Now I’ve been to a buncha Blue Jays games at Rogers Centre, with its retractable roof and artificial turf, but I hafta say, I was looking forward to a more authentic MLB experience at the self-proclaimed “Best Ballpark in America.”  It helped that my hotel was right across the river from the stadium, the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals were in town and there were plenty of great sections still available.  What I wasn’t counting on were the frigid temperatures–a midday high of 44 degrees Fahrenheit, which translates to a balmy 7 degrees Celsius.

The ballpark largely lived up to its billing, though.  A well-designed, modern facility right on the river, twas just a short trip across the Roberto Clemente Bridge.  Outside the stadium were several statues honouring past Pirates greats–as well as a giant inflatable mascot.

Me, I was seated in Section 205, also known as the Pirates Cove.  A second-tier seat down the first-base line costs 20 bucks in Pittsburgh, and that also includes a 10-dollar food voucher.  As it turns out, a large trey of nachos and a plastic pint of local draught beer cost me 15 bucks, so that voucher covered two-thirds of lunch.  And hey, the view from 205 wasn’t too bad, either…

It’s worth noting this was taken about an hour before the first pitch, so that’s why the stands were empty…

Mind you, there weren’t too many people in the stands by the time this one was taken, either.

Local brew IC Light tastes kinda like Coors Light, but with a bit more flavour.

Sadly, the home team didn’t put up much of a fight against the defending World Series champs.  Held scoreless through seven innings, they finally got on the board in the bottom of the eighth, but any chances of a comeback were spoiled when they gave up two more in the ninth to lose 5-1.  The two Cards on my fantasy team didn’t do anything either, Holliday and Beltran combining for just one hit and three strikeouts.  So that was a little disappointing…

After the game, I headed over to the Jerome Bettis Grille to warm up and stifle my whooping cough with a few beers.  Apparently Hines Ward had just retired, which I wasn’t previously aware of.

As I watched the Bruins and Caps go at in in Game 6, I chowed down on a Bettis-sized burger.  Yes, that is a beef patty between two grilled-cheese sandwiches–with bacon, no less!

Alas, I didn’t stick around for the L.A.-Vancouver game, but I was quite pleased with the result.