I have very special and fond memories of my first trip to Forbes Field. I believe it was 1965 and I was 9 years old. I got out of school early because it was about a 2 1/2 hour trip from my home in Oakland, Maryland (near Deep Creek Lake). We had seats on the right field side, about midway between the infield and the fence. My seat was behind one of those big steel beams, so I had to twist and turn constantly to see the action. The Pirates were playing the Phillies and Roberto [Clemente] had a couple of home runs and a couple of doubles. The game went extra innings and didn't end until very late. We got home about 2 a.m., but I wasn't the least bit tired. Now I share that love of the game with my three sons and I'm looking forward to the atmosphere that I feel sure will surround PNC Park and hearing them talk of their heroes, Giles, Kendall and Benson.

B. Frantz
Oakland, MD

        In the mid-to-late 1940s I spent entire summers at Forbes Field. I lived at Centre and Craig, about a 15 minute walk away and every Pirate day game, my pals and I headed to game. Tickets were never a problem because we never used them, but always got in. When all else failed, one of us would distract the cop on guard outside the right field gate while about 10 of us would leap up onto the metal slats going up the side of the stands. We'd tuck our tennis shoes behind the metal strap holding the slats and climb all the way to the top. The easiest dismount spot was on the third tier, because you didn't have to reach so far to grab the rail, so that's where I'd go. Sometimes from the ground we looked like a colony of ants crawling into the game. Once there, there was Kiner, Gustine, Billy Cox, Fritz Ostermuller and the rest. When I look at photos of the field today, I can't believe we did that. But we did. Every home day game during the best summers of my life.

G. Morin
New York, NY

         I have many fond memories of Forbes Field from my first game to the Maz's home run. One of my favorites was listening to Rosey Rosewell telling Aunt Minnie to raise the window. But, the knothole games were special. By midsummer my aunt who I spent a great deal of time with would drop me off to get some peace. I loved watching batting practice and watching Ralph Kiner put ball after ball over the wall. Nothing was better than a Sunday doubleheader. I just loved being at Forbes Field. To smell the hotdogs and peanuts. In later years when I would return to Pittsburgh for a visit. This always included a trip to Forbes and watching Roberto Clemente swinging out of his cap or throwing a bullet to nail an advancing baserunner.

J. Meyers
Florissant, MO

         It was 1958, I was 8, and our neighbor Wayne's father Dean took Wayne, my brother and I to what was my first Major League game on a Saturday afternoon at Forbes Field. The Bucs took on the Cardinals and their star Stan Musial, and it was Vernon Law vs. Sam "Toothpick" Jones on the hill. The Bucs pushed one across in the first with a stolen base and single, and that's how it went late into the game, when, indicating the man at the plate, Dean announced, "That's Stan Musial!" It was downright frightening. I don't remember all the details, but the game was saved by Bill Mazeroski whom I can still see in my mind's eye, flat on his back, tossing the ball to first for a crucial putout. It must have been the functional equivalent of a home run, and as Dean drove us home he told us that Maz would be remembered some day as a great player, just like Honus Wagner whose statue graced the Oakland setting. None of us doubted it for a moment.
         Several years ago I contacted the Pirates, learned the game's date and obtained a couple newspaper accounts of the game. And sure enough, there exists in print, as well as in my memory, testimony to a remarkable play Bill Mazeroski made that Saturday afternoon.

B. Sabol
Gulfport, FL