27-28 SEP San Francisco

You never know what weather you will get in San Francisco. The late summer is always dicey, so we came prepared for everything from sun to fog and rain. We were very fortunate. For both of the games that we attended the weather was absolutely beautiful. Additionally, the seats that we had were previously reserved for friends and family. In buying tickets on the first day that they went on sale, we struck gold. Of course, timing is often the most important factor. On this trip to San Francisco, we arrived just after the Giants new "Wall of Fame" and the statue to Orlando Cepeda had been christened.
Getting to ATT Park from anywhere in the Bay Area is a breeze. The Muni drops you off in front of Willie Mays Plaza. If you are traveling from the East Bay, there is also a ferry that stops at McCovey Cove.
This is the new statue outside the Northwest Gate of ATT Park with the accompanying plaque.

The new Wall of Fame features many of the Giants' stars that have played for the team since they moved to San Francisco. The Plaques are self explanatory. There are two things to note. First, I have only included those players that I personally remembered from watching the Giants play. Second, to the Giants' credit, Barry Bonds is not on the Wall. Given his current legal problems and the cancer that he was in the club house, this is appropriate. When the dust settles, the Giants may reconsider.

Who would you expect to see in Willie Mays Plaza? He is the iconic player that comes to mind any time you think about the history of the Giants. And history!! The Giants have done a fantastic job documenting and celebrating the history of the organization in this great venue. Everywhere you look, there are reminders of the great players of the past.
The plaque on the Mays statue only discusses some of his accomplishments. There are so many famous quotes and statistics with which he is associated, that he will forever be considered one of the elites of the game.

Given that Willie's number was 24, it is appropriate that the Giants' corporate offices would be at this address.
And that he would have his own gate
Willie Mays was not only a great player, but he was respected by his contemporaries.
There are quotes like this throughout ATT Park from great players that discuss the game and the artistry associated with it.

There are also lines from celebrities that reference teams of the past and present.
The Division Champion Dodgers one the first game. An anemic hitting attack by the Giants doomed them.
On the second day, a beautiful sunny day in the mid 70's, we arrived at the statue of Juan Marichal. Watching replays of his pitching performances make you wonder. It is hard to believe that, given the very high leg kick, batters did not feel a bit uneasy. You know that Marichal had to pick up the catcher's glove late in the deliver, and given the speed of the incoming pitch, any error could cause a good bit of pain.


As we walked around the park, we passed McCovey Cove. This is one of the many day sailors waiting for a ball to splash down in McCovey Cove.

The Giants currently play or have played at all of the locations on this sign post, and it is just another reference to the extensive history of the club.
Part way through this game, the last of the season, these two final scores were posted ending the bid of the Mets to get into the playoffs.
Being fan appreciation day, the last game of the season, it cannot be overlooked that this was the 50th year for the Giants in San Francisco. During their time in the Bay Area, they have had many great players, they have gone to 3 World Series'. However, they have come up empty each time losing to the Yankees, A's, and Angels. In fact, they have not had a victory since 1954.
This game was won by the Giants on the back of a dominant performance by Tim Lincecum who struck out 13 batters in seven innings. This was clearly his bid for the Cy Young.




As we left ATT Park, we took this night shot of Willie Mays. This was quite appropriate as we had just finished a 62 game trek around the country (plus Canada) seeing many friends along the way and seeing many parts of our county that neither of had seen before. For those that have followed this blog, I appreciate it. I will be adding one last installment that is sort of a lessons learned for anyone who would like to do this trip or any part of it.

Finally, I would like to round out our rankings of the 30 baseball Stadiums that we visited this Summer (we had a great time doing so):

First Division:

• Wrigley Field
• PNC Park Pittsburgh
• Turner Field Atlanta
• Tiger Field Detroit
• ATT Park San Francisco
• Dodger Stadium
• Cardinals Stadium St. Louis

Second Division is:

• Arizona
• Baltimore
• Milwaukee
• Texas
• Houston
• Cincinnati
• Toronto
• Tampa Bay
• Philadelphia
• New York Yankees
• Oakland
• New York Mets
• Cleveland
• Colorado
• Seattle
• Washington
• Kansas City
• Chicago White Sox
• Los Angeles Angels
• Boston
• San Diego
• Florida
• Minnesota

Again, for everyone who has supported this trip or read this Blog, THANK YOU.

24-25 SEP Seattle

As this trip progressed, Seattle was one of the parks that I was not looking forward to for a couple of reasons. First, after living here, I knew that there is no Fall in Seattle. The transition is strait to Winter and cold rain. On this account, Seattle did not disappoint. Secondly, I had been to this park before and though that it was one of the better parks at the time. Now having seen the rest of the parks, my standards have been reset, and Seattle's Safeco Stadium is really just an average park with below average weather, and, unfortunately, a significantly below average team this year.

The park has an extensive children's play area which is fine, but it pays little attention to the history of baseball in Seattle. Their "Hall of Fame" display is of High School quality and is easily missed if you glance the wrong way.
When we took our seats, both Kate and I though that we were seeing things. Directly in front of us was a lady in a Holman jersey. We both thought that this was our sister-in-law until we looked a bit closer.
Not unexpectedly, the Mariners lost to the Angels for their 100th loss of the season. Poor execution in the field and an anemic hitting attack left them helpless against an Angels squad that was mostly second string as the Angels rested their key players for the upcoming playoffs.
Prior to the second game we went to FX McCrory's across the paring lot from the stadium for dinner and a couple of drinks that we hoped would keep us warm in the sub 50 degree temps of the Seattle night. McCrory's boasts about having the largest whisky collection in North America. Shown here is only their Scotch Whiskeys. You can imagine what the Bourbon mountain looks like.

Seattle managed to loose the second game as well for their 101st loss of the season. We just wanted the game to end as we were freezing. The weather got so bad that we game up our box seat to go sit in the restaurant above right field. At least the restaurant was comfortable--somewhat similar to how the Mariners were playing--comfortable about being dead last.

Neither the stadium nor the team were inspiring and we just wanted to get back to warmer weather. 40's at the beginning of the Fall is ridiculous. This should be prime time beach season!

As for the stadium, it is also clearly a second division park leaving the ranking to be

• Arizona
• Baltimore
• Milwaukee
• Texas
• Houston
• Cincinnatti
• Toronto
• Tampa Bay
• Philadelphia
• New York Yankees
• Oakland
• New York Mets
• Cleveland
• Colorado
• Seattle
• Washington
• Kansas City
• Chicago White Sox
• Los Angeles Angels
• Boston
• San Diego
• Florida
• Minnesota

20-21 SEP Oakland Athletics

It was apparent that the summer was drawing to an end based on the weather that we encountered during the first game in Oakland. It is clear that I want to go where summer goes for the winter. Like summer, the Oakland stadium is nearing its end. There is a move afoot to build a new stadium about 15 miles south of this one. With that said, this stadium is actually in pretty good shape after 40 years. They go out of their way to celebrate their history while keeping to the guidelines set out by Billy Beane which means a small payroll of good young players. As shown in this picture, the franchise goes back a long way. Founded by Connie Mack in 1906, the team won five World Series' while still in Philly.



From Philly, they moved to Kansas City where they had little success. They then moved to Oakland in 1968. In the last 40 years they have won the four World Series Championships shown here. The team has only had 3 owners--Connie Mack from 1906 to 1956, Charlie Finley from 1957 to 1977, and the Haas family (Levy Jeans) since then.
While in Oakland, they have had their fair share of Hall of Fame caliber players as well as many league MVPs

The A's won the first game as a result of aggressive base running in the 8th.
The San Francisco Bay area has been home to many players who have left their mark on the game, and the stadium honors them on a hometown hall of fame. Both Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson were from the Oakland area. Billy Martin started his major league career with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League which was the only professional baseball on the West Coast before 1958.

Jim Hunter and Rollie Fingers were transplants to the Bay Area, but Joe Morgan was born and raised in Oakland. He still makes his home in the area.

The A's won their second game against the hapless Mariners as well. For the first six innings, they were no hit then they finally woke up, scoring the minimum necessary to win on an inordinately small number of hits.

As for the stadium, The Oakland Coliseum is showing its age. The stadium is rather bland, but with the Bay Area Rapid Transit stopping at the Coliseum, and the fact that there are no bad seats, this stadium was ahead of its time. It is clearly a second division stadium and the rankings for that second division are:

• Arizona
• Baltimore
• Milwaukee
• Texas
• Houston
• Cincinnati
• Toronto
• Tampa Bay
• Philadelphia
• New York Yankees
• Oakland
• New York Mets
• Cleveland Colorado
• Washington
• Kansas City
• Chicago White Sox
• Los Angeles Angels
• Boston
• San Diego
• Florida
• Minnesota

16-17 SEP Arizona Diamondbacks

Chase Field is a great environment. The Diamondback organization has granted space to several restaurants and clubs on club property for pre and post game activities. This is starting to spread to the surrounding blocks. The intent is clear. They are trying to establish the type of neighborhood that Wrigley is famous for. Getting to the park can be a bit of a hassle during rush hours as there is no convenient public transportation to the game. However, there is a main freeway that leads to the game. Following the game, the local constabulary is very proactive in getting people out of the parking lots and on their way.

There are some unique considerations that the designers of the field had to take into account when they built the park. The primary one was the up to 120 degree temperatures that Phoenix is known for. To counter this, most of the games are at night, the stadium has a retractable roof and the portraits of the ball players on the side of the stadium or actually huge windows. On a nice night, 30 minutes before game time, the roof is opened and the windows are opened. The stadium remains comfortable through the game. One pet peeve that I have had about domes is that the lights tend to be in places that interfere with players catching fly balls. This is not the case here. The designers actually thought about this one. As you approch the gate, you enter Diamondback Way which is really a Plaza to honor great Arizona players (as might be expected, there is plenty of room for growth). This is also where many of the nearby clubs are located outside of the stadium.

Inside the stadium on the club floor, there are a set of painting of great moments in baseball. They were co well done that I wanted to put them out on the website. I suspect that most baseball fans will have little trouble identifying the key figures but they are Roger Maris, Henry Aaron, Bill Mazeroski, Carlton Fisk, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Don Larsen and Kirk Gibson. Remember, if you want to see a larger version of any picture that I have included in the blog, you can click on it.

The first game was a masterpiece pitched by Dan Haren. His first career major league shut out. He was absolutely dominant giving up 4 hits in four different innings, all singles.
On the recommendation of several good baseball fans, we went to dinner at Don and Charlie's restaurant in Scottsdale. If you are in the area and you are a sports fan of any kind this is a required stop. The owners have been in business at this spot since the early 1950's. The food is great but the memorabilia collection is unbelievable. This restaurant caters to many of the baseball clubs during Spring Training. As a result they have established a rapport with players and executives alike. The walls are completely filled with bats, balls, jerseys, news clippings, team pictures, etc. My description will be insufficient even if I devoted a separate blog to it. Bud Selig has his own table, Harry Caray had his own table. There is a jersey signed by Willie Mays from 1953, a bat signed by Ted Williams, Babe Ruth's glove, baseballs galore, and on and on. This is a "you gotta see it to believe it" place.
I took a couple of pictures of the inside, but this is only a taste. This is what you see as you enter the front door. Of particular note, everything in this place has been given to Don and Charlie except for one ball signed by Babe Ruth that they bought.
This is one display cabinet. The only thing in here is balls signed by members that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. If you are a real fan, this is a must stop any time you are in the area.


Game 2 in Arizona was a much better contest. The Diamond backs won again, but the hitting was much more prevalent.

As for ranking this park, it is great, but it is still maturing--along with the team. As you go around, you can see conceptual drawing for projects of the future which have the potential to allow this park to make the leap into the first division. As it stands now, this park tops the second division just above Baltimore's Camden Yards.