Official Road Trip Stop #19: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD

9/19/2009
Red Sox 11 @ Orioles 5

It seems like a good 75% of the stadiums that I have visited try to, at least in some way, capture a part of Camden Yards. Camden Yards is the original "new-retro" stadium, and opened in 1993. The park helped to revitalize the franchise and the surrounding neighborhood in Baltimore. Other teams and cities have taken notes on the benefits of building a new stadium, and by 2012, more than 20 teams will have built a new stadium since Camden Yards was built.

Many of these stadiums try to capture a part of it, and some of them do a pretty nice job, but I can now tell you that the original is the best.

The thing that I like most about Camden Yards is that it remains understated and simple. It has a lot of really neat features about it, like the B&O Warehouse hovering above right field, and the view of Downtown Baltimore's skyline, but the baseball game remains the sole focus and attraction, unlike several places that I have seen.

The Orioles are a pretty sad-sack franchise these days, but they do have great tradition, and several great players have worn the orange and black. There is some pretty good talent emerging from the Orioles' minor league system, but when you're in a division with the Yankees and Red Sox, its kind of hard to compete. This was greatly emphasized by the amount of Red Sox fans that made the trek to Baltimore for this game. The stadium had to be 75% full of Sox fans, to the point where the Orioles merchandise stands were actually selling Red Sox caps and t-shirts. Talk about low.

The food at Camden Yards is fantastic. There are a ton of great grilled options on the Eutaw Street concourse in front of the warehouse. This is where most of the fans enter the park, and the great smells from here waft throughout the stadium during the game.

There is a simple scoreboard with an modest HD screen. It mostly provides stats and scores, and not much else. And really, who needs more?

What sets Camden Yards apart is the simplicity. It uses its elements well, and doesn't try to do too much or try to be something that it isn't. There are a lot of places that simply try too hard and almost lose focus on the fact that you paid $20 to see a baseball game.

You can see all the Camden Yards photos here, and a special thanks to TJ, who was kind enough to let me tag along with free tickets that he was able to get from work!

It's up to you...

I love New York City. I feel very comfortable there, and feel like I can fit in very well, and figure out my way around after just two visits.

I took the train from New Haven, CT for the Mets game, and walked from Grand Central Station to Times Square to catch the 7 train before the game. I had been through Times Square before, but it is still a pretty cool place to see.

There’s a really cool feeling when you walk off a train and into the lobby at Grand Central. You feel like you’ve made it, and that you’re a part of New York.

I can’t recommend that everyone take a trip like I’m doing. That requires borderline insanity. But what I do recommend for everyone, is to spend any amount of time in New York City that you possibly can. Even if just for a 10 minute walk from Grand Central Station to Times Square.

There are just so many things going on, and so many people living lives, and people and food and experiences from all over the World converging here. It’s the unofficial center of the Universe, and walking through it can put a lot of things into perspective. How significant are your problems to the billions of other problems that are within the city limits?

It’s the same feeling I get when I sit near a window on an airplane. Your eyes are opened to how many people there actually are in the World, and to realize that so many of them are so much more unfortunate than you are really helps to put things in proper perspective and put a new degree of thankfulness in your life.

Official Road Trip Stop #18: Citi Field, Queens, NY

9/18/2009

Nationals 6 @ Mets 5

 Citi Field in Queens is the brand new home of the New York Mets. Like Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, it opened this year and is beautiful. It replaced the aging Shea Stadium to much fanfare, though by most accounts, anything would have been better than continuing to watch games at Shea.

I got there by taking the 7 train from Times Square – a true New York experience. This is probably the best way to get there, as New York drivers are quite aggressive and parking is expensive. All of the maps on the Subway still refer to the stop as “Shea Stadium” and the station itself is now called “Mets Baseball,” as the City decided against the expense of re-doing all of the signage.

As soon as you get off the train, you are greeted with the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, which is the signature element of the stadium. Inside, there are pictures and quotes of the American hero, as he broke the color barrier in nearby Brooklyn. This area of the stadium tries to pay homage to Ebbets Field and the Brooklyn Dodgers, and does a nice job acknowledging New York’s baseball past. This would all be awesome if the Dodgers played at Citi Field, but they don’t. The Mets do, and it isn’t their history, it’s the history of a team that plays 3000 miles away.

The Mets history is adequately represented, but not as prominently as the Brooklyn Dodger history in the rotunda. The markers of Shea Stadium are in the parking lot, so you can stand where home plate and the pitching rubber was. The old home run apple from Shea Stadium is on display in a concourse, and the skyline from the old scoreboard hangs above a concession stand in Center Field.

However, nothing about the stadium really screams “the Mets play here.” What I absolutely loved about the new parks in Detroit and the Bronx, was that there was absolutely no doubt that you were about to see a Tiger or Yankee game. Here, you’re not quite sure if you’re going to see the 2009 Mets or the 1947 Dodgers. Which might actually be a good thing because the 2009 Mets, well, suck. The only real thing that you can point to is the giant home run apple in center field that rises whenever a Mets player hits a home run, but it seems that’s happening only about once every two weeks these days.

Citi Field DOES have all the great amenities of modern stadiums. There is about as big a selection of food as there is at Yankee Stadium, and a Shake Shack in Center Field. I had a Shake Shack burger, because they are all the rage. Usually there are lines that last innings to get one, but since the Mets are now mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, there were minimal lines. The Shake Shack is sort of becoming New York’s answer to In n Out Burger. It’s an OK burger, but I wouldn’t wait the hour in line for it like some people have reported. I prefer the Double Double.

The field of play at Citi Field is massive, and the Mets offense has paid the price this year, hitting noticeably fewer home runs. Tonight, David Wright tattooed a ball to left-center field, but because the distance out there was 384 feet, it fell just short of the wall for an out. It would have been a home run in any other ballpark.

Citi Field is a beautiful, beautiful new ballpark, but kind of lacks a soul at the moment. Something about the place just didn’t feel very comfortable to me, maybe because of the fact that the naming rights for the place is being funded by the American taxpayer. It may just need time, and a few good Mets teams (that might take a while), but it just doesn’t feel like the “Home of the Mets” to me. I liked it, but it could use a few tweaks.

All my photos from Citi Field are here, but please forgive the quality. The battery on my camera died, and I was forced to use the iPhone for pictures.

The Turning Point

So I disappointed myself a bit the other day.

On the way to Boston, I had intended to take a circuitous route that would allow me to set foot in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine before seeing the game at Fenway Park.

However, the fatigue of all of my driving finally set in, and I decided that it would be better to catch up on sleep instead of picking up a total of 11 electoral votes. So that’s 3 states that I will be missing from my record.

Fenway Park then turned out to be the turning point. It ends up being the furthest East that I will be going, so really now everything is just part of the long journey home. A major milestone indeed.

Official Road Trip Stop #17: Fenway Park, Boston, MA

9/17/2009
Angels 4 @ Red Sox 3

Like Wrigley Field in Chicago, there really isn't much that can be said about Fenway Park that hasn't been said already. It's just about time for Fall here in Boston, and tonight offered an almost definite Division Series preview between the Angels and Red Sox. This is the third time seeing the Angels for me on the trip, and coincidentally, the third time seeing Ervin Santana pitch. It was their first win for me, though, so my curse on them must be broken. Anyway, I'm taking the easy route with this one with a photo post. Enjoy!

 

You can see all the photos of Fenway Park here.

Official Road Trip Stop #16: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

9/16/2009
Blue Jays 4 @ Yankees 5 (10 innings)

So this is what one and a half billion dollars looks like.

The "House that Jeter built" (well, and George Steinbrenner and a few pissed off New York taxpayers) replaced the "House that Ruth built" this year, and it is, in a word, amazing.

I was fortunate enough to visit the original Yankee Stadium last year before it closed. It was special, historic, the cathedral. It was also kind of a dump. There is a lot to be said for history and charm, but sometimes you just need a fresh start, and the Yankees pulled theirs off very, very well.

Like in Detroit, there were very high expectations in replacing such a historic and beloved ballpark, and the Yankees were certainly able to meet those expectations. It is beautiful and squeaky clean, with homages everywhere to the deep, deep Yankee history and tradition. I dubbed it "Yankeeland," because that's almost exactly what it is.

The most amazing thing about new Yankee Stadium is that it feels so much like the old one. I struck up a conversation with a man next to me and he told me about how he was at Game 6 of the '77 World Series in which Reggie Jackson hit 3 home runs against the Dodgers. He kept having to correct himself when he would say "I saw it here, err, I mean, across the street." It picks up where the original left off, and doesn't skip a beat.

Unlike most new places, there isn't much to do in the Stadium but watch the game, which is a very, very nice change of pace. There is the Great Hall and the Yankee museum and Monument Park, all showcasing the rich history of the Yankees, and that's about it. I arrived too late to avoid any lines to see Monument Park or the Museum, but I am told they are great. Plus I saw Monument Park in the old stadium and was told not much has changed.

Like the city it represents, Yankee Stadium has the widest variety of food options that I've seen. Everything from Johnny Rocket's to Sushi to the Hard Rock Cafe that's in the right field corner. And there are pretzels the size of your head. It's all pretty expensive, but all looked pretty damn good for ballpark food.

The field dimensions are all the same as old Yankee Stadium, and the signature Yankee frieze rings the roof of the stadium. There is also a gorgeous massive HD video screen in Center Field.

For 1.5 Billion Dollars, the place had to be pretty amazing, and it is. It is definitely worth a trip to New York to see this new cathedral. It's not the original, but eventually, it too will have its memories and players, like Derek Jeter and his passing of Lou Gehrig as the all-time Yankee leader for hits. It's a great experience and great place to host the next generation of the Yankees.

Official Road Trip Stop #15: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, OH

9/15/2009
Astros 4 @ Reds 5

Well, this one went to the dogs. Literally.

In one of the oddest promotions that I have seen so far, the Cincinnati Reds hosted "Bark at the Park," in which about 500 special "dog tickets" were sold in two sections down the right field line. The only problem for the Reds is that there were almost as many dogs in the stadium as people. And people are important because, well, they spend money.

Nonetheless, the promotion was a lot of fun, and I got a free Reds dog dish for the pooches that I miss back home. There were special dog treats, photo opportunities, and a lookalike contest that made me think I should get my Minnie a little Dodger jersey and enter her as "Minnie Ramirez." Come on now, that's pretty damn clever.

The ballpark itself is really nice, and opened in 2003. I'm a sucker for waterfront settings, and this one is just that, on the Ohio river with a view into the bluegrass of Kentucky. Very, very pretty from the upper deck on a warm late summer night. It is partially on the site of old Riverfront Stadium and located next door to the US Bank Arena, which was hosting a Metallica concert this night (more on that later) and down the street from Paul Brown Stadium where the Bengals occasionally play football when they aren't beating their wives, burglarizing, or driving under the influence.

Cincinnati oozes with baseball history, as the Reds were the first professional baseball team. The Reds always play their season opener at home, as is tradition, and opening day is usually seen as an unofficial holiday in Cincinnati. The Reds, despite being owned by Marge Schott for a time, have always been seen as one of the sports' classiest and well-respected franchises. This is all showcased very, very well in the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum located just outside the ballpark. Outside of the museum is a rose garden marking, appropriately enough, where Pete Rose's 4192nd hit landed in Riverfront Stadium, breaking Ty Cobb's all-time hits mark. Rose may never get into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame, but he is beloved and celebrated here at the Reds Hall of Fame in Cincinnati, and it is well deserved.

Parking is kind of hard to find close to the park, but there are several garages and lots in downtown Cincinnati for a reasonable price, as long as you're willing to walk a bit.


Chili is the specialty in Cincinnati, and they'll put it on just about anything. The food at Great American was OK, but nothing special, and reasonably priced.
The stadium design itself is unique and modern. Its a nice change of pace from the brick and steel that is so common these days. There is a beautiful HD Screen on the scoreboard towering above left field, and a party deck shaped like a Riverboat in center field. There are also a pair of smokestacks that shoot fireworks when the Reds hit a home run or win. In the grandstand, there is a gap between third base and home, allowing fans in the outfield to see some of the downtown Cincinnati skyline. The park celebrates both Reds' baseball and the city of Cincinnati itself, which is a really cool combination to see.

However, it is just too bad that nobody was there to see it. The announced attendance for this game was just over 11, 000, but it was one of those nights when they were very obviously announcing the PAID attendance. The Reds used to be a perennial powerhouse, and in a city that loves Reds baseball as much as Cincinnati does, it is a shame to see such a classy franchise struggle to draw fans. I'm not sure if the problem is economic in Cincinnati, or if fans are just fed up with seeing a mediocre product on the field, but the Reds and their fans deserve better, especially after being accustomed to such great teams as The Big Red Machine and the Nasty Boys. You know that there's a problem when the dogs make more noise than the fans, and when you can CLEARLY HEAR THE METALLICA CONCERT IN THE BUILDING NEXT DOOR. Yes it is late September and the towel is just about thrown in, but it was a gorgeous night on the Ohio River, and baseball was being played. It's a beautiful stadium, but probably isn't worth a return visit until the team gets better and more people start showing up.