Between working, going to Michigan football games, moving into my new apartment, and actually going to the remaining ballparks on my list, I have been pretty busy and have done a poor job at updated the blog. I strategically left the Ohio stadiums, Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati and Progressive Field in Cleveland, until the end of the summer so I could take a weekend trip after I started working. Weekend road trips figured to easier to coordinate than plane trips or week-long road trips.
About a month ago now, I took a weekend trip down to Ohio to knock stadiums #27 and #28 off my list. I left my parents' house around noon on Saturday, August 24, and headed down 1-75 in Cincinnati, OH. I arrived in downtown Cincinnati at 5:30 pm, giving me plenty of time to explore the stadium before the 7:10 pm first pitch. My thoughts on Great American Ballpark, the home of the Cincinnati Reds, will be written upon in an upcoming blog post.
During my journey to the ballparks I have met some interesting characters. One of the more notable characters was a guy who went by Neagle. Neagle was part of a bachelor/bachelorette party that sat next to be at Great American Ballpark. Neagle was the friend in the group that do always do something stupid but everyone else would just roll their eyes and let it go because it was Neagle. The entire group had been drinking throughout the day and were planning on going out after the game. Between throwing hotdogs at his friends, trying to pickup married girls, and reminiscing about walking around the University of Cincinnati's campus and yelling "The Juice is Loose" after Illinois beat No. 1 Ohio State, Neagle asked me about 20 times to go with the bar with them. He repeatably told me "We'll show Cincinnati." Lucky for me, I had a hotel booked about 30 minutes outside the city so my excuse to Neagle somewhat legitimate.
The next day I woke up early and drove across the state to Cleveland. My experience at the Indians' ballpark, Progressive Field, will be published in an upcoming blog post. After the game I hurried my way back home for a fantasy football draft. Going to two games in a weekend was tiring and quite the whirlwind. However, it was refreshing to go to a baseball game live again for the first time in a couple of weeks and great to see two more world-class ballparks.
