A 'lil HooHaa

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major league baseball

Summer of Baseball: Cleveland rocks

I’d never been to Cleveland before.

Not for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not to visit the Football Hall of Fame in nearby Canton. Not for baseball or anything else.

That changed with a trip to Progressive Field to see the Indians face off against the Chicago White Sox.

And though I can’t comment on the city – we basically stayed to the area near our hotel and the stadium – I will say I enjoyed myself and wouldn’t mind going back one day. Especially if a trip to Progressive Field to see the Indians again is involved.

What a great park.

Cleveland from up above.

Cleveland from up above.

Opened in 1994, the home of the Indians has aged well. It’s a great place to watch a game and the sight lines are tremendous. As has been the norm this season, seats were in the upper deck and behind home plate, which gives you a great overall view of the park and the backdrop of the city.

That’s always nice.

OK, so let’s take a look at Progressive.

The views were great. Though I definitely felt like I was upper deck, it wasn’t a bad overall seat. The sightlines were fine and with the massive scoreboard, it was easy enough to keep track of everything. However, the only time a vendor came up to this area was the eighth inning. The area was pretty full, so it would have been nice if one had come up.

Speaking of that side of thing, as I went down in a mid-inning to grab something to eat, the lines were massive. And I’m not saying like 10-12 people deep. But the wrap-around holder went well beyond the limit. I ended up walking down to the lowest concourse and grabbing a couple of hot dogs at one of the smaller, secondary food stands. It was definitely not the best I’ve seen in regard to moving people through, so it did lose some points in that part. When we first arrived, though, the crowd wasn’t big and I did get an ice cream, which was amazing.

The stadium is nice. You can, obviously, walk around the entire concourse, which gives you some nice views. The team store is pretty nice, albeit a bit tight. Prices were decent for major league standards. No lineup board, though. One thing that was cool was the top row of seats has been removed and there’s now a walk-around area at the top of the stadium. At least for part of the stadium, that is. I got out and took some photos, which was cool.

The game we went to was toward the beginning of their big winning streak, so the crowd was hopping. That made the ambiance quite nice. Mike Napoli hit a massive bomb of a home run, which may or may not have landed yet. The crowd was definitely into the game and their team. The Indians won in a rout on this day (the other two games they won by one run… we saw the blowout!), so it was an upbeat crowd for the entire game.

Most of the people I dealt with were nice and easy to ask questions to etc. I can’t speak on parking as we parked at our hotel and took the shuttle down, which was cool. We walked back and it wasn’t a bad trip.

All-in-all, this was a solid trip and stop at this MLB stadium. If you are going to be in the Cleveland area, it’s well worth going, especially if the Indians are playing well at that point. Tickets were reasonably priced and the area was definitely Indian happy.

Not only that, but Cleveland Rocks playing at the end of a win was awesome.

Park Notes:  

Progressive Field
Cleveland, Ohio
Home of the Cleveland Indians
Visited on: June 18, 2016
Opponent: Chicago White Sox

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Stadium: 9/10
  • Concessions: 7/10
  • Parking: N/A
  • Ambiance: 9/10
  • Friendliness: 9/10

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Summer of Baseball: Nationals Park has a lot to offer

I’m starting to really like sitting in the upper deck at MLB stadiums.

For one, it’s much cheaper. For two, you get a good view of the stadium. Is it perfect for photos? Not a chance. But you can get wonderful views for wide-angle photos.

On top of that, you can often get some shade on hot days!

The upper deck is a good spot to watch a game.

The upper deck is a good spot to watch a game.

That brings me to one of the latest MLB stadiums I’ve visited – Nationals Park in Washington D.C. I had the chance to visit the park a couple of weeks ago for an afternoon game.

Note – it gets hot in D.C.!

Anyway, we got there a tad early and had the chance to walk around the park. It’s really a unique and cool little park. It’s compact, which is nice as it didn’t seem like there were many bad seats in the stadium. We were in the upper deck behind the plate, and it was really nice.

The lower concourse is nice and there are plenty of options when it comes to food and other concessions. I liked the outfield concourse as it had a neat little setup where you get to explore a little bit. We came in via center field and it’s really cool as it opens up a little bit so you can get a view of the field.

The team store is nice and has a lot of options at decent prices. The Passport stamp was easy to locate and use, which was nice. I will say that the shirts and hats they offered were good and, if I was a Nationals Fan, I would have walked away with something. Instead, I just decided to do a baseball grab bag and took a chance – though I only got two game-used balls, no autographs. Story of my life!

Sight lines are solid, which is good. One thing, though. If you are there for an afternoon game, there are not a ton of shade areas, so be ready to fight the sun. The day we were there had more than 35,000 people there, so a lot of people came to watch. Thankfully, we had shade.

Prices for food and drinks seemed on par with other MLB stadiums. I, of course, grabbed a hot dog and it was pretty solid. I enjoyed it. The only other thing I had that day was a gelato, which was fully excellent. There were plenty of options, though. As we walked around before the game, you could see the choices were plentiful and, as noted earlier, the prices were on par to other MLB stadiums.

The ambiance was very friendly. Despite me wearing a Phillies hat, I didn’t feel like there was any hostility (in fact, one of the vendors had fun taking a few jabs toward me, all in good fun), which is always a good thing. The people I talked to were accommodating, which is a good thing. Lines to get in (when we went in) weren’t bad, so that was nice, too.

One of the baseball-themed outside the ballpark.

One of the baseball-themed outside the ballpark.

As for parking, we opted to go south of D.C. and park at a metro station (free on weekends) and take a train up. The train let us off about a block away, which was fully fine. It was perfect and the round trip cost us about 8 bucks or so. It was really nice to do this (as did in Pittsburgh last year) and makes life a whole lot easier and cheaper.

Ticket prices weren’t bad, and with not many bad seats, it’s worth getting a cheaper seat and enjoying the game.

This is definitely one of the better MLB stadiums I’ve been to. Though, to be fair, I haven’t been to too many bad MLB stadiums. That being said, I’d like to hit another Nationals game, especially if it’s at night. It’s not a bad trip to get to for me, so I can see a trip down again this summer, if all goes well that is.

Park Notes:  

Nationals Park
Washington D.C.
Home of the Washington Nationals
Visited on: June 11, 2016
Opponent: Philadelphia Phillies

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Stadium: 9.5/10
  • Concessions: 8/10
  • Parking: N/A
  • Ambiance: 8/10
  • Friendliness: 9/10

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Summer of Baseball: Pittsburgh offers a top-notch experience

Note: I am finishing my 2015 Summer of Baseball stadium reviews over the next month or so. I have four left, including the one below. With a few other baseball posts, this should take us into March and closer to the start of the 2016 season! 

PNC Park in Pittsburgh has been around since 2001 – and it took me a long time to finally get to a game there.

It’s always been one of those places I wanted to get to, but just never made the trip. I should have taken advantage of being closer when I went to school in Lock Haven. Alas, it never happened.

Stamped in!

Stamped in!

It’s OK, though. I finally made it.

A weekend baseball trip to hit Pittsburgh and Altoona gave me the chance to see PNC Park for the first time. It’s definitely a great place to catch a game. We had seats behind home plate, just off a little bit. But they were high up, allowing us to see us the whole park.

It’s a great view, with the Allegheny River beyond the outfield wall. The yellow bridges are easily seen, too, which made for a cool look. The field was great and the seating wasn’t bad.

Walking around the park is nice as well. There’s a spot before the game with some live music and other things going on. Though you can walk around the whole park, you will lose sight of the game in certain parts, such as beyond the right-field wall. Still, it’s a unique setup how things are done. I liked that aspect.

I watched a half-inning or so from the left-field side, where there’s a winding walkway to bring you from the bottom sections to the top. Very cool part of the park.

While they had many modern amenities, it also had a slight old-school feel, which I liked.

It's a busy area around the park.

It’s a busy area around the park.

Sight lines were excellent from our seats. Some of the ones down the line probably could have been a little tricky, depending on where you are.

Food choices were excellent, of course. Most parks have their signature dishes and Pittsburgh wasn’t any different as it offered Primanti’s, which was pretty cool. Alas, I knew I was going there the next day, so I didn’t get it that night. I did have a couple of hot dogs, as normal, and they were solid. There is a lot of excellent beer choices in certain parts of the stadium, but Iron City is readily available, though I stayed away.

What is really nice is the city’s light rail offers free rides to the stadium if you park on a more outskirt area, which is what we did. It was nice, too, as we were steps away from the light rail where we parked and were whisked away to the stadium, which is in a crowded area. The parking, that we saw, wasn’t great. So I’m glad we didn’t try and get close to the stadium. I think parking cost us $5 if I remember right, so much better than the $20 or $25 to be close to the stadium. And we were in and out fast.

The ambiance was strong. Pittsburgh is a pretty solid sports city, so they definitely were into the game. It helped that it was a pretty solid game, too, with the Pirates beating the Rockies, 5-3. After the game, we strolled around the park a little, and then on the outside, before taking the rail back to the car.

Overall, it was a solid experience. Tickets were highly affordable and the trip wasn’t too bad. In the end, a great place to watch baseball and well worth the trip if you are looking for a cool stadium.

Park Notes:  

PNC Park
Pittsburgh, PA
Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Visited on: August 28, 2015
Opponent: Colorado Rockies

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Stadium: 9/10
  • Concessions: 8/10
  • Parking (stadium): 5/10
  • Parking (elsewhere/take light rail): 8/10
  • Ambiance: 9/10
  • Friendliness: 9/10

I am continuing the Summer of Baseball from 2014 and hope to blog about each new stadium I visit in 2015. Ones visited in the past can be viewed linked up in the 2014 version.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Summer of Baseball: Citi Field makes the Mets bearable

OK, let me explain the title – I’m not a fan of the New York Mets. I don’t go out of my way to watch the Mets, so that’s why the title is as it is.

Where the Mets play their homes games, though, puts new definition in ‘amazing.’

Citi Field is an excellent place to catch a game.

Citi Field is an excellent place to catch a game.

Citi Field, which opened in 2009 – the same year as new Yankee Stadium – is a great place to watch ball. Even in the highest of seats, it’s a wonderful spot to watch a game. The views are nice and there’s plenty of space to hide from sun, if you get it.

My trip to Citi this year was meeting a few friends in the city and heading to the game. The easiest way to get to the stadium, of course, is via train. It was quick and you’re dropped right at the foot of the stadium. Shea Stadium’s home run apple is outside and in the shadow of Citi Field, which is pretty cool.

Let’s look at the stadium as a whole.

First, as far as major league stadiums go, this is a beauty. The seats are comfortable. The sight lines are solid. It’s also easy to move around as there’s ample space.

We got there pretty early – pretty much as soon as the gates opened as I like to explore a stadium when I’m going for the first time. Therefore, the lines around the stadium weren’t bad. I had to grab an ice cream while I still could, so that was nice. Walking around the stadium was nice as you could see a bit of everything.

When you first come, the Jackie Robinson area is nice. The Mets museum is also a nice touch. More teams should do this. It’s cool when you can see World Series trophies and not have to be in some upgraded section or take a tour to do so, so I’ll give kudos to the Mets for this.

They also were playing “Meet the Mets” throughout the lower part, which was something I had hoped to hear. I mean … you can’t go to a Mets game and not hear that, can you?

Despite not being a Mets fan, I couldn't resist this opportunity!

Despite not being a Mets fan, I couldn’t resist this opportunity!

One thing I really noticed is how friendly everybody I dealt with was. I know many people talk about New York City people being rude, but everybody who worked at Citi was incredibly easy to chat with, outgoing and nice. I had looked to get my normal pin, but wanted one with Citi Field on it. Unfortunately, there weren’t any. But two people in the gift shops called to the other stands throughout the stadium trying to see if there were any, so that was nice.

I did find out, after, that there are two colored stamps at Citi for the Passport. I wish I had known that as I have two passports and would have loved to have gotten both colors!

There are a few negatives, though. These are small things, so no issues. Prices – like at most MLB stadiums – are crazy. I think it cost me $20 or so for two hot dogs, fries, and a soda. I know the people I was with had a couple of beers and they weren’t cheap. The ice cream was pricy.

But when you go to an MLB game, it’s kind of expected.

That being said, on the positive side, I took advantage of a ticket special and my tickets were right around $20. I can’t complain about that.

This was another stadium without a lineup board. I just don’t see how it’s hard to have something like this. Yes, I know it’s on the big screen. But that’s not the point. Why not have one near customer service. The Phillies have it in the team store. Throw those of us who love that old-school feel a bone and have an intern fill it out each day. It’s not an expensive thing to do.

There weren't many bad places to watch the game.

There weren’t many bad places to watch the game.

Overall, I had a top-notch experience at Citi. The Mets lost this game (and, to be fair, I usually do like to see the home team win – the atmosphere and ambiance is better), but it was a solid game. It was also the MLB debut of Michael Conforto, who I saw play in Binghamton. Jimmy Rollins hit a homer for the Dodgers, so that was a bonus, too.

The only true negative was after the game. We were walking around looking at the spots of where Shea Stadium was. We were taking photos and this person – rude as can be – basically walked right into a photo I was taking with his daughters. He snapped his photo as if nobody was there. One of the people I was with said something and, of course, the guy got his muscles and started talking all sorts of crap – in front of his daughters. Stay classy, buddy.

Still, that didn’t damper a great night for baseball. It was truly enjoyable. And we messed around enough that by the time we hit the train, it was empty and we were on our way.

I need to check out new Yankee Stadium at some point, but more than one Yankee fan has told me that Citi Field is the better experience.

Park Notes:  

Citi Field
New York, NY
Home of the New York Mets
Visited on: July 24, 2015
Opponent: Los Angeles Dodgers

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Stadium: 9.5/10
  • Concessions: 8/10
  • Parking: N/A (took train in)
  • Ambiance: 8.5/10
  • Friendliness: 9/10

I am continuing the Summer of Baseball from 2014 and hope to blog about each new stadium I visit in 2015. Ones visited in the past can be viewed linked up in the 2014 version.

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Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Summer of Baseball: Philly is a great place to see MLB action

The Bank.

The Bank.

Ahhh Philadelphia … the City of Brotherly Love.

It’s the city where my parents grew up and where I still have a lot of family. And, it’s also the home of the Philadelphia Phillies – my favorite MLB team.

I usually try and get down to see a game or two each summer at Citizens Bank Park. It’s a great place to watch a game as the park features an open concourse and seating that is extremely fan friendly. The lone time I didn’t like my seat was one year we went and were stuck out in centerfield – and the seats just weren’t great for watching a game – at least on that day.

My first MLB game in my Eephus League Halfliner.

My first MLB game in my Eephus League Halfliner.

This year’s trip was done at the last second. In fact, a minor league game had been being planned but when Cole Hamels and Stephen Strasburg were scheduled to face off.

Score!

Tickets were soon purchased and we did this as a day trip. The seats we had were awesome, pretty much just off to the right side of home plate and on the first level. Needless to say, in all of the trips I’ve made to Citizens Bank Park, these were probably the best seats I’ve had.

Anyway, back to the park.

Like many major league stadiums, the parking is simple and the stadium is close to major highways. I got tickets through Stub Hub, which included a parking pass. Therefore, we didn’t have to pay for the parking. That being said, it’s like many other big-league places – there are big-league prices. Parking, if I remember right, was $15. That’s pretty steep, especially in a complex that includes the home of Philly’s NFL, NBA and NHL teams.

Mmm crab fries!

Mmm crab fries!

The stadium offers many things for fans of all ages. There’s a fine selection of food (including Bulls BBQ, cheese steaks, the normal ballpark fare and Chickie and Pete’s famous crab fries). The beer selection is pretty solid, too, considering each small stand had a different choice. There are microbrews and your everyday beers, too. So it’s nice. Prices for those are pretty normal for a MLB park.

Obviously, souvenir stands and the team store are well-stocked. The prices are what you would expect, but there aren’t many things you couldn’t get there. When I make my trip down, I usually pick up a program and the media guide for the year and it’s usually quite affordable. Sometimes, I’ll walk out with a hat or something as well. This year I didn’t leave with much, but prices were all pretty normal for what you’d see at places like this.

For the most part, it’s a friendly park. But, like any place with so many people working, there are those who are a little more “business-like” in their approach. The vendors are usually quite easy to get along with and customer service always does quite well when I’ve needed to use them.

Play ball!

Play ball!

It’s an easy park to navigate. No matter where you are, you can see the action. There is also a running “counter” around the park, so if you are eating and can find a spot, you can stand at the back of the seats and watch before heading back to your seat.

It’s definitely a modern stadium. Like many newer ones (Citizens Bank Park opened in 2004), it has an old-time feel with many modern amenities. You’re brought closer to the action, too, which is nice. But in the end, it’s not cheap to go to an MLB game, but this spot is well worth the trip.

Park Notes:  

Citizens Bank Park
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Home of the Philadelphia Phillies
Visited on: Saturday, July 12.
Opponent: Washington Nationals

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Stadium: 9/10
  • Concessions: 8/10
  • Parking: 8/10
  • Ambiance: 9/10
  • Friendliness: 8/10

I am embarking on a summer of baseball with the plan to hit a minimum of 10 stadiums this summer. Hopefully, there will be more than that. I will report on each park that I hit on the blog.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!