PNC Statues

As George Harrison wrote, “It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter.” But late March means that our attention turns to warmer weather and baseball. Staying close to PNC meant that morning walks could be in and around the park and riverfront area. Although it is one of the newer major league venues (opened in 2001), the baseball history of Pittsburgh is woven into the surround area. The four statues that line the outside of the stadium represent the great legacy of the team.

Roberto Clemente

Honus Wagner

On the corner of General Robinson and Bill Mazeroski Way, stands the statue of Honus Wagner onetime member of the Louisville Colonels (1897-1899) and later, when the team moved, the Pittsburgh Pirates (1900-1917).  The “Flying Dutchman” had a career batting average of .327 and was selected as a member of the first class of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The statue was originally erected in Schenley Park, but moved to Three Rivers Stadium in 1972 when that stadium was opened. In turn, it was moved to its current location when PNC was opened.

On the opposite end of the park, down the left field line at the foot of the bridge that now bears his name, stands the statue of Roberto Clemente.  Clemente hit his 3,000, and final, hit on the last day of the season in 1972. During a relief mission to Nicaragua, in the aftermath of an earthquake, Clemente died in an airplane crash on 31 December 1972. Among his posthumous honors was election to the Hall of Fame. The former Sixth Street Bridge, built in 1927-28, was renamed the Roberto Clemente Bridge.