The Many Homes of the Pittsburgh Pirates (cont.)

Continuing on with the search for old pieces of the Pittsburgh parks, I discovered that Forbes has been memorialized through a few different items. A piece of the outfield brick wall with the 406 FT marker, over which Bill Mazeroski hit his walk off home run to end the 1960 World Series, has been moved to the Riverwalk outside of PNC.

I can't find the exact location from any source on the Web, but if it is right outside PNC Park, and close to Mazeroski Way on the Riverwalk, it can't be too hard to find. It will be my mission to locate this wall and mark its location on my Google Map.

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Unfortunately, our short time in Pittsburgh will not allow us the time to visit the other memorials to Forbes Field. They are located on the University of Pittsburgh campus in the North Oakland neighborhood, south of downtown. You can see a reconstructed brick wall standing in the original location of the left-center field wall with the flag pole to memorialize where Mazeroski hit his famous home run in 1960. It has markers to note the distance the ball traveled and a plaque to mark the spot it landed. This brick wall surrounds a field that still stands on the campus.

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Finally, in the lobby of Posvar Hall (in the left side of the map above), the Home Plate of Forbes Field is encased in glass on the floor.

I am coming to realize that Pittsburgh is a town that loves its baseball history. Despite tearing down all of the previous parks, it has maintained a piece of each through the pieces that made the game special. This is more than Detroit is willing to do for Tiger Stadium.

The last park used for the Pirates before PNC was Three Rivers Stadium. This park wasn't just used for baseball, the Steelers used the park for football as well. I know many of the structures in the 1970s weren't built as well as buildings constructed decades before, but to only use a stadium for 30 years when it cost $55 million to build ($329 million in 2012 dollars), is just silly. It seems unlikely that the city, or either club got a return on the investment. In my opinion, the only reason it didn't continue to be used is because the Steelers were jealous that the Pirates were getting a new Park and didn't want to continue to use the "old" park for football. The Steelers demanded a new stadium to stay in Pittsburgh, and the city complied. This sort of blackmail happens too often in professional sports. The owners continue to make huge profits while the city puts up all the dough for the facilities.

The baseball game to be played at Three Rivers ended in a loss to the Cubs on October 1, 2000. This is a recurring theme. It seems the Pirates should stop ending the season with a Cubs game, it might signal the end of another ballpark!

The demolition took place in February 2011. It was completed with Heinz Field on one side and PNC Park on the other. Neither of the new buildings were even touched by the debris of Three Rivers.

The stadium had so much seating, and so little demand for it that the officials closed off parts of the outfield upper deck and used it for advertisements. With so little attendance, how did the Pirates ever get money to build another Park?

Many of the items that were memorable about the Three Rivers Stadium were items brought in from previous parks and moved out prior to implosion. The stadium itself was fairly cookie cutter (which reminds me of the 70s built neighborhood I grew up in, full of split level, 2 garage houses that varied only in color).

The only pieces that remain of the Three Rivers Stadium are located next to the Heinz Field. A 2-story concrete marker for Gate-D still stands facing North Shore Drive with a Pennsylvania Historical Marker. Since this is within walking distance from our Hotel, we'll be checking it out on our journey.

At first I thought this Gate D marker had to have been moved / rebuilt, because it was too close to Heinz. If Heinz wasn't damaged by the debris from the implosion of Three Rivers, it seemed like it must have been further away. That was what I thought, until I found this picture:

I am fascinated by the abilities of the demolition crew. To ensure the newly created stadium was not damaged by the blast took wicked skill. The newly built stadium for the Steelers was only 65 feet from Three Rivers. Obviously the builders did not consider the demolition of the old stadium when they constructed the new one.

This final picture is a great shot of the three stadiums together:

Who would have thought that I would actually be excited to go to Pittsburgh!?

The Many Homes of the Pittsburgh Pirates

If the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox home arenas are known as the game's oldest ballparks, the Pittsburgh Pirates' many homes must rank the team as having the most frequently exchanged ballpark. This is a team that has struggled to win and struggled to fill the seats in recent years. Either this is a sign that trading out nostalgia for fancy seating and a party cove actually repels fans, or it is a sign that the city itself is struggling, and baseball is no longer the escape it once used to be.

The former Pittsburgh parks were home to many firsts:

In 1887 at Recreation Park, Pittsburgh Alleghenies (named after the river that runs through downtown Pittsburgh) won their first game in the National League, defeating the Chicago White Stockings. This park also had the smallest paid crowd of 6 on April 23, 1890 (and so the trend begins for small attendance).

In 1891, the team returned to Exposition Park, very near the same location that PNC Park currently stands. This is the first park that the Pittsburgh Pirates played with that name. This Park was the National League host for the first World Series in 1903. This image of the park is astounding for 2 reasons: the ball park is full and the men actually dressed up to attend.

This person did a great job putting together a tribute to this old ball park:

If the painted bases are still in the parking lot next to the stadium, we will find them.

In 1995, the spot for Home Plate was found by 4 men (in January, burr). A Pennsylvania State Historical marker was placed at the site in September 1998. (Source) This marker was moved to a great stretch of river walk within a couple hundred yards of our hotel and PNC Park. It was most likely moved as a result of the Three Rivers Stadium implosion. The trail system it is on now showcases both PNC and Heinz, a couple of amazing bridges, an amphitheater with some interesting art, and a downtown view.

In 1909, Forbes Field was completed by Barney Dreyfuss. It was criticized for its location. It was originally coined "Dreyfuss' Folly". It moved baseball from the centralized downtown location (where all other ballparks were located in the city) to the then undeveloped area south of downtown in the current Oakland district of Pittsburgh, surrounded by the University of Pittsburgh campus. The home plate occupied the corner of Sennott and Bouquet Streets. A small baseball field, named Mazeroski field, and surrounded by a brick wall memorializing his home run to win the 1960 World Series, currently occupies the space near this intersection. At the time the Field was build, Andrew Carnegie's Technical Institute had already been built in the same area. Several other businessmen of the time soon started building in the area, such as Phipps, Heinz, Frick, and Mellon.

During its inaugural season, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series after losing the first game in the ballpark on June 30, 1909 to the Chicago Cubs. In 1921, the first radio broadcast of an MLB game, the only way to truly enjoy baseball if you can't attend the game in person, took place from Forbes Field. And as a Cubs fan, I can appreciate the "All-Alou" outfield used by the San Francisco Giants at Forbes on September 15, 1963. As the Pirates played their final games in Forbes Field on June 28, 1970, they swept a double header against the Chicago Cubs (figures...). The remnants of the old park can be found at the University of Pittsburgh campus.

If it weren't for the frequent moves of the Pittsburgh Pirates, I could have finished this in one entry, but I'm tired, and am shutting down. I'll pick up the remaining field tomorrow.

Tiger Stadium - Now an Empty Field

We won't be seeing a game at Tiger Stadium, but we may have to make the short journey from Detroit's downtown to see where Tiger Stadium used to stand, "The Corner" of Michigan and Trumbull. There is a large lot just west of downtown that looks like rough gravel surrounding a baseball field. Of course, this is what I assume is there based on what I can see on Google Maps.

Although Comerica Park was completed in 1999, and the Tigers began playing on that new field in 2000, Tiger Stadium sat empty until 2007 while multiple preservation groups tried to save the park. The park was taken apart and demolished over the next 2 years, completing in September 2009.  But the demolition effort took only the building, not the field it surrounded.

Maybe this last step wasn't completed because the recession hit Detroit especially hard, or because a few representatives of the city desired to hold onto this piece of historic Detroit strength in the hard times, or because city planning office hasn't figured out what to do with this piece of land. Whatever has prevented the remainder of this field from being swept into the history books and re-purposed is a small gift to baseball enthusiasts that thrive on learning (and seeing) the history of the game.

This year, Tiger Stadium would have turned 100. Built in 1912, the same year as Fenway, it had a very modest turnout to celebrate its birthday in April, only around 200 people. They ate grilled hotdogs, played catch, ran the bases, and participated in a commemorative flag raising on the pole that still exists in the old center field. Thanks to the Tiger Stadium Historical Society, the grounds are maintained by volunteers and the flag still flies. I'm uncertain if the grounds are open to the public to visit. I read in one blog that the fence has been opened and in another blog I see the "No Trespassing" sign on a locked fence. I will report on this when I get there.

It is city property and the city has rejected multiple proposals to use the land while still preserving the field. One proposal included a 'living building', charter school, retail, and housing that surrounded the field, which could then be used as a community park. The cost of the proposal was $65.3 million and was rejected because the city could not see a return on their investment.

Another plan rejected was one to make it a "new ballpark for Detroit's youth". So, instead, the lot sits empty and ugly, providing no payback at all to the city. 

It is very sad that a piece of history is in limbo because the city cannot reach consensus on what to do with a simple piece of land with a small patch of grass and gravel that retains the appearance of a baseball field. The Tigers have money to help preserve the land, but the organization does nothing because 'it is the City's land.' Until a decision is made, those of us with interest in history can visit this small patch of grass and imagine we are stepping onto the field in the Stadium where Ruth hit his 700th Home Run, where Lou Gehrig voluntarily benched himself after 2,130 consecutive games, where Prince Fielder's father was a star and Prince, then 12 years old, hit home runs at batting practice, and where Ty Cobb scored the first run in the park by stealing home. I'll play ball, even if the city won't.

Old Comiskey Park

Being a Cubs fan, I am incredibly lucky (if you don't count the whole "not winning a Pennant or World Series in forever" thing). I am able to experience the history of my team every time I go to a game. The old park may have been built onto, "enhanced", modernized. The old field may have been "rebuilt" by the magician grounds man to deal with the rain Chicago experiences. But the old park is still there, and the old park is still named Wrigley Field. And I know that technically, the old old park, the last one to see a World Series winning team is gone, but it ceased to be in 1916.

White Sox fans, any that have been alive and going to games since before 1991 have seen their old park disappear, their old pre-game / post-game bar disappear, and all of that history disappear along with them. As the predecessor to Yankee Stadium, this field was demolished in 1991 and rebuilt right across the street.

The only thing that remains from the destruction is a single tree that used to stand outside the park's right field corner gate, and now shades the corner of the parking lot. Now, the only thing to remind fans of the old location is a patch of stained concrete. 

Even the name has changed for this field. When it was rebuilt, it was still named Comiskey, after the owner, Charles Comiskey. Not long after, in 2003, U.S. Cellular purchased the field and renamed it. While I can't be too upset about commercialization, (after all, Wrigley was named after a chewing gum manufacturer) there is something to be said about keeping the old name, even under new ownership.

McCuddy's was the tavern across the street from the old field, for which the new field stands as a gravestone. This pub was demolished in 1989 and was never rebuilt. It had a rich history itself, including famous patron Babe Ruth, who drank there between games of a doubleheader.

I wondered why it was so difficult to find a pub to visit pre and post game close to the field. Unlike Wrigleyville, which is filled with eating and drinking establishments, this field seems to be set down in the middle of a normal neighborhood that just happens to be next to the Dan Ryan Expressway and just off the Red Line. It is not a destination "area," just a single building, and when the game is done, are the fans done too? This is one thing I want to figure out in August. Do the fans really make the half mile trek to Schaller's Pump or to Shinnick's Pub before or after the game?

While I visit the field, I will keep this history in mind, pay homage to the remnants of the old field, before and after I root for the home team as they play that team I love to hate, the Yankees.