PNC Park

PNC Park has been the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates since 2001. It is located in Pittsburgh, PA.

First Game: April 9, 2001 vs. Cincinnati, (Cincinnati 8, Pittsburgh 2)

• Todd Ritchie (L) vs. Chris Reitsma (W) (making his MLB debut); HR: Sean Casey

• First Single: Brian Giles
• First Double: Michael Tucker
• First Triple: Aaron Boone (April 12th, 2001)
• First Hit & HR: Casey
• First Run: Dmitri Young
• First RBI: Casey

The ownership of the Pirates had been demanding a new park, saying they may leave the city otherwise, even though Three Rivers Stadium was in good condition. An initiative was put on the ballot, proposing a sales tax to fund a new stadium as well as work on the convention center and other civic structures and organizations. The ballot was voted down by large percentages in Allegheny County and the surrounding 10 counties, despite the fervent efforts of the initiative to claim it wasn't a "stadium tax." When the public refused en masse to fund a new stadium, Pittsburgh mayor Tom Murphy helped push through a bill for stadium funding in the state legislature at 4 in the morning, when many legislators were not present. This deceptive back-door method of stadium welfare helped fund PNC Park.

PNC Park is generally acknowledged to be a beautiful stadium for baseball. It sits next to Heinz Field, used by the Pitsburgh Steelers of the NFL, with a civic plaza between the two stadia. The two teams used to share Three Rivers Stadium, and the two new facilities were built on the footprint of that stadium and its extensive parking lots. The project served to revitalize and entire section of downtown Pittsburgh, and the two facilities are now surrounded by parks and walkways.

On June 26, 2001, the Pirates unveiled seven statues at the ballpark honoring seven former Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays stars including Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, and Smokey Joe Williams.

It hosted the 2006 All-Star Game of Major League Baseball.

On September 10, 2007, Nate McLouth hit the 1,000th home run in stadium history.

In 2020, PNC Park almost became the temporary home of the Toronto Blue Jays, as rules regarding the crossing of the Canada-U.S. border during the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to hold games at Rogers Centre. The arrangement was for the two teams to share use of the ballpark and facilities, with the Jays making minor adjustments to their schedule for dates when the facility was double-booked. However, less than 24 hours after this was announced, the state of Pennsylvania pulled the plug as this would have meant too much additional travel into the region by outsiders.

Because right field is next to the Allegheny River, it is possible to hit a fair ball into the water, although it takes a prodigious blast (most home runs that end up in the water do so on a bounce, as a public park bordered by a walkway separate the ballpark from the river). Daryle Ward was the first player to accomplish the rare feat, on July 6, 2002 and since then, only five other players have matched this, with Josh Bell the only one to do it twice (both times in the month of May in 2019).

Further Reading

• Adam Berry and Justice delos Santos: "Facts & figures on every Allegheny River HR", mlb.com, June 22, 2024. [1]