Harrold: Oh I love it!

We are just hoping that some day we have a competitive team. It would be tremendous if we ever we ever have a completive team.

Magoo: Yeah It would make it a lot more fun.

Harrold: Oh my God! We were just listening to KDKA (radio) on the way in and that were talking about some people say Pittsburgh is not a Baseball town. But that's not true! I think they're drawing pretty darn good crowds for a team that's… you know mediocre at best. If we ever get a team that's really competitive, this place would be electric.

Magoo: One of the things that I like about PNC is… Gee all you need is a ticket and you can stand right behind home plate if you want and nobody will bother you...

Harrold: Yeah and there are no bad seats. I mean I pretty much have been everywhere and no matter where you sit you have a good view.

Now like at Three Rivers if you sat in the outfield you couldn't even see the ball. If you were out there on a sunny day you had to watch for the players to move to know where the ball was at because there was such a glare coming off the field. Now those were terrible seats.

Denny later told me that he had attended the final game at Forbes Field and on that day he was able to take home 2 seats from Forbes Field. "They are just as they were on the day I brought them home!"

Pittsburgh Native Pirate fan Kathleen Baur

Magoo:  Tell me were you ever at Forbes Field?

Baur: Yeah when I was a kid we'd cut class and go. Actually when my daughter was a baby I'd still take her in the 60's

 It was very nice and cozy and a friendly place to go... But parking and traffic was terrible.

Magoo: Where did you normally like to sit?

Baur: I like to sit between home plate and first base.

Magoo: Do you remember any of the players

Baur: Yeah actually it was during the 1960 World Series season Bob Skinner he held my daughter and he put her on the back of dugout when she was a baby and they were on Channel 4 News. His nickname was "the Dog" and she loved him. She cried when he was traded.

Magoo: How did you feel about Three Rivers Stadium?

Baur: I like it. I thought it was nice you know for the time it was the thing to do. It seemed nice but it was just kind of big. Too big for Baseball... They could never fill it and it always looked half empty.

Magoo: How did you feel about watching a game at Three Rivers compared to watching one at Forbes Field?   

Baur: It was much better at Forbes than it was at Three Rivers. There was too much interference... You know too far away ... There were poles ... We would end up watching it on the scoreboard. It was different.

Magoo: Now how about this facility?

Baur: This is beautiful! Its absolutely breathtaking its beautiful its fun to watch the game here. It’s like going back to Forbes Field only better. You can't say enough good about it... we love coming here.

Magoo: How often do you get to the games?

Baur: We come about 6 or 7 times a year. 

Baur: My favorite memory from Three Rivers Stadium was watching Roberto Clemente get his 3000th hit.

Magoo: You were there for that?

Baur: Yeah we were there for that

Magoo: What was the place like?

Baur: There was a major roar and people just stomping their feet, people were so happy for him... And of course it was so sad when he got killed because he was such a good man.

Only two months later Clemente was killed when a plane that was loaded with relief supplies intended for victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua crashed into the sea. 

Ex Pirate Pitcher and current Pirate announcer Bob Walk

Magoo: Can you compare Three Rivers Stadium and PNC Park?

Walk: I’ve never played here so I can't tell you what is like here.

Walk: I liked playing at Three Rivers I liked pitching there I thought it was a nice fair ballpark. There was nothing about it that I didn't like.

Magoo: What was it like?


Walk: For a player the dugouts were nice... I liked being able to be on the same level of the field... So you could see well and you could just walk right out... There was no fence there in front of you... It was just like basically sitting on a bench on the edge of the field... The Clubhouse was just a short walk behind us ... I mean everything was from a players standpoint... everything was great.

Magoo: So you just loved it...    

Walk: Uh Huh

 Compare the Parks

Walk: For the fans I don't know I haven't really been to any other (Parks) So can't really tell you as far as just like looking at them there are some beautiful ballparks around to look at.

San Francisco is one… San Diego is another... Any of the new ballparks look really nice.

Magoo: All of them?

Walk: The one that I thought was a real disappointment is the one in Cincinnati.

Former Pittsburgh Pirate and current Buc Manager Lloyd McClendon  

Magoo:  Talk about the difference between PNC Park and Three Rivers Stadium.

McClendon: PNC is a Park... Three Rivers was a Stadium. A duel Stadium at that...

McClendon: This atmosphere is more conducive to Baseball. Obviously the surface is more conducive to healthy players the back ground... everything about this park is exonerates Baseball


Magoo: That's what I love about it as it harkens back to the old days when it was played in a field.

McClendon: Right Yeah... it's a little different this is the way it should be played... not on Astroturf and in a Stadium that's enclosed... Where you never really get the true feeling of a baseball atmosphere in those types of Stadiums. I think you see all the new ballparks a structure where you have the openness and the grass, it's downtown, background, and water and things like that.

Magoo: So you're loving it?

McClendon: Oh I think it's wonderful... Not only is it conducive to baseball... its more healthy for the players because of the playing surface. 

Steve Blass 1971 World Series hero and current announcer for the team

Magoo: Your first season was at Forbes Field?

Blass: Yea I got called up in May of 1964. Interesting story my first day... I came from Columbus I was in triple A. We arrived in Pittsburgh and it was in a pouring rainstorm, just pouring. We were staying over at the Webster Hotel so I sent my wife there I went to the Ballpark John Hallahan was the clubhouse guy.

Blass: You know I am on Cloud nine just getting called up to the Big league so I walked in, he was there. It's noon time for a night game... he said, well come on over here. Here is your locker. And I looked in there and said this is it! I finally made it.

Blass: Hallahan said, aren't you going to put it (Pirate uniform) on and go out and go on the field? I said well it's pouring down rain. He took me by the shoulder and pointed in the locker-room and said do you see that. If you put that uniform on and go out there and it gets wet, we've got three more just like it, Hallahan said. That's one of the reasons we call it the Big Leagues. (Blass said with a laugh) That told me that I had made the Big Leagues.

Magoo: Toward the end Forbes Field was crumbling... It was really starting to decay, is that true?

Blass: Not in my mind... It probably was in that sense the building itself physically  was running down but It was still a great place for me. I still miss Forbes Field and those kind of Ballparks because not only are they history and tradition but they smell like ballparks.

This PNC Park is absolutely stunning its beautiful they did not make any mistakes here but I still miss that smell of the Forbes Fields, the County Stadium… I got a little bit of it when I went to Fenway (Boston) I went on the trip to Fenway and I said I’m in and old ballpark... It smells like an old ballpark it smells like old-time baseball. So from that standpoint I didn't care if Forbes Field was crumbling or running down or any of that stuff.

Willie Stargell when he came up (from the minors) he had a gun for an arm and he was a left fielder. Now it was 365 feet down the left field line not only did you have to hit it that far to get a home run down in the corner, but you had to hit it over the scoreboard over by the clock. I remember to this day Stargell going down into that corner and picking balls off (the scoreboard) and making it very interesting at second base for guys trying to get a double because of the gun he had. That was a long, long throw. I think maybe in one sense, a true sense of just arm strength he might have had a stronger arm that Clemente. Not as consistent not as accurate but as strong or stronger. I always remember that about Willie in his early years in that big ballpark. It was huge I mean you had a ballpark with a flagpole and a batting cage and it wasn't a problem.    


Magoo: Forbes Field it was it a hitters park right?

Blass: You know from a pitching standpoint if you got a ballpark that's 457 feet to center and 436 feet to left-center or right-center I think it's a pitchers ballpark. I mean there was a short porch in right but you still had to hit it up over the screen and all that sort of thing so I considered it a pitchers ballpark. I mean there were a lot of triples hit in it but if you had good outfielders. I came up and we had Stargell out there, and Clemente, obviously who could cover a little ground, I considered it a great park to pitch in I really did. Probably hitters considered it a hitter’s park because there was so much room there was tremendous amount of room with those dimensions.


Magoo: I attempted to turn the focus toward TRS but Blass would have none of it. He had one more Forbes Field story to tell.

Blass: Let me. Now, wait before we leave Forbes…. When you went from the clubhouse you went down kind of a dirt path to the dugout. It was like a haunted house... It was dark down in there. It was just dirt and you didn't know... the rats down there… all you could see was their eyes. You called some of them spot, they were so big... Every once in a while if you wanted to scare the hell out of somebody you'd hide back in the shadows. And both teams had to come out in that common runway through the first base dugout because you couldn't get from the visitors clubhouse to their dugout unless you came down the same pathway through the Pirates dugout and across the field.

If you wanted to just jump somebody you could hide back in those shadows, and scream at them. I remember Mack Jones an outfielder for the Braves I got him. He went running back to the visitors clubhouse He said there's something down there I don't know what it is but it's something and it's screaming.

And so you had that kind of thing going on there!


Magoo: Wow that's great... Ok then what about Three Rivers Stadium.

Blass: Well we were excited about going to Three Rivers because we were going to go and get air conditioning.

Magoo: Right

Blass: And carpeting so we thought that was absolutely great. The facilities were markedly improved with the amenities and that sort of thing. So we were excited about it!

We were also excited about the fact that we were emerging as really good ball-club. We knew were good by that point and so that was our first division year for the teams I was on. So we were just in full gear and heading over to a new ballpark…Yea we were really excited about it.

Magoo: Yea that had to be fun. Now what about pitching in that facility?

Blass: We originally thought... wow this is going to be really tough on pitchers because it's a fast surface, you know we had the Tartan-turf or the Astro-turf and we just thought that every ball hit in between somebody is going to be an automatic double and everything. But what we failed to realize was that we were going to be helped as pitchers by the fact that fast track would get us more double plays. Because the ball would get to the infielders quicker so you had more time to turn the double play. So I think all in all from that standpoint comparing those two things it was kind of a wash.

Being generic and standardized dimensions it was accessible for the hitters. Straightaway center field was a pretty good shot but is was 375 to the alleys So, it was accessible.

Magoo: Now earlier I spoke with Bob Walk and he said he kind of liked playing at Three Rivers.


Blass: Well I loved playing at Three Rivers because we won all the time. You have to consider that we moved over there in 70 and the Pirates didn't back off that whole decade. It was some great baseball. You've got Clemente and Maz and Stargell over there playing... It was a great time for us. It was a great time for the Pirates over at Three Rivers because... I don't care. You can play in somebody's barn out in back of the farmhouse. If you win it's going to be fun.

Magoo: In 30 years there were four Super Bowl teams that played there and two World Series teams that played there.

Blass: In that decade we won the Steelers won and all summer the Penguins would come and watch us. We got to know a lot of those guys. It was a great fraternity of professional athletes in that decade of the 70s.

Magoo: You have never played on this field but what do you think about it?

Blass: We thought originally that it was going to very much a hitter’s ballpark in that the ball would jump out of here like crazy, and it's still accessible in right field. It is a very fair ballpark. From right center all the way around to the left field line it's a very fair Ballpark.

It's the prettiest ballpark. I get to work upstairs in the radio booth and you just look down and it's like a postcard. At night as it the darker it gets the more of the city seems to meld across the river and almost become part of the ballpark and the ballpark experience. It looks like a movie set. Then when you get a full moon... or nights here with a sunset. I mean it's beautiful it's absolutely gorgeous.

Magoo: From a fans perspective that's what I missed when we went into Three Rivers all that openness. For me it was what made me really excited about PNC.

Blass: Well originally Three Rivers was going to be an open to the city. In the original plans it was going to have it open but they couldn't get enough seats. They were going to give up too many seats I guess... I remember seeing the drawings. I've still got a Swiss army knife little item... that's got... Ground Breaking of Three Rivers Stadium on it. When we went over there in 1968 and broke ground.

By the way when they tore it down I wonder if anybody looked at the ramps to see how much of that rebar under those ramps was connected. Which is a whole other story... I mean the rebar is there... but usually rebar is connected. And it's a grid.

On to Falconi Field