Fans Say Goodbye To Stadium

The Final Highlights From Three Rivers

A 10-9 loss to the Cubs in the final game seemed inconsequential as 55,351 baseball fans came out to see an end of an era. Sunday's game drew the largest baseball crowd ever at Three Rivers Stadium, while the three-game total of 138,937 was also a record.

Fittingly, Sister Sledge sang the National Anthem followed by "We Are Family", the song adopted by the 1979 World Champion Pirates.

The game itself was a microcosm of how the Pirates season unraveled. They built an 8-5 lead only to see Shane Andrews' two-run double complete the Cubs' rally in the eighth inning.

A Look Back At Three Rivers Stadium
Did you know that Three Rivers Stadium is covered by 128,226 square feet of Astroturf with underground drainage? Find out more quirky facts. Here's a timeline of Three Rivers Stadium history. There are some nice pictures of Three Rivers on Michael Morrongiello's Web pages. See what The Sporting News had to say about Three Rivers.

Brian Giles, John Vander Wal and John Wehner contributed three hits each with Vander Wal doubling twice and driving in three runs. Wehner, a life-long Pirates fan, homered in the loss.

Kris Benson was opposite former Pirate Jon Lieber on the mound, but neither pitcher figured in the decision. Scott Sauerback was saddled with the loss, while Kyle Farnsworth picked up the win on the mound. Benson led the team with a 3.85 ERA.

A Look Ahead To PNC Park
The PNC Park Interactive Cam. Take a gander at what PNC Park will look like: Aerial View; Entrance. Quick Facts About PNC Park. Do you like to break things? Check out the demolition work that cleared room for PNC Park.

At 69-93, the Pirates finished in fifth place in the National League Central, 21 games and about three spots in the standings lower than owner Kevin McClatchy predicted.

Injuries played a major role in the disappointing season as Francisco Cordova and Jason Schmidt, the No. 1 and 2 pitchers in the Pirates' pitching rotation, missed most of the season. Kris Benson missed starts with a tired arm, while Jose Silva also missed time with a variety of injuries. Silva led the Pirates' staff with 11 wins.

Todd Ritchie was hot and cold and never really found a groove and Jimmy Anderson showed only a few flashes of being worthy of a spot in the starting rotation.

The bright spots remained the same.

Brian Giles led the club with 35 home runs and 123 RBI, while Jason Kendall batted .320 and scored 120 runs. Kendall also led the team with 22 stolen bases.

Playing their games at Three Rivers Stadium isn't the only era coming to an end for Pittsburgh. Monday, the Pirates are expected to fire manager Gene Lamont. Lamont received a long standing ovation during the presentation of the lineup cards before the start of the game.

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