Where have you been?

[nygiants]

I took a Baseball Sports Tour (bus) out of Charlotte, N.C. in 1994 with my dad and son. We saw games in Baltimore, Yankee Stadium, Cleveland and Detroit. We also visited Cooperstown, Mickey Mantle's restaurant and the Babe Ruth Museum (Baltimore).

I've also been to several Braves games with Dad and son.

We had great times and I hope to do again with my son and grandsons.

[mushroomknob]

I have been to Yankee stadium,Shea stadium several times,Jacobs field,sky dome Toronto.

some interesting minor league parks:silver stadium Rochester Ny when Ripken was on his way up.
Colburn park Newark ny home of the co pilots watched Robin Yount play a few games there.

double day field Cooperstown.

great topic.

[Cusser]

Forbes Field, Three Rivers, Dodger Stadium, Jack Murphy, Bank One

[Goldy the Gopher]

I've been to

The metrodome (it's great for football)
Yankee stadium
Legends stadium
Twins spring training
Rays spring training
Reds spring training
Cooperstown


Rosenblatt in Omaha

and in August safeco in seattle.

[baseclearer]

Yankee Stadium x 4 ( saw Moose get his 2,500th K and took tour)
Fenway Park x 2 (also took a tour)
Citizens Bank Park x 3 (caught a pinch-hit, walk off grand slam by Chase Utley back in '05)(best feeling ever!!! )
Turner Field x 3 (took tour)
Bank One Ballpark x 3 (now known as "Chase Field", took tour)(got Ryan Dempster's auto, he was on the Reds, and also Alex Cintron and Lyle Overbay)
RFK x 2 (saw Nats vs. Cubs, and Aramis Ramirez hit 2 homers in each game)
Tropicana Field x 2

And this year, I'm planning on going to Camden Yards and Nationals Park

[wbunnell]

Yankee Stadium many, many times (regular season and playoff games. Playoff games there are absolutely electric.)

Shea Stadium

Camden Yards

PNC Park (aside from Yankee Stadium this is my favorite)

Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field)

Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia

Fenway Park (went on the tour proudly wearing my Yankees hat. You should have seen the looks I got. It was priceless. I went with my good friend who is a Sox fan.)

[BretMan]

Boy, some of you guys have been around! Kind of makes me feel like a rookie...

- Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati). My first Major League game was there in it's innagural season (1970).

- Cleveland Municipal Stadium. What a rickety old cavern. A prime example of early 20th century football stadium architecture.

- Great American Ballpark (Cincy's new stadium).

- Jacob's/Progressive Field (Cleveland's new stadium).

- Old Detroit Tigers Stadium. Saw one of the last games played in that cozy old structure.

- Tampa Bay's home dome (Tropicana Field). One of the most miserable places I've watched a game. I didn't realize that it was a domed stadium until we got there. I'm in Florida and was expecting a nice day in the sun! The place was dark and dreary. We were sunburned from being at the beach the day before and they had the air conditioning cranked inside. We were freezing the whole game!

Those are the only Major League venues I've ever been in. I hit spring training every year and have seen games at the home fields of the Reds (Sarasota), Indians (Winter Haven), Red Sox (Ft. Myers), Twins (Ft. Myers) and Yankees (Tampa).

My wife, who isn't a particular fan of baseball, has even been to a few stadiums I haven't. She travels a lot for work and has been to Chase Park in Arizona (she works for Chase Bank), new Comisky in Chicago and Minute Maid in Houston.

We have a pretty decent triple-A facility here in Columbus. The stadium opened in the 1930's and had the Cardinals minor league team for many years. The Pirates came in during the 1950's, then the Yankees in the 1970's.

It's a great place to see a game and the stadium has been refurbished and well-maintained over the years. At one time in the early 90's, it was voted the best minor league stadium in the country. But as other cities upgraded their facilities, it dropped down the list.

Here's one more reason to hate George Steinbrenner (as if we needed any more!). While the Yankees were here, Steinbrenner made threats that he would pull the team unless the city built a new stadium. We went through the usual debates about location and financing (he didn't want to pony up his own money).

Finally, the decision was made and the new park got the green light. And what happened next? Old George pulled the team anyway! We were forced to scramble to find a new tenant and we were stuck as the AAA-affiliate of the Washington Nationals.

But, the story should have a happy ending. Next year, our beautiful new "retro-style", state-of-the-art, 30,000 seat venue will open (right next to our fairly new NHL hockey arena), in a bustling urban setting filled with adjacent bars, restaurants and tourist attractions. (The old stadium was outside of town, next to a dilapidated industrial area and a huge cemetary.)

To top it off, it looks like the Nationals contract will run out the same time as the Indians current minor league arrangement, and Cleveland wants to move their team to Columbus. It's not a done deal- yet. A tie-in with the Indians would be a definite boost to fan interest.

[Number9]

Wow. Very cool Bret. I used to live in Bexley when the arena district was just starting to get hopping. Nice to see that area continue to get better. Seating for 30k sounds a bit ambitious though, 20k would have been more than enough. The Nationals don't even draw that many.

[perezfan]

Not sure I can get them all...

Old Candlestick
PacBell (New Giants)
Oakland Alameda
Crosley Field
Riverfront
Old Astrodome
RFK
Yankee Stadium
Mile High
Wrigley
Old Comiskey
Veteran's Stadium
Kingdome
Safeco Field
Old Tiger Stadium
SkyDome
Jarry Park (sp.)
Arlington
Bank One Ballpark
Dodger Stadium
Angel Stadium
Jack Murphy Stadium
Petco Park

Crosley Field was best of the bunch (I can still taste the Hot Roasted Peanuts from the vendor outside), with PacBell being my favorite new stadium. Still need to get to Fenway, which is a must (hopefully within the next 2-3 years!)

[wjr953]

I can't compete with some of you guys, my list is pretty short:

Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium (Old Timer's Day 2X), Wrigley Field.

I also got to the see the end of the longest game ever played in organized professional baseball. I didn't see the first part of the game but I got to see it end. 33 innings of baseball, Rochester vs. Pawtucket, McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The winning run (Marty Barrett) was driven in by Dave Koza (I have his autograph somewhere in my baseball stuff), in the bottom of the 33rd. Both Cal Ripken and Wade Boggs (future Hall of Famers) played in that game. Nice place to watch a ball game, very smalltownish. Is that even a word?? lol

br

[MTGLOVEGUY]

as for baseball games I went to countless games at Memorial Stadium to watch the Orioles, The Kingdome, Safeco, old Anaheim Stadium before and after, and Coors field, for other pro events The Capital Center, Joe Lewis, RFK, Pepsi Center, McNichols Arena, The Pond, Mile High and Key Arena, probably been to more Hockey games then anything.

[MVALZ]

I'm sneaky...I've been in the clubhouse at Fenway, Yankee, Shea, The Vet and Camden Yards. Even weasled my way in the lockerroom of the old Boston Garden and tried on Larry's warm up jacket.

[ste24vie]

My dad took me and my best friend to Bat Day at Crosley Field around 1968. We each got a full size bat. He broke his the next night in a Knothole game...Recently my son and I went to a Reds game...Him and his A2000 caught a batting practice home run ball in the air about 10 rows up in the left field bleachers..

LIFE IS GOOD....

[ste24vie]

[Bravosin99]

Went on vacation 2 weeks ago with my best friend and caught two games of the Phillies vs. Mets series...It was pretty cool even though I am a huge Cubs fan...These fans were going at it...As you can see I took my Dixie Walker glove to the Phillies games but ended up empty handed after batting practice...

Also caught two Cubs games at Wrigley when I got back in town...Not bad four games in one week!

Here is my best friend Rick and I at Citizens Bank Park(Phillies)

This is me my dad and my sister in the bleachers at Wrigley...Cubs vs. Reds...

We parked in McDonalds before the game and as we were crossing the street Jim Edmonds the Cubs center fielder walked up right behind us...I guess even the pros gotta have their McDonalds lol