All photos of Fallingwater, Pittsburgh, and PNC Park available on Flickr.
Tour Staple #3: tour an architectural landmark. We hit the road at 7:30 AM for the 3-hour drive to Fallingwater, which is arguably Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous house. The house is located in the small town of Mill Run, which is about an hour south of Pittsburgh near the border of Maryland. We always need that one unexpected surprise or memory every trip that we make inside jokes about for years, and I think that moment occurred on the drive down. My Garmin navigation system decided to take me on a 5-mile shortcut down a one-lane gravel road through the woods and it's a miracle we made it through. If it had rained recently, or if this were 11 years ago in Old Yeller, we might have been stranded and/or eaten by bears. Alas, we made it, and I live to tell you that Fallingwater is well worth it for anybody passing through the area. The setting is beyond anything words or photographs can describe. When we booked this tour, we assumed that we would have plenty of time to make it to Pittsburgh for the 4:05 first pitch, perhaps even with extra time to see the two other FLW houses in the area. But about a month before the trip, a Pirates-Brewers rainout was rescheduled for 12:35 this same day as part of a doubleheader. Unfortunately we had already purchased Fallingwater tickets by then. So, we took advantage of all the paved roads and no posted speed limit signs in rural Pennsylvania that we could to make to to the park by the 6th inning for our 2nd consecutive bonus doubleheader.
We parked on the south side of the Roberto Clemente bridge and walked over to the park, as any first time visitor should do. It's the best way to experience the park and the city, and is by far the best walk to the park of any of the 30 stadiums. At some point in the last 11 years, chaining a bike lock to the bridge became a thing. Apparently this is a popular thing that local couples do to symbolize their commitment but I don't know much else about it. At the foot of the bridge on the stadium side is the appropriately placed Roberto Clemente statue, arguably the greatest Pirate of all time. We entered into this gate and by the time we acquired the obligatory IC Light silos, we didn't get to see too much of the 1st game. The Brewers went on to lose what would be their 3rd game of a 5-game sweep to the hands of the Pirates. Following the loss on Sunday, it would become the first 5-game sweep by Pittsburgh in over a quarter-century.
After Game 1, we ended up meeting Erik's friend Lyndsay and her husband who were coincidentally passing through town. The husband Tim is from Pittsburgh and a die-hard Pirates fan, and we actually stayed with them at multiple stops back on the original tour. Chance meetings like this are one of the few reasons I could never completely disengage from social media. We exchanged pleasantries and then did a lap around the stadium. Not much has changed from our last visit in 2007, but to be honest, nothing really needed to. The things I did notice which I did not remember from '07 were the bar areas. There is a nice open bar in the right field corner that takes great advantage of what would otherwise be dead space. It doesn't have much of a view of the field but has a gorgeous view of the Allegheny river behind it. There is also a bar area above the left field bleachers which I believe previously existed as a private club area. It now has some added standing-room terraces and is open to all fans - and most importantly, serves alcohol until last pitch, despite what the signs say. Unfortunately because of how the stadium faces, you pretty much bake in this area if you are outside or anywhere near the glass, but it is still a nice feature nonetheless. These two minor additions only further cemented PNC Park as my favorite major league stadium. PNC was on the forefront things like a social concourse, emphasis on local concessions, variety of seating options, and a smaller and more intimate seating bowl, and those things still hold up today to all of the other parks trying to follow its lead. Even the architectural intricacies like the emphasis on over-built steel to represent the Steel City, and everything of course painted Pittsburgh black, add little touches to the stadium that you may not notice unless you're looking for them, but give the park a certain comfort level. And of course, having one of the best views in all of baseball doesn't hurt either. Even if the park falls into disrepair over the coming decades, that view alone makes a trip to the park worth every penny.
When we weren't trying to keep cool in the concourse and bar areas on the 90+ degree day, our seats were actually pretty darn close to where we sat 11 years ago - behind the 3rd base dugout, about 2/3 of the way up. All of the social areas are cool, but this is where any first time visitor has to sit. It offers a breathtaking distraction of the Pittsburgh skyline across the river between pitches. Or in the case of how the Brewers played, I was happy to be distracted during the games as well. As I inferred earlier, the Brewers lost Game 2 as well, this one in even more embarrassing fashion as the Brewers left 12 men on base and didn't score until the 9th inning, which broke a 12-inning scoreless streak on the day. Game 1 was a 2-1 loss and a waste of a solid performance by Chase Anderson and the bullpen. After allowing back-to-back solo homeruns by Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco in the first, Chase settled down to not allow another run over the next 5+ innings. Rookie and top pitching prospect Corbin Burnes was impressive again as well, pitching 2 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts. But alas, as has been the case all season, the Brewers failed to score runs when they needed them the most. The lone run came off the bat of all-star Christian Yelich in the 5th. The aforementioned Marte and Polanco again went back-to-back in the 6-2 Game 2 win. I'd have to consult with StatCast but I'm sure it has to be a rare feat for two players to go back-to-back twice in the same day. The Brewers out-hit the Pirates in both games but again just could not manage any clutch hits. To add insult to injury (literally), Jonathan Villar went to the DL with a thumb injury after getting thrown out at 3rd base in another poor baserunning decision. Brent Suter looked impressive in his return from the DL, allowing only a run on 2 hits over 5. Aaron Wilkerson threw up all over himself in the 9th to seal the victory for the Bucs. If you told me at the All-Star break that the Brewers would be 55-43 and leading the Wild Card, I would have happily taken that, but it was certainly sad to watch them limp into the break like they did.
After the game, we found the Bill Mazeroski statue that we failed to locate on our last visit, which is tucked along the riverwalk at the back gate for some reason. It was another long day for us, but being the last night of the trip we forced ourselves to go out for a bit in the evening - and I'm sure glad we did. We stayed at the Hotel Monaco downtown, and it's not an over-exaggeration to say it was nicer than all other hotels we have ever stayed in combined. This hotel had both a cool gastropub with a unique cocktail menu, and a rooftop beer garden, and we stopped at both. To be able to stay in the same building and enjoy two bars without having to walk around after a tiring day was clutch. Having the $50 credit from the staff for a room snafu was a nice added bonus. I certainly learned from our stay here that complaining about even the littlest thing at a fancy hotel will get you free stuff. We went to bed around midnight both excited and sad for our final day of the trip.
park rankings and statistics
(see original post for 7/2/07):
aesthetics - 10
views from park - 10
view to field - 9
surrounding area - 8
food variety - 8
nachos - 8
beer - 8 (now featuring 24oz IC light cans)
vendor price – 7
ticket price – decreases to 9 (now featuring "loaded tickets" usable for concessions)
atmosphere - increases to 6 (Pirates draw slightly better now)
walk to park – 8
parking price/proximity – 7 ($10 across the river)
concourses - 8
team shop - 6
best food – Chickie & Pete's Crab Fries (fries w/ Old Bay)
most unique stadium feature – the view
best jumbotron feature – as much as it pains me to say..."Raise the Jolly Roger" after a win
best between-inning feature – Pierogi Race
field dimensions - 325/399/320
starters – Chase Anderson (MIL) v. Ivan Nova (PIT); Brent Suter v. Clay Holmes
opponent – Milwaukee Brewers
time of game – 3:03; 2:58
attendance – 24,474
score – 2-1 W; 6-2 W
Brewers score that day – 2-1 L; 6-2 L
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.
