Stadium Rankings

So far, we've seen five stadiums (and of course we've been to Chase Field a number of times).  So here are our rankings through 5 days in the trip.  We'll update this after each game/tour.

Michael's Rankings:

1. Petco Park
2. AT&T Park
3. Anaheim Stadium
4. Chase Field
5. Dodger Stadium
6. Oakland Coliseum

Lance's Rankings:

1. AT&T Park
2. Petco Park
3. Chase Field
4. Anaheim Stadium
5. Dodger Stadium
6. Oakland Coliseum

Bad News Bears

To pass the time on the trip, Michael has been watching some classic movies that he's old enough to check out now.  He's seen Ferris Buehler and Major League for the first time.  Today's movie was the Bad News Bears.  By far, it is his new favorite movie of all time.  Tanner Boyle is his new hero.  I forgot how funny that movie was.  That movie could never be made today - way too politically incorrect.  Buttermaker would have been arrested for child abuse today.  The kids were flipping each other off during the game.  Tanner Boyle was hilarious.  But if you played little league in the 70s as I did, that's how it was.  Michael was losing his breath he laughed so hard.  Anyway, tomorrow's movie is Field of Dreams - one of my favorites of all time.  Definitely one of the few movies where guys get choked up.  That final scene still gets me.

Here is the schedule again.

5/21 - San Diego (Seattle @ SD) Petco Park

5/22 - Los Angeles - tour Dodgers Stadium (morning)
5/22 - Los Angeles - (Atlanta @ L.A. Angels) - Anaheim Stadium
5/24 - Oakland - tour Oakland Colliseum (morning)
5/24 - San Francisco - (Florida @ SF) AT&T Park
5/27 - Seattle - (NY Yankees @ Seattle) Safeco Field
5/31 - Denver - tour Coors Field
6/2 - Kansas City - (Minnesota @ KC) Kauffman Stadium
6/3 - St. Louis - (Cubs @ St. Louis) - Busch Stadium
6/5 - Chicago - tour Wrigley Field
6/6 - Chicago - (Seattle @ White Sox) US Cellular Field
6/7 - Milwaukee - (NY Mets @ Milwaukee) Miller Park
6/8 - Cincinnati - (Cubs @ Cincinnati) - Great American Park
6/10 - Detroit (Seattle @ Detroit) - Comerica Park
6/11 - Cleveland - tour Progressive Field
6/12 - Pittsburgh - (NY Mets @ Pittsburgh) - PNC Park
6/14 - Toronto CA - (Baltimore @ Toronto) - Rodgers Centre
6/16 - Cooperstown NY - Tour Baseball Hall of Fame Museum
6/19 - Boston - (Milwaukee @ Boston) - Fenway Park
6/22 - New York - (Oakland @ NY Mets) - Citi Field
6/24 - New York - (Colorado @ NY Yankees) - Yankee Stadium
6/25 - Philadelphia - (Oakland @ Philadelphia) - Citizens Bank Park
6/26 - Baltimore - (Cincinnati @ Baltimore) - Camden Yards
6/27 - Washington DC - tour Nationals Park
7/1 - Atlanta - (Baltimore @ Atlanta) - Turner Field
7/3 - Tampa Bay - (St. Louis @ Tampa) - Tropicana Field
7/5 - Houston - tour Minute Maid Park
7/6 - Dallas - (Baltimore @ Texas) - Rangers Ballpark
7/13 - Phoenix - 2011 MLB All-Star Game at Chase Field

We made it to Eugene, OR

Great ride up to Eugene.  But it was cold, rainy, and even snowy all the way up to the Oregon border.  We finally got some sun about 150 miles south of Eugene.  Tomorrow we get up early and bolt up to Seattle.  The next game is Friday night at Safeco Field.  We're going to take a drive over to the Univ. of Oregon and see the campus and grab a bite.

It's snowing in Shasta CA

Nasty weather

It's cold and rainy and apparently will be that way until Monday on our trip. Thank God Seattle has a roof!

Trip - Day 5

On the way to Eugene, Oregon.

AT&T Park - San Francisco Giants

Golden Gate Bridge

Great view of the Bay from Right Field

Mike, Me, Michael and Roger

AT&T Park is unbelievable.  This is what we saw from our seats.

We just got back from our game at AT&T Park where the Marlins beat the Giants 5-1.  All we can say about the ballpark is WOW!!  I liked Petco Park, but this is baseball heaven here.  The park sits in the Embarcadero in San Francisco.  Right field backs up against the San Francisco Bay.  If you hit it out, it goes in the water.  It was a cold and blistery evening in SF, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

We attended the game with one of my best friends Roger and his two cute little daughters (they lasted 5 innings) and another good friend of mine Mike and his girlfriend Sarah.  We got their early so we could check out batting practice.  Michael almost got a ball tossed to him from one of the Marlins' players, but some little kid ran right in front of him and stole the ball from him.  Needless to say, Michael wasn't happy.  The stadium is absolutely beautiful.  Great sight lines, great food, and great atmosphere.  I think the thing I was most impressed with were the Giants fans.  The place sold out on a Tuesday night and the fans were loud, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about baseball.  Even though the Giants were losing 5-0 in the bottom of the 9th, about 2/3 of the fans stayed around to see the end of the game.  It was something the people in Phoenix should learn from.  Chase Field is dead even when things are going well.

Overall, I give that stadium a 9.5/10.  Michael still thinks Petco is better.  He gave Petco a 9/10 and AT&T 8/10.  Oakland was a 2 for me, but Michael says 4.  The Bay Area portion of the trip has been fantastic!

Tomorrow morning, we wake up early and head to Eugene, Oregon for a quick stop over before we drive to Seattle on Thursday for a game Friday night at Safeco Field.  The weather forecast looks really bad for the next several days.  It's supposed to rain and be in the mid 50s for the next 5 days of our trip.  Hopefully, we'll see some sun.  We've been spoiled with the weather so far.

More tomorrow.