mere cat

Do You Want Fries ON That?

I had heard that PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, had begun serving lobster rolls this year, and Anne was interested in the Pirates anyway, since they were her home team growing up in western Pennsylvania. We were able to go to a game on Sunday, the third game of a series against the Chicago Cubs. Not only would it be fun, but we thought we could count on the Pirates winning. (Kidding, of course, and it’s not even funny: Although the Cubs only won one game of this series, they are way ahead of the Pirates.)

I hadn’t been to a major league game since I was a kid (almost *mumble* years ago) and didn’t know what to expect, but I had an all-around terrific time—I even enjoyed watching the game. Tickets were cheaper than I expected ($27) and concession prices seemed reasonable. We sat just to the first-base side of home plate behind the foul-ball net. That meant there was virtually no chance a foul ball would land in our section of the stands, although a kid in the row in front of us was wearing his glove. Hope springs eternal.

After a thorough search of the concessions for the lobster roll, I found an Aramark employee who looked knowledgeable. He told me he thought the lobster roll was only served on the “club” level where the luxury boxes were and thus off limits to members of the hoi polloi like myself. With my crest appropriately fallen, I spent the remainder of the game gorging myself. For some reason, we ended up with an empty row all to ourselves, so it was easy to pop up and grab something.

Being in Pittsburgh, I naturally looked for something quintessentially Pittsburghian to eat. Since the Pirates feature Racing Pierogies, I thought something Polish might be appropriate, so I started with kielbasa from Federal Street Grille with peppers and onions. Mmm. I had heard about something even more local that sounded intriguing—Primanti Brothers sandwiches. Their trademark gimmick is to add French fries and cole slaw ON the sandwich instead of on the side. In fact, Anne’s salad at the Holiday Inn had come that way. I tried the roast beef and cheese and have to admit about all I could really taste was French fries and cole slaw. Pub 475 has a decent selection of better beers. I had a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat. I really should have tried an Iron City.

PNC Park, July 8, 2007. (Photo by Anne.)

One final note about the game itself. Baseball players are supposedly a superstitious lot, and someone in the Pirates organization should listen up, because I am convinced I bring good luck to the Pirates. The first time I left my seat to get food, a Pirate hit a home run (the only one of the game) and drove in three runs. Just my luck, I thought, to have missed all the action. I didn’t think anything of the coincidence until the next time I made a trip for food when the Pirates drove in three more runs. If the Pirates have an important game coming up, I would be happy to make as many trips to the concession stand as necessary for them to win. For a nominal fee, of course.