My Experience at the 9/21 Houston Astros vs Pittsburgh Pirates game

 So before I begin with my experience, I will briefly touch on my last Astros vs Pirates encounter. It was a wet one and I waited through a 2 hour 38 minute rain delay only to have to leave after a minor 15 minute delay. I may be off with my times, but they are reasonably ball parked. So here is my day at PNC Park:

  10:30: I was in the car on a ride to PNC Park. Halfway there, I remembered that it was Fan Appreciation Day, and hoped that I would get a prize. I was hopeful but it was a long shot of me getting anything.

  11:00: I arrived at PNC Park but was not exactly in PNC Park. Although this may make no sense at all, let me clarify. I crossed the Clemente Bridge, and went in the Park. I was given a 2009 Pirates Magnetic Schedule (man was that fast it only took four days to give out) and a Dave Parker Bobble head. While the Riverwalk is Open, nothing else is really open.

  11:15: After a couple walks around the Riverwalk, and my friend buying a baseball to get autographs, we got board and make the 45 second venture into the Hall of Fame Club.

 11:16: We were in the Hall of Fame Club and were thankful it was not warm inside. We also saw Matt Capps in a batting practice jersey out on the field.

 11:24: My friend got all excited that one of the gates open and we left the Hall of Fame Club.

 11:25: We discovered that my friend was wrong and that employees are opening the gates so that they can get through. We also discovered where they stored the promotions and found the place empty.

 11:29: After several more false alarms with the gates, the gates opened and everyone went where their hearts desired.

 11:33: After a few minutes in the bleacher area, we decided to go along the third base side for autographs.

 11:38: We arrived at the third base seats and the wait for the Pirates players began. We took in the view, and noticed a couple of Astros kids playing catch on the field.

 12:00: Astros came out and started stretching and there were no Pirates players on the field. Tim Byrdak, an Astros lefty signed autographs for fans before warming up.

 12:10: Finally, Jeff Andrews, the Pirates pitching coach, is seen, and after a while tells us that the players would be out soon, and promised to sign autographs later (he never did and now he is no longer the pitching coach).

 12:20 Pirates pitchers came out with Andrews to warm up. The first two that came out were Craig Hansen and Jason Davis and I couldn't help but notice how tall they were. More players are seen including Marino Salas, Romulo Sanchez, Zach Duke, Jeff Karstens, Ian Snell, Jimmy Barthmaier, John Grabow, Jesse Chavez and Matt Capps. The running on the field began.

 12:25: At this point Tyler Yates and Denny Bautista were also out. Unless I was sorely mistaken I did not see Maholm (or scheduled pitcher Ross Ohlendorf for that matter) out for warm ups, but I can understand what 200 innings pitched can do to one's body. At this point, the pitchers started throwing to one another and the sequence continued for a good 10-15 minutes with Andrews watching everybody. Before I move on, I have to mention that Zach Duke and Jeff Karstens were the only two who long tossed.

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