Game 27: September 28, 2014 Cardinals at Diamondbacks

I'm not sure why I chose to attend games on the last weekend of the regular season. I suppose I did it because two stadiums I needed to go had games and I could go to them affordably. While Paul Konerko night was great, my trip to Chase Field was awful. And it wasn't because Chase Field was awful, although I don't like domed stadiums. You don't feel like you're in a ballpark. It's like you're in a warehouse. But let's back up. My flight from Chicago to Phoenix was only a little late, which is better than other flights fared due to the Chicago airport fire. Getting to the stadium was easy. The walk was a little long to get to the Phoenix Light Rail station. That train took me from the airport to two blocks from Chase Field in only a few minutes. It was so so easy. The return was even easier, as the eastbound train stops across the street from the stadium.

I ended up getting the stadium early and it was empty.

I had Club Level seats. So I went upstairs to watch a little NFL football and eat some Mexican food with my traveling companion Paul Goldschmidt. The tacos were pretty good.

Here you can see that warehouse like feel that I also experienced at Minute Maid Park and Marlins Park. You can also see the game result that made my experience so bad.

Once the Reds beat the Cardinals the Cardinals clinched the division. So the Cardinals pulled six of their starters, including pitcher Adam Wainright, out of their starting lineup.

The resulting game, between the Cardinals' AAA roster and the truly awful Diamondbacks was boring. The players would swing at the first or second pitch, hitting weak ground balls. There was a total of five hits and the walks came about when Cardinal pitcher Kevin Siegrist came in and couldn't throw strikes. The game went quickly, but it felt torturously long to watch players who just wanted the season to be over.

Game 26: September 27, 2014 Royals at White Sox

I was on the 9:10 Southwest flight from Los Angeles to Chicago. It should've given me plenty of time to spare, except for two things. First, there was a fire at the Chicago air traffic control center. Fortunately, my flight wasn't cancelled. It was only 45 minutes late arriving. That still got me in more than three hours before the game. At least I thought it was three hours before the game. I didn't get to the hotel until 4:30, still with plenty of time to make the game. Then I opened up my MLB At Bat app and found out the game was scheduled for 6:05, not 7:05. What? Did they change it? Did I misread it? I caught the shuttle back to Midway airport a half hour later and was on the CTA L by 5:15. The train came quickly and I was at U.S. Cellular Field by 5:45.

That's when I found out the game didn't start at 6:05. That was the start time for the Paul Konerko tribute. This'd be Konerko's second to last game, since he's retiring from baseball. Konerko had been with the White Sox for 16 years.

The tribute was touching and fun, although I certainly didn't appreciate it the way White Sox fans did. So I picked up Chicago pizza and Chicago beer. Both were pretty good, although the pizza wasn't the deep dish I had last time I was in town.

I got what I thought was a good seat at a good price. And it was considering that it looked like almost every seat was occupied. Despite the White Sox being eliminated from the playoff race weeks earlier, the fans were there for Konerko. Unfortunately, my seat obstructed the batter.

Then Jose Abreu homered, which is why you go to see the White Sox.

US Cellular isn't as bad as I remember it. I've heard that the White Sox did a big renovation about a dozen years ago. There were too many billboards in the outfield and there was nothing charming or appealing. I'll leave you with a photo of one last Konerko at bat.

Games 26 and 27 this weekend

I'll finish the 2014 season this weekend in Chicago, for the White Sox, and Phoenix, for the Diamondbacks. Since the season is over, the quest will come to an end for now, three stadiums short of all 30. I'll have gone to 21 stadiums this year, 20 that were new to the quest and a repeat of Dodger Stadium. You might be wondering why I'm going to fall three stadiums short of all 30. Surely, I could've found a way to fit them in. Yes, I could have. But I wanted to prolong the quest, give myself something to look forward to next season. If anything I regret that I didn't do less games this year and save more for next year. I don't regret any of the trips and don't think I overdid it. Each trip was at least three weeks apart. It's just that if I had more stadiums I'd have more to look forward to.

You might ask, so why don't you go to the stadiums again if you enjoyed it so much? The quest was about the novelty of going to the stadiums, mostly for the first time. Discovery was a lot of fun. While I did use a lot of airline miles and found other ways to save money, I still spent a lot more to go to a ballgame than most people would spend. I also did the trips with little down time. There was a lot of fly in, go to game, and fly out. I was fine with that and that was part of the appeal. I must admit though that there were a few cities I would've liked to spend more than a few hours in and aim to do that if I'm ever in them again. Don't get me wrong. I will go to some of these ballparks again. I'm just unlikely to take these weekend jaunts again.

Why not do it for the NFL? My brother suggested doing all 32 stadiums in 17 NFL weekends, Sunday and Monday. I don't know if that's possible, but it really doesn't interest me. I enjoy the NFL but I don't have any interest in going to all the stadiums. Ballparks have their unique dimensions. NFL stadiums have their sameness. The NFL is all about tailgating and camaraderie. I went to a number of baseball games on my own and always met nice people at the ballpark. I have a saying, "everybody is your friend at the ballpark." The NFL is something you share with buddies. And I have gone to Philadelphia Eagle road games in the past.

This quest has opened a freedom for me. I feel like I should've done this years ago and I don't know what held me back. So, yeah, I want to come up with another travel quest but it'll be something that appeals to me, not something for the sake of doing something.

Game 25: September 1, 2014 Mets at Marlins

In every one of my trips, my transportation and hotel plan worked exactly as I expected. There were a couple of hiccups, like flight delays, but my plan accounted for those. I think I arrived late for one game. I did see the entire Marlins-Mets game but my plan wasn't a good one. I planned to fly into Ft. Lauderdale and reserved the Sheraton by the airport. A month before the flight, United called me and told me they were canceling my flight. After a lot of back and forth they got me on a USAirways flight to Miami. What I should've done was rebooked a hotel near the Miami airport Sunday night. Instead I relied on Tri-Rail.

The problem with Tri-Rail is that their Sunday schedule only had a train to Ft. Lauderdale running at 9:28 PM, over two hours after I arrived in Miami. So I waited at the airport instead of doing something else. I should've rented a car as a friend suggested. So I didn't get to the hotel until after 10. The next morning I walked to where I thought a Dunkin Donuts was. It wasn't there. At least I got good exercise. If I had a car, I would've found it.

I took the Tri-Rail into Miami. That worked well, but Miami's Metrorail runs about every 20 minutes on holidays. You wouldn't find that in New York, especially on trains going to Yankee Stadium on game day. That took too long. Then I took the Marlins bus to the ballpark. This took a lot longer than it did in Atlanta taking MARTA. I did make it to the stadium.

The Marlins had a bobble head collection that anyone would envy.

The Marlins are 27th in attendance. The Rays are 30th. Marlins Park looked like a place that was empty. The upper deck is entirely closed and they had plenty of empty concessions. This was a bar on the club level.

I thought I was going to be disappointed by the food here, but they had a section called "Taste of Miami."

And I found some very tasty empanadas. Very nice. I didn't find any good beer, meaning that I didn't have a beer at any of the three ballparks I went to last weekend. Let's focus on the empanadas.

I don't like indoor stadiums and Marlins Park had the roof closed. Of the four retractable roof parks I've been to, two had the roof opened and two had it closed. I did like the thing in centerfield.

They did get excited when Stanton homered. I thought it was nice of him to homer while I was there since that's why you go to Marlins Park.

I'm not happy with the proliferation of Sausage Race wannabes. Minneapolis had one. Oakland had one. Atlanta had a Home Depot race. Miami had a fish race. They all feel like a cheap copy.

Marlins Park wasn't a great experience. I got on the bus to the Metrorail and had to wait even longer than the expected 20 minutes. That meant I missed Tri-Rail by ten minutes. So I had to wait 50 minutes for the train. So it took 2 hours 20 minutes to get a distance I could've driven in 30. I did manage to find the Rustic Inn near the train station. A true South Florida gem.

Game 24: August 31, 2014 Red Sox at Rays

I decided to rent a car in Tampa and it was a good choice, as there are few public transportation options and the stadium isn't close to the airport. And cars are cheap in Tampa. The cost of the car, with tax, stadium parking, and gas, was $43. It was a beautiful drive on a beautiful day and there was close $10 parking in a non-sanctioned lot a block from the stadium. So let's start with the obligatory stadium selfie.

The stadium felt tiny and there weren't a lot of food options. I found no decent beer.

I opted for a Papa John's pizza and it was awful. My mistake.

I don't like domed stadiums. You feel like you're in someone's living room, not outdoors at the ballpark. Tampa is the only dedicated domed stadium. Milwaukee and Seattle were open when I was there. Houston was closed. I'm sure that saved me from the heat, but it still felt off. I have yet to go to Toronto or Arizona.

I did get my cowbell. Apparently that's necessary to cheer on the Rays.

And this fellow came over to say hi. He's not a "ray." I have no idea what he was.

Taylor Buchholz was amazing for the Sox. I've never seen anyone throw his first 15 pitches for strikes. He was brilliant and pitched a shutout.

It's no surprise that Tampa is one of the worst stadiums. I don't think even the Rays want to play in it.

Game 23: August 30, 2014 Marlins at Braves

My trip started in Atlanta, with a non-stop on Delta that got me there plenty early. Atlanta has some crazy summer weather. While I was waiting for the hotel shuttle we had some torrential rains. It also had some crazy looking people, due to something called Dragoncon. I had originally wanted to be in Atlanta on Labor Day because it just didn’t make sense to miss my Phillies if I was planning a trip to Atlanta around Labor Day. The Marlins weren’t home during the weekend and I couldn’t start the trip on Sunday in Tampa. It was a day game and I would’ve had to add an extra day to the trip in order to make that. Starting in Atlanta on Saturday just made more sense.

My choice of the Hampton Inn was a good one. Easy airport and MARTA access. MARTA comes often and I took it the Five Points station. From there you make a short walk and come across large balls and then the Braves shuttle. There were a bunch waiting.

Obligatory Turner Field selfie

They had a pitching machine for kids as you walked in. These are great because kids always like these.

The concourse was wide. Another thing I like. I hate having no room to walk like you do in Los Angeles and Oakland.

The Braves even have their museum like St. Louis, New York, and Kansas City do.

While I wasn't in the mood for waffles, I appreciated the originality.

I have no idea who Kevin Rathburn is, but a steak sandwich sounded like a good option.

And it was pretty good.

Turner Field wasn't that crowded and I think there are way too many outfield seats. It blocks what I'm sure would be a good view. Does every stadium have a Budweiser party deck now?

It was U.S. Navy night, not to be confused with Old Navy night. They are a Rays sponsor. I'm sure they have one there.

My view was blocked by the people in front of me. I had to crane up or around them. I've never noticed this at every other stadium, so I think it's not just a tall guy in front of me. I think the distance between rows is a few inches less at Turner Field and that makes the view tough. Boo!

The Marlins shut down the Braves 4-0 behind some nifty pitching by Cosart.

Turner Field has some positives and some negatives, but there's one thing that vaults it to the top of the list, the Tomohawk Chop. There's nothing like doing it to encourage a Braves' rally. It's one of these things that's unique that you can only get in one place, like singing "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" in Baltimore or hitting a beach ball at Dodger Stadium. I even bought myself a foam Tomohawk!

Atlanta, Tampa, and Miami this weekend

That's right. I'm hitting stadiums 23, 24, and 25 this weekend, which is kinda my anniversary of starting this quest. So if you're in one of these cities, feel free to say hi. There will be reviews, of course.

The Los Angeles Times rates the stadiums

Maybe things are different in the press box, but they rank Dodger and Wrigley among the top five in the National League and Fenway the best in the American League. I think they still have the romance with the old ballparks. The new stadiums took the best of the old ones and then changed the things that didn't work well. I haven't come up with exact rankings, but Dodger, Wrigley, and Oakland are the bottom three I've been to. I liked Fenway a bit and I had fun at Angel and Kaufmann, but that's because they've brought the fan experience into this century. Strangely, I haven't been to the bottom two in the National League or three of the bottom four in the American League. I am going to Atlanta, Tampa, and Miami this weekend. If they're right, I'll be disappointed.

Game 22: August 12, 2014 Phillies at Angels

Usually when I go to games, I stay at a hotel near the stadium or one that is close to public transportation that'll be a fast trip to the game. It's the games that I can drive to that are the longest trips. My trip to Anaheim last night was nearly as long as my drive to Petco in San Diego last year. That's even though Petco is nearly 100 miles further. Petco, which is 133 miles from my home, took about 2 hours 20 minutes on a Saturday last September. Angel Stadium, which is 36 miles, took me 1 hour 55 minutes. Oh, Southern California weeknight traffic. Yuck. I didn't get there until right before the game started.

Angel Stadium has their speed pitch outside the stadium. It's always been inside at other stadiums that have that.

You can always recognize the Angel Stadium entrance by the two big ball caps out front, along with the giant posters.

When I walked in I saw the buffet spread that reminded me of the food at Great American Ballpark. Of course these tickets go for a bit more than I'm interested in paying.

So I went up the ramp. And then another ramp. And then another. It felt like I'd need a Sherpa to get up there.

It was only later that I found out that they have escalators at Angel Stadium. The ramps are a reminder that Angel Stadium is one of six stadiums from before 1989. The concessions aren't much, although they are better than at Dodger Stadium. The walkway is narrow and feels somewhat dank.

Despite a lack of food choices, they did have Jersey Mike's steaks and mine tasted like it does at their restaurants.

Finding a decent beer took a bit of work. Maybe they had more microbrews but if it's a lot of work to find those brews then they aren't really easily available.

It was cool how they honored Jim Fregosi, who managed both teams to the playoffs.

Sitting in the upper deck gave me a great spot to see the view outside Angel Stadium. So many stadiums don't bother with that, but the mountains are back there behind the Honda Center. And the rocks in centerfield are unique.

It's tough to give Angel Stadium credit for having the always funny, always entertaining Phillies Phanatic. I'm guessing he doesn't show up on most nights.

The game was a bit unexpected. The two pitchers were pitching poorly but gave strong performances. Then the Angels exploded for seven runs int he sixth. Fireworks shoot off after every Angel home run. I missed that picture and only got the smoke afterwards.

I've been critical of several old stadiums, but I'll put Angel Stadium in with Kaufman Stadium as a good one. Oh yeah. I got home in 43 minutes.