MLB Ballparks - Places we go to spend frivolously and watch men hit balls

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Bird in a Blender: Nov 17, 2005; It's amazing what they can do with computers these days.

Went to NYC earlier this week for vacation, and saw a Mets game at Citi Field. I didn't walk around as much as I normally do, but it seemed like a decent park. Had a good view in the 300 section. I am simply amazed at how much corporate sponsorship they crammed into one stadium though. I was at Citi Field, sitting in the Ceasers Box (as in the casino), looking out into right field at both the Pepsi Porch, and the Mo's Zone (Modell's Sporting Goods). Not to mention all of the advertising along the outfield wall, scoreboard, etc.

# ? Jul 5, 2013 14:24

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# ? Apr 26, 2024 06:03

Uncle Jam: Aug 20, 2005; Perfect

Lumius posted:

I uh see a few games a year , biggest tip or trick? don't drive just take the TTC to union then take the sky walk over , although there is construction at the farthest exist so you need to walk an extra 2 minutes maybe. Also i wouldn't call those Toronto wards but neighborhoods i guess, they are called that for historical reasons "Cabbagetown's name derives from the Irish immigrants who moved to the neighbourhood beginning in the late 1840s, said to have been so poor that they grew cabbage in their front yards".

Also food and beer is stupid expensive so I wouldn't buy any there just go out afterwards to one of the (many) nearby bars / restaurants.

The beer was incredibly expensive! We didn't get any in stadium. We ended up sitting in the upper deck offset from home, it was actually really nice being able to see the ball cross the plate from above for 11 bux.

The home fans were very nice, but you guys have a weird obsession with Kawasaki.

# ? Jul 5, 2013 14:51

JediGandalf: Sep 3, 2004; I have just the top prospect YOU are looking for. Whaddya say, boss? What will it take for ME to get YOU to give up your outfielders?

davecrazy posted:

Make a new minor league thread for nothing but MiLB trip reports and triple slash lines of your favorite prospects.

That seems like a good idea. I can try to make a thread when I get home. 150 ballparks, that's gonna be a lot of write-ups! I want to write about my trip to The Diamond (Lake Elsinore Storm, A+ Padres affiliate)

# ? Jul 5, 2013 18:46

Gatts: Jan 2, 2001; Goodnight Moon; Nap Ghost

m5ind posted:

Progressive Field

But I and everyone I know will always call the Jake.

Getting there is really not too bad depending on where you're coming from. If you're coming from the west side anywhere between downtown and the airport then the red line rapid is the way to go. If you're visiting the city there are a few good chain hotels near the airport that are right next to the red line, especially near Puritas station, that will give you good access to both the airport and downtown and thus the stadium. From the northeast suburbs, the red line is good as well, so is the new silver line brt. From the east and southeast the blue and green lines are the best options. If you're already downtown, the waterfront line (when its running) or the NineTwelve trolley (which is only $1.50 one way) are good options. An all day pass (unlimited transfers, good on both buses and trains) will only run you about $5. The trains will take you to Tower City/Public Square station, and then it's a five minute walk through Tower City mall and the Walkway to Gateway, all inside and air conditioned, to Quicken Loans Arena, which is literally right next to the ballpark.

Now, coming from the south is a bit trickier. Baseball season coincides with road construction season in Cleveland. I always just drove to the nearest rapid station if I knew traffic was going to be bad. If you're set on driving, parking is reasonable at about $10-$15 to park in the garage right next to the park. The garage has direct access to the park, so it's real easy to find your way in and its no walk at all.

The immediate area around the park is a little sparse, the freeway, community college and east Erie st. cemetery are about it. Take a bit of a walk north into the city and you'll find some cool places. The Winking Lizard is one of the better bars around the park. As said before the train dumps you into Tower City, which is a pretty nice shopping mall. There's the Hard Rock Cafe in tower city, as well as a movie theatre. The new Horseshoe Casino opened up in the Higbee Building next to Tower City as well, so you can get your gamble on before the game.

My favorite place to sit is in the lower bowl under the mezzanine seats in the right field side of the park. Sit about 5 or so rows from the concourse and it gives you a good view of the field while also giving you shade and shelter in case it rains. They also have a really good view of the scoreboard. The in park bar is also right back there, along with the better food vendors and the plaques to all of the Indians greats. Those seats will run you about $25-$30

The bleachers are pretty good too, and will run you about $15 a seat, as long as you don't mind sitting under the scoreboard. Also, John Adams. If you end up in the upper deck, try to stay down the first base side to get a better look at the scoreboard and try to sit lower down in the section since the deck is up there pretty high.

Food is pretty standard ballpark stuff. Nothing really special here. Unless you think Bratwurst and chicken and waffles are exotic dishes.

There's the typical trivia and stuff throughout the game that goes on. There is the hotdog mascot race, ketchup always cheats which leads to hilarity. There is also a suv in right center modified with cannons that shoot tshirts and things like that into the crowd between innings. It also lights up when the Indians hit a home run. Fireworks go off after a dinger and between innings depending on if there are seagulls on the field to scare them off.

The best promotions, apart from bobblehead and jersey giveaways, are the dollar dog nights and rock n' blasts. Dollar dog is pretty self explanitory, hot dogs all night for a buck a pop. Rock n' blasts are massive fireworks displays on the field after the game that are set to a music theme or great Indians radio and tv snippets. I heartily recommend going to one if you can.

Getting away from the park isn't too bad since traffic tends to spread out pretty quickly, though some trains can get crowded if the rta isn't running enough cars.

To add a bit, yes, try the brown mustard on your dog, it's quite good. The angles in the stadium are also quite good from any area so you should in theory have unobstructed viewing of the game. The prices are reasonable to a little high this year, 2013, in my opinion (25 bucks seem to be cheaper seating) but we are fielding a good team. I also always end up calling it Jacob's Field, I just can't seem to say Progressive.

For the area surrounding the Stadium, there is the Q (Quicken Loans arena which was once called the Gund). There's where basketball is played, ice hockey, and various events like concerts and Pro Wrestling...on occasion as well as SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY MONSTER TRUCKS and the Circus. For dining options, the Winking Lizard is indeed one. However I would recommend you mosey over to East 4th Street not too far away, you should have Euclid on one side and I think Prospect on the other. There are plenty of nice dining options from Mexican (Zoccalo), to Italian (Chinato), to Vietnamese (Saigon) and American Fare as well as a Bowling Alley on the corner of Euclid and 4th. My friend owns Wonder Bar on the street, basically a straightforward bar with some grub. For bar food on 4th there's Harry Buffalo and Flannery's which are nice but for some more fancy dining you can go to Greenhouse Tavern and Lola's. There is a coffee shop and a boutique or two there as well. For dessert check out Chocolate Bar at the opposite of 4th and Euclid which has good grub and mainly dessert. Further down close to Tower City you'll find Horseshoe Casino and the Tilted Kilt on the corner of Ontario, which I'd also recommend as they have a ton of TVs and the food isn't bad and neither is the view.

If you are willing, further down close to West 6th and 9th there are some restaurants in the Warehouse District. High end fare like Blue Point for seafood, X/O for steak, D'Vine for a wine bar, Johnny's, Mallorca, and West 6th which is the clubby area.

My personal preference is something in the type of an afternoon baseball game -> dinner at Shooters in the Flats as the sun sets -> Christies (strip club) if the guys are up for it. In the summer Shooters also has live music and DJ for late night romps or salsa dancing first Saturday a month.

A suggestion if you wish though it's a bit of a walk. There's a parking garage on Ontario opposite the casino that often has lower pricing than anywhere else in the area. While some places charge $25, I've found they can charge something like $15. It's a bit cheaper.

EDIT: To add, be wary of traffic if you're driving in. If you're coming on 77 North as an example and you don't get there early enough you'll probably be caught in slow moving traffic for a bit and the construction doesn't help.

EDIT 2: If you follow East 9th from the 77 exit all the way down to the lakefront you'll reach an area where there is the Goodtime III and such cruises, as well as close to Browns stadium, Great Lakes Science Center, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Burke Lakefront Airport where they hold the Air Shows around labor day but I think its cancelled this year.

EDIT 3: OOH! OOH! And if you're interested, ask about the Theater District, like Playhouse Square that often has Broadway style shows.

Gatts fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Jul 5, 2013

# ? Jul 5, 2013 19:18

Coco13: Jun 6, 2004; My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.

Barehanded Brother posted:

Nationals Park
Washington, District of Columbia

I went to a couple games on July 4th and 6th. A couple random notes:

Our Saturday seats were 1st base side outfield. First pitch was 4 PM. We sat in them for about 10 minutes before realizing that the sun was unbearable, and switched to a shaded part behind a section that had a small counter top. If you're looking at a day game in summer, go for the 3rd base side. I'd probably still lather on sunscreen, no matter where your seats were.
Getting to the stadium was very easy - we took the Circulator from the Capital / Library of Congress area to 3 blocks away from the park, and it cost a buck.
There's a ton of carts selling bottles of water and snacks outside the stadium, in case you forgot to grab something. A frozen water bottle for 2 bucks in DC's summer is loving amazing.
The outdoor pre-game spot next to the stadium, The Bullpen, had normal beer fridges instead of big icewater troughs/coolers, so the beer was not nearly as chilled as it should have been.
Speaking of the beer situation, I had a hard time finding something besides Miller/Coors/Heineken/Blue Moon. The BBQ joint, Blue Smoke, finally had something else.
The fans were surprisingly into the game. The stadium was pretty full, and they made a lot of noise for big situations.
The main entrance was in center field (by the Bullpen and Metro stop), not home plate. I'm hadn't seen that before.
There's only one bar nearby, but my friend and I were able to sit down and get a beer about 20 minutes after Saturday's game ended while the train traffic petered out.
Racing Sausages > Racing Presidents
The ballpark has a lot of info regarding history of 'baseball in DC'. It's cool to see as you walk to your seats, especially the right-center picture of Werth's walkoff homer in Game 4 of the NLDS. On the flip side, it took me a few minutes to puzzle out why Killebrew was on the ring of honor behind home.
There's enough space behind the outfield to hang out and sit down for a bit to meet friends before/after the game.
For playing the Brewers and Padres, there was a decent amount of Yankees gear I saw.

Overall, a great stadium with a growing, enthusiastic fanbase that's tempered by some brutal sun.

# ? Jul 8, 2013 18:13

CannonFodder: Jan 26, 2001; Passion’s Wrench

esperantinc posted:

The view ain't half bad either:

I love the guy in the suit with the baller dress socks. He knows he's gonna be on TV and he's gonna look good doing it, not like the shmoe in flip flops in front of him.

# ? Jul 8, 2013 21:44

Lumpy: Apr 26, 2002; La! La! La! Laaaa!; College Slice

Going to Philly to see the Dodgers in mid-August. In the write up for the stadium in here, they only mention one "cheap" hotel option. Any other suggestions for something a bit nicer? Any non-touristy good restaurants in the area of the park? Currently looking at the Radisson Plaza Warwick if anyone has stayed there and has good / bad tales to tell.

# ? Jul 9, 2013 02:28

TL: Jan 16, 2006; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world; Fallen Rib

Lumpy posted:

Going to Philly to see the Dodgers in mid-August. In the write up for the stadium in here, they only mention one "cheap" hotel option. Any other suggestions for something a bit nicer? Any non-touristy good restaurants in the area of the park? Currently looking at the Radisson Plaza Warwick if anyone has stayed there and has good / bad tales to tell.

I was there for a wedding once and the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night and the hotel had to be evacuated. That said, this was in 1985.

# ? Jul 9, 2013 06:44

The broken bones: Jan 3, 2008; Out beyond winning and losing, there is a field.

I will meet you there.

I got to go to Chase Field tonight, so I have a couple of notes.

This stadium is freaking gorgeous. it's a beautiful monument to baseball and a pretty drat incredible achievement in architecture. I'm surprised it's not at the top of most other ballpark lists. I absolutely loved it.

Getting to the stadium: Parking in downtown isn't terrible, but you'll likely be paying 10 bucks no matter where you park. There's a metro that passes by the stadium and seems like the most efficient way to get to the park, but I couldn't figure it out. I actually found a cheap Super 8 that was walking distance to the park and so far so good. Hopefully no one's broken in yet.

Inside the stadium: There's a number of decent food options, even a stand for gluten free stuff. There's also a number of good places to eat outside the stadium, which I did. Kincaide's was quite nice (if a bit expensive) and had a decent atmosphere for pre-ballgame events. They even changed the channel so I could watch the Dodger game beforehand.

The fans: The crowd was incredibly undiverse--weird, I know, for Phoenix--but almost universally friendly. I had several conversations with fans seated next to me and around me. They were all white and pleasant and knew their stuff.

The neighborhood: Phoenix is a little odd, since walking about four blocks takes you into a far less developed area. Some of Phoenix is quite nice, some of it is ... not so much. Stay close to the stadium and don't wonder past 9th St. to the east.

# ? Jul 14, 2013 08:23

Bob Ojeda: Apr 15, 2008; I AM A WHINY LITTLE EMOTIONAL BITCH BABY WITH NO SENSE OF HUMOR

IF YOU SEE ME POSTING REMIND ME TO SHUT THE FUCK UP

Yeah, Chase Field is really nice. I've only been there a couple times but I liked it a lot - especially the fans who are just really friendly and nice.

# ? Jul 14, 2013 08:38

davecrazy: Nov 25, 2004; I'm an insufferable shitposter who does not deserve to root for such a good team. Also, this is what Matt Harvey thinks of me and my garbage posting.

The broken bones posted:

The fans: The crowd was incredibly undiverse--weird, I know, for Phoenix--but almost universally friendly. I had several conversations with fans seated next to me and around me. They were all white and pleasant and knew their stuff.

Thank god you got to watch the game in a minority free environment! That must of been so pleasant for you!

# ? Jul 14, 2013 08:45

JoeRules: Jul 11, 2001

I feel like I should do a write-up of my CBP-NatsPark-Camden-Yankees-Citi-Fenway trip - but at least for the time being, just know that CBP, Camden, and Citi Field are gorgeous new(ish) parks, and you must see Fenway before you die.

And eat a hot dog at CBP for the love of God - it was the first bit of ballpark food I ate on the trip, but it was probably the best.

# ? Jul 14, 2013 10:31

kensei: Dec 27, 2007; He has come home, where he belongs. The Ancient Mariner returns to lead his first team to glory, forever and ever. Amen!

I have been to Chase, back when it was called BOB, and it was really nice. I didn't get to see that Gonzalez picture, cause I went in April of 2001 :mad:

# ? Jul 14, 2013 15:54

zakharov: Nov 30, 2002; Tater Love

davecrazy posted:

Thank god you got to watch the game in a minority free environment! That must of been so pleasant for you!

I think you are missing the point.

# ? Jul 14, 2013 16:01

The broken bones: Jan 3, 2008; Out beyond winning and losing, there is a field.

I will meet you there.

zakharov posted:

I think you are missing the point.

No, he's right, I'm ... I'm hitler.

# ? Jul 14, 2013 20:48

Gatts: Jan 2, 2001; Goodnight Moon; Nap Ghost

Enjoyed some nice time at Jacob's...Progressive Park...Field I mean last night for the Tribe game. Took some bad pictures but the seats were amazing. My friend yelled O - H to Nick Swisher who hand motioned I - O back to him, turned and gave him a grin. T'was cool. Even had a grand slam hit close to our area and a foul ball.

Warning, pictures were large (I have to figure out how to resize properly in paint) so thumbs here.

Food is also pretty decent, imo. Pizza, Cheesesteak, Food Network specialty Dogs/Sausages, snacks, wings from Cleats, etc. The Hot Dog race ended with Ketchup tripping Mustard and Onion then going on to pass the finish line held by a Care Bear and I think Slider, our mascot.

# ? Jul 14, 2013 23:02

GreenCard78: Apr 25, 2005; It's all in the game, yo.

Coco13 posted:

[*]Speaking of the beer situation, I had a hard time finding something besides Miller/Coors/Heineken/Blue Moon. The BBQ joint, Blue Smoke, finally had something else.
[*]For playing the Brewers and Padres, there was a decent amount of Yankees gear I saw.[/list]

The short answer to the beer point is that you won't. Period. Miller bought the rights to stadium and has a pretty tight grasp. They allow specific things, such as competing directly with Coors. Blue Moon and Heineken are the "better beers" allowed. Bud products are only allowed to be sold by a few people, I think just the vendors (dudes who walk around with buckets) and not by any kind of stands. You can pretty much forget about most craft beers. All this info comes from a club level bartender there.

About the Yankees gear, welcome to Maryland/DC where New Yorkers come to vacation.

# ? Jul 15, 2013 19:02

JediGandalf: Sep 3, 2004; I have just the top prospect YOU are looking for. Whaddya say, boss? What will it take for ME to get YOU to give up your outfielders?

The broken bones posted:

Chase Field

Chase Field was my first time ever in a domed MLB stadium and I was a little tripped out by the fact that an ENTIRE BASEBALL FIELD was enclosed. When I last went there were quite a lot of chains like Panda Express, Subway, etc. Have you seen any local varieties?

# ? Jul 19, 2013 23:30

Lobsterboy: Aug 18, 2003; start smoking (what's up, gold?)

I'm not really versed enough to write a full on post about Great American Ballpark, I've only been there a handful of times, but I will give you one piece of advice if you ever go there.

Park at the Newport in Kentucky. Its a few dollars, I want to say like $3 all day, if that, rarely gets super crowded, and its a total family area by day (with the aquarium and restaurants and such) and a pretty great place to hang out and drink at night. Its MAYBE a 10-15min walk across the Ohio river on the Purple People Bridge, stupid scenic, and you can wander over to the Cincinnatus statue.

The highlight of this opportunity, other than stupid cheap parking almost literally directly off the highway, in a secure area of the city that you are stupidly safe in, is that AFTER the game, you can go to THE HOFBRAU HAUS. Its a gigantic drinking hall with amazing german food, and even better german beer that is made ON SITE. Well, actually, some of the beer is shipped from Germany itself, so thats p loving baller. They do seasonal beers, with the one from February called the Adulterator. Everything they make is amazing. The only problem is, if you care, Kentucky allows smoking indoors in establishments, so some people get pretty grumbly about that, but they also have a great sized beer garden outside that you can hang out in. Did I mention they serve beer in liters? Yeah.

edit: Oh gently caress I almost forgot. The Moerlein lager house is right next to GAB, and it is also pretty drat amazing. Definitely worth a trip, especially if you went to a morning game, since their food is great. A smidge expensive, but thats not that surprising.

Lobsterboy fucked around with this message at 05:54 on Jul 20, 2013

# ? Jul 20, 2013 05:49

Koruthaiolos: Nov 21, 2002

GreenCard78 posted:

The short answer to the beer point is that you won't. Period. Miller bought the rights to stadium and has a pretty tight grasp. They allow specific things, such as competing directly with Coors. Blue Moon and Heineken are the "better beers" allowed. Bud products are only allowed to be sold by a few people, I think just the vendors (dudes who walk around with buckets) and not by any kind of stands. You can pretty much forget about most craft beers. All this info comes from a club level bartender there.

About the Yankees gear, welcome to Maryland/DC where New Yorkers come to vacation.

There are a bunch of places sprinkled throughout the stadium with other options. I know there are quite a few Sam Adams including one vendor that only had 4 varieties of Sam, and I've gotten Dogfish Head there. I've seen some other craft brews around too. They are hard to find and there will only be like 1 stand in the park for each so it is a bit of a pain to get exactly what you want.

# ? Jul 20, 2013 12:27

ElwoodCuse: Jan 11, 2004; we're puttin' the band back together

There's a Hofbrau Haus in Pittsburgh and it owns, it's two rivers away from PNC Park but you can just have a couple liters of beer and decide to watch the game on one of their TVs anyway.

# ? Jul 21, 2013 01:32

The broken bones: Jan 3, 2008; Out beyond winning and losing, there is a field.

I will meet you there.

I'm not sure if it was said or not, but I just want to make sure it's clear for anyone visiting dodger stadium.

You CANNOT buy outfield seats and move down to the infield seats. The gates are completely separate. There's no walkway connecting the two.

Additionally, there's very few actual ways to get from top deck to any section below and security is pretty drat good at making sure people don't move down. If you buy a ticket at top deck, you can move to reserved for food options, but you can't get any lower. They check tickets every time and will tell you to go back to your seats. If you have field level seats, you can move up anywhere, though.

# ? Jul 22, 2013 17:43

Red: Apr 15, 2003; Yeah, great at getting us into Wawa.

The broken bones posted:

I'm not sure if it was said or not, but I just want to make sure it's clear for anyone visiting dodger stadium.

You CANNOT buy outfield seats and move down to the infield seats. The gates are completely separate. There's no walkway connecting the two.

Additionally, there's very few actual ways to get from top deck to any section below and security is pretty drat good at making sure people don't move down. If you buy a ticket at top deck, you can move to reserved for food options, but you can't get any lower. They check tickets every time and will tell you to go back to your seats. If you have field level seats, you can move up anywhere, though.

Old Yankee stadium did this too. If you'd never been to the park before, bought bleacher seats, and wanted to walk around the park, you were boned.

# ? Jul 22, 2013 17:58

The broken bones: Jan 3, 2008; Out beyond winning and losing, there is a field.

I will meet you there.

I just finished my road trip, which I shortened drastically so I could be back in LA before the beginning of August.

Here's the entire thing.

It was a mix of baseball parks and national parks. I wanted to get Safeco and AT&T out of the way so I wouldn't have to take another trip later in life to do them. I'm cross-posting the national parks into the travel subforum (eventually). Here's the ballparks trip.

bradzilla posted:

Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners | More Info

OK, Safeco was a bit of a mess. Tickets were expensive regardless of how they were paid for.

First thing's first: parking. A lot of the stupid touristy poo poo in Seattle is within a few blocks of each other--Pike's Place, first Starbucks, Space Needle, etc. It's pretty easy to park downtown all day for about 10-15 bucks and hike or take the light rail. Take heed, it's a long hike. I, on the other hand, remarkably paid for meter parking in downtown, which is 4 bucks an hour, and then parked south of the stadium on fourth street, which was GREAT advice. Lots there are 5-10 bucks; if you go far south enough and follow the locals, you can even find parking for free. The entrance to the I-5 is RIGHT THERE too.

I sat nosebleeds in the outfield and tried to move up. Nosebleeds are loving terrible. They charge 15 bucks for the second level of the OUTFIELD. I bought them through the team because no one wants to buy tickets to see the mariners enough to sell them below market rate. OH MY GOD those are terrible seats. That is remarkably bad. there are literally no seats better than that at the price.

After sitting there through the fourth, tried to move up to a spot where the moon wasn't an obstruction. I moved to the right field first level when an usher had his back turned. Unfortunately, another usher caught me and said basically we don't like being patronized; maybe you could ask. I sheepishly went to a section behind home plate and asked and the usher said "OK, but only in the four rows closest to the concourse." I guess it worked out pretty well, although it was tough getting a good panoramic shot without getting the seats above us obstructing it.

I didn't eat there because I wasn't giving any more money to a team that demanded 15 bucks for those lovely seats.

And then we left quickly because holy poo poo those seahawks swarm the stadium. they do NOT mess around as soon as the game is over.

I gotta say, for all of the amazing new ballparks in the US now, this was kinda ho-hum. There were good sight lines and the new board was cool, but really, it was pedestrian.

The memorial for Dave Niehaus is really cool, though.

bradzilla posted:

AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants | More Info | Even More Info!

AT&T was the last park I went to. I was there yesterday. I was with a friend who knew the area well.

We took the metro and N was definitely the easiest way to go. 2 bucks to get there, 2 bucks to get back. It worked perfectly.

For tickets, one thing I didn't notice mentioned was scalpers. Scalpers hang out across the street from the main entrance of the park (where it says "welcome to AT&T PARK"). Just look for a guy saying "tickets TICKETS!!!" Considering how they've had about 200 consecutive sell outs, this was the place to be. If you're willing to wait until 10 minutes after first pitch, you can get GREAT seats for about half of the cost. As with all scalpers, go in with a set amount of money and what you're looking for. DO NOT haggle over price. Say "I have this much" and if they're not the right tickets, pass. Be willing to walk away.

The park itself is gorgeous. I ended up getting two unconnected tickets for about 30 bucks each and saw the first pitch. My friend and I walked around the concourse, had a beer, shot the poo poo. Even though we were laughing at the Giants falling apart, everyone was incredibly kind to us throughout the game. My mom warned me about giants fans from the Candlestick days, and this was definitely not the same group of fans. We eventually found two seats unused together, though one had a partially-obstructed view (how do you build a modern park from scratch and not prepare for that?), and had some conversations with the knowledgeable fans around us.

The sad thing about AT&T is you know the park would be a lot more amazing if it weren't so crowded. The concourses get a bit cluttered and the lines for everything are long. The lines at the food plaza behind the scoreboard though weren't terrible and the Anchor Steam bar was goddamn great. I got an Anchor Porter. I was in heaven. It was 10 bucks for a 8 ounce cup, though.

We tried really hard to move to the lower section, but ushers are particularly prickly. Even trying to give the usher a sob story about how I was never going to be at the park ever again, I was told "well that's a shame, but too bad." This sucked because there were PLENTY of open seats on the lower levels and almost none open on the top level.

The details in the park really make it: the team-division flags, the championship banners on the crown of the stadium, the soda bottle slides, the fake fisherman's wharf eateries, the view of the ocean, the boats in the cove, etc. We even saw some of the boats from the Americas Cup. It's a shame such an awful team plays there. And will forever.

_{where we sat for a few innings with partially-obstructed viewing}

bradzilla posted:

Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies

I found Coors surprisingly underrated.

Let me start with this first, though: do NOT buy beer inside the park. The entire district around the park has no less than six goddamn breweries, all within a half-mile. I'm not joking. Great Divide, Breckenridge, etc., are all right there. Denver is a beer city and it's putting the rest of us to shame. Not only that, but there's a lot of great places to eat nearby. Someone suggested Southern Hospitality to me, which is BBQ, but I opted for breweries first. I ended up going to The Lobby, which was across the street from Great Divide. Pretty decent food and happy hour selections. Great Divide was excellent and, even though I know some of the locals don't think it's the best they have to offer, the staff know their stuff and can talk to you about what they have. A rack (3) of samplers is three bucks. I ended up talking to a server named Corey, red hair and beard guy, about the difference between the pale ale and the IPA and he gave me an extra sampler.

The park itself is a lot of fun to walk around. The whole brick thing is cool and the city's gone through lengthy measures just to show you how cool it is. There are a ton of great views not only of the park, but of the city from the park. I highly recommend going early and walking the entire neighborhood and park.

Parking is awful. There's a $10 lot near the stadium, but you're not gonna be able to leave easily. Be VERY CAREFUL about parking in hotels--parking isn't necessarily free if you stay there. Our hotel charged me an extra 25 bucks for parking on top of the 187 for the hotel room (Do not stay at the Crowne Royal).

The tickets can be pretty pricey, but we found tickets behind home plate on a giveaway day on a Friday night for 55 bucks each the morning of. Not too shabby.

_{our seats}

The food is excellent. We had a hot dog and some fries, which we'd heard a lot about. It was a pretty drat hot dog decent, but not as good as a Dodger Dog.

_{I've always loved their out of town scoreboard}

Maybe the funniest thing about Coors is how everything is a home run. We have a joke in LA about how every fan looks uneducated because everybody thinks as soon as the ball is in the air it's a home run. Well, in Coors, it is. I swear, I saw two hits--one by Fowler and one by Alfonso Soriano--that I thought were easy pop flies. They just kept going, though. It was ridiculous.

It makes for a more fun game, though!

All in all, this was a great experience.

bradzilla posted:

Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks

I was blown away by this stadium.

I found a hotel walking distance to the park. This was a mistake as the city of Phoenix is man's attempt to defy nature and failing miserably. i cannot believe this city was built. I had sweated through my shirt within the first block.

By the time we got inside, though, they had enough air conditioning to take care of that. Thank goodness.

Being inside reminds you what a feat of architecture it is. It's one giant jewel box. The scoreboards and out of town scores are placed perfectly in view and there's really not that many bad seats. i found my seats for 31 bucks on stubhub. 31 bucks! Directly in line with first base! And it was a giveaway day! And it was a Saturday!!!

These seats:

The broken bones posted:

A lot of the sight obstructions were already dealt with before the stadium was built: there are no stanchions or pillars blocking view and the walkways for vendors are lowered a few feet. The concourses are wide and easy to navigate. There's very little wrong with this stadium. Except maybe middle aged dudes chilling in the pool.

I've seen 18 ballparks now. This is how I'd rate them:

(Dodger Stadium not included since I'm biased)

1. PNC Park
2a. New Busch
2b. Chase
4. Citifield
5. Coors
6. Miller
7. Wrigley
8. The Jake
9. AT&T
10. New Yankee
11. Petco
12. US Cellular
13. Safeco
14. Comerica
15. Angel Stadium
16. ~~Metrodome~~
17. O.Co

The broken bones fucked around with this message at 09:51 on Jul 30, 2013

# ? Jul 30, 2013 09:48

bradzilla: Oct 15, 2004

Updated the OP with all this new info.

# ? Jul 30, 2013 14:37

Bobby Cox: Nov 3, 2006; College Slice

Cool trip!

I just booked a west coast baseball trip with my friend to see the Dodgers, Angels and Padres, and I'll definitely be using this thread as a reference for tickets (those AYCE seats at Dodger Stadium sound awesome). It's also my first time leaving the east coast so I'm ecstatic

Anyone have anything to offer about Angels Stadium?

Bobby Cox fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Jul 30, 2013

# ? Jul 30, 2013 17:59

Abner Assington: Mar 13, 2005; For I am a sinner in the hands of an angry god. Bloody Mary, full of vodka, blessed are you among cocktails. Pray for me now, at the hour of my death, which I hope is soon.

Amen.

Lobsterboy posted:

I'm not really versed enough to write a full on post about Great American Ballpark, I've only been there a handful of times, but I will give you one piece of advice if you ever go there.

Park at the Newport in Kentucky. Its a few dollars, I want to say like $3 all day, if that, rarely gets super crowded, and its a total family area by day (with the aquarium and restaurants and such) and a pretty great place to hang out and drink at night. Its MAYBE a 10-15min walk across the Ohio river on the Purple People Bridge, stupid scenic, and you can wander over to the Cincinnatus statue.

The highlight of this opportunity, other than stupid cheap parking almost literally directly off the highway, in a secure area of the city that you are stupidly safe in, is that AFTER the game, you can go to THE HOFBRAU HAUS. Its a gigantic drinking hall with amazing german food, and even better german beer that is made ON SITE. Well, actually, some of the beer is shipped from Germany itself, so thats p loving baller. They do seasonal beers, with the one from February called the Adulterator. Everything they make is amazing. The only problem is, if you care, Kentucky allows smoking indoors in establishments, so some people get pretty grumbly about that, but they also have a great sized beer garden outside that you can hang out in. Did I mention they serve beer in liters? Yeah.

edit: Oh gently caress I almost forgot. The Moerlein lager house is right next to GAB, and it is also pretty drat amazing. Definitely worth a trip, especially if you went to a morning game, since their food is great. A smidge expensive, but thats not that surprising.

To be specific, taking the Purple People Bridge (ugh) is kind of the long way to GABP--you can park at/around Newport on the Levee and just walk across the Southgate bridge.

(I'm a Newport resident and it kind of owns, despite my seemingly perpetual unemployment.)

# ? Jul 30, 2013 19:24

Good Dog: Oct 16, 2008; Who threw this cat at me?; Clapping Larry

thoraxfetish.com posted:

Anyone have anything to offer about Angels Stadium?

Any particular questions you have?

I typically buy tickets in the 400/500 sections behind home plate (between like 515 and 525) because I'm a cheapskate and can usually get them for less than 15 a pop on angelsticketexchange (angels don't support stubhub and I haven't tried buying from them since they switched). Which is funny because the stubhub build is right across the street. :v:

Be weary of sitting on the down the lines because some of the seats in the outfield are not angled well and face the outfield, everyone's necks were hurting from having to look 45* to the home plate area. Some of the Trout farm seats (LF area near the bullpens) have an obstructed view to the outfield because of the bullpens so you probably can't see the center fielder depending on your seat.

You can park for free on rampart (I think I made a post earlier about it) if you get there early enough (about 1.5hr before first pitch, minimum), make sure you're on the stadium side of the green line/no parking sign because you'll get a ticket if you're on the Orange (city) end of the road. Stadium parking is 10 bucks and is pretty easy to get in and out of since its a giant parking lot with like 10+ lanes at each of the 4 exits.

Beer will run you at least 10 bucks depending on where you get it. The main stadium vendors just have Coors and maybe one other type, but there are lots of carts/smaller vendors will have your craft/specialty/mixed drinks. I don't ever buy food there (you can bring in whatever you want) but the garlic fries are good. Plenty of chain restaurants inside. The Clyde Wright bbq is terrible and overpriced. "The Hot Corner" near the 3B bag on the field level looks like it has pretty good food but I've never eaten there.

Food before/after the game there is oldtown Orange/the Orange circle within a mile of the stadium and has lots of eateries.

Best ice cream in Orange County is Joe's Italian Ice on Harbor about a mile or two south of disneyland. It is amazing.

Padres have fun parking and enjoy your time in the Gaslamp because your car will be stuck in the garages for awhile if you don't take the trolleys to the stadium. The Gaslamp owns though.

# ? Jul 30, 2013 19:52

The broken bones: Jan 3, 2008; Out beyond winning and losing, there is a field.

I will meet you there.

thoraxfetish.com posted:

Cool trip!

I just booked a west coast baseball trip with my friend to see the Dodgers, Angels and Padres, and I'll definitely be using this thread as a reference for tickets (those AYCE seats at Dodger Stadium sound awesome). It's also my first time leaving the east coast so I'm ecstatic

Anyone have anything to offer about Angels Stadium?

Have a great time! If you let me know what dates you're in LA, I may be able to get some tickets for you.

_{there's a lot to like about the photo}

Angela Stadium:

Getting there: Look, you're gonna be driving in. There's no other alternative. The 5 and 57 drop you off right at the stadium. If you're coming from LA, it might be smarter to take the 57 depending on traffic. Use Waze.

Parking: Good Dog said it best.

Tickets: Look for tickets on Stubhub, since most people seem to be selling their tickets now and for pretty cheap. Scalpers do exist (outside the stadium's parking lot on Katella and orangewood), but I mean really, you're not gonna get ripped off going to an Angels game right now unless you don't know the face value of a ticket. Just check the stadium's price to the stubhub price for a match.

Seating: Since they're playing so bad, you might be able to squeeze some first level seats behind home plate for about 50 bucks. This is your best bet. Even second level seats behind home plate for 50 bucks are pretty drat good. To put it bluntly, there's no good bang-for-the-buck seats right now. The sun sets on third base first, so make sure if you're going to a day game or a late afternoon game to sit on the third base side. This makes the outfield seating that much worse.

Angels aren't particularly stingy when it comes to ushers and moving down, but I think MLB is cracking down on this league-wide since I've had so much trouble with it lately. It seems like it's easier to move from the first level outfield section to the first level infield section. You might have better luck, but just be aware. If you do buy outfield seats, though, I'm about 98% sure the concourse is connected, so yes, you might be able to move down. YMMV

Food: It's the same stuff you find at every stadium. Burgers, fries, hot dogs, popcorn, etc. There's nothing too special about it. It stinks even more because there isn't good food outside the stadium either. (although good dog is saying orange is a lot cooler now than back in the day, so trust him)

The fans: The Angels fans are mostly placid folk who like baseball. You might find them a little more hardcore than a few years ago since this string of failure is weeding out the people who don't really care that much, but there's some really cool old fans who have the halo caps and stuff and will talk your ear off.

Miscellaneous: There's not much else to say about this stadium. It's always lived in Dodger Stadium's shadow and probably always will, mostly because it's almost the same, concrete bricks and everything, and was built a few years after. The Big A is kinda cool and the enormous hat is stupid, but there's not a lot else to enjoy from the stadium itself.

It's been a few years since I've been, though, so please come back and update us when you go

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:13

Xenophon: Jun 28, 2003; by FactsAreUseless; Grimey Drawer

thoraxfetish.com posted:

Anyone have anything to offer about Angels Stadium?

I've been to Angel Stadium more than any other, so I guess I can say a few things.

Los Angeles Angels Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim

_{The White Sox were up 8-0 when this was taken. These are about the cheapest seats you can get. I have better recommendations below.}

Transportation/Parking
This is Socal, so you're pretty much going to have to get there by car. Presumably a bus or a train or something goes there, but I've never seen it. Fortunately there are a number of freeways that pass by the stadium. The 57 and 5 both go right by it, but if you're on the 91 or the 55 you're better off just getting off the 91 at State College or the 55 at Katella instead of dealing with getting onto a new freeway just to go 2-3 exits.

I've always found parking at the stadium to be extremely easy and relatively cheap compared to a lot of stadiums ($10, make sure you bring cash). You can usually clear out really fast and unless there's construction the freeways won't be jammed up either. The downside of putting a gigantic parking lot around the stadium is that it's not particularly scenic. You can also find $5 parking places in commercial lots around the stadium if you don't mind a long walk.

Tickets
It sounds like you already have tickets, but for the rest of youse, there really there aren't many *bad* seats. If you're way up in the upper deck on the right field side you'll be miserable as the sun sets and you're so far away from the ball that you end up watching the fielders to see where it went, but otherwise you're fine. Third-base side if you're worried about the sun. I really like the 400-level seats right above the bases - they're relatively cheap but you feel like you're hanging right over the action. I also personally love the seats by the foul poles but that goes for every stadium and I'm a weirdo. 200-level seats past the foul poles have some janky views. If you're in a big group, the Trout Farm thing seems nifty (it's like King Felix's Court but not as cool). You don't see a lot of scalpers, since it's a big parking lot and then the stadium, but they're there, usually north of the park by the cheaper parking lots. Stubhub or their new ticket exchange service is probably your best bet, though.

Atmosphere
Get a picture with the gigantic red hats out front - if you're going to be a tourist, might as well go all the way. The outfield rocks are very pretty as well.

People are very friendly here - last time I was there the parking guy started this long rambling speech about how great the White Sox logo was and how classy it felt and all this other unexpected stuff. Fights are pretty rare and usually seem to be instigated by drunk fans of other teams (sadly White Sox fans at Angel Stadium have their fair share of this blame). Dodgers/Angels interleague games can get a bit testy, otherwise no one is ever rude or mean about your team, no matter how crappy they're playing.

In any stadium you get all sorts of people, but Angel Stadium seems to gear more towards families than any other demographic. There are also lots of yuppies there who are there for baseball as an ~event~ rather than for the game. That's not to say you won't ever see obnoxious drunks or people that really know their poo poo, it's just not as pronounced as some other places I have been to (well, US Cellular One).

The consequence of this is that there is a lot of poo poo going on other than baseball at Angel Stadium - there are all sorts of things for kids in particular to do (video games, radar gun to see your pitching velocity, etc). There are also plenty of scoreboard shenanigans and kiss-cams and all that. The lights tell you to MAKE SOME NOISE practically every third pitch. Advertisements are ubiquitous and intrusive. Everyone is carrying around their stupid rally monkeys, hoping the Angels will be losing so they can wave them around. That loving monkey shows up in these stupid videos, too. Ugh. gently caress. Anyways. If you're getting a promotional item, good, because they always seem to be of a pretty high quality and they have some pretty unique ones, like my luchador mask (the world series replica ring was garbage though). Fridays are fireworks night and they do put on a really, really good fireworks show.

Food
I haven't really eaten much there because it's expensive (as you would expect). Peanuts were $6 last time I went. There are a lot of chain restaurants and the like, although CPK is gone now (or was last time I went). No items really stick out to me as must-haves but again I'm pretty poorly-versed here. You can bring in food. There's not a lot of food or drink before or after the game within walking distance, either; this isn't a downtown-y kind of ballpark like Petco. But maybe some of the other guys know of someplace to go?

Some other guys should chip in as well.

e: oh good they did

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:15

Combo: Aug 19, 2003

At PNC now and its by far the best we've hit on this trip so far..helps that we are right by first base. Area around the ballpark absolutely owns.

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:29

Jose Oquendo: Jun 20, 2004; Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie

Combo posted:

At PNC now and its by far the best we've hit on this trip so far..helps that we are right by first base. Area around the ballpark absolutely owns.

Hit up Primantis.
Go to the Rivertowne restaurant and get the donut burger.
Give Sax Man a couple bucks on your way out (he's on the Clemente Bridge).

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:33

Combo: Aug 19, 2003

Joe Don Baker posted:

Hit up Primantis.
Go to the Rivertowne restaurant and get the donut burger.
Give Sax Man a couple bucks on your way out (he's on the Clemente Bridge).

We passed him on the way in. We stopped and ate in market square, weingardt's I think, it was drat good

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:36

Good Dog: Oct 16, 2008; Who threw this cat at me?; Clapping Larry

Yeah I forgot to mention that it is really easy to move into the lower sections. Ushers rarely hassle you can you can typically get by them when their backs are turned or if you're in a large group or carrying food/drinks back ("hands are full, can't grab my ticket").

Downtown Orange is okay and I only mention it as a last resort because there really is nothing else around. I've been there a few times and it is pleasant but not the same kind of atmosphere you'd get at the gaslamp or something like that. I'd say its pretty yuppie. Theres a reason its made so easy to get on the freeway and go somewhere else.

But seriously, Joes Italian Ice owns big time. Get a Joe Latte.

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:38

The broken bones: Jan 3, 2008; Out beyond winning and losing, there is a field.

I will meet you there.

Combo posted:

We passed him on the way in. We stopped and ate in market square, weingardt's I think, it was drat good

Is he still playing the Sanford and Sons theme?

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:40

Abner Assington: Mar 13, 2005; For I am a sinner in the hands of an angry god. Bloody Mary, full of vodka, blessed are you among cocktails. Pray for me now, at the hour of my death, which I hope is soon.

Amen.

The broken bones posted:

Is he still playing the Sanford and Sons theme?

Okay, that owns.

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:41

The broken bones: Jan 3, 2008; Out beyond winning and losing, there is a field.

I will meet you there.

Abner Assington posted:

Okay, that owns.

he plays the gently caress out of that sax. And then between songs he'll make jokes. he's amazing.

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:43

Jose Oquendo: Jun 20, 2004; Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie

Yeah. I always make sure to hang on to a 5 spot or something so I can hook him up.

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:44

ElwoodCuse: Jan 11, 2004; we're puttin' the band back together

Sax Man's #1 jam is the Addams family theme punctuated with "Don't be cheap!"

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:44

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# ? Apr 26, 2024 06:03

Combo: Aug 19, 2003

The broken bones posted:

he plays the gently caress out of that sax. And then between songs he'll make jokes. he's amazing.

He was pretty drat good, but we have those in st. Louis too

# ? Jul 30, 2013 20:44

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