page_title: 2001 Pittsburgh Pirates season
section_title: PNC Park
hierarchical_section_title: 2001 Pittsburgh Pirates season / PNC Park
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of statue of Honus Wagner, taken by myself in 2004: this is the third location of the statue. It was originally at Forbes Field in 1954 and Three Rivers Stadium in 1971 before coming to PNC Park in 2001.
context_page_description: The 2001 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 120th season of the franchise; the 115th in the National League. This was their first season at PNC Park. The Pirates finished sixth and last in the National League Central with a record of 62–100, their first 100 loss season since 1952. The year also saw longtime Pirate Bill Mazeroski inducted into the Hall of Fame.
context_section_description: The Pirates opened the park with two pre-season games against the New York Mets, the first was played on March 31, 2001. The first official baseball game played in PNC Park was between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates, on April 9, 2001. The Reds won the game by the final score of 8–2. The first pitch was thrown by Todd Ritchie, a ball to Barry Larkin. In the top of the first inning, Sean Casey's two-run home run was the first hit in the park. The first Pirates' batter, Adrian Brown, struck out; however, later in the inning Jason Kendall singled, the first hit by a Pirate. Two days later, John Vander Wal became the first Pirate to hit a home run in the park.
  Upon opening in 2001, PNC Park was praised by fans and media alike. Jim Caple, of ESPN.com, ranked PNC Park as the best stadium in Major League Baseball, with a score of 95 out of 100. He compared the park to Fallingwater, calling the stadium itself "perfect", and citing the high ticket prices as the only negative aspect of visiting the park. Pirates' vice-president Steve Greenberg said, "We said when construction began that we would build the best ballpark in baseball, and we believe we've done that." Major League Baseball executive Paul Beeston has said the park was the best he's seen so far in baseball. Many of the workers who built the park said that it was the nicest that they have seen. In 2008, Men's Fitness named the park one of "10 big league parks worth seeing this summer".
caption: Statue of Honus Wagner, outside the homeplate entrance
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