I woke up a week ago today and found out about Yogi Berra's death from my friend Vin on Facebook. I was really sad as I had always liked Yogi Berra. I mentioned him and his service to our country in World War II to my classes that day. And I looked back at the blog and realized that I hadn't included him in my post of my favorite Cold War baseball players. And then if you check out the post where I completed the All-Jim Team, I added Roy Campanella and Mike Scioscia. How did I leave Yogi Berra out? Terrible job by me in that scenario. Mike Scioscia did play an important role on the 1988 Dodgers, but he's been the manager of the Angels long enough that he's getting bumped for Yogi. So let me edit my favorite Cold War players list. I like Joe Torre more for his role as a manager than as a player (although he did have a great line after hitting into a record four double plays in a game: "I'd like to thank Felix Millan for making of of this possible" after Felix Millan had four singles in that game). And Duke Snider is one of the three greatest Dodgers of all time so he's staying at number 5. I'll put Campanella at number 6 and Berra at number 7 in between Campanella and Torre.
Let's review the All-Jim Team:
Starting Lineup:
1. Jackie Robinson 2B
2. Derek Jeter SS
3. Babe Ruth RF
4. Ted Williams LF
5. Lou Gehrig 1B
6. Ken Griffey Jr. CF
7. Joe Torre 3B
8. Roy Campanella C
9. Sandy Koufax P
Other Pitchers: Grover Cleveland Alexander, Walter Johnson, Johnny Podres, Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera, Clayton Kershaw, Orel Hershiser
Other Outfielders: Stan Musial, Duke Snider, Hank Aaron, Torii Hunter Sr.
Other Infielders: none
Backup Catcher: Yogi Berra
That's 21 players. I took Matt Kemp off because he's not on the Dodgers anymore. Gil Hodges was my other infielder. He's a great Dodger, but I have to give Keith Hernandez a spot. I have to. Jose Canseco was on the list, but he's permanently suspended and I gave Tony Gwynn his spot (I wanted to give Andre Ethier Kemp's spot, but I have enough outfielders). I need a middle infielder and I want another pitcher. I had added Don Drysdale, but if Zack Greinke helps the Dodgers win the World Series this year, he's getting that spot. So that leaves one spot for a middle infielder. It's too early to give it to Corey Seager (but that could change soon also). It's between Rogers Hornsby, Honus Wagner, and Pee Wee Reese. Rogers Hornsby is the best of them. I think Honus Wagner was considered the anti-Ty Cobb and he has the most valuable baseball card of all time. But Pee Wee Reese was a Dodger and he served in the Navy during World War II. He gets the spot. That gives me nine Dodgers and sixteen other players.
Here it is again in an easier form:
Pitchers: Sandy Koufax, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Walter Johnson, Johnny Podres, Don Drysdale, Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera, Clayton Kershaw, Orel Hershiser (by the way, I think Kershaw's done enough to take the top spot from Hershiser on my list of favorite post-Cold War players, maybe I'll have another post on Kershaw before the playoffs start)
Catchers: Roy Campanella and Yogi Berra
Infielders: Jackie Robinson, Derek Jeter, Lou Gehrig, Joe Torre (he played catcher more than any other position, but he played more combined games at first base and third base combined than catcher), Keith Hernandez, Pee Wee Reese
Outfielders: Ted Williams, Ken Griffey Jr., Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Duke Snider, Hank Aaron, Torii Hunter Sr., and Tony Gwynn
Anyway, let's get back to Yogi. I have a Quote of the Week in my classroom every week. I was planning on using one from Yogi in October for the playoffs. I moved that up to this week and rather than just picking one, I picked as many as I could fit on my board. Earlier this year, I did a post with my 19 favorite Winston Churchill quotes (which turned into 20 because I'm an idiot). I'll finish this with my 14 favorite Yogi Berra quotes:
14. "Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded."
13. "We made too many wrong mistakes." (hence the title of this post)
12. "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."
11. "Even Napoleon had his Watergate."
10. "A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore."
9. "I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did."
8. "I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."
7. "I usually take a two-hour nap from 1 to 4."
6. "You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you."
5. "You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six."
4. "If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else."
3. "It ain’t over till it’s over."
2. "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
1. "You should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours."
Rest in peace, Yogi. Jackie Robinson was safe.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Scully, Greinke, and Kershaw
Well, I planned on cutting back on blogging. And then the Dodgers swept the Giants. And Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw pitched fantastic games. And I realized that I've only had one post this year about how much I love Clayton Kershaw.
Before I get to how awesome Greinke and Kershaw are, I need to talk about Vin Scully. He's the best. I've heard him described as the most popular person in Los Angeles. It was recently announced that he would be back for next year. Everybody was very excited. And then he announced the next day that 2016 would be his last year. He's been so good at what he does for 66 years. If he wants to retire, he deserves it and I hope he lives for many more years and enjoys his retirement. But I really hope he changes his mind. If you have the MLB Extra innings package, watch while you still can. If not, catch him on MLB Network whenever they carry the Dodgers' broadcast of the game. I watch almost every game in the summer, but I have to cut back once school starts. I usually try to watch when Kershaw pitches. If they're still competing for something during the last week of the season, I will definitely watch more. Other than that, I might watch a few innings and then go to sleep. I think Vin has 17 more regular season games this year (home games plus at San Francisco). He'll do the playoff games, but that will be on the radio. Hopefully I'll be able to get the radio broadcast on my phone. It's usually a couple of pitches behind the TV, so I won't listen to it the whole time, but I might turn it on right after a home run has been hit or at the end of the game. He'll have a little less than 90 regular season games next year (if he keeps his schedule of home games plus San Francisco). I have to get as much Vin Scully as I can. The All Star Game is in San Diego next year. Fox needs to have Vin Scully do the game. There is no excuse for not making this happen. If you asked any baseball fan to pick between Vin Scully (for one last All Star Game) and Joe Buck (again), only Joe Buck's family is picking Joe Buck (and even they might pick Vin). Vin will be sorely sorely missed when he's gone.
Anyway, now it's time to ramble about how awesome Clayton Kershaw is. Last year I had a couple of posts on how awesome he is (here was the last one). And he is still the best pitcher in baseball. He proved that once again last night. Zack Greinke is having the best season of any pitcher (we'll get to that), but he's not capable of giving the Dodgers what Kershaw gave them last night. Kershaw got off to a rough start this year. He certainly was not at his best, but he also didn't get help from his fielders or the bullpen early on. His ERA was 4.32 after his start on May 21, but it shouldn't have been that bad. Starting with his start on May 26, his ERA is 1.26. Since the All Star Game, it's 1.01.
Kershaw will probably make five more starts (it could be six, but unless they still haven't clinched going into the last weekend of the season, I think he'll make five). Right now he has 251 strikeouts, which is already a career high. It's been thirteen years since anybody struck out 300 (Johnson and Schilling). I would say it's unlikely that Kershaw gets to 300 if he only makes five more starts, but it's not out of the question.
Last night was one of the best starts of Kershaw's career. His best is obviously the no-hitter. It should have been a perfect game (Hanley Ramirez is the worst) and he struck out 15 on 107 pitches. He was untouchable that night. But let's look at the context. He was facing a terrible team in June and the Dodgers had an 8-0 lead after four. The only question was whether or not he could pitch the perfect game/no-hitter. There was no pressure as far as winning the game was concerned. This game was very different. They were taking on the second place team in September and the Dodgers weren't giving him much support. Also, the bullpen had been taxed. They pitched nine innings two days ago and Kenley Jansen had pitched four out of five days. If Jansen was available, Kershaw probably doesn't pitch the ninth. In a one-run game against the Giants without Jansen available, the Dodgers really needed him to pitch the ninth. After completely dominating for seven, he had pretty much run out of gas in the eighth, but he was still the best option. So despite a high pitch count, he came back out for the ninth and quickly got the first two outs. Then he gave up two singles. Mattingly came out to the mound and left Kershaw in. At that point, I agreed with the move. If Mattingly had wanted to take him out after the first single, I could live with that move. But when he left Kershaw after that first single, it was his game to win or lose. You couldn't bring in a reliever with two on. I thought of this game from 2011. Mattingly came out with two outs in the ninth and Kershaw convinced Mattingly to leave him in. Then he gave up the lead (the Dodgers came back to tie it in the bottom of the ninth and then won in extra innings). But not this time. He struck out Marlon Byrd (a steroid user) to tie his career high in strikeouts (15) and pitches (132) to finish it off. The Dodgers needed him and he came through with the pressure on. The only way it could have been better (short of a no-hitter) would have been if he struck out Buster Posey to finish it. He's had 11 shutouts in his career so far. I've been there for two of them. I'll put Opening Day in 2013 (shutout and home run to break a scoreless tie in the eighth) ahead of his performance last night. I don't put the one that I saw in Citi Field this year ahead of last night (he was fantastic, but that Mets lineup that night was horrendous). Of course, the no-hitter is ahead of last night. He pitched a three-hit shutout against the Giants last year, but the Dodgers won 5-0. I'll put that one ahead of last night. It did put the Dodgers into a tie for first place with the Giants. He had a five-hit shout against the Giants in 2012 that also put the Dodgers into a tie for first with them. He had a two-hitter against the Tigers in 2011 with 11 strikeouts and one walk. So I'm ranking last night as the sixth best start of Kershaw's career.
After his rough start, I figured he wasn't winning the Cy Young this year. I had the same thought after his injury last year and then he won the Cy Young and MVP (the lesson, as always: I'm an idiot). But he's definitely in the mix. I think you have three legitimate candidates: Kershaw, Greinke, and Jake Arrieta. Max Scherzer got off to a great start, but he's tailed off. Jacob deGrom has been great, but he's way behind those three in innings pitched. Lots of guys are having great seasons, but they don't compare to Greinke, Kershaw, or Arrieta. So let's break it down. They've all had 27 starts so far. Greinke has a ridiculous 1.59 ERA. Arrieta (2.11) and Kershaw (2.18) are next. Kershaw leads in innings pitched with 194 and Greinke is second with 186 and two-thirds. Arrieta is fourth at 183. Kershaw has a big lead in strikeouts with 251. Arrieta is fourth with 190 and Greinke is eighth with 169. Kershaw and Arrieta both have three complete games and two shutouts (including the no-hitter for Arrieta). Greinke only has one complete game. Greinke leads in WHIP (0.846) followed by Kershaw (0.897) and Arrieta (0.940). Kershaw is second to Scherzer in strikeout to walk ratio at 7.38 (Greinke is fifth and Arrieta is tenth). Kershaw leads in FIP at 2.02 (FIP is one of those advanced stats that I ordinarily wouldn't like, but it's easy to understand because the league average FIP is the same as the league average ERA). Arrieta is second in FIP at 2.50 and Greinke is third at 2.62 (although the idea that Greinke's FIP is that high does make the stat look a little silly). Kershaw also leads in xFIP (the park-adjusted version of FIP) at 2.05. Arrieta is second at 2.74 and Greinke is tenth at 3.21 (Greinke being tenth makes xFIP look a whole lot sillier than FIP). Greinke leads in batting average against at .189 followed by Arrieta at .195 and Kershaw at .199. Greinke leads in on base percentage against at .231 followed by Kershaw at .242 and Arrieta is fifth at .251. And in slugging percentage against it's Greinke at .270 followed by Kershaw at .293 and Arrieta at .295.
So what's the verdict? Arrieta is a legitimate candidate, but he's not really ahead of both Kershaw and Greinke in anything. The no-hitter is a plus though (but really it shouldn't have been a no-hitter, there was an error that should have been scored a hit). The ERA lead is so big that I thought Greinke was a no doubt choice. But a lot of the rest of the numbers can be used to make a really strong case for Kershaw. The batting against numbers are enough to put Greinke over the top, though. Kershaw is still the best pitcher in baseball, but Greinke is having a better season. Of course, there's still a month to play. It's Greinke's Cy Young to lose, but Kershaw will be ready to take it from him if he stumbles. And all I really care about would be seeing Greinke and Kershaw battle it out for World Series MVP.
And Happy Football! I know Tom Brady got off, but so did O.J. We must never forget this. Also today is the tenth anniversary of the first college football game I ever went to. It was awesome. College football starts tonight and we are all Utah fans for the evening. Tonight and tomorrow are pretty good appetizers for the main course on Saturday, which can't get here fast enough. Go Irish!
Before I get to how awesome Greinke and Kershaw are, I need to talk about Vin Scully. He's the best. I've heard him described as the most popular person in Los Angeles. It was recently announced that he would be back for next year. Everybody was very excited. And then he announced the next day that 2016 would be his last year. He's been so good at what he does for 66 years. If he wants to retire, he deserves it and I hope he lives for many more years and enjoys his retirement. But I really hope he changes his mind. If you have the MLB Extra innings package, watch while you still can. If not, catch him on MLB Network whenever they carry the Dodgers' broadcast of the game. I watch almost every game in the summer, but I have to cut back once school starts. I usually try to watch when Kershaw pitches. If they're still competing for something during the last week of the season, I will definitely watch more. Other than that, I might watch a few innings and then go to sleep. I think Vin has 17 more regular season games this year (home games plus at San Francisco). He'll do the playoff games, but that will be on the radio. Hopefully I'll be able to get the radio broadcast on my phone. It's usually a couple of pitches behind the TV, so I won't listen to it the whole time, but I might turn it on right after a home run has been hit or at the end of the game. He'll have a little less than 90 regular season games next year (if he keeps his schedule of home games plus San Francisco). I have to get as much Vin Scully as I can. The All Star Game is in San Diego next year. Fox needs to have Vin Scully do the game. There is no excuse for not making this happen. If you asked any baseball fan to pick between Vin Scully (for one last All Star Game) and Joe Buck (again), only Joe Buck's family is picking Joe Buck (and even they might pick Vin). Vin will be sorely sorely missed when he's gone.
Anyway, now it's time to ramble about how awesome Clayton Kershaw is. Last year I had a couple of posts on how awesome he is (here was the last one). And he is still the best pitcher in baseball. He proved that once again last night. Zack Greinke is having the best season of any pitcher (we'll get to that), but he's not capable of giving the Dodgers what Kershaw gave them last night. Kershaw got off to a rough start this year. He certainly was not at his best, but he also didn't get help from his fielders or the bullpen early on. His ERA was 4.32 after his start on May 21, but it shouldn't have been that bad. Starting with his start on May 26, his ERA is 1.26. Since the All Star Game, it's 1.01.
Kershaw will probably make five more starts (it could be six, but unless they still haven't clinched going into the last weekend of the season, I think he'll make five). Right now he has 251 strikeouts, which is already a career high. It's been thirteen years since anybody struck out 300 (Johnson and Schilling). I would say it's unlikely that Kershaw gets to 300 if he only makes five more starts, but it's not out of the question.
Last night was one of the best starts of Kershaw's career. His best is obviously the no-hitter. It should have been a perfect game (Hanley Ramirez is the worst) and he struck out 15 on 107 pitches. He was untouchable that night. But let's look at the context. He was facing a terrible team in June and the Dodgers had an 8-0 lead after four. The only question was whether or not he could pitch the perfect game/no-hitter. There was no pressure as far as winning the game was concerned. This game was very different. They were taking on the second place team in September and the Dodgers weren't giving him much support. Also, the bullpen had been taxed. They pitched nine innings two days ago and Kenley Jansen had pitched four out of five days. If Jansen was available, Kershaw probably doesn't pitch the ninth. In a one-run game against the Giants without Jansen available, the Dodgers really needed him to pitch the ninth. After completely dominating for seven, he had pretty much run out of gas in the eighth, but he was still the best option. So despite a high pitch count, he came back out for the ninth and quickly got the first two outs. Then he gave up two singles. Mattingly came out to the mound and left Kershaw in. At that point, I agreed with the move. If Mattingly had wanted to take him out after the first single, I could live with that move. But when he left Kershaw after that first single, it was his game to win or lose. You couldn't bring in a reliever with two on. I thought of this game from 2011. Mattingly came out with two outs in the ninth and Kershaw convinced Mattingly to leave him in. Then he gave up the lead (the Dodgers came back to tie it in the bottom of the ninth and then won in extra innings). But not this time. He struck out Marlon Byrd (a steroid user) to tie his career high in strikeouts (15) and pitches (132) to finish it off. The Dodgers needed him and he came through with the pressure on. The only way it could have been better (short of a no-hitter) would have been if he struck out Buster Posey to finish it. He's had 11 shutouts in his career so far. I've been there for two of them. I'll put Opening Day in 2013 (shutout and home run to break a scoreless tie in the eighth) ahead of his performance last night. I don't put the one that I saw in Citi Field this year ahead of last night (he was fantastic, but that Mets lineup that night was horrendous). Of course, the no-hitter is ahead of last night. He pitched a three-hit shutout against the Giants last year, but the Dodgers won 5-0. I'll put that one ahead of last night. It did put the Dodgers into a tie for first place with the Giants. He had a five-hit shout against the Giants in 2012 that also put the Dodgers into a tie for first with them. He had a two-hitter against the Tigers in 2011 with 11 strikeouts and one walk. So I'm ranking last night as the sixth best start of Kershaw's career.
After his rough start, I figured he wasn't winning the Cy Young this year. I had the same thought after his injury last year and then he won the Cy Young and MVP (the lesson, as always: I'm an idiot). But he's definitely in the mix. I think you have three legitimate candidates: Kershaw, Greinke, and Jake Arrieta. Max Scherzer got off to a great start, but he's tailed off. Jacob deGrom has been great, but he's way behind those three in innings pitched. Lots of guys are having great seasons, but they don't compare to Greinke, Kershaw, or Arrieta. So let's break it down. They've all had 27 starts so far. Greinke has a ridiculous 1.59 ERA. Arrieta (2.11) and Kershaw (2.18) are next. Kershaw leads in innings pitched with 194 and Greinke is second with 186 and two-thirds. Arrieta is fourth at 183. Kershaw has a big lead in strikeouts with 251. Arrieta is fourth with 190 and Greinke is eighth with 169. Kershaw and Arrieta both have three complete games and two shutouts (including the no-hitter for Arrieta). Greinke only has one complete game. Greinke leads in WHIP (0.846) followed by Kershaw (0.897) and Arrieta (0.940). Kershaw is second to Scherzer in strikeout to walk ratio at 7.38 (Greinke is fifth and Arrieta is tenth). Kershaw leads in FIP at 2.02 (FIP is one of those advanced stats that I ordinarily wouldn't like, but it's easy to understand because the league average FIP is the same as the league average ERA). Arrieta is second in FIP at 2.50 and Greinke is third at 2.62 (although the idea that Greinke's FIP is that high does make the stat look a little silly). Kershaw also leads in xFIP (the park-adjusted version of FIP) at 2.05. Arrieta is second at 2.74 and Greinke is tenth at 3.21 (Greinke being tenth makes xFIP look a whole lot sillier than FIP). Greinke leads in batting average against at .189 followed by Arrieta at .195 and Kershaw at .199. Greinke leads in on base percentage against at .231 followed by Kershaw at .242 and Arrieta is fifth at .251. And in slugging percentage against it's Greinke at .270 followed by Kershaw at .293 and Arrieta at .295.
So what's the verdict? Arrieta is a legitimate candidate, but he's not really ahead of both Kershaw and Greinke in anything. The no-hitter is a plus though (but really it shouldn't have been a no-hitter, there was an error that should have been scored a hit). The ERA lead is so big that I thought Greinke was a no doubt choice. But a lot of the rest of the numbers can be used to make a really strong case for Kershaw. The batting against numbers are enough to put Greinke over the top, though. Kershaw is still the best pitcher in baseball, but Greinke is having a better season. Of course, there's still a month to play. It's Greinke's Cy Young to lose, but Kershaw will be ready to take it from him if he stumbles. And all I really care about would be seeing Greinke and Kershaw battle it out for World Series MVP.
And Happy Football! I know Tom Brady got off, but so did O.J. We must never forget this. Also today is the tenth anniversary of the first college football game I ever went to. It was awesome. College football starts tonight and we are all Utah fans for the evening. Tonight and tomorrow are pretty good appetizers for the main course on Saturday, which can't get here fast enough. Go Irish!
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Done?
I started this blog almost three and a half years ago. The original purpose of the blog was to document how I spent my year not having a job. Obviously, that year without a job never happened. So the purpose of the blog shifted to documenting my travels around the country to achieve two goals: getting to every Major League Baseball stadium (with two exceptions) and getting to all fifty states. When I started, I had been to ten Major League stadiums and 21 states. I had a lot of work to do.
And now? I've been to every baseball stadium I set out to get to and I've been to 44 states. I wanted to thank everybody who helped make this possible by giving me a place to stay. So thanks (in a somewhat chronological order) Sean, Tom and Erin, Jon (in two different cities), Dennis and Courtney (also two different cities), Uncle Gerry, Wilhelm, Pete and Katie, Nick and Amanda, and John and Liz (also thanks to John for suggesting that I start this blog). And thanks to everybody who joined me on one of these trips to a different part of the country. Thanks to Tom and Sean (they came with me on my first trip to Dodger Stadium which predates the blog by a year, Sean also came with me for Notre Dame-Michigan in 2012, he came to Dallas for the Shamrock Series at Jerry World in 2013, and he came to northeast Ohio last year), Andy, my dad, and Adam (he went to Toronto, so not actually a different part of the country). And I even made a friend who lives in England last year in Detroit. It was good to meet Rich and good to see him again this year at a Met game.
So am I done? Not quite. Let's go over the states I haven't been to from closest to farthest away:
Vermont- I wanted to get there this summer, but that didn't happen. The idea was to combine it with a trip to the Franklin Roosevelt Library. I'm not too worried about Vermont. Hopefully it will happen next year.
South Carolina- I was hoping to get tickets for the Notre Dame game at Clemson, but I lost in the lottery (it was a long shot, anyway). My brother just moved to North Carolina, but he's not all that close to South Carolina. Notre Dame is playing a basketball game at Clemson this season, but they haven't announced the date yet. If it's a Saturday in February or early March, I'll try to make the trip for that. If not, South Carolina does have three minor league teams. I combined Alabama and Cincinnati into one trip, so I suppose I could combine one of them with a visit to Tom in North Carolina.
Mississippi- I want to combine a minor league game in Biloxi with a trip to the next state.
Louisiana- If you know me, you know I hate Las Vegas. I also don't care about visiting New Orleans. Except for one thing. New Orleans does have the National World War II Museum. I don't know if there's a museum in the country that I haven't been to yet that I want to get to more than that one.
Alaska- I really want to get there, but I don't know what I would do there. I would love to go to the Midnight Sun Game in Fairbanks, but that probably would never work with my work schedule. If everything went my way, I'd get to five of these six states in the next year. Alaska is the one that will probably have to wait a little longer.
Hawaii- I'm sure there's a ton to do in Hawaii, but the thing I really want to do is visit Pearl Harbor. And I've always had the thought of combining a trip to Hawaii with a trip to Australia. I'd still have some really long flights, but they wouldn't be as long as the Los Angeles-Australia flight that most Americans would take to get there.
Besides visiting all 50 states, I've also documented some international travel. All three of my trips out of the country have been since I started the blog. I have two (well really three) more countries I want to get to:
Australia- I just mentioned this. I took Australian History in college and it was one of my favorite classes. My professor was an Australian priest (my favorite professor in college). We started by reading a travel book, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. A lot of the book was about all the different wildlife in Australia that can kill you, but it still made me want to go there. I wanted to go there for the start of the 2014 baseball season, but it just wasn't possible with my work schedule. So I'm saying now that I want to get there next summer (which would unfortunately be winter there, but it doesn't get too cold). It's not guaranteed to happen, but I hope I am able to do it.
Italy- I really want to get to Rome and the Vatican City, which is of course its own country. The combination of the history and the Church makes Italy the only non-English speaking country that I really want to visit. About two months ago, I heard in one of the many Notre Dame podcasts that I listen to that Notre Dame is likely to play a football game in Rome in the not too distant future. I tried doing some googling and found this article from last year. The guys on the podcast cover the team and they seemed convinced that it's going to happen, but I haven't heard it anywhere else. If it does happen and it's Labor Day weekend like the game in Dublin was, I'm there. Of course, this is all speculation at this point. So we'll see. I'd like to get to Rome even if Notre Dame wasn't playing there. But if Notre Dame does play there, that's the perfect excuse to go.
So I'm obviously not done, but I think I'll be cutting back on the blogging. Whenever any of these trips happen, expect a blog post. I'll probably do a blog post about Notre Dame's hockey game at Barclays Center in November (the first time I'll be there for something other than basketball). I'll definitely do one if I do in fact make it to the Shamrock Series game at Fenway Park. And hopefully there will be a drunken blog post after the Dodgers win the World Series this year (such an awesome game last night, I stayed up until it ended at 3:39 Eastern). But I probably won't be blogging about all the Met games I go to anymore.
Anyway, it's time for updated rankings of all the baseball stadiums. These rankings are how I feel right now and might not match exactly how I had the stadiums ranked last season. And they might not match what I said about the four stadiums I got to for the first time this year when I originally blogged about them. But here we go:
32. Tropicana Field- It's one of two stadiums with artificial turf and it's the only one with a roof that doesn't open.
31- O.co Coliseum- From what I hear, it was nice before the Raiders moved back. They really need to move to San Jose, but the Giants won't let them. I had always maintained that I didn't need to get to this one or Tropicana Field. Now that I've been everywhere else, I'm reconsidering. Maybe I'll combine the trip I want to do to New Orleans and Mississippi with a trip to Tampa for a Rays game. And if I'm going to go across the country to visit Pete and Katie again next year, maybe I'll spend a day in Oakland to get to an A's game. We'll see.
30. SkyDome- It will always be the SkyDome to me. I think they want to renovate it. If they did a good job, I could easily see this one moving up the rankings.
29. US Cellular Field- It's a boring stadium. I haven't been there in nine years, though. I want to get back to Wrigley Field so if I do, I'll try to schedule it so that I can get to both Chicago stadiums.
28. Marlins Park- It's better than playing in a football stadium like they used to, but it's too weird.
27. Minute Maid Park- They're getting rid of the hill and moving in the fence in center field (the one part of the park where it wasn't easy to hit home runs). I don't like this move.
26. Turner Field- I won't miss this one. Maybe I'll get to the Cobb County stadium at some point.
25. Progressive Field- It's very similar to Oriole Park and Globe Life Park since all three of those were built around the same time. This is the worst of the three.
24. Angel Stadium of Anaheim- This was not built around the same time as Oriole Park, Globe Life Park, and Progressive Field, but it's kind of similar. It's in southern California, so that's nice, but there isn't really much else that's special about it.
23. Chase Field- The pool is cool, but it's air conditioned which greatly reduces the desire to be in a pool.
22. Miller Park- This was one place where I was able to get a really good seat (second level, right in front of the press box) for a really cheap price. I might have ranked this higher if I went to a game during the summer and the roof was open.
21. Coors Field- A lot of people love Coors Field, but the biggest problem can't be fixed (the altitude).
20. Shea Stadium- It was a dump and objectively, it's worse than any other stadium I've been to with the possible exception of SkyDome, but it was my home stadium for the first 20 years I went to baseball games.
19. Comerica Park- If anything, this is a generous ranking considering it's in Detroit.
18. Globe Life Park- There was good selection of Texas beer. I like how the design incorporated some history stadiums, but unfortunately they've gone away from that a little bit.
17. Citi Field- Citi Field is good, but it could be better. The food needs work. Shake Shack is great, but the line is always way too long. The upper level needs better food options. The easy solution to both problems would be to put in another Shake Shack on the upper level.
16. New Yankee Stadium- They definitely need a better beer selection. I really wish they had just renovated the old stadium. But of course, Big Stein would never stand for the Mets getting a new stadium without the Yankees getting one.
15. Oriole Park at Camden Yards- I moved this one ahead of the New York stadiums, but I still maintain that it's overrated by most people.
14. Citizens Bank Park- They have all these little beer stands that have like two beers on tap (different beers at each one). I wish every stadium was like that.
13. Nationals Park- I think Nationals Park is very underrated by most people. However I found one problem that could easily be fixed. The whole stadium has this Nation's Capital/Red, White, and Blue theme going on. That makes sense. But then the outfield wall is green. Why isn't it blue?
12. Busch Stadium- I hate the Cardinals more than any team other than the Giants, but I respect their success. The atmosphere and the area around the stadium are great, but I was expecting more on the inside.
11. Safeco Field- It's easily the best stadium with a roof.
10. Target Field- I went to two games there this summer. The only other stadium at least that far away where I've seen more than one game is Dodger Stadium. It's a very good stadium. I can't think of anything I would change that could make it better. Most of the stadiums ahead of it have advantages that couldn't be replicated in Minneapolis.
9. AT&T Park- I hate the Giants. And if you want to accuse me of being biased against their stadium, that's fine. It looks great on the inside. The long wait for food and beer keeps it from being higher on the list.
8. Great American Ballpark- You could say that it's kind of a homeless man's version of AT&T Park (with the water beyond the outfield). It definitely doesn't look as nice. So how does it rank higher? It had the best beer selection in baseball and there was a very good food selection without long lines.
7. Kauffman Stadium- I loved everything about the inside of this stadium. Being surrounded by parking lots is what is keeping this one from being ranked higher.
6. Wrigley Field- I'm keeping this one where I had it ranked last year. Is it a proper ranking? I don't know. It's been six years since I was there. The only ones that I haven't been to more recently than that are US Cellular Field and the New York stadiums that don't exist anymore. And they're in the process of renovating. So I hope to get back. I could see this one being ranked as high as number 3 or as low as 12 depending on what I think when I see it again.
5. Petco Park- This is one I'd really like to get back to. I'd love to see San Diego when the weather is nice (it was mid-60s and cloudy when I was there). Maybe it will be combined with a future trip to visit Pete and Katie. It was a great stadium, but I moved it down a spot last year because of the Bud Selig Hall of Fame Plaza.
4. PNC Park- Another reason to move down Petco Park? Atmosphere. The Pirates have been good for a few years now (amazing) and the Padres have been pretty bad (Why aren't the Padres better with that city and that stadium?). I think Pittsburgh is an underrated city, but everybody knows the stadium is great. I'm happy that the Pirates are doing well (I'd be really happy for Pittsburgh if the Pirates made it to the NCLS...and lost to the Dodgers, of course).
3. Old Yankee Stadium- I have it ranked very high, but I really wish I could go back in time to pre-renovation Yankee Stadium. It might take the number one spot if I could. Of course, I'd also go to Ebbets Field and I guess I'd even go to a game at the Polo Grounds.
2. Dodger Stadium- A great setting, a beautiful ballpark, twelve no-hitters, two perfect games, eight World Series, the invention of the high five, Koufax and Kershaw, Pope John Paul II, and The Naked Gun. There's still room for improvement, but I love Dodger Stadium. The fact that my favorite team plays there makes be biased, but still, it's great.
1. Fenway Park- It's such a wonderfully weird ballpark (unintentionally weird, unlike Marlins Park) that couldn't be duplicated anywhere else. It was great to get back there this summer (most likely for my last game of the season). Hopefully this November I'll see my third different sport played there.
And there you have it. I finally got to the 30 Major League stadiums I wanted to get to, but I'm still not done.
It was a very good summer. I'm hoping for an even better fall. It's time for the Dodgers to win the World Series again. And football season is almost upon us. As much as I love baseball, I get to a point in August where football just can't get here fast enough. This will be the first year since I graduated that I don't get back to Notre Dame. But hopefully a great football season will mean that I do a little more blogging than I'm planning on doing. Go Irish!
And now? I've been to every baseball stadium I set out to get to and I've been to 44 states. I wanted to thank everybody who helped make this possible by giving me a place to stay. So thanks (in a somewhat chronological order) Sean, Tom and Erin, Jon (in two different cities), Dennis and Courtney (also two different cities), Uncle Gerry, Wilhelm, Pete and Katie, Nick and Amanda, and John and Liz (also thanks to John for suggesting that I start this blog). And thanks to everybody who joined me on one of these trips to a different part of the country. Thanks to Tom and Sean (they came with me on my first trip to Dodger Stadium which predates the blog by a year, Sean also came with me for Notre Dame-Michigan in 2012, he came to Dallas for the Shamrock Series at Jerry World in 2013, and he came to northeast Ohio last year), Andy, my dad, and Adam (he went to Toronto, so not actually a different part of the country). And I even made a friend who lives in England last year in Detroit. It was good to meet Rich and good to see him again this year at a Met game.
So am I done? Not quite. Let's go over the states I haven't been to from closest to farthest away:
Vermont- I wanted to get there this summer, but that didn't happen. The idea was to combine it with a trip to the Franklin Roosevelt Library. I'm not too worried about Vermont. Hopefully it will happen next year.
South Carolina- I was hoping to get tickets for the Notre Dame game at Clemson, but I lost in the lottery (it was a long shot, anyway). My brother just moved to North Carolina, but he's not all that close to South Carolina. Notre Dame is playing a basketball game at Clemson this season, but they haven't announced the date yet. If it's a Saturday in February or early March, I'll try to make the trip for that. If not, South Carolina does have three minor league teams. I combined Alabama and Cincinnati into one trip, so I suppose I could combine one of them with a visit to Tom in North Carolina.
Mississippi- I want to combine a minor league game in Biloxi with a trip to the next state.
Louisiana- If you know me, you know I hate Las Vegas. I also don't care about visiting New Orleans. Except for one thing. New Orleans does have the National World War II Museum. I don't know if there's a museum in the country that I haven't been to yet that I want to get to more than that one.
Alaska- I really want to get there, but I don't know what I would do there. I would love to go to the Midnight Sun Game in Fairbanks, but that probably would never work with my work schedule. If everything went my way, I'd get to five of these six states in the next year. Alaska is the one that will probably have to wait a little longer.
Hawaii- I'm sure there's a ton to do in Hawaii, but the thing I really want to do is visit Pearl Harbor. And I've always had the thought of combining a trip to Hawaii with a trip to Australia. I'd still have some really long flights, but they wouldn't be as long as the Los Angeles-Australia flight that most Americans would take to get there.
Besides visiting all 50 states, I've also documented some international travel. All three of my trips out of the country have been since I started the blog. I have two (well really three) more countries I want to get to:
Australia- I just mentioned this. I took Australian History in college and it was one of my favorite classes. My professor was an Australian priest (my favorite professor in college). We started by reading a travel book, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. A lot of the book was about all the different wildlife in Australia that can kill you, but it still made me want to go there. I wanted to go there for the start of the 2014 baseball season, but it just wasn't possible with my work schedule. So I'm saying now that I want to get there next summer (which would unfortunately be winter there, but it doesn't get too cold). It's not guaranteed to happen, but I hope I am able to do it.
Italy- I really want to get to Rome and the Vatican City, which is of course its own country. The combination of the history and the Church makes Italy the only non-English speaking country that I really want to visit. About two months ago, I heard in one of the many Notre Dame podcasts that I listen to that Notre Dame is likely to play a football game in Rome in the not too distant future. I tried doing some googling and found this article from last year. The guys on the podcast cover the team and they seemed convinced that it's going to happen, but I haven't heard it anywhere else. If it does happen and it's Labor Day weekend like the game in Dublin was, I'm there. Of course, this is all speculation at this point. So we'll see. I'd like to get to Rome even if Notre Dame wasn't playing there. But if Notre Dame does play there, that's the perfect excuse to go.
So I'm obviously not done, but I think I'll be cutting back on the blogging. Whenever any of these trips happen, expect a blog post. I'll probably do a blog post about Notre Dame's hockey game at Barclays Center in November (the first time I'll be there for something other than basketball). I'll definitely do one if I do in fact make it to the Shamrock Series game at Fenway Park. And hopefully there will be a drunken blog post after the Dodgers win the World Series this year (such an awesome game last night, I stayed up until it ended at 3:39 Eastern). But I probably won't be blogging about all the Met games I go to anymore.
Anyway, it's time for updated rankings of all the baseball stadiums. These rankings are how I feel right now and might not match exactly how I had the stadiums ranked last season. And they might not match what I said about the four stadiums I got to for the first time this year when I originally blogged about them. But here we go:
32. Tropicana Field- It's one of two stadiums with artificial turf and it's the only one with a roof that doesn't open.
31- O.co Coliseum- From what I hear, it was nice before the Raiders moved back. They really need to move to San Jose, but the Giants won't let them. I had always maintained that I didn't need to get to this one or Tropicana Field. Now that I've been everywhere else, I'm reconsidering. Maybe I'll combine the trip I want to do to New Orleans and Mississippi with a trip to Tampa for a Rays game. And if I'm going to go across the country to visit Pete and Katie again next year, maybe I'll spend a day in Oakland to get to an A's game. We'll see.
30. SkyDome- It will always be the SkyDome to me. I think they want to renovate it. If they did a good job, I could easily see this one moving up the rankings.
29. US Cellular Field- It's a boring stadium. I haven't been there in nine years, though. I want to get back to Wrigley Field so if I do, I'll try to schedule it so that I can get to both Chicago stadiums.
28. Marlins Park- It's better than playing in a football stadium like they used to, but it's too weird.
27. Minute Maid Park- They're getting rid of the hill and moving in the fence in center field (the one part of the park where it wasn't easy to hit home runs). I don't like this move.
26. Turner Field- I won't miss this one. Maybe I'll get to the Cobb County stadium at some point.
25. Progressive Field- It's very similar to Oriole Park and Globe Life Park since all three of those were built around the same time. This is the worst of the three.
24. Angel Stadium of Anaheim- This was not built around the same time as Oriole Park, Globe Life Park, and Progressive Field, but it's kind of similar. It's in southern California, so that's nice, but there isn't really much else that's special about it.
23. Chase Field- The pool is cool, but it's air conditioned which greatly reduces the desire to be in a pool.
22. Miller Park- This was one place where I was able to get a really good seat (second level, right in front of the press box) for a really cheap price. I might have ranked this higher if I went to a game during the summer and the roof was open.
21. Coors Field- A lot of people love Coors Field, but the biggest problem can't be fixed (the altitude).
20. Shea Stadium- It was a dump and objectively, it's worse than any other stadium I've been to with the possible exception of SkyDome, but it was my home stadium for the first 20 years I went to baseball games.
19. Comerica Park- If anything, this is a generous ranking considering it's in Detroit.
18. Globe Life Park- There was good selection of Texas beer. I like how the design incorporated some history stadiums, but unfortunately they've gone away from that a little bit.
17. Citi Field- Citi Field is good, but it could be better. The food needs work. Shake Shack is great, but the line is always way too long. The upper level needs better food options. The easy solution to both problems would be to put in another Shake Shack on the upper level.
16. New Yankee Stadium- They definitely need a better beer selection. I really wish they had just renovated the old stadium. But of course, Big Stein would never stand for the Mets getting a new stadium without the Yankees getting one.
15. Oriole Park at Camden Yards- I moved this one ahead of the New York stadiums, but I still maintain that it's overrated by most people.
14. Citizens Bank Park- They have all these little beer stands that have like two beers on tap (different beers at each one). I wish every stadium was like that.
13. Nationals Park- I think Nationals Park is very underrated by most people. However I found one problem that could easily be fixed. The whole stadium has this Nation's Capital/Red, White, and Blue theme going on. That makes sense. But then the outfield wall is green. Why isn't it blue?
12. Busch Stadium- I hate the Cardinals more than any team other than the Giants, but I respect their success. The atmosphere and the area around the stadium are great, but I was expecting more on the inside.
11. Safeco Field- It's easily the best stadium with a roof.
10. Target Field- I went to two games there this summer. The only other stadium at least that far away where I've seen more than one game is Dodger Stadium. It's a very good stadium. I can't think of anything I would change that could make it better. Most of the stadiums ahead of it have advantages that couldn't be replicated in Minneapolis.
9. AT&T Park- I hate the Giants. And if you want to accuse me of being biased against their stadium, that's fine. It looks great on the inside. The long wait for food and beer keeps it from being higher on the list.
8. Great American Ballpark- You could say that it's kind of a homeless man's version of AT&T Park (with the water beyond the outfield). It definitely doesn't look as nice. So how does it rank higher? It had the best beer selection in baseball and there was a very good food selection without long lines.
7. Kauffman Stadium- I loved everything about the inside of this stadium. Being surrounded by parking lots is what is keeping this one from being ranked higher.
6. Wrigley Field- I'm keeping this one where I had it ranked last year. Is it a proper ranking? I don't know. It's been six years since I was there. The only ones that I haven't been to more recently than that are US Cellular Field and the New York stadiums that don't exist anymore. And they're in the process of renovating. So I hope to get back. I could see this one being ranked as high as number 3 or as low as 12 depending on what I think when I see it again.
5. Petco Park- This is one I'd really like to get back to. I'd love to see San Diego when the weather is nice (it was mid-60s and cloudy when I was there). Maybe it will be combined with a future trip to visit Pete and Katie. It was a great stadium, but I moved it down a spot last year because of the Bud Selig Hall of Fame Plaza.
4. PNC Park- Another reason to move down Petco Park? Atmosphere. The Pirates have been good for a few years now (amazing) and the Padres have been pretty bad (Why aren't the Padres better with that city and that stadium?). I think Pittsburgh is an underrated city, but everybody knows the stadium is great. I'm happy that the Pirates are doing well (I'd be really happy for Pittsburgh if the Pirates made it to the NCLS...and lost to the Dodgers, of course).
3. Old Yankee Stadium- I have it ranked very high, but I really wish I could go back in time to pre-renovation Yankee Stadium. It might take the number one spot if I could. Of course, I'd also go to Ebbets Field and I guess I'd even go to a game at the Polo Grounds.
2. Dodger Stadium- A great setting, a beautiful ballpark, twelve no-hitters, two perfect games, eight World Series, the invention of the high five, Koufax and Kershaw, Pope John Paul II, and The Naked Gun. There's still room for improvement, but I love Dodger Stadium. The fact that my favorite team plays there makes be biased, but still, it's great.
1. Fenway Park- It's such a wonderfully weird ballpark (unintentionally weird, unlike Marlins Park) that couldn't be duplicated anywhere else. It was great to get back there this summer (most likely for my last game of the season). Hopefully this November I'll see my third different sport played there.
And there you have it. I finally got to the 30 Major League stadiums I wanted to get to, but I'm still not done.
It was a very good summer. I'm hoping for an even better fall. It's time for the Dodgers to win the World Series again. And football season is almost upon us. As much as I love baseball, I get to a point in August where football just can't get here fast enough. This will be the first year since I graduated that I don't get back to Notre Dame. But hopefully a great football season will mean that I do a little more blogging than I'm planning on doing. Go Irish!
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