Cup Collection: Denver, Sunshine, & Ohio

Five more stadiums down and five more cups to add to the Souvenir Cup Power Rankings. The new souvenir cups are from Rockies, Rays, Marlins, Reds, and Indians games. Since all of these cups were acquired on trips where I attended two or fewer ballparks, they are in black font. 

Rankings after the Ohio trip:

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

Notes on rankings:

• All five of the new cups are of the same style as 15 of the top 16 cups. As mentioned in previous Cup Collection posts, this cup style is superior from others in that it is structurally sound and has a large design surface.
• The Rays, Marlins, and Reds cups all included one free refill. The Indians cup had $2 refills, and the cup itself was one of the more inexpensive cups in the collection.
• The Rockies cup is a collage of tiles in the shape of the numeral "20", in honor of the Rockies' 20th year in existance. Each tile is has the date and opponent of a game along with a picture of current or former Rockies player. However, neither the tiles or the "20" are overly easy to read. The idea behind the design is well-intended but the execution was slightly lacking.
• The Reds cup is holographic and features star first baseman Joey Votto.
• The design on the Indians cup is a portrait of League Park, the Indians' home from 1900 - 1946.

Ballpark: Marlins Park

My busy schedule the past couple of weeks has prevented me from writing the blog post on the most recent ballpark I attended. On Saturday, August 3 I attended the Marlins vs. Indians game at Marlins Park in Miami, FL. It was a raining evening but luckily the game was unaffected since the retractable roof at Marlins Park was closed.

Marlins Park is built on the site of the Miami Orange Bowl: the former home stadium of the University of Miami and the Orange Bowl game. Although not a major feature of the ballpark, there is a column on the main concourse that shows the history of the Miami Orange Bowl. As I approached the stadium from the east through a neighborhood of older houses and condo/apartments, the area reminded me more of the surroundings of college football stadium than an MLB ballpark. This feeling shifted as I reached the ballpark itself. Four parking garages flanked the north and south sides of the stadium. The base of the ballpark's exterior was lined with palm gardens, ticket kiosks, and a large plaza on the west side of the stadium (more on this plaza later). I entered the gate on the north-west side of the stadium and took an escalator up to the main concourse (similar to US Cellular Field but at "The Cell" there were ramps instead of escalators).

The concourse of Marlins Park is large, open, accented in lime green, and more stadium like than other ballparks. The upperdeck wraps around foul pole to foul pole with a few other sections of upperdeck seating from right field to below the massive scoreboard in centerfield . I quickly found of that the upperdeck in right field is close to the playing surface as any well-hit batting practice homerun ball would end up in the upperdeck. There are relatively few seats in left field. At field level were the Clevelander seats and club/bar area. Apparently, the Clevelander is one of the more well-known hotels/bars on South Beach and this seating section brings a taste of South Beach to Marlins Park. Well above the field is the main concourse and Budweiser Bar: more of a bar you expected to see at a cool college bar than a ballpark. Above the Budweiser Bar and spanning from the left field foul pole to centerfield was a wall of windows. These windows (similar to Minute Maid Park) gave the stadium an openness and view of downtown Miami in the distance. Just left to dead centerfield is the signature feature of Marlins Park: a home run sculpture. The sculpture contains several fish and other marine wildlife that rotate around the center of the sculpture if the Marlins hit a homerun. It bares more of a resemblance to sculptures outside children's museums that anything else I have seen on my journey to the ballparks. Another cool feature of Marlins Park is that there are aquariums directly behind home plate where there are normally advertisements at other ballparks. Unfortunately, this aspect is only visible and accessible to those people at the best seats or watching on television. My personal favorite part of the ballpark was the bobble-head museum. This glass cabinet on the main concourse behind home plate was simple but embraces a often overlooked ballpark collectible.

The food selection at Marlins Park was pretty impressive. After figuring out the menu board on the screens behind the concession stands were switching between English and Spanish, I settled for the medianoche (or "midnight") sandwich, very similar to a Cuban sandwich but with softer bread. Even though I had a Cuban sandwich at Tropicana Field the night before, the case full of homemade sandwiches had a strong allure. The taste match the sight as this sandwich blew the other Cuban sandwiches I have had at ballparks out of the water!  It was obvious that the Marlins tried to make going to a game a fun atmosphere. They had (male and female) cheerleaders who would dance on dugouts in between innings and tried to start the wave in the bottom of the first. There were several giveaways and a wide variety of between inning entertainment including a race between marine life mascots (the shark barely beat out the sea dragon). Additionally, after the game they had a concert in the plaza on the west side of the stadium. The plaza was about 100 yards long with a large stage and video screen at one end. The performing artist were Sensato and DJ Laz, neither of whom I had ever heard of before. I didn't think there Latin dance music quite fit the crowd as there were many more families or older baseball fans at the game than young party goers. I think the Marlins marketing department has their work cut out for them in trying to convince the young adult crowd that Marlins games are fun.

Indians leadoff man Michael Bourn was a thorn in the side of the Marlins early in the game. He stole a couple of bases and scored two runs to take the early lead. The Marlins woke up from a quiet first few innings to get their first hit and tie the game at 2 in the bottom of the sixth. The top of the seventh inning was wild. After benefiting from three close calls on the bases including a play at the plate where Bourn scored his third run of the game, the Indians took at 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth. The Marlins Logan Morrison started the bottom of the ninth off with a double of Indians closer Chris Perez. After a Greg Dobbs single to score Morrison, Perez didn't help his cause by botching a sacrifice attempt by the Marlins to put the tying run on second the winning run on first. After a successful sacrifice to move the runners over, Perez managed to get the final two outs and secure an Indians victory.

My take-away from Marlins Park is that utilizes many effective features to make it as baseball friendly as a retractable roof ballpark can be. Other features, such as the bobble-head museum and the homerun sculpture distinguish Marlins Park from other (roofed and open air) ballparks. Despite the attempt of the marketing department, the atmosphere at the game was lacking. For a franchise that is know for its low payroll, what come first: the chicken (a winning team) or the egg (great fans and a great atmosphere)?

Sunshine Trip: Day 3

On the third and final day of my tour in Florida, I took my talents to South Beach. I parked my car in Mid-Beach at 9:15 and immediately headed down the beach towards South Beach. The sand wasn't as white as the beaches in Clearwater but the beach was wide and seemed to extend forever along the coast. Luxury hotels lined the inshore side of the beach only buffered from the beach by a greenbelt and nice bike path. I was a little surprised in how few people were on the beach but that may have been due to being a Sunday morning and the menacing clouds overhead. As a walked south towards South Beach, the clouds began to clear and the beach started to become a little more crowded. Interestingly, most of the people of the beach were latin families and it was a rare occurrence overhear people speaking English.

By the time I got to South Beach I was very hungary and thirsty. I stopped at a bakery and had a kiwi smoothie, a ham and cheese empanada, and a custard filled churro. I then walked back north along one the main streets of Miami Beach and wandered into a few touristy surf shops. I was looking for a shirt that had something to do with LeBron James's quote from The Decision but couldn't find anything.

As I started walking back north. the clouds had cleared and it had turned into a wonderful day weather-wise. I went back to my car, put on my swimsuit, and sat on the beach for a couple hours. The water was very clear and the sand bar extended pretty far out. I put sunscreen on pretty heavily but still managed to get a little sunburnt but not too bad. I kept an eye on my watch since I didn't know how long it would take me to return my rental car and didn't want to risk cutting my flight close. Once I decided it was time to call it a day at the beach, I stopped at a restaurant and got an order of fish tacos en route to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. I resisted my urge to eat my meal until I had returned my car, checked in, and gone through security. The tacos were good and certainly better than anything I would get at the airport.

We boarded the plane a little late and as soon as we were about to move away from the gate lightning struck in the vicinity of the airport. We ended up waiting an hour and a half on the plane until the weather cleared. This frustrated me since if we would have boarded the plane on time we would have been gone before the storm reached Ft. Lauderdale. Alas, I finally got home and went to bed for an early morning wake-up for work the next day.

Sunshine Trip: Day 2

I slept in a little on Saturday morning since Friday was such a long day. I really didn't have any plans other than the Indians vs. Marlins game that night in Miami. I figured I would take my time driving on over to Miami since I had the majority of Sunday to explore South Beach.

I started Day 2 of the Sunshine Trip by heading to the De Soto National Memorial. To be honest, I didn't know that this park existed until I check my national parks passport and found it was about 15 miles from my hotel. This memorial recognized the exploration of Hernando De Soto, a Spanish explorer who navigated through what is now the American southeast in search of gold and other riches. The lasting legacy of De Soto is somewhat split: some see him as a great explorer while some see him as a brutal conquerer and tragically stubborn. At the memorial, I took a short walk on the nature walk through the costal mangrove forrest.

I then headed south and east through Big Cypress National Preserve to Miami. I ate a very satisfying lunch at a hole in the wall barbeque place. I also stopped at the Big Cypress National Preserve visitor center to see what the preserve was all about. Essentially Big Cypress is a big swamp that is an extension of the Everglades. In fact, Big Cypress is often referred to as the Western Everglades. A big focus in the visitor center was that Big Cypress swamp is a important ecosystem that is home to many different animals (including the Florida panther and) and naturally cleans the drinking water for southern Florida cities. I walked along the boardwalk at the visitor center and saw a few alligators in the water below. I think Big Cypress would be a good place to backpack but the ranger said that it is only recommended to backpack in the winter month before the swamp floods and the bugs get too bad. I finished the day off by driving to my hotel, walking to Marlins Park (to be documented in an upcoming post), enjoying the game, and hitting the sack.

Sunshine Trip: Day 1

I left my apartment at 5:20 am in order to get to DTW in time for my 6:50 am flight. Aside from the reduced cost of the early Friday morning departure, the appeal of leaving so early was that I got in to Tampa before 11 am. I was a little anxious to get my rental car since I have never gone through that process on my own before. Thankfully the process was pretty straight forward since I had previously reserved as car online. I was out of the airport in a red chevy sonic by 11:15.

I had thought about heading directly to one of the many St. Petersburg/Clearwater beaches but I opted to head to downtown Tampa. I was planning on going to the Florida Aquarium so I parked in the aquarium parking lot for a small fee. Instead of actually going to the aquarium, I ended up walking around downtown Tampa and along the Tampa Riverwalk. I walked past the aquarium, the Tampa Bay Times Forum (home of the Tampa Bay Lightning), a history center, a bunch of hotels, and unfortunately a few free parking lots enroute to the business district of downtown Tampa. After walking through Poe Plaza (a green walkway between a few tall buildings), I ate lunch at a place with a   small replica school bus out front appropriately called the Taco Bus. After my tacos, I walked along the Riverwalk back to my car. The Riverwalk was nice but there weren't too many people around. That might have been because it was a weekday and the skies were getting pretty dark. In fact, I had to wait out a fairly heavy downpour for about 45 hours underneath a covered part of the Riverwalk.

After the rain had let up and I got back to my car, I headed across the bay to Clearwater to check out the beaches. I didn't have time to really enjoy the beach but I did get out of my car to walk on the white sand and stick my feet into the Gulf of Mexico. I then headed to downtown St. Petersburg to Tropicana Field for the night's baseball game. I have written about the stadium and the game in a previous blog post. After the game, I went across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to get to my hotel for the night. The Skyway Bridge is supposedly one of the symbols of the Tampa Bay area but it was a little dark for me to stop and admire the bridge.

Ballpark: Tropicana Field

After roughly 13 hours after I left my apartment in Ann Arbor, I was at Tropicana Field to watch the Friday night game between the Rays and the Giants. I found a lot to park in for $5 and ended up buying a ticket from a scalper. The ticket was about twice as expensive as I originally planned to spend but it was about 30 rows behind the visitor dugout and I got it for about half off the face value.

Tropicana Field, or "The Trop" is a domed stadium with an astroturf playing surface.  The infield is better than most domed stadiums, such as Rogers Center and the old Metrodome, in that dirt makes up the entire skin of the infield, not just small patches around the bases, mount, and plate. The bullpens are in foul territory down the foul lines and the outfield dimensions are pretty non-descript. The only item of note is that there are four catwalks around the circumference of the dome. Occasionally a ball hits off one of there catwalks.

The atmosphere at Tropicana Field is different than pretty much every other ballpark I have visited. The following items are things "The Trop" has in common with a carnival:

• vibrant colors; the concourse of "The Trop" was bright blue, yellow, and lime green.
• marque lights; flashing marque lights showcased a few restaurants, some merchandise stands, and ...
• arcade games; there is an arcade in Tropicana Field and I saw a kid holding a large stuffed Mickey Mouse that looked like something you could win at a carnival.
• a wide variety of food; this was a good asset of the ballpark. I had a cuban sandwich but I saw people with hotdogs, popcorn, ice cream, beer, wine, Papa John's Pizza, barbeque, and a bloomin' onion.
• a petting zoo; this is actually pretty cool: here is a sting ray touch tank just beyond the centerfield wall. Using two fingers, you were allowed to stroke the rays along there wings. 
• ringing noises; the rays fans would shake their cowbells for key pitches in the game such as 3-2 pitches with two outs and runners on base.
• big furry mascots; the rays have two mascots that a big, furry, and don't really resemble anything other than Mr. McGibblets from the sitcom, The League.
• a DJ; Friday night is the Centerfield Shuffle with DJ Fresh Night. Throughout the game they would show DJ Fresh on the (typical MLB) scoreboard surrounded by the Rays dance team. Sometimes they would show a cat dressed up in a Rays jersey and backward hat playing on a toy spin table. After the game, fans were invited to enter the field and exit through the centerfield gate. It was neat to be on an MLB field.
• people stuck in the 90s; in addition to several people with lots of tattoos and piercings and guys who had inflated biceps, there were two 90s-style music video type clips on the big screen. Most of the music videos at some point either featured DJ Fresh's cat or Dick Vitale's voice. This best comparison to the music videos I can think of are the spoof science videos from the end of Bill Nye The Science Guy.

The one historic baseball feature of Tropicana Field was the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame. Even though the Rays are a newer team, their AL championship team and David Price's Cy Young Award highlighted the Rays specific exhibits. There were additional exhibits for game's best pitchers, best hitters, best Jewish players, and a whole room of memorabilia from Ted Williams. This was like a mini-Cooperstown.

Rays starter Chris Archer was in complete control through 6.2 innings surrendering only two hits to Brandon Belt (one a solo homer). This game had the makings of a pitchers duel as the score was 1-1 with Archer and Giants starter Madison Baumgarner routinely making hitters look foolish. Then the Giants strung together 5 straight hits including a triple by Belt and a homer run by Brandon Crawford to give the Giants a 4-1 lead. The Rays made a little noise in the bottom of the ninth with a Jose Lobaton triple but ultimately fell 4-1.

My take-away from Tropicana Field was that it is a baseball themed carnival with an MLB game in the middle. Some of the aspects of "The Trop" such as the sting ray touch tank and the cowbells are cool ideas and alone would make the ballpark stand out among others in baseball. However there are so many different gimmicks, it is a little overbearing and distracts from the play on the field.