Taking a look at some Stadium Firsts!

This year the Pittsburgh Pirates had their home opener on April 5 and the result was a 5-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Home openers are big in Major League Baseball and when I was a teenager, I attended nine straight in the 1970s at Three Rivers Stadium. Back then it was a huge event, and those games were always sold out, but you could purchase a standing room only ticket.

The Bucs current home, PNC Park officially opened in 2001 and the very first regular season game was played on April 9 as the Cincinnati Reds pounded the Pirates 8-2 in front of a near sellout crowd of 36,954 fans. PNC seats 38,496. Looking back throughout the Bucs history, the team has played seven different venues. They began play at the original Exposition Park located in the same area of today’s baseball and football stadiums on the North Side of Pittsburgh.

Exposition Park was the site of the very first World Series when the Pirates lost to the Boston Americans. The park was shared with the local university today known as Pitt but in 1903 was called The Western University of Pennsylvania. In 1882 when baseball was first played there, it was abandoned in 1883 due to flooding of the facility cause by the nearby river. 

With Exposition Park rendered unusable, Exposition Park II was built near the same location. In the 1883 season the Pirates, then known as the “Alleghenys” only lasted in the second rendition of Exposition Park until Jun 12 when they relocated to Recreation Park also on the north side. It was 1891 when the Alleghenys became the Pirates and played their games at the new Exposition Park. 

Exposition Park remained home to the Pirates until 1909 when Forbes Field opened in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. As a kid, my grandmother lived on North Craig Street and when accessing the rooftop of her apartment building you could look over the outfield wall at Forbes and watch some of the game. Forbes field increased seating capacity from the last of the Exposition Parks by 19,000 more seats allowing 35,000 fans to watch games.

61 years at Forbes and the stadium was deemed beyond repair or refurbishment so groundwork was underway for a new stadium that would be called Three River Stadium. Opening day for the new state of the art (for at least that era) was on July 16, 1970. Three Rivers’ life only last about half of how long Forbes Field remained standing torn down in 2000 so that the beautiful PNC Park could be home which opened in 2001 with a stadium opening game on April 9.

Looking back at the first games played in each of the Pirates’ venues, we begin with the first, Exposition Park. 

The date was Wednesday, May 10, 1882, and the Alleghenys were playing the St. Louis Browns. Pittsburgh would prevail winning by a score of 9-5. It was the team’s fifth game of the season and Pittsburgh’s third victory. No box score is available but the starting nine for the Alleghenys’ were:

Left field: Mike Mansell
Center/Right field: Ed Swartwood
Right field: Jack Leary
First base: Chappy Lane
Second Base: George Strief
Third base: Joe Battin
Shortstop: John Peters
Catcher: Billy Taylor
Pitchers: Harry Salisbury, Denny Driscoll, Harry Arundel

In 1883 the Pirates changed the name from Alleghenys to Allegheny City. No box scores are available however, the season opened at home on May 1, 1883, at Exposition Park and throughout the season as mentioned would play in the newly built Exposition II and Recreation Park. Just before Forbes Field opened the Pirates were playing their games at Exposition Park III and the final game played there came on Wednesday, September 30, 1908, as Pittsburgh found themselves in second place with a 94-55 record. The Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5. The Pirates were led by manager Fred Clarke and finished tied for second place with the New York Giants just one game behind the pennant winning Chicago Cubs.

Forbes Field opened for the first regular season game on June 30, 1909, and 30,330 fans witnessed the Pirates losing to the Chicago Cubs 3-2. The stadium seated 35,000 so it was a bit short of a sellout. Vic Willis was the starting pitcher for Pittsburgh and with the loss his record dropped to 11-2 on the season. The great Honus Wagner was playing shortstop for the Pirates and at this point in the season was hitting close to .400 at .398. Fred Clarke was a playing manager taking the field in left field while a fine baseball player in center field was Tommy Leach. George Gibson, a very capable catcher, was behind the plate. 

The city of Pittsburgh and the Pirates said goodbye to their home stadium of 61 years on June 28, 1970, as the final games at Forbes Field were played in a double-header against the Chicago Cubs. The Pirates won both games, 4-1 and 3-2, the second game starting at 4:17 p.m. on that Sunday afternoon. The Bucs closed out the old facility with improving their record to 40-35. The stadium was in a word…packed. Standing room only with a count of 40,918 fans. The second game of the doubleheader took just 2 hours 14 minutes, and there were only 12 hits between the two teams and Pittsburgh had just five of those. Playing center field Al Oliver had two of those. He and Bill Mazeroski each had a double. Oliver’s other hit was a home run, his sixth of the season. Pitcher Jim Nelson earned the victory while Dave Guisti saved the game with one inning of relief. 

Pittsburgh would then spend the next 14 games on the road playing the Mets, Cubs, Phillies, and the Cardinals while Three Rivers Stadium was being prepared for a grand opening. On July 16, 1970, The Cincinnati Reds came to town and spoiled the Pirates Three Rivers opening by defeating the Bucs 3-2. With a seating capacity of 47,971 fans crowded the new facility as 48,846 were on hand. 

The “Big Red Machine” banged out 12 hits with Bernie Carbo having three of those. Tony Perez hit his 30th home run off Dock Ellis for the first-ever round tripper in Three Rivers Stadium while Willie Stargell matched him with his own bomb one inning later in the sixth. Gary Nolan was on the mound for the Reds, but it was Clay Carroll who got the win in relief. Doc Ellis took the loss for the Pirates with Joe Gibbon finishing the game. 

On October 1, 2000, Pittsburgh prepared to say goodbye to yet another stadium. That was the final baseball game played at Three Rivers Stadium with the Steelers still to play out their season in the facility. The Pirates would close out the venue with a loss and a losing season. Finishing 200 at 69-93 the Chicago Cubs won a slugfest ironically by the same score of the final game of the 1960 World Series when Bill Mazeroski won the title for the Pirates with a walk-off home run. 10-9 was the final on that Sunday and like Forbes Field before, this game started at 4:05 pm. 

The high scoring game took 3 hours 39 minutes to complete but the fans were treated to an offensive explosion. Chicago had 12 hits while Pittsburgh put together 14 hits. Having three hits on the day were John Vander Wal, Jon Wehner, and Brian Giles. The Pirates used seven pitchers in the game (Kris Benson, Mark Wilkins, Josias Manzanillo, Jeff Wallace, Rich Loiselle, Scott Sauerbeck, and Mike Williams). 

April 9, 2001 was the opening of PNC Park which has become known as one of the more beautiful stadiums in all of Major League Baseball. Just as it was for the opening of Three Rivers Stadium, PNC Park opened with the Cincinnati Reds as the opponent. Once again, the Reds spoiled a stadium opener downing the Bucs in this one 8-2. The game failed to sell out as the capacity of 38, 496 only reached 36,954. With a Monday afternoon start of 1:37 p.m. the game was over in just under three hours.

Pittsburgh could only manage six hits, all singles. A combination of Chris Rietsma, Dennys Reves, John Riedling, and Danny Graves shut down Pittsburgh from the mound for the Reds. The Pirates sent four pitchers to the mound (Todd Ritchie, Josias Manzanillo, Scott Sauerbeck, and Mark Wilkins). 

When it come to taking down one stadium and preparing for the next, Forbes Field was demolished on July 28, 1970. Part of the reason for the need to build a new facility resulted from two fires that damaged the structure at Forbes Field. You can still see Forbes Field’s home plate as it is on display in Pittsburgh in the building Wesley W. Posvar Hall. There is also a commemorative plaque listing the final games at Forbes Field.

As for Three Rivers Stadium, the method of imploding was used to bring down the old facility. Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia would meet the same fate, but several stadiums resembled Three Rivers. Built mostly of cement, a round well structured facility met the fate of many old stadiums in cities that simply wanted more beautiful state-of-the-art venues. 

The death date for Three Rivers Stadium came on February 11, 2001, and at that time I was living in New York. I had considered driving over to Pittsburgh to watch the demolition but was unable to. It was a very cold snowy day and when watching the video of it (as you can see below), I heard fans cheering and fireworks going off like it was some sort of celebration. That has always bothered me because for me, this wasn’t celebrating anything, instead it was the destruction of a facility that had so many great memories. 

I had been in Three Rivers stadium over 50 times and watching it go away broke my heart because while I have the memories to remember, a part of my youth and growing up was taken away that day. It was something that didn’t deserve cheers. In my home office, I have a seat back from Three Rivers Stadium hanging on my wall and by looking at it, I can recall so many stories.

I was also in Forbes Field just once. I was nine years old, and my father had taken me to a game and like it was yesterday I can still remember a foul ball being hit our way and both my dad and I watching it roll across our feet without picking it up.

PNC Park is here to stay but for us old-timers we have memories of great stadiums that have gone by the wayside.