PNC Park Open House
There was an open house at PNC park on Saturday. Unlike the open house that we went to three years ago at Heinz Field, this wasn't just for season ticket holders (someone Kate works with gave her his pass back then) and you actually got to see more than just your seat. Kate had opera rehearsal so Crispian and Myles and I got to go to the ballpark for the afternoon.
It was such a cold day, and even colder in the park. The layout and design that allows for the cooling airflow during the hot summer worked very much against us. It was so much more blowy in the stadium than in the parking lot. Even though the sun was warm enough to melt most of the snow in the outfield, we fahroze.
We got to go through "The Tunnel" to the Clubhouse where I took this picture.
When I was in sixth grade our class trip was to Pittsburgh and we got a tour of Three Rivers Stadium in the afternoon before the game. I remember the Clubhouse then was nasty, like a high school locker room, a neglected high school locker room. I seem to remember that before demolition, Three Rivers' was ranked by baseball players the worst or second worst clubhouse in the league. This one is not like that at all.
We also got to sit in the dugout. One thing that is really nice about the dugout is that if the game stinks, even the players have a nice view of the city.
Some of the concessions were open. No pierogies (my new favorite ballpark food), but they had nachos. It was so cold on Saturday and so the chips were icy but the dippy cheese was so hot. To me, that is what opening day tastes like, cold nachos with hot cheese. It probably sounds weird to ynz/yall from more temparate climates, but in an area where it can and does snow into May, that is exactly what opening day is like.
One of Megan's friend that she works with there in the fine Pittsburgh Pirates organization is in charge of the scoreboard. Not just tallying scores and awarding free steaks (oops, sorry--wrong park), but does all the graphics, writes code for the different effects on the board--all that. Eric offered to give us a special tour of the scoreboard area, so of course we were all about that. Last year Eric did some fantastic graphics for the player announcements. They did a Warhol thing, like the celebrity silkscreens, with each player. They looked so cool. This year won't top that, but on paper and on the computer screen they look neat. The problem Eric has, though, is that they can't test the graphics on the big screen right now because it had to be sent back to the manufacturer for repairs, four weeks before opening day! It seems the screen was damaged by moisture (how'd they miss that on the Design FMEA? I mean, a baseball scoreboard that might get wet?). It is due back the 28th. Opening day is the 4th. Between then Eric and his crew will be working like mad to get everything finalized in case it looks wack on the big screen. Eric gave us a great tour of the scoreboard control area, despite the pressure of the looming opening day.
It was such a cold day, and even colder in the park. The layout and design that allows for the cooling airflow during the hot summer worked very much against us. It was so much more blowy in the stadium than in the parking lot. Even though the sun was warm enough to melt most of the snow in the outfield, we fahroze.
We got to go through "The Tunnel" to the Clubhouse where I took this picture.
When I was in sixth grade our class trip was to Pittsburgh and we got a tour of Three Rivers Stadium in the afternoon before the game. I remember the Clubhouse then was nasty, like a high school locker room, a neglected high school locker room. I seem to remember that before demolition, Three Rivers' was ranked by baseball players the worst or second worst clubhouse in the league. This one is not like that at all.
We also got to sit in the dugout. One thing that is really nice about the dugout is that if the game stinks, even the players have a nice view of the city.
Some of the concessions were open. No pierogies (my new favorite ballpark food), but they had nachos. It was so cold on Saturday and so the chips were icy but the dippy cheese was so hot. To me, that is what opening day tastes like, cold nachos with hot cheese. It probably sounds weird to ynz/yall from more temparate climates, but in an area where it can and does snow into May, that is exactly what opening day is like.
One of Megan's friend that she works with there in the fine Pittsburgh Pirates organization is in charge of the scoreboard. Not just tallying scores and awarding free steaks (oops, sorry--wrong park), but does all the graphics, writes code for the different effects on the board--all that. Eric offered to give us a special tour of the scoreboard area, so of course we were all about that. Last year Eric did some fantastic graphics for the player announcements. They did a Warhol thing, like the celebrity silkscreens, with each player. They looked so cool. This year won't top that, but on paper and on the computer screen they look neat. The problem Eric has, though, is that they can't test the graphics on the big screen right now because it had to be sent back to the manufacturer for repairs, four weeks before opening day! It seems the screen was damaged by moisture (how'd they miss that on the Design FMEA? I mean, a baseball scoreboard that might get wet?). It is due back the 28th. Opening day is the 4th. Between then Eric and his crew will be working like mad to get everything finalized in case it looks wack on the big screen. Eric gave us a great tour of the scoreboard control area, despite the pressure of the looming opening day.
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