Posts

The Rookie (a Bonus Blog from Chase Field)

(Note: This is a blog about our quest to see all 60 MLB and AAA parks, so I don't normally post about games in my home stadium, unless there's something really exceptional about the game, like the night with the bees . But this was an exceptional game) I always make a note in my scorebook when a player is making his major league debut or his first major league start. Usually, it's not that eventful, but there are exceptions. One was the time Tyler Gilbert of the Diamondbacks threw a no-hitter in his first start, the only time I've been in the stands for an MLB no-hitter. Another came when Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies hit two home runs against the Diamondbacks on Opening Day in his first MLB game. Tonight's game rivals those. Jose Fernandez started at third base for the Diamondbacks tonight. He's expected to be the backup infielder this season, and in the fifth game of the season, he got his first action when the manager gave the regular third baseman a g...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chase Field, Phoenix (Year Four of our Quest is About to Begin)

Image
  Kerry and I are beginning season 4 of our five-year quest to see all 30 of the MLB stadiums plus all 30 of the AAA stadiums. So far, we’re on track, having been to a total of 37 of the 60 stadiums (61.7%) after three of the five years (60%). At this point, we’re pretty sure we’re going to complete it, in large part because we are thoroughly enjoying it, the occasional rain delay, long drive, or (less frequently) completely uninteresting game aside. Also, we know we’ll find something fascinating, often in unexpected places. It may be the food (the Green Chile Philly at Albuquerque, Béisbowl in Miami), a beautiful stadium (too many to list, particularly in the majors), or catching up with old friends or making new ones (we’ve attended games with more than 20 different people so far, some of whom we hadn’t seen in 50 years). It may be a creative promo ( Bruce the Bat Dog  in Rochester), a truly bizarre story (the saga of the illicit pieces of a shredded stadium roof and th...
1 comment
Read more

Daikin Field, Houston (Going Bananas!)

Image
  And now for something completely different. The Savannah Bananas are definitely not MLB or top-level minor league. They’re also definitely fun. With goofy rules (“Banana rules”), dancing umpires, and wacky between-inning stunts, the Bananas are unique. The Bananas bill themselves as “The Greatest Show in Sports,” and I think they almost deserve the title. I say “almost” because I’m addicted to the competition of the game, and the quest to be the best, and the major leaguers are the best baseball players in the world. Our nephew Danny, whom we attend an Astros game with early 2024, knew that we were interested in the Bananas, so when he heard that they were going to be in Houston, he asked if we’d be interested if he could get tickets. We jumped at the chance. He won the ticket lottery for the chance to get tickets, so we went last night with him and his father (my brother). We’d been hearing about Banana Ball for a couple of years, and it sounded great, but we hadn’t w...
Post a Comment
Read more

American Family Field, Milwaukee (The highs and lows of the third season of trips)

Image
  Some of the best and worst of our 2025 travels: Best name for a ballpark food kiosk: B éi sbowl, in Miami. It’s a double play on words, since 1) they sell bowls (with quinoa or something like that as a base), and 2) the bowls have a distinct Latin flavor to them, and “baseball” translates as “b éi sbol” in Spanish. Best ballpark food (tie): B éi sbowl (the food is the other thing to like about the place, which is why we ate there both times we went to the stadium), and the Philly cheesesteaks in Philadelphia (we ate one or two in town, and the ballpark ones were just as good). Most disappointing ballpark food: Loonie Dogs in Toronto. On Tuesday nights, they sell “loonie dogs” for $1 Canadian (the Canadian dollar coin is known as a “loonie” because of the picture of the loon on it), and keep a count of the number they sell on the scoreboard. The night we were there, it was more than 60,000, roughly two per attendee. I love the promotion. However, the dogs themselves w...
1 comment
Read more