Three Rivers Stadium

David Hegler
23 minutes ago
7 min read

In the first decade of its existence, Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium was known for one thing: winning. Six times, its tenants went to the world championship game or series and six times they came away with the title. In that era, both the Steelers and Pirates dominated the competition while bringing the city to life and out of the muck of a dying steel industry.

The Conception

Although they had grown fond of their surroundings, the Pirates realized that old Forbes Field had fallen behind the times and that it was time for an upgrade. Once the Fort Duquesne Bridge was completed in 1968 to connect downtown Pittsburgh with the north shore, the Pirates saw that as an opportunity to build a new state-of-the-art ballpark.

Together with the NFL's Steelers, the Pirates hired renowned architect Osborn Engineering to plan a stadium with an open end and, similar to New York's Shea Stadium. However, this was at a time when Osborn Engineering was being hired to plan a large number of stadiums. Faced with a constant deadline over a wide swath of America, Osborn Engineering simply didn't have the time to plan anything unique for each project. Thus, the cookie cutter stadium was born, with each stadium looking virtually identical as its sisters. As a result, Pittsburgh's new stadium would look less like Shea Stadium and nearly identical to Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium.

Built on top of the site of what was once Exposition Park -which itself had been built on an old Delaware Indian burial ground- the new stadium broke ground on April 25, 1968. $55 million and 29 months later, Pittsburgh's gleaming new stadium was open for business. Since it rested on the banks of an area where the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela Rivers all met, the new venue was simply called Three Rivers Stadium.

The Glory Years

After some delays, Three Rivers Stadium officially opened on July 16, 1970. with Pittsburgh mayor Peter Flaherty and Pirates minority owner Bing Crosby in attendance, the Pirates lost to the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 in front of a capacity crowd of 48, 846 when Lee May drove in Tony Perez for the winning run at the top of the ninth. Ironically, the Pirates would finish the year by getting swept by the Reds in the NLCS.

When fall came around, two banks of 4,000 ground level seats on the first and third base sides were removed and repositioned to become an 8,000 section of 50-yard line seats and increase overall capacity from 47,972 to 59,000. It made for an excellent cheering section for Steelers supporters and proved to provide an apt homefield advantage.

New quarterback Terry Bradshaw began his career by completing just four of 16 passes for a paltry 19.3 rating in the Steelers' regular season opener at Three Rivers Stadium on September 20, 1970. Backup Terry Hanratty finally put the Steelers on the board late in the game by completing a 15-yard touchdown pass to Ron Shanklin in a forgettable 19-7 loss to the Houston Oilers. The Steelers would finish the year 5-9.

Emboldened by their success from a year before, the Pirates charged to the 1971 World Series with a distinct determination in their eyes. facing a 2-1 series deficit against the Baltimore Orioles, the Pirates beat the Orioles 4-3 at Three Rivers Stadium to even the series in the first night game in World Series history. The Pirates would ultimately win it all in seven at Baltimore.

Injuries had kept Pirates all-time great Roberto Clemente out of the lineup for much of 1972. Still, despite the time off, he always remained within striking distance of becoming just the 11th player in history to record 3,000 hits in a career. On September 30, 1972, Clemente took full advantage of his opportunity by bashing a double off of the Mets' Jon Matlack. Instantly, all 13,117 rose to their feat in applause and adulation. It was the last regular season hit of Roberto Clemente's legendary career.

Meanwhile, after years of building through the draft, the Steelers began to emerge as surprising contenders. Just months after Roberto Clemente hit his 3,000th hit, the Steelers made the playoffs for the first time since 1947. For four quarters they battled the Oakland Raiders in a defensive masterpiece. Once Ken Stabler rushed from 30 yards out to give Oakland a slim 7-6 lead late in the fourth quarter, the clock was ticking on the Steelers' season.

Facing fourth down from his own 40-yard line, Terry Bradshaw took the snap, immediately dodged two massive Raider defenders and launched a prayer from the 29-yard line, hoping that his pass would connect with running back John "Frenchy" Fuqua. Instead, it caromed off of either Fuqua or the Raiders Jack Tatum and into the eager yet surprised hands of rookie running back Franco Harris at the Oakland 41-yard line.

Harris didn't miss a beat and quickly outpaced every Oakland defender as he galloped into the endzone for one of sport's greatest walk-off moments ever. Suffice it to say, Three Rivers Stadium was in a state of utter hysterics. The 60-yard miracle was soon nicknamed "the Immaculate Reception" by beloved Pittsburgh sportscaster Myron Cope.

One week later, Roberto Clemente's plane went missing when he was trying to bring supplies to Nicaragua which had undergone a devastating earthquake. His plane has never been found. The Steel City was in shock. While the Steelers tried to give the fans some hope by playing in the AFC Championship Game at Three Rivers Stadium that day, their efforts proved to be futile as they lost to the undefeated Dolphins.

Still, a spark had been lit within the Steelers organization. They knew that they could win and revitalize a city that was on the brink of economic ruin due to a dying steel industry. Led by names such as Joe Greene, Mike Webster, Jack Lambert, Mel Blount and Chuck Noll, the Steelers won the first of four Super Bowls just months after Three Rivers Stadium hosted the 1974 All-Star Game (NL won 7-2, Dodgers' Steve Garvey was MVP).

Thrice, Three Rivers Stadium hosted the AFC Championship Game and the Steelers made good use of the frigid conditions. While other teams were slipping and sliding all along the "ice rink", the Steelers relied on a steady ground attack from the inside and a dominant front-seven to attack the opposition. The conditions proved maddening for their opponents.

By the time the Steelers were looking for their fourth championship, the Pirates had sprung to life, reaching the 1979 Fall Classic. All hope seemed lost when the Pirates fell behind 3-1, losing Game 3 8-4 and Game 4 9-6 at home. Still, the team knew that they had what it took to make a comeback. Down 1-0 going into the sixth inning of Game 5, Willie Stargell got the ball rolling by driving in Tim Foli on a sacrifice fly. It was the beginning of a barrage as the Pirates went on to score seven runs over the next three innings, at once electrifying the crowd at Three Rivers Stadium and launching their comeback. The Pirates won in seven at Baltimore.

From a distance, the Steelers watched as their baseball counterparts refused to listen to the naysayers. At that point, the Steelers were an aging bunch, with many of its greatest players having lost a step. Still, they knew how to win. After claiming another AFC Central title, the Steelers vanquished the Houston Oilers once again in the AFC Championship Game before claiming their fourth Super Bowl title at the Rose Bowl. With that, the greatest era of Pittsburgh sports had come to a close. While Three Rivers Stadium would remain standing for decades, none of its tenants ever won another championship while residing in the old stadium.

The End of an Era

While the Pirates and Steelers had enjoyed moments of success, none of it compared to the glory of the 1970's. The Pirates enjoyed their greatest stretch of ticket sales in 1990 and 1991 when they drew more than two-million while the team tried in vain to make it back to the World Series. But alas they furthest they would ever get to the Fall Classic with Barry Bonds were back-back-to-back losses to the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves in the 1990, 1991 and 1992 NLCS.

Meanwhile, after Chuck Noll stepped down as the Steelers longtime coach after the 1991 season, the Steelers hired Pittsburgh native Bill Cowher to take his place. The young coach immediately injected a new competitive energy in the franchise that it hadn't felt since their heyday more than a decade earlier. The Steelers became regulars in the AFC Championship Game through much of the decade, but they usually came up short in front of a hometown crowd. They finally broke through in 1995 by beating the resurgent Colts, but they came up short against the Cowboys in the Super Bowl two weeks later. Their loss to the Denver Broncos in the 1997 AFC Championship Game was the last postseason game that Three Rivers Stadium would ever host.

The Pirates' last game at Three Rivers Stadium was a painful one. With the Pirates up 8-7, the Cubs scored three at the top of the eighth to ultimately sink the hearts of 55,351 as the Pirates lost 10-9 in the first day of October 2000. Although the Pirates hadn't been in the playoffs since Bonds left in 1993, they still drew more than 1.7 million in their final year at Three Rivers Stadium.

The Steelers last game at Three Rivers Stadium was decidedly more celebratory. On December 16, 2000, they demolished the Washington Redskins 24-3, with Richard Huntley's 30-yard fourth quarter scamper into the endzone providing the final points ever scored at the old stadium.

After both teams left, and their old home was demolished in a public display in February 2001, they stuck around in the neighborhood, moving to stadiums mere feet from where Three Rivers Stadium once stood. Today, markers decorate General Robinson Street, noting where Three Rivers Stadium once stood.

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