Baseball Cities Tour

July 7th – We arrived at the ballpark early and instead of having our traditional hot dog and beer, we decided to have burgers at the Mr. Machine restaurant in the outfield. This is another of the newer ballparks and it is nice. Once thing that surprised me though, was that for a new park it did not have a very big scoreboard for the other games going on. It was a promotion night, so we received a Brandon Phillips’ mesh jersey (Brandon Phillips is the 2nd baseman). This team has 3 mascots - Mr. Redlegs, Mr. Red and Gapper. There is a party pavilion in the outfield in the shape of a Riverboat. The smokestacks are where they shoot most the fireworks from to celebrate a Reds’ homerun and a victory. This time, I got the picture.

July 2nd – What a beautiful night for a ball game – the weather was perfect! Busch Stadium is a nice new stadium in downtown St. Louis with a great view of the Arch. They have a great electronic scoreboard that doesn’t show just the score – for some of the games, you can actually see who is at bat, if there are runners on base and how many outs there are. It was Little League night so the team’s mascot led the little leaguers around the field before the game. The home team won so there were a few fireworks after the game, but I was so into the game that I did not have the camera ready to get any pictures of them.

June 25 -Wrigley Field reminded me some of Fenway – it is baseball tradition, it still has the manual scoreboard, it is located in the old neighborhood and there is obstructed view seating. We did not have “obstructed view” seats but as you can see from the pictures, we did have a post to deal with. Since there is no Jumbotron, replays are shown on small TVs positioned throughout the seating areas. We were sitting in the very top row of the stadium but did have a great view of the field, the rooftops seats outside the stadium and if you looked close, we could see Lake Michigan or rather sailboats on the lake. Glad we got to this one before it was rebuilt. The home team won – barely, but Mark’s summary will tell you all about that.

We are staying in a campground in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park so we took the Metra (train) into the city and then took the CTA (subway or L as they call it) to the game. It was a picture perfect day for a ballgame. It started out as a great game for the Sox but in the end, the Florida Marlins won the game. Despite the Sox loss, we had a great time at the game.

June 18th - Before the game we went to the Miller Brewery and took their tour. After the tour we enjoyed our first sample of beer in the Miller Inn and enjoyed a nice visit with some other baseball fans from Texas. As we crossed the street to the outdoor Beer Garden where we would enjoy our next sample, it started to rain. We quickly returned to our car but not before getting very wet. Thankfully this stadium is one with a retractable roof – once inside it we were dry but very warm until the rain let up enough to allow the windows in the outfield to be opened. This was Little League Night – before the game all the area Little League teams marched around the field and then filled the stands. We got to see Yovani Gallardo’s major league debut and it was a good one.

Had heard a lot about the Mall of America so we had to make a trip there as part of this visit to Minneapolis. It is huge with over 520 stores, 50 restaurants and the nation’s largest indoor amusement park and more. We enjoyed a couple of hours walking all 4 floors and had lunch. Then it was time to get ready for the game. There was lots of hitting in this game but unfortunately not for the home team. The Twins were playing the Brewers and the stands were filled with fans from both teams but it was a friendly rivalry with well-behaved fans on both sides. We were sitting in the Family Zone so our tickets came with a coupon for a free hotdog and soda or milk. Fortunately, this stadium is covered as it was raining out when we left the game.

Thursday, May 31 – Another great baseball park! About 10 years ago we attended a Mariners game at the old Kingdome and it was at that game that we first started talking about making this trip. Safeco Field is a great place to see a ballgame. We also had the best hotdog yet here – the “Liana Dog”. Don’t go looking for it on any of the menus, as it is the creation of my niece, Liana Kelley who attended the game with us. Take the regular foot long hotdog and add nacho cheese and your choice of condiments – Mark added relish & mustard. Even with the cheese, it was a great tasting hotdog and the bun was toasted. We also received an official welcome on the Jumbotron. Imagine our surprise as we were watching the various groups being welcomed and up pops “Welcome to Safeco Field Karen and Mark”. Thanks Mom.

Tuesday, May 22 - We had really great seats at this park for a while. We had tickets for Row 1 Sec 328. That is where we sat until the beginning of the game when season ticket holders informed us we were in their seats. Apparently we were in the Upper Box Sec 328 and our tickets were for Upper View Sec 328. Only off by about 5 rows really. Pictures are from our real seats. This is a great park! If you had a young family and wanted to instill in them a love for the game this would be a great park. There were lots of fun things to do before the game with the kids. The Coke bottle in the outfield next to the large glove is actually several slides for adults and kids. There is a small T-ball field out in that area and “stuff a bear” where you can make your own Lou Seal (the team’s mascot) or a bear with Giants apparel. On the lower level, there is a both where you can watch a real major league baseball being stitched or have your name carved into a bat. (They had this same thing at Angels Stadium also.) The park is right on the bay at the edge of downtown San Francisco. You can watch all size boats, yachts and cargo ships sailing by while you are watching the game.

Sunday, May 20 - This stadium is showing its age and with talk of building a new one, it is no wonder it has not been through the renovations that some of the others the same age have. This game was between “cross bay rivals” – Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants. The place was packed with fans from both teams. Things got interesting right from the start in the stands. There were four young men sitting 2 or 3 rows in front and to the left of us. During the playing of the National Anthem one of them remained seated and was being very obnoxious. As you would expect, others in that area expressed their displeasure with this person. Language got rough and within minutes, security removed these people from the stadium. A special thank-you to Ernie, Paula, Linda, Kent and Greg. They picked us up at our campground and took us to a lovely brunch before the game and delivered us to the stadium. Paula & Linda are Karen’s cousins. It was great visiting with them as it has been a few years since we had seen each other.

Since the Angels were playing the Dodgers, we saw Nomar again but we also got to see another former “Let’s go Angels” were followed by “Let’s go Dodgers”. Just what you would expect in a “Freeway Series” as this rivalry is called. Before the game we heard the best rendition of the National Anthem yet. It was sung by a 10-year old young lady named Taylor (unfortunately I did not catch her last name) with a great voice. She returned to lead the 7th inning stretch traditional “Take me out to the ballgame”. The home team prevailed.