Pirates Celebrating PNC Park Anniversary With First Pitch of 2026
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates are celebrating a milestone with their ballpark and will make sure to have some of the first stars there as a part of the festivities.
The Pirates will have both former catcher Jason Kendall and outfielder Brian Giles as the two people who will throw out the first pitch at the home opener vs. the Baltimore Orioles at PNC Park on April 3.
Kendall and Giles were a big part of the Pirates in the early part of the 21st century, which coincided with the opening of PNC Park in 2001, which the team is celebrating the 25th anniversary of this season.
The Pirates will also pregame featuring a flyover of four Blackhawk helicopters, the River City Brass Band performing the national anthem, a color guard, a moment of remembrance for Pirates players who have died in the past year, lineup for both the Pirates and Orioles and a pregame ceremony from Greg Brown starting at 3:35 p.m.
Jason Kendall and Brian Giles' Legacy With the Pirates
Both Kendall and Giles were two of the best players for the Pirates during the early 2000s, a period where the team saw little success on the field.
Kendall played nine seasons with the Pirates from 1996-2004 and was their first overall pick in the 1992 MLB Draft out of Torrance High School in Torrance, Calif.
Batting Average | On-Base % | Slugging % | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|
.306 | .387 | .418 | .805 |
Stat | Total |
|---|---|
Hits | 1,409 |
Doubles/Triples | 256/29 |
Home Runs | 67 |
RBI/Runs Scored | 471/706 |
Walks/Strikeouts | 454/403 |
He leads the Pirates with most games caught and has played in the second most games for the franchise as a catcher, 1,252, with Manny Sanguillen leading with 1,296 games.
Kendall also leads the Pirates by getting hit by a pitch 177 times, which is 66 times more than the next player, Startling Marte (2012-19) at 111 times.
He earned an All-Star nod in three seasons, 1996 as a rookie, then both 1998 and 2000, serving as one of the best catchers in Pirates' history.
Kendall also was the first Pirates player to hit for a cycle at Three Rivers Stadium on May 19, 2000, the final season of that ballpark.
The Pirates landed Giles in trade with the Cleveland Indians in the 1998 offseason and he excelled with the team for the next five seasons, 1999-2003, as their best power hitter.
Batting Average | On-Base % | Slugging % | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|
.308 | .426 | .591 | 1.018 |
Stat | Total |
|---|---|
Hits | 782 |
Home Runs | 165 |
Doubles/Triples | 174/26 |
RBI/Runs Scored | 506/501 |
Walks/Strikeouts | 519/338 |
He possesses both the best slugging percentage and OPS in franchise history, while ranking sixth in batting average, seventh in home runs, 13th in walks and 26th in RBI.
Giles also hit at least 30 home runs in each of his five seasons with the Pirates and earned back-to-back All-Star nods in 2000 and 2001, before they traded him to the San Diego Padres in 2003 for his final seven MLB seasons.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.