Stadium 13: Target Field and Updates on this past week in baseball.

Earlier this week I mentioned how random baseball can be especially with no hitters and cycles. I mean the home team thing on Tuesday was kind of cool. Of course write about things.... and then this happens!

Wednesday: Hiwashi Iwakuma threw a no hitter for the Seattle Mariners... Still an amazing feat and still only about 300 of these in MLB History.


It is an exciting moment to be a part of, and thankfully after many years of hoping I would attend one, I did. The last day of the disastrous 2013 season, I was dragged to Marlins park to finish off the season. Little did I know I would attend a very unique no hitter. Henderson Alvarez threw a no hitter but could not celebrate on the mound because the Marlins had not scored yet. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth...they did.

Very cool moment... I have gotten the ticket signed from that day and it is in a very safe location. Some people have seen tons of no hitters in person and recently Keith Olbermann talked about his ridiculously poor luck that made me feel so damn blessed I saw this one in person. 

Friday: I wrote about how the Padres have never hit for the cycle. It took them 7444 games but Matt Kemp did it...

 

Yeah...smile...Matt Kemp. So guess what team still hasn't hit for a cycle? That's right those wonderful great amazing...Miami Marlins. But do not worry!!! We will start a cycle watch as it is bound to happen! They are due! 3614 games since the Marlins have hit for a cycle. I want our announcers to sound like this.

Recently: Just because I think this is hilarious.

Remember baseball is still a kids game. 

I'll get to Marlins news tomorrow after the Cardinals finish them off.

Stadium 13: Target Field 

Located in Downtown Minneapolis, Target Field opened in 2010 and is an outdoor baseball facility. It was much needed after playing in the Metrodome... (29 on this list)

Target Field is a beautiful stadium that really tries to incorporate both the history and modern aspects of baseball. There are statues all over the exterior of the stadium to represent the heroes of Minnesota baseball.

The food in the ballpark is amazing as well. Barbecue that made you simply melt by how amazing it was. 

Butcher and the Boar provided this amazing feast of riblets.

Why does Target field only fall in 13 on this ranking... The sight lines do leave a little to desire and you also at this point on my criteria need to give me more. Make my experience unique and as much as I love the Midwest and the Twin Cities it just didn't meet it. They definitely made an immense upgrade over the Metrodome. 

Next up: Back to an Empire State of Mind. 

Stadium 14: Comerica park and Marlins trade history

The Marlins...like every other team in MLB...make lots of trades. Sometimes they are met with good intentions and sometimes they are not. The Marlins are always accused of firesales, and I want to look at a few to see what they were then and how they should be perceived now...

May 1998: What is known as one of the most lopsided trades in MLB history. The Marlins traded away Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Charles Johnson and Gary Sheffield for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile. The Marlins a week later so they would never have to pay Piazza, traded him to the Mets for Preston Wilson and randoms...

Yes he was a marlin!

Pro: Preston Wilson played four decent seasons with the Marlins even though he was a strikeout king! 
Con: Look at all the amazing names going elsewhere.... 

Result: This was absolutely a cost cutting measurement in which the Marlins lost out in a very big way!

2006:  Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Guillermo Mota were traded to the Red Sox for four minor-league prospects: shortstop Hanley Ramírez, and pitchers Aníbal Sánchez, Jesús Delgado, and Harvey García


Pro: Hanley Ramirez, as detrimental and a cancer as he was, did win a batting title for the Marlins. Anibal Sanchez was a stud and has one of the five no hitters in Marlins History. Mota was washed up and done. Mike Lowell (who I loved) was nearing the end of his career.

Con: Josh Beckett still had some amazing years left in him and that was tough to swallow. Jesus Delgado and Harvey Garcia never accounted for much.

Result: Marlins even in their market correction made the correct choice. They received two large pieces that produced more with less money than Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell did over what was left of their careers.

2012: Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, John Buck, Emilio Bonifacio and cash considerations to Toronto for Yunel Escobar, Adeiny Hechavarria, Henderson Alvarez,Jeff Mathis, Justin Nicolino, Anthony Desclafani and Jake Marisnick. Note: Yunel escobar was later traded to Tampa for Derek Dietrich


Pro: Marlins did shed a lot of salary but picked up so many pieces. Hechavarria is a budding star with the Marlins. Alvarez when healthy has no hit stuff as evidenced in 2012. Mathis has been an OK backup. Nicolino is now starting to see a future with the club. Desclafani would of been a great asset and he is one with Cincinnati. Marisnick just didn't fit here but has done ok elsewhere. Even Derek Dietrich has become a solid slugger with the Marlins

Cons: It looked bad? Reyes is a solid hitter but had many injury issues. Buerhle is dependable so thats a loss. Josh Johnson never recovered from TJ surgery. John Buck (puke!). Bonifacio never could get on base.

Result: Marlins made an amazing trade that everyone criticized! They made all the right decisions and came up on top even tough many though this was a bad trade. 

Finally this trade 2006: Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis for Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Mike Rabelo, two random pitchers, and Burke Badenhop.


Pro: Badenhop threw a solid two seasons with the Marlins.... Willis really never panned out after this. 

Cons: Everything. This was one of the worst trades in MLB history. Maybin was a joke who could not get on base, Miller could not keep an ERA below 6 including all of his BB, Rabelo was a backup catcher at his best. Miguel Cabrera continues to be one of the best hitters in baseball almost ten years later!!! It is like getting rid of Stanton before his prime for peanuts. 

Result: In my eyes, one of the worst trades in MLB History!!!!!

Detroit hosed us and they play in

14. Comerica Park


Opened in 2000, Comerica park is located in downtown Detroit which has a horrendous reputation as being a terrible city. I will not change your mind as it is one of the worst, if not worst cities in America. It is isolated from many other things but located in a crummy park of town. The Detroit Lions stadium shares its neighboring.

I expected a terrible stadium but was shocked to see that it wasn't too bad. Tigers greet you everywhere you look at Comerica.



There is a love and passion for the Tigers that for a second makes you actually forget that you are in Detroit, Michigan. I did enjoy my time there and the fans were fun and friendly.

If it were located anywhere else in America, I would rate Comerica higher. The experience of being in that city is not very pleasurable with run down buildings and life everywhere... so sadly it stays at 14.

Next up: back to the twins!

Stadium 15. Safeco Field and baseball randomness

Baseball is very very random. I love it but people are usually bored during games and will sit there and go after the stats. I am a statistics person, so I love it. There are so many of them that it just makes you go nuts. This is where you find out random things and go wow. Records will be broken in games that you never even knew there were records of!

Every year after Christmas, but before the New Year, Jayson Stark of ESPN comes out with an article detailing the Strange but True events of the previous year in MLB. Most of it is very random but makes you chuckle. Especially the dumb injuries.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12081854/mlb-strange-true-2014

There are some quality gems in there.

So lets start with the Marlins yesterday who are the one team that has scored the least amount of runs this year so of course they score 14 runs yesterday on 17 hits.

-The Marlins set a franchise record 10 runs scored in an inning when they teed off the Red Sox with 10 runs on 10 hits in the frame.



- JT Realmuto set a franchise record of RBIs in an inning with 5. I thought that mark would of been hit already.
-JT also hit a home run, triple, and a single but was short of a cycle.

-There have been 306 cycles in MLB History

-No Marlin has ever hit for a cycle in the 23 seasons of Marlins baseball.

-The San Diego Padres are the only other franchise that hasn't had a player hit for a cycle and they have been playing 47 seasons out there.

-There are also 291 no hitters in MLB History. The Marlins can claim 5 of those. The Padres can claim none....

In even weirder baseball news. On Tuesday the home team won every single baseball game and went 15-0! That feet has never occurred in baseball history and the closest we have come to that was 12-0 in 1914! The home team wins about 54 percent of their games so the probability of it happening was .000968 or .00968 percent. It was probably even lower since the Marlins were one of those home teams....

This event was capped off when the Mariners walked off in extra innings at.....

15. Safeco Field! (love that transition?)

Located in the South downtown district (SoDo) of Seattle and neighboring Qwest Field, Safeco Field is easily accessible by train from downtown Seattle and Tacoma. Safeco opened in the middle of the 1999 season. 

Safeco has great views of the city from the first base side and sounds of the train station right behind it. 

It was the last stop of my 32 stadium tour which does bring a smile to my face . The seafood selection at the park was outstanding but the park does not quite have that baseball feel. The biggest debbie downer was the alcohol police roaming around the stadium making sure there was no underage drinking. I have never ever seen that at a stadium. I even saw them harass some kids with pop because they swore that they spiked their drink. How is that even remotely ok??

The late sunset over the city really makes this a great sight to see and I was happy that this is where my tour ended up. Safeco still falls in the middle of the pack because there are just stadiums and experiences better than this!

Next up: RAWR!

Stadium 16: Wrigley Field and the seventh inning stretch.

Baseball can be long and when at the ballpark just sitting for three hours we get tired... The Seventh inning stretch which occurs in the middle of the seventh was incorporated as a break for the players and fans as well to get loose. The bigger tradition is to stand up and sing take me out to the ballgame which all ballparks in America do. Now some ballparks get cute and add something else to it.

Baltimore: Thank God I'm a county boy
Houston: Deep in the Heart of Texas
Texas: Cotton Eyed Joe
Angels: Build me up Buttercup

but there is nothing like the seventh inning at Wrigley Field. It all started with Harry Carey as an announcer for the White Sox simply singing to himself, take me out to the ballgame during the 7th inning. The owner of the White Sox decided to turn his mic on one day and everyone heard and loved it.... Eventually he turned this tradition over to Wrigley Field.

Harry Carey eventually died but his tradition lives on as a new celebrity or local will take his role and sing the standard at every home game. 

Trust me you will get chills standing and singing along. I am also a sucker for the lovely seventh inning stretch

16. Wrigley Field....

Wrigley Field is a mecca! Why on earth could it be so low on the list!!

Wrigley Field opened its doors in 1914 and is now 101 years old and counting. Yes, the Cubs have not won the World Series at Wrigley Field as this clearly reminds them. 

Means year of the cub. Years since division, national league, and world series titles. Should read 06/69/106

They are the lovable losers and fans simply go out there to have a good time. They love their cubbies but there is just a sense of doom that enters a fanbase when something as silly as this:

occurs in their lives.... Just wait for it... Things are going too well in Wrigleyville!

Wrigley Field is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Northern Chicago which made simple additions and construction to Wrigley Field almost impossible. They did not play a single night game at Wrigley until 1986 when MLB forced them or else they would not be allowed to have playoff games in Chicago. Even then, the number of night games was limited. It was only recently that they were allowed to play weekend games at night!

The Ivy is iconic and spends all season growing to create a luscious looking outfield. 

The bleacher seats are always a party and the old school hand operated out of town scoreboard is always a treat to see!

Wrigley Field is an icon! So what is the problem with Wrigley....

ITS A DUMP!!! It is run down and falling apart. The seats are made for tiny people. And don't forget the obstructed seats.

Or the possibility of missing fly balls because of the low ceiling

Wrigley field was in dire need of a renovation and finally...after many fights with the city they got this put in....

If Fenway can fix it up.... You can too Wrigley....Maybe one day you'll 

But right now.... you.... 

Next up: my 32!

Stadium 17: Miller Park and races...

The new trend of MLB baseball stadiums is to have races. Sometimes it is a local theme sometimes it just doesn't make too much sense. We have the Presidents Race in Washington


The lovely Sea Creatures in Miami


The Legends Race of Arizona


And then the silly ones:
The Tool Race in Atlanta


and Denver reminds you to take care of your teeth!


But it all started in Milwaukee with the Great Sausage Race:

Commenced in the early 90s, it pits a race among one of the three things people in Milwaukee love which is sausages. The other two are cheese and beer which astounds me that they don't love heart attacks as well.

The race is between bratwurst, polish, italian, hot dog, and chorizo. People do place bets on these guys and it can get intense. It did have a famous incident attached to it when Randall Simon who then played for the Pirates thought it was funny to do this....

He was suspended three games and arrested for the incident... whoops... 

These races are a growing concept that amazingly is getting bigger by the day as 25 percent of the stadiums now incorporate some form of this. This all started though with the Brewers.

17. Miller Park:

The first of three stadiums mentioned named after beer companies of the United States is Miller park. It opened in 2001 and is a retractable roof stadium.

It is actually one if not the only stadium in America where people will tailgate for the game!

We know about the sausage race and we know it has passionate fans to create a fun atmosphere, so what is it missing. The location isn't optimal as it is located way west of downtown. There are no sightlines to offer at the stadium and it has a mascot that does not interact with fans, instead opting to stay next to his slide. 

He waits there for a Brewers home run so that he can slide down...what a dream life!

I love Milwaukee, I love the people, I love the atmosphere but I needed more, which is why it only landed at 17. (Sausages and all)

Next up: Take me out to the 2nd oldest ballpark in America

Stadium 18. Yankee Stadium and well my trip there.

The House that Ruth built...Historic Yankee Stadium...the ghosts of Yankee priors.... none of them are in this billion dollar stadium that was built and opened in 2009 for the sole reason of opening at the exact same time as their rivals in Queens were opening their ballpark...

I went there in the summer of 2012 in hopes of feeling something amazing and what I felt was one of the nastiest heat waves ever to come through the city. Temperatures were in the triple digits throughout during this one o'clock game.

The history was there including the famous Derek Jeter call that lasted until his retirement last year that still gives me chills....

There is also the famous roll call where the Right Field bleachers call out everyone's name until they are acknowledged. Kinda funny actually

But then there was the heat....

They had to set up hydration stations throughout the stadium just so people would not pass out. Then something funny happened, it rained...a lot and the temperature dropped 45 degrees into the 60s. It became cold with rain! What? Yes in the middle of July it went from the hottest day on the planet to cold rain and 60s!

Ironically enough it was the only game I went to that was rain shortened and the Yankees won in 7 innings. It was definitely one of my oddest stadium experiences.

Quick side note: I do not like the Yankees but I respected Derek Jeter for playing the game correctly and being one of the few, like Chipper Jones that stayed with his team forever and was a Yankee at heart. He will be a first ballot hall of famer. This commercial last year.... still gives me chills. Amazing.

18. Yankee stadium:

I feel like I have mentioned a few details above that are awesome and unique about Yankee Stadium which is located in the Bronx and easily accessible by subway on the D Train. The one bad thing that really threw me off was the feel that this was pristine museum Yankee Stadium. Look but don't you dare touch kind of feel. A mausoleum built to replicate the historic stadium that it couldn't replicate as much as it tried. Yankee stadium is a new stadium trying to be old and sadly does not work. Honestly it would of been a lot grander if it stayed as the old Yankee stadium, be historic and really hold themselves to that. That is what is missing from this place. What should be a mecca was completely ruined. It does have its uptick and traditions but failed at the end where it mattered.

Next up: Let us race sausages!! 

Stadium 19: Nationals park and baseball in our nation's capital.

First of all before I even start, it is spelled capital! (Washington DC)

NOT CAPITOL


The worst part is that if you do a google image search of US Capital.... the latter comes up.... Ignorant!!!

Not that I got my teacher out of me.... lets talk about baseball in our nation's capital.

Baseball started in DC with the Washington Senators in 1901 and was one of the 8 charter American League franchises.

The franchise stayed in DC until 1960 when they moved out to the Midwest to become what we know now as the Minnesota Twins. The following year, a brand new franchise was started there called...the Washington Senators.

Which actually looks similar to the current team. In 1971, however the team made negotiations and moved to Arlington to become the Texas Rangers which angered the locals. It basically ended with the Senators up 7-5 with two outs in the ninth and the fans storming the field. Security had been overpowered and even a base was stolen. The Senators were forced to forfeit their last game.

Finally baseball arrived again in 2005 with the Expos moving to Washington to become the Nationals and have been there ever since.

Stadium 19: Nationals park
Nationals park opened in 2008 after the Nationals played 3 miserable seasons at RFK park. Located by the Navy Pier, it is on the south side of DC. It is not very close to any landmarks of the city, but if you look off in the distance you could see the Capitol and Washington Monument.

If there is one thing Washington is known for its the race of the presidents!!! During the fourth inning, Teddy Roosevelt, George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and now William Howard Taft (the fattest president?) sprint to the finish with Screech the eagle in assistance.

Seriously it is a spectacle...especially when they whip out... the SHARKNADO!!

Nationals park is a nice stadium but it has a less than ideal location with very poor food choices...One of the few times I got sick thanks to stadium food was at Nationals Park... 

I do like the Presidents Race but it is not like the Sausage Race in Milwaukee which I will get to soon. Of the new modern stadiums Nationals Park needs pop and pzazzz and does not have it which leaves it at 19...

Next up: Should of kept it as the House that Ruth built...