2011 Game #3 Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates
Final Score: Pirates 7, Cubs 4
PNC Park, on the outskirts of downtown Pittsburgh, is a great ball park, no matter how you look at it.
The above view is from across one of the three famed rivers of Pittsburgh (the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet there, forming the Ohio River). Before the game, we crossed one of the scenic yellow bridges for a quick bite at one of our favorite Mid-west restaurant chains, Max & Erma's.
We enjoy eating at Max & Erma's everytime we go to Cedar Point park in Sandusky. Unfortunately, the restraurant location in that city had been replaced by another eatery, so we were a bit disappointed. When the opportunity to partake in the classic Max & Erma's homemade, chocolate chip cookies presented itself a quarter-mile from PNC Park, we almost ran there.
The game itself was a great one. This year's Pirates team is young, exciting, and really fun to watch. The score stayed close for the entire game, until the bottom of the eighth, when Pirates catcher Mike McKenry (formerly a PawSox) hit his first major league home run--a three-run bomb to left field--off of the Cubs' closer.
While this was a lot of fun for us, it was much cooler to hear the fans as they were leaving the park. This season (2011) is the first year since 1992 that the Pirates will go into the All-Star Break (later this week) with a winning record. To a modern-day Red Sox fan, this is almost unimaginable. It was a really cool experience to hear and really "feel" the excitement of a fan base that's clawing its way out of obscurity.
Definitely a great night at the park.
-Rich
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