The team proudly released a chart of the loudest decibel level counts during each of Parkers at-bats in his first game back at Three Rivers as a member of the Reds. Three Rivers Stadium * and N.N.L. Initially, the grounds crew wore #3 on their backs to represent the three rivers. Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh is demolished by implosion, Feb. 11, 2001. The Steelers moved a few yards away to their new home at Heinz Field, while the Pirates took a short walk upriver to PNC Park. Alas, bureaucracy won the day over beauty and urban community. [11] The stadium was located in a hard-to-access portion of downtown, making it hard in later years to get in before games and leave after games. Fifty years ago, on July 16, 1970, Three Rivers Stadium opened in Pittsburgh, Pa. The opening of Three Rivers marked the first time the Pirates allowed beer to be sold in the stands during a game since the early 1960s. Sister Sledge, the We Are Family authors from the Bucs fabled 1979 campaign, reunited to sing the National Anthem. That decision was in turn reversed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which agreed with her argument about the Baseball Rule and also noted that the opening to the concourse through which the foul had passed was a purely architectural choice that was not necessary to the game of baseball. Dahlen Ritcheys vision of side-by-side facilities for the Pirates and Steelers, surrounded by a profusion of development, has finally been realizedeven if it came one generation of sports venue ethos later than expected. Loc. [18] Oakland head coach John Madden often told the story of what happened next: The refs got on the phone and asked stadium officials if they could guarantee their safety off the field. Stadium Concert. Courtesy of Pittsburgh Steelers Collection. . The look of the stadium, meanwhile, would be the responsibility of Deeter Ritchey Sipple (DRS), which drew up the beautiful downtown plaza Mellon Square and the highly acclaimed Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, the first sports structure with a retractable roof. [15] In April 1969, construction was behind schedule and the target opening of April 1970 was deemed unlikely to be met. Open now. three rivers stadium home plate location. Site of Three Rivers Stadium in background. [15][17] Arguments were made by commissioner (and former Allegheny County Medical Examiner) Dr. William McCelland that the Pirates and Steelers should fund a higher percentage of the $33million project ($275.6 million today). Over 494 career at-bats at the stadium, he batted .337; no other player had a higher average in as many at-bats at Three Rivers. Dave Parker had batteries thrown at him in the field; his Pirates teammate of five years, outfielder Lee Lacy, had bottles tossed toward him. The Ballparks: Forbes Field Removed from downtown Pittsburghs choking smoke and untamed rivers, elegant Forbes Field was built in a vernal, cultural paradise on the outskirts of town, where three was the magic numberfrom three Pirates world titles to Babe Ruths last three homers to the last tripleheader to all those triples. It was during the Steelers' stay in Three Rivers that the now famous "Mean Joe" Greene Coke commercial aired, leading to a longstanding relationship between the two. A card-carrying member of the Cookie Cutter Society, Three Rivers Stadium was the cookie that needed a bite taken out of it to reveal downtown Pittsburgh for those inside. The Steelers were significantly better at the facility that turned them from laughingstocks to conquerors, winning 182 of 254 home games and another 13 of 18 playoff games. It had hotels. Initially mocked for looking like everything from a softball jersey to pajamas, the synthetic unis would start a trend that virtually every other major league team would catch on with during the 1970s and beyond. frozen kasha varnishkes. The particular spot for the new stadium was, in fact, once upon a time the same site as Exposition Park, the Pirates first home. Find what to do today, this weekend, or in March. At the first game, the water fountains didnt work, access roads and parking lots hadnt been fully completed, and only 13 of 35 concession stands inside the stadium were operational. Details Three Rivers Stadium Facts Cost to build: $55 million ($383.5 million today) Ground Broken:. On a chilly February morning in 2001, over 20,000 people picked out vantage points at a safe distance to watch Three Rivers Stadium implode to the ground, leaving a cloud of dust that drifted upon the Allegheny like a creeping fog bank. Roberto Clemente tallied his 3,000th hit within its walls on Sept. 30, 1972. "A guy did get me the ball from the last home run, yes," said Wehner. After his arrest and asked to explain his lapse into mental freefall to do all of these things, the man put the blame on Steelers quarterback Mark Malone, who was finishing up an awful (46% completion rate, six touchdowns, 19 interceptions) season for Pittsburgh. The Ballparks: PNC Park If the Pittsburgh Pirates sense that theyre being ignored by their faithful at PNC Park, they shouldnt take it personally; after all, the teams only competition isnt sitting in the visitors dugout. With 59,568 in attendance, the largest crowd to ever attend a baseball game at the stadium,[33] the National League won 87 in the tenth inning. Despite its ultimate reputation as a mundane hunk of concrete, Three Rivers Stadium did spark some personality with its exclusive Allegheny Club, located in the second level down the right-field line. . Brett's All-Star win a big thrill", "Fun Facts About Pittsburgh's Ball Parks", "The house that the 'Immaculate Reception' built", "Steelers' former radio announcer Myron Cope dies at 79", Thirty Years of Stadium Rock Pittsburgh Music History, Baseball's Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories, Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series home run, District of Columbia Stadium/RFK Memorial Stadium, Frankford High School's Community Memorial Stadium, Municipal Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Three_Rivers_Stadium&oldid=1142567592, Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States, Defunct American football venues in the United States, Defunct baseball venues in the United States, Defunct multi-purpose stadiums in the United States, Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion, Short description is different from Wikidata, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, July 30, 1972: Three Dog Night (2nd tour), July 13, 1973: Pittsburgh Jazz Festival (featuring, July 14, 1973: Pittsburgh Jazz Festival (featuring, July 19, 1975: World Series of Rock (featuring, June 15, 1988: Monsters of Rock Tour featuring. Dave Nightengale wrote of the stadium having all the life of a funeral parlor. [29], Three Rivers Stadium was similar in design to other stadiums built in the 1960s and 1970s, such as RFK Stadium in Washington, Shea Stadium in New York, Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, the Houston Astrodome, Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, and Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, which were designed as multi-purpose facilities to maximize efficiency. Photographed By Unknown, September 30, 1972. [34] On December 23, 1972, Three Rivers Stadium was site to the Immaculate Reception, which became regarded as one of the greatest plays in NFL history. When they were told no, they put up their hands and signaled touchdown. The 1970s: A crowning decade . [22] The stadium was named in February 1969 for its location at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River, which forms the Ohio River. [40], Due to Three Rivers Stadium's multi-purpose design, bands including Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, and The Who hosted concerts at the venue. From the ashes of the drug-infested, small-crowd doldrums of the mid-1980s, the Pirates rose like a Phoenix to be reckoned with at the end of the decade. The longest unofficial home run in Three Rivers Stadium was a 519-foot drive unleashed well into the upper deck by the Chicago White Sox Frank Thomas during the 1994 Home Run Derby. The Honus Wagner statue, which used to stand outside of Forbes Field, stood outside of Three Rivers Stadium. Steven Adams is a Tribune-Review manager/photography. Try restaurant style recipes at home. Champions in arms: The Pirates Willie Stargell and Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw earned co-Sportsmen of the Year honors by Sports Illustrated in 1979. However, an archive of the original site still exists, albeit at a different domain name. It was the second ballpark to be located across the river from downtown Pittsburgh as the Pirates had played at Exposition Park from 1890 to 1909. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It's been 20 years since the home of the Pirates and Steelers was imploded before the new stadiums were opened. Meanwhile, the naming of Three Rivers Stadium didnt sit well with many Pittsburghers, who rather would have seen the facility named after David Lawrence, the mayor who first championed the idea of a stadium back in 1948. Despite polls which showed that the public was opposed to this plan as well, on February 3, 1999, the state funding portion of "Plan B" passed the Pennsylvania State House and Senate, clearing the way for construction. 40 26.717 N, 80 0.833 W. Marker is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County. Since completion, PNC Park has been hailed as one of the best ballparks in the country. Pittsburgh, PA, US. Three Rivers Stadium presented itself as a fairer alternative to Forbes Field with its boilerplate field dimensions; no longer did Willie Stargell nor any other player have to drive a ball 400 feet and then hope that it cleared the fence. Having just fallen behind at Three Rivers to the Oakland Raiders by a 7-6 score, the Steelers were 22 seconds away from defeat and facing fourth down 60 yards from the Raiders end zone. Following the season on New Years Eve, Clemente boarded a DC-7 in his native Puerto Rico on its way to Nicaragua to provide aid for victims of a recent earthquake; the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean moments after takeoff, killing Clemente and four others onboard. Heartbreak segued to an even more depressing reality. Donned with multiple, vivid uniform combinations of black, gold and pinstripes, the Pirates intensified their exciting brand of ball, particularly excelling at Three Rivers; during a last-gasp effort to steal the 1978 NL East title from the Philadelphia Phillies, they won a major league-record 24 straight games at home. The Jumbotron scoreboard, which replaced the original board that extended below the upper deck behind center field, received a high bid of $475,000 from a Massachusetts company that carted it about for various events. When the United States Football League placed a franchise at Three Rivers Stadium in 1984, a name-the-team contest was won by a local man who came up with Maulers. His prize was a lifetime pass to the teams home games; the Maulers lasted only one year. On September 30, 1972, Clemente collected his 3,000th career hit with a fourth-inning double; it would be his last hit of the seasonand, alas, the last of his career. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. They were located behind home plate. It was a cold Sunday, Feb.. Aerial view of the Golden Triangle and Three Rivers Stadium, with parking areas still under construction. No-nonsense manager Jim Leyland presided over a young and highly talented outfield that included Bonilla, Van Slyke, and a tantalizing five-tool legacy named Barry Bonds, who omitted occasional raw flashes of greatness before ascending to more consistent MVP levels. Bradshaw, desperately escaping Oakland defensive linemen, somehow managed to heave a 35-yard throw down the middle toward running back John Fuquawho was drilled to the ground by hard-hitting Oakland defensive back Jack Tatum. The Stadium at the time was home to the western Pennsylvania professional sports teams and was a very popular location for major events. It is in North Shore in Pittsburgh in Allegheny County Pennsylvania, Photographed By Mike Wintermantel, August 20, 2012. The first World Series night game was played at the stadium on Oct. 13, 1971. A multi-use facility, it also hosted many concerts and special events prior to demolition on February 11, 2001. . [11], In 1958, the Pirates sold Forbes to the University of Pittsburgh for $2 million ($18.8 million today). Copyright20062023,Somerightsreserved. The outfield wall was a 10-foot wooden fence which eventually got covered with paddingand thank goodness for that when, in a 1998 game, the Pirates Turner Ward ran right through the right-field wall while (successfully) making a catch on a Mike Piazza fly ball. Spectators are easily distracted by mesmerizing views of downtown Pittsburgh, the Allegheny River and the Sixth Street Bridge, now named after Pirates legend Roberto Clemente. The Pirates lost the inaugural contest to the Reds, 3-2. Phil Hundley, a Deeter Ritchey Sipple architect who was not intricately involved in the Three Rivers Stadium project but was around in 2020 to talk about it, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: It had retail. A jury awarded Jones $125,000, but it was reversed on appeal. . The Sporting News Leonard Koppett admitted that Three Rivers and its modern ilk were admirably practical buildings, containing creature comforts and working facilities undreamed of in the old days, but he well understood their flaws. Like all the other stadiums of its ilk and time, Three Rivers became an unattractive yet necessary link from ancient times to the modern age. The final Pittsburgh Steelers home game was played on December 16th, 2000 vs. the Washington Redskins. 104 View Of Three Rivers Stadium Premium High Res Photos Browse 104 view of three rivers stadium stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. The dual-sport structure had been the epicenter of Pittsburgh sports for 30 years since opening on July 16, 1970. The ballpark has a seating capacity of 41,500 with the main three tier grandstand stretching from the right field foul pole to home plate and down, and around the left field foul pole. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1970 to 2000. Outside of the gates, an homage to the past was erected with the placement of a Roberto Clemente statue. The final Pittsburgh Pirates home game was on October 1st, 2000 vs. the Chicago Cubs. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. By the time it put the team up for sale in 1986, the Galbreaths lost $18 million in 15 years at Three Rivers, making a profit only during the ballclubs first full season there (1971). As groundbreaking on the stadium finally took place in 1968, the Bridge to Nowhere finally got somewhereand it wouldnt be just to ferry traffic to Three Rivers. While Three Rivers was receiving its late prepping up as the fight over whether to build a new ballpark continued, the area surrounding the stadium remained dormant, a head-shaking lack of mixed-use development promised by the stadium authority decades earlier. You can see the top of Fort Pittsburgh Bridge (I-279) at the bottom.
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