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My trip to PNC Park was a part of a greater trip that I call my personal 'Baseball Odyssey' -- a visiting of 11 stadiums over the course of about three weeks. This was a stop I was excited to hit as PNC Park is near the top of nearly every stadium ranking. There are pieces of the park that are cited as things that make it great, but above all of them is the backdrop. Since it is often regarded as one of the best in baseball, and since I love backdrops when watching games perched high in cheaper seats, it seemed like a great match.

Getting into the stadium wasn't bad at all, despite it being a Saturday and there being a Ke'Bryan Hayes bobblehead promotion. Sad that I had a one for three promotion success rate up to this point, I ensured I got to the park very early and was one of the first people in the line for the game. While I was in line for the game, I saw something that caught my eye: a baseball jersey with patches for different teams on it. I talk about it in the article linked above, but this fan was the inspiration for me designing a jersey of my own. I flagged him down and asked about both the jersey and the patches before making my way into the stadium.

PNC Park lives up to its top billing as one of the best stadiums in MLB. There is what I consider a notable amount of space for walking about and eating food, alongside an easily navigable concourse and lots of open air and natural light. The spaces are also used to watch the game for a cheaper standing-room only ticket, and provide varied (but always good) views of the action around the field. In terms of food, there are local chains such as Primanti Bros. scattered among the typical baseball fare. After grabbing a burger and waffle fries from one of the standard restaurants (regrettably -- I should have grabbed a signature food item), a hot dog, and peanuts, I went up to the upper concourse and was wowed by the view. While my seats were along the first base line, I made sure to grab the sight from behind home plate as well. The Roberto Clemente bridge is striking and beautiful compared to the duller-colored but equally stunning Pittsburgh skyline, which is quite pretty when up close as PNC is. In my actual seat, I could still see a bit of the cityscape but less of it and more of the Allegheny River that cuts behind the stadium and rolling Pennsylvania hills. I am a firm believer that in the upper deck, any unobstructed seat will have some sort of great view associated with it.

The game itself saw the Mets come into town and whack the Pirates to the tune of a 5-1 loss, with the Pirates only recording three hits while the Mets' Kodai Senga pitched seven innings of one-run ball: quite the solid outing. Mets legend Tommy Pham, one of my personal favorite players, went 2-4 with a double and two runs on the day. The bobblehead boy of the day, Ke'Bryan Hayes, unfortunately went 0-4 with three strikeouts. Regardless, the bobblehead is still a fixture on my desk and a reminder of the coming-of-age road trip I had found myself on that month. If only this game took place during AnthroCon -- maybe the bat of Andrew McCutchen, who went 0-3 with a strikeout and a walk, would have come alive.

Despite the game not being awfully memorable, the experience of stepping through the gate into PNC Park certainly was. This is a beautiful place to watch baseball, and I highly recommend anyone in the Pittsburgh area during the season head over -- even if they don't like baseball, I believe that they'll find the standing areas and ample bars and plazas a great place to go out. This park sits in the range of 'Pretty Damn Good' to me, and is one of my personal favorites.