6/14/2011- National's Stadium (Nat's)

Cardinals vs. Nationals, 7:05pm start

There's something I need to say before I start the post about the stadium.  If you ever feel the desire to drive to the National's Stadium, don't.  I say again, DO NOT.  The only way to get there is to charter a helicopter and drop in.  We started our day at the National Zoo (which is gorgeous, but there's very little parking- it was the theme of the day).  We then hopped over to the stadium, giving ourselves 2 hours to do the 6.5 mile drive.  Our first mistake was driving, our second mistake was leaving the zoo around 5pm and heading straight for downtown DC.  Yeah, the worst drivers in the world+ rush hour+ DC+ not knowing exactly where we were going meant it took us an hour and a half to get to the stadium.  Then it was time to find parking.  If you decide to not heed my warning, then bring cash!  Parking isn't *too* expensive, but all lots are cash only.  We had no cash.  When we finally found a card lot, grabbed our stuff and ran to the stadium, we had just missed the 2-run home run by Pujols, still hadn't eaten, had had our first real snapping fight of our marriage and were just plain pissed off.

I'm going to try to not let that color our experience of the stadium, because it's actually a really gorgeous place:

(Note Dan in my Matheny jersey- this is why I love him)

(You can see the Capital Building under the lights)

As you can see, it's a newer stadium, but their "park mall" seems to have more large restaurants than places to raffle off cars or entertain your kids for hours.  We didn't have a lot of time to see it, since we got there at the bottom of the 1st (see above), but what I saw, I liked.  Because it's a newer stadium, park prices were a little outrageous.  Our seats, up just shy of nose bleed, were originally $28 (and that was about the cheapest you could get).  Thankfully, Dan found tickets on Stub Hub for way cheaper (side note, if you go to events a lot and haven't heard of Stub Hub, hear of it!  It's where people sell their season tickets for games they can't go to.  It's cheap and safe.).  The great thing is that the stadium designers realized that tickets were going to be expensive, and made sure that even the nose bleed seats were great.  Dan and I commented several times about just how good our seats were.

My only real complaint about the stadium (aside from it's location...) was the jumbotron.  Now, I love having all the info about everything, but I also kind of like having to search for it.  Most stadiums have a separate screen for things like pitch speed, or pitcher stats.  Not here- everything was on one screen:

If you can't read that, it has (from the bottom up): the game score (with inning breakdowns, hits, runs, and errors), pitch count, pitch speed, the scoring of each play, the pitcher stats, the batter stats, the full lineup of each team (with a red line to show you who is up), a picture of the batter and his in-game stats. All of this, surrounded by 4 ads, lights, and a clock.  Whew.  It was a LOT to look through to find what you wanted.  But if my only real complaint is that they needed more than 1 jumbotron, well, you're doing pretty well.

And how were the fans, you might ask?  I for sure repeat my statement that Cards fans are some of the best in baseball.  They were there in force!  The stadium was probably 75% full, and Cards fans took up almost half of that.  We even had people saying "Go Cards" at the zoo in the morning!  Now to the Nats fans.  I'm so conflicted about this!  During the whole game, we noted how much we liked the fans- they cheered after every out, every strike, every decent at-bat, every everything.  The guy in front of us was loud and obnoxious, but not to us- that was just how he was.  The only real comment that we got directed at us was a lady kind of tipping her hat to something I said (they decided to walk Pujols in his 2nd at-bat, to much boo-ing of the Cards fans.  I commented with sarcasm that it's not like he'd done anything to warrant them walking him.  haha).  They were very into their team and very supportive, but were just great sports about it.  That is, until we left the stadium.  The Cardinals, one of the best teams in baseball at this point, lost.  And they lost to a team that is one of the worst in baseball at this point.  Understandably, the Nats fans were thrilled.  But as we walked back down from the stratosphere, we had the misfortune of walking right in front of 4 very drunk frat-type boys who decided they'd talk to each other about us.  I did pretty well about holding my tongue... until about half way down.  It's a shame that 4 drunk idiots who weren't even wearing Nats gear and had clearly come straight form working at Douchebag, Inc. completely tainted our view of Nats fans.  *sigh*  Oh well.

Overall, it was a very nice park.  It wasn't quite a great of an experience as Camden Yards, but I for sure enjoyed it more than Wrigley and US Cellular (which we've been to, but before this project started, so I'm not counting it).

Here's the sign for foul balls.  Not nearly as adorable or creative as the one at Camden Yards.

Here's the current pennant collection!  You may be wondering why the Nationals one is different.  Well, they didn't sell anything but this at the stand that was open after the game, and you apparently can't get these online!  So that's what we have.  It was only $3 and I can color on it if I feel so inclined, so maybe not such a loss.  Just would have been nice to find a matching one that had a pic of the ballpark on it.

6/12/2011- Camden Yards (Orioles)

Rays vs. Orioles, 1:35pm start

Maybe it’s because I’ve lived in Chicago for so long, but I feel like there just wasn’t much to say about Wrigley: the stadium is old-school and covered in ivy, the team is an upper-level ball club, and their fans love the game almost as much as they love drinking during the game.*  But regarding our trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, I don’t think it is physically possible to sum things up in so few words.  So let me break it down:

The Park: This park is GORGEOUS!  The entire downtown Baltimore area has sort of a Boston, original colonies feel, but with modern, uniform red bricks.  The stadium is no exception and for sure feels like one of the newer baseball parks (I can't believe the park is nearly 20 years old!).  It’s surrounded by a pretty large “ballpark mall” on 3 sides which is technically inside the park, but they’ve set it almost lower than most of the stadium, so it really feels like a separate unit.  I loved it, because it had all the amenities of a newer stadium, with the feel of an older one (I wish the new Busch Stadium had taken Camden Yards’ lead).  Dan and I both just thought the place was breathtaking, but let’s see what you think:

(This isn't from our seats, but it was the best view of everything)

The Team: Let’s be honest, neither the Orioles nor the Rays they had the misfortune of playing are great teams.  I mean, in a game where the first hit is a home run, there are 3 errors and 1 inside-the-park home run, you aren’t talking about World Series-quality baseball here, but they really did try and their colors remind me of Halloween, which is awesome.  Also, their mascot is hysterical, which is a plus in my book!

The Fans: I’ve always thought Cards fans were some of the best fans in baseball (especially after coming to Chicago).  I’m changing my mind.  Cards fans are some of the best fans of their team.  Whether the Cards are winning or losing, the fans seem to stay loyal, filling the stadium and wearing their gear to games where the Cards aren’t even playing (seriously, we saw a handful of people in Cards gear at Camden Yards).  Orioles fans are some of the best fans of being at the ball park.  While the park was nowhere near full on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the fans that were there were wonderful, and what they lacked in numbers they made up for in orange/black gear and support!  I only saw 2 people in our entire section get a beer, they all yell out the “O” in the “Oh say does that...” part of the National Anthem, everyone got into all of the mini-games and stadium camera thingies, and the wave went successfully around the stadium twice!  The only thing we thought was a little odd is that there was no organ, and the 7^th inning stretch song was “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” instead of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.  But neither of those things were really the fans’ fault.  I don't really know why the fans are this loyal.  I mean, it's not like the team is any good these days (see above).  My guess is that in an area where it's acceptable to be a fan of at least 5 other teams, everyone picks their poison and sticks with it.  They might not be perfect, but they're ours!

Overall, this was a great experience.  There was something about the ball park that felt so tension-free.  Everyone was just there to have fun- if the O’s lost, drat; if they won, all the better.  There was something about that attitude that really made us as stranger feels oddly welcome.  Plus, we got to see 5 home runs and an error Dan had never really seen before (a ball was overthrown into the stands, giving the runner 3^rd base and home).  I can’t say enough about how great the experience was, and so far, it’s my favorite park.  It only pushes it higher that it was free hat day:

Dan wants to get a picture of every park's "beware of foul balls" sign, so here's the O's:

*I will not apologize for this comment.  Several of you are die-hard Cubs fans, I know.  But those of you that I know are great, nice people.  The fans I sit next to at EVERY SINGLE GAME and on buses throughout the city are terrible.  They are the first to rub it in your face if the Cubs are up by a run and the first to go completely sullen the moment the Cubs are down a run.  It's not a pleasant feeling for those around them and I don't make these comments on Cubs fans without much experience with said Cubs fans.