As surely as there is an annual off-topic baseball thread, there is also surely my annual baseball pilgrimage with my best friend, John. John and I are doing the fun, but unimaginative, tour of every major league ballpark. We've been making one trip per year since 2001, and for the last couple of years, we've visited two parks per trip. Since nobody's talking about actual games or standings, I will regale you with my personal rankings of the ballparks that we've visited thus far.
#8) Shea Stadium (NY Mets, 2003)
The ballpark itself is not attractive, nor is it in a very attractive part of town. It is, however, fairly easy to get to, requiring only one train from our Times Square hotel. Tickets were reasonably priced.
The seating was ok, the view of the field was decent. But it was virtually impossible to move to a better seat. Maybe there's a way to move down one level, but I couldn't find it. Half the fun of being at the ballpark is moving around to a better section and we couldn't do that at all at Shea.
The food was ok, and since all ballpark food is outrageously expensive, it doesn't really do any good to compare cost.
What to do after the game? Around the park is absolutely nothing. But it's not so hard to take the subway back to Times Square and hit the ESPN Club. The Rolex I got from a street vendor broke after only a couple months, tho.
#7) Olympic Stadium (Montreal Expos, 2002)
Ugly ballpark, ugly "retractable" dome, lousy food. Little to no merchandise available. The only reason we chose to go to Montreal was that we knew the team would be gone very soon.
The experience was saved, however, by three things:
a) the city of Montreal is
wonderful. Lots of great things to do before and after the game. Great museums, beautiful cathedral, and there's always Mont Royal to hike. All of which we did and thoroughly enjoyed. Nice restaurants and a very "safe-feeling" downtown. Easy mass transit system made getting to the game quick and painless.
b) the cost of the tickets. We paid $5
Canadian each to get into the ballpark. So cheap, we went back the next night.
c) ease of moving to better seats. Those $5 (
Canadian, may I remind you) tickets bought us left-field bleacher seats. However, as soon as the game started, we moved from the bleachers into the main "bowl" of seats, and by the 3rd inning had our feet resting on the Expos dugout. For $5, we got literally front-row seats. (Of course, it helped that the attendence on the first night was about 8,000 and only about 11,000 the next night.)
#6) Jacobs Field (Cleveland Indians, 2005)
It's tough for me to put Jacobs Field this low on the list, b/c it really is a beautiful ballpark. But it was the second of the "retro" parks to be built, and it just doesn't seem as cool as some of the ones that have been built since.
The tickets were reasonably priced, and the view of the field was pretty good, except that from our third level seats on the third base line, we couldn't see
anything in the left field corner. I was very surprised by the "obstructed" view. And like Shea, the seating levels are separated from one another so that you can't move down to a lower level to get a better seat. Very disappointing.
Sadly, I can't comment on the variety or quality of the food at the park, b/c I was sick as a dog on the night of the game. But since we drove well over 1100 miles to be there, there was no way I was sitting in the hotel room.
There seemed to be lots of things to do in Cleveland (e.g., the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), but I didn't really feel up to exploring the town.
#5) Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati Reds, 2005)
Beautiful ballpark, with lots of nice touches inside and out. Outside is a scene (to scale) of a pitcher, hitter, catcher featuring Reds players from different eras. The scene includes elevated "berms", paying tribute to the outfield at Crosley Field, where outfielders would have to run uphill (and often stumble) to chase a fly ball to the wall. There's also a rose garden, which features a white rose bush on the exact spot where Pete Rose's 4190th hit fell. Inside, there is a "riverboat" motif, which pays tribute to the importance of the Ohio River in Cincinnati's history. When a Reds pitcher strikes out a batter, smoke rises from the riverboat's smokestacks to signify that the batter got "smoked". Scattered throughout the stadium are pieces of history from old Reds ballparks, like the dugout benches from Crosley Field, which are located in the main concourse.
Our seats had a great view and were about average price. No obstructed views from our vantage point. There was plenty of opportunity to move around, but we stayed put b/c we had such a great view. We could easily have moved to the lower level, although we were told that it's very difficult to get near the dugouts.
The biggest disappointment about the park was the food. Very little variety and the chili dogs were really below average.
There were also things to do around the ballpark, the best of which was the Underground Railroad Museum. Also, parking was the cheapest here of any ballpark we've been to -- FREE!! No charge for city meters after 5 pm!! Can't beat that.
#4) Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees, 2004)
Well, the neighborhood stinks, the parking stinks, getting out after the game stinks, the view from the center field bleachers stinks, the ticket prices are outrageous and it stinks when you get all the way there and the Red Sox lose by 13 runs or whatever it was.
But, still, it
is Yankee Stadium.
It has to be in anyone's Top 5, just on history alone. The park itself is simply classic. It really is a beautiful field and stadium. Monument park is pretty amazing, including the monument in memory of the 9/11 attacks.
The food was great, and not outrageously priced. We didn't stay overnight for this game, so I didn't get back to Times Square. The bigger regret is that we didn't get there early enough to take the full ballpark tour. Oh well. On the way out of town, nobody would let us change lanes b/c we were still wearing out Red Sox hats. We had to put on the Yankee hats we bought as souvenirs just to get outta Dodge.
#3) Citizens Bank Park (Philedelphia Phillies, 2004)
This park seemed to be modeled almost exactly after Pittsburgh's PNC Park. It had the same seating configuration, the same main shopping/eating concourse, although it had a huge bell (shaped like the Liberty Bell) in center field that swings back and forth and "rings" when a Philly hits a home run. It also has a huge video scoreboard, which I think was the second largest at the time it was built or something like that.
It was a little tougher to get to the stadium from the hotel than in most of the other cities we've visited. There was no easy mass transit to the park. The fans were also a little more eager to tell you how badly the team sucked than in other cities. I don't know why anyone would want to play in front of such negative "fans". But I digress. . .
The ticket prices were a little higher than average. We ended up with bleacher tickets that were over $20 apiece. Parking was also more expensive than average. On the plus side, however, it was very easy to move to better seats. After the first couple innings, we moved from the right field bleachers to the second ring of seats halfway between home and first base, and had a great view. We probably could've moved down to the first ring of seats, but didn't want to risk it. Also, the food was very good, cheesesteaks being the specialty, of course; but there was a good variety.
Being at the ballpark was great, but it was awesome just to be in Philadelphia again. There is
so much cool history there, it's amazing. We had a
great time at a couple of the biggies. Saw the Liberty Bell, of course, and toured the museum. We walked through the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Very cool stuff. We only had the one day in town, tho, so it was tough to see a whole lot.
#2) PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates, 2003)
If I were grading just on the ballpark itself, PNC would be #1. It's a
beautiful facility with great seating, reasonable prices,
great food, and very easy access to the ballpark. It was literally a walk across a bridge from our downtown hotel. The park is located at the "confluence" of Pittsburgh's three rivers and the views as you walk around inside the park are really very pretty.
And although the city itself was not as rundown as I'd been led to believe (the downtown was actually very attractive), we really didn't feel like there was a whole lot to do before or after the game.
The staff in Pittsburgh were also the most accomodating of any park we've been to. We were set to arrive in Pittsburgh around 12:30 and when we were about an hour away, we called the box office to see if we could get into a ballpark tour. Unfortunately, on game days, the last ballpark tour began at noon. But the box office person transferred us to somebody else who told us that they'd be glad to send somebody to the gate who would take just the two of us around for the tour. And they did. We got a private tour of the whole ballpark. Big ups for the customer service!
Anyway, the view of the field is great. Our tickets were down the right field line for about $25. But we were able to move to the third row right behind the Pirates dugout.
The food was great and not too expensive. Although for some reason, my clutz quotient was really high that night; somehow I managed to get both chili
and pulled pork on my shorts.
#1) Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles, 2001)
The one that started the "retro" movement. This was actually the first park we visited, and it's still the best. Everything about Camden Park is top notch. The park is beautiful, the field is beautiful, the city is beautiful.
First of all, the park is easy to get to. It was a 3 block walk from our Inner Harbor hotel. We took the ballpark tour, which was great. The tickets for the game were probably a little more expensive than average, but not much. The drawback was that we got caught every time we tried to move to seats closer to the field.
The food is sensational. Boog's Bar-B-Q, crab cake sandwiches, good chili dogs. It was also probably a little more expensive than average, but the quality and variety were excellent.
The park is filled with cool historical things. The alley between the park and the warehouse (I think it's Utah Street) has little round plaques that mark where home runs have landed. Lots of tributes to Oriole Hall of Famers, including an orange seat that marks Frank Robinson's last (or farthest, maybe?) home run.
Even the scoreboard is cool, with little things to watch for. For example, at the top of the scoreboard is "THE SUN", which is the Baltimore newspaper. When an official ruling is needed on a play, the "H" lights up if it's ruled a hit and the "E" lights up if it's ruled an error.
But the thing that makes Camden Yards better than PNC is Baltimore's Inner Harbor. It's so beautiful, and there's so much to do. We toured a Revolutionary war ship, went through the Aquarium, hit the ESPN club and then found a decent pool hall -- all within walking distance of our hotel. The park is awesome, but making a whole weekend of it makes it the best of our visits yet.
Sorry to ramble, hope some of it was interesting to somebody. We're having a blast doing these trips. Just thought I'd share. Give us something to talk about until Schilling gets a start on Thrs.
