A Great Day in Pittsburgh
After a quick 2 hour drive from Cleveland, we arrived in Pittsburgh this morning for a 1:30 game at PNC Park between the Mets and Pirates. Michael and I came away hugely impressed with both the ballpark and the city of Pittsburgh.
PNC Park is amazing. We parked across the river from the park and walked over the Roberto Clemente Bridge. From the Bridge you get a great view of the park, the Allegheny River, and downtown Pittsburgh.
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| The view of PNC Park from the Clemente Bridge |
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| Downtown Pittsburgh from the Bridge |
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| Lots of people were enjoying the Allegheny River today |
The view was even better inside the park. PNC is about as good as it gets. It’s a small and intimate ballpark. Like AT&T in San Fran, and Great American Park in Cincinnati, the right field edge of the park backs up to water. Except in PNC, you get a much better view of what’s outside the park. I, in particular, love seeing the yellow Clemente Bridge in the back in the background outside center field. The park is what a ballpark should be – a mix of the old and new with every seat in the park being great. Michael and I both loved the scoreboard. It’s huge and it’s perched in left field. It’s got a video board that covers the entire size of the board. One thing that is really nice is that the stadium doesn’t blast loud music after every inning and the stadium isn’t overloaded with ads. The out-of-town scoreboard is in the perfect spot against the right field wall. It shows all the games at once.
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| Michael next to the Pride of Pittsburgh - Roberto Clemente |
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| The scoreboard is nice! |
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| Michael thought the "pirates" was cool |
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| Would you trust these guys to review your ballpark? |
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| The view from our seats. Can't say enough about the park. |
The food was outstanding as well. From foot-long hot dogs to Manny Sanguillen’s Bar-B-Que, the place smells like a ballpark too. Quite frankly, it’s really hard to find something wrong with it. Even the fans were great and knowledgeable. This, after all, is the home of some of baseball’s greats. My two favorite Pirates were Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente. I never saw Clemente play, but you can’t argue with a guy who was not only a hall-of-fame player, but a true humanitarian. For those that don’t know, Clemente died in a plane crash in 1971 while trying to deliver aid to Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake. Overall, I give the place a 9.5/10. And oh by the way, the Mets won 7-0. Anyway, it’s Michael time…
It’s Michael again. I loved PNC! I loved the view from behind home plate and especially the scoreboard. I really liked the way they spelled out “Pirates” in the center field grass that they use for the batter’s background. The food was REALLY good! The foot-long hot dog was the best I’ve had so far on the trip and Dad and I shared a barbeque sandwich from Manny Sanguillen’s that was really good. Walking over the yellow bridge was really cool too. Overall, I give it a 9.5/10 like my dad.
After we enjoyed the game, Michael and I drove over to Carnegie Park across the river and enjoyed a game of mini golf, where Dad won big!! Then, drove up Mt. Washington, and then sampled a true Pittsburgh iconic cuisine – we got ice cream at Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor near 28th Street.
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| Klavon's Ice Cream Parlor |
Overall, it was a great day and I would love to come back. I think you need a couple of days to take it all in. Anyway, tomorrow, our trip goes international as we head north of the border to Toronto, Canada. We’ll be there two days for a Tuesday night game at Rogers Center. On the way, we are stopping off at Niagara Falls – something I’ve always wanted to see. I hope Michael enjoys it.
