Baseball Stadiums I Have Visited, Part 8

Here's the last (at least for now) installment of my ongoing series on major league ballparks I have visited. With any luck, I 'll get a chance to add to the list as time goes on (realistic prospects for this summer include the Rogers Center in Toronto and the new park in Detroit, possibly one of the two new New York stadia). I'll have to start a new baseball series here soon-- maybe commenting on some favorite players of the past, but in the meantime...

16. Jacobs Field (Cleveland Indians)

It's funny that it took me such a long time to see a ballgame in Cleveland since, aside from Toronto, it is the closest major league city to where I grew up and lived most of my life (and even visit regularly now that I live on the other side of the country). But it was just three years ago that I finally got around to visiting, along with my friend Jeff, who you'll recall from earlier posts under this heading. We drove the three hours from Buffalo for a night game, and amazingly found a convenient place to park near the stadium, even despite arriving during rush hoour in the city. The stadium is another of those relatively new throwback parks, that values idiosyncrasy over conformity. Especially interesting was the leveled dining area overlooking left field (you can see the staggered glass design in the middle left edge of the above photo). The game itself was against Jeff's team, the Tigers, and featured what should have been a great pitching match between C.C. Sabathia for the home team and Jeremy Bonderman for the visitors. Bonderman lived up to the billing, but Sabathia broke down around the fifth inning and gave up four or five runs which, given the Indians somewhat woeful attack that day, was more than sufficient for a Tigers victory. What I recall most from the experience was the emotions displayed by the Indians faithful, lamenting yet another collapse by their team. One guy sitting near us seemed to think Sabathia was over the hill (at 26!), and clearly everyone was feeling betrayed by a team in which they had invested considerable hopes. Despite the bad feelings that night, by the end of July, the team turned things around and made a spirited run for the pennant, but not quite having enough to catch the White Sox in their somewhat miraculous season. It was a fun time at the game though, good food, easy access-- all those sorts of peripherals were positive. I'm looking forward to future visits (although I guess the place is no longer called Jacobs Field).

17. PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates)

The last major league park I visited was one of the most stunning, given the view it provides of the Allegheny River and Pittsburgh's downtown skyline. It's really a shame that, since the new stadium was built, the Pirates have never fielded a particularly good team. I mean, scenery will only fill the seats for so long. Once again I was accompanied by Jeff to a game, and we arrived along with some rain, which delayed the game's start by a couple of hours. We sat under the awning on teh first base side, along with a few other hardy souls, and watched a video of the 4th of July country music concert by Big and Rich that had been held at the stadium a couple days earlier. The gigantic screen was incredible, and once the concert footage ended we were treated to a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon, followed by some archival footage of the 1971 World Series (back in the glory days of Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, and the pre-fall Steve Blass). I doubt I've ever enjoyed a rain delay more. The game itself, once it started, was pretty good too, pitting Tom Gorzelanny of the Pirates (a good young pitcher having a breakout season) against Ben Sheets of the Brewers. The Pirates played well that day and came away with a victory. The rain delay put us behind schedule for the drive back, and we came to realize just how necessary a cell phone is these days when we found it virtually impossible to find a pay phone (or at least one that had comprehensible instructions for accessing long distance). Overall though, another fond memory of going to a ballgame.

That's all of them. I came close to seeing a pre-season game in Dodger Stadium a couple years ago, and may have another (somewhat long-shot) opportunity this year. I've driven by Coors Field in Denver a couple of times (but never when I might catch a game), Busch Stadium in St. Louis a couple times (intending to see a game, and now I can't remember why I didn't) and Rangers Stadium in Arlington (in November, so no chance to see a game there either). I think that among the places I have not been, I'm most interested in seeing Turner Stadium in Atlanta (since that's my team!) and the new stadium in San Francisco butting up against the waterfront. I don't know if I'll eventually make it to all of them, but it's nice to consider the prospect that I might.