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7/21, 1:35 p.m.
St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates, PNC Park
(Or, "Can somebody pass me a tissue?")
| Box score | Recap |
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After a quick nap following the epic O's game, they bid adieu to
their wonderful hostess (Lauren) and began the trek to Pittsburgh.
Despite the early hour and the minimal amount of sleep each received,
excitement crackled through the air - excitement that was only heightened
when they found a 50s diner style Burger King just across the Maryland
border. |
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Before they even parked the car, PNC had begun its climb up their
"favorite ballpark" lists. They were treated to a view of the park
from I-276, with the skyline and Allegheny River providing a breathtaking
backdrop for Pirates baseball. Unfortunately, Pirates baseball isn't
much to look at, but that's probably why they put so much work into
the park. |
 This place is awesome. Too bad there aren't 19 places in Boston where we could put a beautiful ballpark on a riverfront... |
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Jeff
and Steve struggled to find much wrong with the stadium itself,
with Steve even stressing that his statement that the architect
"snorted up some ramps and escalators and then just sneezed them
out" was a compliment. Really, he swears. He liked the ramps. |
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Several wonderous sites, none more impressive than the mullet of the
centerfield cameraman, frame what appears to be one of the best kept
fields in baseball. From their seats, Steve and Jeff had a fabulous
view of the Pittsburgh skyline and the Roberto Clemente Bridge (see
left). They also had a fabulous view of This Week in Baseball, for
which they rushed to their seats right after batting practice. |
Overall, the park's atmosphere was quite good, and could only be improved by the presence of more fans - only 28,000 showed up to watch their Bucs tangle with the division rival Cardinals on a perfect Sunday afternoon. They missed a decent show. |
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the Pirates were bested 8-4, there were two bench clearing incidents
that seem to have been sparked by Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa. Nobody
really knows what caused them, but the benches and bullpens both emptied
and a few jerseys were tugged. (See photo to right.) The Pirates seem to be in the same boat as the Orioles, though they are unfortunately without the services of future Hall of Famer Howie Clark. But they, too, manage to hover around .500 with timely hitting, solid pitching, and defense that ranges |
 The Cardinals and Pirates cleared the benches and bullpens for a minor tussle. It was later learned that the clubs were just expressing their frustration with not having Oriole star Howie Clark on their team. |
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adequate to downright outstanding. Shortstop Jack Wilson
has become a crowd favorite and he did not disappoint today, making
an outstanding play on Tino Martinez to end the first. And somewhere, baseball snob Rob Neyer is smiling, as the intentional walk came back to bite Lloyd McClendon and his Pirates in their arrrrrrses. After issuing the intentional pass to Cardinals' CF Jim Edmonds, LF Albert Pujlos visited the smash factory and came out with a massive three run home run. |
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 The Cardinals' Jason Simontacchi |
But Steve and Jeff's biggest smiles weren't a product of the stadium
or the view or Jack Wilson's outstanding defense. Those came from
watching Jason Simontacchi, the rookie pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals,
during batting practice. Simontacchi was genuinely having fun during BP, interacting with the fans, tossing them baseballs, and hamming it up with a couple of the coaches who were out on the field with him. But the highlight came just before BP ended. |
| Simontacchi had walked towards the left field corner to retrieve a stray ball when he spotted a couple of youngsters near the first row of the upper deck. The young hurler pointed up at them and fired one in their direction, then turned to continue shagging. But upon hearing a loud groan from the crowd - they had dropped the ball to the deck below! - he picked up another ball and tossed that one up to them, this time watching to make sure one of them caught it. They had, and with a wave and a smile Jason trotted in towards the clubhouse to get ready for the game. | |
It wasn't all peaches and cream, though, as Jeff and Steve are both a little bitter that Pittsburgh was able to make this happen while Boston and New York bumble about trying to get new stadiums built anywhere but near the water and with anything but the skyline as a backdrop. |
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| <-- Roberto Clemente | |
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 Roberto Clemente |
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