AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA – Game No. 3

 

May 30^th.  Our day started with preparation work at Starbucks in Redwood City, CA.  I felt like a “Yuppie” drinking my $3.80 iced mocha while working on my laptop.  Today’s game is at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.  The park was also home to last year’s All-Star Game, and is the location of Barry Bond’s record-breaking homer.  I forgot to mention I witnessed “Big Papi” hit a homer in Seattle against the Mariners.  My gorgeous girl was too much of a distraction for me to remember to write about it.  (…No, she didn’t tell me to write that…)    Ortiz’s home run was a true highlight since he is my second favorite player, next to Mike Lowell.

 

Prior to the game, Daren and I decided to play a little catch and have a beer.  Life is hard. 

 

 

On our way in we did some interviewing for the documentary.  I have continually been taking a load of crap for wearing my Red Sox jersey.  The comical part about this is the home team fans at each park have given me a hard time, and we have yet to see a home team win.    (…However, at the gate I did find a Red Sox fan wearing Giants gear.  What is that?…)  Today’s game will be a 13-inning, 3-7 loss for the Giants against the San Diego Padres.  The ESPN highlight of the day will be a triple play turned by the Giants in the 8^th inning (…I believe…) to keep the score tied at 3.

 

OK.  Seriously.  The Giants and the Athletics have the same gas station deliver dogs to their park.  The “Giants Dog” will be third of three on the rankings list.  The dog itself was of the same low quality as the A’s dog.  The bun was even worse.  I have yet to be impressed with MLB dogs so far.

 

MLB Park “Dogs”

 

1.  Major League Mariner Dog  (Safeco Field – Mariners)

2.  (distant)  Miller All Beef Coliseum Dog  (McAfee Coliseum – Athletics)

3.  Giants Dog  (AT&T Park – Giants)

 

AT&T Park is home to the largest baseball mitt in the world.  There was a fireworks show after the game in honor of “HIV/AIDS – find a cure” efforts.

 

The next day we returned to the park to rent kayaks for the McCovey Cove experience.  Daren and I went in the water. 

 

 

Bond’s hit several splash homers into the cove in years past, however he’s not around anymore.  Honestly, not to be negative again, but I was disappointed.  The cove experience has been around as long as the park and there were no services for the kayakers.  I didn’t expect to catch a ball, or even see one for that matter.  However, it would have been nice to be able to see a TV screen with the game on, or even one of the park score boards.  The only thing in sight was the pitch count board in extreme right field.  We spent the afternoon staring at a concrete wall.    Granted, a boat did cruise by and give us free roast beef and cheddar sandwiches, and beer.  That was a bonus.

 

Later………………Nolan  (Key Grip)

 

P.S. For photos click here and choose between Thumbnails (left), Detail (left) and Slideshow (upper right).

 

When viewing a slideshow, click on “Options” and choose “Always show title and description” to view photo captions.

McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, CA – Game No. 2

 

So…………. here we are in Oakland, CA.  The Toronto Blue Jays are visiting the Oakland Athletics.  The site is McAfee Coliseum, home of the A’s and the NFL’s Oakland Raiders.  Game time is 12:35 on a Thursday.  Consequently the crowd is sparse, with the exception of hundreds of grade-school kids, all of which are wearing brand new A’s hats. 

 

The stands are roughly half full.  The very upper level seats weren’t even uncovered for the event.  It is a sunny day.  (All three BaseCrawl crew members will leave with a sunburn.)  I am being sentimental and find myself looking at Beth’s ring on my hand, wishing she was here.  I’m sure Troy and Daren will throw me crap for typing that.

 

A fan behind me was just giving me shit, in a friendly way, for wearing my Boston jersey to an A’s game.  He then proceeded to call his mother in Detroit to tell her about my choice of clothing.  Turns out she is a Pistons fan, and consequently doesn’t enjoy hearing about Boston anything do to the current NBA series between the two cities.

 

The dog of choice at the coliseum is the Miller All Beef Coliseum Dog.  I’ve purchased one, and must say I am quite disappointed.  The bun is better than at Safeco, however that’s were my positive reviews stop.  The dog itself could have come from your local gas station, and the condiments were weak to say the least.  Poor display of ball park dog tradition.

 

MLB Park “Dogs”

 

1.  Major League Mariner Dog  (Safeco Field – Mariners)

2.  (distant)  Miller All Beef Coliseum Dog  (McAfee Coliseum – Athletics)

 

Since the game is continuing to get more and more boring, (Final Score: TOR 12, OAK 0) we’ve decided to try and move down in the seats for a closer look.  We’ve made it to the first level and have noticed the bullpens are just outside the two foul lines.  Interesting???  I’m sort-of a ballpark rookie, however I was surprised to see this.  (Daren has since told me this is present in a few other parks.)

 

Game No. 2 is over.  We’ve placed sticker No. 2 on the Jeep.  Next stop in San Francisco.  Daren and I will be in the bay on Saturday in kayaks.  Watch for us.

 

Later … ……… Nolan  (Key Grip)

 

P.S.  For photos click here and choose between Thumbnails (left), Detail (left) and Slideshow (upper right).

 

Safeco Field, Seattle, WA – Game No. 1

One down, 29 to go…

 

Our first game was last night (May 26th).  The Red Sox were visiting the Mariners.  Ironically, Seattle is my girlfriend’s team, and Boston is my team.  Beth flew in for the game.  All had a blast, of course.  We did the standard Seattle stuff, i.e. Space Needle, Pikes Place, downtown, etc.

 

 

The game was close until the 8^th.  Boston won, 5-3.  The experience was one to remember since Boston is the defending champ.  I ate a “Major League Mariner Dog.”  Although it’s been done before, I plan to rank the “dogs” of all 30 parks.  The Mariner dog was juicy, thick and slightly charred, which I like.  The bun and condiments left a little to be desired, although sauerkraut was available, which is a plus.  Since this was the first, my ranking list is short. 

 

MLB Park “Dogs”

 

1.  Major League Mariner Dog  (Seattle, WA)

 

Big League BaseCrawl is officially under way. I am now on Amtrak headed to Portland to meet up with Daren and Troy, as they left Beth and I in Seattle last night.  We have many miles and dogs to go.

 

Later…………………Nolan

 

P.S.  For photos click here and choose between Thumbnails (left), Detail (left) and Slideshow (upper right).

Big League BaseCrawl

Hello Everyone…

Two of my buddies (Troy and Daren) and I are about to begin a great adventure.  We are hopping in an SUV and road tripping for the next 10 weeks.  Our goal is to watch a game in all 30 MLB parks.  Along the way we will be producing a documentary (movie and book).  The project is called “Big League BaseCrawl.”  There will be a web page to view and other blog locations to keep you informed.

More to come.

…Nolan