Baseball

Stadiums Visited

• Kansas City Royals — I’m not sure of the first time I went to a Royal’s game, but as they’re the closest team to my hometown, I’ve been to several. I think Kauffman Stadium is my favorite of the ballparks I’ve been to, although I’m probably biased. I try to make it to about a game a month over the summer with a friend of mine named Will, who lives in Kansas City.

  

• Atlanta Braves — I managed to catch a game with my coach while I was competing in the national debate and forensics tournament. Judging by the calendar (and my memory of the pitchers — Maddux started, Smoltz closed), the game must have been this one.
• San Francisco Giants — My brother went to law school in Santa Clara, so on a trip out to visit him my family went to a Giants game. As the park is right next to the ocean, this game was unexpectedly (for Kansans, anyway) cold.
• Washington Nationals — While out on a work trip, I had a free night, so I decided to check out a Nationals game. This is also about the time I decided it’d be a good idea to start taking pictures to remember these games:

  

• LA Dodgers — I have a friend named Jason who is in grad school at Caltech, and while visiting him with Will, we went to a Dodgers game:

  

  They were having a “Fireworks Friday” promotion, and even let everyone onto the field, which was super neat:

  

• Pittsburgh Pirates — I was on another trip for my work, this time to visit some people at Carnegie Mellon. While there, I took the chance to catch a Pirates game:

  

• Houston Astros — A buddy of mine got married near Houston, so Will and I road-tripped down and caught a game. The dome wasn’t open, sadly, but it was still a really neat stadium:

  

• Texas Rangers — On the way back from that same wedding, Will and I caught a Rangers game. It was a crazy bright and sort of warm day — pleasant baseball weather after a rainy spring:

  

• Los Angeles Angels — Will and I went back to visit Jason, and this time we went to an Angels game. I liked the Angels’ stadium a lot, and we had pretty good seats:

  

• San Diego Padres — On the same trip, we also drove down to San Diego for an afternoon game.  I really like ballparks that are next to the ocean, they’re always nice and cool (and sometimes a little bit cold, like the Giants game):

  

• Chicago Cubs — Will and I went to Chicago to visit a mutual friend, and we got to see a game at Wrigley. This may have been the worst weather of any game I’ve ever been to — very cold and very rainy. Still, Wrigley is a cool park — I like that it’s more of a normal stadium, and has less of the “entertainment complex” feel of more modern parks. The game also started nearly 90 minutes late, so it was hard to get a good picture:

  

• Baltimore Orioles — I was in Silver Spring for a workshop, and so I decided to drive up to see a game at Camden Yards. There was another rain delay for this game, but it was only half an hour — though there would be another one after this photo was taken, in the middle of the 10th. Orioles Park is really cool — I got there early so I was able to walk around and explore, and it’s definitely one of my favorites.

  

• Cleveland Indians — Pittsburgh is only a couple hours from Cleveland, so my girlfriend (at the time) and I drove out to see a game against my Royals. It was a super hot day, but fortunately our seats were in the shade so we didn’t totally melt, and the Royals continued their late-season hot streak, despite a somewhat tense bottom of the ninth.

  

• Toronto Blue Jays — Pittsburgh is also only a few hours from Toronto, so my girlfriend and I made the road trip north. It was a night game, and we had seats right behind home plate. The game, and the trip in general, were great.