Yankees lost yesterday, putting the Sox up 2 games with 6 to play, and a playoff spot already clinched. While it would be embarrassing to lose the division after leading by 14 games, it's some consolation that the Red Sox won the World Series as a wild card last time. Angels, Indians and Sox are in, everything else is up in the air, especially in the NL. What's the deal with Milton Bradley? What could the ump have said to set him off that badly?
Since I'm running out of time in the season, I figure now's a good time to give you the update on my tour of MLB ballparks. I know you've been waiting on the edge of your seat.
Anyway, here is where you can find the initial list
http://forum.officiating.com/showpos...&postcount=288 and here is last year's update
http://forum.officiating.com/showpos...&postcount=657 .
This year, my buddy and I made a swing through the southeast. We went to Atlanta, Miami and Tampa. We usually only do 2 parks a year, but if we did that, we'd have to make another trip just for one of them. It seemed easier to just do them all at once. The downside of this approach was that we had almost no time at all in any of the cities to look around town.
First up was Turner Field. The park is very nice from the outside. Lots of statues of Brave greats, as well as a statue of Georgia native Ty Cobb. There's a huge screen outside the right field wall, so you can watch the game if you're hanging around outside in the gift shop or in the Nickelodeon-themed kids' area. Inside, it was pretty average. Not a lot of very interesting features. All the seats had good views, of course, since the ballpark is relatively new; and we were able to move a little bit closer to the field within our section. The food was pretty standard and boring. Pizza, hot dogs, etc. And the BBQ pork was terrible. The one really fun thing about this visit was that we got to witness the third of Brandon Webb's three consecutive complete game shut-outs. I think he only gave up 2 hits. That was pretty cool to watch.
From Atlanta, we drove to Miami to see Dolphins Stadium. The Marlins play in a football stadium and that pretty much says it all. No atmosphere, no baseball feel. The only interesting feature is the scoreboard in left field which is big and green (where'd they get that idea?). The food here was also very standard and boring, which surprised me since Miami is such a diverse community. The stadium was easy to get to and parking was reasonable. Also, Blues Traveler did a mini-concert after the game as part of a weekend concert series that the Marlins sponsor. It was ok, but we didn't stay very long. The best part of Miami was that our hotel was on Miami Beach and the back door basically opened onto the ocean. Very cool. $60 on Priceline, baby!
After a quick drive across Alligator Alley, we ended up at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. (Side note: while driving I-75, we found a radio station that gives lots of interesting information about the Everglades and the species that live there. If you can stand a little self-improvement, or if you're a teacher and think your kids might find it interesting, you can listen online at
www.evergladesradionetwork.com) Again, the park was very easy to get to, and the drive across Tampa Bay into St. Pete is gorgeous. There's lots of parking and they don't even charge for it. The Trop is a domed stadium and the dome is angled, slightly slanted. It's very strange visually, actually. Not very attractive. The inside is also very bland -- and COLD!! The Devil Rays obviously don't draw many fans, and there were more Indians fans than Rays fans there. We did, however, see the guy that sits right behind home plate and heckles one visiting player loudly for the entire game. He was pretty funny. There is also an actual tank of devil rays outside the center field wall. That was pretty cool for the kids that were there. The food was actually outstanding at the Trop. They had the cultural variety that I expected in Miami. There was a Cuban/Mexican selection, and an Asian menu. There were also the usual stuff (the chili/cheese fries were really good) and there was an Outback that had a really good steak and mushroom dish. Plus, it was very easy to move to better seats. We started out in the second ring of seats but quickly moved down to the bottom level about 20 feet down the 3rd base line, 15 rows back.
So my personal updated rankings are:
1. Camden Yard (Baltimore)
2. PNC (Pittsburgh)
3. Citizens' Bank Park (Philly)
4. Yankee Stadium (NY)
5. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
6. SkyDome (Toronto)
7. Jacobs' Field (Cleveland)
8. Comerica Park (Detroit)
9. Tropicana Field (Tampa/St. Pete)
10. Turner Field (Atlanta)
11. Olympic Stadium (Montreal)
12. Dolphins Stadium (Miami)
13. Shea Stadium (NY)