An Evening In Pittsburgh: PNC Park, the Pirates' Future, and Another Brewer Win

8. I also realized that, more than a month after the Bay-Ramirez trade, I still have a soft spot for Brandon Moss, whom the Red Sox sent over with Craig Hansen as part of the compensation for Bay. I'm happy that Moss has been embraced in Pittsburgh, and I hope he does well. He wasn't ever going to get a real chance to start in Boston.

As for Hansen, good riddance. That's why you don't use your top pick for a reliever. If a starter doesn't pan out, you put them in the bullpen. If a reliever doesn't pan out, you can use them to throw batting practice. Enjoy that ERA of 10, Pirates fans.

9. As beautiful as the skyline was when we first arrived, seeing the sun set against it is amazing. If the Pirates could only field a decent (not necessarily even great) team this place would be packed every game. A great venue with lots of amenities, cheap seats, good food options, walking distance from downtown—all they need is compelling baseball and they'd have the complete package.

But when you try to trade fireworks for wins, eventually your fans are going to lose interest. The Pirates actually have quite a proud history, with five championships and many memorable players (Clemente, Stargell, Mazeroski, Honus Wagner, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor).

If General Manager Neal Huntington can just stop the bleeding that was caused by former GM Dave Littlefield's boneheaded leadership (prime example: taking on the corpse of Matt Morris and his bloated contract last year and even giving up two prospects in return!), this team should be able to gather the resources to compete.

Huntington has stated that he favors sabermetric evaluation of players, which is a good first step. And he has at least realized that the team can't win as configured, hence the recent trades of veterans Bay, Damaso Marte, and Xavier Nady, for young talent including interesting prospects in Jose Tabata (once the prized position-prospect of the Yankees' system, who has done nothing but rake since the trade) and Andy LaRoche (reunited in Pittsburgh with brother Adam).

But until the rewards of such moves are realized, I can't blame continued skepticism on the part of the Pirates' fanbase.  After all, they are 15 years removed from a winning season.

10. Well, the Pirates tried to make it interesting, putting a final run across the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but in the end, they took their ninth-straight loss. I guess that's about all you can hope for from what amounts to a AAA lineup.

Despite the lopsided 11-3 score, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the game. I guess the venue does make quite a difference. In my mind, there's nothing like watching a game in a historic ballpark like Wrigley or Fenway.

But as far as new parks go, PNC is definitely my favorite (eclipsing even Camden (Baltimore) and AT&T (San Francisco)). And its unexpectedly lovely home-city is just icing on the cake. I have a feeling that I'll be back, and hopefully the next time I'll be as inspired by the team as I am the ballpark.

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