Phew -- what a week that was! The Rust Belt Baseball Stadium Tour 2013 was a big success. Five games in five cities in two time zones in six days. Tasty vegan food in almost every city.
Only got seriously rained on once: the Twins game in Minneapolis was looking seriously doubtful, as they furled and unfurled the tarps over and over.
Got to see the retractable roof close in Milwaukee:
Pretty cool. And Miller Field is perhaps the most beautiful stadium of the five I visited (in six days!)
Favorite ballpark: definitely Jacobs Field (aka Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Nicest people, most pleasant atmosphere, easy to get in and out of (none of this bullshit neverending ramp routine that Comiskey (aka US Cellular) does in Chicago to keep the fancy suite and box attendees away from us commoners:
Least favorite ballpark: unquestionably Comiskey, aka US Cellular, home of the White Sox. As I discussed at some length here, it just kinda sucks. Cold, impersonal, concrete, difficult location with few bars or restaurants (or anything) around, obnoxious, unpleasant fans. The scumbags a couple rows behind me were so awful that, in about the only time I can remember, I actually left to get away from them. And since they make it impossible to go to levels you're not ticketed in, I couldn't just stand and watch the game, and so actually left. These miserable people literally used "fuck" in some form in nearly every screaming sentence, lit up cigarettes (though the guest services lady pounced on them, and told them in no uncertain terms that it was their only warning before they would be kicked out), were verbally abusive to the vendors, and just generally were nasty, loud, unpleasant people to be around. When I walked away, I exchanged a look with the guest services lady, who pretty much had to post up near us for the whole game, that was one of those knowing, yeah, you know why I'm leaving kind of looks. I think she wished she could leave too.
Favorite city: without a doubt, Minneapolis. Great people, fantastic bicycle infrastructure including a wonderful bike share program, great public transit, great vegan food, great bars, great beer, a great museum. Just great. (Though I did come very close to getting doored by some asshat while biking.)
Here are a couple neat bikes at the Walker Museum:
Least favorite city: without a doubt, Chicago. What the hell do people see in Chicago, anyway? Besides the so-so transit, and a few vegan places in the Loop, the place basically sucks. The South Side (which I walked around extensively) has none of the gritty charm that I love about Rust Belt cities, but all the sadness and unpleasantness. Oh, and the cops are stupid thugs. And the taxi drivers suck.
Walking up Cermak, I did remember a trip a long, long time ago, taking the Greyhound across the country when I was 17. We had an eight hour (or something) layover in Chicago, so when the bus arrived at Union Station, I had nothing better to do than walk all over the city, including all over the South Side. I wandered in to a diner a little after 4am, and ate breakfast with the cabbies and truckers, walked over bridges, looked at buildings, watched people throw trash bags out of tenement windows, forming huge, squalid trash piles on the sidewalks below.
Ah, memories, light the corner of my mind. Back to topic...
Ballparks, in order of how I liked them:
1. Jacobs Field (Progressive Field), Cleveland
2. Target Field, Minneapolis
3. Comerica Park, Detroit
4. Miller Park, Milwaukee
5. Comiskey (US Cellular), Chicago
Jacobs, as I said, is just wonderful.
Target is big and beautiful, but just jam packed with corporate commerce, and a little too damn big.
Comerica is pleasant, and nicely located, but doesn't much stand out.
Miller is a gorgeous facility, and reasonably pleasant to walk around, but is horrifically located. It's out in the eastern suburbs of Milwaukee, not well served by public transit, and a bit of a pain in the ass to walk to.
US Cellular is probably my least favorite baseball stadium I've ever been to.
Alright, an empty fridge, a visit to Hell, and a long to-do list await!
Only got seriously rained on once: the Twins game in Minneapolis was looking seriously doubtful, as they furled and unfurled the tarps over and over.
Got to see the retractable roof close in Milwaukee:
Roof open, beautiful day game.
Roof closing, just ahead of a torrential downpour in the ~6th inning.
Pretty cool. And Miller Field is perhaps the most beautiful stadium of the five I visited (in six days!)
Favorite ballpark: definitely Jacobs Field (aka Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Nicest people, most pleasant atmosphere, easy to get in and out of (none of this bullshit neverending ramp routine that Comiskey (aka US Cellular) does in Chicago to keep the fancy suite and box attendees away from us commoners:
Least favorite ballpark: unquestionably Comiskey, aka US Cellular, home of the White Sox. As I discussed at some length here, it just kinda sucks. Cold, impersonal, concrete, difficult location with few bars or restaurants (or anything) around, obnoxious, unpleasant fans. The scumbags a couple rows behind me were so awful that, in about the only time I can remember, I actually left to get away from them. And since they make it impossible to go to levels you're not ticketed in, I couldn't just stand and watch the game, and so actually left. These miserable people literally used "fuck" in some form in nearly every screaming sentence, lit up cigarettes (though the guest services lady pounced on them, and told them in no uncertain terms that it was their only warning before they would be kicked out), were verbally abusive to the vendors, and just generally were nasty, loud, unpleasant people to be around. When I walked away, I exchanged a look with the guest services lady, who pretty much had to post up near us for the whole game, that was one of those knowing, yeah, you know why I'm leaving kind of looks. I think she wished she could leave too.
As espn.com put it well: "New Comiskey Park: A monstrosity trapped between the ageless classics and the new wave of retro parks."
Favorite city: without a doubt, Minneapolis. Great people, fantastic bicycle infrastructure including a wonderful bike share program, great public transit, great vegan food, great bars, great beer, a great museum. Just great. (Though I did come very close to getting doored by some asshat while biking.)
Here are a couple neat bikes at the Walker Museum:
Least favorite city: without a doubt, Chicago. What the hell do people see in Chicago, anyway? Besides the so-so transit, and a few vegan places in the Loop, the place basically sucks. The South Side (which I walked around extensively) has none of the gritty charm that I love about Rust Belt cities, but all the sadness and unpleasantness. Oh, and the cops are stupid thugs. And the taxi drivers suck.
Walking up Cermak, I did remember a trip a long, long time ago, taking the Greyhound across the country when I was 17. We had an eight hour (or something) layover in Chicago, so when the bus arrived at Union Station, I had nothing better to do than walk all over the city, including all over the South Side. I wandered in to a diner a little after 4am, and ate breakfast with the cabbies and truckers, walked over bridges, looked at buildings, watched people throw trash bags out of tenement windows, forming huge, squalid trash piles on the sidewalks below.
Ah, memories, light the corner of my mind. Back to topic...
Ballparks, in order of how I liked them:
1. Jacobs Field (Progressive Field), Cleveland
2. Target Field, Minneapolis
3. Comerica Park, Detroit
4. Miller Park, Milwaukee
5. Comiskey (US Cellular), Chicago
Jacobs, as I said, is just wonderful.
Target is big and beautiful, but just jam packed with corporate commerce, and a little too damn big.
Comerica is pleasant, and nicely located, but doesn't much stand out.
Miller is a gorgeous facility, and reasonably pleasant to walk around, but is horrifically located. It's out in the eastern suburbs of Milwaukee, not well served by public transit, and a bit of a pain in the ass to walk to.
US Cellular is probably my least favorite baseball stadium I've ever been to.
Alright, an empty fridge, a visit to Hell, and a long to-do list await!
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