Steel City? Nah, 'Yinz' Crazy
I Take A Visit to the Famed PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
I’ve been officially a “ballpark chaser” (that is, someone who travels to visit all 30 Major League Baseball parks) since 2022. And while I never knew my exact route to seeing every team’s home field, there were two truths I kept hearing from other chasers: The entire endeavor is incredibly expensive, and that PNC Park is the best park in all of baseball. While I learned the financial challenges REAL QUICK, just recently I got to experience the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates firsthand.
Pittsburgh itself is kind of a trip. A town that proudly made its whole brand “blue collar gritty” before it was cool, ‘Steel City’ is a town that has a small-town feel with a big-city downtown that overlooks the Allegheny River. US Steel calls it home, most of the sports teams use black and yellow as their colors, and because of that, a particular Wiz Khalifa song gets played all the time. I was looking forward to take a weekend out there, though. And when a friend of mine told me I needed to pose by the “Immaculate Reception” statue at the airport, I went full tourist mode.
Where was I? Ah yes, the Pirates.
The Pittsburgh baseball team is pretty much a beleaguered franchise now, but the Pirates are one of the most storied teams in baseball. Established in 1882, the Pirates got their name because the organization was accused of signing a star player from right under the noses of a rival team unfairly. Which is wild, because I thought a riverfront city would have an actual pirate or two. Anyway: 5 World Championships with the last one coming in 1979, they fielded one of the greatest in Roberto Clemente, and last sniffed the playoffs about ten years ago is where they stand in a nutshell.
Clemente was a legend.
It just so happens the Mets were in town during my visit, so it was a double-layered treat for me. Or, it should have been had the Mets not been swept out of town. I don’t want to bury the lead, but PNC Park is beautiful. Like most of the baseball parks built around that time (like Petco Park in San Diego, or Orioles Park at Camden Yards), it sports a retro-modern theme that is supposed to offer modern comforts while having visual throwback cues to yesteryear. That means a lot of riveted steel and brick, club seats I can’t possibly afford, and just enough legroom for anyone under 5’11.” But that’s not what makes PNC one of the greatest in MLB.
It’s the view.
You get the baseball Americana feel but also having an entire downtown of a city as a backdrop is both cool and rare. Though Pittsburgh is relatively a small city, it looks like Gotham City with this set up. But here’s the thing, I wasn’t all that impressed. I was also disappointed by the food (it tasted like a more bland version of what Milwaukee offers). To me, what instantly made PNC jump to the Top 5 of my personal ranking is something they call, ‘The Rotunda.’
The photos do not do this justice. The Rotunda is a spiral ramp that is over the left field wall. However, unlike most spiral ramps in sports, it’s completely open air. It has the elements of the park: Steel beams. Higher levels offering shade for the lower levels. For me though, walking this put me in a time machine to a bygone time in baseball history that didn’t officially exist. Leaning up against the railing and watching the game allowed those who get overstimulated at games a chance to wind down. And since security wasn’t barking at you to move out of the way, it lent itself to being almost like a neighborhood hangout out there. “Hey, bud. Wanna get hot dogs, chill, and watch the game over the fence?”
How Sweet It Is. I thought this tribute to Bob Prince is cool, and it’s one of the slogans they put on one of the “Welcome to Brooklyn” signs when you cross the border, so I had to take a snap.
So the vibes were high all weekend. Despite the summertime humidity and the 90-minute rain delay, it was to see how Pittsburgh does ball. This was my 27th stadium visit, with St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Cleveland remaining. I can’t wait to see how the Final Flobito Ballpark Rankings shake out. Btw, ‘yinz’ is how people from Pittsburgh say ‘y’all.’ And that, my friends, is crazy.