THE FIRST World Series

I stood on the very spot of it.

We are doing a story about Exposition Park, which was the ballfied the Pirates used before Forbes Field, which is the ballfield they used before Three Rivers Stadium, which is the ballfield they used before PNC Park.

I didn't know anything existed before Three Rivers, mostly because I didn't exist before Three Rivers.

I am enlightened now. The first World Series was played in 1903, after Pittsburgh challenged Boston to a postseason championship. I think the Pirates were called the Pirates then, but Boston had some funny ass name that I can't remember now. Anyway, several of the games in this series were played in Pittsburgh at Exposition Park, which used to be somewhere between where Heinz Field and PNC Park are today. Three Rivers may have been built right on top of where this old park was; I probably should have read the story more carefully, but I was so excited to learn that some survey crew had actually located the bases of Exposition Park and painted them in some parking lot on the North Side that I was beside myself. I mean, I grew up here, but I never heard of such nonsense!

I walked over... it's practically outside the back door of the building I work in. And it wasn't hard to find. There were the bases, painted in the parking lot. The site of the first World Series. And I stood there at home plate. How cool is that? Any idiot can go over and stand in the same spot. Tailgaters park on top of the site all the time and probably never realize what it is they are pissing onto.


The worn paint marking where home plate was in Exposition Park.

I had taken Joe over to the parking lot with me to check it out, and he was skeptical. "I bet it's some wiffle ball thing." Back at the office I dug up some actual proof. You can read more about it here. If I remember, I'll come back and link to our story when it's published.

Joe is a baseball buff and he's never heard of these marked bases. In fact, I haven't been able to find anyone who knows about this. Nor do I understand why I'm so fascinated by it, since I couldn't care less about baseball. Though I did go to a couple of games this season, including the last Pirates game, when Freddy Sanchez secured the batting title. And that's way more than I need to be knowing about baseball.

While I was sad to see Three Rivers go, my first trip to PNC Park left me super-impressed:



It is a marvel in its time, much like Exposition Park was for its time.

The Pirates, by the way, lost that first World Series.