Baseball trip, pt.1 - The Stadiums (Stadia)
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| Rogers Centre, Toronto - Photo by Zac B. (our cruise director) |
Over the years I have visited quite a few baseball stadiums and a couple of years ago I made it a goal to visit them all. I am now three stadiums closer to making that goal. I signed up for a tour with Diamond Baseball Tours and let them do all the planning - if you're a frequent reader, then you know that's not how I usually do things, but it's good to try new things.
We met in Detroit and then headed for Canada and the Toronto Blue Jays. It just so happened that we were there on Canada Day and a jersey giveaway, so to say it was crowded is an understatement. It felt like forever until I got in. I bought a program to keep score and found some lunch. I always want to love ballpark food, I mean if you pay $15 for a chicken sandwich, it should be the best chicken sandwich, right? Meh. Actually, most of the ballpark food was meh. I have to say Rogers Centre was not my favorite stadium, structurally speaking. It's got a spiffy retractable dome, but it's so much concrete.
After Toronto we headed to Niagara Falls for a day (there will be a separate post on that), then to my hometown, Cleveland, for the Cleveland Guardians versus the New York Yankees. I had been to Progressive Field when it first opened, but that was a long time ago. I had plenty of time to walk across the Hope Memorial Bridge, home of the Guardians, and then around the stadium.
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New mural of Satchel Paige, Larry Doby and Frank Robinson
Lou Boudreau
After a second night in Cleveland, we headed south to Cincinnati. It was raining part of the way, and of course, my brain went immediately to 'oh my gosh, what if it's a rain out?' I didn't need to worry. The rain subsided and we had a beautiful night in Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Reds have been playing professional baseball since 1881, making them one of the oldest teams in Major League Baseball, and they have a great Hall of Fame that lays out their history. There is a separate admission fee ($12 if I remember correctly), but well worth it.
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Photo by Zac B.
An Ohio favorite, Bob's Big Boy
It was the 4th of July, so we were also treated to 30-45 minutes of fireworks. By this time, I had practically given up on trying to keep score because it was almost impossible to find a program/scorecard. It's a lost art, but it's getting lost because ballparks don't have easily available scorecards.
We headed east to Pittsburgh to see the Pirates play. As a Clevelander, and having been victimized by the Steelers for decades, it was hard to say anything nice about Pittsburgh. I realize that's childish and had to admit Pittsburgh looked very nice (it was a bit of rush from the coach to the private tour of the stadium). It was pretty cool to get the behind-the-scenes info on the layout of the stadium, little 'Easter eggs' if you will. The stadium is very well laid out and provides a beautiful view of the city.
Our little group
After a night in Pittsburgh, we made the way back to Detroit. I think that was the longest leg of the trip (still a shorter drive than Minnesota to Cleveland, but at the time, it did seem long to me) and then the last game of the trip at Comerica Park. It was an afternoon game in the middle of the week, and the Tigers are not doing very well, so it was pretty empty in the stadium.
If you didn't know the Detroit baseball team was the Tigers before you arrived at the stadium, you will know for certain within seconds of seeing it. Tigers abound!
And thus concluded our whirlwind tour of the Great Lakes region (and Cincinnati). I have to say, I did enjoy myself. I met some nice people and got to some ballparks I'd been trying to get to for years and just never did. I'm thinking about doing another tour next year to knock another five or six parks off the old list. If you're a baseball fan, I suggest checking out Diamond Baseball Tours (link above).
Stay tuned for some pics and information on Niagara Falls.
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