MEMORABLE MOMENTSĬasey, a native of Pittsburgh gets the first hit at PNC Park, a homerun. However, after the upward trip, fans are greeted with perhaps the best view of any in MLB, a amazing view of the downtown Pittsburgh skyline. Once inside fans must take stairs, ramps or the escalator to reach the main concourse and upper levels. Statues of Pirates Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell and Honus Wagner can be found outside PNC Park. The ballpark features a limestone facade with terra cotta tiled pilasters, dramatic masonry arches along the home plate entryway, and a flat green steel roof. Whether you stroll across the Roberto Clemente Bridge from downtown Pittsburgh entering the ballpark through the outfield entrances or enter at the homeplate entrance, PNC Park looks like a classic ballpark from a bygone era. On Apthe Pittsburgh Pirates played their first game at PNC Park against the Cincinnati Reds. The ballpark was named PNC Park after PNC Financial Services bought the naming rights in August 1998. Financing was approved for a $216 million ballpark, to be built adjacent to Three Rivers Stadium and in April 1999 construction began. Initially dubbed Forbes Field II, the team began drawing plans for a new ballpark that would be similar to their home prior to Three Rivers Stadium, Forbes Field. However, Kevin McClatchy purchased the Pirates and worked with the city to have a new ballpark built. The future of the club in Pittsburgh looked bleak in 1994 when the team put up for sale and relocation was a real possibility. This proposal went dormant as interest in the team waned after the Pirates went from a playoff team in the early 1990s to one of the worst teams in the league. In 1991 Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff proposed a new 44,000 seat ballpark for the Pirates on the north side of the city near Three Rivers Stadium. In the 1990s Pirates ownership began to seek a new ballpark as the landscape of professional baseball changed and new ballparks provided teams with additional forms of revenue. Three Rivers Stadium opened in the early 1970s and was like every other multi-purpose stadium built at the time, a circular concrete structure with a massive amount of seats, most far away from the action on the field. There were plenty of bad seats here and no views of the skyline, only of the multicolored seats surrounding the Astroturf playing field that the Pirates shared with the Steelers (NFL). PNC Park is a drastic change from the Pirates former home Three Rivers Stadium. With one of the smallest seating capacities in baseball, there are no bad seats here. Nestled along the banks of the Allegheny River, with the Roberto Clemente Bridge and Pittsburgh skyline in the background, PNC Park is one of the most beautiful ballparks in baseball.
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