Ballpark: PNC Park

On the second to last Sunday of the regular season, I attended Pirates vs. Reds game at PNC Park with my friend Ben and his roommate Evan. In recent years, a game at PNC Park on the second to last Sunday of the regular season would not have been a celebrated occasion. However, with the Buccos (a shortened version of buccaneers) in route to their first winning season in 20 years coupled with a divisional series against the hated Reds, who were also vying for playoff positioning, PNC Park was electric. Factor in the Sunday night NFL game at Heinz Field down the street, Pittsburgh was the place to be on this late September weekend.

PNC Park is located on the north shore of the Allegheny River where it meets the Ohio River. We parked north of the stadium and walked under a couple of highway overpasses and through a couple of parking lots containing a few Steelers fans tailgating for the night's football game. Before even entering PNC Park I was impressed. PNC Park is one of the many ballparks with a retro feel due to its stone exterior and steel truss-like light towers. Statues of some of the Pirates all-time greats (Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, and others) pay tribute to the franchises storied history at each corner of the ballpark. There is a nice river walk along the south side of the ballpark and we walked by a couple of boats with sporting Pirate flags (both the Jolly Roger and flags with the traditional Pirates logo). Getting from downtown Pittsburgh to PNC Park for a game is easy as the Roberto Clemente Bridge, which ends at the center field gate, is only open to pedestrians before and after games. The Roberto Clemente Bridge, thanks in part to its yellow paint job, is also the center piece of the downtown backdrop when viewed from home plate. I think this downtown view is an iconic image of how ballparks have been designed around their city and are now more than just a sporting venue.

PNC ballpark feels small with an upperdeck that wraps from foul pole to foul pole and limited seating in the outfield. The scoreboard sits above a relatively flat section of bleacher in left field. Although the scoreboard itself is not unique, the Pirates did some pretty cool things on the scoreboard throughout the game. One of which was during the players third at-bat, their name was spelled out using letters from pictures of well-known places throughout the city. The concourse of the stadium was pretty usual. The outfield concourse in right field was uncovered and pretty spacious. After passing Manny Sanguillen BBQ stand in center field (where Manny Sanguillen often sits and sign autographs) and a ramp which overlooks the bullpens (but you are not allowed to stop on the ramp), the concourse tunnels under the bleachers in left field. The concourse ends abruptly at a escalator surrounded by a spiral ramp where many, many fans with standing room only tickets were congregating. Since this spiral ramp had many floors was close to the field, I think this would be one of the best standing room locations of all the stadiums. Our seats were located at the base of the spiral ramp and we were only about 10 rows off the field. The fans around knew this was an important game: many were waiving Jolly Roger flags in hopes the Pirates would "Raise the Jolly Roger!" for a Pirates victory. The fans also got on their own left fielder Jose Tabata for some questionable defensive plays.

The concourse from foul pole to foul pole was pretty standard with an overlook onto the field and many local concessions. I opted for the Pittsburgher sandwhich at the Primanti Brothers stand. This Pittsburgh classic consisted of a meat patty, vinegar slaw, and french fries between white bread. I actually the slaw and the french fries on the sandwich on the sandwich but I wasn't a huge fan of the meat on the sandwich. The local flair of the ballpark continued with the pierogi race: where mascot pierogi characterized by their fillings raced around the field. The field itself had some unique characteristics. The left field wall meets the foul pole at a rather obtuse angle before cutting straight across toward the bullpens in right-center field. The bullpens extend about 10' further into field, there is an unusual nook in the middle of the outfield. The batter's eye in dead centerfield consists of a green wall and a hedge manicured to spell out pirates.  In honor of Roberto Clemente there is a 21' wall in right field.

Unfortunately, the Pirates could not match the atmosphere with their play this Sunday afternoon. Jay Bruce doubled home 3 runs, then Todd Frazier homered to put a 5 spot up in the top of the first against Bucco starter Jeff Locke. The Pirates when the their bullpen in the second inning but that did not stop the bleeding as the Reds scored 2 more for a 7-0 inning before the Pirates had their second at bat. The Pirates closed the gap to 7-3 after a pair of home runs and a sacrifice fly against Reds starter Bronson Arroyo. However, the Reds bullpen shut out the Pirates the rest of the way and the Reds added 4 more runs cruised to an 11-3 win.

My take-away from PNC Park is that has earned its accolades for being one of the league's best ballparks: the backdrop is second-to-none, the field has unique dimensions, and the ballpark itself is modern but maintains the old-time baseball feel through the retro theme. Being hypercritical, there were some locations where the concourse became gridlock with people. Also, the river made the downtown area seem further away than it was, both in distance and in atmosphere.

Ballpark: Progressive Field

On a Sunday afternoon, I attended a matinee between the Twins and the Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. Like many other modern ballparks, Progressive Field is located within walking distance of the downtown area. I opted to park on the opposite side of the ballpark from downtown where there was plenty of cheap parking and easy access to the expressway for after the game. Although the side I parked on was underdeveloped, the downtown sides of the ballpark were much more attractive with stores, restaurants, and Quicken Loans Arean (the basketball arena).

The basic layout of Progressive Field is pretty typical with an upper deck that wraps from the left field foul pole, around home plate and ends in right center. A giant scoreboard sits at the top of the bleachers in left field and foliage makes up the batter's eye in centerfield. This foliage provides landscaping for Heritage Park: a two-tier memorial to the greatest players in Indians history. In a few places were reserved for the future homes of plaques and statues for the recently retired Jim Thome. The concourse of the stadium was a little unusual: the concourse was split into two sides with concession stands, restrooms, and guest services in between. Although the concourse was split, field is completely visible from the inner side of the concourse and it was easy to move between the two sides. The concourse merges back to a single walkway in the outfield where there is no upper deck. There are quite a few different food options at progressive field, all at a reasonable price. There is a Subway, a buffalo wing stand, and a couple Food Network kiosks but I went for the polish sausage with the signature ballpark mustard. Between the mustard and the homemade chips that came with the sausage, it was the best classic ballpark meals I had eaten on my journey. Another signature feature of the concessions was the 2-3-4 pricing ($2 pop refills, $3 hotdogs, and $4 beer). I think this is an attempt to draw more fans but it really wasn't working since about 2/3 of the upperdeck was closed off although the Indians were fighting for a playoff spot.

Despite the low attendance, there are several signature features of Progressive Field. The first is the downtown view beyond the scoreboard above the bleachers in left field; the skyscrapers of downtown Cleveland seem to fall into the stadium. The bleachers below the scoreboard are steep and end abruptly at the 19' left field wall. In addition to adding character to the playing field, the 19' wall contains the out-of-town scoreboard. Another feature of the ballpark of note are the large club windows on the second deck near the left field foul pole. However the most unique aspect of the stadium is a well-known fan named John Adams. John Adams does not have a (borderline offensive) Indian headdress like a fan next to me, but a large drum he plays when the Indians have a rally going. Adams sits in a reserved seat on the top of the bleachers. I was a little concerned that Adams was going to miss the game but he showed up in the bottom of the 1st inning and walked to his seat while receiving a standing ovation by his fellow bleacher creatures. Adams's drumming is unique because it sounds like an Indian war drum and it is embraced by the Indians organization.

John Adams first had something to beat his drum about in the bottom of the third inning when Jason Kipnis singled home Michael Bourn to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. The Twins answered back in the top of the fifth with a suicide squeeze to tie the game. Despite a threats by both teams in the middle innings, the game remained tied until two outs in the bottom of the eighth when Drew Stubbs, the Indians nine-hitter, homered to dead center. The Indians tacked on another run with a double and a single to make it 3-1. The previous two games I had seen the Indians play, closer Chris Perez made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth. This time Perez made quick work of the Twins hitters to give the Indians the 3-1 victory.

My take-away from Progressive Field is that it has many of the key features I look for in a ballpark and overall I like the stadium. The concourse layout, downtown vibe, Heritage Park, and character of the playing field are major positives. The beating of the drum is unique and adds the most to the ballpark experience but I am left to imagine the atmosphere at a sell-out.

Ballpark: Great American Ballpark

I attended a Brewers vs. Reds game at Great American Ballpark on a Saturday night. Great American Ballpark is located on the south end of downtown Cincinnati on the north shore of the Ohio River. I parked a few blocks west of Paul Brown Stadium (home of the NFL's Bengals) and walked over towards the tall white light towers of the ballpark. The walk to the stadium took me up a set a stairs paralleling a cascading fountain and through the grassy lawn of a riverfront park. On the opposite end of the lawn were numerous bars where Reds fans were preparing for the game against their division rivals.

Directly outside the main entrance to the ballpark is a plaza enclosed by adjacent buildings containing the Reds Hall of Fame Museum and the Reds team store. I would have loved to explore the Reds Hall of Fame but I decided that it wasn't worth the $10 admission. For perspective, many other organizations have hall of fames as part of their stadium but the admission is included with the game ticket. The public part of the plaza was filled with small grassy lawns, statues of Reds greats, and slogans of former radio broadcasters. The other half of the plaza was considered inside the stadium and a ticket was needed for access. This half of the plaza was home to numerous booths for the Reds corporate sponsors. The booths included a Proctor & Gamble giveaway wheel and a golf net sponsored by another company. Maybe it was because the corporate booths were concentrated in a small area, but it seemed like there were a greater focus on corporate sponsorship at Great American Ballpark than other stadiums.

The field level concourse between the foul poles were wide and overlooked the field. The concourse narrowed slightly along the outfield and the view of the field was obstructed by the right field stands. However, one of the two bullpens was located underneath the right field stands and fans are able to look down into bullpen from the outfield concourse. Looking from concourse away from the bullpen is a great view of the Ohio River. I think the right field stand might be some of the best seats in the ballpark: they are close to the field and have a view of downtown Cincinnati above the upperdeck down the third baseline. In dead center field, the concourse again opens up for one of the signature features of Great American Ballpark: the Power Stacks, which are meant to look like the towers of a riverboat steamer. The representation of the steamboat is aided by a deck above the hitters eye in centerfield which looks like a hull of the boat. When the Reds strike out a hitter, fireworks are shot out of the top of the Power Stacks and the resulting smoke looks like the plumes of a steamboat. Like the field level concourse, the upper level concourses are open and contained a variety of food and souvenirs. My kept my food selection pretty tame since I bought an all-you-can-eat-seat which was limited to hotdogs, peanuts, popcorn, and pop (I did buy my souvenir cup). One negative of the otherwise good concourses was I notice that there were a few pipes from the ceiling that dripped water down onto the lower concourses.

My seat was in the third deck near the left field foul pole. Although I was a long way from the field, I was close to the basic but functional scoreboard above the left field bleachers. The bleachers in left field are a little unusual in that they are located on the second deck. The second deck bleachers in left and the steep outfield stands in right field make the field feel cozy. Coincidentally, Great American Ballpark is perennially one of the best hitting ballparks in the league.

The game started a little rough for the home team as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead in the second innings with three straight hits and a sacrifice fly. Reds starter Bronson Arroyo then settled down and matched Brewers starter Wily Peralta to keep the Reds within striking distance. Leading 2-1 in bottom of the sixth, the Brewers pulled Peralta and the Reds quickly took a 4-2 lead with 2 homeruns in the first 3 batters against the relief pitcher. The Reds added a couple more runs and turned a 6-3 lead over to their Cuban closer Aroldis Chapman. Chapmen lit up the radar gun and the power stacks by striking out the side with his 102 mph fastball to give the Reds the victory.

My take-away from Great American Ballpark is that the ballpark effectively uses the Ohio River to cultivate a baseball environment that is unique to the city.  Although slim on defining features, the steamboat in centerfield and the plaza at the main entrance are enough to distinguish the ballpark from the others in MLB.  

Seattle: Day 2 and Day 3

On the second day of the Seattle trip, Al and I were on our own with no real plans since Brian and Mike had to work and Roger had to go to school. We walked to the Seattle Center area, home of the Space Needle. We had considered going to the top of the Space Needle but it was typical Seattle weather (overcast and drizzle) so we decided to pass. Seattle Center is also home to a science museum, a music memoriabilia collection, and Key Arean (former home of the Seattle Supersonics). Overall I wasn't too impressed with Seattle Center and was a little confused to see a skate park right next to a former NBA arena. We then headed back down to the water as we walked through a sculpture park. The sculpture park was on the side of one of many hills in Seattle and there were some pretty weird sculptures. One was the top half of a house built into the side of the hill and people were invited to stand on the roof. We stopped by the piers and found a 1 hour boat tour of the Elliott Bay. There were several tours throughout the day so we decided to walk around and do the boat tour later in the day. We then went to the Columbia Center (the tallest building in Seattle) and took the elevator to the 40th floor Starbucks. There is an observation deck on the higher floors but we decided that a drink and a 40th floor view was better than paying for a view from the 76th floor. We then made our way back to Pike's Place Market, exploring some of the outdoors stores in route, for some lunch. I had the salmon and chips at a fish market and sat at the counter and watch the guys crack and steam crabs for customers. By that time, we walked down the hill for our boat tour. The boat tour turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip. It was a totally different view of the city and adjacent port and the tour guide was great at telling us the history of the city. We then walked our way back to Brian's apartment, met up with the crew (Brian, Roger, and Mike) and walked down to the Mariners game. Our experience at Safeco Field will be described in an upcoming blog post. After the game, we once again walked back through downtown Seattle to Brian's house, doing our best to avoid a host of shady characters.

On the last full day of the trip, we planned to go to the second of two sports events on the weekend: a University of Washington football game. Besides being the home team and my mother being an alumni, I was also rooting for UW because they were playing Arizona, lead by former UM coach Rich Rodriguez. Before the game, Mike's roommate Jake, who like Roger I knew and was friendly with at UM, met up with us at Brian's apartment. Since it was raining rather heavy, we watched College Gameday and a couple of the early games. We then headed around Lake Union to the UW campus area. We ate lunch at a BBQ food truck, where we met up with Mike, that I thought was pretty good. I think Al, the South Carolina BBQ expert in our crew, thought it was pretty good too. We then walked to and around the UW campus with Roger as our unofficial tour guide. We stopped in at their student union, which was a lot newer and more modern than Univ. of Michigan's. As game time approached, the rain picked up and we walked into the stadium. There wasn't a lot going on in the stadium beforehand, and in hindsight we should have explored the tailgating culture, but I think all wanted to get out of the rain. Husky Stadium was recently renovated with flat screen TVs everywhere and a beer garden on the practice field just beyond one set of endzone stands. The game was entertaining with Washington winning 31-13. Runningbacks Bishop Sankey and Ka'Deem Carey of Washington and Arizona respectively were the stars for their teams. We braved out the weather in our uncovered endzone seats as we saw the direction of the rain switch nearly every quarter. Once we got back to Brian's place, we ate dinner at a tavern a few blocks from his house. I had a hamburger and one of the taverns many beer choices. We once again went to bed early as both Al and I had early flights the next morning. Roger and Brian were gracious enough to give us a ride to the airport the next morning so we didn't have to book a cab. Although my flight was early, it was good to get back to Detroit at a decent time to relax before work the next day.

Seattle: Day 1

Two weeks ago, I took my final trip of the summer to Seattle to catch a game at the 30th ballpark of the summer. This trip to Seattle was reminiscent of many other trips but unique in its own way. Similar to my trip to Denver, this trip was more of a vacation with a ballpark in the mix rather than purely a baseball trip. However it was different from the Denver trip in that it was more spontaneous. In Denver, my brother and I planned to hike a 14,000 mountain and we made plans to eat an early dinner with our Granny on Sunday afternoon. In Seattle, I had very few plans other than the baseball game and a football game the next day. Similar to my trips to the West Coast, East Coast, and through the Heart of America, I met up with friends from high school and college. In Seattle, I met up with friends from both places at the same time.

Although once I arrived in Seattle the trip was rather spontaneous, there was a lot of coordination that went into the trip prior its start. The first bit of planning was to meet up with my friend from high school, Al. Al now lives in South Carolina and, like me, is a huge baseball fan. When he first heard that I was doing this trip, he was very interested in going with me to a game. Since I had already knock Atlanta off the list early in the season, we identified mid to late September as a time we could meet up and Al was interested in going to Seattle. We were both able to get Thursday and Friday off work and booked flights that got into Seattle within 15 minutes of each other and Thursday afternoon. Even though Al's plane was delayed about a half and hour, meeting up in the airport worked to perfection.

The other bit of coordination was to meet up with my good friends from college, Brian and Mike, who now work in Seattle for Boeing. Brian and his roommate Roger, who I also knew and was friendly with in college, were nice enough to let both Al and I crash at their place. Since Brian lives within walking distance to downtown, Al and I took the light rail from Seattle-Tacoma airport to downtown Seattle. We got off the light rail on the south side of downtown and started to walk up towards downtown. Luckily for us it was a clear and about 70°. On the way we stopped and got a quick lunch in Chinatown. We found our way down to the piers where there is an aquarium, some tourist stores, a few restaurants, and ferries. Next, we meandered our way to Pike's Place Market, where we got a decent look at the fish mongers throwing a whole salmon across the stand to another fish monger who packages the fish. This appears to be more for show than function as they clearly uses an older fish and even invite onlookers to try to catch the fish. If we had gotten there early in the morning when people are actually buying fish maybe they throw the actual fish the customer selects. At this point it was late afternoon and headed up to Brian's apartment near most southern point of Lake Union. For dinner Roger, Brian, Al, and I got carry out from a Caribbean sandwich shop. I got the #1 (I don't remember the sandwich name) which had big slices of pork, large caramelized onions, and a sweet sauce. The fillings were great but the best part of the delicious sandwich was the bread. Apparently this is one of this highest rated restaurants in the Seattle area on Yelp. After eating, Brian drove us up to Kerry Park in the Queen Anne neighborhood in Seattle. This is the signature view of Seattle with the bay, Space Needle, Seattle skyline, and Mount Rainier (on a clear night) all visible. Once we got back to Brian's apartment, we hung out with my friend, and roommate of the past year, Mike. It was good to catch up with Mike, Brian, and Roger and it sounds like they are all doing well. Although it wasn't too late, I was looking forward to crashing as it had been a long day and I was still on Eastern Daylight Time.

Pittsburgh: Days 1, 2, & 3

On the weekend of September 20-22, I drove down to Pittsburgh, PA. Like Cleveland and Cincinnati, Pittsburgh was saved until late in the season as a weekend trip in order to focus on the farther away stadiums before I started working. Additionally, this weekend was chosen because it was one of the few weekends my friend Ben, who now lives in Pittsburgh, was in town. It was great to be able to see him and take in a game with another baseball fan.

After work on Friday evening, I drove through some rain showers in northern Ohio and made it down to Ben's house around 9pm. Ben rents a room in a house in the Pittsburgh burough of West View from a man named Evan. Evan has lived almost his entire life in the West View area and, even though he had never met me prior, went of his way to make sure that I enjoyed my weekend in Pittsburgh. A late September Friday night in Pittsburgh means one thing to Evan and his friends: Oktoberfest. About 20 minutes after I arrived, I was back in a car - this time headed to Penn Brewery for their take on the Bavarian festival. The brewery had a German feel with its old brick exterior, picnic tables for seating, and a narrow brick walkway to a parking garage. The beer was also served in a half-gallon milk jug. For Oktoberfest, the parking garage was filled with more picnic tables to accommodate even more patrons. There was a band playing traditional German music and we all tried to sing along although no one knew the words.

The next day, Ben drove me around downtown Pittsburgh to show me the city. I had never been to Pittsburgh before but I was surprised by the number of bridges and the hills. One wrong turn and you might end up on a cliff on the opposite side of the river. We drove around the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University en route to Pamela's Diner, a famous breakfast place for Pittsburghers and President Obama. I had and enjoyed their famous pancakes, a hybrid between traditional pancakes and crepes. We had originally hope to go on a hike Saturday afternoon but the weather did not cooperate. Instead, we spent the afternoon watching a few college football games including Michigan vs. Connecticut. Our alma mater gave us quite a scare but ended up winning by a field goal.

The next morning, we at breakfast at another diner just a couple of blocks from Ben's house. I had an omelet with shaved ham - another Pittsburgh staple. I agree with Ben and Evan in that Pittsburgh does breakfast right. At the diner I noticed many people wearing Pirates gear. Pittsburgh does not have the recent reputation of being a great baseball city but it was clear to see that the first Pirates winning season in over 20 years has re-ignited the passion of the fans. Around noon, we headed downtown for the main purpose of the trip, attending a Pirates game. My experience at PNC Park will be written in an upcoming blog post. Although downtown was alive after the game in preparation for the Steelers Sunday night game but I headed back home to get back to Michigan at a decent hour.

The Road: 30 in Review

With Game 163 between the Rays and the Rangers last week, the 2013 regular season came to a close. A more personal journal also came to a close on the last weekend of the regular season: my successful journey to all 30 MLB stadiums! In the last two weekends of the regular season I traveled to Pittsburgh and Seattle to knock off ballparks 29 and 30 off the list.

I have done a poor job updating the blog in the last two months of the regular season but I vow to write about my travels and ballpark experiences through the 2013 postseason. I also hope to have a series of blog post reviewing my entire journey. Above all though, I want to thank my family, friends, and the people I met along the way who made this trip memorable.