I spent the weekend in Pittsburgh, my first time in the Steel City, primarily to see the Phillies play their cross-state rivals, the Pirates, on Sunday at PNC Park. Here is my take on the weekend...
- We started for Pittsburgh at 6am Saturday morning with no traffic on a brutally hot and humid day. Thank God for AC. I've never been to Western Pennsylvania and soon grew accustomed to tunnels, trees and mountains for nearly five hours. That's all there is out there. A farm dotting the countryside now and then. Otherwise no towns or cities. No houses or people. Just tunnels, trees and mountains. For over 200 friggin' miles.
- We did make it to Pittsburgh in less than five hours. It's a pretty straight drive along I76, unless you get bored. We could've went north and seen things like Punxsutawney, where Phil the groundhog hangs out until every February 2 he emerges from his burrow to predict the weather. Actually we heard that Phil was spending the weekend in Penn State for some reason, so it's probably a good thing we stayed on i76.
- Pittsburgh is a very nice city. Clean and small. I'm used to Philadelphia, which I love, but is dirtier and bigger. We didn't see everything in Pittsburgh. We stayed on the North Shore where their stadiums are located but we did venture downtown and spent part of Saturday evening having dinner downtown. Lots of steel, glass and old buildings.
I especially loved the city's Riverwalk, and we saw the spot where the three rivers meet- 9 the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela rivers). Nearby is where old fort Pitt stood from the American Revolution and the area where Three Rivers stadium was located, where both the Pirates and Steelers played for years.
- Pittsburgh is very big on pirogies. You find them everywhere and on every menu. They sell Mrs. T's Pierogies at the ballpark as we would sell cheesesteaks in Philly. They even have a Piergoie Race between innings, like Milwaukee has it's Sausage Race or Washington has it's Presidents Race. I think Cheesee Pierogie won yesterday.
-- We stayed at the Hyatt-Regency hotel, which is located right in the middle of PNC Park ( their baseball stadium) and Heinz Field (their football stadium). It's convenient for fans who may be visiting the city for a game.
It's a small but nice hotel however, even though we booked five months in advance, and asked for an ADA compliant room, our room was not compliant. The bed was too high, the sink ( which was oddly located outside the bathroom. Imagine using the toilet and having to go outside the room to wash your hands!) was too high and wide, the shower was not compliant either. Otherwise it was ok. Plus we had to wait close to four hours before our room was ready. So even though the hotel was convenient for sports, maybe next time we will stay downtown and just drive to the game.
- Speaking of which, on game day they close the Clemente Bridge before and after the game on select days and nights. That may be a bit confusing if you don't live there. in fact, Pittsburgh is a very walkable place and the people there give you directions already assuming that you are walking to your destination, not driving.
- Roberto Clemente is The Man in Pittsburgh. There's a statue of him outside PNC Park, as is Bill Mazoroski, and Honus Wagner . Willie Stargell, or "Pops" as they call him, is revered in the Steel City, as is Andrew McCuthen, now a Phillies outfielder who is on the Injured List. I was surprised how many McCuthen jerseys i saw around the city and ballpark.
- The weather is odd, as thunderstorms suddenly pop up out of nowhere. It was very hot and humid last weekend, as it was back home and everywhere in the East and South. The only saving grace is the water, and Pittsburgh does a good job playing up it's advantage of having the three rivers.
There are countless yellow painted bridges crossing and zig-zagging the city. Yellow and black are the color schemes everywhere you look. Even their newscasters on the local news wear yellow and black ties and jackets. Anyway, the cool waters are refreshing in the summer, and numerous joggers, skateboarders and bicycles, and especially boats could be seen on or near the River walk.
We wanted to take the cruise, where they sail you all around the city and give you a tour, but we were out of luck. They get booked pretty quick, so make a reservation.
We walked and rode by Heinz Field, their big football stadium where the Steelers play. It's within walking distance and sight of PNC Park, but not as close as our trio of sports venues in Philadelphia. Heinz Field looked awesome and daunting, sitting on top of a hill and empty. I can only imagine the chaos there in the fall.
- PNC Park is beautiful, sort of an old time ballpark. It's much smaller in so many ways from Citizens Bank Park. There are several differences, some good and some bad.
The stadium is made of Limestone, which fits with the gold color scheme of Pittsburgh. The Pirates store is a lot smaller than the store in CBP. So are the corridors inside the stadium. There is no place for kids to play, like The Field at CBP. Every Sunday before the game they close Federal Street ( which runs along the ballpark)and it's like a block party for kids, with fun activities.
They have a bar-b-que over their outfield wall in dead center field, which is run by former Bucco catcher Manny Sangiullen. Very small. There is no spacious area like Ashburn Alley. Part of the reason why everything is so small is because of the area. It's as if they plopped the ballpark right smack dab in the open spot between city blocks and the rivers.
The stadium staff- ushers, security guards, etc, were all very helpful and friendly. So were the people of Pittsburgh and the Pirate fans. Even though I was decked out in Phillies gear all weekend they couldn't have been nicer, with good-natured teasing ("You're wearing the wrong colors!" one Pirate fan admonished me). I'm not sure we would have been welcomed as we were in new york or Washington.
One thing I did like was, before the National Anthem, the announcer said "Please stand..if you are able.." The Philly announcer doesn't add "if you are able" do his request.
Pittsburgh, as a whole, is a city but has a small town feel about it. It's very community oriented. You get the feeling everyone- city or not- knows each other.
- The concessions in PNC Park were great. No cheese steaks to be found. But the hot dogs were great ( served with pretzel bites) as was the ice cream ( which was a welcome refreshing treat on such a blistering hot afternoon). Beer was everywhere, especially weird kinds of brews, like something called "Pickle Beer." All sandwiches need to be checked for french fries or potato chips inside the sandwich itself, which is their custom in Pittsburgh.
Their accessibility in the city, and in the stadium, was a mixed bag. Plenty of well-sloped ramps. Oddly, some of the seats in the handicapped section were bolted to the ground. They had a mix of permanent seats, folding chairs, and bleacher-like seats, I suppose for fans who can transfer from a wheelchair into a regular seat.
The nice item about their accessible section ( we sat directly behind home plate), is that the entire section is raised a bit, so even if fans in the front stand you can still see all the action.There is a large overhang over the section, which provides shade and protection form the rain.
- We were lucky on Sunday that we avoided thunderstorms. The game went to 11 innings, ending with a Rhys Hoskins homer, giving the phillies a 2-1 victory and 2 of 3 over the weekend from the Bucs.
There were tons of Phillies fans all around Pittsburgh. When Hoskins hit his game-winner they stadium erupted with applause, as some pirate fans had left after their team failed to cash-in on great opportunities to win the game in both the 9th and 10th innings.
When reliever Ranger Suarez struck out the final Pirate to save the game Phillies' fans stood in unison, high-fiving each other. All weekend when I saw a fellow fan clad on red, it was "Go Phils! and a thumbs-up. Eagles' fans travel well, but so do Phils' fans.
The Pittsburgh fans really got on Bryce Harper all day, especially when he disputed several calls made by the home plate umpire. Otherwise, their fans were pretty respectful and welcoming, unlike a typical Mets fan.
Walking from our hotel to PNC Park, only a block away, we were forced to pass by two buses of Pirate fans .They had set-up make-shift grills along the sidewalks and parking lots and were doing their version of tail-gating.
At the baseball stadium, there aren't many big parking lots available. It looked like most people walk to the games ( again, the emphasis is on walking). So where do they tail-gate? Right along the sidewalks.
It was like running the gauntlet to get by the hoards of Pirate fans. I just smiled and waved as they checked me out. Luckily i wasn't the only Phillies supporter there so it wasn't so bad. After we won, the return trip was a piece of cake, as most of the fans were either back on the bus already, or were drowning their sorrows in beer. I overheard one guy yell "Go Steelers!" looking forward to football season already.
It looked to me like they were grilling up steaks and kielbasa (Polish sausage). They didn't offer me any, but i did have to guys sitting shirtless along the River walk offer me a beer. They were hanging out next to the boat, which was docked. When I refused the guy said he would "Have one" for me. By the time we circled back they did have someone take them up on the beer offer and was chugging away.
It's a shame the Pirates and Phillies don't play more like the old days before Pittsburgh moved out of the Eastern Division of national League. Philly only makes one trip into the Steel City a season but it's the Pittsburgh people who wish it was more. They consider the Phillies their "rivals" like we consider the Dallas cowboys our "rivals", whereas the Cowboys really don't care. To me, a Phillies fan, the Pirates are not our rivals. True, they are an inter-state squad, but I have no hatred for the Bucs.
It's a big city-small city complex by the Pittsburghers, just like we are with New York. Beating your big city "rivals" from across the state is big, if only for their self-esteem. Plus with loads of fans traveling form Philadelphia it's great for the economy of Pittsburgh. There's no way the amount of Pirates fans coming east into Philly would equal our fans. There isn't the intense feeling on our side as there is on their side. Sure, we hate to lose to a Pittsburgh team but it's not the same as losing to a new York team or Dallas in football.
Coming home after the game we again made great time on the PA Turnpike, avoiding bad storms on our way across the state. I felt better once we were done with the five tunnels and finally made it to Harrisburg and Lancaster.
All in all, we had fun in Pittsburgh and may even go back next year when the Phils play out there. Next time we will be used to the city's confusing traffic and hopefully pick a better hotel that actually does have ADA compliant rooms.
Maybe next time I'll even be brave enough to try those sandwiches embedded with french fries....
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