Baseball Stadia

Kauffman Stadium

2011-09-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

I was recently able to get to my first two games at Kauffman with my good friend John. We had no reason to visit KC other than to see the stadium. It was also nice to see the Negro League Baseball Museum and eat some great BBQ. Kauffman is currently the 6th oldest park in service. It was opened in 1973 and built for about $70M dollars. To put things in perspective Citizens Bank paid $95M in 2004 for naming rights in Philadelphia. In 2007 they spent an additional $250M on renovations to the park. Until that point the stadium was the only major league park that didn’t have outfield seating. The renovations probably helped in landing the 2012 All Star Game. Kauffman Stadium was one of the few baseball only parks of that era. Contemporary stadiums of the day were Three Rivers in Pittsburgh ‘70, Veteran’s Stadium in Philadelphia ’71, Kingdome in Seattle ’76, and the Metrodome in Minneapolis ’82. All of which are now closed.

The two games I saw featured the Minnesota Twins. The Twins and Royals were battling for last place in the division. The Twins had a slumping Joe Mauer. Justin Morneau was out for the year. The Royals had a roster with only one player over the age of 30. This player happened to be Bruce Chen, who threw a masterpiece for the first game. Bruce went 8 innings, gave up no runs and allowed only 3 hits and walks. KC won 4-0. Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas each had a home run. For the second game, the Royals were again dominant winning 7-3. There were no home runs this game but Jeff Francoeur went 3 for 4 with a SB. Despite a late rally and save situation we did not get to see Joakim Soria.

One of the things I found surprising was how many Twins fans were in attendance. Most of the ones we talked to had driven down for the series. Overall I rate this as a very nice park. It has a classic feel and good sight lines. The fountains in the outfield are a unique part of the park and lend a nice touch.

Tropicana Field

2010-09-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

I was able to attend my first two games at Tropicana Field this season. It’s the last of the domed stadiums. This was built in the late 80’s in hopes of attracting a major league team. Tampa was used by the White Sox, Giants, and Mariners to leverage their respective cities into building new ballparks. If you keep the date in mind the design makes more sense. The Rays began play in 1998. Comparable stadiums for the late 90’s were Bank One/Chase Field and Safeco Field, both of which feature retractable roofs. [Turner Field also opened around this time, but that was just a conversion of the stadium built for the Olympics.] Tropicana Field, originally the Sun Coast dome, opened in early 1990. Comparable parks at that time included Dolphins Stadium, Sky Dome/Rogers Centre, and the new Comiskey. The first two, along with Tropicana, were multi-use stadiums. The point of all this is that the Trop’ is nice…for a late 80’s multi-purpose dome. Having a dome in Tampa is not the worst idea. The Sky Dome was the only real retractable roof stadium of that era and it cost 4 times as much. The weather is also a concern. Aside from the heat and humidity, Tampa is called the lightning capital of the world during the summer months.

The stadium is predictably dull from the outside reminiscent of the Kingdome and Metrodome. There is a ‘main entrance’ which oddly leads into the area behind center field. The atrium has a scale painting of the field on the floor. Some of the features try to remind people of the outdoors. There is a faux exterior wall both in the playing area and in some of the vending areas. There are also parts of the vending areas that are painted to look like city [eg walls painted to look like red brick, cloudy sky, and a subway stop.] The most unique feature is the tank of rays which are native to the area. You can visit the tank through the 6th inning where you can buy fish and feed it to the rays. I tried to get up there but the lines were huge. The park holds the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame. This is a very cool display giving tribute to some of the great hitters of all time. There is a small museum piece off the vending area which serves as the entrance to the bigger museum [about 10,000 sqft] upstairs. It too is open through the 6th inning and worth looking through.

Aside from not being able to see the field from the vending areas, some of the food was pretty good. The hot dog was bland and came on a stale bun, but the real treat was the ‘hot pressed Cuban’ which is a turkey, ham, salami, and cheese sandwich. It comes on a roll which, true to its’ name, is put into one of those hot sandwich presses before being served. I highly recommend the Cuban.

The fans seem a bit tepid about the team. The two games I saw were on a Friday and Saturday night immediately following a series with the Yankees where the Rays took 2 of 3 and first place in the division. That being said, attendance was 23,000 Friday and 32,000 Saturday. The fans who showed up were very loyal to the Rays. Lots of jerseys, t-shirts, and hats. Plus they cheered at the right times. The Saturday game was immediately followed by an Adam Lambert concert. I’m no expert in current pop culture so I have no idea how much Adam may have boosted ticket sales for that game, but on the shuttle back to a parking lot I heard someone say, “I’ve never seen so many emo girls at a baseball game before. I thought Slipknot was playing against the Rays.” Later in this entertaining tirade he admitted to being kicked out of the game that evening for ‘enthusiastically supporting the team.’ It’s good to keep things in context here. Every city and state has a personality. In Florida, men tuck their t-shirts into their jeans or shorts, women wear leopard print everything, and mullets are still in style.

The games I got to attend were both excellent. The Angels were in town for the weekend including Bobby Abreu and Hideki Matsui, two great players whose best years are behind them. Friday was a back and forth battle. Dan Haren and Wade Davis both delivered quality starts. The Angels got a solo shot from Brandon Wood in the top of the ninth which won the game. Saturday was an equally good pitching performance from Joel Pinero and David Price. The Angels had the lead going into the bottom of the 9th when pinch hitter Willy Aybar tied the game to send it to extras. In the bottom of the 10th, Friday’s hero Brandon Wood became the goat when his throwing error allowed the winning run to score.

Two final thoughts on the ballpark. First, Anaheim has the Rally Monkey, which I still think is pretty funny. The Rays version is a DJ cat wearing a Rays jersey, backwards hat, and the big necklace at the turntable. The arms of the cat you see are not really the cats arms, but they are made to look like they’re clapping, running the turntable, or up in the air going side to side. The Rally Monkey is the original, but the cat was funny too.

Lastly, the Tropicana logo in right field is the straw stuck into the orange which is supposed to give the impression that Tropicana brand juice is so fresh, it’s just like drinking straight from the orange. When the home team hits a home run, the straw lights up in sequence culminating in juice spurting out the end of the straw. The whole thing orange/straw thing looks rather phallic. Rather than being inspired to grab some OJ after a home run, I feel like I need to wash my hands and not touch anything in the stadium.

Safeco Field

2010-04-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

I attended my first games at Safeco Field at the beginning of the 2010 season. This is a nice park. Not a great park, but really nice. From the outside it’s an imposing red brick structure. It’s next to Qwest Field where the Seahawks play. One of the first things you notice about Safeco is the retractable roof, however, when the roof is closed it doesn’t make it an indoor field like Miller Park or Bank One/Chase Field. The sides of the field, notable past left, is open. The roof is like a giant umbrella. Perfect for Seattle. Safeco opened in 1999 which makes it of median age for active ballparks. [17th oldest currently] What gives its’ age away is the main scoreboard. It’s the large monochrome with smaller color screen to the side which was typical for that era.

Both games I saw were against the A’s in the home opener for the season. The first game was a pitching gem for the first five innings, then it was just a pitching gem for the A’s. The Mariners were shut out in a 2-hit/2-walk performance by Justin Duchscherer and two relievers. The second game was another pitching gem, this time with the Mariners on top. Doug Fister gave up 3 hits/no walks over 8 IP. Milton Bradley – who was 1 or 25 entering the game went 2 for 4 including a 3-run blast in the 8th for the game’s only runs.

A few things to note. Prior to the opening game, I arrived to the park early to walk around and check the park out. I was in the club level between 3rd and home. I had seat #2 and seat #1 had a guy in his early 20’s who was…interesting. He knew baseball, which was good. He was also the only person I know who stood and cheered leading up to and counting down for the pre-game show. The ceremonial first pitch for the home opener was thrown out by Randy Johnson. As a surprise Dan Wilson [his old catcher] caught the pitch. Then Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr. came out on the field for a mini reunion. The last time I was in Seattle for a game, they were all still playing.

For the second game I sat field level by third base. Three rows in front of me was a guy wearing a Giants hat and jacket. Through a conversation with the beer vendor, he claims he is the brother of Tim Lincecum. Do I believe this? It seems unlikely, but he looked about the right age, was Filipino, and Lincecum grew up in Washington and played for UW.

Jack Murphy/Qualcomm

2009-12-30T15:42:00.000-08:00

Jack Murphy Stadium had to be my last entry [excluding new stadia I have not yet visited]. I have attended hundreds of games at this park. For some of the years I was a season ticket holder. I moved to San Diego in October 1989. My second night in San Diego was the World Series game that was cancelled between Oakland and San Francisco. So my first full season in a city with professional baseball was 1990.

I used to consider Jack Murphy to be the best dual-purpose stadium. I still think this is true up until the stadium expansion in 1998. Pre-expansion, the stadium was open at one end [above right field for baseball and one of the end zones for football]. There was an open feeling and a nice view of Mission Valley. It’s hard to beat the weather in San Diego. I think there were less than five rain-outs in the 15 years I lived there. The field was typically in great shape until football season. One of the coolest things the stadium did was to install ‘computer seats’ for two seasons. To give proper credit, they were really for football games, which explains why there were in the loge level at first base and left field [aka the 50 yard line]. In these sections, every other seat had a touch screen computer that allowed the user to see instant replay, live broadcast from all of the camera angles, and some other TV stations like ESPN. This was in 1998 – an era before smart phones when showing the replay of a close call on the JumboTron was just not done. As a hockey fan, having the computer seats allowed us to see Stanley Cup playoff games while at the Padre game. The computer seats were removed after two seasons.

To get to the upper deck seats, there were a few escalators. San Diego fans are pretty laid back and getting in was always easy. There were also these circular ramps. You would alternate between walking down [or up] a section on the outside, then continue on the interior. I went to the playoff games against the Astros in 1998. Following one of the games we were walking down the ramps and the cheering in the interior was probably the loudest noise I have ever heard at a stadium.

The stadium had a big parking lot that surrounded the stadium. I would give mixed reviews on tailgating there. On the plus side, there was a lot of room. They had special concrete cylinders for hot coals. On the down side you were not allowed to use more than your assigned parking spot. Most people would use an adjacent empty spot until the parking lot started to fill up. The police patrolled the lot as well and you were not allowed to throw baseballs or footballs – even Nerf balls. Most people still did and the police would only harass people if they gave them an attitude. A huge addition to the stadium was the extension of the San Diego Trolley line to the parking lot. Prior to this you were pretty much at the mercy of the parking lot to get to the game. The alternatives were some street parking that was not very close to the stadium.

The food was very generic with two notable exceptions. One, Rubio’s Fish Tacos were very popular. There was always a big line there. The other, Randy Jones [former great Padre pitcher] had a barbeque restaurant which was really good. Randy was usually present and friendly with fans.

As I mentioned before, I have attended a lot of games here. I went to the home opener almost every year. It would be impossible to sum all of the great players and events I saw so I’ll give the abbreviated version:

In July 1990, a co-worker with season tickets invited me to a double-header against the Reds. The big draw for the game…Rosanne Barr was going to sing the National Anthem. She ‘sang’ between games and by my recollection, there were as many people cheering as booing.
In 1992 the All Star Game was going to be played in San Diego. In order to get tickets, MLB set up a lottery system. You sent a letter asking to be in the lottery and could submit one letter per address. I asked my co-workers who were not sports fans if I could submit using their address. I managed to put in 10 letters – and hit on three of them. One of the people who swore he wasn’t interested in going to the game suddenly changed his mind when his address was one of the winners. [Dick.] It was a good game to see. Griffey Jr. won the game MVP.
In 1993 I was a season ticket holder. The owners were getting rid of all of the expensive talent in order to sell the team. For obvious reasons, the fans were unhappy. To placate them, the season ticket holders all received a letter from the owners letting us know that no other good players would be traded this year. Two weeks later Fred McGriff was traded to the Braves.
In May 1994 I went to the Reds game when Tom Browning broke his arm. I could hear the pop from my seat.
Somewhere in the mid-90’s the Padres introduced the worst mascot to date. It was a dog-like character with a giant baseball for a nose named “Bleupper”. I don’t think anyone liked this mascot and fortunately he didn’t make a second season.
The 1998 playoff series against the Astros and Braves. I had tickets to every game. For the World Series against the Yankees I had a ticket to game 5. It was a sweep for New York. One of my co-workers ended up throwing away a ticket for game 3 since someone didn’t show up. [Rachel, if you’re reading this…I’m still a little bitter.]

Tony Gwynn was easily my favorite player to watch. He was the best pure hitter in his era and was worth the price of admission every night he played. I was never able to see guys like Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio play. If I was on the fence about going to see the Padres or not, I would think ‘what would I have given to see these great players in action?’ The fans would get on him about his weight. He wasn’t speedy at the end of his career but he could still make contact. I remember in his last season I was at a game where he was on second base and Dave Magadan [also at the end of his career] was on first. I turned to my friend and said, “Is that the slowest combination of base-runners in the majors right now?”

Trevor Hoffman was also amazing to watch. He was acquired from the Marlins. On his first night in San Diego, my friend John and I were at the game. Trevor was talking to a friend of his at the railing by the bullpen. John and I went down and introduced ourselves and welcomed him to San Diego. I’m sure Trevor has fond memories of that interaction. [OK, maybe not.] It was great to see a dominant closer in San Diego for all those years. In the early 2000’s my favorite trivia question at games was “who was the Padre closer before Trevor?” Most people didn’t know. [It was Randy Myers.]

Some of my other favorite Padres to watch: Ken Caminiti, Roberto Alomar, Greg Vaughn, Steve Finley, Kevin Brown [for that one year], Fred McGriff, Gary Sheffield, Rickey Henderson, and Wally Joyner. That’s not to say there weren’t other good players to come through San Diego. Other people I saw in the Padre uniform included Joe Carter, Jack Clark, Fernando Valenzuela, Tony Fernandez, and Ryan Klesko. For visiting players, if they were a regular starter in the NL from 1990 to 2003, I probably saw them at least once.

Jack Murphy was a good ballpark…pre-expansion. The Padres definitely upgraded by moving into Petco but I have very good memories of the Murph.

Nationals Park

2009-12-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

I had to save Nationals Park and Jack Murphy Stadium for last for different reasons. I am now a resident of the DC metropolitan area and the Nats are the home team. As a fan of the game, I want to see the local team do well, something the Nats haven’t accomplished over the past two years. Given a choice between living in a city with a bad team and living in a city with no major league baseball, the choice is obvious.

Nationals Park is a nice facility. It’s not great, but it is a really nice place to see a game. The majority of people travel to the game by Metro (the DC subway system). There is an exit a few hundred yards from the main entrance into the outfield. This entrance has two ticket window areas and some self-serve kiosks. If you prefer to scalp tickets, there are a number of unauthorized resellers between the Metro station and the ballpark. My only complaint about this entrance is the lack of any real outside architecture. The field is below street level. As you come in through the outfield entrance you are at the top of the field-level seats. In place of any substantial ballpark aesthetics for this entrance are two big [and ugly] parking garages. These garages serve another purpose which is to block the view of the US Capitol building from the stadium. There are a few seats where you can see the Capitol between the garages. This may become a moot point as this area goes through re-development. This was a warehouse district before the stadium and has a lot of potential to become a very trendy/hip neighborhood. For now it’s a bit sparse. If you’re looking to have dinner before the game, grab something downtown then travel to the ballpark. On the opposite side of the stadium is the first base entrance. Here is where the stadium structure rises up along the Anacostia River. There is also a walkway with years imprinted along the way. Each year has significance to Washington baseball and a small statue to the side explains the importance of that year. This entrance is hardly used in comparison to the OF entrance.

Once inside, you realize you’re in a nice ballpark. There are some statues right by the OF entrance. They look a little weird as the artist went for an effect of showing the people in motion. As a result, Walter Johnson has three arms. To the artists credit, he did show Johnson’s side arm pitching style. Along the vending area above the field level seats, the columns have large pictures of hall of fame players. What I found interesting was the choice to use all baseball HOF players as opposed to pictures of famous Washington players. [Please keep your chuckling to a minimum.] The scoreboard is huge and has great resolution. The New Yankee Stadium scoreboard may be bigger but Washington has nothing to be ashamed of. There is great variability in ticket prices. [add lower-level ticket prices here] The Nats also sell some upper deck tickets on day of game for $5 each. Otherwise the cheapest tickets are around $10. If you’re catching a day game in mid-summer, I suggest finding seats in the shade.

The food is standard ballpark fare, but they do have a few Ben’s Chili Bowl booths. Ben’s is a DC icon. [I highly recommend the original location downtown.] It’s not nearly as famous as Pat’s and Geno’s in Philadelphia, but the food is a lot better and the staff much friendlier. They also have a few gelato carts. I’m not much of an ice cream fan, but this is good stuff.

I went to the second regular season game ever held at this park. It was right after the 2008 BRBL draft and in keeping with the other two games I saw that weekend in Philadelphia and Baltimore, it was f-ing cold. I understand the first game was a sellout. The park was almost empty on this night. Partially due to the cold, partially due to the final four championship game being on. Since moving to the area, I have attended a number of games. I expect to be a season ticket holder within the next few years. The Nationals have been terrible the past two seasons. [>100 losses each year] They seem to have some good hitting with bad pitching. During this past season, they signed highly touted prospect Steven Strasburg. They held a ‘Welcome Steve’ press conference before a game I attended. I wasn’t able to get to the press conference but during a rain delay I saw Scott Boros leaving the stadium. On another night, I had my first experience with the umpires calling a rain delay and putting the tarp on the field…and it wasn’t raining. It did start raining about 25 minutes later – and it did get to be heavier rain within 45 minutes, but they could have continued play. Are players becoming so spoiled that they can’t get rained on?

If you’re in the DC area and have the opportunity, go see a game here. Get the full DC experience and Metro to the game. Be aware, this crowd is not ‘baseball mature’ yet. In other words, when you see a game in New York or Los Angeles, the crowd knows to stand up and/or make noise when the home team has 2 strikes on an opposing batter [especially when there’s 2 outs]. You’re lucky to get a handful of people to stand with 2 strikes with 2 outs in the top of the 9th with a lead. Just like the surrounding area, it’s under development.

One final comment. The park features a President’s Race before the bottom of the fourth inning. This is somewhat stylized after the sausage race featured in Milwaukee. The difference is the President’s Race is a complete farce and should be stopped completely in its current form. The sausages actually race. It’s not a difficult concept. Let the people in the giant heads try to win the race. The four Presidents depicted are Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt – from Mount Rushmore. [That would be Teddy, not FDR – which would be horribly inappropriate for a race.] The shtick for the race is Teddy never wins. With this race, the fans never win either.

Update August 2010: I was invited to the August 26 Nationals game against the Cardinals by my friend Wilson [who spent many years in St. Louis]. While the game itself was an impressive 13 inning back and forth battle, the most impressive event of the evening was Albert Pujols hitting career home run #400.

Albert rounding 3rd after career HR #400.

Oriole Park at Camden Yard

2009-12-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

This is a significant ballpark to the evolving history of baseball stadia. This was the first of the ‘back to the future’ parks. This ended the trend for massive concrete dual-purpose stadiums. From 1960 to 1991 twenty stadiums were built that MLB teams used. Of these 20, only 2 [Dodger Stadium & Kaufman Stadium] were baseball only. Camden Yard was the start of ‘baseball only’ parks movement.

This is a great ballpark. Easily one of my top five favorites. From the outside, there is lots of brick. They matched the color to an existing warehouse adjacent to the stadium. This is one of two ballparks to use an existing structure into the design of the stadium. [The other being Petco Park and the Western Metal building.] The warehouse is not physically connected to the stadium, but the space between them is used as a wide boardwalk for food and other vendors. Along this boardwalk is a SRO area above right field. When the park first opened they made a certain number of SRO tickets available day-of-game only. This park was relatively inexpensive to build by today’s standards, which keeps ticket prices very reasonable. [By comparison, the new Yankee Stadium cost more than 8.5 times what Camden Yard cost after adjusting for inflation.] There is great access to the park from the surrounding freeways and a mix of stadium lots and private parking.

I have had a positive experience every time I have attended a game here. I attended three games here the third year after the park opened. This was part of my 1994 ballpark tour. We were scheduled to attend two games here. The night before we went to Baltimore, we were in Pittsburgh and saw the Orioles had been rained out. They rescheduled the missed game as a double-header. For our first game, we sat in the lower level in left field [the DH] against the Indians. It was still raining off & on and there was a rain delay. I ate ribs between games from the Babe Ruth BBQ sitting in the stairwell as it rained. To this day, it’s still some of the best ballpark food I’ve eaten. We stayed at a hotel fairly close to the park and had the morning and early afternoon to walk around the harbor. I took the tour of the ballpark. Some of the guys in the tour group [the baseball tour group, not the Camden Yard tour group] scalped better tickets for the second night and offered me one. We sat field level just past first base against the Blue Jays.

Oriole Park is also on my top 5 coldest games I have ever attended. After the 2008 BRBL draft we drove to Baltimore for a game. I sat next to BoCJ’s future wife Yulia. I have attended two games with Yulia, I froze at both, hence the Yulia Curse. [For more on the Yulia Curse, see the ‘new Yankee Stadium’ entry.] There was a big gap in attendance for this stadium, but now that I live in the DC area, I expect to attend more games at this park. Some of the home team players I saw on the first trip in 1994 included Cal Ripken, Rafael Palmeiro, Mike Mussina, and Jack Morris in his last season. For the visiting teams I saw Kenny Lofton, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Sandy Alomar Jr., Roberto Alomar, Devon White, and Joe Carter.

One my best ballpark experiences happened here in 2009. Try to follow the twisted trail! I was working at NIDA. My boss used to work in St. Louis. One of his former co-workers, and good friend, has a brother-in-law who is a physical therapist. One of the PT’s clients is Luke Scott. Through this connection I am invited to a game. Wilson [now ex-boss but current friend] and I drive to the game. We were running a little late and we met the PT at the entrance behind home plate. We get inside and are in the seats during the first batter of the night. We were in the player’s wives section. Right behind home plate about 20 rows up. It was a fantastic game. The O’s won a 5-4 decision. But that’s not the best part. As we were walking into the park, the PT says he needs to stop at the customer service desk. He gets these blue tags that look like over-sized luggage tags. They are passes to go under the stadium after the game! So we take the elevator to the basement but we’re not allowed into the locker room. There are a few benches in the hall for people to wait for players to come out. As we’re sitting there, Luke sticks his head out the door and sees his friend the PT. He says, “Let me see if it’s OK for you to come into the weight room.” He comes back a few seconds later and invites the three of us inside. Luke and two other players are doing a post-game workout while the Yankee game was on TV. We sat in the team trainer’s office, talking with him, and watching the end of the Yankee game. Since it was a ‘school night’ Wilson and I had to leave to drive back to Bethesda. Luke Scott may never make the HOF and there is a 99.99% chance has no recollection of meeting me, but Thanks Luke! That was an awesome experience for a regular fan of the game. [Big thanks to Wilson and the PT too!]

Dodger Stadium

2009-12-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

I lived in San Diego for 15 years. From where I lived, Dodger Stadium was ‘just up the road’. In more practical terms, it was about a 3-hour drive if you left before rush hour. I did not attend many games at Dodger. San Diego had an NL club and the Angels were half the drive it was to Chavez Ravine. Additionally, there are a handful of minor league parks that are just as easy to get to. Once every-other year, some friends and I would do the day/night double header with LA and Anaheim. The schedules overlap like this about once per year. I have only been able to accomplish the day/night DH at a few combinations: Dodger/Anaheim, Oakland-Alameda/Candlestick, Comiskey/Miller Park, and Jacobs Field/PNC Park. At the time of writing this, Dodger Stadium is the third oldest active major league park. After Wrigley and Fenway, the next three oldest active MLB parks are all in California [Dodger, Oakland-Alameda, and Anaheim].

Architecturally, the stadium is fairly unremarkable and utilitarian. It seems like the entire park is surrounded by parking lot and a number of car entrances. This makes it relatively easy to drive to and from games, which is impressive as the park is near the intersection of two major freeways. An issue with the surrounding parking lot is the ease with which you can forget where you parked. Not to worry! Since it’s Los Angeles, most fans leave by the 7th inning. From the outside, the stadium is bland and depending on where you park, below you. On the inside, it has a great open feel that you won’t find in any new park. When you sit in the good seats, it’s a great park to watch a game. However, the cheap seats are way out there.

Despite not attending a lot of games at Dodger, one of my fondest baseball memories happened there. It was the end of the 1996 season. The Padres had been in first place for much of the year, but the surging Dodgers had taken first place with a few weeks remaining. It was crunch-time. The Pads were three games behind the Dodgers. They had to sweep the series to win the division. They won the first two games! I had tickets to the final game. About three months earlier I had asked some friends if they wanted to go to see the Padres on the last game of the season. We were in the upper deck on the first base side. This game was superbly played by both sides. The game was a 0-0 tie through nine innings and would be decided in the 11th. Bob Tewksbury got the start for the Padres. Ramon Martinez started for the Dodgers but left after the first inning. Perdo Astacio came in and pitched 6.1 strong innings. Gwynn got the RBI single in the top of the inning off Chan Ho Park to give the Padres the lead. Not Tony Gwynn…Chris Gwynn! Trevor Hoffman came in to close out the Dodgers in order and the amazing come-back was complete. As a group of San Diegans, we were pretty vocal about the win. This was especially sweet since the Dodgers usually beat up on the Padres and there is never a shortage of obnoxious Dodger fans when LA plays in SD. As if that wasn’t enough, the Chargers were playing the Chiefs that afternoon. We brought a portable TV with us and watched the Bolts win just a few minutes after the Pads.

One other memorable game I’d like to mention briefly. An old roommate knew someone associated with the Colorado Rockies. Through this vague connection we got tickets in the visiting player’s wives section for three games [single game first day, double header second day]. Good seats behind home plate in the loge level. During one of the games there was a woman with two children sitting one row in front and a few seats over from us. The section was mostly empty which was nice for her since one of the kids was a toddler and the other must have been 5 or 6 years old. On the field, Vinny Castilla gets on first base. On the next pitch he takes off for second! The 5 [or 6] year old yells, “Run Daddy!” The mother was apparently concerned that people would know that these were Castilla’s children and she told her son to be quiet. The movie ‘The Fan’ with DeNiro and Snipes was still in theaters and I was tempted to lean forward and ask her if she had seen it yet. But I resisted.

Over the years I was able to see a number of good players at Dodger. For the home team Brett Butler, Eric Karros, Raul Mondesi, Mike Piazza, Gary Sheffield, Devon White, Kevin Brown, Shawn Green, and Eric Gagne. For visiting teams, I saw Tony Gwynn, Steve Finley, Ken Caminiti [as a Padre and an Astro], Randy Johnson [in a complete game 12K outing], Tony Womack, Larry Walker, Todd Helton, Barry Larkin, Sean Casey, Adam Dunn, Craig Biggio, and Jeff Bagwell.

A quick note about the food: a Dodger Dog is just a hot dog. Nothing special about it. Dodger has standard ballpark fare, but Los Angeles has great food. If you’re visiting from out of town, I highly recommend any of the drive-thru Mexican restaurants. Doesn’t matter which one, the menus are all the same, and the food is cheap and tasty! Get yourself a burrito and some rolled tacos and eat them in the parking lot. In Southern California you know the weather’s going to be nice outside!

Update 07/08/2011: I attended SABR 41 this year and was able to catch a Dodger and Angels game. For this season, neither team is expected to contend for the division title. LA is a mess with the owners going through a messy divorce. But this is the Padres against the Dodgers. This was a great game to watch for a baseball fan. Both starting pitchers had fantastic starts. Mat Latos for the Pads went 7-1/3 giving up7 hits & walks and 1 run in the 8th. Chad Billingsly was a little better going 8 innings, 9 hits and walks, and no runs. After the lone run scored in the 8th for LA, they brought in Javy Guerra who gives up a leadoff double to Cameron Maybin, and hits the next two batters on consecutive pitches. Mattingly visits the mound and decides to leave Guerra in the game. He responds by striking out the next two batters and getting the final out on a line drive to center.

Citizens Bank Park

2009-12-04T16:48:00.000-08:00

This is a great ballpark. The overall design including the steel and red brick exterior as well as the interior sight lines and look is outstanding. Left and right field are straight lines as opposed to the traditional curved configuration. There are a lot of similarities in how the field looks compared to Coors Field, another very nice park. The space behind the seats is open and easy to navigate. There are some nice statues of famous Phillies around the park too. The ballpark is in the ‘stadium district’ in Philadelphia. It’s surrounded by the Spectrum [until they knock it down], Lincoln Financial Field, and the Wachovia Center which used to be the First Union Center. Whoever put that name together clearly wasn’t hooked on phonics. There’s always plenty of parking on days when the other stadia are dark and there’s a convenient subway line nearby. If you are one of those people with a super-strong sense of smell, you may want to take a cab rather than the subway.

I’ve been to a few games here. When my friend Marc buys tickets, he prefers the upper deck in straight-away right. It’s a long way to home plate from there! I also saw a game with John and Bob right before the 2008 BRBL draft. We sat field level past third base towards the foul pole. Now for my shameful Citizens Bank Park secret…I’ve seen three games…three different years…all against the Washington Nationals. The Phillies have had much better teams but are 1-2 in the games I saw. The Phillies have had some great talent in Ryan Howard, Bobby Abreu, Jimmy Rollins, Jim Thome, and Chase Utley. For pitching they have had Brett Myers, Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, and Brad Lidge. The Nats have had Alfonso Soriano, Ryan Zimmerman, and Nick Johnson. The games were fairly uneventful. I saw Abreu and Burrell home runs and some decent starting pitching from Myers and Hamels.

For my first game here, Marc, CJ, Grace, and I attended the second home game of the 2005 season right before we went to London for the BRBL draft. As we went to the game, Marc was complaining that he didn’t feel well and he just wanted to sit still and watch the game – no alcohol. We had upper upper deck seats but sat in the back row of the lower upper deck seats. From this vantage point some of Marc’s former students saw him and had a mini reunion. Marc was feeling better after a few beers! One of the former students said, “This is the greatest day of my life!” Overall, this is a great park to see a game. [Spend the money and sit in the lower level seats.]

New Comiskey/US Cellular Field

2009-12-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

I have been twice to the new Comiskey Park. The first time was 1993 during its’ third season of play. This was the last of the concrete donuts. The locals were calling it the Comiskey Mall. On the plus side, they recreated the fireworks things over the scoreboard. That about does it for the plusses. The competition in terms of other new ballparks was Camden Yard in Baltimore – the first of the back-to-the-future designs – and Jacob’s Field under construction in Cleveland. In comparison, the new Comiskey was a dump. An additional problem was the height of the upper deck seats. This may not have been the newest design, but they did make sure to include luxury suites. The end effect is the upper seats (where I have attended both games) are really high up there.

The first game I saw was a great matchup. The Sox played the Blue Jays and both teams would win their divisions. The Jays had won the World Series the previous year and would win again this year. The White Sox had Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, George Bell, and Tim Raines. For pitching they had Jack McDowell, Bobby Thigpen, and Jason Bere in his rookie season. The Jays had Joe Carter, Roberto Alomar, Tony Fernandez, Paul Molitor, John Olerud, and Devon White. Pitchers included Juan Guzman, Dave Stewart, Jack Morris, and Pat Hentgen. If it seems like the offense was better that the pitching, this game bore that out. Dave Stewart gave up 14 H&W, 7 ER and still got the win. Every starting player except one had at least one hit in this game. Molitor went 4 for 5. Olerud, Thomas, Ventura, and Bell had home runs. [Don Denkinger was the home plate umpire.]

The second game I saw was in 2007 as part of the Butthead Ballpark Tour. This happened to be the Cross-Town Classic against the Cubs. A tough ticket to get. We were in the last row of the upper deck around first base. The Sox had won the World Series two years ago but would finish second to last this year. They had Jim Thome and Paul Konerko. The Cubs were the better team and would win their division that year. The Cubs had Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez. The Cubs would win a close game. Javier Vasquez had a strong start only giving up a lead-off HR to Soriano. The Cubs pitchers were equal to the task and Bob Howry got the save.

This is not that nice of a park. To draw an analogy, the new Comiskey is like a well constructed sailing vessel designed for shipping cargo. The problem is they built it at the beginning of the steam powered revolution. It was outdated before its’ time. If you’re heading to Chicago, go see a game at Wrigley.

PacBell/AT&T

2009-11-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

AT&T Park was originally PacBell Park. I’ve been to a handful of games there and this is easily one of my favorite parks. I have sat in upper deck first base side, field level by third base, club level first base, and field level in shallow left field. They’re all good seats. The view from the upper deck is spectacular. You can see the top of the SF skyline, McCovey Cove and the SF bay, and Oakland. Outside the park along McCovey Cove you can see into the stadium from under the stands in right field. They also have a great Willie Mays statue by the home plate entrance. If I had to complain about something, the only drawback is they didn’t angle the seats towards the infield.

The first season the park was open, tickets were hard to get. I was able to see two games that first year with my friend Tom and his son. The unpredictable thing with baseball in San Francisco is the weather. To be safe, attend every game with shorts & t-shirt and a heavy winter parka. Another cool feature of the stadium is one of the kids play areas. They have a mini stadium where they can play. There’s even a JumboTron with a camera person showing live footage.

It turns out the three seasons I attended games here the Giants made the post season [2000, 2002, & 2003]. The Giants obviously had some pretty good talent over these years. They had Barry Bonds through this stretch. Say what you will about his steroid use, the dude could hit the ball. Other Giants included Jeff Kent, Rich Aurilia, and Marquis Grissom. For pitching they had mediocre starters having the best years of their careers and Robb Nen as the closer. For opponents I saw the Expos, Pirates, and Padres at their home opener in 2003. For one of the Expo games, I saw ‘the fat pussy toad’ Hideki Irabu out pitch Russ Ortiz. This Expo team featured Vlad Guererro – who was 0 for 6 in two games. I also saw Kirk Rueter have a great outing with a Nen save. For the Pirates game the next year, I saw Rueter again. He had a decent start but ended with a no-decision as did Kris Benson. The Pirates also had Jason Kendall, Brian Giles, and Jack Wilson. The Pittsburgh bullpen gave up 5 in the seventh inning for the home team victory. For the Padre game Jason Schmidt had a good outing but the bullpen handed him a no-decision. The Pads had no one of note on the roster. They had guys like Mark Kotsay, Ryan Klesko, Xavier Nady, and Jake Peavy in his first full season. [To hear how much of a dick Peavy is, see the Petco Park entry.]

A funny thing happened on the way to the park for the home opener in 2003. This game was right after the BRBL draft in San Francisco [obviously]. I attended the game with John, CJ, BoCJ, and my girlfriend. John and I used to work together in a drug abuse treatment program. Over the years we saw a lot of people with severe psychiatric illness beyond their addiction. One particular patient had chronic paranoid schizophrenia in addition to his drug abuse problem. He was consistently homeless and would show up into our clinic sporadically – usually every 4 to 5 months. As we’re walking from our car to the stadium, I see this guy walking towards us and say to John, “Hey…that’s Joe Smith” [The patients’ name isn’t really Joe Smith. I’m protecting his real name.] John says, “what?” and I repeat myself. So John calls him over. ‘Joe’ comes over and says hello like he expected to see us.

This is a fantastic ballpark. If you’re travelling to the bay area, do your best to see a game here.

Busch Stadium

2009-11-27T16:45:00.000-08:00

The new Busch stadium is one of the parks I have only attended once so far. I didn’t make it to the old Busch stadium so I can’t make any direct comparisons. However, I did attend games at the Vet in Philadelphia and Three Rivers in Pittsburgh. If it was anything like those two parks, good riddance. The saving grace for the old park was their decision to replace the artificial turf with real grass. But I digress…

This is an impressive park. The exterior is red brick. Once inside, the walkways behind the seats are spacious and easy to orient yourself to where you are in the park. The game I saw was the first game in the 2007 Butthead Ballpark Tour. We were sitting in the cheap seats for this game – upper deck right field by the foul pole. There is an impressive view of downtown St. Louis from our seats. One of the most impressive sights was the Cardinal fan base. You expect to see fans wearing the home team gear, but this was over the top. I would venture that over 90% of the people in attendance had on at least one item.

The Cards were mediocre this year and would finish under .500. The previous year they lost to Boston in the World Series and still had much of the talent on offense. They had Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, and Rick Ankiel. They had questionable pitching. Chris Carpenter was out for the year. In contrast they were playing the Philadelphia Phillies who were a year away from winning the World Series. They had Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Pat Burrell. They had Adam Eaton and Cole Hamels. This was the year they experimented with Brett Myers as the closer. The game I saw was an easy win for Philadelphia on a good Jamie Moyer outing.

The three of us [Marc, John and I] flew in to St, Louis from our respective home cities that afternoon. We ate lunch at a bar near the arch which also happened to be near the park and the hotel we were staying in. At the bar, Marc somehow finds out from the waitress that there is a gay pride march scheduled for the next day. [I’m still not sure how that came up in conversation.] We checked into the hotel and walked over to the ballpark. As we were watching the game, these two guys sat next to Marc. Both with lots of gang tattoos. Marc turns to them and says, “My friend Dave is here for the gay pride march tomorrow.” They didn’t laugh. Thanks Marc.

Citi Field

2009-11-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

I have attended one game at Citi Field so far. I happened to see this game on Memorial Day – right after going to my first two games at the new Yankee Stadium. Perhaps it was a difference in expectations, but as disappointing as Yankee was, Citi was really impressive. From the outside the park is OK. A friend described one side as looking like the outside of a NASCAR track. The rotunda entrance behind home plate is fairly impressive. I attended this game with my friend Joe and we decided to enter through the rotunda. As we were walking in, people are talking about the Jackie Robinson statue. Robinson got his start in New York and he’s the only player to have his number retired by all major league clubs. All around there are pictures of Robinson on the interior walls. As we make it past the turnstiles I walk to the back of the rotunda and there is a giant 42. WTF! I figured this was in addition to the Robinson statue. Sadly this was the Robinson statue. This was disappointing. We made our way to the seats. We bought club-level tickets and sat close to home plate.

The inside of the park is nice. They seemed to go to a great deal to make the retro feel and pulled it off. One of the interesting things was putting the out of town scores above the upper deck in left field. The tendency for most new parks is to put the other scores near field level. The stadium staff were friendly and so were the fans. I should mention my friend Joe is more of a Met fan than a Yankee fan. The food was also pretty good.

The game I saw was against the Nationals. The Mets were considering contending for the division but they eventually finished fourth in the division. New York looked better on paper than in reality. They had good offense in David Wright and Carlos Beltran. For pitching they had Johan Santana and the newly signed Francisco Rodriguez. The Mets also had Jose Reyes who was injured a few days before the game I saw. He would miss the rest of the season. They were playing the Nationals who had the worst record in the majors last year and would have the worst record this year too. The Nats had pretty good offense but terrible pitching. They had Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman. For the first half of the season they had Nick Johnson and towards the end they picked up Nyjer Morgan. Not surprisingly, this game went to the Mets. Of note for this game, the 40yo Gary Sheffield had a home run and FRod got the save.

One of the things that impressed me the most was the waterless urinals in the men’s rooms. If you consider how many men attend a Mets game over the season. Presume they use the restroom once per game at one gallon per use and that’s an impressive amount of water saved. It’s not as though the men’s room was going to smell any worse.

If you’re in New York and you can only see one game, I’d recommend Citi much more than the new Yankee stadium.

(new) Yankee Stadium

2009-11-16T18:02:00.000-08:00

I attended two games during the inaugural season for this new park. It is the most expensive park built to date. As you approach from the outside, the imposing limestone and granite façade has a post-world war II/Berlin wall feel to it. As we passed the turnstiles we entered a cavernous atrium which included a JumboTron. This very clearly was a ballpark that cost a lot of money and wanted you to know that. For my first game there, we had upper deck seats behind the plate for the ‘bargain’ price of $85 per ticket. Once you left the atrium, the park was mediocre at best. The seats were basic and cramped. The food was bland. There was nothing to say “Yankees” in the seating area. Disappointed is not a strong enough word. This park is designed for people to be in luxury suites. I think the only reason they included regular seating was so the people in the ‘less desirable’ suites had people to look down on. The Yankees were certainly not going for a fan friendly approach with those ticket prices. I attended a second game the following day in the front row of the loge section past first base. [Only $140/ticket!] Same problem as the upper deck. No charm.

One of the unique features of the park is the massive hi-def JumboTron. Big, but not so big as to dwarf the other newer stadiums. If someone didn’t mention it was the biggest, you probably wouldn’t have noticed. We were misinformed before the game that the new statue garden in center would be open for viewing during play. Not true. However, they do have a free Yankee museum on the second level by first base. It’s a single large room, but they have a ton of autographed baseballs on display along with some older uniforms. It’s not a nice as some other stadium museums, but it’s free and on really hot days, it’s air conditioned. The ushers and vendors were generally very friendly – except for customer service. [The baby stroller incident.] The ‘old’ Yankee stadium is next door to the new one. Many fans were complaining that the old stadium was a better venue and the upper level seats still gave the impression you were right over the field. You definitely don’t get that sense in this park.

As was typical for the Yankees, they had a ton of talent and would win the World Series this year. They had Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Mark Texiera, Alex Rodriguez, and Hideki Matsui. Their starting rotation included CC Sabathia, Andy Pettite, AJ Burnett, and Joba Chamberlain. [Joba was a starter at the insistence of ownership over the managers. He would finish the season with 9 wins – one less that middle reliever Alfredo Aceves.] The Yankee closer was Mariano Rivera. The two games I saw were against the Phillies who were the reigning world champs and would go on to play the Yankees in the series this year. The Phils had Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jason Werth. Their rotation included Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, JA Happ, and Joe Blanton with a struggling Brad Lidge as the closer. In the first game we saw JA Happ against Andy Pettite. Happ had the better outing but neither starter got a decision as Lidge blew the save and gave up the win. Jeter and A-Rod had home runs. The second game was Hamels vs. Sabathia. CC had a good outing in a no decision. Lidge blew another save in the 9^th [ironically both blown saves were facing Melky Cabrera.] This blown save didn’t cost the Phillies the game and they rallied for the win in the 11^th inning. All things being equal, these were two great games to attend this season.

One thing I’d like to mention about the first game. The Yulia Curse. This is the second game I attended with Yulia, who is married to BoCJ and is a wonderful and pleasant person. Our first game was in Baltimore after the BRBL Philadelphia draft. Easily one of the coldest games I have ever attended. But that was opening day and this was Memorial Day. It’s been hot every day for the past two weeks. We were sweating walking into the park! But the Yulia Curse kicked in and we froze our asses off. At the end of May! The next day was hot – especially in the sun. The seats a few rows behind us were shaded. I predicted we’d be in the shade by the third inning. I might as well have predicted the iPhone would never be successful. We didn’t get shade until the end of the game. But I did take some time to visit the museum.

Dolphins Stadium

2009-09-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

This is another stadium I have attended one game. This place is a dump and unless I’m in Miami for some other reason, I won’t be back to see a game at this facility. This is not meant to be insulting to the Marlins. They’re playing in Dolphins Stadium – a football stadium that happens to accommodate a baseball field. Fortunately the team is getting a new baseball only park. I’ll be down to see that when it opens. One positive note about the park, the food was pretty good. I had chicken empanadas that were very tasty. Later I had trouble keeping them down as the Manatees dance troupe performed on the field. The Manatees are Marlins management’s idea of how to attract fans since they’re not spending any money on getting good pitching. It’s a group of fat guys in uncoordinated uniforms dancing with even less coordination. Let’s hope they don’t transition to the new park.

As you walk into the park, nothing about the structure says baseball. Having an inflatable giant baseball player near one entrance made it look like a car dealership. There were a ton of empty seats for the game I saw. What’s wrong with that? It was opening day! I was attending with John, CJ, BoCJ, and Grace in what remains of the live attendees of the BRBL draft. The Marlins were playing the Nationals. While the Marlins had finished above .500 the previous year, they did not seriously contend for a playoff spot. This season they’re flirting with a spot but will likely fall short again. The Marlins had Hanley Ramirez, Jorge Cantu, and Dan Uggla. The Nationals had lost 102 games the previous year and manager Manny Acta was excited about the prospects this season would bring with Nick Johnson (who would be a Marlin by the end of the season), Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns, and Ryan Zimmerman. This game belonged to the Marlins in every sense of the word. Florida had four home runs including a Ramirez grand slam and rookie Emilio Bonafacio’s inside the park home run. The Marlins demonstrated to the league that if you want to look like an All Star team, play the Nats.

Miller Park

2009-09-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

I have been to Milwaukee twice in my life. On two different occasions for a combined total of less than 24 hours. During these two trips I have seen three baseball games. (For the first trip/game see County Stadium Milwaukee.)

[Update July 2010: Make that three times in Milwaukee, four baseball games, and maybe still under 24 total hours in the city.]

A recent trip was part of the Butthead Midwest Baseball Tour of 2007. As John, Gue, and I were planning the trip we had the opportunity to make the day/night double header in Chicago and Milwaukee on Saturday. John and I were for the DH, Gue was against. We made both games.

Gue before the trip: “Why would I want to spend an extra night in Milwaukee?”
Gue after the trip: “That is the best stadium…EVER!”

Miller Park is one of the newer parks that opened in 2001. It has a unique retractable roof that opens 90 degrees from a pivot point behind home plate. The park is nice. This may not be the best park, but it is one of the greatest ballpark experiences you can hope to have. This is in large part due to the Milwaukee fans. For the Saturday night game we sat in the right field bleachers. The fans were friendly and knowledgeable. They understood the game and paid attention. For the Sunday game we sat in the loge section between home and first base. Same friendly atmosphere. Milwaukee also has pretty good ballpark food, especially if you’re in the mood for a brat or polish sausage.

This was interleague weekend and we saw the Brewers play the Royals. Milwaukee had a good team and would contend for the division title. They fell two games short of the Cubs. The consolation prize was taking the last two games of the year from the Padres to remove them from the wild card slot. The Brewers had Prince Fielder, Bill Hall, and Ben Sheets. They also had Tony Gwynn Jr. They were playing a Royals team that would finish last in their division and tied for the third worst record in baseball that year. They had Mark Grudzielanek, Odalis Perez, and Zack Grienke who was coming of a poor 2006 where he only pitched 6.1 innings.

Saturday night was a blowout win for the Brewers on a strong Dave Bush outing. Hall had a home run and Corey Hart had a stolen base. Sunday was a close win for the Royals in extra innings. We saw the prospect Yovani Gallardo pitch a good game with no decision. Grienke also pitched two innings of relief (no decision).

One of the unique aspects of this park is the sausage race. There’s nothing like watching adults in giant sausage costumes racing around the park. What makes it great is that the contestants try to win. This is very different than the farce of the president’s race in DC. They also kept the yellow slide in the outfield for Bernie Brewer to slide down after home runs, but he no longer slides into the mug of beer.

One final note about the park. After the game Saturday night we decided that we needed to tailgate before the Sunday afternoon game. Problem – we don’t have a grill and we don’t know anyone in Milwaukee. The next morning we got up and went to the store and as we were buying burgers and Brats we ran into some guys wearing Brewers jerseys. They said we could tailgate with them. When people get to Miller Park to tailgate, they don’t spread out. They fill every stall then begin the next row. This is important because they fill the aisle with grills, seats, and that bean bag game (corn hole). I haven’t been to Kansas City yet, but you’d be hard pressed to find a group that tailgates better than Milwaukee fans. We were hanging out with the guys we met and some other people around the grill. I asked how they knew each other and they said they didn’t. It’s that friendly.

Metrodome

2009-09-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

This is one of the parks I have attended only one game at. It was the last game of the 2007 Midwest tour I did with John and Gue. To put it mildly, it’s a dump. There’s talk about making a new park in Minneapolis, one without a dome. At first I thought, “why no dome in Minnesota?” After seeing the Metrodome, any park is an improvement. First, baseball is not meant to be played indoors…unless it’s snowing or perhaps 115 degrees outside. But I do believe the retractable dome technology has been perfected! Please see Houston, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Seattle. Even Toronto has a dome…but I digress. Second, the seats are not only uncomfortable, but the seat back in front jams into your shins. Also, the seats folded into right field are ugly.

The Twins would finish just below .500 this year and would not threaten for the division title. They had Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, and Joe Nathan. The Blue Jays were in a similar place except they finished above .500 while not contending for the division title. The Jays had Troy Glaus, Alex Rios, Frank Thomas, AJ Burnett, and Roy Halladay. Not an exciting matchup. But this was the end of a fantastic baseball road trip and it was potential history in the making! Frank Thomas hit home run #499 two nights ago and the Jays were going against a guy with an ERA over 6.50. The stars were aligned!

We didn’t see history that night. In four at bats, Frank was 0-4 with two strikeouts. We did see a great game. Two no-name pitchers went 7.0 and 8.0 innings each giving up only one run. The game would be decided in the 12th with a win for the home team.

Great American Ballpark

2009-09-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

Between living in San Diego and the DC area, I spent four years in Lexington Kentucky. The closest major league park to me was Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, about a 1.5 hour drive. I attended a handful of games from 2004 to 2007. This is a nice park. When you’re inside, you get the sense that all seats are on top of the action. It’s easy to get in and out with parking with good freeway access. Just outside of the park is a Reds Hall of Fame [and gift shop]. As you might notice with this blog, I take pictures of the parks I visit. One day I’m comparing 2006 and 2007 pictures and see that they added this outfield deck with a river boat theme. It’s a nice addition, but not so spectacular that I noticed the change in person. [2006 pictures shown here]

During this time the Reds were a mediocre team, never finishing above .500. They had pretty good offense including Ken Griffey, Adam Dunn, Sean Casey, Austin Kearns, and Rich Aurilia. Reds starting pitching included Bronson Arroyo, Aaron Harang, Paul Wilson, and Matt Belisle. Some of the better opposing players I got to see in Cincinnati were Derrek Lee and Prince Fielder. I saw home runs from Lee, Dunn, and Griffey and a Trevor Hoffman save.

One frustrating thing about this park was opening day. As I mentioned, the Reds never finished above .500 during the four years I lived there and never drew a large crowd – except opening day. This was the toughest ticket to get and were not available for sale online. You could get them with season tickets. The ones for sale on ebay were more than I cared to spend on a game, which says a lot for someone who has attended at least one opening day game for the previous decade [excluding the 1995 boycott]. One final thought about this park, you want to avoid talking about how Pete Rose should not be in the [real] Hall of Fame. In Cincinnati he is 100% innocent. Even after he admitted to wrong-doing.

Petco Park

2009-09-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

After living in San Diego for 15 years, I happened to move less than a month before Petco opened. I would have had opening day tickets too. It was on a return visit that I was able to attend my only two games at this park [so far]. This is a great place to see a game. Some of the things that the Padres did right, using a downtown location [right near the convention center, gaslamp district, and a trolley line], incorporating one of the original buildings into the park [Western Metal], and having a large open park in the outfield for people to watch the game on blankets/beach chairs. If I was forced to complain about something, it would be the emphasis they placed on luxury suites which pushes the upper deck seats a little higher.

The games I happened to attend were in the park’s inaugural season against the Giants. I went with my friend AJ who had season tickets along third base in shallow left field. These seats are angled towards the pitcher’s mound which meant that our seats at the end of the row were de facto front row to the outfield. The Giants and Padres would finish second and third in the NL West – both above .500 and both just out of the playoffs. The Pads had Ryan Klesko, Phil Nevin, Brian Giles, and Khalil Greene. The Padre starting rotation was Brian Lawrence, Adam Eaton, Jake Peavey, Ishmael Valdez, and David Wells with Trevor Hoffman in the bullpen. The Giants had Barry Bonds, JT Snow, Marquis Grissom, and Jason Schmidt.

The Pads won the first game on an OK Peavy start [didn’t get the win] and a Trevor Hoffman save. Bonds had a non-steroid related stolen base. The Giants won the second game with Schmidt getting the win over Wells.

Before the second game, my friend AJ received an early entry pass for us as a season ticket holder benefit. We arrived at the park and they let us in an hour before the general gates opened. Normally the Padres are finished with batting practice but the extra hour let us see the home team BP. Presumably, we were also let in early so we could get autographs. As we made our way down to the field on the first base side Jake Peavy was signing for everyone…well almost everyone. As he made his way down the line he got to AJ, looked at him without signing the ball, and went on to the next person. No explanation. Another fan who witnessed the snub took AJ’s ball and had Jake sign it. The fan was great. Peavy was a dick. Too bad AJ wasted a clean baseball on his signature.

AJ [in the grey jersey] Getting snubbed by Peavy

Jacob's Field

2009-08-11T04:51:00.000-07:00

This is another park I have only been to once so far. It was during my mini-baseball tour with Marc (The Gue) over Memorial Day weekend in 2006. [For the record, I also drove past the stadium while it was under construction in 1993.] When it was new, Jacob’s Field was one of the back-to-the-future parks done by the same architects who designed Camden Yards. They followed the new trend of having straight outfield walls. By today’s standards this is a typical major league park, but when it opened, this and Camden were the crown jewels. It is still a very nice ballpark to see a game in. The lower seats in right field are closer to field level than the lower seats in left. There is no unique aspect to the park that I noticed. Not a flaw by any means.

The area around the park is pretty sparse as far as non-game activities and night life. [Or at least we didn’t see much.] When we checked into the hotel the night before Marc and I asked the hotel clerks where we could go for dinner – preferably a sports bar. They suggested the Winking Lizard. We looked at each other and said, “What other dining establishments are nearby?” The answer was none, so we went to the Lizard which turned out to be a large, crowded sports bar with good pub food. The next morning we asked about getting breakfast. They suggested the mall up the street as the only option. The mall had a food court with a fine assortment of…mall food but we weren’t really in the mood for Panda Express or Subway for breakfast. The only thing we found was the Ritz Carlton hotel restaurant. Expensive, but tasty.

Under Construction

For the game I attended we sat in the lower level in right field. We initially had field level tickets on the third base side but we traded them at customer service for shaded seats. (The ‘medical condition’ incident.) We had attended a game in Cincinnati the day before and had to move to shaded seats. It was one of those hot/sunny/humid summer days. This was a 1:05pm start with temperature in the low 80’s, 80% humidity, and not a cloud in the sky.

The Indians were mediocre that year despite having CC Sabathia. He had little help with Aaron Boone, Grady Sizemore, and Ronnie Belliard for position players and the rest of the starting rotation consisted of Paul “he’ll only be out 2 weeks” Byrd, Cliff Lee, and Jake Westbrook. They were playing the White Sox who were coming off their World Series win the year before. They would finish this season with a respectable 90-72 record which would qualify them for third place in the AL Central. They had signed Jim Thome in the off season – which drew a mixed reaction from the Cleveland fans. [He would hit two home runs this game]. The Sox had kept Scott Podsednik, Paul Konerko, and Jermaine Dye. They also retained Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, and Freddy Garcia. What they lost was the momentum they had in 2005. The game we saw was a blowout win for the visiting White Sox. Javier Vasquez pitched a solid start while Cliff Lee got shelled. Seven of nine starting White Sox (and three of four pinch hitters) had hits including four home runs. Conversely the Indians managed two hits the entire game.

Turner Field

2009-08-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

I have attended one game at Turner Field so far. I went to opening day in 1999 which was the Braves third year in the park. This was a slight remodeling of the stadium used to host the Olympics in 1996. (And of course the Paralympics later that same year.) This is a nicely designed park. During this time of ballpark construction many fields were designing concession areas that were more open to the field as opposed to having to walk through tunnels to get food. Turner Field may not have been first to do this but they set the bar for future parks. There is a kids play area in the loge section above left field. It’s not really big but you can watch the game while your kid plays. They also have a large open bar area above the seats in right-center – for kids over 21. The park has a large space in front of the park by the main entrance.

I attended the BRBL (fantasy baseball) draft in Charlotte that weekend and stopped in Atlanta for the game on my way back to San Diego. As you would expect, a Braves opening day in the late 1990’s was a full house. I had a ticket in the field level on the first base side. The way the seating is arranged, the field level seats are not contiguous with the lower outfield seats. I was only a few rows up – but in the last seat of the field level. The Braves had run away with the NL East the past year and would win their division again easily this year. They had Chipper Jones, Brian Jordan, and Andruw Jones on offense but their strength was pitching; Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and John Rocker as the closer. They were playing the Phillies who were pretty good, just not as good as the Braves. They had some great players in Bobby Abreu, Scott Rolen, and Doug Glanville (who would hit .325 with 34 SB’s that year). Their pitching was a little more suspect with Paul Byrd, Curt Schilling, and the rookie Randy Wolf. This opening day went to the visiting Phillies. Schilling had an OK outing, but better than Glavine. The Phillies scored two in the 7th and two in the 9th to win the game. Jeff Brantley got the save. Rolen had a home run and Glanville got a stolen base.

Since I was only at the park for one game, I decided to walk around the stadium about the 5th inning. As I was admiring the view of the field from the concession area behind home plate I swear a foul ball hit my empty seat.

Overall I think this is a very nice park. My only complaint is the naming of the stadium. The level of Ted Turner’s narcissism is amazing. It’s not as though there were any famous Atlanta ballplayers to name the park after like Hank Aaron. Oh wait...

Bank One Ballpark/Chase Field

2009-08-05T05:11:00.000-07:00

I grew up mostly in the Phoenix area, however the city didn’t get a home baseball team until after I moved to San Diego. Until then Phoenicians would have to settle for one month a year of baseball during spring training. When it was announced that the Diamondbacks franchise was awarded I called my good friend Gary and made arrangements to visit the city. This happened to coincide with my second BRBL (fantasy baseball) draft. We held the draft in Phoenix opening day weekend – which is not a particularly good time for baseball since the spring training teams have all left to play exhibition games in their home cities and the regular season doesn’t start until Monday. To make matters worse, it rained that weekend.

The ballpark, however, was awesome. The stadium was open for the public to walk through and they were still installing seats up until the last day before the first game. I saw the first three games played in the park which included an exhibition game and the first two regular season games. The exhibition game was interesting and we sat really high on the first base side. The real opening game was against the Rockies. The ticket to the game (scalped) cost more that my airfare from San Diego. We sat in the lower level on the third base side. They D-Backs were big on opening ceremonies. They had a number of former all star players, although I’m not exactly sure what their connection was to the D-Backs or Phoenix. One of the really geeky things they did for the opening ceremony was to have the groundskeepers rappel from the roof to the field, in tuxedos, to put the bases on the field. I think this made a lot of sense to the owners since rappelling and tuxedos are often associated with baseball. Not.

The stadium itself is an imposing structure that dominates that section of downtown. From the outside it has a lot of red brick in the lower half with glass and steel on the upper half. They tend to leave the roof open. The inside of the park is well laid out. The unique aspect of this park is the swimming pool in right-center field. That part of the outfield wall is clear and the pool water is flush with field level. In the few games I have attended in person, and many games I have seen on TV, the pool is one of those attractions that brings people to the ballpark that don’t want to watch the game. One of the really cool features of the stadium is the air conditioner (pun intended). During my second and third trips to Phoenix to see a game, the temperature was over 100 degrees. The air conditioners worked so well for the second game (about 102 outside) I could have worn a sweatshirt and been comfortable. Surprisingly parking is not that big of an issue in this area. The park did a great job of re-gentrifying that area. When I lived there it was known as a good place to buy drugs. The America West/US Airways arena is also in that area.

For my first two (regular season) games at the BOB, we saw a Diamondbacks expansion team made up of former good players from other teams; Matt Williams, Devon White, Jay Bell, and Andy Benes. They played the Rockies who were now in their sixth year. Both teams would finish at the bottom of the NL West. The Rockies had Vinny Castilla, Larry Walker, Neifi Perez. This was Pedro Astacio’s first full season with the Rockies after being traded in the middle of the 1997 season. This was also Todd Helton’s first full season after playing in 35 games in 1997. The opening day game was a loss for the D-Backs on a strong Darryl Kile outing. Castilla had two home runs and Helton had two doubles. The second game was another win for the Rockies on a John Thompson shutout (one of his three career shutouts). Castilla had another home run and Helton had another double.

The next time I was in Phoenix for a game was in May 2000. My friend Gary got nice seats in the loge level between home and first base (closer to home). They played the Brewers. Neither team would contend for their division but they were both out of the cellar. The Diamondbacks still had Jay Bell but since my last trip they had added Steve Finley, Luis Gonzalez, and Tony Womack. They also had Randy Johnson in his second year as a D-Back and Curt Schilling in his first. The following year the Diamondbacks would win the World Series. The Brewers had decent offense in Jeromy Burnitz, Marquis Grissom, and Ronnie Belliard. They had terrible starting pitching. Perhaps this was because they decided to only start players whose first name started with ‘J’ (Jason Bere, Jeff D’Amico, Jimmy Haynes, John Snyder, and Jamey Wright). This game was a win for the D-Backs on a fair Armando Reynoso outing. Byung-Hyun Kim got the save. He was still a year away from taking the full-time closer job. Steve Finley and Luis Gonzales had home runs.

My most recent game was in July 2009 against the Phillies. Since I’m writing this in 2009 I can’t say how either team will finish this year, however, the Phillies are coming off a World Series championship from last year and are leading their division. The Diamondbacks are not likely to contend for a playoff spot this year and may finish at the bottom of the NL West. We sat behind the plate about 25 rows up. The roof had been open earlier in the day. I knew this since my plane flew directly over the stadium that morning. This was a great game for the D-Backs. On paper the Phillies should have won just on starting pitchers alone. Yusmeiro Petit would combine with three other AZ pitchers for a shutout against J.A. Happ who had been pitching really well until this game. One complaint I have about the stadium for this game were the ushers. This game drew about 23,000 fans. There were plenty of open seats but this fat woman usher kept making people move – including a small family laterally across an aisle. (Sorry junior. You have to sit in the seat behind these tall guys rather than the same row across the aisle where you could actually see the field.) She kept at this the whole game moving people as late as the bottom of the 8th inning. I appreciate people taking their job seriously, but come on. Have another HoHo and lighten up.

PNC Park

2009-07-30T17:17:00.000-07:00

PNC is one of my favorite parks. The design is nice, there are good views of the field from the seats, and there’s a great view of downtown. There are shrubs in the outfield that are trimmed to the word “Pirates.” The stadium has Permani Brothers sandwiches – which are the ones where they put the fries inside the sandwich (very tasty). I have only seen one game here so far. It was during my 2006 Memorial Day road trip with The Gue. We had just come from the day game in Cleveland and made it to PNC about 30-45 minutes before game time – just enough to find parking, grab a Permani Brothers, and get settled in our seats. We were on the first base side, lower level. We entered the stadium from the home plate entrance, right behind the Honus Wagner statue. It was a nice position for a nice statue.

We saw a terrible Pirates team – who finished one game above the Cubs to stay out of last place and have the second worst record in the NL that year. They had Jason Bay, Jeromy Burnitz, and Jack Wilson on offense and Zach Duke, Oliver Perez, and Ian Snell in the starting rotation. Matt Capps was in the bullpen but not the closer yet. They also had Nate McClouth and Ryan Doumit in their second season in the majors. Unrealized potential. They were playing a mediocre Milwaukee Brewers team that had Prince Fielder, Carlos Lee, JJ Hardy, Bill Hall, and Rickie Weeks. The Brewers had minimal pitching that year.

The game was a blow-out win for the Pirates. During the game, Prince Fielder hit a monster shot that landed in the Allegheny. During the game one of the vendors walking the stands would yell “Lemonade!” – but they he said it sounded more like “Limmy!” in the same voice as “Timmy!” from south park. I doubt this was intentional which made it that much funnier. One more thing about this particular trip. The Gue didn’t take any time off from work. Our plan was to see the game and drive back to Philadelphia so he could teach the next day. Since it was a blow-out, Gue wanted to leave early. As a matter of principle I don’t like to leave games early. Gue says, “We’re leaving at 10:00pm sharp – no matter what the score is.” At 9:59 – it’s the top of the 9th with two outs and the Pirates clearly in control. Gue gets up at 10:00 and leaves. I decide to walk a little slower and watch the game as I exit. Sure enough, the game is over and I walk out the exit right in front of the Roberto Clemente statue. I said to myself, “Cool! It’s the Clemente statue!...But didn’t I come in at the Honus Wagner statue?” The Gue was not happy. I made my way back to the home plate entrance and got the silent treatment as Gue drove 85+mph the whole way back to Philadelphia.

Oakland-Alameda Coliseum

2009-07-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

I was able to see games at Oakland Coliseum before and after the Al Davis monstrosity in center field. This was a dual-purpose stadium built in the 1960’s. Originally it had relatively low seating compared to most other stadiums of its’ era. It is right next to the arena where the Warriors play and they share the parking lot. Another bonus is the stadium is right at a BART station for easy mass-transit access. The loge level seats were pretty close to the field and made for a nice baseball experience.

The first game I saw there was in 1992 against the Mariners. This was a good A’s team who would win their division this year. They had Rickey Henderson, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Terry Steinbach, Dave Stewart, and Dennis Eckersley. They also had Goose Gossage in the bullpen but he would pitch less than 40 innings that year. They played a bad Mariners team who would finish last in the division and the second worst record in baseball that year. They had good players in Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, and Randy Johnson. This game was a win or the A’s on a strong outing by Dave Stewart (and non-save outing by Gossage). There were home runs by Canseco and Jay Buhner.

Outfield Before Al Davis

Outfield After Al Davis

My next trip to the stadium was in 1996 during my Bay Area trip with John. [See the Candlestick Park entry.] It’s the trip I cured Jon of his bridge phobia! This was also during the time when they were constructing the Al Davis monstrosity in center. John had his picture taken with the weird A’s guy who wore the propeller beanie, played a banjo, and wore an A’s flag as a cape. We saw three games against the Brewers – both teams were mediocre and would finish under .500 this year. The A’s still had McGwire and Steinbach. They also had Jason Giambi. The Brewers had Greg Vaughn, Jeff Cirillo, and Jose Valentin. The A’s would lose two of the three games. Ricky Bones threw a great game on the first day. In the third game McGwire and Steinbach had home runs as the only scoring in a blow out by the Brewers. Three funny things happened during this series I’d like to mention. At the first game we saw, John and I got to the stadium early and went down to the field during batting practice (so we could go talk to Steinbach). After the A’s went into the locker room, we walked around the park and stopped to buy a program. The guy selling programs had on a huge ring that looked like a championship ring. Naturally we asked about it. He suddenly became very self-conscious (covering his ring with his other hand) and explained that the last year the A’s went to the World Series that ownership bought all employees championship rings, including the concession workers. I think it’s great that the owners would think about all employees in such a manner, I just question this guys judgment in wearing it to games. During the third game we saw something else funny. We were in the loge section along the first base side. There were a lot of open seats. At the end of our section (closer to home plate) there was a couple with an infant child. Beyond them in the next section was a group of people in their early 50’s. Mark Loretta, in his first full season in the majors, hits a foul ball to our section. The father of the infant child, who was drinking heavily and sporting a collection of tattoo’s, scooped up the ball and appropriately raised it to show the crowd. Immediately following the catch, one of the 50-year-olds came over. He explained that he was with Mark’s parents, this was their first time seeing him play live in the majors, and could they please have the ball. [By this time it was apparent that he was also pretty drunk.] The guy with the ball thought about it and said, “No. If my kid wasn’t with me, I’d let you have it.” Just in case you missed the irony, let me paraphrase, “If my INFANT CHILD WHO NO DOUBT WILL NEVER RECALL BEING AT THIS GAME wasn’t with me…” The drunk argument/negotiation that followed was pretty entertaining. One more funny thing about the stadium during this time, the construction was going on during the season meaning the construction crew was working during day games. At some point during the game they would play YMCA and the construction workers would stop working and dance. I don’t know how skilled they were as construction workers, but I can tell you they sucked at dancing.

The last time I was there was in 2003 right before a BRBL draft. We saw a good A’s team (division winners that year) against a mediocre Anaheim Angels team. The A’s had decent offense with Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez but their strength was in their starting rotation of Tim Hudson, Ted Lilly, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito. The Angels had Tim Salmon, Garrett Anderson, and Troy Percival. They also had Ron Gant in his last major league season. The A’s would win that game on a good Lilly outing. Tejada and Chavez had stolen bases.

Ballpark at Arlington

2009-06-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

This is one of the back to the future parks built in the early 90’s. When you approach the stadium it’s by a large pond and not near any other large buildings so it stands out. The outfield has an adjacent office building that overlooks the field. Behind center field is a statue of Nolan Ryan and a kids play area. Unfortunately you can’t see the field from the play area. Right field has an upper deck with front seats almost flush with the outfield wall. At the top of these seats is a Friday’s restaurant. The rest of the stadium is pretty basic – but nicely done.

My first visit to the park was a non-game experience. I was visiting my sister [who at the time was living in Wichita Falls Texas] for Thanksgiving. We drove into Dallas for a few days to see the Redskins/Cowboys game and a Stars game. While we were there we decided to drive by the ballpark to look at it. It happened to be open. They had a bunch of people on the field singing Christmas carols. We walked down to the field and sat in the dugout for a while. The first of my two times to sit in the Texas dugout. The second time was during a ballpark tour in 2000.
I have attended a total of seven games at this park. Al happened in a one week time span in July 2000. I stayed with my sister, now married and living in Dallas. There was really no other reason for the visit other than to see my sister and go to games. I picked a week when the Rangers were in town and went to a game a day. My brother-in-law was not into baseball but seemed to feel obligated to attend all of the games despite my assurances this was not necessary. He only backed out of one game. During this week we sat all over the park. Cheap seats in left, field level seats on the first base side, a luxury suite, and the Friday’s restaurant.

We saw a bad Rangers team that had pretty good offense in Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Gabe Kapler, and David Segui – before he was traded later that season. They also had no pitching with a starting rotation consisting of Ryan Glynn, Rick Helling, Esteban Loaiza, Darren Oliver, and Kenny Rogers. John Wetteland was the closer in his last year in the majors. They also had Francisco Cordero in the bullpen in his second year.

We saw three games against the Angels, three against the Tigers, and one against the White Sox. The Angels were mediocre finishing third in the division above the Rangers. They had Darrin Erstad, Mo Vaughn, Garret Anderson, and Tim Salmon on offense and Troy Percival in the bullpen. The first game was a 12 inning victory for the Angels. The Rangers took the next two. I watched the third game from the skybox. My sister was working for a rehab hospital and they would receive tickets from the law firm that represented them. She got tickets for us and we watched from just above first base. As usual with luxury suites, the attendee’s were more interested in being in being in the box than being at the game. This was a close one-run game with the Angels tying it in the ninth and the Rangers getting the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. By the end of the seventh, the box had cleared out and the owners seemed upset that we wanted to stay and watch the end of the game. We stayed.

The next three games were against the Tigers who finished third in the Central that year. They had Juan Gonzalez [signed as a free agent that year] and no one else of particular note. The Rangers would split the four game series. I only saw the first three of four, none of which were close.

The last game I saw there was against the White Sox which we watched from the restaurant. The deal with seeing the game from Friday’s was each ticket cost $50 and you had to buy them pairs. For each ticket you received a $50 credit at the restaurant. We got a table of four – my sister invited a friend from work. When it was all over our final bill [including tip] was $201.

One of the biggest benefits of watching from Friday’s – it was air conditioned. I’m sure this doesn’t come as a shock but Dallas is hot in the summer. Overall this was a nice stadium. If you’re going to a game there in the summer, try to get tickets in the first base side.

UPDATE AUGUST 2010: I was on travel for work and was able to catch the Yankees in town. I went with a colleague from UT Arlington who used his ‘ticket guy’ to get us seats about 10 rows above the Yankee dugout. It was a great game to see. The Rangers won in 10 innings. The rare event for this game was Mariano Rivera, arguably the best reliever in the game right now, took the loss for New York.

I learned some new things about the park. First, the Friday’s restaurant above right field is closed. It’s now part of the club level. Also [and more interestingly] if you drive a Lexus to the park, you get complimentary valet parking. I don’t know how or why Lexus got this deal as opposed to BMW, Mercedes, or another high-end car maker but there is a drop-off/pick-up right by the home plate entrance. I suppose the Kia valet service may be near the outfield entrance. One thing that’s the same about the park, get seats in the shade.

Anaheim Stadium

2009-06-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

I lived in San Diego for 15 years. The Big A was about a 1.5 hour drive away. Not bad by SoCal standards. It was a fairly straight shot from work but traffic could get pretty bad so we’d try to go up early, have dinner in a nearby sports bar before heading into the game. I averaged about a game a year, most of which I attended with my friend John.

The original park was dual purpose splitting time with the LA Rams. It was ugly and mostly empty. Disney bought the team and remodeled the stadium. They did a phenomenal job! There is the little stone A in center but focusing on that really downplays how much the stadium was improved. They destroyed the upper deck seats in the outfield which created a much more open feel. Entry to the ‘original’ park used to put you into the bowels of the stadium. Disney put up a fence around the physical stadium creating open area to walk around and enjoy the Southern California weather. Currently at the home plate entrance there is a brick layout of the infield (actual size) with bricks at each position noting the opening day started for all previous Angel teams. There are also giant hats on pedestals with the Angels logos. On a hot day they're nice for the shade in case you're meeting someone at the ticket window. In addition to the stadium change, the Angels changed from the California Angels to the Anaheim Angels to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim along with even more logo changes.

There were some themes to the games I attended. I would usually go with my friend John who had two strong connections to AL teams. First, he grew up in Minnesota and was a huge Twins fan. He also went to High School with Terry Steinbach. Thus half of the games we would see would involve the Twins or A’s. Having been to a number of games I won’t describe each one but I will mention some highlights.

From 1992 to 2001 (the bulk of my attendance) the Angels had some pretty good players: Gary Gaetti, Bert Blyleven, Chuck Finley, Tim Salmon, JT Snow, Jim Edmonds, Bo Jackson, Garret Anderson, Eddie Murray, Rickey Henderson (as an Angel), Troy Percival, Cecil Fielder, Mo Vaughn, and Troy Glaus.
Players from opposing teams that I got to see play in Anaheim include Terry Steinbach (I would be remiss if I didn’t mention him first), Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Rickey Henderson (as an A and a Padre), Robin Yount, Rafael Palmeiro (as a Ranger and an Oriole), Nolan Ryan, Kevin Brown (as a Ranger), Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Don Mattingly, Paul O’Neill, Wade Boggs, Darryl Strawberry, Cecil Fielder, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Tony Gwynn, Carlos Delgado, Joe Carter, Cal Ripken Jr., Paul Molitor, Todd Helton, and David Ortiz.

Here are some of the game (and non-game) memories I have of the stadium.

In 1993 Nolan Ryan announced he was going to retire and this would be his last season. John and I looked at the schedule, did some math and estimated when he would pitch in Anaheim. We were not alone in this. We bought tickets two months in advance and got mid-level tickets along the first base side by the foul pole. As the day got closer, an alteration in the rotation moved Nolan’s start date up one game. We scrambled at the last minute and got tickets in the upper deck in straight-away left field. Way up there under a giant scoreboard. We were a long way from the pitcher’s mound, but during this game Nolan had five strikeouts. The last five of his career. Nolan had one more start but he was injured during that game and had zero K’s. An odd thing about Nolan’s exit from the game I saw was that he went 7.0 innings, came out in the 8th, threw his warm-up pitches, then walked off the field. [Craig Lefferts ran in from the bullpen.] Less than a month later, there was a big earthquake and that scoreboard fell down on to the seats we were in for the game.
As I mentioned before, my friend John went to high school with Terry Steinbach. While Steinbach was with the A’s John and I would go up early and walk down to the field during batting practice. During one time, there was a rain delay. We walked down to the field, Terry was stretching out, John yelled, “Steiner!” Terry looked up, nodded, and ran in the other direction. An action I have never let John forget.
One year John and I went to opening day. As we walked into the stadium I handed our tickets to the attendant. She tore off the stubs, handed the tickets back to us, and reached behind her back and gave the stubs to someone standing behind her. No explanation. We headed up to our seats in the upper deck on the third base side. We grabbed some hot dogs, showed the tickets to the usher and this guy in a jacket looks at the tickets and says, “You won!” For some unknown reason [other than good Karma] we had won the U.S. Air ticket upgrade. Between the top and bottom of the first inning, they announced as winners, put us on the JumboTron, and moved us to seats behind home plate.
One year a group of us went early to a game to tailgate. The rule of the stadium is no charcoal grills. Propane only. We had the illicit charcoal variety. In the parking lot they had employees on scooters riding around checking. We were harassed by The Man. As he was pulling away John asked, “Are you a Nazi?” The guy said, “Yes I am,” and left.

UPDATE AUGUST 2010: I was visiting San Diego for a conference and went to a game with John and his 2 kids [Tyler and Nicole]. We had seats on the first base side between the bag and the foul pole. We saw the Blue Jays in a game that probably won’t mean anything to either team. An interesting thing during the game, I was talking to John about cities that had a AAA franchise and a major league club. I was listing the minor league teams around the DC area and the guy next to me starts naming some as well. Turns out he lives about 10 miles from me in the DC area. He was attending another convention in Anaheim. What are the odds that two people from suburban DC would end up next to each other at a game on the west coast.

Coors Field

2009-06-10T17:42:00.001-07:00

I have made two trips to Coors Field. It is a very nice park located in what I have been told is a gentrified area of downtown. The park is one of the Back to the Future designs. The unique stadium aspect is the mini-arboretum in center field. It has an impressive red brick façade at the main entrance. They also have a general admission section in center called the ‘rock pile’. Overall it’s a nicely designed park.

My first trip to the stadium was in 1996 while I was driving my cousin from Chicago to LA. This was the Rockies second season in the park and tickets were tough to get. Ironically my cousin and I stayed in a hotel adjacent to Mile High Stadium. We bought tickets the morning of the game and sat in the front row of the upper deck behind home plate. It was a pretty good seat to see the game. The Rockies had Vinny Castilla, Andres Galarraga, Larry Walker, and no pitching. This game was against the Pirates who would finish last in their division that year. The Bucs had Jason Kendall, Al Martin, Jay Bell, and an equal amount of pitching talent as the Rockies. The Pirates also had Tony Womack – but this was a year before he became a regular starter. The Rockies won that day on a strong performance by starter Kevin Ritz. There were two home runs [one for each team] and Eric Young had a stolen base.

My second game was opening day 2001 right after the BRBL draft. I attended with John, CJ and Grace. The Rockies would finish last that season while the Cardinals would finish tied for the division lead with Houston. The Rockies had Larry Walker, Todd Helton, and Juan Pierre. The Rockies had just signed Mike Hampton. The Cards had Mark McGwire, Edgar Renteria, Jim Edmonds, and Bobby Bonilla. Rick Ankiel was still a pitcher following his meltdown in the 2000 playoffs. They also had the Rookie Albert Pujols appearing in his first game. Thus began the ‘Pujols Incident’. During the BRBL draft we just completed 2 days earlier, one of the owners [Marc] wanted to draft Pujols near the end of the draft and would have had him for $1. No one at the draft had internet access except the one owner who was participating by phone [Mendoza]. He announced that Pujols had been sent down to the minors making him ineligible for the regular draft. As we sat in Coors watching the game [upper level first base side] CJ says, “Isn’t that the guy Gue tried to draft? I guess he wasn’t sent down to the minors.” The Cards lost that day 8-0 on a great Hampton outing. Cardinal ace Darryl Kile gave up 6 ER and 14 H&W in 5 IP. Todd Walker and Larry Walker each had a home run. Pujols was 1-3.

Coincidentally the BRBL draft that year also produced the ‘Kaz Matsui incident’.

Candlestick Park

2009-06-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

This was a dual purpose stadium that wasn’t really good for either. For football, some seats were completely view obstructed and unusable. For baseball they would fence in left field and put up some generic stands behind them – with unusable permanent seats behind them. Access to the park was poor. There was one road from the freeway to the parking lot. The parking was adequate but mass transit was virtually non-existent (one bus line, no BART). The stadium sat (or still sits) close to the SF bay just south of the city. During the day it’s a nice park temperature-wise but night games could be brutally cold. I fully understand what When Mark Twain meant when he wrote “the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” I don’t know the actual dimensions but I think this park had one of the smallest screens behind home plate.

My first game at Candlestick was in 1992. We sat in the upper deck on the first base side. We saw them play the Padres in a day game. Neither team would challenge for the NL West that year. The Padres had Tony Gwynn, Gary Sheffield, and Fred McGriff. The Giants had Will Clark, Matt Williams, and Robby Thompson. The Giants got the 3-1 victory on a good Bud Black performance and Rod Beck save. Willie McGee, a long way from his speedy St. Louis days, stole a base in this game.

In 1996 my friend John and I took a trip to the bay area (SF/OAK) for a long weekend and to see some baseball. We saw three games at Oakland and two at the Stick including a day/night double header with the day game in Oakland and the night game in SF. Please see the Oakland Alameda Coliseum entry for the other games on this trip [this is also the trip I cured John of his bridge phobia]. For the double header, the game in Oakland was warm, sunny, and we were dressed comfortably in t-shirts and shorts. On the way to Candlestick I changed into jeans, put on a sweatshirt, and brought a jacket. It was not nearly enough. This was [prior to Veteran’s Stadium] the coldest game I ever attended. We had tickets for the upper deck but we sat in seats on the lower level and the ushers never bothered us. This was a bad Giants team playing slightly better Reds team. The Giants had Barry Bonds at this point but no one else on offense. For perspective the Giants opening day outfield consisted of Bonds, Stan Javier, and Glenallen Hill. Rich Aurilia was still a rookie for the Giants. The Reds had Barry Larkin, Eric Davis, Vince Coleman, and Bret Boone. Neither team had much in the way of pitching other than Rod Beck and Jeff Brantley in their respective bullpens. As I mentioned before this game was COLD. I bought a Giants scarf which I still use today. The Reds won the game 4-3 (Brantley save, SB’s by Larkin and Aurilia). We came back the next day for a day game, which the Reds won again. Brantley got a save after Rod Beck blew a one run lead in the top of the 9th. Bonds hit a home run and Eric Davis had 2 SB’s.

One of the most interesting things about this trip was where we stayed. I was dating Myra at the time and she said she had friends in Berkeley we could stay with. About a week before we left she called and asked if it would be OK for John and I to stay at their place. John and I had never met these people but they said yes, but they were going out of town that weekend. When John and I arrived we had dinner with the husband, wife, and daughter. The next morning the wife and daughter left for the week. The husband, who owned a liquor store, had to work that night so John and I saw him after the game briefly. The next morning he took off for the week leaving John and I the keys to the house. At the end of our trip we left the gifts [book on the NY/SF Giants, Bath & Body Works gift basket, and a stuffed animal] which they said they really liked.

Kingdome

2009-06-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

While I was living in San Diego, my brother moved to Seattle and my friend Joe’s family lived in the area. One day Joe and I are talking and we decide we need to see a game at the Kingdome. This was one of the better Seattle lineups (1996) with Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Jay Buhner, Randy Johnson, and Dennis Martinez. Raul Ibanez was a Mariner September call-up. We flew up and saw the last three regular season games against the A’s. The Mariners had already won the division by then and were just resting up against last place Oakland. This was the year Mark McGwire went to St. Louis from Oakland but they still had Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi, and rookies Miguel Tejada & Mark Bellhorn. The A’s took 2 of 3. Nothing spectacular happened in the games. In the second game Griffey hit #56 for the season and the big unit got the win #20 – pitching in relief.

This was my first domed stadium and it was bad. There was no natural light from the outside. When we walked out of the park it was weird seeing daylight. It was also really dark inside. The lighting in the seating area was particularly bad. Otherwise it was really no different than any other generic dual purpose stadium. When they destroyed the park, I didn’t really see it as a loss to baseball.

Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia)

2009-06-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

This was another of the dual-purpose concrete donuts devoid of any charm. If I had a blackout during a game in the Vet and woke up in Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, it would have taken me a while to notice based on the architecture. I attended one game at the Vet before it closed: opening day 2002 against the Marlins. This was easily the coldest game I have ever attended. It snowed in Philadelphia that morning and temperatures were in the 30’s. I went with my friends Joe and Marc. I had ordered tickets online and we needed to pick them up at will call. We arrived at the stadium about 20 minutes before game time. Will call was underneath this walkway and the line was massive. We stood in line for over an hour before we got our tickets. The crowd was unruly (shocking for a Philadelphia crowd) and when we got to the ticket window Marc says, “We’re here for InSync tickets.”

The Phillies looked good on paper coming into the season with Jimmy Rollins, Bobby Abreu, Doug Glanville, Scott Rolen, and closer Jose Mesa. The Marlins were a year away from their second world series title and had Luis Castillo, Cliff Floyd, and three young pitchers in Brad Penny, AJ Burnett, and Ryan Dempster. By the time we got to our upper deck seats (3rd base foul pole) it was the 4th inning. By this time all we had missed was a 3-1 Phillies lead including an Abreu home run and Rollins SB. In the bottom of the 4th, Philadelphia scored three more runs which ended starter Julian Tavarez’s day. During the game I was freezing and went to use the men’s room. The bathroom was packed…and warm. As I washed my hands I thought for a moment, “it’s warm in here…but do I really want to hang out in the men’s room at the Stadium?” I promptly returned to my seat and continued my journey to hypothermia. In the ninth inning it’s a 6-2 Phillies lead. Florida put Vladimir Nunez [the 6th Marlin pitcher of the day] on the mound where he gives up two hits after getting two outs. Marlins Manager Jeff Torborg comes out to talk with Nunez while the bullpen gets loose. By this time I had lost feeling from the waist down and I remember yelling, “It’s two outs! Leave him in!” Unfortunately Torborg was unable to hear me from our seats in the adjacent zip code to the field but he did leave Nunez in for the last out.

We made the slow walk back to the car. We drove to Jim’s to get a cheese steak. After the drive out of the parking lot with post-game traffic, going through downtown, finding a parking spot, walking to Jim’s, and waiting in line to order, by the time we sat down I could finally feel my feet again.

One final note on the will call experience. To the Phillies credit, they knew they screwed up and made amends. I had ordered the tickets in advance using my credit card. A few weeks later I received a letter of apology for the excessive wait along with coupons for three tickets, three hot dogs, and three soft drinks. Unfortunately I lived in San Diego at that time and had no plans to return the Philadelphia area. I ended up giving them to a friend who was going to visit family there and he used them.

Three Rivers Stadium

2009-06-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

This was one of the concrete donut 1970’s dual purpose monstrosities. The artificial turf made it even worse. This stadium was virtually identical to Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia and I’m told it was just like the old Busch Stadium. One of the things I liked about the park were the Honus Wagner and Roberto Clement statues. Wagner has a very classic look while Clemente is larger than life. Both appropriate for the people they represent.

I attended my first two games in Pittsburgh against the Braves at the end of my 1993 ballpark tour. [Also the first time I had a Permani Brothers sandwich.] This was a very good Braves team who had lost the World Series the year before and would easily win their division this year. Deion Sanders, David Justice, and Ron Gant on offense with Glavine, Maddux, and Smoltz. This was the year after Barry Bonds went to San Francisco. It was also the year after Barry was unable to throw out Sid Bream in the NLCS who scored FROM SECOND BASE! SID BREAM!

The first game I saw was a come from behind victory for the Pirates who scored 4 runs in the ninth for the win (a no decision for Smoltz). We were staying at the same hotel as the Braves and after the game a few of us went to the hotel bar to hang out. Several players made it down to the bar as well as some baseball groupies. One of the groupies came over to our table and asked my friend if he was on the Braves. Without missing a beat he said, “Yes I am. I just got called up from the minors.” She was so excited and asked if he could introduce her to David Justice. He made some excuse for Dave and she returned to her friend. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but I’m 99.9% sure the conversation went something like, “That guy is on the team.” “THAT guy? No he isn’t.”

The next day was a night game and while hanging around the hotel in the afternoon several players would come and go. As the arrived/departed they were mobbed by autograph seekers. Here was some of the worst autograph experiences I’ve ever had. First, as Ron Gant was getting into a taxi, he politely stops to sign some things and one kid gets a card signed and as he’s walking away says, “Who wants to buy this signed card!” Second, I was standing by the hotel entrance with three younger kids (around 12-14 years old). David Justice gets out of a cab and there’s just the four of us looking for autographs. Dave signs for the first kid, signs for the second kid, looks at me and walks into the hotel. I said, “Come on Dave! At least sign for the other kid!” He kept walking. Dick. On the other hand, John Smoltz was really nice as were Francisco Cabrera, Steve Bedrosian, and Don Sutton.

For the second game we had decent seats (lower level, third base side by the bag) but we walked around the stadium and watched an inning from the upper deck in straight-away center. It is by far the worst seat I’ve ever been in. It was so far away that the play was over before you heard the crack of the bat. The Braves won 6-2 and all runs in the game were scored in the ninth inning. Stan Belinda gave up all 6 runs for the Pirates.

One more thing I’ll mention about these two games. Fred McGriff played for the Braves in both of them. The significance of that is that when I began this trip Fred was a Padre and as a season ticket holder I received a letter from the team owner that assured the fans that no star talent would be traded this season! This is when the San Diego GM earned the nickname Pinocchio.

My next two games there were against the Cubs as the first games on my 1994 ballpark tour. The Pirates were now without Bonds and they would finish fourth in their division – just above the Cubs. The Bucs had Al Martin, Andy Van Slyke, and my namesake Dave Clark. The Cubs had Ryne Sandberg, Mark Grace, and Sammy Sosa although Ryno didn’t play in either game. The Cubs won the first game 8-4 scoring 7 of their runs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. Dave Clark had a home run. The second game was a 9-4 win for the Pirates in a relatively uneventful game.

Shea Stadium

2009-06-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

In 2002 my fantasy baseball league (the BRBL) drafted in New York. For me it was a phenomenal baseball weekend including opening day at Shea, opening day in Philadelphia, the second home game of the season for the Yankees, and a trip to Cooperstown. This was the only game I saw at Shea. The Mets had just signed Mo Vaughn and Roger Cedeno. Other Mets included Mike Piazza and Roberto Alomar. Despite the free agent signings the Mets underachieved that year finishing last in their division. They played the Pirates who had Aramis Ramirez and Jason Kendall (while Kendall was still good). While the Mets underachieved that year, the Pirates managed to finish fourth in their division while winning three fewer games than the Mets. Of the 8 opening day position starters for Pittsburgh, 4 had major league careers that lasted less than 10 years.

The night before the game, most of the league owners went out to dinner at a nice Italian place. There was a lot of good, and expensive, wine consumed by my friends. I don’t drink alcohol but when the bill came everyone decided to just split it evenly rather than figure out who owed what. At the game, one of my friends realized that I spent a lot of money on wine that I didn’t drink. So as a way of making amends he bought me (and another friend) Mike Piazza bobble head dolls. While I certainly appreciated the sentiment, Mike stayed in the original packaging until I threw him away in a move.

Why all of this discussion without mentioning the stadium? Because Shea was a boring stadium. We sat in the upper deck on the first base side. The game was uneventful. The Mets won on a good outing by Al Leiter. The only event of significance for this game is that BoCJ bought Basu (a Mets stuffed rally monkey) at this game and someone took pictures of the monkey sticking out of the zipper of BoCJ’s pants. Basu has attended every BRBL draft since then but to this day, BoCJ’s sister-in-law Grace refuses to handle the monkey.

Wrigley Field

2009-06-06T12:54:00.001-07:00

My parents grew up and lived in Chicago through undergrad. Between grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins I have travelled to Chicago many times. My first memory of Wrigley was seeing the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1978. Back when they had the tall black hats with the yellow piping. We sat in the bleachers and I remember leaning over the ledge (above the netting) and asking Dave Parker for a ball. He faked a throw several times but never gave me a ball. Prick.

I have been back to Wrigley a few times over the years. It continues to be a great park. In 1993 I went to Wrigley as the first game on my first big ballpark tour. We had view obstructed seats down the 3rd base side almost to the foul pole. The Cubs were mediocre that year finishing fourth in the NL East. They had Ryne Sandberg, Mark Grace, Sammy Sosa, Willie Wilson, and a terrible pitching staff. The Cubs were playing the brand new Colorado Rockies with Dale Murphy, Andres Galarraga, Dante Bichette, and Vinny Castilla in his first full season. The Cubs won 5-1 on a great Mike Harkey outing.

In 1996 I helped my cousin move from Chicago to Los Angeles. In short, I flew out to Chicago and drove cross-country with her. I took the opportunity to go to Wrigley and Coors Field during this trip. The Cubs game was against the Marlins. This was a pretty good Cub team on offense with Sammy Sosa, Ryne Sandberg, and Mark Grace, but they had no pitching and finished fourth in their division. The Marlins had Gary Sheffield (who hit a home run in this game), Terry Pendleton, and the rookie Edgar Renteria. Despite having Kevin Brown and Robb Nen they finished third in their division. This game was an 8-7 win for the Marlins in 11 innings.

The last game I attended there was in 2006 with my friends John and Marc as part of a ballpark tour. The Cubs have a comfortable 8-3 lead going into the 9th. The Cub bullpen gives up 6 runs to give the visiting Rockies a 9-8 advantage. During this meltdown a fan jumps on to the field, runs up to Bob Howry and yells, “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” The fan was escorted off the field, but the crowd was wondering the same thing. In the bottom of the 9th Alfonso Soriano hits a walk-off 2-RBI single for the win. After the highlights and recap on sports center, the announcers said, “It’s the kind of game you wish you were at!”

Fenway Park

2009-06-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

I lived in Boston as young child my first trip to Fenway was in 1973. That team had a lot of talent but no rings. The early 70’s was a great time to be a Boston sports fan. The Bruins had Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito (Tony for a bit too). The Celtics had John Havlicek and Dave Cowens. And the Sox had Carl Yastrzemski, Orlando Cepeda, Dwight Evans, Carlton Fisk, and Luis Tiant. My older brother and I had the All-Star Baseball board game (the one with the circle player cards and the photo of the baseball field with the two spinners.) We would fight over who got the Rico Petrocelli card. We also collected baseball cards. Lots of 70, 71, and 72 Topps – all gone (thrown away by my mother) when the family moved to Phoenix in 1974.

But I digress…

I went back to Fenway in 1994 as the last game of my second ballpark tour. The Sox were mediocre this year as were the Brewers. Both finished under .500 in a strike shortened season. The Red Sox had Mo Vaughn, Mike Greenwell, and Andre Dawson. They also had Roger Clemens and Frank Viola (neither of whom pitched that day). The Brewers had Greg Vaughn and Cal Eldred, and the rookie Jeff Cirillo. The game I saw that day was a 5-2 win for the Brewers. Jaime Navarro got the win after Milwaukee started Rickey Bones got injured in the 2nd inning. The down side is that it’s a crowded stadium. I’m 6’2” and my knees were jammed into seat in front of me. This also happened to be the walkway for people to get through. Around the 5th inning me and another guy got sick of missing most of the game while people went back & forth in front of us so we got up and walked to this small open air box high above first base. We go up the stairs into the box and everyone there stops and looks at us. Someone asks, “Who the hell are you guys?” We said we’re just trying to watch the game and were stuck in an aisle. There was a brief pause as they digested this and then, “Come on in!” This was a group travelling from Milwaukee for the game. Not surprising, they were friendly and had drinking heavily most of the day. I’m not suggesting that Milwaukee, alcohol consumption, and a friendly disposition are causally related – but the three seem highly correlated.

One more thing about Fenway I want to mention. This is the most ‘original’ of the old ballparks. When you walk under the stadium to concessions or bathrooms, you know it’s an old park with a lot of history. It is a very cool experience.

(old) Yankee Stadium

2009-06-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

My first time in the ‘old’ Yankee Stadium was 1994 against the Indians. This was the year baseball split the AL and NL into three divisions. The Yankees would win the east that year while the Indians would finish second in the central, 1 game behind the White Sox. (The following year Milwaukee went to the NL. Coincidentally, Bud Selig was the MLB commissioner at that time.) We got to the stadium early enough to walk through monument park. Back then there were only three statues; Ruth, Huggins, and Gerhig. [Mantle and DiMaggio were still alive.] This particular game included Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, and Paul O’Neill on the Yankees and Kenny Lofton, Albert Belle, Eddie Murray, and Sandy Alomar Jr. on the Indians. The game did not disappoint. Jim Abbott started for the Yankees (no decision) and the Yankees won 6-5. Steve Howe, who led the majors in lifetime suspensions, got the save.

I did get to a few more games at Yankee before it closed. Even though the Old Yankee was originally built before WWII, the structure was remodeled in the 1970’s successfully removing any original charm.

Cleveland Municipal Stadium

2009-06-06T12:41:00.001-07:00

I went to one game at the old Cleveland stadium the last season the Indians player there. This was a pre-WWII park that opened in the 1930’s that still had wood seats. It was huge by today’s standards with over 70,000 capacity for baseball. I went in July as part of my first baseball tour. We arrived at the stadium about 2 hours before game time. The gates were closed but we managed to find one that let some fans in anyway. We walked down to the field on the third base side while the A’s were taking BP. Dave Henderson came over and signed autographs for the crowd. As he was signing I asked how his road trip was going. He joked about not playing well, but despite not being in the lineup the night before had a hit in every game on the current trip (5 for 16 overall). The game was relatively uneventful. A’s won 7-2. Rickey Henderson stole a base. Dennis Eckersley pitched the 9th despite it not being a save situation.

After the game we asked if there was a good spot for autographs. The usher pointed us to the player parking lot. Since this was an old stadium, players didn’t have an isolated lot away from fans. From the locker room exit there were some saw-horse barricades set up and that was about it. Kenny Lofton came out, signed a ball, walked 20 feet, signed a program, walked 20 feet, signed something else, and was gone. During the game Jeff Treadway swung at a pitch, the bat came out of his hands and flew into the stands. A kid (probably 10-12 years old) ended up with the bat. As he came out of the locker room, he asked if the kid with the bat was there. Sure enough he was and Jeff made sure to sign the bat. It was also the only thing Jeff signed before the left. Finally Albert Belle walks out. There are a lot of kids around and one of the ones next to me groans as he sees Belle. I asked why. The kid says, “Albert never signs for anyone.” As the door closed behind him he paused, looked at the crowd, walked to the start of one side of the barricades and signed for everyone. Didn’t matter what they had; ball, program, bat, jersey, other. At this time in his career, Belle was developing a reputation for being an asshole. On this night, Albert was the coolest player in the game.

County Stadium Milwaukee

2009-06-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

This was a very utilitarian stadium. Nothing very unique about it other than the beer barrel in center field where Bernie Brewer would slide down the ramp into the giant mug of beer when the Brewers would hit a home run. The one game I saw was in 1993, when the Brewers were still in the AL. You know how they announce special groups in attendance? They had a church association outing for this game that sold 14,000 seats. This stadium had the best smelling parking lot before a game - due to the expert tailgating prowess of the Milwaukee locals.

We sat in the front row on the upper deck along the 3rd base line. We were just above one of the scoreboards. It was a hot day and it was nice being able to stretch out.

The game was against the White Sox who would win the division that year while the Brewers would finish last. The Sox had Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, and Tim Raines. This was Robin Yount’s last year in the majors. It was a 1-1 game until the top of the 9th when Chicago scored 2 to win the game. Roberto Hernandez got the save to complete a four game sweep of the Brewers.

Tiger Stadium

2009-06-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

I went to Tiger a few years before the stadium closed (1993). There was talk about closing the stadium but plans for the new park had not been made official yet. We sat on the third base side in front of a support beam. Tiger was an older park that didn’t need huge support beams since they weren’t supporting 5,000 skyboxes. Plus the upper deck seats were almost flush with the lower seats. This team was when the Tigers had serious home run power; Fielder, Tettleton, and Deer. During the game I saw, Cecil hit a shot that cleared the 440 mark in center. Deer had a home run too. They played a good Twins team with Puckett, Hrbek, and Dave Winfield. The Twins took the lead in the 8th and Aquilera got the save.

Tiger was unique in that they had cyclone fencing separating the cheap general admission seats the rest of the stadium. Of all the parks I have visited, walking the 300 yards from the bus to the stadium gates was the most scared I’ve ever been walking into a stadium. For starters, the tour company put us in hotels in Canada rather than stay in Detroit. As the bus pulled up to the park, street vendors pushed their way onto the bus. The area was crowded with people who were not there for the game.

During the game itself, a fat guy decided to run across the field. He started on the third base side (not too far from where we were sitting) and ran to the right field bleachers. Since he was really out of shape, by the time he got to the RF wall he was too tired to climb the fence. He was escorted off the field in shame. This action, however, inspired another fan who was in much better shape. Starting from roughly the same location, he made it to the RF wall and cleared it easily. At this point, the security guards got to the fence but they weren't nearly as quick getting over so the fan runs up the stairs and into a tunnel leading to the concession area underneath the seats. About 5 minutes later, the fan runs out of another tunnel – still being chased by security – across a few sections and back into another tunnel. We didn’t see him again after that but I’d like to think he got away.

One more odd thing about my experience at Tiger. In the next section over from us there was a biker/prison looking guy with his retarded brother. I didn’t talk to them but I assumed they were brothers due to their ages, interactions, just the two of them going to a baseball game, and no other logical explanation. What caught my attention was near the end of the game when they were leaving, the biker/prison guy grabbed his brother in a bear hug and carried him out that way. It’s not something you see every day. What was really odd about this is that I swear I saw them again years later at a Padre game at Jack Murphy Stadium.

Comiskey Park

2009-06-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

The old Comiskey Park closed in 1990. In the late 1970’s I remember sitting in box seats along first base. This was after the Bill Veeck Bermuda shorts but still one of the ugliest uniforms in MLB history. I remember that Lamar Johnson and Don Kessinger were in the infield. For some reason we were making fun of Kessinger’s age even though he wasn’t that old. I also remember that it was hot out and I was more interested in food and drinks than the game.
Of note, the New Comiskey Park (aka US Cellular Field) was the last of the concrete donuts to be built and the location of the old Comiskey home plate can be found on the walkway from the parking lot into the new stadium.

Introduction

2009-06-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

I am just a fan of the game. I grew up mostly in Phoenix with limited exposure to professional baseball. After undergrad I moved to San Diego and started going to Padres, Dodgers, and Angels games. I started traveling to different ballparks.
Over the years of traveling to the different parks I have had the opportunity to visit some that have closed. Openings and closings are just a natural part of the ballpark lifecycle. With the exceptions of Fenway and Wrigley all cities have replaced their original parks. When I first started going to different stadia in the mid 1990’s there were still a handful of pre-WWII parks still in use: Wrigley and Fenway (obviously), Tiger Stadium (Detroit), County Stadium (Milwaukee), Cleveland Municipal Stadium, and Yankee Stadium (sort of). The problem with counting Yankee is the significant renovations that occurred in the early 1970’s. For no particular reason I thought I would start posting some thoughts and memories about my various experiences. I'm going to start with the closed stadiums.