See-At-Uhl

I arrived on what I thought of as a typical Seattle day. It was windy, a bit chilly and overcast. Karen (my Garmin’s Australian voice option) and I have been getting on great lately but I do have to share a bit of our personal lives. You know how when you spend a lot of time living with a person you start to notice their idiosyncrasies that really endear them to your heart? Well, Karen has captured mine lately. First she started talking about a lot of doctors and I couldn’t understand it. Well, I guess in her homeland they do not have a road called a “drive” like a street or avenue. So I first noticed something was off when she told me to turn “Leahft onto doctah mahtin lootha king doctah.” I finally figured out she meant to turn onto Dr. Martin Luther King DRIVE because the abbreviation on the Garmin was “Dr.” Oh lord did we share a chuckle over that one!

I also find her humorous when she says funny Australian pronunciations like “Aihpoht Boo-le-vahd” for airport boulevard. Classic. She also had a gem when she was directing me from the airport to Sarah’s house. She kept telling me to make a right or continue onto Western Australia five hundred and eighteen. That’s because I was in the state of Washington trying to merge onto WA-518! Oh Karen, will you ever learn??

Game Notes:

Before the game Sarah and I walked down to the water. It was the first time I had ever seen the Pacific Ocean up close and personal (technically it was the Puget Sound but I really think we’re splitting hairs at this point). We went to happy hour at Elliot’s and I tried my first oyster ever. It wasn’t that bad but I didn’t have any more. From there we walked to the park and passed Quest Field (home of the Seattle Seahawks) on the way. The outside of Safeco field is somewhat similar to Yawkey way. There are sausage/hot dog/peanut vendors outside as well as some people playing music in the streets and a generally boisterous atmosphere.

The game was not sold out but still exceptionally crowded. We were told at the ticket window that it was Ichiro bobble-head night and the cheapest seats we could get were $22.00 “obstructed view”. Of course, as opposed to being directly behind a pole like Fenway we only had a small railing to contest with. Either way, Safeco was still the fullest park I’ve been to at this point. After receiving our bobble-heads (which can now be found on eBay for $149.99) we stayed in our own seats for pretty much the entire game.

Safeco Field has offered the most unique food to this point. The park is permeated by the smell of garlic because of all the garlic fries they sell. To be honest, I hadn’t ever seen garlic fries, at a ballgame or not.

I had a couple but I couldn’t imagine eating an entire plate full. They also had the coolest/most unique thing I’ve seen. They’re called “shishkaberries” and it’s 5 chocolate covered strawberries on a stick!!

Safeco also offered patrons Sushi, Sake and the Ichiroll!! I took a picture of that too but you’re going to have to take my word for it since this blogspot website hates when I try to post more than 5-6 pictures.

The architecture at Safeco Field seemed to fit the area. To me it felt a lot like the old mills in Lowell with giant beams and brick prevalent at every turn. Behind the stadium is a rail yard and throughout the game whenever a train would pass through its horn would sound very loudly for all to hear. To be honest, that was kind of annoying. We took a lap around the stadium and despite the dimensions of the field being pretty average, all of the seats felt very close to the action. Even 20 rows back in right field was a fantastic view and if it weren’t for Ichiro’s Plastic Head we probably would have had a great vantage point to watch the game.

Before we get to some good things and bad things about Safeco I need to pose a question to the masses about the Mariners’ mascot. So the name of the team is the “Seattle Mariners”, right? That is similar to the New England Patriots or the Boston Celtics, whereby the mascot is a “patriot” or a “celtic”, right? Logically, you would think that the Seattle mascot is a “mariner”, maybe some tough old Gorton’s fisherman lookalike with an eye patch and a wooden leg, no? Well, you’d be wrong. The mascot is a friggin moose! The “Mariner Moose” roams foul territory and tries to pump up fans with various antics (coincidentally, this is the same moose that last year almost ran over Coco Crisp with an ATV). Does that make ANY sense to you? It’s like a double negative or something, no? I’m dumbfounded and if anyone can proffer an explanation it would be greatly appreciated!

High Points:

-The Ichiro bobble head I got was pretty cool. The highest price I’ve seen on eBay so far is 49.99 and that totally could pay for our tickets…hmmmm.

-I know there are other stadiums in the majors that do this but at Safeco you can walk right up to a fence at “ground level” with the bullpen to watch the relievers warm up.

-Safeco has had the most unique food offerings so far. The shishkaberries and garlic fries are one of a kind so far, not to mention they sold local BBQ food and various hot dogs and sausages with somewhat unique toppings. Also… the Ichiroll! – haha!

-To go with the point above, the garlic smell that filled the park was quite intoxicating – in a good way.

-The grounds crew had 5 members that instead of raking the field did a completely choreographed dance to a Michael Jackson song. They were really good.

-Around the 3rd or 4th inning there was a strikeout with no men on base. The Seattle catcher went to throw the ball “around the horn” and ended up throwing the ball over the third baseman’s head and into left field. He was jeered by his own hometown fans. I had never seen that happen at any level; high comedy.

-During the 7th inning one lucky fan is awarded a free trip to Vegas, like, right then and there. Well, the guy who won was only a few rows above us in a bright green, 1980’s Celtics jacket, just like the one Riley has. Because I had a Red Sox hat on he asked me to take a picture of him with his daughter right before they left for the airport. As I was snapping a fan above us yelled “get a new jacket!”…I resisted the urge to turn around and tell the guy to “get a new team!” in light of the rather dicey situation surrounding the Sonics. I bit my tongue but in any other city that would have been hysterical.

-The highly unlikely speedboat outcome (those who were there know what I'm talkin about!)

-Really don’t think I’m going to find this stand at any other park!


Low Points:

-Safeco Field is rather expensive. Import beers reached up to $8.50 with domestics only marginally discounted at $8.00. And we’re talking bottles, not drafts.

-The aforementioned train whistles throughout the entire game.

-The dimensions of the seating areas were just like Turner and Coors fields. Not to say this is a knock on Safeco specifically but that’s getting a little boring.

-The game was crowded and that’s all well and good when fans are engaged and the game is competitive but I got the sense these people were only there for their free bobble head.

-They had payphones! WTF??

-They didn’t close the retractable roof but then again, that did provide a pretty good view of the Seattle skyline.

-I debated where to put this anecdote…it ended up here. Behind us there was a young fan (female, age ~5) who wanted to cheer on her team. She was kind of cute to begin with but eventually her cheering made my skin crawl. Granted, it’s hard to shoehorn the three-syllable Mar-in-ers into a coherent cheer but she just made a mess all over the floor with it. There was a constant stream of “LETSGOMARINERS” (and if I could have used less space between those letters, I would have) with no rhythm, cadence or timing. She’s 5, fine, but man it seems like there’s one kid at every park who stands out and she certainly represented Safeco!

Overall Grade: B

Game Stats:

Teams: Mariners vs. Athletics
Final Score: 4-3 Athletics
WP: Dana Eveland
LP: Miguel Batista
S: Houston Street
Time: 3:14
Announced Attendance: 40,845
Ticket Price: $22.00
Parking Price: N/A

Trip Stats:

Home team record: 2-3
Best Anthem: Tropicana Field
Miles Driven: 1,928
States Visited: 6
Beds slept in: 7
Next Stop: San Francisco Giants
Favorite Park: Coors Field

Denver: WOW!!

I flew from Atlanta to Denver, with a stopover in Phoenix, to see the Rockies play the Cubs at Coors Field. The day was largely uneventful except for the bothersome annoyance of my second flight being operated by a different airline. This meant I had to switch terminals (which in Phoenix is no easy task since the airport is laid out over 38 sq. miles) and go through security all over again. I haven’t been checking baggage so it’s kind of stressful to fish out my laptop and liquids bag every time I go through a metal detector. Time out, I’ll wait for you all to go get your tiny violins.

Anyway, Denver rocks!! I really really wish I had more time to check out the city some more. I went for a run in the mile-high air and was gone for over an hour. I just kept turning down the next street corner, and the next, and the next. The city is undergoing a lot of construction of new condo’s and apartments but it also has some of that “old-timey western” feel to it with really wide streets and buildings with facades like something you would see in a Clint Eastwood flick. Everything was clean, people were really friendly and the public transportation seemed abundant. Plus there were bars and good restaurants (like Chipotle!) everywhere as well. Go Denver, you get an A.

As another added bonus, I drove from my hotel to the game and it took all of 3 minutes! I knew I was close to the stadium but didn’t know HOW close. So instead of paying $10 to park, I just turned around and walked back to the game. That also meant I could be a little more liberal on the amount of original Coors Banquet beers I consumed :-)

Game Notes:


As for the Rockies game…tremendous! This was by far the best baseball game I’ve been to on the trip. It was back and forth all night, the crowd was into it (when the scoreboard told them to be; more on that later), the weather was perfect and the finish was exciting. The Cubs ended up winning in extra innings (of note: it was the franchise’s 10,000th victory) but I didn’t mind that much. There were probably as many Cubs fans as Rockies fans in the stadium and when the dueling chants got going (“Let’s go Cub-ies” vs. “Let’s go Rock-ies”) it was pretty confusing.

Coors Field is really nice. The concession areas and lower levels are very similar to Turner Field (for those of you who’ve been) but there are many things unique about the park. They have a lot of Mexican food/burrito stands, they serve Coors Banquet beer, the bullpen is an oasis.


And the backdrop is the Rocky Mountains fercryinoutloud! This picture doesn’t really do it justice but you get the idea.


The prices in Denver are pretty decent. I’m sure most of you are familiar with Domino’s $5/$5/$5 deal? Well, in the mile-high city it’s a $4/$4/$4 deal! That carried over to the ballpark as well. 21oz. draft beers were $6.25 which, based on price per ounce, marginally trumps the $8.00/24oz. at the Trop. Also, all hot dogs and such were on average .50 to .75 cheaper than the other stadiums. I had a Rockies Dog (footlong, peppers, onions, kraut) for $5.25. If I had got my tickets in advance I probably could have sat in the “Rock Pile” which are bleachers in center field for $4.00. All of this is relevant, right?

I almost got hit with another batting practice home run. Alfonso Soriano was CRUSHING the ball while I was checking out the bullpen oasis in center field. Well, yours truly was taking one of about 15 pictures of the bullpen and a ball was headed straight for my head when out of nowhere a Cubs fan with a glove jumped up on the bleachers one row in front of me to snag the ball. I’ve got to pay more attention if I’m going to keep doing this whole bp thing. PS, Soriano also has a bazooka attached to his shoulder. I mean, that guy can THROW.

BP behind the safety of a net:


High Points:

-All of the streets around the stadium are closed off and local bars have game day specials such as 5 beers for $14 and there are games for kids as well.

-The scenery around the park is going to be hard to beat.

-Everyone who was at the game that night got a “Go Rockies” towel. It looked kinda cool when everyone was waving them at the same time.

-Coors Field has felt the most like a true “baseball stadium” so far. It was all about the baseball, people were friendly, the game was great, the park was unique and everything inside was relevant.

-They had a special food section and playground just for kids (please, no short jokes)


-The seats along the baselines are angled towards home plate and they have cup holders.

-After the game I went to a bar across the street to watch the Nuggets/Lakers game with a bunch of Denver fans. The Nuggets got blown out but it was still fun to get into the game.

Low Points:

-The ushers were nowhere near as bad as those at Turner Field but they were still sticks in the mud about some things. I saw a lot of people getting kicked out of seats which weren’t theirs and they asked for your ticket every time you came to their section. However, if you put on a confident strut and headed directly towards “your” seats, they didn’t bother you.

-My biggest complaint with Coors Field was the scoreboard/graphics department in relation to the fans. The scoreboard was constantly playing these stupid songs and telling people to clap their hands or “make some noise” or “wave those towels.” Maybe I’m spoiled because Fenway doesn’t need to do those things but it seemed like people were just trained seals going through the motions. In a nail-biter of a game it shouldn’t have to be that way.

Overall Grade: B+

Game Stats:

Teams: Rockies vs. Cubs
Final Score: 7-6 Cubs
WP: Kerry Wood
LP: Kip Wells
S: Carlos Marmol
Time: 3:19
Announced Attendance: 36,864
Ticket Price: $18.00
Parking Price: N/A


Trip Stats:

Home team record: 2-2
Best Anthem: Tropicana Field
Miles Driven: 1064
States Visited: 3
Beds slept in: 5
Next Stop: Seattle Mariners

Favorite Park: Coors Field

Day 7: HOTlanta

After the Rays game I drove over to Orlando to stay with Jaime. I’d say Buckhunter and the Dungeon were the highlights of my time there.

All day Sunday was spent driving up to Georgia to stay with Natalie and Darrick. This blog is not going to turn political on you but I will say that based on the plethora of billboards on my drive northward I learned that “a heartbeat begins at 18 days” and “We Bare All” gentleman’s clubs give discounts to truckers. And that’s all I have to say about that.

The weather in the Peach State has been impeccable. I’m making every effort to counter the combination of beers/hot dogs and sitting in the car for hours at a time so Darrick told me about some great trails to run on by the Chattahoochee River. On Monday night Natalie and I went to the Braves/Nationals game and, as expected, there were some high points and some low points.

Game Notes:

Because I thought the offer was too good to be true, I bought our tickets online ahead of time. The Braves wanted $1 per outfield seat plus $3.05 in ticketmaster fees. For two tickets. Total. That’s just silly!!

We showed up around 5:30 for a 7:10 start. The parking lot has a huge wall that was the outfield fence at the old Fulton County Stadium. I thought that was a nice touch. Turner Field has some really nice security personnel as well as some downright Nazi, I’m sorry, nasty people working for them as well (more on that later). We did a lap around the field and I saw things like statues of Hank Aaron and Warren Spahn and the original names of the Braves teams. Most of you probably know they started in Boston and you probably know them as the Boston Braves. WELL…let me be the first to tell you they were also called by the following:

Boston Red Stockings (1871-1882)

Boston Beaneaters (1883-1906)

Boston Doves (1907-1910)

not sure why that one didn’t last!

Boston Rustlers (1911)

Boston Braves (1912-1935)

Boston Bees (1936-1940)

Boston Braves (1941-1952)

Then they took Boston out of the team name and moved to Milwaukee so I stopped paying attention.

I also saw this giant drum:

There were these division champion flags:


Keeping in mind the 1994 season was strike-shortened, that’s quite the impressive run, no?

Finally we sat down in some seats along the first baseline to take in some batting practice. A kindly old gentleman asked us if we needed help finding our seats and I told him we weren’t in that section, we just wanted to watch the batting practice. He said OK, but little did I know that was the start of an entire evening filled with battling ushers.

After the national anthem we went to get more hot dogs and beer. Upon sitting down in a new section in right field we were promptly asked for our tickets. When we told the usher we didn’t have tickets to that section he said he couldn’t let us sit there. Mind you, there was nobody else in that section of the stadium, nor in the two adjacent sections. Now, I know Mr. Turner has a business to run and he wouldn’t be making any money if he sold general admission tickets and let people choose where to sit, but from a fans perspective this went from frustrating, to annoying, to downright absurd in a matter of minutes. We left the section in right field and went upstairs to our section 421. Trying to avoid the blinding sun we entered one section over, at 419, whereupon we were greeted by another usher who asked to see our tickets. I said we were in section 421, showing him that my hands were full with beer and hot dogs. Don’t you know it? He couldn’t let us sit there. I motioned with my head up at the seats which were ENTIRELY EMPTY and asked “does it really matter?”


Apparently it does. We were shooed back to the next entrance, 421, where again we were asked for our tickets. I said we knew where we were going and we headed up to some empty row, not our seats. It didn’t end there.

After sitting through 7.5 innings in roughly our section, with about 15 other people, I decided I wanted to see the other side of the park. So we started walking through empty seats, about 15 rows up in the highest section of the park. Well guess what? We got 3 sections over before we were flagged down by an usher. “You can’t walk across there!” YEEEESH!!! Here we are, the stadium is less than 25% full and we’re still getting flagged down for walking across sections. I know, I know…business to run, etc. but c’mon! That was by far the worst part of Turner Field. Have some perspective.

High Points:

-There is a Drumline-esq band of high school students dressed in Braves gear that marches around and plays before the game. That was really cool. They also have a guy that whales on the big-ass drum mentioned above.

-The ticket prices for our section really cannot be beat. $1.00 per ticket is like giving them away…even if they do make you sit IN THAT SECTION.

-The Tomahawk Chop! I could not have been more excited about this. I was in the middle of bitching about the ushers when the Braves scored their first run. Immediately the drums started up and I was brought back to memories of middle school watching the entire stadium swinging their arms in unison. You bet I got into it!

-Upon entering the stadium they had a booth for kids to make signs. The best one of the night, which also got on the jumbotron, read “The Guy Behind Me Can’t See!! go braves”

-I know I just made fun of a little kid in my last post but it happened again. This time a little boy was watching a match game on the scoreboard where a person had to pick squares (i.e. “1 and 7” oh, they don’t match, how about “1 and 5”, etc.). Well, his dad was getting impatient and said “Chris, let’s go!” so the kid turns around and bursts into tears as he’s running back to his dad…”but I love these games!!!!” Maybe you had to be there, or maybe I’m just not a nice person. Either way, I had a hearty chuckle out of it.

Low Points:

-USHERS!!! Really, I needed them to have some perspective or put the situation into context and they just couldn’t. It was great that the Braves are employing 100’s of concessionaires for each game and an usher for every single section, but really, think about fan’s enjoyment for a minute if you can. Anyway, towards the end of the game we did get to the other side of the stadium to the Coke Sky Box where they have a basepath for kids to run and touch a base. Well, once all the little ones left I decided to get in on the action. I ran my 90 feet and was damn proud of it. Afterwards I started talking to the ushers a little bit and told them about the trip I’m on. They wanted to take a picture, so I did, even though I had some reservations and told them they were much cooler than the ushers down in right field. Here we are!

-Chicago Dog. This looked great on the menu, and maybe it even tasted OK at the time, but looking at this picture it’s just like “ughhhhhh”. Ya know?



-Natalie got stopped by a jerk cop outside the subway station trying to pick me up.

-Ushers.

-Turner Field has the same concession stands…over and over and over again. It’s kind of confusing if you’re not paying attention.

-The ushers, for me, were kind of a low point in the experience.

Overall Grade: B-
(Ushers: F)

Game Stats:

Teams: Braves vs. Nationals
Final Score: 7-3 Braves
WP: Tim Hudson
LP: Matt Chico
Time: 2:50
Announced Attendance: 16,706
Ticket Price: $2.50
Parking Price: $12.00

Trip Stats:

Home team record: 2-1
Miles Driven: 977
States Visited: 2
Beds slept in: 4
Next Stop: Colorado Rockies
Favorite Park: Tropicana Field

Dos for Tres

So Miami wasn’t all I thought it would be. Granted, I was basing my assumptions on the popular video game “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City”, but I still was unimpressed. I checked out the beach in the morning as I “continued to A1A”


But, contrary to popular belief, NOT “beachfront avenue.” It’s actually Collins Avenue in Miami.


After that amazing discovery I was done with Miami. I drove west across the state and was actually getting quite concerned with my gasoline consumption when that glorious orange triangle showed its pretty face. Thank god for Citgo and Carol’s gift card. After that it was smooth sailing up to St. Petersburg to stay with Nana and Papa.

After two sublime days of Nana’s home cooking, visiting with my cousin Jimmy, running and bike riding by Tampa Bay it was finally time to see another baseball game. I again walked right up to the Rays ticket window on game day at Tropicana Field and bought an $11.00 ticket to the “Rays Party Deck” (more details below).

Game Notes:


I showed up at 5 for a 7:10 start. The most important player in Friday’s lineup was right there on the bottom line:


There were some college kids at the game who looked like they hadn’t eaten in weeks. They were coming back to their seats with STACKS of dogs literally 10-12 high. It was disgusting, but I was jealous as all hell. I had my 4 and called it a night.

Rays stadium is definitely more “fan oriented” than Dolphin’s Stadium but it also caters towards families a bit too much for this guy’s liking. The walls are covered with cartoon characters and there are games galore for little kids, very similar to a carnival. I do have to say the staff was not creepy and they were very helpful.

First stop was the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame. This was pretty cool because I had heard so much about it but never made my way over to check it out. Also, admission was free (with your game ticket) and it wasn’t very crowded. There was a lot of info on Ted Williams’ personal life as well as his careers as a baseball player and service veteran.

Next stop was the Rays Touch Tank:


That was cool and since I was so early I didn’t have to wait. The tank is located in straightaway center field but don’t worry PETA, there is a net above the tank to protect our slimy little friends from any incoming home run balls.

Speaking of which...since I was early I decided to park in left field to watch some BP. About 5 minutes later a ball that was just foul found its way to the section over from me where nobody was sitting. I scampered over (just in front of the two anxious 10 year olds) and pocketed the ball (I’m a jerk)!!!


I have one other official ball I got when I was about 8 years old hanging out by the Sox bullpen after a game at Fenway. I haven’t got one since. Well, needless to say I was excited so I sat down to email Riley about my new find. Don’t you know if I hadn’t been such a giddy little school girl I would have ended up with a second ball! About 15 seconds after I sat down a homerun landed in the seat next to mine, one row back. I stood up and saw it coming but I had my cell phone in my hand and didn’t react quick enough to catch it. Somebody scooped it up before I really knew what had happened. Oh well, I still got one!

And now, just because…Topicana Field:


High Points:

-$1.00 hot dog night. I really don’t know if another stadium can top this kind of promotion.

-24oz. beers for $8. Other prices in general were what you’d expect from a smaller market team. They didn’t try to rip you off like those jerks in Miami.

-During warm-ups a really nice old man kept yelling to Jim Thome to autograph a picture he had taken of Thome’s 500th home run. Jim came over and did it!

-National Anthem was sung by someone in high school or maybe early college. She knocked it out of the park, even though we were in a dome…wrap your mind around that one!

-When I left a concessionaire a $2.00 tip for 2 dogs and a beer she squealed with delight, said “wooooooo, tippperrrrrrrrrrr!!” and then all of the rest of her colleagues joined in. Actually, I don’t know if that was a high point or a low point…it was pretty weird though.

-In between innings there was a Nintendo Wii homerun derby challenge. The contestants were an 8yr old and a college kid with a broken arm. The 8yr old had his turn and then the college kid was up, on the big screen, in front of 5,000 fans. Well, he won handily (frankly, I’m pretty sure he does nothing else with his time). The prize was a few Nintendo Wii games. He ran off screen, wooping, yelling, celebrating with his buddies and all that was left was an awkward scene involving the host/announcer and the INCREDIBLY DEVASTATED 8yr old. I mean, I really don’t know the last time I’ve seen someone look so sad. I know it’s really mean to say but it was really really funny.

Low Points:

-I sat in the “Party Deck” because, why not? I get up there before the game and I see this promotion for Dos Equis Beer:


“Wow! A bottle of beer for 3 bucks!! Plus dollar hot dogs?! This place is incredible.” So I realized I needed an ATM because all of my money was spent but I couldn’t get back down! All of the escalators on the top level led up and I was told they wouldn’t switch until the 7th inning. I asked a service gentleman if there was an ATM on the third floor and he said no. He did, however, take me into this sketchy hallway where we found a freight elevator that took us down a few levels so I could get some green. Seems like a pretty big design flaw though, no?

-Wait Matt, that last point doesn’t seem like a “low point”…WELL, I got my green (and a few dogs) and headed back upstairs only to find out that despite what the picture implies, the “Dos for Tres” deal is not a bottle of “Dos” but a shitty little 6-8oz. cup for 3 bucks! I was having none of that. Can we get someone to look into the false advertising implications here? Thanks.

-The Party Deck had loud rap music spun by a live DJ all night. Not exactly your grandfather’s “take me out to the ball game”, eh?

-The name of the stadium was changed from the timeless “Thunder Dome” to “Tropicana Field”. Definitely a low point.

Overall Grade: B

Game stats:

Teams: Rays vs. White Sox
Final Score: 9-2 White Sox
WP: Javier Vazquez
LP: Jeff Niemann
Time: 3:02
Announced Attendance: 12,379
Ticket Price: $11.00
Parking Price: $10.00

Trip Stats:

Home team record: 1-1
Miles Driven: 951
States Visited: 2
Beds slept in: 4
Next Stop: Atlanta Braves
Favorite Park: Tropicana Field

¡Bienvenido a Miami!

I’ll spare you the Will Smith lyrics and get right to the details…

In typical Wladyka fashion we showed up at the airport at 3:40 for a 5:00am flight. I had my boarding pass in hand within 10 minutes and tried my best not to nod off while waiting for the security personnel to begin their shift sometime after 4. The only mildly interesting thing to happen at the airport was the woman behind me going to San Juan who became nearly incredulous that the security person would need to see her ID before allowing her through the checkpoint. “Are you serious” she asked the kid checking her boarding pass. Hmm, fly much?

Uneventful flights, rental car and hotel check-in experiences. I will say that my new Garmin is a freaking life saver. Karen (the female Australian voice option) and I have had quite the trip so far and it’s only been 3 days. She may not always lead me down the most efficient path but she always knows how to get me out of trouble. So, if anyone from Garmin is reading this and you’d like some ad space I’d be happy to accommodate you for a discounted fee.

I got to my hotel mid-afternoonish so I scouted out the area a bit and made sure I knew where I was going. Good thing I did this in daylight…Dolphin Stadium is NOT in a good area. I eventually found my way to the ticket office and I was all set for the game.

Game Notes:

I showed up at 6 for a 7:10 start. There were 9 people in front of me in line to get in. Nine. If I’m being honest, Dolphin Stadium was a pit.


I watched some of batting practice with about 15 other people in left field and then moved to the infield where a few hundred fans were scattered about the stands.


The concessionaires at Dolphin Stadium were downright creepy. There were about 2-3 workers per serving window and with prices rivaling Fenway, nobody was buying anything. These people were literally yelling at patrons “Can I help you?!” as they walked by. Not exactly “fan-friendly.” We’re talking $7 for a 16 oz light beer, $8 for a sausage w/ peppers and onions and $5 for a hot dog . On top of that, there were no park specials. No “mega-marlin dog” or “marlin fries” or even “marlin on a stick”. I had a hot dog and a beer but I was not happy about it.

The Marlins ended up winning the game but it was pretty uneventful. I started watching the game in left field but when some very drunk, very obnoxious Braves fans showed up I decided 3rd baseline might be better. It was. You could pretty much sit anywhere you want in the stadium, I wasn’t hassled at all.

High Points:

-Fans sitting next to the opposing bullpen have some pretty funny heckling shenanigans they pull. My favorite was when a pitcher throws a pitch they yell out a high pitched “wooooooooop” and on the return throw follow it with a “wooooooooo”. Even the Braves pitchers and coaches got a chuckle out of that one. Maybe you had to be there??

-I won a free keychain by spinning a wheel and it landing on Billy the Marlin’s face. Here’s Billy:


And the key chain


-During the 7th inning they do a “kiss-kam”. Well, one guy obviously told his girlfriend they were going to be on. Instead of just kissing he got down on one knee and did the proposal thing! She was not pleased. I got the sense that she wanted to get married…and to this guy…but did NOT want her proposal to come on a jumbo-tron. She said yes but here she is (in yellow) practically sprinting away from him (right side of picture with visor) returning to their seats.


-Seeing the Galm Family Stadium Tour and realizing I’d be doing that whole thing in one summer!!!



Low Points:

-During the anthem about 4 notes were on key and the singer had to clear her throat before completing the song. Yikes.

-Creepy concessionaires…I really can’t stress this enough.

-Until the 7th inning, the scoreboard was broken and everyone’s batting average was “zero” and their stats reflected only what they had done in the game.

-The Marlins two championships were recognized on one sign tucked away down the left field line. This was the only evidence in the park about their championships.


There was nothing memorable about this game or the stadium. No food specials, no wacky souvenir guys, no fans! It really did not feel like a major league baseball game.

Overall Grade: D

Game stats:

Teams: Marlins vs. Braves
Final Score: 4-0 Marlins
WP: Scott Olsen
LP: Jair Jurrjens
Time: 2:36
Announced Attendance: 10,462 (bullshit)
Ticket Price: $12.00
Parking Price: $10.00

Trip Stats:
Home team record: 1-0
Miles Driven: 315
Beds slept in: 2
Next Stop: Tampa Bay Rays
Favorite Park: Dolphin Stadium (by default)

Can I sleep on your couch?

I've been doing pretty well already with people offering up their couch for a night or two but I'm still accepting applications if you (or a dear friend) wish to welcome me into your home for a night. I could use some help in the following cities (dates approximate):

San Fran/Oakland (4/30 - 5/2)
San Diego (5/10 - 5/11)
Somewhere in New Mexico (5/14)
Arlington/Dallas/Houston (5/15 -5 /19)
Detroit (5/24 - 5/25)
Pittsburgh (6/11 - 6/12)

Also, side note, if you live in any city where they have a major league baseball team just hit me up if you want to come to the game!

Itinerary

Best Summer Ever!

Hello! In case you don't know, here are some details about this blog:

Who: Me (Matt)

What: A trip around our great nation (and Canada) to see a baseball game in each of the 30 Major League Baseball stadiums

When: The trip begins April 15th in Miami and lasts for roughly 11 to 12 weeks

Where: Anywhere Major League Baseball is played

Why: I’m starting law school this fall and I thought I should do something big before hiding in a library for the next 3 years

How: Planes, trains and automobiles!