PETCO Park

 So I hit sunny San Diego and PETCO Park yesterday by myself. It was the first game I have attended without any company, which enabled me to go around the stadium and not feel burdened, but at the same time hurt my game experience. I've had such good friends go with me that this game was pretty dull until the 7th inning.

San Diego is a city you HAVE to visit with a couple friends. I stayed at the Doubletree downtown about a mile and a half from the Gaslamp District and PETCO, and the the walk isn't bad, but for many reasons I definitely would have preferred staying closer to the stadium.  The Hard Rock Hotel and Omni looked like absolutely beautiful hotels and vacation spots.

A big thank you to Scott Cabaniss and his Padres contact, Justin Wolfe, for an amazing seat. I might owe Scott a new car when this whole trip is all said and done.

Location: PETCO is located pretty much in or right outside the Gaslamp Quarter/District.  It's a beautiful area, and the closest thing that compares to the density of adult drinking establishments is 6th Street in Austin, which blows pretty much anywhere out of the water.  It's easily the best located stadium I've been to so far, and it looked like the parking was plentiful and there was minimal traffic.

Ballpark: The park itself looks kind of bland from the outside.  I guess the green metal aesthetic I've seen on so many ballparks is finally growing on me.  Well PETCO has sandy colored limestone or some other rock, which kind of gives it a light adobe-looking outside.  It fits well with the underlying themes of San Diego, but it only looks OK on a ballpark.  You can decide for yourself.

The stadium has personal seating section reserved at the top section of a few aisles that looked to seat about 15-20 people.  I assume all you can eat food, but I'm not sure the food and private seating were worth the ticket price and the compromised view of the field.  The park also has something similar to the Union Station rooftop at Minute Maid Park, called Western Metal Supply Co.  It takes up the majority of straightaway left field and looks to have a ton of seats, a restaurant, bar, and party patio.  It looked pretty cool.  Instead of a huge scoreboard in center, PETCO has a large grassy area where parents can take their kids to play and still see the game.  Next to the grassy knoll there's a small baseball diamond crowded with youngsters trying to play.

One thing I really enjoyed about the stadium was its dedication and exhibits honoring the military.  San Diego markets itself as the military's MLB team since the area has such a large Armed Forces population, and the stadium has a model carrier in right-center and a list of every MLB player who has been in the Armed Forces.  It names the campaigns and the branch. Really cool.

 Mr. Padre, Tony Gwynn

Model carrier

"MLB Players who served their country"

Joooooltin' Joe! And his brother!

Ted Williams, aviator

Western Metal Supply Co. in left field

Food: The food selection wasn't great.  I have decided, however, that I'm going to start an SCPI (Stadium Consumer Price Index) that consists of a dog and a large draft beer.  I decided not to add the ticket price because the prices are so different, even within a stadium.  I think it's much more useful to know how much you're going to spend once you get there.  In PETCO's case, the SCPI was a solid $11.25 ($7.25 for a draft, $4 for a dog).  Besides that, they had Mexican, BBQ, a pizzeria...and not much else.  A couple of restaurants in the stadium seemed to offer similar items to what was available in the concourse.  I walked away impressed with the beer selection, probably because they had Shiner.  The guys saw my Texas ID and said that everyone from Texas ALWAYS gets a Shiner.  I really couldn't have been prouder of myself.

Shiner is 7th from the left.

Game: What a game, though! It was kind of dull for the first seven innings, as the D-backs threw out Ian Kennedy (formerly of the Yankees) and the hometown Padres threw out a lefty named Wade LeBlanc.  Thank goodness for relief pitchers, or my on the road record may have been blemished.  Both Kennedy and LeBlanc threw well - it was 1-0 D-Backs when they both left the game.  San Diego's relief promptly gave up a solo home run to Mark Reynolds, but in the bottom of the 7th the Hairston brothers came to the rescue for the Padres.  Scott hit a shot to left to cut the lead in half, and Jerry Jr. hit a double to tie the game.  Then my fantasy player, Chase Headley, came up with a triple and scored on an error in the relay.  Really Headleys up baseball.

HA! Kidding about the pun. I know it's terrible.

Anyway, the fans seemed to be into the game the entire time and I don't think they realized they're watching a .500 ball club.  Certainly an improvement upon last year.  Let's just hope the Astros can rebound eventually, too.  60% of the time, it works every time.

He's standing in the middle of the baseline, saying, "You gotta take home plate from me!" So there I go head first...

Picture is of the guy in the background. Sweet Fu Man Chu.  Would had been better, but taking pictures of random people is really awkward.

Friars, not fathers

OK, so I've hated David Eckstein for as long as I can remember (former Cardinal). This fan's "X" after a weak line out epitomizes my feelings towards the man perfectly.

Heath Bell has big ol' legs but doesn't use 'em. His arm might fall off in less than two years.

Padres celebrating another victory for Joltin' Joe.

Summary: The stadium looks kind of bland from the outside, but blends in well with the rest of the city.  It is in a GREAT location, and has a lot to offer every type of fan in attendance.  I scored a sticky schedule, bringing my giveaway tally up to 2.  The dog that I had was good, but besides that, you might be better off getting a meal somewhere else before or after the game.  Oh, and I didn't run into any garlic fries. Streak over.

If you're ever in San Diego, I recommend stopping by the Gaslamp Quarter for sure and PETCO if you have time.

Location: 10
Ballpark: 7
Food: 7
Game: 7
Overall: 7.5


Record: 4-0
Giveaways: 1 A's Snuggie, 1 Padres sticky calendar
Gratuitous and nonsensical Anchorman references in this post because I was in San Diego: 3

Seattle Thank Yous

SUPER big thanks to Ms. Annie Hirschhorn, who hosted me yesterday and took me around the public markets today.  My first Seattle experience was truly one to remember, and it wouldn't have been that way had it not been for Annie's generosity.  Another big & special thanks to Chandan, Annie's roommate, for putting up with me this weekend and coming down DURING work so I could stash my luggage in her car. Awesome.  I look forward to seeing you both again. I guess I have to thank David Atlas, who helped me to get in touch with Annie. I'm thanking you, David, but I don't want to.

Thanks to Pat for driving us around all night last night and dropping off my camera cap this morning.  The game and Ozzie's were a great time, even if I forgot to grab an Ms hat last night.

 Annie and Chan with our pre-game beverage: canned champagne.

 Annie, Pat, and Chan

Pike's Place

Handmade cheese store. Great mac 'n cheese. Courtney Blackburn would love this place!

Safeco Field

It's going to be hard to top the game experience at Safeco.  The stadium opened in 1999 and overlooks what I think is Puget Sound. Absolutely beautiful.

Location: Safeco is located in the SoDo neighborhood in Seattle, which isn't good or bad, from what I've heard.  There is a ton of parking south of the stadium - many people just park for free, but there are a number of lots that are $20/$25 even around the area we parked on the street.  We drove and it was pretty easy to get to even with the game time traffic.  There's a new light rail system called Link which has a stadium stop.  I took it from the airport to meet Annie and her roommate Chandan before I walked around downtown.

Ballpark:  The ballpark is a young professional's dream.  I say young professional and not college student because things can get pretty pricy in a hurry.  Anyway, the stadium has what is becoming typical green metal railing, but it adds some grey color in there that makes it barely reminiscent of the Kingdome when the roof is closed. Our seats were $25 and pretty expensive for an upper deck spot.  There wasn't really a bad seat, though.  Safeco is a retractable roof stadium that, when closed, leaves a portion of the stadium open.  Thus, it acts like an umbrella instead of making the stadium a dome.

There's a biergarten in center field that was PACKED the entire game. Great selection.

Food:  They had a really good food variety at Safeco: sushi, Mexican, hamburgers, pad thai, terriyaki, and garlic fries.  I've now seen garlic fries at every stadium (3-3), but these smelled so good I couldn't pass them up. The picture might not make them look good, but trust me, they are a huge hit.

I doubt there will be a stadium that has the same quality and variety of ballpark fare.  The beer selection was also quite excellent and just expensive as MMP and AT&T, but I'll talk about that more in the "Game" section. Which is, I guess, now.

Game: Wow.  What an awesome experience.  Annie, Chan, and I were driven to the game by their friends Pat and Aaron.  We didn't get there in time for the Ken Griffey, Jr. rookie bobbleheads, which now that I think about it, was the only damper on the evening.  Walking to the stadium it started to rain, of course, and Safeco started moving its umbrella roof over the stadium.  We went to the Pyramid Brewery literally right across the street and got a couple of free beers from Pat's bud who was working there. From there we went to the biergarten in center field, where I got hustled by this innocent looking lady and her brother/brother-in-law. She literally chugged her 16 oz. beer in less than three seconds, so I was left paying the bill for her and her brother. They were friendly, at least.

We saw King Felix and the Ms dominate the Tigers. Brian Cashman's decision to let Johnny Damon go is looking AWESOME every day, not that I disagreed with the move in the first place. He went 1-4 and scored, but is batting .200 on the season with no HR.

The stadium was still packed in the 7th inning, even though the Mariners were dominating the Tigers 11-2.  I came away impressed.

Griffey getting the AB on bobblehead night.

Summary: Awesome baseball experience. Great company (thanks Annie & Chan!), good food, nice beer, and a BEAUTIFUL stadium. Wish I could have gotten the bobblehead, but it wouldn't have fit in my suitcase anyway.  The fans stayed late and obviously enjoyed watching their team play.  Rumor had it that everyone in Seattle wanted to go to that game, so I was lucky to have attended.  Everyone, please put Safeco Field on your bucket list.

Location: 7
Ballpark: 9
Food: 9
Game: 10
Overall: 9


My record: 3-0
Giveaways to date: 1 A's Snuggie

Bay Area Thank Yous

Mark and James at the Giants game

I had a wonderful time in Oakland, San Francisco, and Palo Alto, and that leaves me many people to thank.  Super big thanks to Scott Cabaniss for setting me up with tickets in San Francisco and more goodies to come on this leg of the journey.  Mr. Pritchett, thank you for your directions, driving me around Oakland, hosting me the first night, and giving me a good view of your hula hoops biz.  Tell your roommate and friends thanks for the intrusion. Mark McClure, thanks for transporting me all around the Bay Area - AT&T Park to Oakland, Palo Alto to Los Altos, Palo Alto to Oakland, and for the 6 AM wake up call to make the 6:23 Caltrain to make my 9 AM flight.  It was nice meeting all of your friends as well: John, John, Ian, Brad, Star, Aaron, Lauren, Melissa...sorry if I forgot some of the others, but everyone was incredibly nice. Thanks for the futon mattress, and more importantly, accompanying me to the games when you had a ton of other stuff going on. A's Snuggies for life.

From James' back porch in Oakland

I wrote the paragraph above last night before I went to sleep, but I wanted to edit it this morning so I didn't post it.  Mark was gracious enough to drive me to the Caltrain stop at 6 this morning for my 9 AM flight from Oakland to Seattle. Plenty of time, right? Palo Alto to Oakland in 3 hours?

The Caltrain was about twelve minutes late and put me in San Francisco to make the BART transfer around 7:30.  After I hopped on the BART, it took me another 50 minutes to get to the Oakland/Coliseum stop, where I had a 12-minute shuttle to the airport. Time now is 8:32 and I'm panicking.

I did the e-ticket check-in for Southwest (which is AWESOME), hopped in the security line for about 10/15 minutes, and SPRINTED to Gate 24. They could have put me on the flight, but I arrived just as they were announcing vouchers for people willing to give up their seats.  The $305 temptation + flight to Seattle had me sold.  Giving up my seat wasn't altruistic at all, but I'm glad someone else got on that flight. Since this might be happening a lot on this trip, I figured I could use the Southwest insurance money.

So, Mark, as long as I make it to Seattle for the game, your suggestion to use public transportation to get to the airport was a MONEY move.  Thanks.

Your Coca Cola bottle and large glove at AT&T Park

Broadcasters "fighting" in between innings. Fighting consisted of Rock, Paper Scissors. Needless to say, it was pretty strange.

Oakland Coliseum

The Oakland Coliseum is a pretty ugly building from the outside.  The pink flowers they have surrounding it try to give it a little bit of dignity, but they just look funny next to the gray cement.  It's currently the fourth oldest stadium in MLB (can anyone name the three that are older?), and it definitely shows it.  Nondescript, rarely any pictures, paintings, or color at all.  I guess it makes sense that it's called the Coliseum.

Regardless of how ugly I found the stadium, I think tonight's experience was essential to proving that opulence doesn't necessarily translate into  a good game day experience, and vice versa.  Maybe when you hear about Yankee Stadium or the new Busch Stadium and all of the ritzy amenities, you expect so much glamour and pizazz that in the end you might be disappointed.  This most definitely was not the case in Oakland.  Walking up to the gate, I wasn't expecting much out of the stadium or Billy Beane's Athletics.

The game day experience got off to a GREAT start. Why, you ask? Because my trip happened to coincide with "Sluggie" night.  Yes, you guessed it, I came home with a brand new, A's tattered snuggie to call my own.  They actually came in handy, since I was wearing shorts when it became chilly.

And now to the write-up...

Location: It's definitely in Oakland.  There is a BART stop there, but Mark and I had to drive from Palo Alto and it took us about an hour in traffic.  We were able to park at the BART stop for free, though, and had a short walk to the stadium.  The money we spent on parking was definitely used for my first In 'N Out burger stop on the trip.  The neighborhood around the stadium is less than spectacular, and I did feel a little uncomfortable leaving the stadium.

Ballpark: As described above, it looks like your typical mid-1960s construction project.  It's one of the few hybrid football-baseball stadiums left in the country, and the center field bleachers looked massive from behind home plate.  That view is completely different than AT&T Park yesterday. Anyway, we sat in the outfield bleachers and had a pretty good view of home plate. That's the first picture. The second picture is from our temporary stop behind home plate.

Food: The food selection was pretty average, probably worse than AT&T Park.  I had a "famous" park tip sandwich that was essentially a roast beef po-boy.  Mark had a chopped BBQ beef sandwich that he said was pretty good.  I'll be forced to believe him.  The Coliseum offered $5 domestics in a cup about the size of those from AT&T Park, but they offered larger ones for $8.  Definitely a better value.  Unfortunately, my beer was K.I.A. in about 5 minutes by a group of bleacher bums arguing about their seats.  Also, saw someone walking around with garlic fries. 2-2 there.

Game: I would describe this as a "pure" baseball experience.  No extravagance, few sponsors, no BS.  Actually, there were so few sponsors that the virtual race they show on the scoreboard in the 4th inning were unsponsored dots.  Did I say dots? Yes - red, white, and blue poker chip-looking dots racing around a track. Mark and I thought this was absolutely hilarious.  The people in the bleachers were incredibly friendly.  Just a different type of fan than AT&T Park or The Juice Box.  Just fans watching baseball. No fluff, just a good time.  The game itself was another victory for Joltin' Joe - Ben Sheets looked really good despite his funky delivery as the A's won 6-2.  I thought I was going to get to see my first ejection the day after my first inside-the-park home run, but it didn't happen. Despite the poor 17,382 paid attendance, it really was an awesome experience.

 

Sheets pitching a gem...

 

Dave Trembley almost getting tossed in the first

Summary: The ballpark was mediocre at best. Location wasn't so great. The food was OK, the beer was cheap, the SNUGGIES WERE FREE, the people were very nice, Ben Sheets pitched well, and I never felt hassled, rushed, or like someone was trying to impress me for three hours.  It was a ball game as ball games are meant to be played.  You won't be going to the Oakland Coliseum to be wowed or have a chardonnay with your strikeouts and home runs, but you'll certainly enjoy the crowd and the game.

Location: 4

Ballpark: 4

Food: 5

Game: 9

Amenities: 0

Overall: 6.5 (the Snuggie probably added half a point)

My Record: 2-0