My whirlwind tour of the central time zone took no breaks on May 25, when I flew out of St. Louis in the morning, took the tour of the Louisville Slugger Factory and then ventured to Cincinnati for a night game.  The idea for the stop in Louisville actually came about because of how much trouble I had trying to book a cheap flight from St. Louis straight to Cincinnati.  This may get confusing but try to follow along… For some reason it was hundreds of dollars cheaper to book a flight to Louisville and take a bus to Cincinnati than to fly straight there.  There was even one wacky scenario where I found a flight to Louisville that went through Cincinnati that was actually cheaper than just buying a ticket to Cincinnati directly.  It was as if they were paying me to buy two flights and then simply not board the second plane.  Anyway, after spending hours looking into flights I decided I would fly early in the morning to Louisville and go take a tour of the factory.  So at 7:40 a.m. I was flying from St. Louis to Louisville (that translates to getting picked up by a cab before 5:00 a.m.) and around 10 I was inside the building, trying to figure out what to do with all of my luggage.  I didn’t have a lot with me throughout the trip— I had one small laptop bag and a smaller camera bag that I took to each game, and one carry-on sized suitcase that I tried to drop off somewhere before I went to each stadium— but it was enough that my belongings were annoying in several places like Louisville, Anaheim and Miami for various reasons.  The people at the factory were very nice, however, and let me store their bag with them.  Then I was off to enjoy a video about Louisville Sluggers (voiceover by James Earl Jones!) and then the museum itself.  The museum was interesting but I found that it had barely been updated in the four years since I had been there back in 2003.  The video was probably identical, it featured Sammy Sosa in a Cubs uniform more prominently than any other player.  There was a lot of Ken Griffey, Jr. in it too, but no Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols or any other young stars.  Some of the historical exhibits seemed like they could use some updating too.  The coolest exhibit I saw though was one of Babe Ruth’s bats where he had actually cut tiny notches around the logo on the bat for each homerun he had hit with it.  Look closely at this picture and you should be able to see it.  Aside from that exhibit, the neatest thing about the factory is how personalized everything is.  I watched a billet of wood sit in a machine and heard a lady say, “This bat will soon belong to Vernon Wells.”  In a matter of seconds a machine had sawed that billet to the exact dimensions of Vernon Wells’ liking.  They had cubbies of bats that showed the names of which players would receive them.  I felt guilty picking up the bats because I had a cold, but I grabbed A-Rod’s and swung it around anyway.  (He didn’t appear to catch a cold in early June, which is good because I would have felt bad).

After a quick lunch I wandered over to the Louisville Greyhound Bus Station at 12:30 for a 4:00 bus.  I had a minor problem catching my bus from Pittsburgh to Cleveland and I knew that for a 7:00 game I absolutely had to be on the 4:00 bus so I got there three and a half hours early and sat in line.  Well, I guess you could say I started the line.  I don’t have much to say about that experience, except that I wouldn’t recommend spending that much time in a Greyhound station very often.  The other thing that worried me was that the bus had to be on time.  Then of course it wasn’t.  The bus left around 4:25 and I checked into my hotel in downtown Cincinnati at 6:45.  I knew this was my most hectic day of the trip and I was worried that I would miss the first pitch for the first time, but I hustled the five or six blocks to the stadium and got to the gates at 6:58 with a pre-printed ticket.  Somehow, at 7:03 I was sitting in the fourth row behind the home dugout with a $7 chicken sandwich and a bottle of water.

Since I’ve already mentioned food (the chicken sandwich was mediocre) I need to point out that it was in the Great American Ballpark that I had the best individual food item of my entire trip.  In most cases I tried to avoid eating at major chains— for example, I didn’t eat at the Outback Steakhouse in Tropicana Field even though the idea of eating a $7 bloomin’ onion was tempting— and instead tried to get the food that was sold from typical stadium vendors.  However, going into Cincinnati I was told that I had to try the Skyline Chili.  And if you love food as much as I do, you should someday get some Skyline Chili too.  I walked up to a concession stand in the upper deck around the seventh inning and saw that they had chili for $9.  I couldn’t believe that a bowl of chili would set me back $9 but I had to find out why, so I walked closer and saw that this was served “3 or 4 ways.”  Having no idea what that meant, and feeling like a stupid tourist, I asked the man what that meant.  He then explained that three ways was spaghetti, chili and cheese, and that it didn’t matter if I wanted 3 or 4 because the “4^th way” was onions which were located at a condiment kiosk 20 feet away.  In my head I’m thinking, “Spaghetti and chili, what are you talking about?” but I ordered anyway.  The man who made my chili thought it was funny (and quite obvious) that I had no idea what I was getting into, so he was laughing at me while he prepared my meal.  He filled a giant triangular Tupperware with linguine that filled it to the brim.  Then, he laughed and filled it in more with giant ladles of chili.  Lastly he covered the whole thing with a heaping mound of thinly shredded cheese that filled a big lid and he closed and sealed the dish.  I chose not to add onions simply because I didn’t think it was wise to open this gigantic dish until I was safely in my seat.  That proved to be a wise choice because by the time I found a seat I liked the entire thing had pressure-cooked my meal and melted the cheese all over it.  The $9 turned out to be a bargain because it was the best individual food item I had at any stadium in the country.

The game itself turned out to be pretty exciting… well, let’s say interesting, but most of the excitement didn’t start until the 10^th inning.  However in the sixth inning I was standing in the right field seats when Ken Griffey, Jr. blasted his 574^th career homerun into the bullpen just to my left.  As my trip has gone on I have discovered that one of the coolest aspects of it is that not only do I get to see every stadium, but that I also get to watch almost every starting position player in the league play in person.  Of all the players I’ve seen, Griffey is one of my favorite to watch, simply because when he is hitting well he has the sweetest swing of any player I have ever seen.  I remember being a little kid when Griffey was on Seattle and playing video games that would allow you to create your own players.  I remember one particular game that would let you select a swing from many current major leaguers and I would always pick Griffey.  For that at bat he showed that same swing I had watched as a little kid, that same swing I saw so many times in the video at the Louisville Slugger Factory that morning (I told you, the video hadn’t been updated in years), and the same swing that had propelled 574 homerun balls over the fences.  Watching Griffey swing is one of those simple pleasures that anyone who enjoys a night at the ballpark can appreciate.

Long post today because of the Louisville Slugger Factory, I’ll wrap this up tomorrow with extra innings, some more about the stadium itself and my trip to the Pete Rose exhibit at the Red’s Hall of Fame.  Plus I have a bunch of pictures I'll put in tomorrow.

Sorry for the long amount of time in between posts again, at this point I should be able to update pretty regularly since I’m done 29 out of 30.  I’ll try to get back in the habit of posting every 2 or 3 days but stop me if you’ve heard that one before.

Anyway, for those of you who I left hanging about my game in St. Louis…  I mentioned in the last post that an afternoon game in St. Louis is an excuse to take off a whole day from work, so needless to say I waited in another long line before I finally got into the stadium for the game.  At first I was impressed by the Cardinals fans that there were so many of them in line long before the game but then I realized that the line was so long because there was only one gate open at my particular entrance.  Getting into the stadium took an annoyingly long time and it was probably just a ploy to have people buy merchandise from the outside vendors who were selling all sorts of Cardinal memorabilia.  The outside of the stadium was nice though, there were bricks in the ground commemorating the greatest moments in Cardinals’ history and they were all pretty interesting to read.

My timing in St. Louis was pretty interesting; I was there on the day it was announced that Josh Hancock’s father was filing lawsuits in the aftermath of his son’s death.  I had a few interesting conversations with St. Louis fans about the differences between the way people reacted to Hancock’s death versus Darryl Kyle’s death a few years back, and the differences between Hancock’s death and Tony LaRussa’s DUI earlier this year.  For the most part I found St. Louis fans to be knowledgeable on most subjects I talked to them about and it was neat to see a stadium where you can see, as one fan put it, “Little old ladies with scorecards behind home plate.”  Aside from the more somber discussions I had during the game, I found a typical day game crowd with beach balls in left field and people out enjoying the sun. 

One of the first things you notice in Busch Stadium is how much they display the fact that the Cardinals have won 10 World Series titles.  They show it everywhere, even on the scoreboard before the game and on top of the dugouts.  The stadium also had a very good feel to it.  Often a “good feel” can be hard to explain but I’ll try to offer several explanations.  St. Louis fans wear their colors very proudly and there is an abundance of red in every crowd of people you see.  The stadium also has red seats, which is rarer than you would think, and it creates the illusion of the stadium being entirely packed.  There were a lot of fans there that day (44,296 of them) but if you look at my picture at the top you can’t even tell which seats are full and which ones are empty.  The stadium is also very clean looking, with a great view of the city, beautiful grass and colorful scoreboards.  All of this provides a “good feel.”

I like the scoreboards at Busch because of how informative they were.  They had a large color board that handled most of the typical stuff you would see on any main scoreboard, but they also had a big out of town scoreboard to its right that showed a lot of information about the games going on elsewhere, and they had scoreboard over each bullpen that focused on pitching stats.  They were all very easy to see as long as you weren’t in the outfield, where you can’t see the boards above the bullpen. 

As for the game itself, it wasn’t really that interesting.  St. Louis was going for the sweep against Pittsburgh in a match-up of two teams that really weren’t doing too well in the standings.  St. Louis scored two runs in the second inning and then coasted to a 3-1 win.  Aaron Miles had two of the biggest hits of the game, an RBI single in the second and a line drive that hit pitcher Tom Gorzelanny in the sixth.  Gorzelanny then left the game, but it didn’t make much of a difference because Pittsburgh only mustered five hits all game.  The most exciting moment of the game for me was in the eighth inning when I was sitting on the third base side and was hit in the back of the head by a t-shirt that was launched from the field.  I didn’t realize it had deflected off the people behind me and I couldn’t recover quickly enough to nab the shirt.  It was picked up by some guy who had just caught a foul ball two innings before… I guess he’s glad he skipped work. 

Food:  I didn’t have very good food at Busch.  I paid $5 (which is pretty cheap) for a “jumbo” hot dog that was anything but jumbo.  I also paid $7 for “wing bites” which looked pretty good but I was kind of thrown off by the fact that the lady working there had no idea what I was talking about when I tried ordering them.  I noticed that they were selling ravioli during the game and I found that kind of surprising, but later I was told that I should have ordered them.  I had no idea until after the game that toasted ravioli were known somewhat as a specialty to St. Louis.

Jerseyof the Game:  Most of the jerseys I saw were players still on the team.  I also saw a McGwire jersey or two, which was to be expected.  The jersey of the game will go to the man in the Edgar Renteria jersey because it gives me a chance to offer this trivia question:  Who is the only player to have the last at bat of the World Series twice, once to win the series and once to lose it?  Edgar Renteria, with the Marlins in 1997 and the Cardinals in 2004.  [Note: I am not positive if this is true or not.  I know Renteria has done it but I’m not sure if anybody else has.  I will be researching it soon though, anybody want to do it for me?]

More home cooking: With St. Louis' win the home team improved to 10-2 on my trip by a margin of 84-45.

One last note:  While I didn’t write anywhere near as much as I could have about Darryl Kyle’s death, I found it interesting as I traveled the country to note how much of an impact his death had on several teams.  He was on the Cardinals when he died, but both the Astros and Rockies have a little memorial in his honor.  The Astros have a small DK below their 1997 division champions flag and the Rockies have a 57 located in their bullpen.  See below:

Once I left Kansas City I took the flight across the state of Missouri to St. Louis for a Thursday afternoon game at the new Busch Stadium. Typically an afternoon game for me means an absurd hour to be flying that morning and then sleeping my way through my routine until the first pitch. But the trip to St. Louis was a little exciting in that it marked the beginning of my busiest 48 hours of the trip. Each of those two days would begin with a flight before 7:00 a.m. (which translated to a wakeup call at 3:45 in Kansas City before a taxi picked me up at 4:15). In those two days I would fly from Kansas City to St. Louis, check out the city, go to an afternoon game, get up the next day and fly to Louisville for a tour of the Louisville Slugger Factory, then hop on a Greyhound Bus that sent me through Indianapolis to a night game in Cincinnati.

Needless to say I was a little bit tired when I landed in St. Louis, but feeling the first inklings of a cold I wanted to trudge forward almost out of spite. To date the trip had been a tremendous success— no missed flights, no rainouts, I wasn’t sick of baseball yet… there was no way that a runny nose and a few early flights would deter me from accelerating the pace of my trip. So I landed in St. Louis and arrived at my host’s office building (a friend of my parents’) earlier in the morning than he did. I dropped of my luggage and started walking towards the stadium.

As soon as I got to the stadium I learned something about St. Louis. I knew ahead of time that the Cardinals had one of the most loyal followings in all of baseball, but here I got to see it firsthand. I arrived at Busch at approximately 9:37 a.m. for a 12:10 p.m. start time. Let’s just say I couldn’t even see the ticket window from the back of the line where I was standing. In many cities an afternoon game is a reason to take the afternoon off, but in St. Louis an afternoon game is a reason— almost an obligation— to take off the whole day. Everybody in my line seemed to be waiting for the special “First Pitch” tickets, which offered 125 pairs of some sort of special bargain for good seats. I simply wanted anything that would get me into the building but I was stuck waiting in the same line. All of a sudden, after 10 or 15 minutes in line, the First Pitch tickets were sold out. But just when I thought I was out of luck altogether to the floodgates opened. Now it was every man, woman and child for himself to get in line for the other available tickets in the stadium. Over in the corner I saw a ticket machine that seemed wide open despite the long lines of people at the windows, so I headed to it. Then, as hundreds of people now occupied the spot in line I had formerly held, I thought to myself, “Oh my god, I think I just fell for the oldest one in the book.” Why would everybody be waiting in line if this machine could print tickets for the same game and price as the window? I was convinced that I had just cost myself a ticket to the game and that I would have to pay an exorbitant amount to a scalper to avoid flying back to St. Louis later in the summer. But somehow I followed the machine’s instructions and got a ticket to the game faster and more easily than everybody in line and I’ll never understand why more people didn’t realize my shortcut. Ticket in hand, I made my way to the Gateway Arch, about a 15-20 minute walk from Busch.

I realize that the Gateway Arch has nothing to do with baseball, but it’s something that I simply have to write about because I’m ready to grant it the title of “People-Watching Landmark of the World.” This place is insane. First off, I was really impressed by the whole exhibit, mostly because I didn’t realize how much there was to do there. I got there and walked around the arch taking pictures, but then I discovered that there was a whole underground museum that was one of America’s national parks. I knew that there was a way to go to the top of the arch, but I didn’t realize that this included a huge exhibit down underground. It had a neat museum not just about the creation of the arch, but about our country’s westward expansion in general. The museum’s main display is built in a semicircle where each decade creates a new layer that cleverly makes the museum literally expand. Get it? Then there’s the ride up to the top. You go in this tiny little pod that would have been uncomfortable if it was just me inside. Instead it was me and a family of four. The claustrophobic little sphere feels like a rickety ride you would experience at an amusement park, like when a roller coaster slowly takes you up a huge hill before releasing you down into a series of loops. It felt more like the Tower of Terror than a national park. I’m not saying that because I was afraid that I would fall down to my death on the banks of the Mississippi, it just wouldn’t have surprised me much if we went all the way to the top of the arch and then simply freefalled down the other side for the sheer fun of it.

Once you get to the top of the arch is where the people watching really gets fun. I have never seen such a large group of people running around taking pictures and shooting home videos so frantically in such a small area before in my life. The top of the arch itself is about as claustrophobic as the pod that takes you up there. It felt almost like an airplane with no seats if you want a good comparison for the width of the arch, the low ceiling and the crowds of people. Everyone and their mother is fighting over a good spot at the windows so that they can shoot a video of the mighty Mississippi River and there is a constant soundtrack of loud noise that sounds like a ninth inning rally. Actually a lot of the people there were in Cardinal red jackets and hats, on their way to the game much like myself that afternoon. Personally, I headed straight for the other side of the arch, which had a view of the city. That’s where I could snap these photos of Busch Stadium (which were naturally more interesting to me) and where I could see the Edward Jones Dome (home of the Rams) and some other city landmarks (like the Budweiser Brewery slightly more in the distance). Then I took in the Mississippi, saw a little more of the view, laughed at how funny some of the other people looked, and then headed down in my escape pod well before the “suggested time” recommended. I came, I saw, I left.

I checked out a little bit more of the museum because it interested me (I’m an American Studies major) and then I took the walk back to the stadium where another long line greeted me at 11:00 sharp.

Looks like I’m close to my usual length and I haven’t even gotten inside the stadium yet! Sorry about that everyone, but my blog contains a lot of the interesting information (well, interesting to me at least) that probably won't make it into my book.  The book will be a lot more in depth but might do a better job of staying on topic.  At least now you learned something about an interesting national landmark…back with more about Busch later.

I’m in the middle of reading Jayson Stark’s new book, The Stark Truth, about baseball’s most overrated and underrated players of all time. I bring this up now because in his introduction he lists the 10 best ways to remain underrated, a list that includes, “Spend your career in the central or mountain time zones.” So as I spent a week losing myself in the past and present of baseball in the middle of our country, I realized that Kansas City might be one of the most underrated baseball towns in the country. When you think about baseball’s history in the central you think of the Cardinals and their 10 championships, the Cubs with their futility and bleacher bums, the Black Sox scandal and maybe the Astrodome. But Kansas City is a very culturally significant place on the landscape of American baseball. For that reason, no trip to Kansas City is complete for any baseball fan without a visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Kansas City is a great home for such a museum because the Kansas City Monarchs were basically the New York Yankees of the Negro Leagues, and the museum does a great job of not only showing the history the Negro Leagues but the entire civil rights movement. They have a very interesting timeline of important dates that help paved the way for equality for all people— not just African American male baseball players. And they even have a video that was narrated by James Earl Jones! If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend everyone goes in to learn as much as I did about such an interesting time and so many interesting people.

Once I got to the baseball game, I also decided that I really liked Kauffman Stadium. While many of the new stadiums try to win the fans over by being flashy, Kauffman is just classy. The only thing that makes stadiums like Fenway and Wrigley stand up to the new glitzier parks is that they have an old character and a rich history. Well the Royals have been playing in Kauffman for 35 years, and while it is nowhere near Fenway or Wrigley or even Dodger Stadium, you get the feeling that if they play there another 65 years Kauffman might actually catch up. Maybe. One reason the stadium is so nice is because people aren’t allowed to go in the outfield area where they have their nice fountains and large crowned scoreboard. They have a huge section of the stadium that fans simply can’t walk around in. I’m a firm believer in the fact that people typically tend to ruin nice things, so I assume that keeping people away from the nice fountain and grassy area is what keeps it looking so pristine. Kauffman just has that charm about it of being different from any other park you’ll ever walk into that makes me think it could be very celebrated if it’s around in the year 2070. Even though there are few people and seats in the outfield (except one level near each pole), the stadium still seats over 40,000 people because the seats around the infield and behind home plate tower high above the field. They create such a huge wall that with nothing blocking the winds from the outfield I can’t imagine the wind ever blows  out in that park. Are there any Royals fans out there who know if that’s possible that want to save me some research?

Another reason Kansas City is an underrated baseball town is because is they haven’t had much success lately. Let’s just say that the 90’s and 2000’s were littered with more 90-loss seasons than championships. This once proud baseball franchise (see: 80’s) now struggles to win games and draw fans. So when I was standing outside the stadium and a man said to me, “You better hurry up and get inside, they’re only giving free t-shirts to the first 20,000 fans,” my natural reaction was, “20,000?? What are they going to do with all those extra t-shirts?” In case you were wondering, the final attendance that night was 19,776.

Despite having less than 20,000 fans in attendance, I found that those there were very attentive, excited fans who loved their team. They certainly provided a home field advantage and those t-shirts served as great rally towels during the Royals’ comeback. The Royals were down early when Victor Martinez hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and trailed 3-0 after Jason Michaels hit an RBI double in the fifth. But when the Royals hit three singles in the bottom half of the fifth to score a run the fans went wild. It sounded like they had tied the game. An inning-ending double play and a wasted opportunity for more runs didn’t even discourage the fans, because they started right back up in the next inning. And when Mike Sweeney hit a game-tying homerun in the sixth the stadium was electric (see: fountain). Sweeney is the Royals’ consensus favorite player because the man who wears the captain’s “C” on his jersey has happily suited up for the Royals in 13 straight years now and the fans seemed just as happy to watch him perform well as to watch their own team win. The game was a little anti-climactic because the seventh inning would have made for a perfect ninth. In the top half the Royals survived having two on for Grady Sizemore (he struck out) and then a wild pitch. Then in the bottom half of the inning the Royals loaded the bases for Mark Teahen with two outs. In came Aaron Fultz, who was 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA at the time. Fultz threw four pitches, all were balls, and he left with the Indians trailing 4-3 after walking home the winning run. I say that the seventh would have made a great ninth because 4-3 was the final score and the Royals fans sat through a couple of scoreless innings after their team’s furious comeback.

The food: Kansas City is famous for their barbecue, and for good reason. As I moved from the chili in Texas to the barbecue in Kansas City, I probably went through the stretch of my trip where I gained the most weight. There are great places to eat all over the city, but Arthur Bryant’s is one of the most famous and it’s located very close to the Negro Leagues Museum. I could have spent hours at Arthur Bryants just hanging out and trying the different kinds of sauces. Many people were just hanging out, and I sat there eavesdropping on a conversation that went along the lines of, “If _______ died tomorrow do you think he’d be a Hall of Famer?” (They said Jeter and A-Rod, yes; Pujols, no). As for the stadium itself, there was one place that seemed to have the best authentic barbecue, as opposed to the regular stadium sandwiches, but I forgot to write down the name of the place. If you’re ever in Kauffman Stadium though, you’ll know the right place to go when you see it. Or when you see the line for it. This was a $15.25 meal that was almost worth it, save the drink rip-off explained below. I had a gigantic barbecued beef sandwich that was overflowing and almost as difficult to pick up as the hot dog I ate in Houston. I also got a side of baked beans even though it cost $3.00 (when in Rome…) but they too were worth the steep price. The beans were in a large container and were more like a stew because they actually had more chunks of meat in them. My only complaint is that the place basically forced me into a large souvenir-sized soda because they didn’t sell water or smaller cups. If you want to pay less for a drink you have to buy it elsewhere, but don’t try waiting in a different line with the colossal sandwich and side of stew.

Play of the Game: In the third inning, Jason Michaels flied out to center and Grady Sizemore tagged up and went to second. Second! They didn’t get any runs out of it, but with a player like that on your team you often will.

Obscure Jersey of the Game: I spotted somebody wearing a Jeremy Affeldt jersey, which was interesting because Jeremy Affeldt spent five years shuttling between the Royals’ bullpen and starting rotation. Want to learn more? Baseball-reference.com says that the most similar pitchers to Jeremy Affeldt are Bryan Hickerson, Chris Peterson and Taylor Phillips. I hope that jersey was a gift or that the fan is actually a member of the Affeldt family.

Old School Facilities: I mentioned that Kauffman could grow better with age, but some parts of the stadium already outdated… the bathrooms actually have troughs! Ladies, if you’re unfamiliar with the male bathroom phenomenon known as the trough, imagine walking into a bathroom and seeing 40 men relieving themselves into a really long bathtub. I could understand if they had troughs at Wrigley (they did) or Fenway (they didn’t), but in Kansas City?

Home Team Back on Track: A big win by Texas followed by a Royal comeback put the home team back at 9-2 on my trip, outscoring the opponents by a margin of 81-44.

It’s safe to say that I’ve been generally upbeat and excited during almost every moment of my trip.  It’s also safe to say that the hour before the Rangers vs. Twins game was one of those moments when I wasn’t.  First there was the pitching match-up.  I was disappointed because I had this sinking suspicion that despite having the Twins on my schedule as much as any other team I would successfully manage to miss John Santana every time.  Once I learned that Santana wasn’t pitching I dealt with it because I had heard that Boof Bonser would be on the rubber, which I was looking forward to because I had never seen him pitch.  But then I got to the stadium and was surprised to find that Boof wasn’t pitching for the Twins— Carlos Silva was.  And I already knew that Vincente Padilla was going for the Rangers.  Keep in mind that I’ve mentioned several times on this blog that I am a Phillies fan, and imagine me sitting  in the upper deck at The Ballpark at Arlington thinking I flew all the way to Texas to watch Vincente Padilla and Carlos Silva!?!  I could have just stayed home and watched highlights of the Phillies’ sub-.500 2002 season.  Silva last 4.1 innings and got the loss, Padilla went 5.2 innings for the win.  Here’s a good way to tell if a pitcher is bad:  when you’re walking around the concourse and you hear somebody on the radio broadcast describe both pitchers as “unpredictable” it usually means they’re both “garbage.”

To make matters worse, I had my first real weather scare when it started to downpour as I was walking into the stadium.  I arrived to find tarps on the field, having to find shelter in the Rangers’ team store, where I was ******** into spending $6 on a Rangers poncho (actually a garbage bag with their logo on it).   All in all the rain delay wasn’t too bad.  They showed an awesome highlight video of Nolan Ryan’s career accomplishments and I laughed that the loudest reaction came from the highlight of Robin Ventura charging the mound and Ryan headlocking him into a series of punches that looked like noogies.  The game started around 7:30, just half an hour late.

I’m not sure if it was the rain, the pitching (though to be fair, Padilla's line wasn't awful), or the fact that it was my eighth game in nine days, but this just wasn’t a memorable game.  The stadium was nice to look at, but I didn’t love it the way I loved other parks.  The outfield seats had the old classic style columns, and I would say the best description of the area in straightaway center (probably the signature of the stadium) is that looks like a giant riverboat.  It is a tall multi-story structure of white-painted wood that certainly gives the stadium a hint of an old classic even if it doesn’t take your breath away.

The game itself was a rout, with the Rangers winning 14-4.  In their second game in a row with 14 runs, they coasted along with a run in the first four innings and then exploded for eight more in the fifth.  Sammy Sosa, still in his quest for 600 homers hit two RBI doubles, which were probably the highlight of the game because of how excited the crowd got when the ball jumped off the bat, and Greg Laird hit a grand slam to break the game wide open. 

As for the fans, I didn’t find them to be nearly as “Texan”— or at least my stereotypical view of what a Texan is, which was completely backed up by what I saw in Houston— as the fans I had seen the previous two days in Minute Maid Park.  Sure, they sang “Deep in the Heart of Texas” but it wasn’t during the seventh inning stretch and they didn’t get into it as much.  I was told the song is more of a Houston thing anyway.  The food was also much more disappointing than Houston.  The first thing you notice when you walk into the stadium is the unbelievable aroma of garlic fries.  The smell was so powerful that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try them.  Unfortunately, they don’t taste anywhere near as good as they smell and I probably could have spent my $6.75 much more wisely. 

I wish I had more good things to say about this game and this park, because it obviously outclassed parks like RFK, Dolphin Stadium and Tropicana Field, but it just goes to show you that good weather and a good game are essential in any night in a ballpark— or at least one of them.

The first day I got a picture at night with the roof open, but the second day I got a shot during the afternoon with the stadium covered.

Minute Maid Park in Houston has to be the most oddly shaped baseball stadiums in the country. Walking around the stadium, or taking one look at the roof, it becomes apparent that the building is a giant rectangle. Once you get into the stadium, it's easy to see just how awkwardly a baseball stadium was squished into that rectangle. Many stadiums have been very successfully placed within a city and fit comfortably into a limited number of city blocks. Fenway Park immediately comes to mind, as the Green Monster was originally built simply because they didn't have enough space to move the fence deeper in left. But in Houston, something just seems a little bit off. It was as if they were trying to artificially create the charm that just kind of naturally found its way to Fenway. And if you have any doubts that the architects were trying to create that old-time charm, look no further than the hill in center field. I'm a fan of the hill, I think it's a cool addition that adds some old character to a new-age park, but my point here is that it does little to disguise the architects' motives.

To fit the field into a square, the entire third base side of the stadium is straight, taking up one entire side (the width) of the rectangle. The long side of the rectangle then runs from the left field foul pole all the way to the stands deep behind center field and they even approach right-center field before angeling to the next side. This creates a short porch in left field, compensated by a high wall, with very little seating. The side parallel to that, which is the first base side, is completely curved. This seems normal for baseball stands, but it is very different from the angeled third base side. Take a look at the difference in the layout of the stands, and of the section of stands that juts out into foul territory. Notice the difference between the angeled side and the rounded one.

   

Now that they've successfully fit a baseball stadium into a square box, the next question is how to maximize seating capacity. Well, the entire stadium wasn't just fit into a square, it was dropped into a cube. The stadium is built completely vertically with an incredibly steep seating area where the upper decks are practically on top of the lower decks. This creates a lot of seats under an overhang (from the lower deck in right field it is difficult to see the main scoreboard unless you are in the first few rows) and it makes balls being fouled into the fourth deck a less-than-rare occurence.

Now just to backtrack for a second. I am not intending to bash Minute Maid Park. I had a great time there, I thought it was a fun, loud baseball stadium with great fans. I simply thought it was very strangely shaped and wanted to point that out. It also had many strong points that I am glad to note too. The facilities were very modern and clean, the food was great, they had the best out of town scoreboard in baseball, and they even have a closed captioning board to assist the deaf and hearing impaired. Along the left field wall (which, remember is a high fence), they display inning by inning scores of every out of town game, update each score mid-inning with yellow numbers indicating if an inning is not yet over, and display who is pitching. It was huge and visible from all areas of the stadium except the few seats in left field. The stadium also had a great display of their team's history in left field along that very long side of the rectangle. The "Power Alley" has banners displaying each of their team's all-time homerun leaders and also had displays of how to create bats and gloves, with displays of their team's best old hitters and fielders. This was very close to the homerun pump, that talleys each Astros homerun, and the hit-counter that currently displays Craig Biggio's career hit total. This was all underneath the train that is situated high atop the left field wall.

Food: When you go to Texas you have to try the chili, and it's not hard because they'll put it on anything. The first day I was there I had the best nachos I've ever had in a stadium. For $7 I had a bowl of nachos that had chips cheese, jalapeno peppers, sour cream and chili that were just unbelievable. Wanting to try more on the second day, I went for the Chili Cheese Super Star Dog. Now let me tell you something, when it costs $10.75 for a hotdog and a Dr Pepper, the dog better make it worth it. This one absolutely did. It was so big, and covered in so much cheese and chili that I had to take a picture of it at the register. After spending a few minutes wondering how the heck I would pick that thing up (it was so messy that they served it in two overlapping dishes to help reduce the odds of getting chili all over yourself) I finally managed to pick the thing up and take a bite. It was awesome. If I am ever at Minute Maid Park again I will refuse to sit down in my seat until I've bought one. One thing I would change though-- I would use a fork and knife. At first I was intimidated by the native Texans and didn't want to face their ridicule if people laughed at me for using utensils, but then as I walked around the stadium I noticed that everyone used a fork and knife and that I was the only idiot who tried to pick it up. Then, several innings later I decided to push the envelope further. I was so impressed by the food in Houston that I just had to try another $10 meal. I had a gigantic brisket sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion, cheddar cheese and bbq sauce. They actually offered three different kinds of cheeses and three different kinds of mustard. The sandwich was unbelievable and Houston will probably win my ranking for the best all-around food. On a somewhat related note, the bathroom facilities are surprisingly clean...

Charity Softball and Obnoxious Autograph Hounds: I mentioned in my last post that I watched the charity softball game between the Rangers' and Astros' wives. When they announced at my first game that this exhibition would take place in the morning before my second game I figured I had no reason not to go (remember how close I was to the stadium). So I came and sat in the second row behind the dugout to watch the whole thing play out. It was a lot of fun watching the wives go up there and swing for the fences (a makeshift fence that rounded the back of the infield) and it was nice to see that they do this every year for charity. Some of the ladies were impressive too! Christi Ensberg hit an inside-the-park homerun, Teresa Lamb showed a canon arm on a couple of plays at third base, and Ashley Koronka went 4-4 and had some stellar defensive plays. But I also want to use this game to point out just how annoying autograph hounds are. Over the course of the trip I have become increasingly annoyed by them, how obnoxious they are and how badly they treat the players. There have been many instances where I've seen grown men shove balls in an athlete's face-- without even knowing who they were-- and demanding that they sign for them. Outside of Wrigley Field I was watching the Marlins leave the stadium, trying to get a good picture, when a fan turned around and elbowed me in the jaw to go run after Sergio Mitre and get him sign a program that had been signed by 10 other players. Really? Sergio Mitre? You care that much about getting his autograph on a crappy program with 10 other players whose name you can barely read? Anyway, the softball game presented the incident that probably bothered me the most on my trip. There were no players in either dugout, which was pretty obvious to everybody in the stadium except one overbearing woman. This woman hung over the dugout and yelled at four different wives of the Rangers, asking if Sammy Sosa was in dugout because she had to get an autograph for her son. They all looked at her like she was crazy (which I think she was) and said that no players were in the dugout. I almost snapped and yelled at her for being rude.

Home Dominance Comes to an End: As I had been tracking the outcomes of my games for each home team, I began to wonder what I would do about my second game in Houston. The Astros had won 6-1 in the first game, improving the home team's record to 7-1 by a margin of 62-23 in 8 games. I wasn't sure if I should include the second game in that total, so I was hoping the Astros could maybe win by a run or two and make my choice irrelevant. Of course, I decided to include the second game's total and the Rangers had to be difficult and win 14-1. So the home winning streak comes to an, with the home team now 7-2 by a margin of 63-37. But that's still impressive enough to consider myself good luck, right?

 

May 19 was supposed to be an off day for me.  The way my schedule had been built, I knew that I was going to a Rangers game on the 21^st and that I had two days budgeted in Houston to catch a game while the Astros were home.  So I figured that there was no reason to rush to the ballpark for an 4:00 game in Houston having gone to a night game in Detroit less than 24 hours before.  But when my plane touched down and I checked into the hotel two hours before the first pitch, did I really think I would just skip the game?  I was staying at the Inn at the Ballpark (the first time I needed a hotel room on the trip) and I found an incredible view from my room.  Not only could I see the stadium from my room, it was cattycorner from the hotel’s block and I was high enough to watch the retractable roof open before the game started.  So I watched the roof open from the comfort of my room, took some pictures (here’s one) and headed straight to the game.

      I was excited for my first trip to Texas, not only because I thought it would be fun to see what life is like down there, but also because I knew I would be getting the full Texas experience.  The Rangers were in town for interleague play, and I was a first hand witness of the “Battle of the Silver Boot”— that’s what Sunday’s free t-shirts called it.  A lot of Rangers fans were on hand and it was fun to see the two Texan teams represented by fans that appeared to view this as a friendly rivalry.  The fans very obviously Texan, as many fans of each sides wore cowboy hats, but one group of Rangers fans came to the game with their team’s logo spraypainted onto their spiky mohawks… talk about the full Texas experience. 

One of the most exciting aspects of this particular game was the opportunity to watch a couple of old stars approaching spectacular career milestones.  Though both players were well past their prime (they were teammates in the 1995 All-Star Game) Sammy Sosa and Craig Biggio were still the most popular players on their respective teams.  Sosa was sitting on 596 homeruns, still in the midst of his quest to become the fifth player to hit 600 for his career.  Biggio entered the game with 2,968 career hits and his running total was constantly displayed on a mini scoreboard in left field.  His pursuit of 3,000 hits has been well document, and might be the only reason he’s still playing.  Before the game, all the attention of the entire stadium seemed to be focused squarely on Sosa.  Everyone and their mother was calling to him for autographs, even while he was just stretching in the outfield.  Fans seem to treat players differently before the game when they’re trying to get autographs before than during (just wait until I get to the June 1 game when I watched Derek Jeter sign autographs for Red Sox fans during a rain delay).  Despite everyone’s love affair with Sosa before the game, he was promptly booed by all Astros fans as he trotted to the plate in the first inning. 

As much as Sosa was the main attraction before the game, the game itself belonged to Biggio.  When he came to the plate in the first inning, he was greeted with a deafening roar of “BIG-GI-O! BIG-GI-O!”  And when he made sharp contact and lined a ball into right center field, fans jumped out of their chair with that sound of an eager stadium full of fans that want a homerun so badly they assume any ball that sounds good off the bat is gone.  The ball was caught for an out and I chuckled to myself, still in the comfort of my seat.  In his second at bat, Biggio was treated to the same ovation but this time used a bit of a different tactic.  He bunted the ball but popped it up towards the third base side.  The only player who had a chance to grab the ball was pitcher John Koronka, who was making his first appearance of the season.  The ball landed just out of Koronka’s reach; he tipped it with his glove but was unable to get a hold of it.  A couple seconds later the jumbotron was filled entirely with the words “OFFICIAL SCORING- HIT” and the fans went crazy.  Then the hit counter in left ticked to 2969 and the fans grew even more euphoric.  It was pretty cool to watch how much appreciation they had for their aging superstar who had spent all 20 years of his career with the same franchise.  Though it was a pretty cheap hit, the scoring was definitely correct because Koronka really couldn’t have been charged an error their.  All hits look the same in the boxscore, and I figure that you can’t get to 3,000 without a few like that one. 

Biggio eventually scored that inning, giving the Astros a 1-0 lead, on a Hunter Pence RBI single.  And by the way, if there is one player the Astros fans love anywhere near as much as they love Biggio, it seems to be Hunter Pence.  I knew very little about Pence before the game: I knew that he existed, and I knew that he played professional baseball.  To be honest, I didn’t even know he was on the Astros until I saw his name announced in the starting lineup.  I had heard his name before but wouldn’t have been able to associate him with a team.  Needless to say I couldn’t believe how much the fans loved him.  He had two hits in each game I watched him play that weekend and, I’d say because (as opposed to despite), it was his 19^th and 20^th career games, the fans were gushing with enthusiasm about what might become of his career.  A few days prior to this game I had had a conversation with a friend of mine about how we thought Carlos Ruiz had a legitimate chance to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award.  Ruiz had thrown out a high percentage of basestealers from behind the plate for the Phillies and had moved to the top of most offensive categories among rookies.  But after watching Pence go 4-8 with a double and a triple on the weekend, boosting his average to .364, I sent that same friend a text message that said: “Hunter Pence will win the NL Rookie of the Year.”  His response was understandable: “He won’t play enough.”  I thought about it for a second and wrote back: “You don’t understand how much the fans here love him.  The HAVE to play him enough.”  A month later, Pence is still hitting .348 and I stand by my prediction.

Biggio had another hit in the sixth inning, just before the game was seriously impacted by a horrible call by an umpire.  The Astros loaded the bases with no outs, scored a run on a double play and then loaded them again for Biggio, who had an RBI single for a 3-1 Astros lead.  After the hit counter ticked to 2970 and the immediate excitement had passed, Mark Loretta hit a groundball to the shortstop.  The ball clearly reached third base before Mike Lamb did (I couldn't really tell but SportsCenter showed he was out) but the umpire called him safe and kept the inning alive.  Lance Berkman singled in two runs, Carlos Lee singled in a run and the game was basically over.  Here is a picture of the Rangers [correctly] arguing the call, from my seat just three or four rows away from the field, very close to third base.  The Astros coasted and 6-1 was the final score, but that doesn’t mean the game had no more excitement left.  Brad Lidge pitched two shutout innings in relief, much to the joy of the Houston fans, and the seventh inning stretch rendition of “Deep in the Heart of Texas” was easily sung louder than “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” 

I have a ton of information from my weekend in Houston, so I’m actually going to make a second post about it (hopefully tomorrow) but please check back for my commentary on one of the most interesting looking stadiums in baseball, some of the best food in the major leagues, Carlos Lee’s fan group “Los Caballitos”, and Christi Ensberg’s inside-the-park homerun during the charity softball game that pitted the Astros’ and Rangers’ wives against each other.

Comerica Park is the home of the Detroit Tigers, and if you don’t know that before you go to a game there you figure it out pretty quickly.  From the giant tiger outside of the stadium’s front door, to the smaller ones that adorn the stadium’s sides, to the merry-go-round full of tigers inside the ballpark, Comerica Park does an exceptional job capitalizing on Major League Baseball’s most intimidating name (Sorry, Angels, Padres and Orioles just don’t quite do it f or me).  Tigers in the wild are a force to be reckoned with, and the defending American League Champions’ home stadium tries to exhibit a similar kind of awe.  They even sell foam claws, as opposed to the traditional “We’re Number 1!” Fingers.  Despite such incredible “tiger-architecture” all over the stadium, I thought that the mascot was weak and disappointing.  If I bumped into their mascot on the street I would have expected him to try and hand me a free sample of Frosted Flakes, not get me excited about playoff-caliber baseball.

Aside from displaying tigers everywhere (seriously, everywhere) I thought that Comerica Park also did a good job of showing the Tigers’ rich history, which is important because it replaced the historic old Tiger Stadium, which many fans were sad to leave behind no matter how beautiful their new park is.  Little kiosk-type structures in concourses around the stadium broke down the team’s history by decade and displayed old photos, newspaper headlines and interesting factoids.  Additionally, in left field there was a row of statues that immortalized the all-time great Tigers in action.  Here is a picture of Ty Cobb sliding into a base.  Cobb, who played in a time before uniform numbers, also had an empty space reserved for him on one of the walls where the Tigers display retired jersey numbers.  I thought that was a fitting honor for Cobb, whose plaque (on the base of his statue) proclaimed him to be perhaps the greatest player who ever lived.

As for the game itself, Hockeytown was baseball crazy on May 18, because as the Red Wings and Pistons were competing in the playoffs the Tigers had a rematch of last year’s World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in town.  And not only did the Tigers get some revenge with a win, they smoked the Cardinals 14-4.  The Tigers scored nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to go up 14-0, but the top of the first inning seemed just as crucial.  Andrew Miller, three days prior to his 22^nd birthday, was making his first major league start.  After 8 appearances and a 6.10 ERA last season in relief, the Tigers were still expecting a good career out of Miller when they sent him down to the minor leagues to start this season.  So in his first major league start, Miller was looking for his “Welcome to the Majors Moment”— hoping that he would suddenly realize he belonged in the big leagues and not bungle his way back down to the minors.  He started quickly, retiring So Taguchi and Chris Duncan, but then got himself into trouble.  Albert Pujols singled to left (no shame there, rookie)  and Juan Encarnacion followed with a single of his own.  Perhaps feeling the nerves set in, Miller threw a wild pitch to Scott Rolen and the runners advanced to second and third.  Miller then walked Rolen to load the bases for Ryan Ludwick.  With the count 1-2 on Ludwick, the fans were collectively holding their breath more than supporting Miller, but Ludwick hit a looper and popped out to second.  Miller settled in nicely and finished with 6 shutout innings, giving up just 4 hits and 2 walks.

With Miller settled in the Detroit offense went to work.  Gary Sheffield homered in the first inning.  Magglio Ordonez muscled a homerun just inside the pole to opposite field in the third inning.  Placido Polanco doubled home a run in the 4th inning (he had three doubles on the day) and suddenly it was 5-0 Detroit.  Then came the 5^th inning hit parade and the rout was on.  The Tigers scored 9 runs that inning without the aid of a homerun.  They got 8 hits and just kept pounding the Cardinals’ pitchers with singles and doubles.

With the game basically over the Tigers bullpen gave up four meaningless runs to conclude the game, one of which came on an Albert Pujols homer, and then everyone celebrated the victory with a fireworks display after the game.

Play of the Game:  Ordonez ended the top of the fourth inning with a really nice sliding catch.  As great a year as Ordonez is having at the plate, people should realize that he’s had quite a few highlight reel catches in right field.  I have seen him make that sliding catch look routine several times, including the one in the late innings of Justin Verlander’s no-hitter.

Jersey of the Game:  Some Tigers fans took creative license with their jerseys.  First I saw two guys wearing t-shirts with the number 37 on it.  Where the name would be, one guy’s shirt said “Gambler” and his friend’s said “Roaster” which was a nice way to pay tribute to Kenny Rogers.  Then, I saw a fan in an actual jersey with the number 54 and the name “Zoom Zoom” of course in honor of fireballer Joel Zumaya.  Cool shirts guys, but can’t you think of something clever for a player who isn’t on the disabled list?

Continuing Trend:  After the Tigers romp, the home team improved to 6-1 on my trip, outscoring their opponent 56-22.  That’s an average of around 8-3!

Rogers Centre

First off, sorry I haven’t posted in forever.  I can’t believe I got so far behind.  Well, I guess I can, I’ve been incredibly busy and I’ve been trying to enjoy my stay everywhere as much as I can— which became more of a priority than writing these posts.  Anyway, this begins my attempt to spend the rest of the summer playing catch-up:

My trip to the SkyDome…I mean, Rogers Center… no wait, Rogers Centre… marked the first time I had ever seen a baseball game inside a dome.  And let me say, I absolutely LOVE domed stadiums.  It rained for most of my trip to Canada, it was foggy and miserable before the game (I couldn’t even see the top of the CN Tower, which by the way sits adjacent to the stadium), it rained during the game, it rained after the game, and the Rogers Centre’s roof kept me dry and allowed my trip to go on.  Rain continues to be the one variable that can destroy all of my plans, and so far I have had good luck.  To be honest, I was glad that it was raining outside while I was watching the game.  It gave the roof some sort of purpose and helped me to appreciate it.  I obviously prefer to watch a game outdoors, but this experience has definitely given me an appreciation of the dome.  Having to make another visit to Canada after my trip was over would have been… how do you say annoying in French?

I wasn’t sure what to expect before my excursion north of the border began.  I assumed that things would be a little bit different and I was excited to see America’s pastime with a little bit of a Canadian flair.  I was most curious how Canadians would receive baseball and if they would act any differently than American fans.  I knew how riled up the fans there would have been if there was a hockey game on the schedule, but I wasn’t quite sure about baseball.  So when the fans booed a pickoff attempt in the first inning, I wrote down, “Hockey fans don’t have the patience for baseball.”  The fans were then rewarded with the ultimate pitchers’ dual, and many of the fans were probably bored by the 2-1 final score.  A.J. Burnett pitched great for the Blue Jays, with a complete game three-hitter.  He also struck out 10 batters and completely shut down the Orioles, who I had seen score 11 runs just a week before. 

To be fair to the Blue Jays fans, a lot of the people who were there did seem to care and brought their hockey fan personalities to the baseball diamond.  I sat close to left field for the beginning of the game and enjoyed listening to 50 fans take turns spewing out insults to Orioles left fielder Jay Gibbons, who subsequently went 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.  Coincidence?  Maybe, maybe not.  For all I know, he might have been standing in the batters box deeply upset that several opposing fans thought his socks were too high, and that one man accused him of “riding the short yellow bus” when he was in school. I also met a group of 20 year-old guys who were covered in blue paint and told me that they were disappointed the Blue Jays couldn’t draw more fans.  They also told me that a lot of people in Canada were turned off by baseball after the 1994 strike, which makes sense.  The cancelled World Series denied the Blue Jays a chance to win their third straight championship, and it ruined the Montreal Expos’ best ever chance to bring a championship of their own to Canada.  Neither franchise has done much since and Montreal has of course moved to Washington.  That group of fans also informed me of something I had never really thought about, that most high schools in Canada simply don’t have baseball teams.  I knew that the majority of kids in Canada grew up playing hockey, but I hadn’t realized that high schools actually field slow-pitch teams instead of playing baseball.  Fans also showed me that they cared about and followed the team when they cheered for Jesse Litsch when he was shown on the Jumbotron.  Litsch, who had made a successful start in his first major league appearance the night before, was shown in the dugout and the fans cheered wildly for him.  They also knew exactly who he was without being able to see his jersey.  There are baseball fans in Canada.

As for the Rogers Centre itself, I found it to be in good condition.  Recent renovations gave the entire building a facelift and though some areas looked old and outdated, other parts of the building looked like they could keep up with a modern basketball arena.  The last few rows of seats in the lower level were removed to make the concourses wider, and there were also renovations to give the whole concourse area behind home plate a makeover.  Aside from the concourses, areas all around the stadium that were once just concrete are now blue paneling.  This is a seemingly simple change but it makes a huge difference.  The old concrete made the whole place look boring and dirty, but the splash of color makes the stadium look sharp.  The paneling definitely created a much greater sense of coziness and intimacy in a ballpark than I imagine the concrete ever could. 

I also enjoyed seeing the novelty of the hotel in centerfield with rooms that look out onto the field.  After the game I went to the front desk of the hotel to see if  there were any open rooms so that I could go in and snap a few pictures.  Unfortunately there weren’t any vacancies, so I had to settle for this picture from a restaurant in center field, which has its windows underneath the hotel’s. 

There was one thing I did not enjoy about the game, and if you have ever been to a game in Toronto you know exactly what I am going to say— the singing of “OK Blue Jay” during the seventh inning stretch.  I had no idea of this custom until my friend Josh, who I was staying with, told me about it right before the game.  He was telling me about how all the fans sing this song and that there’s a dance that goes along with it.  This was the strangest thing I have ever seen at a ballpark, but only because of how much everybody LOVED it.  Little kids were let on the field to lead the dance, and everybody in the building participated.  Every single person (sans myself) knew the dance and sang like there was no tomorrow.  The song sounded like it was for 6 year-olds, and from what I could tell the only lyrics were “OK Blue Jay” and “Let’s play ball.”  This picture can't possibly sum up the whole experience.  The only thing I can compare it to is the following situation: Imagine you are at your favorite ballpark.  It’s the seventh inning stretch and they just finished singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”  Few people stir during the song, but then the PA announcers goes over the loudspeaker:  “OK folks, it’s time for… THE CHICKEN DANCE!!!!!”  And everyone stands up and goes crazy.  They cheer louder than at any point during the game.  Everyone at this game has been waiting all night to sing the chicken dance and flap their wings.  And everyone absolutely loves the chicken dance!  And they tell their friends who come to visit about how much fun it is to sing the Chicken Dance during the game.  Wow.

Play of the Game:

In the sixth inning, Brian Roberts made a great diving play to rob Miguel Tejada of a hit.  Tejada was then out by an eyelash when he slid into first.  Though it was a great play by Roberts, I think that Tejada could have beaten the play out if he had run through the bag.  I am still waiting for somebody to explain to me when and why it is EVER beneficial to slide into first base.

Anything from the early 90’s is guaranteed to be a sweet looking jersey.  The light blue logo on the white uniforms that the Blue Jays once wore are far superior to the new ones that they wear now.  I saw a couple Alomar and Molitor jerseys that I liked.  The only jerseys that I didn’t like from that era were the Joe Carter jerseys.  Being a Phillies fan and visiting the site of his homerun in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series is a nauseating experience.  Here is a picture:

Continuing Trend:

The Blue Jays improved the home team’s record in game I’ve seen to 5-1, outscoring opponents by a margin of 42-18.

20 Years Old, eh?

The drinking age in Canada is only 19 (good news for a 20 year-old American), so I took the opportunity to legally order a beer for the first time.  Then, of course, I wasn’t even granted the satisfaction of being carded.  As I make my way through the stadiums, the number one question I get is obviously about which stadium is my favorite.  The number two question is usually, “Why didn’t you wait until you were 21?”  The best answer I’ve come up with so far is, “That would have made the trip a lot more expensive.”  Even if the real answer is that I’ll probably have to get a real job next summer, that answer usually gets a laugh from the drunk guys in the bleachers.

That’s it for today, more posts soon.  I promise.

Jersey of the Game:

This photo is a little misleading, many fans left before I could snap the photo.

Jacobs Field in

Cleveland might be the most underrated ballpark in the league.  People are quick to point to Camden Yards as the first park that really ushered in the era of the modern stadiums, but I thought Jacobs Field was even nicer.  The Jake was built two years after Camden Yards, but 1994 is still almost considered ancient when you consider how many parks have been built since.  Just something to keep in mind when you think about all of the new ballparks

If you’ve been to Jacobs Field, but haven’t gotten there yet this season, I suggest you go back as soon as you can.  One thing that made me love the park so much is that it has a great display in the outfield that is brand new this season.  There used to be a section that was a picnic area, but now it is

Heritage Park, a shrine to all of the great past Indians.  I think it’s important for a park to display their team’s history and the Indians’ new section does a great job.  Upon entrance, fans find themselves looking at a large circle that features plaques for every Indian enshrined in Cooperstown.  Then, there is a stairwell to a lower level that displays a dozen or so more members of the Indians Hall of Fame that aren’t in Cooperstown.  There are also bricks in the ground that commemorate the 38 greatest moments in Indians history (The man working there told me that the only significance for the number 38 is that they ran out of space).  Lastly, there is a wall that shows the 100 greatest Indians of all time, which was chosen in 2001 to celebrate their 100^th year.  There was also a plaque for the Indian’s all-time greats starting lineup as chosen by the fans.  I’m pretty sure fans just got wrapped up in the excitement of their success in the early 90’s and voted for all those Indians (Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, etc.) but if they honestly would rather have Charles Nagy in the starting lineup than Satchel Paige or Cy Young, then all the power to them!

Aside from Heritage Park, the thing that most impressed with the park was the vibe I got from the fans.  Walking to the stadium, I noticed that the bars in the nearby blocks were packed at 5:00 on a Tuesday and that everyone seemed to be wearing a jersey.  Once I got there I saw the same passionate, face-painting, headdress-wearing fans that once sold out the stadium for 455 consecutive games.  I was also greeted with two more pleasant surprises once I got to my seat.  First, the Indians allow you to send a text message to them and then your message gets put on the video screen before the game.  Unfortunately, after I waited 10 minutes to get a picture of “The Jake Welcomes AN INCAVIGLIA TRUTH” they stopped displaying text messages and went to some promotions.  Second, it was Sugardale Dollar Hot Dog Night, which was certainly a thrill.

With the Twins in town, the game itself was an offensive slugfest, which was fun because both teams had a lot of players I was eager to watch in person for the first time (Before this trip, I had only seen a handful of American League teams).  I also decided recently that the AL Central might be my favorite division in the baseball to watch.  The Tigers, Twins, Indians and White Sox just all seem to have teams and players I enjoy following and rooting for.  The players I most wanted to see were Grady Sizemore, who Sports Illustrated had just printed an article about that claimed him to be a “once-in-a-generation” type talent and Justin Morneau, who came out of nowhere to claim last season’s AL MVP.  Both of them delivered, Sizemore was 4/5 with a double and a homerun; Morneau hit two homers. 

With the wind blowing out (at some points late in the game the warning track dirt actually picked up and blew into the crowd), Michael Cuddyer put Minnesota up 2-0 in the first inning, but the Indians stormed back with six runs in the bottom half.  The Indians had another 6-spot in the bottom of the sixth inning to go up 15-3 and the game was never really in doubt. 

The most fun place to watch the game is the leftfield seats, known as Homerun Porch.  This section is very large for a single-deck outfield seating section and it sits atop a high wall in left field, though the wall is shallow.  Directly behind the seating area is a huge wall of video screens and speakers that make sure that all of the fans’ and video board’s noise is funneled directly onto the field.  This happens to also be where a lot of the more enthusiastic fans like to camp out and sitting among them made me feel like I was in the scene in Major League when the Indians bring in Rick Vaughn to strike out Jack Parkman.  If you haven’t seen the movie Major League, go do that immediately. 

Weather Watch:

Luckily the heavy rains that were supposed to come during the game held off until the 9^th inning.  So far I have been very lucky when it comes to rain, hopefully that will continue.

Developing Trend:

After this game the home team is now 4-1 in games I’ve gone to, outscoring the road teams 40-17.  Note: this trend will continue.

Photo of the Day:

Here is the ball jumping off the bat on Morneau’s second homerun.