week.of.b -
baseballi've appointed this week as the week.of.b; kicking things off is baseball.
i began to have an interest in baseball when i was 8, when my older brother got me started collecting baseball cards. my allowance wasn't enough to get the
hologrammed upper deck cards, so i quickly became a
donruss collector. i have almost the entire set of
donruss '90. admittedly, today i don't follow baseball much on
tv until the end of the season, but i will say that there's nothing like being at a ballpark with a hot dog and a beer on a sunny day watching a baseball game. i started thinking about the short list of stadiums
i've been to for
mlb games, and thought
i'd start a formal blog list about them.
1.the metrodome - minneapolis, mn - minnesota twinsi've been to more games than i can count at this indoor stadium. i remember taking trips up to
minneapolis with my family when i was young to see the twins play ball. we used to do some family bidding about what the final score of the game would be. i won two years in a row, spot on. my
grandpa was convinced i was lucky. in college at the university of
minnesota,
wednesday nights were student nights, so admission with a college id was $3.00! incidentally,
wednesdays were also dollar-dome dog nights, so you could get dinner and
mlb entertainment for $5 or less. dome dogs became a form of currency for bets in one of my college apartments. (b.b.b. - i believe you still owe me 3 dome dogs.)
the
metrodome is a fixture of the
minneapolis skyline, built in 1982, but is sadly finishing up its service as the home of the twins for over 25 years. the new open-air 'target field' in
minneapolis's downtown warehouse district, with an expected completion in 2010, will seat 40,000 fans and is estimated to cost more than $412 million. though
i'll miss the
metrodome,
i'm sure the visiting teams won't--the ceiling made it tricky to catch fly balls. the
metrodome and the twins will always be fundamental to my love of baseball.
2.rfk stadium - washington d.c. - washington nationalsthe home of the new
washington nationals team (formerly the
montreal expos) for a few years (2005 - 2007) was
rfk stadium.
the first home opener for the nationals was in
april of 2005. i went to dc to visit my brother a few months later, and got to see the new team play in an old stadium. (
rfk was built in 1961.) the nationals played the new york
mets; it was an excellent way to spend a sunny 4
th of
july afternoon before heading to an overlook point to watch our nation's capital's fireworks display.
the
national's new home stadium, 'national park', opened in march 2008.
3.fenway park - boston, ma - boston red soxthe grandfather of all baseball stadiums...
fenway. it's the oldest stadium in all of the major league. it was built in 1912, and is located in back bay between
kenmore square and the fens.
i've been to a handful of games here since i moved out east, and my luck hasn't been good--every game
i've been to has been raining. i attempted to go to a game a few weeks ago (red
sox vs. twins) but it was rained out and postponed. but
i've definitely had a great time when i have been there.
i've 
done the corporate box seats (sat just above
matthew mcconaughey--see left), but frankly, i prefer the cheap seats. they have
the more entertaining spectators. there are no other fans quite like boston red
sox fans, believe me.
bostonians are more than proud of their team.
i've never seen such loyal fans in my life.
just before i moved out east, the red
sox won their first world series in 86 years. it was an awesome moment. and almost as awesome was their 2007 world series win, just a few months after i moved to
boston. the energy in the
boston air during a sox world series is palpable. so here's to
fenway, one of the greatest stadiums of all time.
the
fenway franks, the green monster, the heckling fans, the legends. you'll be hard-pressed to find a better place to watch a ball game.
4.safeco field - seattle, wa - seattle marinersand rounding out my
mlb stadium list, i just visited
safeco field in
seattle for a mariners vs.
oakland a's game while on my
seattle/
portland trip. keeping with my baseball game weather luck, it was raining, but fortunately
safeco field's cool retractable roof kept things dry. the
safeco field stadium was opened in 1999, and is a great venue to watch a game at. it's the only sporting event
i've been to that had specialty food stands (
thai, burritos, sushi,
bbq, espresso...) beyond the standard hot dog/pizza fare, which is why it's no surprise that
safeco won the food network's 'best ballpark eats in
america' title. and speaking of titles, the beer garden adjacent to center field at
safeco was recently named the number one place to meet singles in
seattle. having been there, i can see why.
safeco field is located just south of downtown
seattle, and will be a stop on the new light rail transit line opening this summer in
seattle.
it's officially 'bay state bike week' in massachusetts, and people all across the state are surrendering their cars and trading from four wheels to two wheels for their daily commute. the goal is to reach 250,000 pledged bicycle miles in the state this week. it's widely known that boston is one of the least bike-friendly cities in the nation, and mayor menino is committed to changing that, including promotion of events like this one.
i'm really happy i manned up and gave it a try. and if i can manage on a bike on boston roads with boston drivers, than anyone can do it. hooray for bike week!
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