Summer of Baseball: Pittsburgh offers a top-notch experience

Note: I am finishing my 2015 Summer of Baseball stadium reviews over the next month or so. I have four left, including the one below. With a few other baseball posts, this should take us into March and closer to the start of the 2016 season! 

PNC Park in Pittsburgh has been around since 2001 – and it took me a long time to finally get to a game there.

It’s always been one of those places I wanted to get to, but just never made the trip. I should have taken advantage of being closer when I went to school in Lock Haven. Alas, it never happened.

It’s OK, though. I finally made it.

A weekend baseball trip to hit Pittsburgh and Altoona gave me the chance to see PNC Park for the first time. It’s definitely a great place to catch a game. We had seats behind home plate, just off a little bit. But they were high up, allowing us to see us the whole park.

It’s a great view, with the Allegheny River beyond the outfield wall. The yellow bridges are easily seen, too, which made for a cool look. The field was great and the seating wasn’t bad.

Walking around the park is nice as well. There’s a spot before the game with some live music and other things going on. Though you can walk around the whole park, you will lose sight of the game in certain parts, such as beyond the right-field wall. Still, it’s a unique setup how things are done. I liked that aspect.

I watched a half-inning or so from the left-field side, where there’s a winding walkway to bring you from the bottom sections to the top. Very cool part of the park.

While they had many modern amenities, it also had a slight old-school feel, which I liked.

Sight lines were excellent from our seats. Some of the ones down the line probably could have been a little tricky, depending on where you are.

Food choices were excellent, of course. Most parks have their signature dishes and Pittsburgh wasn’t any different as it offered Primanti’s, which was pretty cool. Alas, I knew I was going there the next day, so I didn’t get it that night. I did have a couple of hot dogs, as normal, and they were solid. There is a lot of excellent beer choices in certain parts of the stadium, but Iron City is readily available, though I stayed away.

What is really nice is the city’s light rail offers free rides to the stadium if you park on a more outskirt area, which is what we did. It was nice, too, as we were steps away from the light rail where we parked and were whisked away to the stadium, which is in a crowded area. The parking, that we saw, wasn’t great. So I’m glad we didn’t try and get close to the stadium. I think parking cost us $5 if I remember right, so much better than the $20 or $25 to be close to the stadium. And we were in and out fast.

The ambiance was strong. Pittsburgh is a pretty solid sports city, so they definitely were into the game. It helped that it was a pretty solid game, too, with the Pirates beating the Rockies, 5-3. After the game, we strolled around the park a little, and then on the outside, before taking the rail back to the car.

Overall, it was a solid experience. Tickets were highly affordable and the trip wasn’t too bad. In the end, a great place to watch baseball and well worth the trip if you are looking for a cool stadium.

Park Notes:  

PNC Park
Pittsburgh, PA
Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Visited on: August 28, 2015
Opponent: Colorado Rockies

Ratings (out of 10)

• Stadium: 9/10
• Concessions: 8/10
• Parking (stadium): 5/10
• Parking (elsewhere/take light rail): 8/10
• Ambiance: 9/10
• Friendliness: 9/10

I am continuing the Summer of Baseball from 2014 and hope to blog about each new stadium I visit in 2015. Ones visited in the past can be viewed linked up in the 2014 version.

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