It's on to Pittsburgh for Mark and George Yost on their ballpark tour:
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I'd never been to a baseball game in Pittsburgh, but I suspected that PNC Park would be the highlight of our cross-country trip. George and I weren't disappointed.
I've always had a soft spot for Pittsburgh. Maybe it's because Pittsburgh, like New York, is really a city made up of individual neighborhoods (which is distinctly different from being made up of suburbs, like in the Twin Cities and other modern metropolii). Maybe it's because my buddy Bob Boyles lived there in the glory days of the 1970s and '80s, when, according to him, no one ever went home alone from the bar. Pittsburgh has character. It's been kicked in the chops a few times, but perseveres. And the girls aren't always the best looking, but they're sweet and sincere and most can drink you under the table. Or maybe it's because John Peterman played a dozen years in the Pittsburgh farm system. Whatever the reason, if I were permanently exiled from Brooklyn, Pittsburgh is a place I'd consider living.
As for this trip, it was by far the best ballpark experience we've had thus far. And while Yankee Stadium will always be special, I suspect it will be hard for the House That Ruth Built to objectively beat PNC Park (especially if the Twinkies win tomorrow night and deny Clemens his 350th victory).
Parking was reasonable - $12 - and easy to find. We parked in a public garage that was literally across the street from the stadium. Outside the main gate, we found a wonderful interactive ticket kiosk that was simple to use. You searched for seats and then saw where they were on an interactive map. If you didn't like what you found, you could hit the back button and search again, either by section or by price.
George and I found by far the best seats - in terms of both price and location - of the trip. Section 124, Row P, Seats 15 and 16. Aisle seats, behind third base, 16 rows off the field. $27 each. (I guess that's what you get after 15 losing seasons.)
And what a view!! PNC Park is by far the greatest open-air park we've been to on the trip. Home plate is in the northwest corner of the stadium, meaning that most of the seats look southeast, toward the gorgeous Pittsburgh skyline, including some of its classic 19th-century steel beam bridges. Fans in the upper levels can also see the river.
Food was reasonably priced. Foot-long hot dogs, brats and Italian sausage were $5. Regular hot dogs were $2.25. While the price was right, they left something to be desired. They were classic ballpark dirty water dogs, but bland. The Pirates' "low-carb menu" offered a low-fat hamburger wrapped in lettuce. I'm sorry, but there's nothing low-carb about Pittsburgh. In fact, one of its charms is that most of the people are XL, know it, and revel in it. And, like a lot of parks, they had a coffee bar, which has no business being in any sports venue (except maybe hockey). This was also our third Pepsi park in a row. I hate Pepsi. I don't think Pepsi has the MLB contract. I know the Yankees serve RC Cola (and can't remember if the Twinkies serve Coke along with the atrocious Dome Dogs and stale peanuts). George was able to get lemonade in Pittsburgh for $4 (the going rate at all the parks we've been to). Bottled water was priced at $3, sted $3.50 at most other places.
The beer selection rivaled that of Miller Park. 16 oz. drafts of the usual swill (Miller, Bud) were $6. For 75 cents more, you could get a good selection of 20 oz. microbrews. I had an absolutely delicious Penn Lager that went down easy on a beautiful, sunny, 80-degree day. If Atomizer had been with me instead of George, we would have been guzzling those things all day long.
The fans here -- and at every park we've been to -- were appropriately reverential during the National Anthem. One thing that's been refreshing during this trip is that no one has shouted the team name in place of "the brave" at the end of the National Anthem. It's one of the great annoyances of college sports, particularly hockey, and doubly disrespectful. The Anthems at the baseball parks we've been to have been a welcome change.
In short, PNC is one of the greatest ballparks I've ever been to, and I've been to a lot. It's clearly the class of this trip and, again, Yankee Stadium will be hard-pressed to eclipse it. The concourses are wide, the atmosphere is great, and the food is passable and varied. I would encourage Atomizer to come here before he puts CAD pen to screen. I'm buying the beers.
Score: 9.5.
Up next: George and I had planned to go to Yankee Stadium Tuesday night. But when we saw that The Rocket was pitching against the red-hot Twinkies (who, as I write this, are scoreless against the Tigers in the third on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball) and going for win No. 350, we decided to go Monday instead. So look for our next post Tuesday morning.
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