Forbes Field

In the middle of the 1909 season the Pirates moved into their brand new state of the art ball park, Forbes field. At the fields opening day game was issued a pendant to fans entering the park.

The park was named after John Forbes. Forbes was a British officer that is credited for naming Pittsburgh after William Pitt. John Forbes also lead an expedition during the French and Indian War in the Pittsburgh Area.

Forbes Field was preceded by Exposition Park. Exposition Park was the home to the Pirates for the first ever MLB World Series where they lost to the Boston Americans later known as the Boston Red Sox. The primary problem with Exposition Park is that it often flooded and was primarily made of wood. Other professional ball clubs would call Exposition Park home. The Alleganies and the Rebels which are part of Pirates baseball history played there. These clubs will be discussed in future posts. Another team that played at the park was the Western University of Pennsylvania which is now known as the Pitt Panther football team. The location of the park would now be between PNC Park and Heinz Field.

Forbes field was the Bucco's home from 1909 until 1971 when it was replaced by Three Rivers stadium. Forbes field saw a lot of great players from Honus Wagner to Willie Stargell to Mickey Mantle to Ty Cobb. When it opened it seated 25,000 and was expanded to 35,000 a couple decades later. It cost $1 Million to buy the land and build it. It was constructed in 4 months from primarly steel.