Construction of Forbes Field began on March 1, 1909. It was opened four months later, on June 30. A crowd of 30,338, then the largest Pittsburgh crowd ever to see a baseball game, saw the Pirates lose 3-2 to the Cubs. In a bit of irony, the last game at Forbes Field, played June 28, 1970, was just two days short of 61 years of the date it opened, and against the same team. The largest Forbes Field crowd was 44,932 for Prize Day, September 23, 1956.

Forbes Field was the scene of many memorable moments in Pirate history. The most dramatic was Bill Mazeroski's historic home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh and final game of the 1960 World Series. With the game tied at nine, Mazeroski homered on the second pitch from Yankee reliever Ralph Terry to give the Pirates a 10-9 win and the World Series Championship. It created the greatest spontaneous celebration ever in Pittsburgh sports history. Mazeroski appropriately had the last Pirate hit at Forbes Field, a double to left center in the seventh inning. Fittingly he also recorded the final out in the field. Fielding a ground ball by Don Kessinger he touched second base to retire Willie Smith.