Chillin' in Central Park

Having a great day in NYC with the family.

Our video of our great time in Pittsburgh, PA

It's too bad we only got to spend one day in Pittsburgh.  You need at least 3 or 4 to see the town.  Here's our video.  Hope you like it.

Updated Stadium Rankings - through Fenway Park as of 6/19/11

After visiting Fenway Park in Boston, we have now seen 19 stadiums.  Here are our updated rankings, as of 6/19/11. Fenway scored nicely for both of us

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. Coors Field - Colorado Rockies

6. Miller Park - Milwaukee Brewers

7. Anaheim Stadium - Los Angeles Angels

8. Rogers Centre - Toronto Blue Jays

9. Comerica Park - Detroit Tigers

10. Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati Reds

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

12. Kauffman Stadium - Kansas City Royals
13. Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs
14. Chase Field - Arizona Diamondbacks

15. Safeco Field - Seattle Mariners

16. Busch Stadium - St. Louis Cardinals

17. Progressive Field - Cleveland Indians

18. Dodger Stadium - L.A. Dodgers

19. Oakland Coliseum - Oakland A's

Lance's Rankings:

1. PNC Park

2. AT&T Park
3. Petco Park

4. Safeco Field

5. Coors Field

6. FENWAY PARK

7. Chase Field

8. Comerica Park

9. U.S. Cellular Field

10. Miller Park

11. Kauffman Stadium

12. Great American Ballpark 

13. Busch Stadium
14. Anaheim Stadium

15. Progressive Field
16. Dodger Stadium

17. Wrigley Field

18. Rogers Centre

19. Oakland Coliseum

We made it to NYC

We are about to take a bite out of the Big Apple over the next four days.  Michael and I arrived safely and are looking forward to seeing mom and sis when they arrive later from Phoenix.

Start spreadin' the news!

This morning, we head out down I-95 to New York City!  We'll be there until Saturday morning and will see the Mets at the new Citi Field in Queens and then we'll see the Yankees on Friday night in the Bronx.  The whole family will be there so it should be fun.  Also, it's haircut day today.  Both Michael and I are starting to look like a couple of hippie drifters.  All we need is the Volkswagen van and a couple of scraggly beards and you'd think we're right out of the 60's.

Our review of Fenway Park - Home of the Boston Red Sox (6/19)

Fenway Park isn't a ballpark - it's a way of life.  This place gets very high marks from both Michael and I for a number of reasons.  I can't think of a better place along our road trip to spend Father's Day than at Fenway.

First, the weather couldn't have been better.  We showed up to the special Father's Day tour at 8:30 and there were over 300 people waiting.  Based on the number of people that responded to the tour guide's question where everyone was from, I'd say a little less than half of the people on the tour were from out of state.  There was even one Yankee fan who admitted to going on the tour which prompted the tour guide to say that he would speak slower for him.  Funny stuff.  Anyway, if there was a contest between the two most "beloved" parks (Fenway and Wrigley), my guess is Fenway wins hands down - and I'm not just saying that because I hate the Cubs.  We had about 20 people on the Wrigley tour two weeks earlier.  Red Sox Nation is big and enthusiastic.

Second, the ballpark was incredible.  It is the oldest ballpark in the majors.  It opened the same week the Titanic sunk back in 1912.  When you walk up to it from the outside, you think you're looking at a warehouse.  The main street just outside of the stadium - Yawkey Way proudly displays the championship banners and is the place there the pregame party begins very early.  Even for a Sunday morning, the entire street was full of Red Sox fans around 10:30 am.  They are loud, and they spend lots of money on food and beer.  The fan base is passionate to say the least, but then that's not news to most baseball fans.

20 minutes later, Yawkey Way was crawling with Chowder Heads

Third, when Michael and I walked into the stadium for the first time on the tour, we looked at each other and thought this was real cool.  The Green Monster is awesome!  The first place we went was out on the field and it didn't disappoint.  We got a photo with Wally the Monster (the mascot) and then we took our  pose behind the plate.  Real cool!  Then the tour moved to behind the plate where we got some history of the park.  But then came the trip to the top of the Green Monster.  Michael and I were both looking at each other with big smiles.  This was something that couldn't even be done until 8 years ago when they installed seats in the Monster.  The only drawback was that the tour was over after the Green Monster.  The Wrigley Tour was far better in that sense.  But we understand that you don't get to see the same things on game days (press box and clubhouses) as you do when the team is on the road.

The Monstah

It doesn't get better than this on Father's Day - on the Field in Fenway with my main man

The Green Monster seats

 

The view from the Green Monster

After we grabbed a bite to eat outside the park on Yawkey Way, we came back in to the stadium and hung out to see if Michael could get a few autographs.  He only got one, but it was a good one - Clay Buchholtz.  He's a young player for the Sox and he threw the last no-hitter for the team.  I got a chance to chat with a couple of Red Sox fans while Michael was waiting for his autograph.  Very cool guys who spoke with deep Boston accents.  We talked about our trip and they tried to talk me out of going to Yankee Stadium - all in fun of course.  But the fans overall were very cool people.

Michael getting his autograph from Clay Buchholtz

Then came the game.  Every seat had a fan in it and then some.  Our seats were great.  This was the one game I splurged a little and got us some nice seats right past third base.  We had a perfect view of everything and we were right near the Green Monster.  Right before the game, they celebrated the Boston Bruins win by having the whole team come in on Duck Tour Boats and they brought the Stanley Cup with them as they paraded it around the perimeter of the park.  When they put the Cup on the pitcher's mound, the fans went nuts.  Once the game started, in the bottom of the first inning - BAM - Kevin Youkilis hit a 3-run homer over the Green Monster!  To make it even better, two innings later, former ASU Sun Devil, Dustin Pedroia, took the Brewers' pitcher deep over the center field wall for a home run, and then we saw two more HRs - including another one over the Monster.  The Red Sox won big - 12-3.  We also got to see the Red Sox tradition of hearing all the fans sing Sweet Caroline in the 8th inning.  Here's Michael's take on the ballpark:

View from our seats

The World Champion Bruins with the Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup on the pitcher's mound

Dustin Pedroia representing the Sun Devils and Chandler, AZ

 Hey it's me Michael.  First, I LOVED the Green Monster.  I didn't expect it to be THAT big.  I knew it was supposed to be big, but it was really big.  It was also really cool to go out on the field.  The grass seemed greener here than in other places.  The fans were really nice to us when they found out we were on a trip.  The people in Boston really talk funny.  I've got the best dad in the world and I hope he liked his Father's Day.

Well, there you have it.  That's Fenway.  We're going to conclude the evening by watching the perfect Father's Day baseball movie - Field of Dreams.  I'll try not to get choked up at the end.  Anyway, tomorrow we take off for New York City where we will be until Saturday morning.  Helen and Andie will join us tomorrow night and will be with us until we leave Washington DC next week.  We see the Mets play the A's in Citi Field on Wednesday night, and then the whole family is taking the subway up to the Bronx on Friday to see the new Yankee Stadium where the Yanks will take on the Colorado Rockies.  We will also take in some NYC sites including the Statue of Liberty, and other assorted fun stuff.

The view from the Green Monstah

Awesome!

Celebrating Father's Day at Fenway!

It don't get much better!

All Hail to the Chowds! - Boston Day 2 - 6/18

I guess there's no better time to be in Boston than when they just happen to win the Stanley Cup.  All the Chowder Heads were in a great mood as everyone in the city was sporting some kind of Bruins gear for the big parade they had today.

Michael and I started the day by celebrating the Revolutionary War.  We made the short drive from our hotel over to Lexington and the Minuteman National Park - the site of where the Revolutionary War started and where Paul Revere made his great ride to warn the colonists that the British were ready to come into the hood and destroy all the arms that the colonists had been saving up in case something was about to jump off with the British soldiers.  Anyway, Michael had just learned about all this stuff in his Social Studies class this past semester so I thought he might enjoy it.  He did, but this was certainly more my cup of tea.

We saw guys dressed up in colonial garb and a musket firing demonstration (very cool).  We also hit the Old North Bridge where the first colonists fired on the British soldiers and caused them to retreat, which was when they knew were serious about telling the King to go stick it.  The park rangers really know their stuff by the way.

Knowing how long it takes Michael to get ready for school in the morning,
He would have been in the 60 Minuteman Militia

This guy was great.  He brought the story of the Revolution to life.

Michael defending the Old North Bridge in Concord

Two real British soldiers are buried there.  

Anyway, after that, we came back to the hotel and relaxed a while.  We wanted to go walk the Freedom Trail in downtown Boston, but that was impossible due to the Bruins Parade.  Instead, we waited until later so we could go take in some dinner downtown near the North End.  We did just that.  When we got there, we noticed that everyone was sporting their Bruins gear.  One thing of note, Michael wanted to know why Bostonians talk so funny.  I had no explanation.  I expect the accents to be very prevalent tomorrow at the Red Sox game.

Downtown Boston is great!

Even the dogs were into the Bruins' parade

Michael sporting his Red Sox ice cream cup hat

It was all about the Bruins in downtown Boston today.

Anyway, tomorrow is our big day.  We'll celebrate Father's Day in style with a tour of Fenway Pahhhk before the 1:30 game against the Brewers.  Michael wants Big Papi to sign his 2007 World Series ball he got signed by Dustin Pedroia that the guy from the A's tour gave him.  Hopefully, we'll make it happen.

We made it to Boston

We got into Boston about an hour ago after spending the afternoon in Springfield, MA to take in the Basketball Hall of Fame.  Yes, I know it's supposed to be a baseball trip, but Michael's a big hoops fan too (as am I) and the Hall was really cool.  The exhibits were very cool, but Michael loved playing on the basketball court best.  We played a best two out of three.  I crushed him in the first, he beat me in the second, and then won by one in the final game.  I'm getting old, but his jump shot is deadly.

 

One of my favorite old school commercials - do ya know, do ya know, do ya know?

MJ basically has his own wing in this place

Tomorrow, we might go to the Bruins parade for winning the Stanley Cup.  Other options are going to the Minuteman National Pahhhk (yes spelled correctly) to see some cool tours of the Revolutionary War locations in Lexington, and then a tour along the Freedom Trail, which includes a visit to Paul Revere's house.

Beantown here we come!

We're on the road heading for Boston. We'll make a stop in Springfield to check out the Basketball Hall of Fame. The weather is lousy but it should be a great day.

Great day in Cooperstown

Cooperstown is awesome and not just for because it has the Hall of Fame.

It is a small town nestled in upstate New York on the banks of Lake Otsego.  When you come into the town, it's like you're vaulted into a time machine back to 1935.  Nothing has changed from the looks of it.  Along the main street, every building and business has some connection to baseball whether it be a souvenir shop, a restaurant, or, as we found out, a laundromat.  And of course, the crown jewel is the Baseball Hall of Fame.

We spent the morning walking around Main Street taking in the sights and then headed over to the Hall of Fame and spent a good four hours in the place.  I have been here twice before, but as for Michael, he was thrilled to death to see all of the exhibits and memorabilia.

Beautiful Cooperstown

Michael in front of the Hall of Fame

A replica of the White Sox scoreboard from the 70's.  Takes me back!

I thought the baseball wanted no part of this guy?  Just for the record, he should be in.

Maybe he'll wear one of those uniforms one day.

The Babe!

Me and Kirby Puckett.  He was my little league coach in case you didn't know.

Michael below the Jackie Robinson plaque.

This was the best part of the Hall for Michael.  He saw the "Who's on First" video for the first time
and thought it was hilarious.  He watched it 3X.

 In the end, the Hall makes any baseball fan feel like a kid again and it reminds us why baseball is the greatest game ever.  And of course, what baseball does more than anything is create an unbreakable bond between a father and his son.

Tomorrow, we take off to Boston to celebrate what I hope will be a GREAT Father's Day weekend.  We get in tomorrow.  Boston should be in a real good mood with the Bruins winning the Stanley Cup and having their championship parade on Saturday.  We might check it out.  Tomorrow and Saturday we will take in some Boston sites including some Revolutionary War recreation in Lexington, the Freedom Walk in downtown, a trip to Paul Revere's house (so we can see where he warned the British like Sarah Palin said) and of course the weekend culminates with a special Father's Day tour of Fenway Park on Sunday morning and the Red Sox game Sunday afternoon.  Afterward, we get to run the bases!!  Can't wait!

Finally, if you haven't seen it in a while, you should check out Who's on First.

Our video of our day in Cleveland, OH - 6/11/11

Updated Stadium Rankings - through Rogers Centre (Toronto) as of 6/14

After visiting Rogers Centre in Toronto, we have now seen 18 stadiums.  Here are our updated rankings, as of 6/14/11. Michael and I had a big disagreement on this one.

Michael's Rankings:

1. PNC Park - Pittsburgh Pirates

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

4. Coors Field - Colorado Rockies

5. Miller Park - Milwaukee Brewers

6. Anaheim Stadium - Los Angeles Angels

7. ROGERS CENTRE - TORONTO BLUE JAYS

8. Comerica Park - Detroit Tigers

9. Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati Reds

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

11. Kauffman Stadium - Kansas City Royals
12. Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs
13. Chase Field - Arizona Diamondbacks

14. Safeco Field - Seattle Mariners

15. Busch Stadium - St. Louis Cardinals

16. Progressive Field - Cleveland Indians

17. Dodger Stadium - L.A. Dodgers

18. Oakland Coliseum - Oakland A's

Lance's Rankings:

1. PNC Park

2. AT&T Park
3. Petco Park

4. Safeco Field

5. Coors Field

6. Chase Field

7. Comerica Park

8. U.S. Cellular Field

9. Miller Park

10. Kauffman Stadium

11. Great American Ballpark 

12. Busch Stadium
13. Anaheim Stadium

14. Progressive Field
15. Dodger Stadium

16. Wrigley Field

17. ROGERS CENTRE

18. Oakland Coliseum

Can't forget the Motor City! Our video of our visit to Detroit

Our Detroit Video

Our Video of our brief time in Cincinnati

In keeping with the 70s TV themes, we hope you like this one as well.

Our Video of the Happy Days we had in Milwaukee

It's a little "cheesy" but thanks to the Fonz for making a guest appearance in our video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCnhhlthFqQ

The World Premiere of our Chicago Video!!

Our favorite one so far.  I hope all my Chicago friends like this one.  There is no better place to be than Chicago in the summertime.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEzzM1kpSHM

It's laundry time!

If it's time to do laundry, and you're in Cooperstown, you might as well do it at the only coin-op laundromat that just happens to share the parking lot with Doubleday Field - the birthplace of baseball. If any of you have seen A League of their Own, it's also the field where the ladies were playing ball at the end of the movie (it's right next to the Hall of Fame).

Cooperstown here we come!

We're heading back to the States this morning and are very much looking forward to our trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame tomorrow.  Canada was nice, but there's no place like the good ole USA.

Our Mixed Review of Rogers Center - (home of the Toronto Blue Jays) 6/14

Michael and I spent our day just relaxing in our hotel room so we really didn’t get a chance to venture out and do much in Toronto.  We drove around looking for a place to take in some lunch and in the process of riding around downtown, I came to the conclusion that Toronto is a huge, bustling city that reminds me a lot of Chicago.  Except the traffic in Toronto is far worse than anything I’ve ever seen in Chicago.  Both cities are built on one of the Great Lakes.  Both towns boast the tallest building/structure in the Western Hemisphere, and both towns are very ethnically diverse.  Toronto, however, has a distinct European feel to it (even though I’ve never been to Europe I’m just guessing that’s what it must be like).  The one thing that I never get used to is hearing the Canadians speak.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, pronounces  “about” and “out” like “a-boot” and “oot.”  Even at the game, the announcer would say “two oot.”  I just find it funny and I don’t know why.  Even Michael commented on it.

Anyway, we drove over to Rogers Centre about an hour before the game to check out the stadium.  I remember that this stadium (formerly named SkyDome) opened back in 1990.  It was the first ever retractable domed stadium at the time and it was the most modern of all stadiums.  That is no longer the case.  The stadium looks quite dated on the inside now.  There’s definitely no shortage of the color blue and since it was a beautiful 70-degree evening with not a cloud in the sky, the roof was wide open.  I remember back in the early 90s that the Blue Jays set attendance records every year.  Again, that’s no longer the case.  There were maybe 15,000 at the game with tons of empty seats.  The Hard Rock Café that had been the signature part of the center field stands years ago no longer exists, but the hotel in center field is still there.

The outside of the stadium is very impressive though.  The structure is monstrous.  And right next to the stadium is the CN Tower – the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere.  The one huge drawback to the stadium is that it is one of the two stadiums that still uses artificial turf.  I hate that stuff!  The scoreboard is huge and impressive in CF though. 

Our seats were in the first row of the top level of the stadium directly behind home plate.  We sat next to a long-time season ticket holder who chatted us up during the game about our trip.  And on the other side, a guy and his girlfriend from Ireland sat next to me who had never seen a baseball game before.  I spent a few minutes trying to explain the game to him.  It was pretty hard to explain some of the subtleties of the game like why you don’t accumulate strikes when a foul ball happens after two strikes. 

The game was another close one and this time it ended in extra innings with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11^th with the Blue Jays winning 6-5.  One unique thing that happened during the game was that an umpire was hit by a batted ball.  I’ve been to a few hundred MLB baseball games and seen countless others and I’ve never seen that happen.  Also, in addition to Michael getting three batting practice balls, the Blue Jay mascot tossed him a t-shirt.  For the record, in all those hundreds of games I’ve attended, I’ve never caught anything but a cold.  Overall, the stadium felt too sterile to me.  Maybe if more fans were there, my experience would have been better.  But I can’t say I liked Rogers Centre too much.  I give it a 6.5/10.  Here’s Michael now who liked it a whole lot better than me.

Hi everyone, it’s me Michael.  I loved Rogers Center.  I was really impressed with everything.  I suppose getting a t-shirt from the mascot made it better.  I know my dad didn’t like it as much as I do, but I think he kept saying it wasn’t how he remembered seeing it on TV years ago.  I like the artificial grass – very green!  The big scoreboard was cool too.  I also like the view of the CN Tower right outside the stadium.  I liked it so much that I gave it a 8 out of 10.

There you have it!  Our next game we are both REALLY looking forward to.  The next game is at Fenway Park in Boston this Sunday on Father’s Day.  Tomorrow we take off for our two-day visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  I can’t wait to see Michael’s reaction to all of the cool stuff in the Hall.  We’ll be in Cooperstown until Friday morning and then we drive to Boston.

Updated Stadium Rankings - through PNC Park (We have a new #1!!)

Through 16 stadiums, here are our updated rankings through PNC Park in Pittsburgh as of 6/13/11. There's a new sheriff in town!!

Michael's Rankings:

1. PNC PARK - PITTSBURGH PIRATES

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

4. Coors Field - Colorado Rockies

5. Miller Park - Milwaukee Brewers

6. Anaheim Stadium - Los Angeles Angels

7. Comerica Park - Detroit Tigers

8. Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati Reds

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

10. Kauffman Stadium - Kansas City Royals
11. Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs
12. Chase Field - Arizona Diamondbacks

13. Safeco Field - Seattle Mariners

14. Busch Stadium - St. Louis Cardinals

15. Progressive Field - Cleveland Indians

16. Dodger Stadium - L.A. Dodgers

17. Oakland Coliseum - Oakland A's

Lance's Rankings:

1. PNC PARK

2. AT&T Park
3. Petco Park

4. Safeco Field

5. Coors Field

6. Chase Field

7. Comerica Park

8. U.S. Cellular Field

9. Miller Park

10. Kauffman Stadium

11. Great American Ballpark 

12. Busch Stadium
13. Anaheim Stadium

14. Progressive Field
15. Dodger Stadium
16. Wrigley Field

17. Oakland Coliseum