The best ways for kids to enjoy Pirate games and Riverhounds games
Hope springs eternal this time of year. We can hope for a mild summer where it rains only while we’re sleeping, the mosquitoes are lazy and the grass stays green. Most of us also hope the Pirates will continue their winning ways and the Riverhounds can best last year’s 11 wins. And we can hope that Pittsburgh family outings to PNC Park on the North Shore and Highmark Stadium near Station Square result in the sort of family fun that makes Pittsburgh a great place to raise kids.
Pittsburgh’s professional baseball and soccer teams are doing their best to create safe and fun opportunities for families to take in games. Some attractions are obvious, some less so.
Pirates Director of Group Sales and Hospitality Cassie Wilkinson says the team has 13 kids’ days scheduled throughout the spring and summer. These Sunday events begin two and a half hours before first pitch with a street party on Federal Street featuring inflatables, face painting, games and kid-oriented activities.
Greg Umbras of Mt. Lebanon says his boys Leo, Auggie, and Solomon enjoy taking the Gateway Clipper to PNC Park, so they park at Station Square and catch the ferry. The panoramic view includes the Water Steps and Canal Square at North Shore Riverfront Park. Those stops are a carrot for postgame, assuming everyone’s managed to hold it together. After all, nine innings can be a long time for kids to stay engaged.
What about once you’re inside? Anyone who’s ever taken little kids to PNC Park knows about the climbing apparatus and mini-PNC field of Highmark Kids Zone just inside the Right Field Gate. But veteran PNC Park chaperones know to take their charges to Bucaroos Concession Stand near the Highmark Legacy Square Gate, where you can get kid-sized portions and family-friendly prices for fries (both chicken and French), hot dogs, popcorn and the like.
On languid summer evenings, parents can turn to the many between-inning features that youngsters can play along with: The Chik-fil-A Spot the Cow after the second, the Pirate Legends Treasure Hunt on the scoreboard after the fourth, and, of course, the pierogi race after the fifth.
Seth Mundorff of Finleyville says he developed his own between-inning strategy to keep his girls Zoey and Addison from going off the rails. He figures it’s best to be preemptive.
“Plan a different activity for each inning break,” he says. “Maybe it’s food after the second, a Pirates gear store after the third, a bathroom break in the fourth.”
The strategy has its downside, of course.
“Such a schedule of running around probably means that you’ll get to see far less of the game yourself,” Mundorff says. “But if you were going to the Pirate game to watch baseball, then you wouldn’t have taken the kids in the first place.”
After each Sunday matinee game, kids 14 and younger can run the bases. Yeah, the same bases on the field their heroes just competed on. The line for this activity starts forming in the eighth inning right around that kids zone at the Right Field Gate. The line only looks intimidating, though. It starts moving as soon as the teams are off the field, (about 20 minutes or so after the last out) and takes less than an hour to get everyone through.
“My best suggestion is to get there early, get in line, and let your kids enjoy the kids zone while you wait in line,” Wilkinson says.
The Riverhounds
Over on the South Shore, the Riverhounds offer their own family experience.
“Coming to a Riverhounds game is a really family-friendly experience,” says Riverhounds Marketing Director Rachel Vigliotti. “For starters, you always know how long the game is going to be. Ninety minutes is perfect for kids.”
Kids are built into the fabric of the Riverhounds operation, Vigliotti said. The team runs summer camps and has the Riverhounds Development Academy, a skills-oriented training academy for kids from 3 to 17 years old. And, with a capacity of 3,400, Highmark Stadium is an intimate venue, fostering pleasant crowds that are the antithesis of the football hooligans of British lore.
“You can let your kid run around here and don’t have to worry about beer getting spilled on their head,” she said. “Once we get people in here we want them to have a good time and want to come back.”
Aside from efforts to build family into the main product, the Riverhounds also have scheduled several kid- and family-specific events throughout the soccer season.
Kids Days at Highmark are slated for May 7th, July 23rd, Aug. 13th and Sept. 24th, when one child gets in free per ticket-holding parent. On superhero night May 7th, any kid – or adult — in costume gets 25 percent off at the gate.
Stadium officials are working to bring back the spirit of the Kids Zone near the entrance gates with bounce houses and face painting, Vigliotti says. Some of the Kids Days also will include partnerships with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium and Kennywood. Representatives will be on hand with tables, mascots and giveaways like family four packs to the zoo and Kennywood.
“We’re looking to build on that,” Vigliotti said. “We’re playing around with some ideas for halftime—skills tests and that sort of thing.”
Jennifer Davis of South Fayette Township says she’s always got a couple of tricks up her sleeve in the event her kids, Brynn and Dylan, start to get antsy at Highmark Stadium.
“Our kids really like the autograph session with the players on the field after the game,” she says. “We use that as a bargaining chip for good behavior.”
Riverhounds Kids Days
May 7th: Superhero Night (mini travel bag giveaway and 25 percent off for wearing a costume)
July 23rd: Book It Night (25 percent off with book donation for the book drive)
Aug. 13th: Youth Sports Night ($5 off tickets for youth sports teams)
Sept. 24th: Fan Appreciation Night (beanie hat giveaway)
Kids Days at PNC Park
April 17th: Josh Harrison Gnome
May 1st: Andrew McCutchen Silver Slugger Plastic Bat
May 22nd: Portable Speaker
June 5th: Pillbox Cap
June 12th: Tech T-Shirt
June 26th: Andrew McCutchen New Replica Alternate Jersey
July 10th: Francisco Cervelli Wall Decals
July 24th: Josh Harrison Wall Decals
Aug. 7th: Starling Marte Wall Decals
Aug. 21st: W.B. Mason Collectible Truck
Sept. 4th: Flat Bill Snapback Cap
Sept. 11th: OYO Buildable Figurine
Sept. 25th: Drawstring Bag
Pirates In-Game Features
Middle of 2nd Inning: Highmark Feature with activities like Body by the Bird, Pictionary and more.
End of 2nd Inning: Spot the Cow
End of 3rd Inning: La Roche Know the Bird Quiz
End of 4th Inning: Pirate Legends Treasure Hunt
Middle of 5th Inning: Pierogi Race
End of 5th Inning: T-Shirt Toss
Middle of 6th Inning: Beat the Bucco
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