Visiting all thirty ballparks isn't easy. Of course, it helps when you spread it out over years and have no work commitments. In any case, my dad and I recently embarked on an epic journey to see two parks: PNC Park and the SkyDome.
Let me say, most epic journeys do not begin at 4:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, on June 30, it did. The Pittsburgh Pirates were playing a home game at 1:05 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Pittsburgh is quite a drive from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dad and I were on the road a little after 5:00 carrying an impressively small amount of luggage for an overnight trip.
The first lesson I learned on this trip is that highway driving at 5:00 on a Sunday morning is dull at best. This was pretty much my first big road trip behind the wheel. The excitement wore off quickly. On the plus side, we enjoyed a wonderful morning sunrise and tolerated some McDonald's around 7:30 in Ann Arbor. The morning was uneventful other than a Pure Michigan commercial in Cleveland (hahaha).
By 11:00, we were puttering around the hills of west Pennsylvania looking for signs of civlization. Nothing. The GPS said we'd be arriving at PNC in 10 minutes, a fact I found hard to believe given the lack of anything. All of a sudden, the car rounded a hill and there it was: the city of Pittsburgh. After a
All around us, Pirates fans flowed into the park. Seriously, I think close to 40% of the park was decked out in McCutchen shirseys, and the majority of the rest were in Pirates' shirts. Detroit fans may have outnumbered Milwaukee fans that day, about 8 to 6.
After getting out tickets and wading into the park, Dad and I walked down to the field level to see what was going on. Everywhere, Pirates fans buzzed. Jordy Mercer was signing autographs down by the dugout. Jeff Locke was casually throwing in left field and bantering with fans. The day was sunny. Fans looked happy to be at the park. They all had something optimistic to say. Charlie Morton is going to do well. Hasn't Alvarez been on a tear? This winning streak has been the best! In a way, it made me sad, remembering my last visit to Comerica. On Memorial Day, Justin Verlander had outdueled these very same Pirates, but the fans that day only seemed to care about a slight rain. Is this what 2006 felt like in Detroit?
The park is beautiful, by the way. The way it frames itself with the Monongahela and the city in the background was just breathtaking.
Our seats were a little below this, but the view was still fantastic despite being in the upper deck.
By 1:00, the game was ready to start. From our spots in the nosebleeds, Dad and I were worried we'd be sunburnt. No problems, as the clouds grew thicker just prior to first pitch.
Morton and Kyle Lohse pitched scoreless first innings. Now, as the clouds grew darker off to the southwest, Yuniesky Betacourt (hitting sixth?!?!?) reached on a Clint Barmes error. The catcher for Milwaukee, some guy named Maldonado, singled, driving in Yuni. 1-0, Brewers.
In the bottom of the second, Lohse went to work once more against Pittsburgh. Thunder began to rumble, but the bats remained silent. Lohse was about to finish off an easy second when lightning struck close to the park, sending 40000+ scrambling for cover. Dad and I stayed to watch until the rain began driving so hard that the umpires were forced to call for a rain delay.
Standing under an overhang for a rain delay, right next to the concession stand, is a nerve-wracking thing when done on the 3rd deck. Lightning and thunder filled the sky for a solid 10 minutes, often surprising patrons of the game into jumps. Meanwhile, the rain came down even harder. All of downtown was soaked.
Long after the thunder had faded to the east, a steady rain fell upon PNC Park. The grounds crew struggled to brush all of the water off of the warning track. By the time they succeeded in pushing the water out of the playing area, the warning track was submerged again. This continued for a solid hour and a half until finally, the end arrived.
A cheer was heard as the tarp was yanked off of the field and a notice went on the scoreboard saying that the game would be started by 4:20. This began a struggle against time. We had planned for the game to be over by 5:00 so we could make it to Toronto a little after 10:00. No such luck. Should we stay or should we go?
In the immortal words of me, "We paid to see baseball, so we're gonna see some baseball."
The game moved along rather quickly once it got back underway. Vin Mazzaro came on for the Pirates and proceeded to shut down the Brewers, even pitching in with a single. Some guy for the Brewers (I'm not that caught up on them) called Thornburg came on a proceeded to match Mazzaro inning for inning. The score remained 1-0 after Jordan Schafer went up and over the wall to make a spectacular robbery of someone (Gaby Sanchez in the seventh?).
Finally, in the seventh, Pittsburgh broke through. Starling Marte hit a bullet with one out for a single. Neil Walker moved him over. With two outs, the man on top of the city, Andrew McCutchen, singled to left field. Marte easily beat the throw and we were tied.
The Pirates would come right back in the ninth with a bid to win the game. With two outs and nobody on, Sanchez drew a walk, followed by a McKenry single and a Jordy Mercer walk. I admit, I had to look at the recap to remember that. I didn't need a recap to remember what happened next. With the bases loaded and two outs, he stepped in to break the tie.
Extras.
Time continued to drag on. The Brewers were as punchless as I've ever seen a baseball team. Maldonado had three of their four hits. Yes. The Backup catcher was 75% of the offense. The stadium remained surprisingly full considering it was past 7:00 and most people had been at the park for seven hours. Once again, the idea of leaving to be in Toronto by midnight was batted around.
"We paid to see some baseball, so we're gonna see some baseball."
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh fans had seen enough of Brandon Inge. One of them complained that he wished Inge would do something good for once. I turned around and muttered to him that I'd watched the Special Little Guy for ten years. He was sympathetic.
The 10th melted into the 11th, the 11th into the 12th. It was like watching the Tigers' patented late-inning struggles. Finally, in the 13th, the Pirates threatened. Francisco Rodriguez was on the mound for the Brewers when Marte led off with a double. Donnie relative Neil Walker once again moved the runner to third with just one out. Andrew McCutchen at the plate.
Roenicke put him on with the old IBB.
Former Most Hated Pirate, Josh Harrison, he of the ninth inning single to break up a Verlander no-hitter, drew a walk. Now things got wacky. With one out and the bases loaded, Roenicke brought in Carlos Gomez from center field to go with the five-man infield. Dad was fairly excited to scored an 8-2-3 GIDP if it happened. Pedro Alvarez unfortunately decided to do his best Quintin Berry impression, slapping a ground ball to first baseman (and cleanup hitter LOLZ) Ben Francisco. There would be more baseball.
Important lesson: the 14th inning stretch is not as fun nor as magical as the 7th inning stretch, especially when there are only 12000 or so fans left in the stadium. It was fun to cheer loudly "For it's root, root, root for who'll end this game, if it continues it's a shame!" Pirates' fans weren't amused. Fortunately, the game would end, when the last remaining Pittsburgh bench player, Russell Martin, singled in the 14th.
Pirates 2, Brewers 1, Our Trip Plans 0.
The time was now 8:30 and we still had a five-hour drive to Toronto. We had been at PNC park for nine hours. Despite this, I still didn't get a Primanti Brother's sandwich. Whatever.
The drive to Toronto was long, dark, and hungry. Finally, we reached our hotel at nearly 2:00 in the morning. It was only 11 hours until the Blue Jays took on the Tigers. I couldn't wait.
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