Ballpark: Citi Field

Since the Astros moved to the American League from the National League at the beginning of the 2013 season, interleague play is spread out over the course of the year. However during the week of Memorial Day, the MLB schedule has almost all teams playing their "natural" interleague rival. This means that the Giants play the A's, Royals play the Cardinals, and the Yankees play the Mets in the "Subway Series". On Tuesday, my college roommate David and I went to an installment of the "Subway Series" at Citi Field.

It rained hard all afternoon and I was very worried that the game would be rained out. The rain let up for a while but it start raining again and delayed the game for an hour and a half. This rain delay gave me the opportunity to fully explore Citi Field. Citi Field itself is right off the subway and surrounded by a parking lot. Even though I prefer stadiums in the middle of the city, this location was welcoming as there were attractions on the short walk from the subway to the gate. The grand entrance to Citi Field is called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda featuring many pictures and tributes to Robinson. The most notable is a giant 42 in the center of the room. I also went into the Mets Hall of Fame which showcased the history of the Mets. Citi Field is a classic retro park with a lot of brick and steel railings. One notable retro feature is a small steel bridge connecting the concourses in left field and center field resembling some of the bridges connecting Manhattan to Queens. The large scoreboard and videoboard in centerfield provided all the necessary baseball information and gave the ballpark a taste of modern technology. One bizzare feature of the ballpark is a tiered outfield wall in left field which was added to make it easier to hit a homerun after the first year of the stadium.

David's uncle has connections within the Mets organization and was able to get us free tickets - 10 rows above above the Mets dugout. I thought I would get something to eat and sit under the roof in the section of our seats to wait out part of the rain delay. The food selection at Citi Field was pretty diverse. There was a few different burger places, a burrito bar, a pizza stand, and a craft beer bar. I went for a pulled pork sandwich from Blue Smoke BBQ stand. As I returned to my seats with food in hand, the usher told me I had club access and that would be a good place to wait out the rain delay. The Delta club at Citi Field was underneath the main concourse and had bars, couches, and special food stands. It gave me a feeling of superiority over the common fan even though it only lasted for one game.

The game itself was a thriller. Starter Hiroki Kuroda and Matt Harvey both pitched gems, combining for 17 strikeouts in 15 innings and giving up only 1 run. The Yankees score their run in the 6th inning after Brett Gardner singled and reached second on a fielding error by Mets rightfielder Marlon Byrd. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera entered the game in the 9th. Daniel Murphy lead off the inning with a ground rule double, David Wright tied the game with a base hit, and Lucas Duda ended the game with a third straight hit. Just like that, the second walk-off win I attended in as many games.

My take-away from Citi Field is that it is one many new-age retro ballparks but has enough nuances to make it unique. I also felt Citi Field radiates a near-perfect balance of baseball vibe, New York flair, and nostalgic flashbacks.

Ballpark: Fenway Park

On May 26, I attended the Sunday afternoon game at Fenway Park between the Red Sox and the Indians. Fenway Park is one of the most beloved ballparks in the country and it is easy to see why. I bought a ticket online prior for centerfield but encounter about $12 in fees. In hindsight I would look in to buying tickets from season ticket holders who can't go to the game since the Red Sox help facilitate these transactions.

The ballpark is nestled between many bars, shops, and other establishments that have popped up around the stadium since it was opened in 1912. The bars and stores create an atmosphere of passion and pride in Red Sox that carries in to the stadium. For being a ballpark that is over 100 years old. There have been many renovations that make the park modern but keeps the old time feeling. There were tributes to Ted Williams, logos throughout the years, and 1920 style print at the concession stands. At the concessions, I got my souvenir cup, some kettle corn (per advice of one Boston friend), and opted for a Fenway frank over the clam chowder (my Boston friends were split on these) because I was thinking about getting seafood for dinner. Aside from clam chowder, the unique item I saw were lobster rolls. I didn't go for this because if I am going to have lobster I am going to do it right (whole and with melted butter). I think there are three aspects of Fenway park that I believe separate Fenway from other ballparks across the league: its age, its outfield, and its size. Everyone knows about the large wall in left known as the "Green Monster" but the walls in center and right are strange too. The walls in centerfield  meet at an add angle giving rise to the nickname of "The Triangle". Not to be outdone, the wall in right field is almost parallel to the foul line leaving "Pesky's Pole" a short distance from home plate. Once I sat down in my seat, I quickly realized how small Fenway Park is - the 37,000 capacity is hard to believe since the upperdeck is very small and aside from a few "Monster Seats" there are no seats in left field.

The game itself was a thriller. Aided by a dropped pop-up by Jacoby Ellsbury in the top of the 1st inning, the Indians got out to a 2-0 lead. They stretched the lead to 4-1 after Jason Kipnis hit one of the shortest homeruns I have ever seen (just sneaking around Pesky's Pole) and Swisher hit a more traditional homerun over the Green Monster. Cleveland brought in closer Chris Perez to hold on to a 5-2 9th inning lead. Boston pushed two runs across and loaded the bases for Ellsbury. Mid-at-bat to Ellsbury, Chris Perez got hurt and another reliever was brought in to finish the at-bat. First pitch from the new pitcher was stroked above the centerfielder's head for a walk-off win. A few of the fans around me had left but a vast majority were standing and cheering for the home team.

My take-away from Fenway Park is that its small size and unique features give the ballpark character that is truly one-of-a-kind. The fan's passion and history at the ballpark make has made it a great place to watch a baseball game. Fenway clearly lacks some the amenities of the newer ballparks (better sight-lines, easier to get around the concourse, and a grand entrance) but its charm makes one of the best ballparks I have visited.

Ballpark: Rogers Centre

On Saturday, May 25, I attended the Blue Jays vs. Orioles game at Rogers Centre. As I was driving in to Toronto I heard on the radio that the Rogers Centre dome would be open. There was some debate whether or not that was a good decision - it was a beautiful day but Blue Jays starter and ace R.A. Dickey prefers to pitch with the dome closed. Since I was running late due to Toronto traffic, I bought an upperdeck ticket from a scalper but it actually turned out to be a very good seat since it was first row.

R.A. Dickey struggled in the top of the first inning with the dome open as he spotted the Orioles a 3-0 lead. It was interesting to see an knuckleballer throw because his motion looked much more relaxed than traditional pitchers. Adam Lind answered in the bottom of the inning with an RBI on the first of his three hits on the afternoon. After a parade of homeruns by both teams, the Orioles lead 6-3 going into the bottom of the 8th. The Blue Jays pushed a couple of runs across before Jose Bautista grounded out to shortstop to end the inning with the bases loaded prompting some of the 33,000+ fans to head for the exit. They didn't miss much as Jim Johnson sat down the Jays 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Rogers Centre is more of a traditional stadium than a ballpark. The focus of the stadium is more towards being efficient and transformable (Rogers Center serves as a home for a CFL team and occasionally the Buffalo Bills). From the outside the key feature is the white retractable roof. It was quite a hike up to my seat via a series of ramps from the gate entry. The ramps and upper concourses were mostly concrete and not overly attractive but the main concourse looked newly renovated. The food selection was pretty typical and I only got a souvenir soda since I pre-packed a sandwich for my drive in. One cool thing about the souvenir cup was that was good for one free refill. The seats and railings were a little older but I think that gave the stadium a classic baseball feel. From the inside, some features that stand out are the hotel above the center field wall, the astroturf playing surface, and the CN Tower visible overhead. The shade of green of the astroturf was a little lighter than grass and took some time to get used to. The CN Tower overhead was the attribute of the ballpark I liked the most - the tower seemed to be watching the game from above. Had the roof been closed, I would have missed this unique feature.

My take-away from Rogers Centre is that traditional stadiums are a dying breed among MLB ballparks. The view of the CN Tower might be the coolest view I had from a seat yet but the overall aesthetics of the stadium and the field were lacking. The main concourse tried to bring the ballpark into the modern era and a few renovations could make it a good home for Canada's only MLB franchise.

East Coast: Day 2

Day 2 started out with 4 hours of driving to get from my hotel upstate New York to Boston for the afternoon game between the Red Sox and the Indians. Learning my lesson from Toronto, I parked at Riverside station and took the T to Fenway park. Although saved money instead of parking (~$40 near the stadium), the biggest advantage of taking public transportation to the game was the convenience. The subway dropped me off a few blocks from the park and I didn't get stuck in a major traffic jam. I was able to walk around the park (inside and out) and get to my seat in plenty of time for the game. More on this game and ballpark in an upcoming post under the ballparks tag.

After the game, I maximized the opportunity of being in Boston and took the T downtown. I walked around the Boston Common, around Faneuil Hall, along the Walk to the Sea, and around the North End. I tried to follow the Freedom trail in the North End but I didn't want to go too far away from the crowds since it was getting dark and didn't have a map. Unfortunately by the time I made it downtown a lot of the historical in this area were closed for the day so I didn't get the full historical background on some of the areas. Nonetheless, I saw the Pual Revere statue and the Old North Church. There was also a big music concert, called Boston Calling, happening at City Hall when I was downtown but it wasn't interested in any of the bands playing. Being in Boston for such a short and unusual time (Sunday evening) probably didn't allow me to fully "do Boston" but that is not the purpose of my trip.

The big question of the night was what to eat for dinner. I was debating between eating Italian food in the North End (what several people at the ballpark recommended) and going for clam chowder (a New England classic ). I decided to go for the Italian because there were a ton of Italian restaurants in the North End and they all looked pretty authentic. I went for the Eggplant Parmesean which was good (not great) but it was a comfortable setting for me since I ordered at a counter and sat down rather than have someone wait on me.

I then took the subway back out to my car and drove to my hotel which I booked on Priceline.com the night before. It was good to have a comfortable place to sleep but I would have traded some of the comfort for a little lesser hit on my pocketbook.

East Coast: Day 1

Just like day 1 of my west coast trip, day 1 of the east coast trip was a long day with plenty of travel and a baseball game. I left Ann Arbor at 7:30 AM, hoping to make it to Toronto by 11:30 AM for the 1:00 game. I was planning on parking downtown Toronto so I could walk around before the game and leave soon after its conclusion. Unfortunately, the traffic around Toronto was pretty bad. I was within view of the CN Tower by noon by the exit for Rogers Centre was backed up for about 2 miles. I finally got off the freeway and parked in an underground garage ($8) by 12:45. I made the brisk walk over to Rogers Centre, bought a ticket from a scalper, and made it to my seat for first pitch. In hindsight I should have gone to the next exit, found a quick parking spot, then walked to the stadium.

I will talk about Rogers Center and the game in an upcoming post. At the game I sat next to a guy from Australia who is traveling around Canada and the US for the year. He had just got off a 35 hour train ride from somewhere in the Canadian plains. On his walk over to his hostel he saw people selling tickets so he decided just to go to the game on a whim. He said he played t-ball for a year when he was a kid and only knew the most basic rules (3 strikes and you're out, ...) so I talked him through some of the more complicated plays and strategy. He also gave me some traveling advice for staying in London when I head to my conference next month.

After the game, I walked around the stadium district to get a feel for the city since I was short on time before the game. The Rogers Centre is literally right next to the CN Tower, the tallest building in Toronto. I didn't venture too far from the stadium because I was slightly turned around and I didn't have a map (and didn't want to use international data on my phone). I feel I was in Toronto just for the game and didn't get a chance to really experience the city, violating one of my lessons learned from the west coast trip. I guess I have plenty of time to take a vacation to Toronto in the years to come.

The traffic leaving Toronto was equally bad as coming in. I ended up taking Lake Shore Boulevard out of the city rather than the highway to avoid traffic and get a good view of Lake Ontario. Toronto kind of reminded me of Chicago in that it runs up against a great lake with parks along the water. I also saw an amphitheater and a water park next to the lake. I entered back into the US without any problems at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge even though there was a huge backup going into Canada. I spent the night at a hotel in Rome, NY (about 4 hours from Boston). The hotel wasn't much but it was a place to sleep. For what it was, the rate was expensive and got me thinking staying with friends and family really saves a lot of money.

The Road: East Coast Trip

It was less than a week ago that I got back to Michigan from seeing 6 ballparks on the west coast. My time back in Ann Arbor has been very busy as I am putting the finishing touches on my report and presentation for the IFASD in Bristol, UK. Now I am headed out again to see 7 ballparks in a 12 day trip - this time on the east coast. I planning to see Rogers Centre in Toronto, Fenway Park in Boston, the two New York ballparks (Yankee Stadium and Citi Field), Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia, Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, and Nationals Park in D.C. The MLB schedule lined up near perfectly for me in that I will be able to go from north to south without backtracking. I will also have budgeted enough time in case if the weather does not cooperate.

The biggest difference on this trip compared to the West coast trip is that I will be driving from city to city in my truck. I will start off driving from Ann Arbor to Toronto to see the Blue Jays play a day game. My stay in Canada will be brief as I hope to make it to the Red Sox game in Boston the next afternoon. I am crossing my fingers but there is rain in the forecast for Boston on Sunday. I am hopeful that they will try to get that game in because it is the last time the Red Sox and Indians are scheduled to play this year. If this game gets rained out, I will try to attend the game the following night.

If the Red Sox game doesn't get rained out, I will drive down to Greenwich, CT to meet up with one of my former college roommates at his mother's house on Monday. This former roommate lives in New York City so we will take the train from Connecticut to Manhattan and I will be able to leave my car at his mother's house. The plan is for me to stay at my roommate's apartment for 4 nights and go to Mets game and Yankees games. Unfortunately the Yankees do not play Tigers because I need to have my revenge after this roommate (a big Yankees fan) celebrated like no other during a Tigers-Yankees playoff game last year. I will then take the train back to Connecticut and pick up my car.

This is where my east coast trip is still being finalized. I will then try to meet up with a friend from back home in Philadelphia. This friend just got relocated from Philadelphia to New York but he has his apartment for a few more days. Even though he may not have furniture, I am completed satisfied with sleeping on the floor if it saves my some money as opposed to getting a hotel. We have two options for attending Phillies games: a Friday night game and a Saturday afternoon game. I guess part of this depends on the weather in Philadelphia and Baltimore (my next stop). I am hoping the weather forecast looks promising for the Oriole game on Sunday as it is the last game of a 5-game home stand. I might try to head to Baltimore then return to Philadelphia if the weather looks dicey since it is less than a 2 hour drive between the two cities. Luckily I have access to my own personal meteorologist (my dad). 

The last ballpark on the east coast trip is Nationals Park in Washington D.C. The Nationals do not play at home until June  4. This means I will have an entire day off to tour the monuments on the national mall. I still need to look in to possible lodging in Washington D.C. I imagine hotels and parking downtown are very expensive so it may be economical to get a hotel near the subway and take it in to the city. My last day on the trip will be making the 8 hour drive back to Ann Arbor.

Cup Collection: West Coast

I got souvenir cups at five of the six ballparks I attended on my West coast trip. I have uploaded pictures of these five cups because it is interesting to compare the different styles. Three of the five cups (Dodgers, Giants, and Angels) feature star players. Also three of the five cups (Giants, A's, and Padres) have the team's schedule on the cup. The Giants and Dodgers have the same style cup while the A's and Padres have the same style cup. The Angels cup is noticeably more flexible than the other cups so it feels cheap.

Finally, the souvenir cup power rankings:

1. A's
2. Padres
3. Dodgers
4. Giants
5. Angels

The Road: Lessons Learned

I have completed my first road trip of the summer - the West coast. My trip consisted of 6 major league ballparks (Chase Field, Dodger Stadium, AT&T Park, the Oakland Coliseum, Angels Stadium, and Petco Park) 4 flights (Grand Rapids to Phoenix, Los Angeles to San Jose and back, and Los Angeles to Detroit, and one super long Greyhound bus ride (Phoenix to Los Angeles). It was also a blast to see relatives and friends, experience the different MLB ballparks, and tour some of America's finest cities. Overall it was a great trip with no real problems. Still there were some lessons learned that could only be obtained through experienced.

Lesson #1 - Talk to the Local Fans
Initiating conversations with total strangers is not something that comes completely natural to me. That being said, I found myself in conversation with fellow fans at about half of the ballparks I attended. Only in one of those ballparks did I ask about the specialty food item at the stadium (AT&T Park), and that was after I had already bought a regular hotdog. The local fans I talked to were nice to me and would have been glad to share some insight on their hometown park. I don't think anyone would take offense to "Hey, I am from out of town. What is the best thing to eat at this ballpark?"

Lesson #2 - Absorb the City Culture
I think I did a pretty good job at making an event out of each ball game. Most of the times I have done something before or after games which is unique to the area. It would have been pretty easy to go into a city for a game and head back on the road as soon as the game is finished. Unfortunately, I may have to this for some of my upcoming East coast read trip. Somethings I have learned from my West coast trip are: the better (and cheaper) food may be outside the stadium, the nicer stadiums incorporate aspects of the region into the themes of the park, and the city can offer some excitement if the game is boring (I can't believe I just wrote that).

Lesson #3 - Learn How to Upgrade Seats
Very few times did I sit the entire game in sections where my seat was assigned. I have learned there are two main ways of moving to better seats. The first is to show up for batting practice and stay in your seat until the game is well underway (i.e. 5th inning or so). Ushers will let you sit close to the field to catch home run balls and expect people to move to their actual seats when batting practice has completed. This method will not work however if the game is crowded. If a person has a ticket for the seat you are in, you have to move to either another seat in the same section or your actual paid seat. The second method is to get food after the game is well underway and move down. In my experience, ushers do not check tickets after the 3rd inning.

Lesson #4 - Know What To Collect
I decided to start collecting souvenir cups once I visited Dodger Stadium. This means that I am missing cups from Chase Field and Turner Field. At both of these ballparks I got a free weekly pamphlet that had roster information for both teams and a couple of fan interest stories. I thought this would be a great item to collect at each ballpark because it is free and tells me what series I attended. Unfortunately, not all stadiums give you these pamphlets. Being somewhat OCD on things, it would have been nice to collect the same items from every park. Possible items to collect at each ballpark could be baseball hats (although you could get them at a local mall), souvenir cups (serves a dual purpose), or picture at each stadium (free but not really a collectible).

Lesson #5 - Take Time to Plan Each Trip
I really wanted to take a ferry to Alcatraz while in San Francisco. Despite online websites warning me that the tours fill up well in advance, I thought I would just wing it. True to form every ticket for Alcatraz the only day I could go was completely sold out. I learned that if you want to do something, don't be afraid to plan it in advanced. There is nothing worse than sitting around in an interesting city with nothing to do because you failed to make a plan in advance.

Lesson #6 - Take Care of Yourself Physically
I found it was very easy to let myself fall into unhealthy habits on the road. Attending baseball games every night meant that I was eating a lot of processed food and not a lot of fruits and vegetables. Traveling also meant that I didn't have the time or facilities to work out. I tried to stay active by walking from place to place when I could and going on a few hikes. Lastly I learned that sunscreen is your ally. I didn't put sunscreen on early in my trip and ended up with a nice farmer's tan. I then went to the beach, attempting to even out my tan, and ended up getting sun burnt.

West Coast: Day 8 and Day 9

On day 8 of my 9 day west coast trip it was essential I make it down to San Diego to see the Padres play. Instead of making the two hour trip south from Los Angeles just to watch baseball, my aunt and I made it a small day trip. We first went to Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma just outside of San Diego. This peninsula is the assumed first landing by a Eurpoean on what is now the west coast of the United States. From this point we could see downtown San Diego and the navel base on Point Loma. While we only saw one large Navy ship, there were several smaller ships in the ocean below and helicopters flying around above. Also at Cabrillo National Monument was one of the first lighthouses on the west coast. After Cabrillo National Monument, my aunt and I ate a Mexican restaurant in old town San Diego. The restaurant had a lady out front making fresh tortillas. I made sure to order something with a fresh tortilla so I ordered the carnitas. Ordinarilly I would say that the fillings are the critical aspects of Mexican cuisine but the fresh tortillas made the dish. We then headed to Petco Park where the Padres played the Nationals. The ballpark review of Petco Park has already been posted. After the game we made the two hour drive back to Los Angeles.

On the last day of my trip I took it easy. I ate at a local burrito place on Hermosa Beach where my cousins have seen many L.A. Kings players through the years. I then walked to the Manhattan Beach Peir and back. It was kind of cool to see all the expensive beach homes right next to the beach. I can imagine how renting a beach house for a week and going to the bars right off the pier would be a blast but I don't have that kind of money and would rather spend my time going to baseball stadiums. 

I then took the red-eye flight back to Michigan. I tried to sleep on the plane with very limited success. I flew Spirit Airlines which must have the least amount of leg room of any airline in world. Additionally, a lady on the flight had a food allergy reaction so they had to turn the lights on in the cabin and make a few announcements, consequently waking everyone up. My flight got back into Detroit at 6 AM and one of my roommates was gracious enough to pick me up. 

Ballpark: Petco Park

My aunt and I took a day trip down to San Diego on Thursday, May 16, to watch the Padres play the Nationals. Petco Park is nestled in between luxury apartments and hotels in downtown San Diego. We entered the stadium through the right field gate. Directly behind the sand beach and bleachers in center field is a grassy lawn where fans can watch the action from about 600 feet away from home plate. On a portion of the lawn blocked by the batter's eye there is a miniature baseball field for kids to hit a whiffle ball. The unique feature in Petco Park is the Western Metal Supply Co brick wearhouse that has been converted into luxury suites. Not only has the original sign and brick of the wearhouse been left in tact, the corner of building serves at the left field foul pole. In addition to the Western Metal suites, there were additional suites above the field level seats and in the light tower. There were tons of food options ranging from hot dogs to veggie burgers to fish tacos. The concourse of the ballpark looks more like a mall than a baseball stadium with stone walls and flora hanging from balconies above. Also on the concourse are a variety of exhibits dealing with baseball and the military which is a cool nod to the military presence in the city. The upperdeck hangs over many of the field level seats which is nice because it keeps fans out of the sun but I can see how that could take away from the baseball feel of the ballpark. However from our seats in right field, I definitely got the baseball park feel. One big problem I had with the ballpark was that many of the seats were not angled towards home plate or the pitchers mound. Once my aunt and I moved down (more on this later), our right field seats were angled toward center field making them slightly uncomfortable.

There wasn't really a lot of notes on the game itself. Padre's starter Edison Volquez danced in and out of trouble by walking hitters until Adam LaRoche touched him up for a two-run home run to center. The Nationals added three more runs before the Padres loaded the bases in the bottom of the 5th inning. However, the Padres were only able to get one run across to cut the lead to 5-1. Steven Strasburg was able to hold on for the victory by allowing only 3 hits through 8 innings. Although his performance was impressive, I didn't think Strasburg was dominating. I guess Nationals fans have to be pretty excited that Strasburg went 8 innings. Bryce Harper homered for the Nationals but I was impressed with Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera's base running and defense.

The excitement of the game started when we were walking to our seats in the upperdeck above right field. The ushers asked us if my aunt and me if we knew it was 'College Night' and warned us that we could get pretty wild. My aunt didn't want to deal with drunk college kids so she was able to get moved down to about 8 rows up from the playing surface in right field. I opted to "tough it out" for the first few innings. Even though there were a decent amount of good looking San Diego State sorority girls with fraternity brothers around, the seats in the 'College Night' sections were about a quarter full I was beginning to think 'College Night' wouldn't live up to the hype. Then I got up to get my souvenir cup in route to sit with my aunt sitting all alone below. The Budwieser Patio was just covered with college girls wearing a combination of Padres gear and nice clothing that I expected them to wear to a bar on Thursday night. It was the kind of atmosphere I would have expected a Blue Lep or Charlie's in Ann Arbor on a Friday night. Next time there is a 'College Night' at I park I am going to I need to bring a couple of friends.

My take-away from Petco Park (other than go to 'College Night') is that it is a beautiful ballpark with some really unique features: the Western Metal suites, the luxurious concourse, and the center field items. It lacks the great views of the city skyline (or bay) of some ballparks but that it is only a minor detail. I did like that it was much less crowded than AT&T Park.

West Coast: Day 6 and Day 7

I left my friends place in San Jose early on Tuesday morning to catch my plane back to Los Angeles. My cousin picked me up at the airport and drove me back to my aunt and uncle's house. After taking a little while to get organized after my trip to the Bay Area, I went down to the beach. The end result of the beach was a bad sun burn and a terrible tan line on my neck. I then watched the L.A. Kings playoff hockey game with my cousins and uncle as they are huge Kings fans.

The next day, my aunt and I hiked up to the Hollywood sign. The trail to the sign was fairly steep and took us about an hour and a half roundtrip. I was a little surprised to see that the Hollywood sign was all by itself on the side of a mountain and not surrounded by houses and roads. My aunt then drove me through Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and past a couple of movie studios. In Hollywood we stopped at an In-N-Out and got a hamburger the classic California fast food restaurant. The burger and fries were definitely better than any other fast food I have had before. We also stopped at a landmark cupcake shop where you can get gourmet cupcakes out of a vending machine. We then drove back to my aunt and uncle's house, picked up my two cousins, and headed off to Orange County for the Angels game.

Ballpark: Angels Stadium

Last night, May 15, I attended the Angels vs. Royals game at Angels Stadium with my aunt and two cousins. Surprisingly, there were very few people there. The attendance was announced as over 31,000 but I would estimate there were closer to 16,000 fans at the game. Similar to the Dodgers game, it was a late arriving crowd; fans were still filing into their seats in the 3rd inning. Our tickets were originally in the upper deck but we moved down after the 3rd or 4th inning to field level seats. Even though the field level seats were obviously better, the sight lines at both seats were pretty great.

Angel Stadium is pretty standard when it comes to MLB ballparks. The upper deck wraps around 3/4 of the stadium, there is some uniqueness to the outfield fence, and the field seats are close to the field. In addition to the great sight lines, two defining features make Angel Stadium standout in comparison to the other stadiums I have visited. The first is the waterfall rock pile just beyond center field. I didn't realize on prior to attending the game, the rocks at the top pile form an 'A' for Angels (or is it for Anaheim?). I am not really sure what the waterfall signifies but it wasn't as out of place as it sometime appears on television. The other defining feature is the big A outside the stadium that give Angel stadium its nickname. This structure isn't visible from the stadium when looking onto the field but it lets drivers on the nearby interstate that this is the home of the Angels. Over the rock pile in center field, the stadium is left open in between two above average scoreboards. Unfortunately, there is not much of a view: just an office building, the Honda Center (where the Ducks play and home to a Rolling Stones concert on this night), and the interstate. The food selection was pretty decent with Panda Express, Jack in the Box, and a variety of hot dogs. I opted for the Cali Dog: a hot dog wrapped in a deep fried tortilla, topped with chili, cheese, onions, and jalapanos. I also extended my streak of getting a souvenir cup. I am beginning to really like collecting souvenir cups because they are only a couple of dollars more that a regular pop and it is interesting to see what each team has on their cup.

As for the game, the Royals got out to an 8-0 lead, with the Angels making 3 quick pitching changes. Pretty much every Royals hitter had success against the overmatch Angels pitchers. The Angels managed to push a few runs across against Royals starter Wade Davis and another one off a reliever on a Mike Trout home run but the Royals were able to take the game with a final score of 9-5. Mike Trout was impressive for the Angels and Pujols played well despite having a noticeable limp. The Angels fans were starting to grow impatient with their offseason signee, Josh Hamilton, prompting one fan to yell bring back Torii Hunter.

My take-away from Angel Stadium is similar to Turner Field: a prototypical MLB stadium. While Angel Stadium lacks some of the key features of the best ballparks in the league (city view and a rocking atmosphere), it had an enough features make the ballpark distinguishable among the 29 other stadiums in the league.

Ballpark: Oakland Coliseum

I attended Monday's (May 13) A's vs. Rangers game at the O.co Oakland Coliseum. While there were few people attending the game, the fans that were in attendance were passionate. I bought a $14 general admission bleacher ticket and sat in right field because that is where I have heard the die hard A's fans sit. The fans in right field lived up to their reputation. In order of the most believable to the most unbelievable, these are strange things I witnessed in right field:

• A game long mission to heckle Texas right fielder Nelson Cruz on topics that ranged from him blowing the 2011 World Series against the Cardinals to Texas Manager Ron Washington's positive drug test for crack cocaine.
• A male fan with a ponytail thanking another fan for saving "his seat" (since the bleachers are general admission).
• Homemade posters for every player on the A's.
• A fan collecting money from other fans for "right field diehards" t-shirts that he will bring for the next game.
• A female fan threatening to get in the face of a male fan if he didn't throw a home run ball hit by the Ranger's Mitch Moreland back onto the field.
• About 15 fans with drums, bongos, flags, and cowbells.
• About 12 fans behind me and a section over who were lighting up joints the entire game.
• Two female fans who were making out for a good 5 minutes straight during the bottom of the 8th inning.

The Coliseum itself was right off the BART line making the stadium easily accessible. Since the Oakland Coliseum also doubles as the home of the Oakland Raiders, the field had some unique features which gave the playing surface character. The outfield is uniquely shaped and the walls vary drastically in height across the field. The amount of foul ground is enormous which pushes the fans in the lower bowl infield seats far away from the action compared to nearly all other ballparks. Fortunately for me I had an outfield seat and was reasonable close to field albeit 30 feet up. There wasn't a lot of specialty food items, but I did buy some peanuts, a souvenir pop, and a BBQ sandwich which was only average tasting. In a stark difference from the Bay Area's other ballpark (AT&T Park), the Coliseum has plenty of concourse space but no views whatsoever. The upper deck wraps almost entirely around the field with green tarps draped over many of the seats with "Home of the Athletics" written on them. 

As for the game, the Rangers got out to an early lead thanks to the aforementioned Mitch Moreland home run. The A's answered back and built a 4-1 by the 3rd inning with back-to-back home runs by Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Moss. A's starter A.J. Griffin and the bullpen made sure that lead held up as the A's won 5-1.

My take-away from Oakland Coliseum is that the A's have some different but passionate fans. The ballpark is very large but felt empty because of how few people were at the game (all but two sections in the upper deck were closed). The ballpark doesn't offer anything special in terms of city views or regional flavor. That being said, Oakland Coliseum is decent place to watch as ball game and has the potential to give the A's a huge home field advantage when the fans fill up the ballpark.