Forbes Field was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League.

Forbes Field was one of those great old ballparks built over the course of decades. As need demanded, pieces were added here and there, a grandstand extended, seats put on the roof, until you ended up with a hodgepodge of a ballpark that was so utterly unique that it could not be reproduced by a team of the best architects. I guess that's why the modern efforts to produce old-style ballparks, while worthy and successful, have never quite managed to recreate the unique magic of the classics. I guess you can't plan character. It needs to develop over time.

Forbes Field was torn down in the early 1970's to make way for the expansion of the University of Pittsburgh. However, somebody with a sense of history preserved a few landmarks for future generations. On my visit to Pittsburgh in 1998, I drove east of the city (to Oakland, where the park actually stood) and searched out these monuments.

In one of the university buildings, home plate has been preserved, under plexiglass, in it's exact location. The line of the outfield fence has been marked in brick on the campus grounds with a plaque marking the exact spot where Bill Mazeroski's home run cleared the fence to win the 1960 World Series.

The crowning moment of the tour, though, is the wall. Whoever thought to leave a large section of the ivy-covered, brick wall of Forbes Field standing, along with the center field flag pole, should be thanked by every ballpark lover. The wall is in excellent shape, the home run distances appear to be freshly painted, and the ivy is healthy and green.

Forbes Field may be gone, but with a little imagination, standing by that piece of wall early on a September morning, you can turn and gaze back at the university campus and almost see the grandstand rising in it's place...