Tag Archives: PNC Park

Rating the Best Baseball Ballparks.

Here’s a great read courtesy of Dan Lindsey’s “Diamond Baseball Tours” Facebook page and reprinted from the New York Times “Five Thirty Eight” Column by Nate Silver.  My home park is AT&T in San Francisco and it’s without a doubt one of the very best.  

“Classic Primanti Bros Sandwich” includes salad and french fries piled inside”

However, I can understand the PNC Pittsburgh #1 ranking.  I was there in 2010 and the first clue was the accessible parking.  We were on a tour bus and the bus parked less than a 5 minute walk away from the main entrance.  Ordinary tour buses dropped us off and then we walked a marathon to get back to the bus, if we could even find it!   Second great thing about the park was the food.  “Primanti Bros.” may sound familiar.   They’re on a “100 Things To Do Before you die” list.  It’s a beautiful park with friendly staff. 

“Fenway’s Wooden Scoreboard”

The #2 Ranking to Boston’s Fenway Park is also understandable.  I’ve been there twice and both times it was an emotional experience.  Probably the park’s history, and I don’t know why, but the “Sweet Caroline” and “MTA” songs that were played both times brought the house down with everyone singing at the top of their lungs.  I can’t explain it ~ neither song has anything to do with baseball.  It’s just one of those things.   It’s an old and beautiful wooden park with a lot of class and truly devoted fans, where they still post the daily baseball scores on a wooden board by hand. 

So it was easy to acquiesce those two parks to my beloved AT&T.  Good read and a great job Nate Silver, bringing us right up to the 2012 playoffs.  

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Porking out at the Ballpark on Mother’s Day!

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 Some of the above pictures courtesy of  Fox Sports MLB’s Best Food List.

I just found out I’m going to the Oakland A’s – Detroit Tigers game on Mother’s Day so I went online to find out what’s for dinner!  My search found this great website  with such tantalizing food pictures I think I’ll conjure up some ballpark food for dinner tonight!

One of my favorite ballpark foods is the Primanti Brothers Sandwich at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.  When I was there the fans were lined up around the block for this one.  The special sandwich (pictured above) includes not only the roast beef, but also the salad and french fries  stacked high and part of the sandwich.

And someday I’m going to try those Rocky Mountain Oysters at Coors Stadium.  Or maybe I’ll watch someone else try them but it’ll still be an experience.

And for dessert it’s a toss-up between those yummy looking cupcakes at Safeco Field in Seattle and the  funnel cakes at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

If you don’t have plans for your mom, your kid’s mom or someone else that’s really special on Mother’s Day why not consider taking her to dinner at the Ballpark!  You’ll get to enjoy the camaraderie of some the greatest fans in all of sports, hopefully a great game and some really terrific food.

Day 6. Philadelphia Phillies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates!

Thursday, 7/1/2010.     Long day on the bus to get to a great ballpark and a great game!  Pirates won 4-2 as I remember.  We left this morning at 8:00AM   and arrived at PNC Park at 6PM after a couple of quick 20 minutes stops, rushed into the stadium to find our seating.  Whew!  Grueling day for most but honestly I slept most of the day so was ready to go once we got there!  The park itself was set on the river and directly opposite the Steelers football stadium.  We could stand at the concessions and look out over the river.   Really great views! 

This was the most accessible and user-friendly park to get around of all the parks we’ve been to so far.  Took about 5 minutes off the bus to our seats which is pretty amazing when you compare it to some of the marathon walks we’ve been through!   As far as ballpark food goes, the Fermenti Bros sandwich lays claim to the best food at PNC and they’re probably right!   This sandwich sure makes carrying it back to your seat “easy”.   It not only loads the bread with lots of deli sliced roast beef, but also layers the coleslaw, condiments AND french fries on the sandwich.  No kidding!   And they were lined up to get it!   The Quaker State BBQ Chicken looked great but had an awful sauce.  Big mistake so I was glad I got the smallest order.  It pays to listen to the locals!    As far as the game went, Pittsburgh has one of the worst records this year, and the Phillies are doing great.  But we were all compelled to cheer for the Pirates which I wanted to do anyhow.  So it was fun to hear the cheers and enthusiasm when they pulled it out in the end.  They were ahead the entire game but it was one of those “you score – I score” games and was never really comfortable until the end!   This is a great ballpark.   The backdrop looking out from the 3rd base line toward Right Field is spectacular, resembling a Hollywood backdrop of high rise buildings that look super-imposed, not the real thing!    We arrived here at our hotel after the evening game at 1:30AM and leave 7AM for Chicago.   It’s now 2:45AM so goodnight all!  Next stop Wrigley Field in Chicago!