Exclusive: Pirates, Cardinals to play Williamsport

The Pirates and Cardinals are planning to move their Aug. 20 game, originally set for PNC Park, to Williamsport, Pa., a source told DKPittsburghSports.com Monday morning.



The event, which could become an annual one for Major League Baseball, would coincide with the Little League World Series that will run Aug. 17-27 this year. Aug. 20 is a Sunday, and the Pirates-Cardinals game would be played at Historic Bowman Field, home of the minor-league Williamsport Crosscutters.

No announcement is expected from the teams or MLB until April. ESPN is known to be involved already, according to the source, but the network has made no announcement, either

The stadium, which seats 4,200, opened in 1926 and is the second-oldest in the minor. Upgrades to the field itself will be made by MLB to meet major-league standards in the spring before the Crosscutters, the Phillies' short-season Class A affiliate, begin play later in the summer.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred moved a 2016 game between the Marlins and Braves to a U.S. military base in Fort Bragg, N.C., last July 3 at a 12,500-seat stadium built jointly by MLB and the MLB Players Association. This is expected to be in the same spirit. That game was televised nationally by ESPN as a Sunday night broadcast, and only members of the military and their families could acquire tickets.

The Pirates were part of another Manfred initiative last summer when they and the Marlins were scheduled to play a two-game series in Puerto Rico. But that was canceled and moved back to Miami because of concerns regarding the Zika virus.

UPDATE 2:16 p.m.: The Pirates, in response to our report, issued this statement through spokesman Brian Warecki: "The idea is a great one and would be a very rewarding experience for our players, but we are not able to confirm anything at this time."