Game 3 CHC @ PIT

The third game of our trip was in Pittsburgh featuring the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

Pregame

Pittsburgh was a little different from the other stadiums that we have visited, as the gates opened at 5:30 instead of 4:30. Lucky for us, during our evening in Pittsburgh we were going to have the "VIP" experience. Even before the gates opened, we were allowed to go up to the Pirates Club. We just decided to order a few drinks and order a snack while we waited. FYI, cheese fries are good. Just like in DC, there were not many people around, and as a result we ended up having a discussion with the club manager. He turned out to be a pretty chill dude. He ended up asking us if we were 21 (which I know was a highlight for Sam) because he had a few bars in mind that he thought we should check out. We soon paid and went onto our daily job of ball hunting.

Since we were not allowed into the park until 5:30, we missed the Pirates BP. Honestly, I do not understand why the Pirates organization would not want their fans to see their home team take batting practice, it just doesn't make sense. Anyway, we went out to the bleachers in left and begged many Cubs for balls, from star Outfielder Alfonso Soriano to simple role players such as Chad Tracy. No luck whatsoever. During our whole experience pregame, we did not see a single Cub player give a ball to any fan. There were a bunch of Cub fans who drove over 500 miles to see their Cubbies play, but not a single fan got a ball.

I said that we got the VIP experience and here is the reason that I say it: the seats. We purchased $26 dollar seats to sit 6 rows back on the third base line. Now, most baseball fans know that sitting against the third base line is an ideal spot to get an autograph. Lucky for us, the only Pirate who's autograph is worth getting, Andrew McCutchen, just happened to be giving autographs right in front of us. We decided that we wanted to get our scorecard signed. Sam ran to get the autograph... and he made it. Unfortuanatly, Mr. McCutchen decided that he wanted to not give an autograph to a little boy and Sam.

The Game

Wednesday's starters in for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs were Charlie Morton and Ted Lilly respectively. I would like to point out now that during the 3rd inning we moved up to the front row due to the lack of fans. Really sweet. Anyway, coming into this game Charlie Morton had an ERA over 12.00, so we were honestly not expecting a stellar pitching performance. However, he was solid only giving up 2 runs over 6+ innings of work. He had a perfect game broken up in the third because he hit Cubs' pitcher Lilly in the foot. Ex Yankee great Ted Lilly was, well, not so great. The 4 runs over 6 innings isn't so so bad, but he was getting smacked around. Not pretty stuff. Pirates outfielder Ryan Church hit a monster homerun to right. It was right in a lefty hitter's wheelhouse, low and in. Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones both had 2 hit days, driving in 3 of the Pirates 4 runs. Only other thing to note was that the game was abnormally fast. We were well out of Pittsburgh and back at our hotel at 10:00 PM. For a game that started at 7:05, that is very fast. National League baseball, eh.

Win- Charlie Morton
6+IP, 5H, 2ER, 3K

Loss- Ted Lilly
6IP, 9H, 4ER, 3K

Save- Octavio Dotel
IP, 2K, HP

PNC Park
Food: 7
Fans: 8
Seats: 10
Overall Experience: 8

We went into the ballpark expecting a good experience, and we were not disappointed. At Yankee Stadium, you can get a hot dog for probably around $6-$7. We managed to get a Foot Long (actually one foot of hot dog) for $6.50. First row on the third baseline is also fantastic. I could not ask for better seats at a ball game. Though there were only about 8,000 fans in the park (which is extremely low) they were very good fans. They were true fans and were very knowledgeable. There was certainly no lack of passion for fans that were there. If there were more fans, they would easily hit a 10 on our scale.

Other Notes
Maxwell and I got choked by Pirates Mascot, Parrot. Very good picture. I cannot say how great of an experience we had in Pittsburgh. So far it is Number 1 of the 3 that we have visited. It will be tough to top. Carlos Marmol, the Cubs closer, was absolutely filthy. Seeing Carlos Zambrano come out of the bullpen was also very enjoyable, and laughable.