Our trip gets some more nice press on Channel 15 (ABC)

It's been a while since we've posted anything, but I just got word from the people our local ABC affiliate that they finally ran the story they did on our trip last month.  Apparently, it aired on Sunday night's sports wrap up show, but they didn't tell us before it was on.  They posted the story on youtube, and here is a link:

ABC 15 Story on our baseball trip

I thought it was well done.  Unfortunately, they never mentioned who we were or what our blog address was.  Other than that, it was very cool.

A letter and video to Michael's children

July 19, 2011

To my Grandchildren,

Some day you will read this and hopefully I will still be alive to read it to you.  As I am writing this, you are several years away from being born and being old enough to hear about our trip.  I am writing this to you to let you know that when your dad turned 11 years old, we took the most amazing trip and got to spend seven weeks together traveling the country and into Canada to see a baseball game in all of the major league baseball parks.  

We had the time of our lives.  We had no cares or worries.  We saw the whole country.  We left Arizona on May 21st and drove to San Diego.  We went to Disneyland.  We drove up the Pacific Coast Highway and saw some of the most beautiful sights along the Pacific Ocean.  We stood on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco where other friends of mine joined us for a Giants game.  Your dad caught a ball at a Mariners game in Seattle with my college roommate.  We drove through the Rocky Mountains. I let him drive for the first time in our car around an empty parking lot at Coors Field in Denver. We learned about the Negro Leagues in Kansas City with my close friends. Grandma Helen and Aunt Andie joined us in Chicago for a week where we saw my home town and the neighborhood where I grew up.  We drove from Chicago to Milwaukee for a 7pm game, drove back to Chicago that night, and then got up the next morning to drive to Cincinnati on your dad's birthday so we could see a 12:30pm game later that morning.  Your dad met his uncle and family in Detroit and your dad and I sang "My Girl" in the original Motown studios.  We saw what became our favorite ballpark in Pittsburgh.  We went to Canada and saw Niagara Falls up close in a boat from 100 feet away.  We drove to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and learned more about the history of baseball.  We played catch at the hotel there.  We spent Fathers Day at Fenway Park in Boston where I taught him how to keep score.  We saw New York City where your grandma and aunt Andie joined us as we took the subway to Yankee Stadium, we spent a day in Central Park and then they came with us to Philadelphia where we ran up the Art Museum stairs just like Rocky did, and then on to Washington DC where we saw the President's children play on the White House lawn and your dad pitch in a major league ballpark bullpen.  We saw family and friends in Atlanta, we drove to Florida and met with your dad's friend Chris where they fed alligators after playing goofy golf.  We had a great time in New Orleans on the Fourth of July where your dad got to eat his favorite beignets, and we finished our trip in Texas 11,000 miles later where I threw your dad a touchdown pass on the field at Cowboys Stadium.  And we ended our seven week trip back in Phoenix where we got to see all those players we saw on the road play in the All-Star Game.  We bought a team hat and team ball from each park we visited as a souvenir so that we could have something to remember the trip by.  We wrote to our blog diary every night after seeing a game and we ranked the ballparks after each visit.  We took tons of pictures and videos so you could see them on whatever piece of technology that exists when you read this and see what your father looked like when he was 11 and what I looked like as a young man of 44.

We visited family and stayed with some of my friends along the way.  We watched Ken Burns' documentary on Baseball.  We watched the best baseball movies ever made: Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, Fever Pitch, and The Rookie.  You should have seen how much your dad laughed when he saw the Bad News Bears for the first time and how much he thought Tanner Boyle was so funny. I taught him about the history of baseball and how I thought that Jackie Robinson may have been as important to the civil rights movement as Martin Luther King was.  He learned about Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Ted Williams.  I introduced him to The Three Stooges and Who's on First?  I shared my philosophy on life to him on many subjects including girls.

We ate lots of fast food and put on a few pounds more than we wanted.  We stayed up late in hotels and got up early the next day.  We met some great people along the way who sat next to us at ballgames and told them of the story of our trip.  We got interviewed by some reporters, and the story of our trip made the Seattle Times and the front page of our hometown newspaper.

We did all of that and so much more.  Mostly, we smiled for seven straight weeks and we became as close as we ever had been before.  It was all because we both loved baseball and in going to the games, we talked, we laughed, and we compared players to each other and your dad asked what it was like going to games with my father when I was a kid.  And seeing the games and the ballparks on our trip allowed us to share memories that will never be forgotten and that we will always have between us.  I hope that you will pass on the game of baseball to your children and that it brings you closer to your sons or daughters as it did for me and your father and for me and my father as well.

Here is a video that I created especially for you so that when you watch it you can see how much fun we had and to know how much I love your father. 

With all my love,

Your Grandfather Lance

Thank You to Everyone Who Made Our Trip Possible!

Michael and I are so grateful and blessed that we had the chance to go on our baseball adventure.  We are grateful that so many people could join us along the way, offer up tickets to games, their homes for us to stay in, and of course, support at home.  In chronological order, we offer up tremendous and heartfelt thanks to the following people:

• Andy Rivera - my great brother-in-law and Michael's uncle who hooked us up with some spectacular seats at Petco Park in San Diego and to his co-worker, Jim Gunther for getting us great seats in Camden Yards in Baltimore;
• Craig Woodhouse and his wife Erika - thank you for meeting us for breakfast in San Diego on our way to L.A.
• Sanjit Das - my good friend and law school classmate who joined us in Anaheim to see the Angels game and gave us two passes to enjoy the rest of the day at Disneyland;
• Helen's Uncle Benny and Aunt Bertha for letting us stay overnight with you while we were in Los Angeles and for cooking for us while we were there;
• Randy Duran and Mike Thalblum for giving us spectacular tour of the Oakland Coliseum and making Michael's day by hooking him up with some great baseball memorabilia and to the tour guides at Dodger Stadium, Coors Field, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Nationals Park, Minute Maid Park, and the guy in the team shop at Progressive Field in Cleveland who let us in the park to take pictures - thank you for showing us a great time at your parks;
• My partner in crime and greatest of friends Roger Garcia and his daughters as well as my good friend from my undergrad days at ASU, Mike Cueto and his girlfriend for hanging out with us and joining us at AT&T Park in San Francisco for the Giants game;
• My other partner in crime, Nick Nicholes for offering up his home to us for the three days we were in Seattle, for the cool Mariners hat and Michael Pineda shirt that you got Michael that he was crazy about, and of course for joining us at Safeco Field for the Mariners game.  We think the world of you.
• Bud Withers of the Seattle Times for thinking enough of our trip to write a nice story in the paper about our adventure.  I enjoyed speaking with you and thanks again!
• My friend Brett Ingram, his wife Stacy, and his two daughters for meeting us for dinner and a great evening out while we were in Denver;
• My long-time and very close friends Dallas and Lisa Eubanks and their daughter Hannah for letting us stay with them in Kansas City.  You should know Dallas that you made a huge impression on Michael with your gift to him and joining us for the Royals game at Kauffman Stadium.  Lisa, thanks for helping with our laundry and for making us the chocolate chip cookies!  And Hannah, Michael had a great time with you - and don't forget - you need to become a Sun Devil!
• My great friends and neighbors in Chicago, Helen, Michelle, and Phyllis Dantzler.  It was great seeing you all again.  The food you made for us was great and know the memories of me growing up in my South-Side neighborhood will never go away;
• My best friend who is like a brother to me Pete Rodriguez and his son Pete, Jr. for joining our family in Chicago to see the White Sox.  It only seemed appropriate that you were there with us to see the only baseball team that matters in Chicago!  Add this to the thousand other crazy things we've done together.  Also, thanks to Pete's wife Nadine for calling her friend who runs the scoreboard at Comiskey Park in Chicago to get Michael's name up on the scoreboard.
• My former law partner Eric Wittenberg and his wife Susan.  Thanks for making the trek from Columbus to join us and sweating it out in Cincinnati for the Reds game and for dinner afterwards with Helen and Andie to celebrate Michael's birthday;
• My brother Ricky Venable and his wife Ernestine for letting us stay with them in Detroit for the three days we were there, for showing us around Detroit, and for being there with us at Comerica Park for the Tigers game.  It was great seeing you both again and it was really good to catch up with my brother after 20 years. Michael really enjoyed meeting his uncle for the first time;
• My cousins Reggie, Theresa, and Roger.  Thank you so much for driving down to meet us for lunch in Detroit.  Our visit was short, but we made up a lot of time and it was so great seeing you after all of these years;
• Doug Tammaro - the SID at ASU and fan of all things Pittsburgh.  Thanks for all of your support for the trip and passing the story on to others, including the ASU alums in Pittsburgh.  Remember, if the Pirates win the World Series this year, it's all because Michael and I visited PNC Park and picked it as our #1 park!  I look forward to seeing you soon.
• My great clients Mike Rhodes and Jeff Scher from Bodek & Rhodes.  Thank you guys so much for offering up your spectacular company seats to the Phillies game.  We truly appreciate the generosity and my son really liked Citizens Bank Park;
• My niece Kathleen Outlaw, her mother Pearl, grandmother Pearl, and Michael's cousin Turner.  Thank you all for giving us your home, driving us around, and making us feel at home in Atlanta. Michael had a great time, as always, with Turner, and it was great spending time with you Kathleen, as always.
• My great friend Matt McCarthy, his wife Karen, and their son Michael.  Thank you for having us over for dinner in Atlanta, and of course Matt for joining us at Turner Field for the Braves game.  Matt, it's always fun hanging out with you!;
• Steve Heinrichs and his son Tyler.  Steve, after all of these years of knowing you only through our fantasy football leagues, it was very cool to finally meet you and your son in person.  Thank you so much for getting those outstanding seats to the Braves game and shuttling us to the game.  We had a blast!;
• Ivan and Patsy Castillo for letting their son, one of Michael's best friend from school, Chris, fly to Tampa to join us for the rest of the trip.  Chris is a great young man and Michael was so happy to have him along for the long rides;
• Mark Crudup of the Wrangler News in Chandler, AZ.  Thank you so much for writing such a nice article on the trip and making it front page news!  Thanks for thinking enough of us to do what you did.
• To my partners and staff at work - Mike Campillo, David Logan, Joe Meaney, Carey Anthony, John Mascari, Peggy Privett, and Amiee Paprocki - thank you guys for holding the fort down and covering for me so that I could take the 7 weeks off to do the trip with Michael.  I'm very grateful having such great people to work with.
• To Michael's grandparents - Bill and Chonita Rivera.  Michael thanks you for his birthday present that you gave him that he used wisely on his trip;
• To my beautiful mother Yvonne - thank you for Michael's birthday present and for supporting us in all that we did on the trip including calling to check in on us.  I owe it all to you!  And to my dad Jack who watched over us the whole way on the trip from up above - I wished you could have been along for the ride with us;
• To anyone that supported us on Facebook or Twitter - especially my law school classmate Miche Rutledge and my friend Laura Garcia (who I know the two of you read and commented on every single blog post), and every person who we sat next to during our games or our tours who chatted with us about our trip and took our picture during the game, and to anyone who has read the blog - thank you so much for supporting us along the way.
• And finally, to the beautiful ladies in our lives, my daughter Andie and my wife Helen.  Thank you for allowing us to do this trip.  We know how hard it must have been to be without us for all of those weeks (well maybe not) having to do everything at home by yourselves and without any help.  You will have your turn one day soon to do something like this.  Without your support and encouragement, there's no way we could have ever done something like this.  We love you both so much.

Well there you have it.  If we've left anyone out, please let us know and we will be sure to add you.  

Lance and Michael

Another One of My Favorite Baseball Scenes of all Time

I think of all the movies ever made, this scene from City Slickers best explains why baseball can mean so much to a father and son.

The Remaining Videos from Our Trip

Here are all of the remaining videos from the cities we visited in the last part of our trip from Baltimore to Dallas and the All-Star Weekend / Game festivities.  Michael and I hope you like them.

Tomorrow, I have something special I will be posting that I hope you all check out.  It will be sort of my personal tribute to why I wanted to do this in the first place - to create the ultimate bond between me and my son by spending seven weeks with him, and to create and share special memories with him through baseball that we will remember for the rest of our lives and that he will be able to show his children and grandchildren.

Anyway, here are the links to our videos.

Baltimore, MD

Washington, DC

Atlanta

Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL

New Orleans, LA

Houston, TX

Dallas, TX

Phoenix, AZ (All Star Weekend and Game) - Our All-Star Game Weekend Video

Our Baseball Trip Gets Some Nice Press Again

The Wrangler News, our local Chandler, AZ paper, published a story on our baseball trip after my great wife spoke to the author several weeks ago. It's a really nice story and very well written with some nice pictures from the trip. It made the front page too, which was totally unexpected, yet cool!

Wrangler News Story

When we set out to do this, Michael and I had no idea that anyone would think that what we were doing deserved this much attention. Thanks to Mark Crudup and to Helen for making it possible.

Our Final Stop on the Trip - The All Star Game! Day 53 7/12/11

It's hard to believe that 53 days ago Michael and I set out on our epic baseball journey to see a game or tour in 28 baseball major league baseball stadiums around the country. On Tuesday, we finally finished that journey and boy was it a blast to be there in our home park, Chase Field, to see the All Star Game. Growing up a White Sox fan, I always cheered for the American League. The first game I ever remember seeing was in 1972 when the National League won its first of 10 years in a row until the American League finally got a win in 1983 at Comiskey Park in Chicago when Fred Lynn hit the only grand slam in the game's history to beat the NL. I remember how much I looked forward to seeing the game each year and wondering how I would have killed to be able to go an all star game.


Michael and I did just that on Tuesday and we had a blast! The NL won this year 5-1. We saw two home runs and the best part was seeing the hometown guys, Justin Upton and Miguel Montero come into the game. Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez hit big home runs, and one Michael's favorite players Jose Bautista made a tremendous sliding catch into the right field wall, and he got to see Brian Wilson and his beard come into the game to close it out. Here are our pictures from the game:

Michael and I getting off the train

Michael outside of the stadium before the game

Tons of people!

The view from our seats during the player introductions.

The first pitch!

Justin Upton gets into the game!

What's a game at Chase Field without a view of the pool?

Fear the Beard! Brian Wilson warming up in the pen in the 9th Inning

My traveling partner for the last 7.5 weeks!

Me and the main man.  What a truly memorable trip we had!

I promise to have the rest of the videos and the special features posted over the next week.  After coming back, it's been a whirlwind of getting caught up on work and other stuff.  More tomorrow!

The All-Star Futures Game, Celebrity Softball Game, and the Home Run Derby

The last two days, Michael and I spent the evenings at our home ballpark - Chase Field.  We got to enjoy the All-Star Futures game on Sunday afternoon.  That was pretty nice.  Basically, all of the best minor league players from the USA and players born outside the US faced off against each other in a game.  The cool thing is we got to see some of the players that will likely be playing in the major leagues within the next year or two.

The players being introduced

Bryce Harper was the #1 pick in the draft last year for the Nationals.  

Then, after that game was over, we got to check out the Celebrity Softball Game.  The teams consisted of retired major league players such as Ozzie Smith, Luis Gonzales, Mark Grace, Ricky Henderson, and Rollie Fingers and some current celebrities (some of who we had never seen before) but others we knew like locals Larry Fitzgerald, Jordan Sparks, Nick Jonas, Jenny Finch, and Erin Andrews.  

Michael

The mascots during the celebrity softball game

Rollie Fingers

Fred Lynn

Nick Jonas

Jordan Sparks

Mr. Cub - Ernie Banks

Yesterday, we went to the Home Run Derby.  That was very cool!  We got there early to see the players warm up and then we watched the Derby.  Robinson Cano of the Yankees beat Adrian Gonzales from the Red Sox in the finals.  But, man did they hit some huge shots!  Prince Fielder crushed one 457 feet off the scoreboard in right field and Cano just kept crushing bombs to right field.  Here are the photos:

Michael trying to get some autographs

Michael got a ball signed by Jenny Finch - nice!

The man who gave us our first World Series title - Luis Gonzales

We took the train into the ballpark

Michael outside of Chase Field

Michael and the Detroit Tigers mascot - Paws

Michael and I with Mark Grace

For some reason, Michael wore his St. Louis Cardinals hat from the trip
 and Randy Johnson  had to cover it up.

The Orioles mascot

The players warming up before the home run derby

Paul Konerko - Go Sox!

Michael checking out the Derby!

Big Papi - David Ortiz taking his swings at the Derby

Me and the main man.

Tonight, our trip officially comes to an end as we will be at the All Star Game itself.  As a kid, I always dreamed of going to an all star game.  I'm glad that not only will be able to do it, but that Michael will be with me and that it will be the last thing we do on our trip.  Our seats will probably cause a nosebleed or two, but they are in the park behind home plate in the upper deck which is all that matters.  We'll have a full post on the game tomorrow.

As I've mentioned, there are still a few things we will be posting on the blog over the next couple of weeks.  We've got about five more videos to post and I've got a couple of special things planned as well.  Keep checking us out and commenting.  We really appreciate it.

Summertime in Philadelphia - Our Video

Our Philadelphia video that's a little "Fresh and Jazzy."  Again, we hope you like it.  Next up - Baltimore/DC.

Philadelphia Video

The Premiere of our New York Video

We're a little behind, but the rest of the videos will all be posted over the next couple of days.  Here is our New York video.  We hope you like it!

New York Video

Our last day in Dallas (Day 48) 7/7/11

We may have finished up seeing the ballparks on the road, but after sleeping in late yesterday, we took a quick trip over to the new Cowboys Stadium and got a tour.  Yes, we know it was a baseball trip, but the boys wanted to go check it out and I'm glad we did.

We are definitely not Cowboys fans in our house.  But I have to admit, the stadium and the tour were pretty impressive.  The tourguide took us everywhere throughout the stadium.  I had seen the big screen TV above the field on TV, but until you actually see this thing in person - WOW!!  It is huge!!  We got to go to Jerry Jones' perch right below his personal suite, which was very cool.  But the best thing about the tour was that they let you go out on to the field and play as long as you want until the place closes.  That was very cool even for me.  But Michael and Chris thought it was one of the highlights of the trip.  Here are some of the pictures we took.  I'll have some video when we get around the Texas video.

This thing is gynormous

Michael dropping an easy pass from me!

In the Cowboys' locker room at Tony Romo's locker

The boys on the 50 yard line star

Saying goodbye to the mothership at the rental car facility at the Dallas airport.  It was like that scene in Apollo 13 when the astronauts watched their ship float away into space before they re-entered Earth.  It was a great car and we had a blast in it for all 11,000 miles!

Then we hopped on our plane and headed back to Phoenix.  It's good to be home (well sort of - it is 107 today).  But we are both looking forward to All-Star Weekend here in Phoenix.  I've never been to a MLB all star game and it should be a great time.  Sunday, we'll be at Chase Field for the MLB Futures game and the celebrity softball game, Monday night we'll be at the Home Run Derby - really looking forward to that, and then we officially close out our baseball trip and adventure with the MLB All Star Game at Chase Field on Tuesday night.  We'll check in with more on Sunday.

Our Final Stadium Rankings

Here are our final stadium rankings for the trip.  We highlighted the last two parks we visited.

Michael's Rankings:

1. PNC Park - Pittsburgh Pirates

2. Petco Park - San Diego Padres
3. AT&T Park - San Francisco Giants

4. Fenway Park - Boston Red Sox

5. Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia Phillies

6. Coors Field - Colorado Rockies
7. Citi Field - New York Mets
8. Minute Maid Park - Houston Astros

9. Miller Park - Milwaukee Brewers

10. Anaheim Stadium - Los Angeles Angels

11. Rogers Centre - Toronto Blue Jays

12. Nationals Park - Washington Nationals

13. Comerica Park - Detroit Tigers

14. Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati Reds

15. Turner Field - Atlanta Braves

16. U.S. Cellular Field - Chicago White Sox

17. Kauffman Stadium - Kansas City Royals

18. RANGERS BALLPARK - TEXAS RANGERS
19. Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs
20. Chase Field - Arizona Diamondbacks

21. Camden Yards - Baltimore Orioles

22. Safeco Field - Seattle Mariners
23. Yankee Stadium - New York Yankees

24. Busch Stadium - St. Louis Cardinals

25. Tropicana Field - Tampa Bay Rays

26. Progressive Field - Cleveland Indians

27. Dodger Stadium - L.A. Dodgers

28. Oakland Coliseum - Oakland A's

Lance's Rankings:

1. PNC Park

2. AT&T Park

3. Camden Yards
4. Petco Park

5. Safeco Field

6. Coors Field

7. Citi Field

8. Fenway Park

9. Minute Maid Park

10. Chase Field

11. Comerica Park

12. U.S. Cellular Field

13. Miller Park

14. Kauffman Stadium

15. Citizens Bank Park

16. Great American Ballpark

17. Busch Stadium

18. Yankee Stadium

19. Rangers Ballpark

20. Turner Field

21. Nationals Park
22. Anaheim Stadium

23. Progressive Field
24. Dodger Stadium

25. Wrigley Field

26. Rogers Centre

27. Oakland Coliseum

28. Tropicana Field

Home Sweet Home

It's good to be back.

Our review of Rangers Ballpark - Home of the Texas Rangers - Day 47 (7/6)

After 47 days of being on the road, nearly 11,000 miles of travel, and visits to 27 baseball stadiums, we have reached the last place on our trip around the country to see all of the major league ballparks.  By design, we did not make it to two of them - the parks for the Minnesota Twins and Florida Marlins.  Over the next couple of years we will get there.  But for now, here is the last review of the ballparks on our trip.  We will do a review of Chase Field next week after the All-Star Game in Phoenix, but this is the last one for the road trip.

We spent the morning taking it easy getting out of Houston. We hopped on I-45 on the 4.5 hour drive to Dallas and made it in about 3:30.  Rangers Ballpark was just a quick 10 minute ride from our hotel and we arrived early to try to get some batting practice.  When we arrived, we found out two things - when it's 105 degrees and 90% humidity the teams don't take batting practice, and that is an awful set of conditions to play baseball let alone watch it.  Michael's baseball team regularly plays in that kind of weather in late summer and early fall in Phoenix (absent the high humidity), but somehow when you pay for the tickets, it seems like there should be a big air conditioning unit keeping you cool.

Outside of Rangers Ballpark

Michael and I outside the park.  

Anyway, I had been here nearly 20 years ago a couple of months after the park opened in 1993.  It's still a very impressive park from the outside.  It's one of many parks that adopted the old-style brick structure.  Rangers Ballpark looks more like a big cathedral on the outside.  There are arches that surround the entire perimeter of the building.  I would say when it opened, it was probably a top five ballpark.  Today, however, there are a lot of newer and better designed structures.

The white facade in left/center field

Inside, it is a great place to see a game.  The park has two different themes in its outfield.  In left field and center field, the ballpark incorporates an old-time facade of white arches four stories high. In right field, the park has a old-time upper and lower deck with a roof that resembles something from a barn roof in the 1910s - but it works. We sat in the middle deck down first base and the seats gave us a perfect view of the park.  The park has spacious walkways behind the seats, which is definitely needed on hot days like today.  The major problem with the park is the scoreboard layout.  That roof I just mention has the big video board, but it is on top of it and way out in right field.  There is a smaller video board that shows player stats that is in the deepest and highest part of center field and it is barely visible.  They should try to fix that next time.  We didn't have a chance to eat there, but there were plenty of concession stands and relatively short lines.  The fans sitting around us were pretty nice too.  You've got to give it to the fans there.  There were just under 31,000 people there for the game on a brutally hot night.  Michael and Chris spent much of their time before the game in the kids section in center field playing various games and trying to forget about how hot it was at the park.  

Something out of the early 20th century

Chris playing games

Michael and Chris having fun

Michael trying to stay cool

The boys in center field

Michael and I in front of the Nolan Ryan statue in center field

The view from our seats

Michael and I from our seats

It's been a long trip but this is what it's all about for me.

As for the game, the Rangers destroyed the Orioles 13-5.  It was by far the most hits/home runs we had seen in a game and that was a nice way to close out the trip.  Overall, I would give the park a 7/10.  It still a good place to see a game.  But compared to all the other places, it's good, but not great.  Here's Michael and Chris's take:

Hi everyone, it's me Michael.  I thought Rangers Ballpark was nice, but not one of the best.  The best part was how they have a lot of cool games in center field to play and win prizes.  The club level was nice, but not as good as the one we saw at Camden Yards.  The field was just okay to me.  I thought the scoreboards could use come improvements, but I like how they put it up on the right field roof.  I just wish it wasn't so humid there!  On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it a 6.

It's Chris here.  The best part of the stadium for me was the $1 hot dogs and $1 Cokes!  Like Michael, I liked all the games in center field.  I did get into a fun discussion about football with this older girl who was sitting next to us at the game.  I think she was 19.  She was teasing me about who my favorite football team was.  I thought the stadium looked nice too.  Since this was my only game I went too (other than my tour of the park in Houston) I don't have much to compare it to, but it was nice.  Overall, I'd give it a 7/10.

Well there it is!  We did it!  We reviewed every stadium we went to.  On our final day in Dallas, we are going to try and catch a tour of Cowboys stadium and see the JFK stuff.  We'll post our final rankings later tonight.  But our blog is not over.  We'll keep updating it over the next couple of weeks with our experience at the All Star weekend in Phoenix and with updating all of our videos from the last couple of weeks of the trip. We fly out of Dallas later this afternoon and will be back sleeping in our own beds tonight!

More later.