Denver: Days 1, 2, & 3

Denver was a whirlwind trip. I drove to the airport straight after work to catch my 8pm Friday night flight. The flight went smooth except that I spilt pizza sauce on my shorts at the Detroit airport. My brother Ian and Granny just got to the airport right as the plane landed so neither of us had to wait on the other. My brother is a backpacking guide at a boy scout camp in Northern New Mexico for the summer. He got the weekend off and headed up to Denver to get away from the camp for a while. By the time we got back to my Granny's house it was 10:30 (12:30am Michigan time) and I was ready to crash. Not to mention Ian and I had a big day planned for the next day.

We got up early on Saturday morning and drove about an hour to the Gray's Peak trailhead. This trailhead serves two 14,000 ft peaks: Gray's Peak and Torrey's Peak (left and right peak on the second photograph in the post). We carefully navigated up the rough dirt road in my parent's Honda Civic. We parked about 1/2 mile down the road from the official start to the trailhead since there were so many people on the trail. The first 2 miles or so were relatively flat and we made good time although I was battling the altitude. The last 2 miles were tough. Ian kept the pace high as he was in great hiking shape and very few people passed us on the trail. We took a break about 100 yards from the top and Ian proposed a race. We took off running but after about 50 feet I needed to stop. Ian stopped after about 80 feet of running. Nonetheless, we made it to the top of Gray's Peak in about 2.5 hours. We ate or lunch and discussed whether we had time or favorable weather conditions to make it over the the more difficult Torrey's Peak. We decided to go for it. I had to stop about every 50 feet near the top but we made it from one summit to the next in about an hour. Going down was tough on the knees but a whole lot easier than going up. We got back to the car a 2:15 and got back to our Granny's house at 3:25. That left us enough time to take a shower and eat some dinner before we headed off to the Rockies game. Our experience at Coors Field is narrated in a separate post.

Sunday, the last day of my trip was a day to relax. We hung around our Granny's house and rested our legs from the day before. In the afternoon we ate a Middle Eastern restaurant. As we drove back from the restaurant, we heard some squeaking from the car. We noticed that some people at a gas station were pointed at our car, then we quickly realized that I had left our doggie bag on the roof of the car. Miraculously, were we able to pull the box back in before it flew off the roof of the car. Both Ian and I were leaving Sunday night - me on a 7 pm flight and Ian on a 4 hour drive. Unfortunately for me, my flight was delayed. The silver lining in the delay is that I can now catch up on my blog (including this post). I am not schedule to get back into Detroit until 1:30 am and I am sure work will suck tomorrow. Nonetheless, it has been a fun and exciting trip.

Ballpark: Coors Field

On Saturday July 27, my brother and I attended a night game between the Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers at Coors Field in Downtown Denver. I have been to several games in Coors Field in the past as my Granny has been a season ticket holder for 20 years. However, this was my first visit to Coors Field this year and the 24 different ballpark I have attended this year.

Although the light rail goes within walking distance to Coors Field, we parked in a garage a few blocks away from the stadium. There were a lot of newer apartments and restaurants along the walk from the parking garage to the stadium. We walked past Union Station, a transportation hub currently under construction that city planners hope will be an urban center once finished. Like many of the other ballparks built around the turn of the century, Coors Field is a retro ballpark. The outside of the ballpark is brick, light towers built from steel trusses, and seating close to the playing surface. The lower concourse is filled with a wide variety of the concessions including a gluten-free stand, a market area with pizza and steak sandwiches, and even Rocky Mountain oysters. I thought about getting the Rocky Mountain oysters but I couldn't find them until my brother found the stand in the 7th inning. By that time I had already bought a cinnamon sugar torna-dough (basically a doughy pretzel wrapped in a spiral). Also along the concourse are batting cages and radar pitching stations for kids. Even though only about 3/4 of the lower concourse is covered due to the second and third decks, the playing field is visible from nearly anywhere on the concourse.

The signature feature of Coors Field is the bullpen area in right field. Along with a 20 foot tall out of scoreboard next to the foul pole, the bullpens occupy the space next to the field all the way to dead centerfield. Inside the bullpen are a variety of evergreen trees, a waterfall, and some fountains that go off when the Rockies hit a home run. This area pays homage to the mountains that give the Rockies their name. Another cool but subtle feature of Coors Field is a purple row of seats in the upperdeck marking an elevation of 5,280 feet above sea level. One aspect where Coors Field comes up a little short is the centerfield backdrop. A large and effective scoreboard occupies the space above the left field concourse and a seating section called the Rockpile is above the batter's eye in centerfield. The Rockpile is a discount seating section (~$4/ticket) mostly only available for day of game purchases. Although I love the idea of the Rockpile and the scoreboard is great, the Rocky Mountains are not visible from the field level seats.

The game started under blue skies and the Rockies seeing blue as well. The Brewers scored 6 runs in the first 3 innings, including a Juan Francisco homer to right. If not for the great defense by Rockies' third-baseman Nolan Arenado, the game could have gotten out of hand. Tom Gorzelanny pitched great to hold the Rockies scoreless through 5 innings. The Brewers fans in attendance (many dressed in crossed-out Ryan Braun gear) held their collective breath when star shortstop Jean Segura was hit by a pitch and had to leave the game. In the bottom of the sixth inning the rains came. Gorzelanny was clearly frustrated with the mound's condition gave up 4 runs in the bottom of the sixth capped by a Wilin Rosario home run. After trading home runs, the Brewers led 7-5 going into the bottom of the ninth when the umpires finally decided that the rain was too much. The grounds crew tried their best but the diamond dust they dumped on the infield couldn't stop the puddles from forming. An hour and 45 minutes later the game resumed for the final two outs. Unfortunately, my brother and I waited through the entire rain delay to see the Rockies go 1-2-3 in the ninth and the Brewers hold on for the 7-5 win.

My takeaway from Coors Field is that it is one of the better retro ballparks because it embraces the city's culture. The evergreen bullpens and the purple row of seats make Coors Field stand out against the generic. Yet these features are subtle enough that they add, not subtract, from the baseball atmosphere.

The Road: Weekend Trips

Three weeks ago I official started my full-time job as an engineer. Although I am excited to be working, it comes at a cost: I am no longer able to continuously travel the country just to visit MLB ballparks. This does not mean I am giving up my goal of attending all 30 MLB ballparks this season; I just need to be a little more strategic in planning my trips. In order to avoid using my valuable PTO (personal time off), I have chosen to take hit the last 7 MLB ballparks on weekends.

Although planning the large trips at the beginning of the summer was difficult, planning the weekend trips has not been an easy task either. After matching ballparks to possible weekends based on the MLB schedule, I devised the following schedule:

July 26-28: Colorado Rockies
This trip is was relatively easy to plan because my grandmother lives in the Denver area. Additionally, my brother who is working in New Mexico this summer was able to get this weekend off. The two things that worry me about this trip are rain (since Coors Field is open air) and possible airplane delays.

August 2-4: Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins
This was by far the most difficult trip to plan of the whole tour. Tampa and Miami are relatively close to one another but not really close to any other teams. Consequently, I had to identify a weekend when both teams were at home. Furthermore, planning how I would get from one Tampa to Miami (or vice versa) was a major challenge. I ultimately decided to rent a car that I am able to pick up in Tampa and return in Miami. Luckily, a rainout will not be an issue on this trip because both Tropicana Field and Marlins Park have roofs.

August 23-25: Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland and Cincinnati are about 3 and 5 hour drives respectively from the Detroit area. This makes it is easy to drive through Ohio and see both teams play on one weekend.

September 20-22: Pittsburgh Pirates
As of now I am planning on driving to PNC Park for this late September weekend but that may change. The threat of a rainout is very frightening because there won't be enough time to schedule a makeup trip. I guess the probability of all 3 weekend games being rained out are slim to none. With how great the Pirates are playing this year, this ticket could get a little expensive.

September 27-29: Seattle Mariners
On the last weekend of the season, I will be flying across the country to see the Seattle Mariners. Safeco Field has a retractable roof so a rainout is not possible. A couple of friends from college now live in Seattle so I will be able to stay with them, saving me from having to rent a car. Additionally, a friend from high school is also considering flying out to Seattle with me.

Ballpark: Comerica Park

Last weekend my friends asked me if I wanted to go to a Tigers game sometime during the upcoming week. In addition to watching my favorite MLB team in action live and hanging out with my friends, this was a chance to attend a game at my 23rd different stadium of the summer. Therefore on Wednesday after work, I met up with my friends Derek, Danny, Pat, and Audri and attended the Tigers vs. White Sox game at Comerica Park.

Comerica Park is located Downtown Detroit adjacent to Ford Field (home of the NFL's Detroit Lions) and a few blocks away from Greektown. This area of Detroit is having a bit of a renascence with many older abandoned buildings being either torn down or renovated. I met up with my friends at a bar down the street from Comerica Park. Ideally I like to get into the stadium early to explore the stadium and watch batting practice. However, since I have been to Comerica Park several times in the past couple of year I was not really upset when my friend ordered another round of drinks 35 minutes before game time. We ended up getting to the stadium about 10 minutes before first pitch.

The outside of Comerica Park has a fair amount of decor; large statues of tigers (the animals) guard the gates. Inside the park, the concourse is very open to the surrounding city, filled with concession stands, and dotted with kiosks for each decade of Tigers history. There are also numerous activities for kids, including a carrousel with tigers rather than horses and a ferris wheel with baseball seats. One aspect of Comerica Park that I found to be disappointing was the food selection. The only specialty food items in the ballpark are coney hotdogs and Little Caesars Pizza. I count Little Caesars Pizza as a specialty item because Mike Ilitch, the owner of the Tigers, also owns Little Caesars Pizza. It was frustrating to see that a whole Little Caesars Pizza costs $18 at the ballpark but only $5 outside. One region of the concourse of note is the concourse around centerfield. The batter's eye is made of ivy and bushes with the Chevy Fountain and two cars above the concourse. On the left field side of the concourse are a series of statues of past Tigers greats including Ty Cobb. 

We sat in the front row of the upperdeck near the left field foul pole. The backdrop of the stadium are the skyscrapers of Downtown Detroit including a building with a large whale mural on its side. There are a few unusually characteristics of playing field at Comerica Park. The first is a dirt track that runs from home plate to the pitchers' mound. The next are the bullpens stretch along the entirety of the left field wall. The bullpens were moved to this location from the right field wall after the second season of play. The result of moving the bullpens is a more balanced home run field and an alcove in right center field that adds character to the geometry of the outfield.

The Tigers started the game with consistent scoring in the first three innings leading 5-1 after 3 innings including two runs from a Prince Fielder home run in the first. After the White Sox cut the lead to 5-3 in the 4th inning via 3 straight singles and a sacrifice fly, the Tigers built their lead up to 8-3 with 4 straight two-out singles. Although the White Sox added two runs in the 7th inning, the Tigers bullpen held on to preserve the 8-5 Detroit victory. The heroes of the game for the Tigers were 1-5 hitters who combined for 13 hits.

My take-away from Comerica Park is that it is a ballpark in every sense of the word. The city backdrop and the open concourse makes Comerica Park feel as though it is part of the city rather than an isolated gated stadium. The nod to the history of the Tiger organization and the character of the field generates a great baseball atmosphere. The concessions at the ballpark are disappointing but the bars and restaurants around the ballpark give offer an adequate alternative.

Cup Collection: Heart of America & Detroit

I have updated the Souvenir Cup Power Rankings to include cups from the five most recent stadiums I have attended. These are cups representing the following teams: Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, and Detroit Tigers. The four cups I acquired on the Heart of America trip are in green font while the cups I will acquire from trips where I attend two or fewer ballparks will all be in black font.

Rankings after the trip to Comerica Park:

1. Toronto Blue Jays
2. Kansas City Royals
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. Houston Astros
5. New York Mets
6. Washington Nationals
7. San Diego Padres
8. Texas Rangers
9. Oakland A's
10. Los Angeles Dodgers
11. Boston Red Sox
12. Baltimore Orioles
13. Minnesota Twins
14. Milwaukee Brewers
15. Los Angeles Angels
16. San Francisco Giants
17. Chicago White Sox
18. St. Louis Cardinals
19. New York Yankees
20. Detroit Tigers
21. Chicago Cubs

Notes on rankings:

• The Royals and Astros cups are the same style as 6 other cups. I feel this cup style is superior to the other cup styles in terms of structure and space for graphics. Consequently, all 8 cups of this style are ranked in the top 11 of the latest rankings.
• The Rangers have two cups: one that was refillable and one that was not. I bought the one that was refillable and someone in my section left the non-refillable cup. The refillable cup is a 3/4 scale replica of the style of the Royals and Astros cups. I like the design and colors of the refillable cup. The non-refillable cup is pretty non-desrcript but it isn't terrible.
• The Cardinals also has two cups: one for pop and one for beer. These cups are exactly the same style as the Yankee cups. After just using the pop cup, a few creases developed near the neck of the cup. I wrestled back and forth weather to rank the Yankees or Cardinals higher. I like the Yankee pop cup more than the Cardinal pop cup but I prefer the St. Louis beer cup over the Yankee beer cup just enough to rank the Cardinals higher.
• My hometown team, the Detroit Tigers, has a terrible cup. The design on the cup is not bad but could be better by using actual players instead of generic baseball players. The style of the cup is what gives it a No. 20 ranking on the list. The cup is the same style as the Cubs cup and is reminiscent of a large cup that you get at McDonald's or Taco Bell. The only defense I make for the cup is that it was not officially listed as a souvenir cup. However the cups were displayed on top of the pop dispensers to market to guests.

Ballpark: Busch Stadium

On July 6th I attended a Saturday matinee game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins at Busch Stadium. Busch Stadium is downtown St. Louis, located only blocks southwest of the the Gateway Arch. The MetroLink (the St. Louis Light-Rail System) has a stop right at Busch Stadium but I chose to park near the stadium to save time. Thankfully parking was rather inexpensive and I found a garage I could park in for only $6. I also lucked out in that it was Matt Holliday Jersey Giveaway Day.

The area around Busch Stadium is in transition. One side of the stadium is boarded by a parking garage, another by I-64, and another by a construction zone where the old Busch Stadium once stood. The last side of the stadium serves as the grand entrance. Outside this entrance are statues of Cardinals legends and sidewalk squares commemorating important moments in Cardinals history. On the opposite side of the construction zone from the stadium are a couple of bars that are the places to be before and after games. The nearby interstate makes it difficult to walk around Busch Stadium - there is metal fencing preventing pedestrians from walking along that side of the ballpark.

The calling card of Busch Stadium is the backdrop beyond the center field fence. The arch and St. Louis skyline makes for one of the best views in major league ballparks. The "retro" characteristics of the ballpark continue beyond the center field city view; the brick structure, vertical light towers, metal facade, and limited foul ground give the ballpark a great baseball feel. I was very pleased with my view from ten rows up in the center field bleachers. I also like how the second deck was very close to the foul poles. Busch Stadium has quite a few attributes that left me disappointed though. The concourse is walled off from the field. To enter the seating sections, fans must walk through tunnel-like entranceways. The scoreboard was also lacking compared to other ballparks of similar age. The information displayed on the screen was minimal and a second scoreboard that could have been used for replays was used as an out-of-town scoreboard. I have mixed feelings on the food at Busch Stadium. I first got the Bratzel - a bratwurst wrapped in a soft pretzel. I love both pretzels and bratwurst but I was thoroughly disappointed with this item; it tasted like a ordinary brat on an average-tasting bun. After getting a few wishy-washy answers on what was the best thing to eat, I settled on the bacon wrapped hotdog. Topped with beans, sauerkrat, pickles, and two sauces, it was the best food item I have had at a ballpark thus far! Like the food, the fans at Busch Stadium were of wide variety. There were drunk military personnel trying to pickup girls all game, big time baseball fans with their families, people who were there more the atmosphere than the game, people who were unfriendly, and people who were friendly but down right trashy.

The Marlins got to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning with two runs coming off of a Logan Morrison home run. The Cardinals closed the gap to one when Matt Carpenter tripled (thanks to a missed diving attempt in center field by Marcell Ozuna) and a subsequent single by Carlos Beltran. The Cardinals trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the seventh inning with the pitcher coming up to bat and a runner on first. Matt Adams pinch hit for the pitched and delivered with a game tying home run just out of the reach of right fielder Giancarlo Stanton. The game remained tied until the bottom of the ninth when pinch hitter Shane Robinson singled with two outs, advancing a runner to third. The throw back to the infield just sneaked by the cutoff man and ended up dying in the middle of the infield. The Cardinal runner on third broke for home and scored easily the winning-run. It was one of the more unusually endings to a game I have ever seen.

My take-away from Busch Stadium is that it has a great view but there are many aspects of the ballpark that are lacking behind my favorites. Still, the passion of the Cardinal fans and the retro style make Busch Stadium feel like a classic baseball ballpark.

Ballpark: Kauffman Stadium

On July 5 I attended a Royals vs. A's game at Kauffman Stadium with my friend Chris and his fiance Amanda. Kauffman Stadium is located in the sports complex area of Kansas City where it shares a parking lot with the home of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, Arrowhead Stadium.

Kauffman Stadium doesn't have a grand entrance but it has four major gates. The lower level infield concourse looks out on the field but is pretty non-desrcript. The concourse opens up as it wraps around to the outfield. The fountains on the field side of the outfield concourse are the defining feature of Kauffman Stadium. I had always felt that the fountains in the outfield were kind of random but Chris explained to me that Kansas City's nickname is the City of Fountains. The grassy areas that originally flanked the fountains when the stadium was first built have been replaced by outfield seats. I think these newer seats add to the aesthetics and atmosphere to the outfield area. The portion of the concourse closest to the fountains is also home to statues of past Royals greats, including George Brett. In dead center field there is a huge scoreboard. The scoreboard frame is shaped in the form of a crown and the screen itself is big enough to provide all meaningful baseball stats to fans throughout the stadium. The non-field side of the concourse is home to a batting cage and a miniature field for the younger Royals fans. Between the concourse and field in right field is the Royals Hall of Fame. This hall of fame was a little more hands-on than other ballpark hall of fames I have been in. In addition to Royals memorabilia, the hall of fame also had exhibits showing how the equipment of baseball has evolved through the years.

In addition to the fountains, the upper deck is the other feature than makes Kauffman Stadium distinct from the other ballparks that I have visited. The upper deck is one large steep bowl. Our seats were in the front row of this steep bowl along the right field line but the seats above us would have been very comparable since they were higher up but not much farther from the field. The upper deck concourse was very breezy but that helped keep the area cool during this warm summer night. The concourse was also packed with fans throughout the game but that might have been because it was dollar hotdog/pop/peanut night.

The first eight innings of the game were dominated by two A's players: Josh Reddick and Tommy Milone. Reddick created the all of the A's 3 runs through 8 innings and Tommy Milone made those 3 runs hold up by holding the Royals. In the top of the ninth, the A's stretched their lead out to 6-0 with Reddick once again playing a key role in the rally. Milone came out for the 9th inning but the Royals quickly pushed two runs across. A's closer Grant Balfour relieved Milone to save a 6-3 victory for Oakland. Despite the Royals loss, there still was a post-game firework show.

My take-away from Kauffman Stadium is that the fountains and the upper deck give the ballpark character and originality. Kauffman Stadium lacks the downtown view and has more of a country feeling but it also feels like a true baseball stadium. I went into the game with low expectations for Kauffman Stadium but I left the game knowing it is a hidden gem among MLB parks.

Heart of America: Day 6 and Day 7

Day 6 and day 7 of the Heart of America MLB trip consisted of a lot of driving. On day 6 of the trip I drove from Oklahoma to Kansas City. In Kansas City I met up with my friend Chris and his fiance Amanda to go to the Royals game. I got a hotel outside Kansas City so we could meet up beforehand and carpool to the stadium. The hotel was also close to I-70 so I could get an early start the next day to St. Louis. My ballpark experience at Kauffman Stadium will be written in another blog post.

Day 7, the final day of the trip, was a long, long day. It started off early by leaving my hotel in Kansas City early in the morning. I arrived in St. Louis at 10:15 for the 1:15 game because I still needed to find a ticket. On Stubhub there were slim pickings for tickets and they were over $40. I lucked out and found a girl scalping ticket as I exited the parking garage. I ended up buying a bleacher ticket for only $25.

After I bought the ticket I made my way down to Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. This memorial is home to the Gateway Arch and the surrounding park. Park maintenance and food vendors were setting up a stage and food stands for a concert and air show later in the day. Even though the visitor center was packed I was able to take a tram to the top of the arch without much wait since I was not with anyone else. The tram to the top consisted of several small "pods" that fit five people. It was a little claustrophobic but the trip to the top went rather quick. The view from the top was pretty cool. I got a good view of the river as well as downtown St. Louis. I didn't have time to go through the Museum of Westward Expansion at the visitor center but that might be something for the next time I am in St. Louis. After I can down from the top, I headed out to the Busch Stadium for the game. My experience at Busch Stadium will be written about in a separate post. After the game, I got back on the highway and drove towards Ann Arbor, making it back to my apartment at 2:15am.

Heart of America: Day 4 and Day 5

On day 4 of this chapter, I left Dallas and headed up to Durant, OK where my cousin is a math professor at the university there. It was nice to see him and his wife and they were nice enough to let me stay at their house for a couple of nights. On the first day I was at their house, my cousin gave me a tour of the university campus, his garden, and Lake Texoma. He has a lot of different vegetables in his garden including cucumbers, okra, tomatoes, green beans, and rhubarb. With all of the vegetables from his garden, he and his wife make a lot of different homemade food items including pickles, relish, jams, and wine. Lake Texoma is a large reservoir on the boarder of Texas and Oklahoma. It was interesting to see the flood planes since the the lake's water level fluctuates dramatically over the course of the year (and year-to-year).

The next day, my cousin and I got up early and drove to his secret blackberry location. This secret location is a farmer's field where a fire had come through and burnt some of the farm equipment in the field. After the fire, birds congregated around the destroyed equipment and blackberries grew and spread all over the field. My cousin befriended the farmer and now picks blackberries religiously during the summer to use eat throughout the year and make into wine. There were more blackberries than any small group of people can pick. We picked over 3 gallons of berries in just under 4 hours. In addition to the blackberries, I also left with scratches and splinters on my arms and hands from the blackberry canes -  a small price to pay for the berries. After picking, we had burgers and hot dogs with my cousin's neighbor. Their neighbor had a endless supply of fascinating stories throughout his travels.

Ballpark: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

On Tuesday night, my friend KB and I went to the Rangers vs. Mariners game at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Arlington is an interesting location for a ballpark because it directly between Dallas and Forth Worth. This make the ballpark accessible for residents and workers in both of those cities but it lacks the downtown feel of some of my favorite ballparks. Rangers Ballpark shares parking lots with the more well-known stadium in the city of Arlington: Cowboys Stadium (aka Jerry's World).

Rangers Ballpark has many subtle features that makes it unique among other stadiums I have been to. First, Rangers Ballpark is completely enclosed by an office building in center field. The office building has several balconies with an unmistakeable white facade looking out onto the field. A popular theory is that the office building creates an updraft making Rangers Ballpark one of the most hitter friendly stadiums in the big leagues. The white facade continues around the ballpark and is reminiscent of Yankee Stadium. Below the office building and closer to the field is a grassy hill that makes up the batter's eye. Fans frequently run out onto this hill to retrieve home run balls hit to center field. There are two decks of stands in right field with a few long pillars running up from the lower deck through the upper deck and holding up a large canopy. This feature is often compare to Tiger Stadium, the old home of the Detroit Tigers. A large scoreboard above the canopy provides all the essential baseball information. In left field (where we sat), the stands are elevated above the large out-of-town scoreboard. The view from these seats were similar to the Crawford Boxes at Minute Maid Park but a little lower and further away.

The concourses at Rangers Ballpark were wide, had plenty of natural light, and decorated with big iron  stars. The food selection was pretty extension. In addition to the tradition ballpark food fare, there were plenty of steak, barbeque, and sausage stands. The most notorious and iconic food item is the boomstick. Since the boomstick costs $26, I opted for a sundae - a sausage sundae. Instead of ice cream there were scoops of chopped brisket, mac-n-cheese, and mashed potatoes and instead of the banana was a sausage.

My take-away from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is that it has many subtle features that draw on past iconic ballparks but has many unique features to render it distinct as an entire ballpark. Even though former Ranger star Josh Hamilton claimed that Dallas/Fort Worth is not a baseball town, I was impressed with the number of the 39,000+ at the game who wore Rangers gear. All told, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington provided a good atmosphere for baseball.

Update: The game was something the Rangers would have liked to forget. The Raul Ibanez and Kendrys Morales hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the first to give the Mariners and early 2-0 lead. The Rangers got on the board with a run in the bottom of the third inning but the Mariners immediately answered with a run of their own in the next half inning. Kendrys Morales hit his second home run of the game in the top of the 5th to give the Mariners and insurmountable lead. The final score was 9-2. Morales was the unquestioned star of the game with 6 RBIs on the night.

Heart of America: Day 3

After 2 days filled with driving I was finally able to get out of my car and experience some culture. I started the day by driving to a FedEx Office store to print out the tickets for the night's game between the Rangers and the Mariners. I then continued north out of Houston to Fort Worth to make a stop at the Stockyards Historic District. I first heard about the Stockyards in a song by one of my favorite honky tonk bands, the Casey Donahew Band. The songs centers on the bar scene of the Stockyards but after doing some research online I found that the Stockyards had much more to offer. Originally, the Stockyard District was a huge stockyard for cattle in the early 20th century. They still have some livestock pens to show what the district looked like back in its heyday. The signature event of the district is a cattle drive through the main street which occurs twice a day. It was pretty cool to see huge longhorn cattle walking through the street. Not quite a running of the bulls but much safer!  There are also western stores, touristy general stores, some small museums, and the world famous Billy Bob's Texas. I went into Billy Bob's and saw their large stage and their hall of fame with handprints of famous country artists.

After the cattle drive, I headed towards Dallas to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. There I met up with my friend, KB, from college. It was nice to see her because she was our unofficial 5th housemate last year. KB also let me crash on her couch for the night. On the way to her apartment I went by the Dallas skyline. It was a lot bigger and brighter than I had expected. While Fort Worth may still have the cow town atmosphere, Dallas is more of the modern-day city.