When the Pirates begin their 2009 home season, a brand spanking new playing surface will be underfoot when the players take the field, according to the latest Buc news flash.
The project consists of completely replacing all the grass, dirt, and track, even though the surface was redone just three years ago, before the 2006 All-Star Game. Could it be that they think Jimmy Hoffa is pushin' up the outfield blades?
The new grass will be made up of a mix of four different kinds of Kentucky Bluegrass. It was chosen because it's supposedly ideal for northern climates. Now Dirt Dog Doug can be covered with blue grass stains instead of green.
The turf was hand-picked by Pirates director of field operations Manny Lopez and field maintenance supervisor Derek Hurlburt from a sod farm in New Jersey after visiting several grass gardens in the Northeast and Midwest. We hope they scout players just as thoroughly as they checked out the new greenery.
The infield will be replaced by a darker dirt called Dura Edge All-Star Infield Mix. The mix is a blend of several different kinds of dirt. GW never knew that you could tell one kind of dirt from another, but we'll take their word for it.
"The new infield mix is coming to us from a company in Slippery Rock called Natural Sand Company," said Lopez. "This mixture has been created exclusively for PNC Park, so it will be unlike any other infield surface in Major League Baseball." So we'll have Pittsburgh dirt. It sounds like a new blog.
Finally, the warning and foul line track will be replaced with crushed lava rock. Seems kinda ouchy to us.
According to Frank Coonelly, the new design of the infield will include unique baselines, with first base, third base, and home plate cutouts, to spiff up the diamond. Maybe the batter's box will be shaped like Bob Nutting's profile - or checkbook.
Keeping with their "Let's Go Bucs, Let's Go Green" campaign, the Pirates are working hand-in-hand with the City's Public Works Department so that the old field surface doesn't go to waste.
The city will recycle the PNC dirt and sod by using it at different ballyards and parks which are in need of field maintenance, and that should be just about all of them. Hey, at least the local little leagues will get something out of it.
Our nagging question is why now? Most fields hold up fine for 5 or 6 years. The Buc suits say it's so they can have the coolest park in baseball, but GW would rather see the money spent on a new infielder instead of a new infield.
Oh well, we'll take what we can get. After all, maybe the Pirates decided to rebuild literally from the ground-up.
>BTW, the Game 7 Gang's blowout Monday was a rousing success, drawing some 500 people, including Bob Friend, Dick Groat, Elroy Face, Nellie King and Frank Thomas. Buc prez Frank Coonelly was there, too. The Post-Gazette's Brian O'Neill talked to some of the crowd in his piece Once Upon A Time.
Showing posts with label game 7 gang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label game 7 gang. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
October 13, 1960 Redux
There's not much left of old Forbes Field but the memories.
Pitt's Posvar Hall currently occupies the former infield. Roberto Clemente Drive now bisects the site and runs about 10 feet under what used to be the playing surface of the outfield. Home plate remains in almost its exact original location, but it is now encased in glass on the first-floor walkway of Posvar Hall.
A small patch of red brick still stands, the old left field wall of Oakland's ballyard, right beside Mazeroski Field, a Little league diamond. The wall has "457" painted on it. That's how deep left center was. It was so unreachable that they parked the batting cage in its niche. There's an old flagpole there, too.
The late Saul Finkelstein showed up alone to listen to a cassette tape of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series at that spot in 1985 and started a tradition. Before long, people gathered to relive the game that's become woven into a Pittsburgh meme, spread more by memory and word of mouth than by the world wide web.
Now a couple hundred folk bring lawn chairs and coolers to celebrate the day Maz cut the mighty Yankees down, a David and Goliath tale that still resonates with the locals. Pay attention, Neal Huntington, if you want to find out what makes Pirate fans' hearts tick.
There will be all kind of people there - curious college kids, fans that were at the game, or watched on TV, or heard the radio broadcast. Believe it or not, almost everybody in Pittsburgh followed the team back in the day, and proudly. Fans that were born too late come to catch the day Pittsburgh become the center of the baseball universe. And, of course, there will be old Bucs galore.
Everyone's eyes still get a little misty when they listen to the recording of NBC broadcasters Chuck Thompson and Jack Quinlan calling every pitch of Game 7. They hang on every play, from the bad hop off of Tony Kubek's throat to Hal Smith's big blast. But especially, they wait for Maz's at bat in the ninth against Ralph Terry.
It never fails to get a rowdy explosion of cheers from the assembly, almost like they were experiencing the actual game. It's awesome.
GW was last there in 2006 (yah, sneaked outta work again. GW's lucky to have understanding bosses.) The mayor, Bobby O'Connor, who was a great baseball fan and all-around sportsman, had just been admitted to the hospital then, sadly never to return. In fact, he was a coach for one of the JCC baseball teams that played at Frick Field.
But his wife Judy and son Corey were there in his stead, along with state Senator Jimmy Ferlo and an assortment of other political suits. Steve Blass, Manny Sanguillen, Bob Friend, and Bobby Del Greco were there, with a couple of other Pirates GW missed; we think Grant Jackson showed up, too. It was baseball Vahalla.
But GW digresses (and not for the first or last time, either.) This year's shindig, in conjuction with the City's 250th anniversary, is gonna be a blowout.
Starting at 12:30 Monday, Pitt will serve free hot dogs and other munchies. At the flagpole by the wall, members of the Game 7 Gang and Forbes Field Wall Working Group will raise a new 12-by-6 Forbes Field pennant. Then they'll turn on the tape.
To while away the boring moments - and there weren't many in that game, believe me - there will be a tent set up in Schenley Plaza with Pirate and Homestead Gray pictures and memorabilia for you to graze through. Maybe you can look for the plaque on Clemente Drive that marks the spot where Maz's ball landed.
But don't forget why you're there. Make sure you're within earshot of the wall by 3:36 PM, the time when Maz hit the homer that Pittsburgh will never forget. Forbes Field may only be a memory, but sometimes that's enough. Nothing that you remember is ever truly gone.
Pitt's Posvar Hall currently occupies the former infield. Roberto Clemente Drive now bisects the site and runs about 10 feet under what used to be the playing surface of the outfield. Home plate remains in almost its exact original location, but it is now encased in glass on the first-floor walkway of Posvar Hall.
A small patch of red brick still stands, the old left field wall of Oakland's ballyard, right beside Mazeroski Field, a Little league diamond. The wall has "457" painted on it. That's how deep left center was. It was so unreachable that they parked the batting cage in its niche. There's an old flagpole there, too.
The late Saul Finkelstein showed up alone to listen to a cassette tape of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series at that spot in 1985 and started a tradition. Before long, people gathered to relive the game that's become woven into a Pittsburgh meme, spread more by memory and word of mouth than by the world wide web.
Now a couple hundred folk bring lawn chairs and coolers to celebrate the day Maz cut the mighty Yankees down, a David and Goliath tale that still resonates with the locals. Pay attention, Neal Huntington, if you want to find out what makes Pirate fans' hearts tick.
There will be all kind of people there - curious college kids, fans that were at the game, or watched on TV, or heard the radio broadcast. Believe it or not, almost everybody in Pittsburgh followed the team back in the day, and proudly. Fans that were born too late come to catch the day Pittsburgh become the center of the baseball universe. And, of course, there will be old Bucs galore.
Everyone's eyes still get a little misty when they listen to the recording of NBC broadcasters Chuck Thompson and Jack Quinlan calling every pitch of Game 7. They hang on every play, from the bad hop off of Tony Kubek's throat to Hal Smith's big blast. But especially, they wait for Maz's at bat in the ninth against Ralph Terry.
It never fails to get a rowdy explosion of cheers from the assembly, almost like they were experiencing the actual game. It's awesome.
GW was last there in 2006 (yah, sneaked outta work again. GW's lucky to have understanding bosses.) The mayor, Bobby O'Connor, who was a great baseball fan and all-around sportsman, had just been admitted to the hospital then, sadly never to return. In fact, he was a coach for one of the JCC baseball teams that played at Frick Field.
But his wife Judy and son Corey were there in his stead, along with state Senator Jimmy Ferlo and an assortment of other political suits. Steve Blass, Manny Sanguillen, Bob Friend, and Bobby Del Greco were there, with a couple of other Pirates GW missed; we think Grant Jackson showed up, too. It was baseball Vahalla.
But GW digresses (and not for the first or last time, either.) This year's shindig, in conjuction with the City's 250th anniversary, is gonna be a blowout.
Starting at 12:30 Monday, Pitt will serve free hot dogs and other munchies. At the flagpole by the wall, members of the Game 7 Gang and Forbes Field Wall Working Group will raise a new 12-by-6 Forbes Field pennant. Then they'll turn on the tape.
To while away the boring moments - and there weren't many in that game, believe me - there will be a tent set up in Schenley Plaza with Pirate and Homestead Gray pictures and memorabilia for you to graze through. Maybe you can look for the plaque on Clemente Drive that marks the spot where Maz's ball landed.
But don't forget why you're there. Make sure you're within earshot of the wall by 3:36 PM, the time when Maz hit the homer that Pittsburgh will never forget. Forbes Field may only be a memory, but sometimes that's enough. Nothing that you remember is ever truly gone.
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