Lance and Michael's Excellent Baseball Adventure: 05/28/11

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Latest Stadium Rankings through Seattle

Through six stadiums, here are our updated rankings. We'll update this after each game/tour.
In a major surprise, Michael slotted Safeco as #5 out of 7.

Michael's Rankings:

1. Petco Park - San Diego Padres
2. AT&T Park - San Francisco Giants
3. Anaheim Stadium - Los Angeles Angels
4. Chase Field - Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Safeco Field - Seattle Mariners
6. Dodger Stadium - L.A. Dodgers
7. Oakland Coliseum - Oakland A's

Lance's Rankings:

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

Boise, Idaho - Trip Day 8

We made it to Boise. It was a long day, but we saw some beautiful scenery. We drove back down to Portland and drove across the Columbia River Gorge. Lots of green, mountains, and waterfalls. We avoided the rain again, but it has been quite chilly (low 50s).

Tomorrow we head out for a 6-hour drive to Salt Lake City. Before we leave, Michael wants to check out the Boise St. football field (the all blue one). After Salt Lake City, we make it in to Denver on Monday before we tour Coors Field on Tuesday.

Safeco Field - Seattle Mariners - Day 7

Michael and I had a relaxing morning and then an afternoon of seeing Seattle's main tourist attractions - the Pikes Place Market and the Space Needle. The weather was chilly although we dodged the rain for the day. After seeing the sights, we drove over to Safeco Field and grabbed a spot in the right field bleachers to see if Michael could make up for that annoying kid who snagged his baseball at AT&T Park on Tuesday during batting practice. And low and behold he got one (see below)!! The kid snagged a home run ball in the first row! He said we can go home now. I say there's more balls to be gotten!

Anyway, Safeco Field is a beautiful park. When we first came in, the roof was closed. About 6:30, the sun came out and they opened that bad boy up to let the sunshine in. Here was the view from our seats:

The view of downtown Seattle is great. The people around us were friendly and in a good mood since the team was playing the Yankees. The Mariners came from behind to win the game 4-3. It was great seeing the game with my old college roommate and best friend Nick. He's a Seattle native and a diehard Mariners fan. I had been to Safeco twice before so I knew what to expect. Michael seems to have been spoiled by Petco and AT&T so he wasn't as thrilled about the stadium as if he had seen it first. But he liked it nonetheless and we had a great time at the game.

Also, we got a call from a reporter at the Seattle Times who was tipped off about our trip from someone who had seen this blog back in Phoenix. Apparently, he was going to write a short story and put it in Saturday's Seattle Times. There is an online version of the paper so if someone sees an article on it before I do, send me the link or post it in a comment.

Our next destination is a tour of Coors Field in Denver on Tuesday - home of the Colorado Rockies. We make stops in Boise, ID and Salt Lake City, UT. We take off bright and early tomorrow morning to Boise, Idaho. It's a very long ride but it is very scenic. We'll be traveling along I-84 through the Columbia River gorge (the same route Lewis and Clark took to reach the Pacific Ocean). We'll post some updates tomorrow. Until then, it's bedtime!