Pirates unveil lineup changes
PNC Park will have more food options, better lighting, plus a new racing pierogi
The Pirates introduced new lights, new netting and new food — including a purse-wielding, race-running addition to the non-edible fleet of pierogis — at PNC Park on Thursday.
Pizza Penny, the second female pierogi, will make her debut after the fifth inning of the April 7 home opener against the Atlanta Braves, the team announced. She joins trailblazer Jalapeño Hannah, 2015 addition Bacon Burt and standbys Sauerkraut Saul, Cheese Chester and Oliver Onion.
The six contestants will rotate on a nightly basis, with four competing at a time.
The Pirates spent the rest of the morning explaining what else is new at PNC Park.
Food
A larger array of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free menu items will be there for the picking, and fans will be able to wash it all down with a glass of Chablis or mixed drink in addition to beer, as
changes to Pennsylvania liquor laws now allow sales of wine and hard liquor at concession stands stadiumwide instead of just in designated areas.
The Just4You concession will offer a citrus-tamari marinated tofu sandwich made with toasted Schar glutenfree bread and topped with sriracha mayo and sticky mint cabbage slaw ($9.75) and house-made cheese sauce with corn tortilla chips ($7.50).
Rivertowne Brewing Hall of Fame is also upping its good-for-you game with a pair of vegan options. Its twist on buffalo chicken wings — Buffalo’d Cauliflower ($10) and the Ultimate Vegan Burger ($13).
“We’re kicking it up a notch this year to give fans healthier options,” said Steve Musciano, general manager of Aramark, food provider for the ballpark.
The park also has a new grab-and-go concession behind Section 115 on the main concourse. Think “convenience store,” only with better food: “The Market” will offer a self-serve beer cooler, lots of snacks, fresh fruit, and graband-go cold sandwiches and vegetables dishes.
“This is going to be my wife’s favorite spot,” said team president Frank Coonelly, who led Thursday’s media tour, and was equally enthusiastic about the park’s “Smorgasburgh” area behind Section 107. Here’s where you’ll find the new Miller Lite Crow’s Nest, a sprawling full-service bar and lounge area overlooking the Allegheny River.
A rebranded Iron City Skull Bar at the right field end of the main concourse will feature rotating can designs throughout the season; The Galley Bar, a new fullservice bar in Pops Plaza, will feature Skinny Girl Wines along with mixed drinks and domestic and imported beer.
For meat lovers, last year’s Cracker Jack & Mac Dog is still on the menu, along with the park’s signature $15 House BURGer Stak, which isn’t a burger at all but a savory, sloppy marriage of boardwalk french fries topped with everything you’d find on a burger. There’s also Rivertowne’s new “That’s One Spicy Burger” ($15) with applewood smoked bacon, jalapeno-pesto mayo and charred banana peppers on a brioche bun, and for fish lovers,The Market’s housemade Crab Doughnuts ($17) served with chive’d tartar sauce, apple slaw and potato chips (available at the second homestand).
Executive chef Adam Holt of Levy Restaurants, concessionaire for the park’s club and suite levels, is offering soft pretzels in all PNC Park suites, as well as honey grilled watermelon caprese salad and Silverstar smoked kielbasa sliders with sauerkraut, pepper jack cheese and spicy mustard, and roasted fondant potatoes perfumed with rosemary, garlic and thyme.
At the Pittsburgh Baseball Club level, there will be a changing menu of made-toorder burgers. The 3000 Club has 21 beers on tap, many of them local. New on the club’s legendary dessert cart is a six-layer rainbow cake with butter cream icing. A scoop of hard raw cookie dough is optional but recommended, Mr. Holt said.
Prices for eats at the club or suite level will run from $4 to $7 for snacks, and $7 to $12 for sandwiches and larger items.
Netting
The team announced earlier in March that it planned to extend protective netting, previously hung only behind home plate, to the end of each dugout.
The decision “was a struggle internally,” Mr. Coonelly said, and has prompted calls from season-ticket holders on each side of the issue, but fan safety won out. Mr. Coonelly is convinced that they’ve made the right call, even though he took convincing himself.
“In my own family, over the last several years, we’ve had one proponent for netting, my wife, and one proponent for ‘this is old-time baseball, we don’t need a net,’” he said. “That was me.”
Several fans in recent years have been injured by errant balls and bats, including one at LECOM Park during spring training in Bradenton, Fla.
The netting, which cost about $100,000 and hasn’t yet been hung, is the newest, most transparent on the market, Mr. Coonelly said. It was also due to be replaced, especially given the addition of about 40 new Lexus Club seats in converted camera wells.
The Pirate Parrot, he said, will still perform on the dugout roof behind the netting — meaning he’ll be protected, too.
Scoreboard
There will be a new set of scoreboards in the Clemente Wall. The previous board was light bulb-based and, Mr. Coonelly said, failing. The replacement will still show out-oftown scores in a format designed to mimic the original. The benefit, he said, is that during breaks in play, the team can run replays and in-game entertainment on the new board.
Lights
The lights used on the field have been upgraded, as well; like the out-of-town scoreboard, they’re now LED, which provide more focus and are more similar to actual daylight. Four or five MLB teams have made the change over the last few years, Mr. Coonelly said.
“The LED lighting packages have really just gotten to the point over the last two years where they could be used in these stadia, where there are very strict requirements as to how many lumens have to be illiminating the infield [and] outfield,” he said.
They can also be dimmed and brightened instantly, whereas traditional sports lighting can take up to 20 minutes to heat up.
Larger capacity
About 200 seats have been added, largely in the Lexus Club, club level and field boxes.
“It’s still a very intimate setting, but [seats were added] in the areas in which we have a lot of demand,” Mr. Coonelly said.
That will take the park’s non-standing-room capacity above 38,500.