My 7th Inning Stretch – Stadium Reviews

THE ‘JOURNEY’

I’ve loved baseball for as long as I can remember, but my first real vivid memories of it are of the 1969 Miracle Mets. The first game I ever attended was in August of ’69 at Shea Stadium. Mets rookie pitching star Gary Gentry vs Milt Pappas. The Mets beat the Braves 6-5 on a Jerry Grote walkoff HR in the 11th inning.

The euphoria and excitement of their playoff run that year and their improbable victory in the World Series over Baltimore had the whole NY metro area caught up in Mets fever and made a lifetime fan of the game out of yours’ truly.

I spent so much of my youth doing anything related to baseball – little league, stick ball, off-the-wall, running bases, collecting cards, playing Strat-O-Matic  – you name it.

Every year I get a rush of excitement when Opening Day nears, or the trade deadline, or the post-season or the Winter Meetings.

I love baseball because of the feelings of stability, comfort and normalcy that it evokes. The sport is ingrained in the fabric of America and is such a huge part of its history and lore. Baseball’s iconic presence has been a part of America’s stories, songs and movies for generations. Since the major leagues were formed and baseball became our national past-time close to 120 year ago, the nation, in fact the world has become a starkly different place.

Over the years, traditions, trends, culture, attitude and values have changed significantly. Innovation and technology have affected virtually every aspect of our lives, but baseball has remained constant. The same 16 teams that made up the major leagues back in 1901 still play today (along with an additional 14 that have joined since). The game’s rules, the parks dimensions, the players uniforms and all of the customs and idiosyncrasies of the game are essentially the same as they’ve ever been. The same can be said about the team rivalries and the fan’s enthusiasm and loyalty.

Baseball also bridges cultural and social gaps. Two people with distinctly different backgrounds, beliefs, affiliations and status, who have absolutely nothing in common, can find common ground and harmony on their love for baseball.

For reasons that are debated, baseball has seen a dip in popularity over the last 30-40 years and has been supplanted by NFL football as the nation’s favorite sport. But starting in the early ‘90s, there was a renaissance of major league ballparks as they moved out of the ugly concrete structures that were shared residences of football teams and into new ‘retro-designed’ baseball-only ballparks situated in their cities’ downtown area. This started with Camden Yards in Baltimore with just about all others following suit in the years after. This brought fans back out to the parks and stoked the game’s popularity.

A live baseball game is my ‘happy place’. Especially at a day game, in early Summer when it’s a little breezy and just the right temperature. Maybe a mid-week game where the crowd is decent, but not too much. Baseball. Beer. Hot Dogs. Summer. Very nice.

Attending a game at every park has been on my list for some time. In 2015, I was determined to visit them all in one year. I’ve read where people have been crazy enough to see a game at all 30 parks in 30 days (or less). That kind of kills the point for me. It’s like trying to chug a $300 bottle of wine, it shouldn’t be rushed.  So, I mapped out my ‘journey’ to be 5 stadiums or less per each trip, spread out across the course of the season. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked with other priorities and had to finish the last 7 stadiums in 2016, but that just gave me something more to get excited about as the next spring drew near.

This journey also gave me a reason to visit some cities in the US that I otherwise would have no reason to visit. Places like Pittsburgh, Kansas City, St. Louis and Cleveland aren’t on vacationers ‘A-List’, but they and all the others I went to had so much more to offer a visitor other than baseball (ok, maybe not so much Detroit).

The trips were all so much fun and gave me so many nice memories. The adrenaline rush upon seeing a stadium for the first time, all of the great people I met along the way, all of the interesting experiences. When it ended, it actually got me a little depressed, so I decided to ‘keep the fun going’ and see a game at every NFL venue. This is a little harder to pull off and therefore is part of a ‘5 year plan’. As George Carlin pointed out, the differences between football and baseball are significant. Almost as significant are the different experiences between attending a baseball and football game!