Champions in arms: The Pirates Willie Stargell and Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw earned co-Sportsmen of the Year honors by Sports Illustrated in 1979. Five years after local authorities said yes to a new stadium, there wasnt even a scope of work; the Fort Duquesne Bridge, conceptualized specifically to carry auto traffic from downtown Pittsburgh toward the stadium, was 90% completewith the last 10% on hold until there was actual progress on the facility. Three Rivers Stadium was simply not a good place to take in a game. Verbal hostility from spectators in state of Pennsylvania wasnt just restricted to Philadelphia; Forbes Field was somewhat notorious as a place for fans who did more than boo. Stadium Concert. King and Charles Mingus. The Parrot was an instant hit and remains a popular asset to this day at PNC Park. A proposal for a new sports stadium in Pittsburgh was first made in 1948; however, plans did not attract much attention until the late 1950s. Tuesday 00:00 . On August 9, 1970less than a month after Three Rivers openingStargell deposited his first of four home runs he would launch into the stadiums upper deck. The first three years of the Pirates final decade at Three Rivers Stadium witnessed the fruits of their labor, winning the NL East each season from 1990-92. Home plate is rocketed from Three Rivers Stadium to PNC Park after the final game. Even the pleasing evergreen views beyond the fences from inside Forbes Field were rapidly being overcome by industry and other inevitable forms of development. That brought instant sentimentality of a kind upon a facility derided for so long by fans, but now embraced as a much-needed link from the iconic days of Forbes Field to the future days that lay ahead at the new venues. 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. In December 1987, an evidently deranged man managed to drive his car through the stadium and out on the fieldin the process, barely missing four employees but not several trucks carrying barrels of nacho cheese, much of which ended up covering his car. One silver lining to perhaps emerge from the Pirates lack of fans during the 1980s is that there were fewer of them to abuse the players. Advertisement. [28], During batting practice on that day, a stray foul ball hit a woman named Evelyn Jones in the eye while she was walking the stadium's concourse. Jul 18, 1998. Approximate Location of Three Rivers Stadium Left Field Corner Looking Toward Home Plate. Three Rivers Stadium Home Venues Rock Doo Wop Radio Jazz Pop Blues Thirty Years of Stadium Rock Three Rivers Stadium during its short 30 year existence from 1970 to 2000 hosted almost 50. 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. Its not that the Pirates had a choice in Forbes Fields fateat least not after 1958, when they sold the ballpark to the adjacent University of Pittsburgh, which wanted to raze the structure for campus expansion. Dave Parker, who had the most hits at Three Rivers with 781, also had the longest hit streak in the stadiums history at 22 gameswhich he did twice, in 1977 and 1979. Numerous strikes in a city heavily represented by unions pushed back the scheduled first game from Opening Day 1970 to midseason; Every day they delay making the move is taking money out of my pocket, complained Pirates star slugger Willie Stargell, who had enough of Forbes Field and its endless outfield dimensions. Three Rivers Stadium stood alone, literally, as another cookie cutter, or concrete donut, or bowl. Aerial view of the Golden Triangle and Three Rivers Stadium, with parking areas still under construction. But city leaders, leery of the trend in franchise shifts within Major League Baseball, didnt want to take any chances of losing its most fabled sports entity. It had hotels. Instead of allowing cars to park, the team instructed fans to park downtown and walk to the stadium over bridges or take shuttle buses. [41][42] On August 11, 1985,[43] Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band hosted the largest concert in Pittsburgh history, when they performed for 65,935 on-lookers. three rivers stadium home plate location three rivers stadium home plate location. Stargell was a man of such power, nothing at Three Rivers seemed to be outside of his reach. [64] The Pirates' lowest season of attendance was 1985, at an average of 9,085. Pittsburgh beats Oakland 13-7 in an AFC Divisional playoff game on Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception. [56] In 2015, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette moved into a new office building also built on a portion on the site after 53 years in the former Pittsburgh Press building and more than two centuries in Downtown. Three Rivers Stadium, home to the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1970 through 2000, was located in the North Shore section of Pittsburgh. [15] Construction continued, though it became plagued with problems such as thieves stealing materials from the building site. Dock Ellis and Manny Sanguillen, the battery for the first game back in 1970, threw and caught the ceremonial first pitch. Dave Parker had batteries thrown at him in the field; his Pirates teammate of five years, outfielder Lee Lacy, had bottles tossed toward him. Monday 00:00 - 00:00. Much like the Pittsburgh Penguins would do with the site of Civic Arena, the Steelers retained development rights to the site of Three Rivers, and would later build Stage AE on portions of the site, as well as an office building that hosts the studios for AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, the headquarters of StarKist Tuna, and the regional headquarters of Del Monte Foods. It was a cold Sunday, Feb. 11 20 years ago that a demolition crew reduced Three Rivers Stadium to a heap of rubble and twisted steel. 7/30/1972. On Sunday, Feb. 11, 2001, with the temperature just 21 degrees, more than 20,000 people filled Point State Park to watch the implosion of Three Rivers Stadium. Mary Ann and her husband were Steelers season ticket holders for 42 years until Paul, 61, passed away that year. Despite the last-game loss, Three Rivers ended up being very, very good for the Piratesat least on the field, where they finished with a 1,324-1,081 record. Twenty thousand people viewed the implosion from Point State Park on the morning of Feb. 11, 2001, with thousands more watching from Mount Washington. (Historic Pittsburgh). [18] The park was not configured for baseball, so sightlines were not good. [28] A parade was held before opening ceremonies. [65] Game one of the 1970 NLCS, at Three Rivers Stadium, was the first postseason baseball game to be played on an artificial surface. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Alas, bureaucracy won the day over beauty and urban community. Without a hitch, a 1985 Bruce Springsteen gig at Three Rivers drew 65,000, the largest gathering for any event at the stadium. A jury awarded Jones $125,000, but it was reversed on appeal. [33][62] The first pitch was thrown by Dock Ellisa striketo Ty Cline. 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. Get this for your collection. The Sports & Exhibition Authority said proceeds from the auction, minus costs and the auctioneers' cut, will be used to pay the $5.2 million demolition cost of Three Rivers Stadium, and to. On December 23, 2012, on the 40th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, the Steelers unveiled a monument at the exact spot where Franco Harris made the reception in the parking lot. The particular spot for the new stadium was, in fact, once upon a time the same site as Exposition Park, the Pirates first home. When Rooney passed away in 1988, his officealready drenched with reference books and memorabiliabecame a library. 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). Three Rivers Stadium. Three Rivers Stadium Plaque. Sunday 00:00 - 00:00. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise and National Football League (NFL) franchise respectively. The rancor became so R-rated that, by 1985, the Pirates set up a G-rated family section at Three Rivers that forbade profanity and alcohol. Fans embraced the Steelers in a way never felt by the Pirates; blue-collar fans somehow scraped up enough cash to fill the joint over and over againfrom 1972 on, the Steelers sold out every game at Three Riversand formed rabid fan groups celebrating players from Franco Harris to placekicker Roy Gerela. But few expected the team to plummet deep into the Hades of Baseball. The first World Series night game was played at the stadium on Oct. 13, 1971. Both the Pirates and Steelers won it all that year, capping a sensational first decade at Three Rivers Stadium in which both teams combined for six championship titles (Sports Illustrated). . The Steelers won 17 Monday Night Football games at Three Rivers Stadium. You can contact Steven at sadams@triblive.com. The dual-sport structure had been the epicenter of Pittsburgh sports for 30 years since opening on July 16, 1970. But the river that created the most beautiful valley and the home of the Giant Forest is totally overlook. The idea came from Forbes Field, Ritchey told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2001 of his ballpark design. [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. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1970 to 2000. Even the four expansion teams from 1969 had recorded inaugural Opening Day victories.13 As for the Pirates, they had now played their final opener at Old Lady Forbes.14 They would play 41 more games in the historic ballpark before moving to their new home, Three Rivers Stadium, on July 16. Posing with a group of kids, Pirates first baseman Bob Robertson shows off the buttonless, double-knit uniforms broken out for the first game at Three Rivers Stadium. The following year, the stadium was the site of the Immaculate Reception. The Pittsburgh Steelers played their first game in Three Rivers Stadium on September 20, 1970a 19-7 loss to the Houston Oilers. what was bolivar's ultimate goal? Doug Harvey hands Roberto Clemente the ball after he doubled off the Mets' Jon Matlack for his 3,000th career hit on September 30, 1972. Sister Sledge, the We Are Family authors from the Bucs fabled 1979 campaign, reunited to sing the National Anthem. (FlickrJoel Dinda). Second photo is the dismantling of a section of the outfield wall at Forbes Field. If anything else, the threat brought the various public agencies together toward a budget agreement. The Steelers, surprisingly, were not immune to the fans bully ethic. Returning the following year as a member of the Reds, the Pirates wasted no time abetting the acrimony from his former fans. Three Rivers Stadium Home Plate Location. The first game at Three Rivers Stadium was also the first for organist Vince Lascheid, beginning a tenure with the Pirates that would last through 2008eight years into the PNC Park era. Once the dust cloud dissipated, the crumbled remains become visible. They played there in the following games: Three Rivers Stadium opened on July 16, 1970, but the Pirates lost 32 to the Cincinnati Reds in front of 48,846spectators. It was a cold Sunday, Feb.. The stadium's name was derived from the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, where they formed the Ohio River, the "Golden Triangle". 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. [11][33][34], Three Rivers was the first multi-purpose stadium and the first in either the NFL or MLB to feature 3M's Tartan Turf (then a competitor to the dominant AstroTurf), which was installed for opening day. Meanwhile, the team found that their only way to replace Barry Bonds was to stick Al Martin in left field every night. 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. Homestead Grays (1939-1948) Vital statistics: Lifetime Capacity Outfield dimensions (feet) Behind home plate Fence height The Clem Criteria: Built Demo-lished LF LC CF RC RF Field asymm. Though they would recover, the bulk of their remaining time at Three Rivers Stadium was largely an excruciating exercise in debt-ridden futilityand even though some of the circumstances that led to their misfortunes were self-inflicted, it was clear that by the Bucs third decade at Three Rivers, a new home was badly needed. Wagner, Kiner and Clemente could all agree that excitement was never in short supply at the Old Lady of Schenley Park. Details Three Rivers Stadium Facts Cost to build: $55 million ($383.5 million today) Ground Broken:. 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. The plan was to build a whole mixed-use community around the stadium, including hotels, restaurants, a theme park, science center and marinaall connected by people movers. The Steelers sold out every home game from 1972 through the closing of the stadium, a streak which continues through 2008. Pirates outfielder John Vander Wal warms up in front of the Kiss It Goodbye sign showing zero games remaining during the final game at Three Rivers Stadium. Three Rivers Stadium, the Pirates' and Steelers ' home at the time, had been designed for functionality rather than "architecture and aesthetics". 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. Stadium was still under construction due to labor disputes and later opened on 7.16.70 against the Reds. (It would take 10 years for that person, Kevin McClatchy, to fully purchase the Bucs.). Price: From $89.99 to $129.99. It was also the site of the very first broadcast of ABCs Monday Night Footballexcept that it was a preseason game held on a Friday night between the Steelers and New York Giants. The Pittsburgh Steelers, who had moved from Forbes Field to Pitt Stadium in 1964, were large supporters of the project. Marker is at the intersection of Art Rooney Avenue and North Shore Drive, on the left when traveling north on Art Rooney Avenue. The reverse could be said for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers during the first of three decades they called Three Rivers Stadium home: Seemingly, everything the gold (and black) touched turned them into kings. This fantastic plate of Three Rivers stadium is a great piece of baseball history. Losing the view of downtown was a bitter bill for Ritchey to swallow; he would ultimately call Three Rivers Stadium his biggest disappointment as an architect. Initially, the grounds crew wore #3 on their backs to represent the three rivers. This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 04:17. Three Rivers Stadium hosted game four, in which the Pirates defeated the Orioles in the first night game in the history of the World Series. The stadium, which took more than 2 years to build at a cost of $55 million, seated 47,971 fans for baseball games, and 59,000 for football games. Players might have had a chance to enjoy the Allegheny Club after the game, but left fielders in particular didnt care for it during; the reflection of the stadiums lights off the clubs mass faade of windows made catching line drives in left an adventure. George Strait's Country Music Festival 1999. Forced to go back to the drawing board, Ritchey had no choice but to artistically cave to the tight budget, designing a fully-enclosed stadium with a symmetrical build that appealed to a more cost-effective solution. Essentially, Ritchey envisioned PNC Park and Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field) four decades before they were built. Realtime driving directions to Three Rivers Stadium Home Plate Location, Pittsburgh, based on live traffic updates and road conditions - from Waze fellow drivers. An 8-by-12-foot area of the 406 marker section of the Forbes Field brick wall, 12 Romanesque window frames, and the Babe Ruth plaque showing where his 714th home run landed were in the Allegheny Club at Three Rivers. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1970 to 2000. Since completion, PNC Park has been hailed as one of the best ballparks in the country. Baseball team, wallowing in a decrepit locker room, is growing restless for something new. If 25,000 people go (to Three Rivers) for a game, said one-time Pirate Phil Garner to The Sporting News, most of them will still be there two hours after the game.. The Pirates werent complaining either; they all but bookended the decade hoisting a pair of World Series trophies, while winning four other National League East Division titles. In southwestern Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, the county seat of Allegheny County, lies partly in a hilly region known as the Golden Triangle, the location of the city's business district. The prescript to Three Rivers Stadium is a familiar one: Aging ballpark, long ago gorgeous and glittering, is beginning to age beyond repair. The final Pittsburgh Pirates home game was on October 1st, 2000 vs. the Chicago Cubs. [42] The stadium hosted various Jehovah's Witnesses conventions, including international conventions in 1973 and 1978, and a centennial conference in 1984. (The story is disputed, but its a good one.). 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. [71] A Steelers symbol recognized worldwide, The Terrible Towel debuted on December 27, 1975, at Three Rivers Stadium. A 1973 Led Zeppelin concert nearly turned into a riot; a year later, Eric Clapton was nailed in the face by a (perhaps) errant frisbee. The Pirates may have been overtaken by the Steelers as Pittsburghs most adored, but they still had Mojo; an aging but still dangerous Willie Stargell was joined by a colorful cast of characters that included burly MVP-level slugger Dave Parker, the tirelessly skinny and bespectacled reliever Kent Tekulve, and 67 starting pitcher John Candelaria, who threw the Bucs first no-hitter at Three Rivers in 1976. 40 26.717 N, 80 0.833 W. Marker is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County. The Steelers called Three Rivers Stadium home when they won four of their six Super Bowls. TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox. Numerous seats were auctioned off, including 3,727 of the blue field level seatssnapped up by the minor-league Long Island Ducks. Even after its implosion, Three Rivers Stadium continued to live on in the bills of taxpayers, who still had to help pay off $40 million of debt on the facility. Thirty years after feeling stuck and helpless at an aging Forbes Field, the Pirates began to get that sinking feeling all over again at Three Rivers. Yes, Three Rivers Stadium was another one of those venues people now love to hate: A perfectly circular hunk of concrete largely adorned with slightly angled spectator ramps perfectly spaced between four large welcoming gates. The scandal devastated the Pirates organization; the team sank in the standings, bottoming out with a 104-loss campaign in 1985. 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. When 70,000 peoplemany without ticketsattempted to force their way into a 1976 concert featuring ZZ Top and Aerosmith, leading to an injury count of at least 250, public officials debated whether to end rock music acts at Three Rivers. The fans celebrated in the streets to Sister Sledges We Are Family, the Pirates adopted theme song of the 1979 campaign; Stargell, for his combination of sage and vintage strength at age 39, won co-NL MVP honors (with St. Louis Keith Hernandez) and the straight MVP for both the NLCS and World Series. Forty years earlier, Art Rooney had paid $2,500 he had floating around from winnings at the racetrack to purchase an expansion National Football League team in Pittsburgh. Three Rivers Stadium also hosted the Pittsburgh Maulers of the United States Football League and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team for a single season each.[7][8]. The rubble of Three Rivers Stadium towers over passersby Sunday, Feb. 11, 2001 on the North Side. The Pirates lost the inaugural contest to the Reds, 3-2. There was much initial praise for Three Rivers as a civic stadium meant to pull the Pirates and Steelers out of far more rustic times, but the compromised tedium many would ultimately slam it and other so-called cookie-cutter stadiums for was still hardly lost on some even as it doors opened for the first time. It is in North Shore in Pittsburgh in Allegheny County Pennsylvania, Photographed By Mike Wintermantel, August 20, 2012.

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