PNC PARK

What a view! That is the first thing that has to be said about PNC Park, one of the two new parks to open in the 2001 season. Sitting in the upper deck behind home plate, one cannot help but be distracted by the view of downtown across the river. With the Roberto Clemente bridge immediately beyond center field stretching into the downtown core, PNC Park has the best view in the majors. You really want to sit in the upper deck to enjoy this one.

PNC Park is located on the north shore, with the front of the park lying along General Robinson St. At the home plate gate lies the Home Plate Rotunda, which is a continuous ramp from street level up to each seating level, adorned with the actual newspaper headlines describing the best moments from Pirate History. Behind the left field gate is the Left Field Rotunda which displays Pirate player baseball cards through history, one banner per position.

Around the stadium are statues to former Pirate greats - Roberto Clemente's statue is right at the foot of Clemente Bridge by the center field gate, with Willie Stargell just down the street. Honus Wagner can also be spotted near the left field gate. These statues are a great tribute to Pirate history so make sure to walk around the stadium beforehand, including the riverwalk behind right field.

The inside of the park is excellent as well, with a lot of seating options, although too many seats are reserved as overpriced club seats. We recommend the grandstand seats at $16 just because of the view. The $16 reserved outfield seats in left field stare directly into the sun for night games and should be avoided; better to sit in the bleachers for $12. There is also the Adecco party deck beneath the scoreboard, but for us, these seats were a bit distant. 

For parking, there are a few lots around the stadium, but they are overpriced. The best bet is to park at the $3 garage at the corner of Fort Dusquene Blvd and Clemente Bridge and then walk over the bridge. The view of PNC park as you cross the river is inspiring.

There are a number of interesting aspects to this stadium. The outfield fence is unique, with the deepest part of the outfield at 410 feet in left center, in front of the bullpens, before the fence juts out. Center field is 399 feet from home plate, and just beyond is a grassy berm with the Pirates 'P' logo and 5 Christmas trees. As mentioned, the Allegheny lies just beyond right field and PNC has a "river watch" sign which counts the number of home runs into directly into the river. As of June 3rd, the number was still 0.

The out-of-town scoreboards are quite cool as well, with the number of outs and baserunners displayed within a diamond format. You may be surprised to find out that this scoreboard is updated automatically from wire service reports. Another small addition on the main scoreboard is left-on-base numbers which are not available at any other park. Even more interesting, all announcements are displayed on the scoreboard as well for the hearing-impaired. This should become mandatory at all parks in the future.

You can eat at the Outback Steakhouse before or during the game, the food is actually very good. You need a game ticket to get into the restaurant, and if you want to watch the game, you need a special ticket as well. For those of you who want to try the ballpark fare, look for Pops' Plaza (named in honor of Willie Stargell) with 6 different food options. R.B. Ryes offers a more healthy selection, including wraps that are filling and reasonably priced.

Overall PNC Park is the best we've seen: it is new, spacious, interesting, convenient, and has the great view. It is too bad the Pirates are one of the worst organizations in baseball right now, the lack of attendance limits the ambience in the park. But any ballpark tour needs to include PNC on its list.