Baseball, baseball, & more baseball!!
Updated: 5/13/2019
This will be one of my favorite posts…BASEBALL!
We mention my love for baseball in our “About” page on our site. Our son Shea is named after the old New York Mets stadium, Shea Stadium (last game was played there in 2008). So obviously I’m a Mets fan, and obviously, Shea has no choice but to be one too!
My wedding ring has the stitches of a baseball on it too.
Attending any live sporting event is a huge plus, but a live baseball game is my heaven. When I get inside, I gravitate towards the field and NEED to see it right away!
Most stadiums are very kid-friendly. They all have some sort of a “fan-zone” where kids can meet mascots, hit a few whiffle balls and use their playground. I’d recommend bringing a small umbrella stroller so you can store it under your seat easily.
I’m a National League guy. I don’t like the Designated Hitter so all of this talk about bringing the DH to the NL aggravates me. I am also a fundamental guy. Doing the little things, like bunting a man over, keeping the ball in front of you in the field, running every ball out, etc.
Don’t worry Mets fans, Shea is being groomed to help us out, but you’ll have to wait till around 2034!
Our travel journey continuously allows us to add to our stadium ballpark visited list. I look forward to sharing this with my son as I’ve already shared with my wife (she’s been to 9 stadiums in the 7 ½ years that we’ve been together). Our 2019 goal is to visit every west coast ballpark, from San Diego to Seattle. Can’t wait!!!
Below is the list of stadiums we’ve each been to.
Henry’s List (in order by favorite to least favorite)
1. Wrigley Field – Chicago Cubs – Chicago, Illinois – Old School feel with their scoreboard and the ivy. Being able to pregame at 11:00 AM for a Tuesday afternoon game and then post game in Wrigleyville makes me wonder how this city gets anything accomplished when the Cubbies are in town! The bleacher seats are where it’s at.
2. Fenway Park – Boston Red Sox – Boston, Massachusetts – another old school stadium. Tiny seats with limited legroom. Tip: do the last stadium tour on game day. You’re able to get on the green monster and see all of the dents on that vintage scoreboard.
3. PNC Park – Pittsburgh Pirates – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- a smaller stadium, but great view of the city, river & all of their yellow bridges from any seat in the stadium.
4. Citifield – NY Mets – Flushing, New York –– I’m not being biased here, but this stadium’s unique outfield dimensions, multiple bars with different viewing vantage points and excellent tasting food options put this high on my list. Plus we have a family brick near the 1st base stadium entrance, AND the home plate from the old Shea stadium is viewable in the new stadiums parking lot. They need to build up the surrounding area. Get rid of all of those junkyards, and I’ll move the Metsies up.
5. Great American Ballpark – Cincinnati Reds – Cincinnati, Ohio – lots of pregaming to do outside of the stadium. Our, 6 rows behind the dugout, seats were a fraction of what it would cost in NY, so we had to get them.
6. Nationals Park – Washington Nationals – Washington D.C. – not a bad seat in the house. At night, you can see the Washington Monument lit up from one side of the stadium and The Capitol on another.
7. Oriole Park @ Camden Yards – Baltimore Orioles – Baltimore, MD – love the warehouse & the city in the background and the homerun markers in the outfield alley.
8. Coors Field – Colorado Rockies – Denver, Colorado – views of the mountains from the new roof bar. Click above to see more about this stadium trip.
9. Chase Field – Arizona D-Backs – Phoenix, Arizona – we were there in the summer, and the roof was closed thank goodness. We actually sat in the TGI Fridays restaurant in left field. Surprisingly good seats, but you’ll never get a home run ball up there.
10. Citizens Bank Park – Philadelphia Phillies – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – you can see the city in the far distance. Their fans are very angry usually…in EVERY sport. However, this was Mike Trouts 1st game here (he grew up nearby), and everyone behaved.
11. Suntrust Park – Atlanta Braves – Atlanta, Georgia – as a Met fan it was tough coming to this stadium. ALMOST, as bad as going to Yankee Stadium. As a baseball fan, it’s a must. This was a brand new stadium and I was expecting more. They have a big pregame area outside of the stadium but some other things like a barber where they advertise a haircut & shave. Huh? Yeah, that’s what I want to do at a baseball game. They had a decent kid-zone with rock climbing walls, a zip line, but the stadium wasn’t all that.
12. Busch Stadium – St. Louis Cardinals – St. Louis, Missouri – other than the St. Louis Arch as the backdrop, there wasn’t much more to this stadium. They do have a bunch of pregame places to hang out right outside of the stadium,
13. Yankee Stadium – New York Yankees – Bronx, New York – they’re not at the bottom of my list because I’m a Mets fan…I swear!! Yes, they have their Monument Park within the stadium. Yes, they have great history. However, the stadium looks very sterile and boring to me.
14. Guaranteed Rate Field – Chicago White Sox – Chicago, Illinois – this stadium has nothing unique. The field dimensions are all the same.
Keli: (in order by favorite to least favorite)
1. Chicago Cubs
2. NY Mets
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Colorado Rockies
6. St. Louis Cardinals
7. Cincinnati Reds
8. Atlanta Braves
9. Philadelphia Phillies
10. Chicago White Sox
Shea: (in no particular order)
• NY Mets
• Colorado Rockies
• Atlanta Braves
• Arizona Diamondbacks
• St. Louis Cardinals