I wanted to go up to Pittsburgh this summer of 2000 to go to my last baseball game at Three Rivers Stadium (TRS). I also wanted to get an up-close look at the construction sites for the new Pirates and Steelers stadiums.

I left Baltimore on Monday June 26th and drove directly to Three Rivers Stadium. I parked in front of The Steeler office and went in and took a photograph of the 4 Super Bowl Trophies enclosed in a plastic display case. I then circled the outside of the stadium getting photographs of the Roberto Clemente , Honus Wagner, and Art Rooney statues.

I also got a up-close view of the construction sites. As expected, PNC Park, viewed via webcam , is really looking like a baseball park while the Steeler stadium, via a webcam , is just beginning to look like a football stadium. This is due to the fact that construction of PNC started at least 3 months before the new home of the Steelers. I hope they call it something like Arthur J. Rooney Sr. Park but money and naming rights will probably win out.

It looks like TRS will have to be torn down piece by piece as the new Steeler stadium is so close to it. PNC Park is a large parking lot away from the old park.

As I continued my walk around TRS I came upon an open gate with the 400 foot sign on it. I looked in and could see the inside of the empty stadium. I asked one of the workers if I could go inside and take some photographs. He said Sure, go ahead.

I went inside and stood on the warning track for a few minutes just looking around and taking a couple of photos. Nobody was on the grounds of the ballpark so I just started walking along the warning path. I walked from Center field around right field and just kept going.

I walked around the entire playing surface! When I got to the Pirates dugout I went inside and sat down for a few minutes. I relived memories of the great, and not so great, players from the Pirates, Steelers, and other teams that have played on this field. 30 years fly by so fast!

If any of the Pirate or Steeler officials read this story: Thank you very much for letting me take this walking tour of TRS. It capped a great day of memories.

I did go to the Pirate game on Wednesday, June 28th, but we lost 5-4 to the Cubs. My nephew Justin and I had fun though. Before the game, we took a walk across the foot bridge to Point State Park and the big fountain. A beautiful sight indeed!

As I looked around the stadium full of 29000+ fans, I thought: Its a shame they can not rip out the ASTROCRAP and grow grass. Plenty of room to build more luxury boxes for the rich. But that would not be progress, would it? I do like the idea of both new stadiums being grass and the view of downtown Pittsburgh will be breathtaking.

I plan to continue my tour down memory lane this fall. I plan to be at the site of the remaining portion of the Forbes Field wall on the Pitt campus on Oct 13. Many Pirate fans gather to listen to the Pirates vs Yankees 7th game of 1960 World Series game and relive memories. This will be the 40th Anniversary of the game and I am looking forward to my first visit to this annual celebration.

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