The Ode to Baseball

Well the 2010 Major League Baseball season is underway and I’m excited to get some games in this year. I’ve missed the game a bit in the past couple years with all the various activities going on in my personal life. In fact, the last ballgame I went to was an August 2008 Indians game against my Angels. The truth is I’ve missed the game. I’m a huge fan of all team sports and MMA, but my heart has always belonged to baseball. I used to sit up every night during the summer listening to Indians and Pirates games on the radio while writing out a summary of how the games were played. I probably still have binders somewhere with all these summaries. Once I left for the Navy, it became my goal to see all 30 Major League Ballparks (I have to go back when new ones get built), and I began to keep count and take pictures. Here’s my list:

1991 – Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA- Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates
1996 – U.S. Celluar Field, Chicago, IL, Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox
1997 – Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH – Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians
1997 - Veteran’s Stadium, Philadelphia, PA – Colorado Rockies at Philadelphia Phillies
1998 – Shea Stadium, Flushing, NY – Chicago Cubs at New York Mets
2000 – Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD – Seattle Mariners at Baltimore Orioles
2000 – Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY – Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
2004 - PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA – Anaheim Angels at Pittsburgh Pirates
2004 – Citizen’s Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA – Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia Phillies
2004 – Angels Stadium, Anaheim, CA – Chicago White Sox at Anaheim Angels
2004 - Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA – St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
2005 – RFK Stadium, Washington, DC – New York Mets at Washington Nationals
2005 – Fenway Park, Boston, MA- Anaheim Angels at Boston Red Sox
2005 – Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, OH- Atlanta Braves at Cincinnati Reds
2005 – Comerica Park, Detroit, MI – Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers
2006 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL – San Francisco Giants at Chicago Cubs
2006 – Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI- Florida Marlins at Milwaukee Brewers

That’s fifteen MLB ballparks, though with new ballparks built for the Yankees, Mets, and Nationals, I need to go back and see those. If you look at my list here, you will also notice that there have been no new ballparks since 2006. I miss pursuing this little leisure hobby. I miss taking in the surroundings of the ballpark. So with Jenn supporting me we’re going to try and see two a year. This year we’re heading out to St. Louis in May to see the new Busch Stadium while the Cardinals take on my Angels. I’m not sure about any other ballparks this year, but the possibility remains for Denver, Minnesota, and Kansas City. We’ll see. I’m excited and I can’t wait to post some pictures. Below are my Top Ten Rankings for the ballparks so far:

1. PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA – Beautiful park with a great view of the three rivers. Go at night…it’s one of my favorite views.

2. Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD – Another great looking park. This park is the starter for all the new constructions of the 1990’s and in my opinion still has the old-time baseball feel the architects were aiming for. The warehouse in background is still a cool sight. PNC only has it beat on scenic beauty.

3. Fenway Park, Boston, MA – The newer parks look better in so many ways, but nothing beats the party going on at Fenway on game day. There is so much going at Fenway the moment you get to the park. It does look old, but they keep it painted and the Monster is still an awesome sight.

4. Angels Stadium, Anaheim, CA – This is an old ballpark, but when I visited in 2004, it had been overhauled into a baseball only-facility (the Rams used to play there), and it was gorgeous. It’s especially great at night to watch with the fountains where outfield bleachers used to be. I admit with the Angels being my favorite team, I’m probably biased.

5. Comerica Park, Detroit, MI – This ballpark doesn’t get mentioned enough with other ballparks, but it is absolutely gorgeous. I love the history they put into it with the statues beyond the outfield wall. I really enjoyed visiting this park.

6. Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, OH – Very nice ballpark that captures the history of the city well with its steam boat representation and the Ohio River in the background. There isn’t a bad seat in the ballpark.

7. Citizen’s Bank Park, Philadelphia – This park is a nice-looking park, but what I thought was cool was the all the stuff they have for kids to do there. In the walkway section of the park there were all kinds of games and stuff to occupy the kids before, during, and after the game. Very cool.

8. Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH – There was a time when I’d rank this ballpark higher, but the last time I went to see a game there, it looked as if it were not being taken care of. It’s still a decent place to catch a game, but I remember how great it looked when I first went in 1997. Last time I went, it looked like the Indians were saving money on maintenance as well as being cheap with their players.

9. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA – I have to admit that I didn’t care much for this ballpark. It was drab and there wasn’t much there to do but watch the game, which is great for me, but bad for a parents wanting to find things to do with their kids (and their limited attention spans). However, when the sun starts going down, the beauty of the ballpark changes. It’s such a pretty sight to look at the background beyond the outfield fence and it makes up for much of its shortcomings.

10. Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY – The great thing about old Yankee Stadium was the tradition and history there. Monument Park was a cool sight, though in an awkward place. However, Yankee Stadium, in its last days was a dump. It was dirty and dark in some spots even during the day. It was still a special place, it had just seen better days.

Honorable Mention – Miller Park in Milwaukee is very modern and had some great food, but it’s just so big and open. It really made for a less intimate experience. Wrigley Field in Chicago is great on tradition. It was a fun place to watch a game, and I’ll never forget seeing the ivy-covered outfield walls, but it’s old and it really needs a facelift. I’ll never forget seeing netting along the ceilings of the walkways to protect people from falling debris.

Anyways, I’m pretty thankful for the new season. One question I pondered today was will there be baseball in heaven?  I’ll post pictures of Busch Stadium when we get back from the game in May.