Saturday, August 21, 2010

Pittsburgh

On Driving Someplace Westish

Friday, August 20, 2010
Morgantown, WV


Outside the Game:
I started all of this baseball nonsense with a in a proof of concept run in 2006 visiting my friend going to grad school at the University of West Virgina. PNC Park was the first stadium I saw on these trips, and it was the first next-generation park I'd visited. But this was all before I turned these trips into an OCD journey to take over a hundred pictures at each park, and I had exactly three pictures of my third-favorite stadium in the majors. So when the opportunity came up to visit my friend the weekend the Mets were playing the Pirates, I signed up rather quickly to re-visit this gem.

This was scheduled way back before I started my new job, and this Friday off was one that I had required as part of accepting the job. As I had managed to not be home on the weekend for the entirety of the month of August, I started the Friday with getting a bunch of chores done before heading out on the road about noon.

It is about a six-hour drive out to West Virgina, and it wasn't the drive I was worried about as much as my car. My car is nearly twenty years old, and I keep it around for driving to places out of Hoboken and the occasional road trip. This would be the furthest I had driven it in four years, plus I was having all sorts of problems with it right before the trip, including getting all my belts replaced the week before I was setting out. So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I was embarking on this drive.

I should have been more worried about the traffic. Although I was heading out at noon, it was a Friday in summer, and I hit nearly constant slow-downs and stops in Pennsylvania until I got past Harrisburg. The drive in all took more like seven and a half hours instead of six, and even after the trial of the 16 hour plane ride to Japan, it started to rub my patience raw at the end. Still, my car held together, and I managed to get to my friend's apartment before 7:30 that night.

It was also move-in day for the freshmen (first yearers, whatever the hell they are calling them these days), so my friend had some concern the town was going to be over-run with students and parents. While there was a certain amount of expected house parties going on, downtown was mostly deserted, and us old fogies were able to grab a burger in relative peace and then wander around for a bit.

We went back to his apartment, played some video games, and watched the "Dungeons & Dragons" animated show DVDs for the rest of Friday night. Go Team Nerd.


The Accommodations:
I crashed at my friend's apartment on his pull-out couch. Not exactly four-star, but the price was right.



On Rain, Rain Going Away

PNC Park
PNC Park, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
New York Metropolitans vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
PNC Park
National League
Pittsburgh, PA
7:25 PM


Outside the Game:
I ate breakfast at my friend's apartment, and after some more video game tomfoolery, we headed into Pittsburgh to kill some time fore the game. We had a lunch of bangers and mash at a Scottish/Irish pub that was showing Premier soccer matches, and then walked around uptown Pittsburgh for a while.

We stopped in a bookstore in the area and ran across a book called "The Baseball Bucket Book," or something similar. It was a list of 70 or so things that a real baseball fan should due before he died. What was disconcerting to me is that I had done all but perhaps five or so of the list (never threw out a first pitch, housed a foreign player, and a few other eclectic ones). For some reason, it cast a pall over my mortality. We stopped at a few other stores before driving across town to the game, where we managed to find the exact same parking lot we used the last time we came. Since we had such good luck there last time, we parked there as well before heading over the bridge to the park.

It proved as good the second time as the first, although the crowd was obviously extremely thinned by the rain. But we once again got out of the city with little problem, and outside of a misstep due to construction, we got ourselves home with few delays.


The Stadium & Fans:
Home to center, PNC Park
Home plate to center field, PNC Park


I wanted to get in early, as I hadn't really done the whole picture extravaganza on PNC Park, plus the Mets were in town, so there would be plenty of opportunities to see them during batting practice. Even sitting in what qualifies as the nosebleeds last time, I absolutely loved PNC Park, and even the Pirates (with not much to crow about on the field) tout it as the "best park in the majors." Although I don't quite agree, number three ain't bad by a long shot.

It was "African American Heritage Night" at the park, and the giveaway was a Pittsburgh Crawford Hat. The teams would not only be wearing retro jerseys, but retro Negro League jerseys, as the Crawford would face the New York Cuban Giants. The street outside the park was closed off and a stage and tables had been set up for the festivities, but everyone had one eye on the sky, as it was positively on the edge of raining from the moment they opened the gates.

We took a walk all around the park, and the one thing that PNC can safely claim above all other parks in the title of "Most Statues." There are three around the outside of the park (Clemente, Wagner, Stargell), a Highmark Legacy area inside the park to pay tribute to great Negro league players (with seven more statues), a statue of long-time owner Carl Barger, and even a statue of Ralph Kiner's hands. As if that wasn't enough, there's a new statue going up sometime before the end of the season of Pirates great Bill Mazeroski.

We entered through center field, and we took a walk through the Trib Hall of Fame Club, which is opened to the public during batting practice and houses the Pirate Hall of Fame plaques in addition to letting people eat and drink with a panoramic view from center field.

The park is tied together with a promenade that goes around the entire infield and then drops down into the river walk behind the outfield with specialty concessions and a small children's area. The park offers a stunning view of several bridges and downtown Pittsburgh just across the water. In addition to the river walk stands, there is another open area with specialty concessions called "Pop's Plaza." Various topiary around the park also promote the team, culminating in the "Pirates" hedge in center.

The stadium is anchored by two spiral ramps that go up at either side of the field, providing access to the upper levels and quick egress after the game. Concessions stands ring the rotunda, along with some restaurants near the Highmark Legacy area (which has the Negro League statues and interactive displays on the players). While there are some club and luxury areas, most of the park is open to all comers, and it does a really good job of providing an amazing platform to watch a game while giving some connection to the long history of the franchise. In addition to the statues, the Hall of Fame, and the standard retired numbers, there are banners with historic moments from the franchise dotting the walkways.

It is, perhaps, a little depressing to see the World Series banners that proudly, but agedly, wave over the stadium. The Metropolitans provide me much sadness, but at least they didn't just break the record for the longest streak of losing seasons in all of professional sports. God bless them, the Pirates fans still come out, and how could you not in a park this gorgeous?

That said, the crowd was probably more Mets fans than Pirates, at least by eyeballing it. Part of the charm of the New York teams is that people from our area spread out stealthily over the country, then appear in droves when our sports teams visit. Certainly, a trip to PNC is several orders of magnitude cheaper than a similar venture to Citi Field (actually, some back of the envelope calculations show that it was cheaper for me to drive all the way to Pittsburgh and see a Mets game in better seats than it would be to get an equivalent seat in Not Shea), and you get to see the team in, frankly, a better park and much closer than you would at home.

Mascot
The Parrot

The Pirates fans did make a good showing of things, and when the rain did start coming down, it was mostly they that toughed out the storm until the game ended with the whimper.


At the Game with Oogie:
Rain
Some rain

As should be surmised by now, I went to the game with my friend. We got into the stadium right when it opened, and he stayed in left field trying to get a batting practice ball while I did my normal stadium thing. We had tickets for the "Pittsburgh Baseball Club" area, and we ended up meeting in there. You get your hand stamped when you get in (presumably to keep out the riff raff), and the area is a series of upscale concessions and sports-bar type places, including a pool room and other such things with memorabilia all over the walls. My friend was making friendly with the bartender, who was a student at Pittsburgh, who apparently are deathly rivals to UWV or something. It's all college sports related, so I can't be bothered to care.

At any rate, he held a seat for me at the bar as I tramped around, as when the rain started falling, the bar became a popular and crowded place, as it was the closest indoor area to the patio that lead out to the premium seating areas. Not coming prepared with a rain slicker as I was, he retreated down to the bar at several points in the rain delay to dry out and have another drink.

Sitting in the same row as us were a family who had a son going to UWV as well. They came more prepared than most, as they all had ponchos when the rain hit, with the exception of the son who retreated indoors. However, when the rainfall really got torrential, they bailed and left for home before the game was officially called, thus proving they are smarter than me.

I managed to deploy my clear poncho rather early in the rain festivities, so I was as dry as you reasonably be during even the worst of it, and I didn't leave my seat until the crew chief finally called the thing after an hour and a half.


The Game:
First pitch, Metropolitans vs. Pirates
First pitch, Metropolitans vs. Pirates

It was technically the Crawfords versus the Cuban Giants this night, but the rain was dedicated to putting a damper on the festivities. Winners of the first game of the series, this was of particular significance to the Metropolitans, as it was the opportunity for them to win a road series in the National League for the first time since last year. Even as they were keeping in the race early in the season, the Mets were pitiful on the road, and although they had handled the AL with ease in inter-league play, they hadn't won a road series against an NL team all year.

Delayed by a downpour right before the beginning of the game, the contest didn't get started until 7:25. The Mets jumped out early with an odd run in the top of the first. Reyes doubled, and then made it to third on a sacrifice attempt by Pagan that the Pirates couldn't field in time, resulting in an infield hit. A shallow fly out didn't get the run home, and then Carter struck out -- but the catcher Synder dropped the third strike, forcing a play at first. Reyes broke for home, and technically scored on the fielder's choice. Pagan, seeing the throw home from first to get Reyes, promptly stole third on the throw. But he was stranded there as Wright struck out looking to end the inning.

Things were quiet with the bats until the bottom of the third, where the Pirates scratched out a run back on a double, sacrifice bunt, and single. That tied the game for a half inning, until Ike David doubled, made it to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Tejada sacrifice fly, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. As rain started to fall in earnest, the Mets shut down the Pirates in the bottom of the inning, and then put it out of reach with a David Wright three-run homer in the top of the fifth.

The only question that remained was whether the game would get called before it was made official. Although the Pirates managed a one-out double in the bottom of the frame, they otherwise went in order, making the game official. The teams began the sixth, with Reyes doubling off of a new Pirates pitcher, but the game was suspended during Pagan's at-bat, and called an hour or so later. The Met's Neise got a cheap complete-game win, and the Mets backed into their first NL road series victory since 2009, 5-1.


The Scorecard:
Metropolitans vs. Pirates, 08-21-10. Metropolitans win, 5-1.
Metropolitans vs. Pirates, 08/21/10. Metropolitans win, 5-1.

There is a scorecard now distributed in the free program given out when you enter the stadium, but I sprung for the $2 quad-fold cardstock one. Scoring-wise, there were a couple of doozies. The Reyes score in the first was something I had to look up, but apparently, if you make an out in the infield that is not a double-play, you get a rib eye it, so I guess a dropped strikeout counts. There was also the two-base E5 in the fifth, but that was a rough call because the field was so soaked at that point.

This marks the second time on my trips that I had to tally everything up for an official, but rain-shortened game. This was something of a blessing as the Pittsburgh scorecards have all the categories for a league-official scorecard, and it can take a bit to figure it all out and prove.


The Accommodations:
I once again stayed on the pull-out couch at my friend's apartment.



On Driving Someplace Eastish

Sunday, August 22, 2010
Hoboken, NJ


Outside of the Game:
As I had work the next day and was expecting a hell of a week at work, I took of right after breakfast. Also, I wanted to avoid hitting the shore traffic coming home that was sure to be clogging up the place late in the afternoon.

With the exception of some slowdowns during some occasional rain, the drive back was effortless. I stopped somewhere in central Pennsylvania to get gas, and I regretted it. It was definitely Red State territory, and I saw not one, but two, hand-made signs on the side of the road vehemently pro-Glenn Beck. Where are those people? Here, apparently.

Beside that disappointment and a little congestion once I got near the Holland Tunnel, the ride was painless, and I managed to drag myself into my apartment before 5 PM.


The Accommodations:
Hoboken, sweet, Home



2010 Stand-Alone Trip

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