Oakland Athletics

#29 - Tuesday, July 31st 2018 - First thing's first. Drive in to the enormous parking lot in Oakland, roll up to the attendant, FREE PARKING. How bout that. Why not though, The last shared baseball/football stadium in sports has more than enough room. Expectations for this going into this park were rock bottom and that proved to be the right approach, because we had a blast at this park. It's like the shitty dive bar that you absolutely love for it's shittiness. Concrete everywhere, I feel like it's the only stadium in baseball that you could still film the movie Major League in. The place was extremely empty, we actually walked through concourses that completely void of vendors (was very much an outdoor metrodome). There was a little band of super fans out in right field that had their chants and their drums which is probably what first drew my Major League comparison. We sat first row behind the visitors bullpen (one of 3 remaining 'in play' bullpens in baseball at the time of this post). This was highly strategic on my part in effort to get Vinny a ball from one of the pitchers. I tried really hard at first holding up the adorable 3 year old between innings hoping one of the players got the idea. After a few innings I had kind of given up, that's when the bullpen catcher came over and rolled a ball they'd just been tossing down the flimsy metal roof of the bullpen. He was thrilled (I was too). In one of the near empty concourses there was a lone vendor pedaling empanadas which I was blown away by given my Argentina connections. Dude was form Buenos Aires, I don't think he was being very successful with the stand. Not surprisingly as it was $6 for one and not nearly the quality of what I've had in the past. Prices were as cheap as you're going to see in baseball and that is a welcome thing in the incredibly over priced bay area. I know there is a major push to get the A's out of this concrete behemoth, and I'm sure they eventually will. It breaks every rule of a decent stadium, the visitor dugout actually face AWAY from home plate, you can't make it up. I very much enjoyed this place. The game you ask? A's beat the Blue Jays 6 - 2.

San Francisco Giants

#28 - Sunday July, 29th 2018 - Molly, Vinny, and I darkened the door of AT&T Park. Long anticipated coming to this one. I've often heard that it will 'be your favorite'. It certainly did not disappoint. Positioned right on the bay, the views are probably the best baseball. I can't think of another park that I could really say is definitively 'better' than (PNC, PETCO...Maybe...). Anyway. Day game vs. Brewers. I remember the brewers (Oh and it was Hello Kitty Day) were going for the sweep, but the Giants won 8-5. We only made until about bottom of the 5th as nap time was looming. Could talk a lot about the Cove. All the boats that sit out there looked to be a pretty cool scene. I think the sign read 78, meaning the number HR's hit into the Bay. Very cool stadium feature. Also Triples Alley is a very unique feature/thing. Kinda like Tal's Hill was in Houston. I think it might be the deepest fence in baseball now. I also had no idea the Coke bottle in left was a slide for kids. Overall this was a great park. The negatives were that the concourses we're extremely tight, not surprising given how popular the Giants currently are (maybe always are) and I would call it a very complex stadium. We went in the outfield gate and could find our seats, when we asked someone they told us to take one elevator up 2 levels, walk across the concourse to another elevator and take that up another floor to some stairs and blah blah blah. That was kinda nuts, but big whoop. Great park. Not sure it's my favorite, but one of the crown jewels in the league for sure.

Baltimore Orioles

#27 - Friday, April 27th 2018. Another birthday game for Molly. I was in D.C. for an IRS meeting an Molly flew direct to Baltimore. I took the train in and meet her in BEAUTIFUL downtown Baltimore. The city has what I can only describe as a 'depressed' feeling. I'd been there before, but for a conference and never really saw the life in the city. Oriole Park at Camden Yard, which is one of the more complex stadium names out there, is well positioned in downtown just a couple blocks from the water front. Lots of people walking to the stadium from different parts of the city. Several restaurants and bars seemed lively in and around the stadium, not wriggleyville or anything but definitely stood out in the otherwise depressed cityscape. The concourse is not surprisingly closed around the infield. This really was the stadium that broke the mold of from the old huge multi purpose venues. They built the stadium to fit the space as opposed to what everyone had done up to that point. It was the first modernly urban stadium. This is evidenced by the Warehouse in left field. Watching Orioles games on TV I always thought that the warehouse was part of the field, but there is actually a public street in between where the stands end and the warehouse begins. During games they close gates on that street at both ends of the stadium and it becomes an expanded concourse. Very cool. there we went to Boog's BBQ. Boog is an old timer Oriole who's famous for having a stupid name and he managed to parlay that into a little cult following food item there. Way to go Boog! It was Aight. Lots of Baltimore themed food options and normal East Coast selections of beer, all standardly over priced. Played Detroit and had really good seats right behind home plate. O's won 6-0. This is a top 5 stadium for me. Intimate, lots of character, but obviously imperfect compared to the new parks being built now days.