There was a palpable excitement in the air as we headed to downtown Pittsburgh Friday night. Hordes of fans in replica jerseys were looking forward to the first big home game of the "new" season. Of course, these fans were headed to Mellon Arena for the Pens-Senators game, whereas I was en route to PNC along with a handful of other fans to see the local nine take on a collection of players from Cincinnati.
Not all was lost, as it was the first of Highmark's
The Lumber Company bobblehead nights, this one featuring local icon Manny Sanguillen. This promises to be a big promotion, with the likes of Willie Stargell, Richie Hebner, Dave Parker, Al Oliver, Richie Zisk (!), and Rennie Stennett. Due to some combination of the lousy weather, lousy team, lousy opponent, meaningful hockey game, the crowd crossing the Clemente bridge was pretty sparse. As we approached the stadium, my friend pointed out how odd it was that folks approaching the stadium got the posterior view of the great Clemente, and how there had been some talk of correcting it. (This gaffe is certainly not the magnitude of the newly-unveiled Ernie Banks at Wrigley saying "Lets Play Two," but it does seem rather ridiculous). We got to the gate with minimal interference and asked the guy manning the bag search line whether the game had been delayed, and he hadn't heard anything about it. This was odd because we had heard about it on the radio an hour earlier, but no matter.
For those of you who haven't been to PNC, the Clemente Bridge empties onto the center field entrance, which is the site of Manny's Barbecue (though Manny is the titular head, the service is actually run by Aramark concessions). On most nights Manny will sit in a chair and sign autographs and talk to the fans, most of whom tell him they remember him from back when. There was a healthy line of folks with their bobbleheads lined up to get them signed, but of course Manny was out on the field for the pre-game ceremonies and so the autograph hounds would go wanting.
We took a circuitous route to our seats and settled in for the first pitch. But no sooner had the game started than it started raining rather heavily, so most sane folks headed to cover of the upper deck. With maybe 10,000 folks on hand, there was plenty of room for everyone.
What unfolded was five of the more unusual shutout innings that you are likely to see. Pirates lefty Paul Maholm went 5 and a third scoreless, while giving up six hits, walking two, plunking Junior in the keister, and suffering two Pirate errors. One of those errors was on the game's first play where Maholm himself booted a slow roller toward the mound.
In the fourth we headed toward Manny's to procure one of the better ballpark deals around, the Manny platter. Pulled pork, slaw, and beans for $7.75. There was a minor buzz because some guy who wore his hair seventies straight down, parted in the middle, with a backpack full of different color signature pens, had heard a rumor that Manny himself was en route. This was met with skepticism from the Manny food service employees who had heard quite the opposite. The sad truth is that the back and forth here was marginally more interesting than what was unfolding on the field, so we stuck around. Sure enough, Manny hobbled over about five minutes later and we were first in line for his sig. We exchange pleasantries about the old Lumber Company and he somehow still seems cordial and enthusiastic about the whole Pirates scene. Showing competence that Pirates management traditionally would reward with a contract extension, my camera battery was shot and hence I missed a spectacular photo op with Manny and his own bobblehead. (And, come to think of it, why didn't I ask him about having his likeness on a bobblehead? What a maroon).
We made it back to our seats for the fifth and the mystery box giveaway promotion (I'll give you three guesses; if you didn't guess
Manny Sanguillen autographed bobblehead, you must not follow a small-market team). In the top of the sixth one of the louder thunderclaps you are ever likely to hear struck right above the park, setting off a ferocious downpour and rather high winds. Without prompting, the Pirates sprinted off the field, making way for a genuine ground crew comedy of errors. Somehow, probably due to the weight of the rain, the crew was unable to pull the tarp to cover the first-base line. As a result, the field was turning into a rather serious mudhole. After probably five minutes of trying to pull it by brute force, the crew pulled the tarp back to get the water off and then tried again. And, again, they were unable to cover the field. Meanwhile, a young man in Pirates garb in a small utility vehicle sped on with some smaller tarps to cover first base. But no sooner did he try to spread these over first base did they blow away. If the Pirates would have owned a lead, no doubt Cincinnati would have filed a successful protest that the Buccos intentionally bungled the tarp job forcing a rainout.
By this time, Tom Seaver and John Candelaria were warm and Game 1 (I presume) of the NL Championship series was playing on the Jumbotron. Never a good sign, we waited for the rain to subside and we headed for the exit along with perhaps a third of the folks in attendance.
Though I didn't see it (the Penguins were on FoxSports), Jason Bay hit a dinger in the sixth and the Pirates went on to win 1-0, with the hapless Reds leaving 12 men on base. Ouch. Indeed, the Pirates went on to sweep the Reds in spectacular fashion, which I think is more of a testament to the problems with the Reds than any promise in the Pirates. But we shall see on May 9 when we head back to retrieve our Pops Stargell bobblehead.
Or if not Pops, definitely Richie Zisk.
My wife and I got a chance to attend the book release party for our friend, Jonathan Mayo. The book is Facing Clemens: Hitters on Confronting Baseball's Most Intimidating Pitcher. As serious junkies know, Jonathan is the minor league draft guru for MLB.com. But in the book, as the title suggests, he got a chance to talk to a bunch of different guys about what it's like to step in the box against The Rocket. I'm especially looking forward to the chapter on Julio Franco. 
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