Going into hibernation

If you are visiting for the first time, here’s the story: I am a writer and baseball fan who—over ten years ago now—got the crazy idea to see a game at every baseball park in the majors.  As of August 2012, I have been to 27 out of 30. This blog is my attempt to chronicle the stories of those trips.

If you like what you see here, check back once in a while—I am going to be tweaking, updating, and adding to the pages you’ll see in the “other fun stuff” section of the sidebar. If you like my travelogue, be aware that I fully intend to reboot it when I go on my next baseball-related vacation, and you can be kept up-to-date without lifting a finger simply by clicking the “sign me up!” button on the sidebar—the next time I post something, you will be instantly informed.

Take me out to… the Opera?!

The baseball season may be over, but I’ve been neglecting something I’ve been meaning to write about since September. I’ve mentioned that I have family in the Bay Area. One thing I picked up on a recent visit out there was a new favorite radio station which—thanks to the wonders of the internet—I am able to listen to from anywhere. Why it’s my favorite station is a story for another blog, but one consequence of constantly listening to a San Francisco area station was that I got to hear quite a bit about a big musical event of the season: Opera at the Ballpark.

The idea is that once a year, San Francisco Opera picks a performance on a date the Giants are out of town and sends a live feed to be simulcast on the giant screen at the ballpark. It’s typically a well known and fairly “accessible” opera, and it is always free. This year’s event was Verdi’s Rigoletto on what I was told was a beautiful though slightly chilly evening in September.

That particular corporate-named stadium has always been one of my favorites, and San Francisco is one of the world’s most vibrant and colorful cities, so I could imagine that people could have a lot of fun with it, and was actually quite sorry I wouldn’t have a chance to attend. (And I don’t even like opera!) However, I recently had a chance to sit down and have a chat with my aunt Nan, who was able to attend.

We did speak briefly about the opera itself, which Nan felt was an impressive performance, but because I was far more interested in the overall experience, that was what I focused on. Here is a little of what she reported. She enjoyed the juxtaposition of opera with the regular ballpark fare. She went with a friend and sat right behind home plate, fairly close to the main concessions area, “and wafting out was the overwhelming smell of pickle relish.” There were nearly as many people there as a typical Giants game, and the crowd was all of “life’s rich pageant,” from the very elderly to “babes in arms.” Many who came staked out a seat somewhere in the outfield, and kids were running the bases all night long.

The evening started with a screening of the classic animation “What’s Opera, Doc?” featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. Before the simulcast started, a gay men’s barbershop quartet—winners of an online poll—performed the Star Spangled Banner from the pitcher’s mound. But my favorite little detail, and something that is just so San Francisco, between the second and third acts, a performer from Beach Blanket Babylon, renowned for their magnificently over-the-top hats, lead the crowd in singing a ballpark staple, with some slight adjustments to the lyrics, “Take me out to the opera…”

Why I wouldn’t be a very good sports reporter

As I did with the games in my previous railtrip to the midwest, I brought a cow-spackled comp book to the stadium in Atlanta, intent on writing down notes during the game—just as any responsible journalist would do. And then, after getting back to the laptop, I proceed to type up my game summary… without even opening the notebook. Granted, some of the things I made note of (such as the little boy on the Jumbotron who really, really, really didn’t want to be on the Jumbotron and who consequently got the biggest laugh of the night) are things that are worth keeping in mind for my purposes as a writer, but not really that important in the outcome of the game.

However, there are some things I made note of that probably should have at least been mentioned in my post. Like that half an hour before the first pitch it was raining so hard I could hardly see the outfield wall. I was huddled in a tunnel connecting the concourse with the seating bowl and had a chat with the usher, who assured me that the drainage system was among the best in the majors, and that if the rain would stop in the next five minutes, there shouldn’t be any problem starting the game on time. I scoffed at this. Well… five minutes later, the rain stopped, and the game started exactly as scheduled, even with all the pregame festivities.

But if I could be let off the hook for omitting either of those notes, there’s no way I can get away without talking about the most important at-bat of the game. The Braves had the bases loaded with two outs in the eighth. At that point, the score was 6-1, Dodgers. Juan Francisco was called on to pinch-hit. I classified this game as a “yawner,” but with a good at-bat, Francisco could have made the game very interesting indeed. If he’d been able to draw a walk, for instance, he’d have forced in a run and brought the potential tying run to the plate. If he’d focused on situational batting and tried to dunk one the other way, maybe two runs would have scored, and the outcome would’ve seemed much less certain going into the ninth. However, Francisco simply took three great big futile hacks—hoping to “run into one,” as they say—before heading back to the dugout, driving most of the fans to the exits in disgust.

Well, I said it would be a short trip

I am back home following an obcenely early wake-up call, two booked-to-the-gills flights in seats that would have been perfectly comfortable for anyone two inches shorter than me. I’ve mentioned the “6 month rule” for writing nonfiction in an earlier post. I certainly did see enough in Atlanta that I will have quite a bit to say in February, but right now I need to let a lot of things settle. So, I think I’ll put a ribbon on this trip by sharing a few thoughts I was running through to keep from falling asleep on the jetway in Denver.

First of all, today is the 20th. It was August 20 of last year I departed for Baltimore. So, in one calendar year, I have been to seven ballparks. That means I have gone from being two-thirds of the way towards my goal, to being nine-tenths. I still don’t have any specific plans for next year, In fact, I’m not even sure if MLB has finalized the 2013 schedule. Since I am so close to my goal, I certainly do hope I’ll get a chance to finish next year, but there are enough uncertainties in my own future that I’m not sure how that will shake out.

Also, I’ve been thinking about other locations. For some reason, I don’t feel any driving need to get to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. I feel like I need to go there someday, but not in the context of my current project. Along similar lines, I’ve been thinking more about the stadiums that have been replaced since I visited them, especially the new home of the Miami Marlins. I’m realizing that my goal of seeing a game in every city is more about getting to the cities themselves than actually seeing every stadium. I’m not writing reviews of amenities provided, ballpark food, or any other practical advice for other baseball travelers, rather I am using the fact that a place like Pittsburgh or Atlanta has a Major League team to force myself to go there and see Pittsburgh, or Atlanta… or, for that matter, Miami. I’ve been to Miami. I’m sure they’ve built a fine ballpark since I was there last, but I don’t feel any rush to see it.

An offbeat tour

One thing I’ve tried to avoid when I’ve found myself in a new city has been to simply hit the Chamber of Commerce top ten attractions. I find this not only is good for the pocketbook, but it helps give me a perspective on the whole city, rather than simply the parts of town that have been tidied up to give tourists the best possible impression. Don’t get me wrong, I do want to see what city planners feel like showcasing, and two blocks from my hotel is the Centennial Olympic Park, which is a gorgeous urban gem that has been kept up immaculately over the 16 years since it was built, and which is home to two of the biggest tourist attractions, the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola.

However, even when I find a place like that in a large city, I know there has to be more to the city than that, and I like to try to see what I can. Regular readers may have noticed that a number of times, I’ve mentioned that a good deal of my time exploring various unfamiliar cities were spent “wandering.” But, because I am wandering in completely unknown cities, I don’t usually get very far outside my own comfort zone. And that’s why I was very glad to have met Ricky yesterday morning. I’d been wandering less than 10 minutes when he introduces himself and starts asking questions about what brings me to Atlanta and what I’d like to see. That’s when he introduces himself as “a homeless tourguide,” who does day labor during the week and shows “wanderers” around on weekends.

Hearing that I was here to see the Civil Rights game, he says, “C’mon, I’ll show you civil rights,” and next thing I know we’re walking down Auburn Avenue to the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District, where he showed me the house in which King was born, the Ebenezer Baptist Church where King preached, King’s tomb, and highlights of the King Center. In all, Ricky spent nearly four hours showing me around. He took me to quite a few tourist attractions, such as the CNN center and the Georgia Dome, but also to places I would not have been comfortable seeing without a guide, such as the Vine City neighborhood, where a large number of the people forced out of the projects that used to be on the site of the Olympic Park are staying now.

After getting lunch at an upscale underground mall where he showed me I could catch a shuttle to the ballpark, he took me a few blocks away to where a number of low-end and bargian stores were clustered together. “Segregation is still here. We don’t have the ‘colored only’ signs any more, but this is where the black folks shop.”

Tomahawked

Saturday, August 18, 2012–Braves 2, Dodgers 6

If I had come for the sole purpose of seeing the Civil Rights Game, and if I had missed the banquet or the round-table discussion on issues of race in sports (as I did), I expect I would have been very disappointed by the presentation on the field at tonight’s game. Fortunately, that was not my sole intent. There was a short presentation as Don Newcombe, members of the band Earth Wind and Fire, and Congressman John Lewis—winners of MLB’s Beacon Awards—were recognized on the field. Aside from that, there wasn’t much about civil rights for anyone who was actually in the stands. This led me to the conclusion that there was probably quite a bit more said on the subject during the telecast. I guess that’s a good thing, ’cause the broadcast would’ve been dreadfully dull otherwise.

Aaron Harang started for the Dodgers, and it looked like the Braves would get him for a big first inning. When David Ross struck out with the bases loaded, the large clump of Dodger fans around me breathed a large sigh of relief. In the bottom of the second I noticed something odd about Atlanta’s scoreboard. After Hanley Ramirez hit a home run off Ben Sheets to tie it up, the scoreboard registered the hit right away, but didn’t register the run until Ramirez had circled the bases. It’s a nice little nod to the most esoteric sensibilities, a run doesn’t really count until the runner touches the plate. I don’t know if Atlanta’s scoreboard operators are the only ones who do this or not, but it’s the first time I noticed it.

Then, two pitches later, when James Loney hit a ball that bounced just above the yellow line in right for another homer, I got another chance to test this theory. Again, the run was not awarded until Loney touched home. On the very next pitch, Louis Cruz hit another homer, much to the consternation of most of the fans. Sheets had given up three taters… on four pitches.

From the second through the fifth, the main highlights were defensive. On back-to-back plays, Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis made outstanding plays—going up the middle and making a nice jump throw to rob Martin Prado, then diving to his left to take a sure single from Jason Heyward. Not to be outdone, Braves second baseman Dan Uggla dove even deeper into the gap to rob Shane Victorino in the 6th. But the fans could sense trouble when Sheets walked two batters, and when Ramirez hit his second homer of the night, there wasn’t much of interest after that. Well, except my little obsession over the scoreboard: sure enough, all 3 runs were added one-by-one as the runners crossed the plate. In all, the Dodgers only got four hits, but all of them went over the fence.

Here’s the scorecard. I made this one at home—from one of my own templates—because the Braves’ printed scorecard is simply too small for any practical use.

Trepidation

The legacy tablet

I am posting this from my hotel room in downtown Atlanta, but I first entered a good deal of it into my legacy tablet 30,000 feet over the Colorado Rockies and the Mississippi basin. I am excited to be here, and excited for tomorrow’s game, and yet at the same time, I do go into this leg of my ballpark tour with a fair amount of trepidation. I’ve alluded to this in the past, but for a long time I took a very dim view of any team that chose a stereotypical team name, logo, or cheer. In Major League Baseball, the two biggest offenders are the Cleveland Indians and the Atlanta Braves.

So great was my indignant outrage in ’95, I didn’t even watch the World Series when those two franchises faced off. Since then, Atlanta has enjoyed much more success on the diamond, and have therefore recieved the brunt of my enmity. Even as recently as 2009, I distinctly remember declaring my “grand” tour to be halfway complete during those three days between the game in Miami and the one in Tampa Bay—in other words, after ballpark number 14, implying that I would consider the tour “finished” after #28. Obviously, my feelings have softened considerably since then. After all, I have been to Cleveland and am in Atlanta.

Still… I’m not completely comfortable about these two. As I’ve said before, I wanted to get to the Civil Rights Game, and it was convenient that it is being held in a city I need to cross off my list anyways, but also figuring in that decision was the thought that just maybe—in an event designed to celebrate victories (on the field and off) over bigotry, intolerance and other similar forms of ignorance—the Braves might just see fit to go light on their tomahawk chops.

About to take off again

Getting into the dog days of August, and it’s just about time for me to hop on a plane (or two or three or four) and cross another ballpark off my list. I will be spending the weekend in Atlanta for the Civil Rights Game on Saturday. My flight in arrives so late Friday and the flight out leaves so early Monday that for all intents and purposes, I will only be in Atlanta for two days. Nonetheless, I will try to put as much into a “traveloguette” for this trip as I did for the longer train trips I’ve taken in the past. Hope you enjoy!

Changes, Updates and Announcements

(I’ve got one of each)

The change was not initiated by me, but rather by MLB Advanced Media, which decided—unilaterally and without any advance notice—that the entire “MLB universe,” including all MLBlogs, shall be subjected to advertisements. Aside from the natural complaint this generates, namely that pharmaceutical companies and makers of ice cream sandwiches aren‘t giving me any money to advertize on my blog, I also have a philosophical objection to advertizing in general. Therefore, I have shifted to a new blogging platform, which has in turn necessitated slight adjustments to the look and feel of the blog’s new home.

Since I was forced to work on the blog anyways, I decided to stop putting off posting the pictures I took in St. Louis, so I have updated that post as well.

Finally, an announcement. It is now official, I will be going to the Civil Rights Game in Atlanta next month. It will be a short trip, and will not involve much travel outside the city (I have to fly both ways—my legs are already complaining about that), but I will keep a daily travelogue all the same, so be on the lookout for that starting just a little more than a month from now.