A Brief Introduction

I don’t remember my first live baseball game.  I believe I was roughly three years old when I attended a San Diego Padres game with my father and grandfather at then Jack Murphy Stadium (now called Qualcomm – the Chargers still play there, the Padres moved into a new stadium in 2004).  My only proof of having attended that game is captured in a picture buried somewhere in my parents’ house and features yours truly sporting a nifty tan and gold Padres’ baseball cap (and probably a face full of cotton candy).  While I’m sure I was like most young children at a baseball game (read:  ready to leave by the 5^th inning) it’s undeniable that my father and grandfather did a wonderful job starting me early on what has, for 33 years running, been my life’s greatest hobby (and I’m not sure if “hobby” is the right word…  “obsession” perhaps?)

I love baseball.  Love it.  Love everything about it.  Historian Bruce Catton once wrote, “Say this much for big league baseball — it is beyond question the greatest conversation piece ever invented in America.”  While I’m sure this isn’t true for most people, it’s certainly true for me.  I can talk about baseball with anyone, anywhere at any time.  I can watch pretty much any baseball game that is on TV.  I know more about the sports’ history than any other subject, and it isn’t particularly close.  I love the preseason, the regular season, the post season and the offseason.  I love MLB Network and MLB Network radio.  I love the memories of playing catch with my father.  I love baseball movies, baseball books, baseball documentaries (although I don’t like Ken Burns’ “Baseball” as much as most people do).  Yea, I have an obsession and it’s probably not healthy – but what obsession is?

Most of all, I love attending live games.  There is nothing as aesthetically pleasing as going to a baseball game.  It’s pretty hackneyed at this point to talk about the “smell of the grass” or the “taste of the ice cold beer” or the “sound of the bat cracking” but these clichés all ring true to me.  After all, most clichés come about due to some sort of truth, right?  All this is to say, that it made perfect sense for me to make it a goal in life to attend a baseball game in every current active major league baseball stadium (and yes, this means that when the Braves’ new park opens in 2017, I will have to schlep on down to Atlanta, go to the Coca-Cola Museum and attend a game there). 

The goal started off as a bit of a joke, an impractical dream that made perfect sense in my head, but wasn’t grounded in a sliver of reality.  My original idea, as a 16-year-old with a fresh driver’s license was to save up enough money in one summer to take the next summer off and drive around the country and see every park in three months.  You can probably list 20 or so reasons why this idea never really gained steam but let’s just say that earning $5.75 an hour as a bag boy at Safeway is not the best way to finance a three month vacation.  My next bright idea was to write a letter to the editor of Sports Illustrated and ask him to pay for me to drive around the country and document my trip (one of my favorite films is “Almost Famous” and maybe you can see why).  This suggestion was rejected with extreme prejudice and I was, unfortunately, left with option three – to gradually complete my goal over several summers, seeing a park or two (or sometimes more) on each trip until completion.  Fortunately, I have several friends who share a similar love for the game and finding a companion for most of the trips was not difficult. 

All-in-all, the quest took the better part of two decades but following an excursion to Seattle last July it was finally complete.  Which, of course, begs the question,  now what?  Originally I was going to simply rank the stadiums 1-30 and leave it at that, but, hey, this was quite the achievement and it deserves a little more reflection and a bit more written words for the sake of posterity.  So, I am using this humble little blog to slowly release my rankings, one at a time, with a brief write up on each.  A few things to consider here:

1       There is no definite rating system like you would see most places.  Different things matter differently at different places.  To use a category like “historical significance” and have it weighted equally when comparing, say, Wrigley Field to Marlins Park is insulting to the former and unfair to the latter.  Instead, I try to take everything into account on a case-by-case basis.  Yes, Fenway Park is significant in terms of history, yes, it’s cramped and probably dangerous but those things shouldn’t both matter equally, right?

2       We are starting at 30 and working our way to 1.  Self explanatory.

3      I tried not to take into account whether the team sucked or not when I saw a particular game.  This goes more towards atmosphere than anything, but it’s not right to penalize a park for being completely lifeless when the team on the field isn’t that good.  A perfect example of this is Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  This is a park that houses one of the all-time great baseball franchises in one of the all-time great baseball cities.  When I went it was in late September and the Cards were essentially eliminated from playoff contention.  As you can probably imagine, the place wasn’t sold out and it wasn’t particularly joyous in there.  Still, you will never convince me that Busch Stadium isn’t a place that is capable of producing a tremendous atmosphere when the team is good – I’ve seen enough on TV to know that’s the case.  So, I tended to leave fluctuating things like “atmosphere” and “fan interest” towards the bottom of the barrel when considering my evaluations.

4      I am going to do my best to be unbiased.  I may dislike 99% of the fans that are in Fenway Park, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a top 10 place to watch a baseball game (belated spoiler alert, sorry).

5      I tried to consider EVERYTHING that matters.  Not just the park itself, but stuff like sightlines, traffic, neighborhood, things to see/do in or around the park, food, costs, etc.  Everything goes here.

6       My memory is pretty good, but it’s not great.  Some of these parks I have not been to in quite some time, so, if I botch something, let me know.  Thanks.

7      Finally, any and all comments and feedback are welcome.  This is my opinion sure, but my opinion isn’t the only one that counts (at least that’s what people keep telling me) so please leave comments if you see fit.

Ok, I think that’s enough in the way of introduction.  Enjoy the entries and maybe I’ll see you at a game.