Rob Reviews: PNC Park

In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I’m a huge baseball fan. Whenever I get the chance, I like to visit Major League, minor league and even college baseball stadiums as my time, travel, and finances will allow. Last week, I attended my first ever game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA.

PNC Park, located just feet from the Allegheny River, is said by many baseball enthusiasts to be the best ballpark in the major leagues. As visiting all 30 MLB parks is something of a bucket list item for me, I had to see this place for myself.

I had never been to Pittsburgh, so driving in, I was shocked how the rolling hills on the freeway immediately spit me out into the middle of downtown area. Since the current trend in MLB ballparks is to build them and downtown areas, parking is often difficult to find. I did some research before going to the game and ended up easing a parking structure just on the other side of the Allegheny river across from the stadium period from there, I walked across the Andy Warhol Bridge, following the sparse crowd to the park. Of course, the stadium really wasn’t hard to find, as it backed right up to the shore of the Allegheny.

Initial thoughts

One thing I noticed as soon as I enter the park was it size. It feels small, and it was designed to feel that way. PNC Park has only two decks, making it the only two decked MLB park built in decades. The result is upper deck seats are closer to the field and they are at other contemporary ball parks.

Of course, I also noticed the downside of that right away as well. The concourses are shorter and narrower than they are at other current stadiums. Even though there was only a little over 14,000 fans in attendance at the game I went to, the concourses did feel crowded at times. Other fans have said that during sellouts or near-sellouts, the concourses become very difficult to navigate.

The crowd

I mentioned the fans here because for me, this was “an away game” for me. The Pirates were playing my Detroit Tigers so I was definitely a visitor. Because of the relatively shortdistance between Detroit and Pittsburgh, there were quite a few other fans decked out in Tigers gear. I didn’t have any issues with anyone in the crowd whatsoever. It may help that this wasn’t a traditional rivalry for the Pirates. I think it also helps that it was a 12:35 game on a Wednesday afternoon, as opposed to a Friday or Saturday night crowd. The staff at PNC Park was also very friendly. I had a few questions, as this had been my first time to the stadium. Guest services employees were very helpful.

The Food

I know a lot of people who travel to different stadiums will make a big fuss about the food offerings, but I am not really much of a foodie myself. When I go to a game, I usually just look for the traditional fair: sodas, beer, hot dogs and pretzels. Everything that I had was just fine and, neither any better or any worse than other Major League stadiums I’ve traveled to.

The sights

As you can see by this post, one of the things I love to do is take photos at the different stadiums I attend. Maybe it’s because I’ve started to take for granted the photo opportunities at my Home Park; but I feel that PNC Park was absolutely loaded with picturesque scenery. Admittedly, I did not even get to see everything that I wanted to. Part of this is because I arrived late for the game period another reason for this is because I was traveling with Kid 2. Were I at the game alone, I would have spent most of the game wandering around the ballpark taking pictures. One of these times, I’m going to have to make a point to either get to the game earlier, include a stadium tour on my trip, or simply attend two games at the new park park. PNC Park features statues of four Pirates legends, one at each entrance to the stadium. There is a garden just outside of the main gates along the river walk on the Allegheny that features sculptures of the retired pirates jersey numbers. Both along the river walk, and on a wall near one of the exits, the teams inducted their players who were inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. The team also pays tribute to Pittsburgh’s Negro League legends here as well. There are flags along the outfield concourse for the teams World Series, National League, and division championships. While I didn’t get photos of it, the stadium also has logos from the various All Star games that the city hosted throughout the years adorning the outfield concourses. Then of course, there is that spectacular view of the downtown Pittsburgh skyline. As of now, it is my favorite view in all of MLB.

Final Take:

PNC Park is definitely worth a return visit. Aside from my hometown ballpark, I would probably have to say that this is my favorite MLB stadium that I have attended. If you enjoy baseball in any capacity, I highly recommend making a trip to the steel city.

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