BALLPARK HISTORY

Ballparks are full of history. They each have thier own distinct features, The bricks and ivy in Wrigley, monument park and the mystique of Yankee stadium, the warehouse at Camden, the green monster at Fenway, and more, but when you go to a park its more than to see the game, its to take in the environment. As much as I dislike it, part of going to Turner is listening to the fans do that tommohawk chant. I also enjoy seeing the statues or plaques of players who have contributed to all that history.

Each ballpark also gives you a different perspective of the game. What might be a HR at one park is just a fly ball in another. The site lines, angles and views of a game vary from park to park, even if your sitting in the same general area. Also the in game extras , like the mascot races, or singing the stretch at Wrigley, Sweet Caroline at Fenway, or the 7th inning God Bless America at Yankee stadium.

Another great thing about parks is visiting the local bar near the stadium. Harry Carays and Murphy's in Chicago, Pickles in Baltimore, Hockeytown Cafe in Detroit, Hooters in Anaheim, Rock Bottom Brewery in Denver (and Cinci), Harpoon Brewery in Boston, and Billys sports bar in the Bronx.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Planning Next year's tour

So here's the plan for next year. Well, maybe. The first challenge is that we need to do the trip(s) either before May 15 or after July 4. There are scheduling issues during that time frame. That said, I only have 1 park left in the NE, that being Yankee Stadium. Shawn needs to see Citi and Nationals park as well. I have some dates at the end of April that would work for all 3. BUT, we did the NE last year at that time and it was nice for 2 days then in Philly it got real cold real fast. I would still like to complete the NE and then we can focus on other areas for a while. But this trip only knocks 1 off MY list. 

 Yankee Stadium

Next option, which I am all for , but would need to get Shawn to buy into, is Minnesota. I want to go to an All-star game. I need to see Target Field. Hmm?  Being that it is out of the way of other parks, why not dedicate the trip to there, and kill two birds......
It wouldn't be too much more $$ that a typical 3-4 day park trip. I know that if you fly in the park is about 2 miles from the airport so we could get around w/o a problem. 
If not the All-star game, we can get to Target in about 7 hours from Chicago, so I could work it in with a trip top Wrigley. Either way, this will only knock one off MY list

Target Field

The last option would be to go to see the 2 Texas teams. This one is pretty straight forward. They are about 4 hours from each other and we could get there on the day of game 1 and drive to game 2, then come home on day 3. Pretty straight forward. Lots of date options as well.
 Also, it probably wont be 28 degrees in April in Texas. 
This will kill two off my list.


Minute Maid Park

I have a lot of dates lined up and ready to go. Just need Shawn's input. 
I will be hitting up Tampa this year as well, even though it is not a lot to see, it is still a MLB park. 
With 7 left to start, if we do NE or Target Field, I will have only 5 left, or if we do Texas that leaves me with 4. Plus I am trying to convince my wife that Seattle is a worthy vacation spot to sneak that in.