With the Progressive Field game checked off, we are now back on track. Our next game was at PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and stadium number 24 of 30.
While we had been told that PNC Park was lovely, we didn’t really have any set expectations when we arrived. We were pleasantly surprised.
PNC Park is situated right along the Alleghany River, with a river walk that allows fans to take a break from the crowds and enjoy the placid waters. We wandered around the park before we took our seats, and I took an opportunity mid-game to climb up to high points in the stadium to snap photos of the view. With the Pittsburgh skyline prominently featured over the third base line, the field feels like a hometown ballpark, with all the features of a big city stadium.
Our Impressions of PNC Park
Our Seats: Since almost all of the ballparks now use some form of dynamic pricing, and we weren’t sure if we would run into any major setbacks on our trip, we have been purchasing tickets for games about one week out from the date. We target about $50 per seat and look for the best we can find. Some games don’t have any good seats available in that range. Since we only plan to do this trip once, we will pay more to get seats we like. In some cases, we have paid as little as $30 per seat. In other cases, we have paid over $100.
One benefit to the smaller metropolitan areas, like Pittsburgh, is that the prices tend to be lower than they are in some of the bigger cities, like New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles. We’ve enjoyed the luxury of nice seats in many of these stadiums.
This was certainly the case in our visit to PNC Park, where we enjoyed seats in Section 209, Row A, Seats 13, 14, and 15. This is considered the Club Level/Suite Level, and was right over the first base line.
The Food: We trekked down to Section 110 to find Primanti Brothers, as their sandwiches came highly recommended. While we ordered one of each, we ended up with a corned beef style sandwich (for Brad) and two “cheesesteak” sandwiches (for Ryan and me). Brad definitely got the better side of that deal!
Non-Alcoholic Beer Review: PNC Park had a choice of Athletic brews! They offered the Athletic Hazy IPA and the Athletic Lite, which I hadn’t had before. I opted for the new brew, and enjoyed it.
The Game Recap: 1 Home Run for Housing!
The game was a tight one that ran into an extra inning! The Cubs started out with one run in the top of the first, then added to their lead with two more runs in the top of the second. The Pirates echoed their runs with on in the bottom of the second. Then, in the bottom of the third, Pirates left fielder Joshua Palacios hit a two-run home run out of the park and into the Alleghany River! The game was tied 3 to 3, and it stayed that way through the ninth inning!
In the tenth innings, the Cubs took the lead on a two-run sacrifice fly. While the Pirates brought home run in the bottom of the tenth, they weren’t able to return to the lead. They lost five to four to the Chicago Cubs.
Up Next:
Tomorrow is a travel day. Since our next game isn’t until Sunday in Toronto, we will be driving through upstate New York to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
