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Sunday, April 08, 2001

All the hype about the official opening of PNC Park isn't confined to the Pirates.

Sean Casey, a 1992 graduate of Upper St. Clair High School and first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, is thrilled to be part of the inaugural game ceremonies tomorrow. And he has already gotten an advanced scouting report from a family member who saw the exhibition game last Saturday against the Mets.

"My dad [Jim] went to the first exhibition game against the Mets, and he said the stadium's gorgeous," Casey said. "We're the team that gets to open the new stadium. I'm excited. I get to be there as a player and as a fan."

The Reds also got to christen Milwaukee's new Miller Park on Friday.

Casey had seen pictures of PNC Park in the Post-Gazette and has heard much about the park. But descriptions can't do justice to the skyline view, the detailed architecture and intimate feel of a $262 million creation that puts the city inside the ballpark and the park inside the city.

"I've heard it's spectacular. I can't wait," Casey said.

As a kid, Casey said he saw 15 to 20 games a year up in the Bob Uecker seats at Three Rivers Stadium, which was opened with a game against the Reds on July 16, 1970.

"Me and my buddies would get those $3 seats and go up to the upper deck," he said.

He watched the implosion of Three Rivers on TV with mixed feelings. And when he drives through the Fort Pitt Tunnel there will be a vacant lot where it disappeared into a roiling cloud of dust.

"It was amazing to watch the implosion, but Pittsburgh needs something like the new park," he said. "I think it will revive the city and bring baseball back. The city needs a boost. It's such a football town. I think this is really going to be exciting."

Political ballpark

Mayor Tom Murphy's father worked for 51 years at a steel mill that's not there anymore and introduced Murphy to baseball at Forbes Field. Murphy had his 10-year-old son T.J. at the exhibition games last weekend to keep the tradition going.

With the May Democratic primary just around the corner, he also knows his job as mayor hinges on how the taxpaying voters view the ballpark that lacked public support when it was financed.

"This election is about this ballpark and the stadium. No doubt about it," Murphy said.

"This is a city that struggled mightily when we lost the steel mills. This is going to surprise people who still think of us as a declining rust belt city. At night when the lights are on, the view from the Presidential Suite at the Renaissance Hotel is as pretty as Paris. What I'm proudest of is we really did it right. Everything about it is right. Even if it costs me my job, I'm glad we did it."

No folding

In a vignette left over from spring training, pitching coach Spin Williams had just learned that Kris Benson would miss the first three weeks of the regular season after Jason Schmidt and Francisco Cordova were already down with injuries.

"And I wanted to be a pitching coach," Williams said half-jokingly.

Then in the second game of the season, a sprained knee knocked out Terry Mulholland, who was signed to solidify the bullpen but was moved to the rotation in an emergency. But Williams said the same thing after the earlier injuries.

"I'm in this poker game. I'm not folding," he said.

Family matters

Speaking of Mulholland, the Uniontown native purchased six season tickets in the pricey Home Plate Club so his mom and dad and other family and friends could come to PNC Park.

"Have to take care of the parents," Mulholland said.