travel

Road Trip to New York and Citi Field

Posted on by Paul

With the current Southwest Companion Pass promotional period in effect, we decided to make a quick trip to New York to see the Padres play the Mets and revisit Citi Field since I personally hadn’t been there in 14 years.

Back when I went back in 2011, I remember liking the design of the ballpark and overall the ballpark experience so was looking forward to seeing it again.

First thing is the ballpark is pretty easy to get to on the subway as the 7 train has a stop (Mets-Willets Point station) that literally is in front of Citi Field’s main entrance. This station is also where you would get off if you were going to the tennis US Open.

The US Open grounds are on one side, Citi Field is on the other side and construction is currently underway to build Etihad Park, the new home of New York FC of MLS, across the street from Citi Field. So this area is becoming a sports complex area, which kind of reminds me of Philadelphia where they have their two stadiums and arena in an area a little outside of Downtown with the downtown Philadelphia skyline off in the background.

In this case, you have the Manhattan skyline in the background but you do have Flushing Chinatown which is a 20-minute walk (or one subway stop away) from the ballpark and where we stayed at.

From our hotel in Flushing Chinatown, you can see Citi Field and Etihad Park being built (in the bottom left corner of the picture) and the Manhattan skyline in the background:

Arriving at the main entrance from the subway station, you’re greeted with the main entrance with the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, which was inspired by Ebbets Field. The building itself has a good mix of bricks and green coloring which makes it have a nice natural look and makes it belong in the area.

Once you enter the Rotunda, you have to go up stairs/escalator to get to the field level and other levels of the ballpark. The one thing of note is once you get to the field level you can walk around the entire ballpark without having to go up/down stairs again like some ballparks (i.e. Petco Park).

Walking around the field level, it does feel tight with the large crowds the Mets are drawing and considering that it’s enclosed on top by the upper level.

They do have a good amount of standing room only around the ballpark, though there are suites behind home plate so as you walk behind home plate, your view of the field is blocked and you instead see team store stands. For places where you have standing room, they don’t have rails to hold your food but they do have cup holders:

And as you walk in the outfield, the Shea Bridge as an ode to Shea Stadium is a nice touch.

As you continue on Shea Bridge (going from right field to center field), you see their humongous video screen that stands out anywhere you go in the ballpark.

The video screen is a plus for me as I’m big on having these technology advances at a ballpark and super big video screens are a part of it. It proved pretty useful in the two games we went to, as everyone in the ballpark could clearly see that two balls hit down the left field line by Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr were both foul.

What I thought was also pretty cool was behind the big video board is a social and kids area and even on the backside of the big video screen is a pretty big video screen for you to watch the game and stay up on the action as your kids are playing and/or you’re hanging out and socializing with family and friends.

Overall the ballpark has good sightlines from anywhere you sit. The upper deck can feel high and a little away from the game, especially when you’re in the upper level seats in left field.

Because of the seats in left field, the big video screen in center, there really isn’t much of a skyline for the ballpark beyond the outfield like you see with other ballparks. Right behind the ballpark in the outfield is an expressway and the Flushing Bay and then you have LaGuardia Airport to the northwest so planes are flying in the background, which probably limited what they could do here. So if you wanted to pick something that could be better compared to other ballparks, that would be one thing to nitpick at.

Foodwise, the Mets have a mixture of local NY institutions that include the big name food vendors like Shake Shack and Nathan’s Hot Dogs as well as other known NY places like Prince Street Pizza, Pat LaFrieda and Fuku. They also have food such as the Pastrami on Rye, Zeppole, lobster rolls, Goya nachos that are developed in house and pretty good in quality. Overall, they have a good selection of food with many different options that everyone should be able to find something good to eat.

Watching the game, it’s interesting that like Petco, they have a large screen (even bigger) but what’s normally on the screen when a batter is up is pretty static, maybe so as to not distract the hitters. Because they show the advanced pitching and hitting metrics (pitch horizontal break, pitch vertical break, etc) on the ribbon boards but temporarily i.e. they flash it after the pitch and then change it back to the regular information they show.

I find it interesting that ballparks like Citi Field and Petco Park don’t keep it on all the time like other ballparks (Rogers Centre comes to mind) since they have so many different LED boards they can show it on or display it on the main board itself. But obviously, the answer is they want to display ads instead.

The in-game entertainment is good, they do things to hype up the crowd like the “Make Noise” display and I like how they dim the lights during the game to get the crowd going, not strictly saving this for the closer’s entrance. In between innings, they usually do something like the cap shuffle, mascot race, different cams, karaoke, etc. to keep the fans engaged.

Overall, the Mets know that not all fans coming to games are going to be hardcore fans that watch every pitch intently. They make the game and the ballpark itself an attraction so it’s a fun place to watch a game and have a night out. I would definitely recommend checking out Citi Field as it is a nice ballpark to go to and watch a game at.

Road Trip to Minnesota and Target Field

Posted on by Paul

With travel lining up so I was in Minnesota while the Twins were home, I took the chance to check out Target Field. The ballpark is located in the northwest corner of downtown Minneapolis with the Metro Light Rail (Blue Line) making it super easy and cheap ($2 one way or $4 for an all-day pass) to get to the ballpark from the MSP airport. It takes about 30 minutes to get from the airport to the Target Field Light Rail station that is literally in front of Gate 6.

The first thing I noticed is the limestone exterior that’s like Petco Park, making it more modern looking versus the retro feel some of the other ballparks built in the past 30 years are going for.

I personally like this more modern look though incidentally it doesn’t blend into the surrounding buildings as much since most of the buildings around the ballpark have more of the dark red/brick look to them, including the nearby Target Center arena.

Walking on the outside of Target Field, I liked how they have statues of Twins legends along with banners and other indicators to celebrate their history which is a nice touch without having to go inside.

And I noticed that there were restrooms on the outside of the ballpark too. Besides porta potties you see in some parking lots outside ballparks and stadiums, I don’t recall seeing a restroom that’s part of the actual ballpark being accessible without going inside so that’s a nice fan-friendly touch.

The gates are numbered after Twins legends which is a nice homage but can be confusing if you’re not familar with the ballpark and trying to look for a specific gate, thinking the gates would go up sequentially as you walk around the ballpark.

Once you enter the main concourse, you can see the field as you walk around. Since there are no suites behind home plate on the main concourse level, it’s also easy to get to your seats behind home plate on this level and unlike some of the ballparks like Petco where you have to go up and down stairs/escalators/ramps to go around the main level, here once you enter a gate you’re able to easily walk around the entire park.

As well, there are standing room only areas throughout the ballpark on every level, including many places with drink rails, which is a great thing for fans to be able to watch on any level whether they just want to see different areas or don’t want to rush back to their seats. The escalators in the ballpark run in both directions so you can easily go up and down between levels throughout the game, another touch that really makes this ballpark fan-friendly.

The one thing is as you walk around the main concourse level, the side that’s opposite the field (i.e. the left side if you were walking clockwise around the ballpark with the field on the right), is where all the stands are and as a result, it makes the concourse feel a little closed and not as open air as other ballparks where both sides tend to be more open.

Because the ballpark has the smallest footprint of all current ballparks (8.5 acres), Target Field does have a large amount of seats in the outfield versus using the outfield space to be more open like Nationals Park though you still have views of the Downtown Minneapolis skyline in right field.

Really in right field is the only place that has an open space:

In right field is also where you’ll find Truly On Deck, a bar that has the Twins World Series memorabilia and also has reserved outdoor patio seating but also indoor seating that anyone can sit at.

This is one of a number of social areas throughout the ballpark. Even though I’m a fan who likes to sit down in a seat and really watch a game, the reality if there are many more casual fans and having these social areas is a way to get the non-diehard fans to go to the ballpark and have a great time. It’s really what many ballparks are doing to get the large crowds at the game which in turn creates more energy and a livelier atmosphere.

Watching the game, the seats have a pretty good view from various parts of the ballpark including the upper deck.

Speaking of the upper deck, this is where the Home Plate Tap Room is located (around sections 214 and 215) in what appears to be suites on the upper level at one time but are now a social area that anyone can go into.

In the Home Plate Tap Room is where Sue the Organist performs and she’s very friendly to go up and talk to her before the game and watch her do her work during the game.

In terms of concessions, the ballpark has a mixture of local restaurants like Kramarczuk’s, Pizza Luce and Union Hmong Kitchen along with stands that are inspired by the local food scene (Mill City Grill and North Shore Creamery). Though I’m spoiled by having a lot of local food options the way Petco does it so it’s really hard to find anywhere that offers the same variety, Target Field concessions are of good quality from the different food I sampled.

What really stood out is how they have Value Stands offering hot dogs, preztels, soda for under $5 and 612 Saturdays where they sell $1 snacks, $2 food and $6 beer. It really makes it affordable for families and friends to go to the ballpark and again goes with how fan-friendly this ballpark is.

As well, within a few blocks of the ballpark are many breweries, bars and restaurants to give you different food options. Walking to the ballpark I saw many of these places pretty crowded before the game.

Watching the game, they upgraded the video screen and LED boards prior to the 2023 season and they really make good use of all these boards. All the pitching and batting information is shown (pitch type, break, exit velocity, distance a ball was hit on contact, etc) as well as a constant out-of-town scoreboard. Basically all the information stat geeks like myself are looking for all the time while watching the game.

The in-game entertainment had things like celebrity look-a-like, a mascot-like race, the hat shuffle and prize contests involving fans. It wasn’t consistently every half inning (other innings they just played music) so wasn’t always keeping the fans engaged but when they did, fans seemed to get into them.

Overall I liked Target Field and would definitely recommend checking it out. It has a nice look and feel to it, it’s fan-friendly, has good views from the seats and it’s set up so you can be into the game or be there for more of a social outing. Being in downtown also allows you to check out other notable things in Minneapolis (like the Stone Arch Bridge, Guthrie Theater and Mill City Museum) or catch other games at US Bank Stadium or Target Center if the seasons overlap.

Road Trip to Miami and loanDepot Park

Posted on by Paul

Continuing on from Washington DC, we followed the Padres on their road trip to catch a game in Miami and loanDepot park (which is named with both words starting with a lower case letter).

loanDepot park is located about 3 miles away from downtown Miami where we stayed and it’s on the way from Miami International Airport into downtown such that I thought it was the Miami Heat’s arena (Kaseya Center) when we were driving into the hotel.

After getting settled at the hotel and buying some tickets online, I received the Gameday email and I thought it was pretty cool how they encourage instruments and flags like you see at soccer matches:

It makes sense considering the large Latin influence in Miami and it would be great to see baseball games have more energy like you see at the World Baseball Classic games, including the ones that have been played at loanDepot Park in the past.

The ballpark itself is in an area that is mostly businesses and residential so there really isn’t much to do there and there isn’t really public transportation to get there so by car is the best option which means you can get stuck in traffic going to and leaving the ballpark.

Once we got to the ballpark, I noticed that the home run sculpture had been moved in front of one of the entrance gates:

The sculpture does look a little worn being in the sun all day now so I’m surprised they actually kept it versus just removing it completely.

As you walk around the ballpark, you notice the concourse area is a standard size (not small or super large) but having so many stands on both sides of the concourse along with the ropes for their lines make the concourse even smaller:

Right now, overcrowding on the concourse doesn’t seem to be an issue since the crowds aren’t large (the game I went to on Monday night only had a paid attendance of 11,128) but I do wonder if you feel like packed sardines when there’s a packed house like the World Baseball Classic.

As well, some of the food stands they set up now block some of the standing room only (SRO) areas as you can see here where they put stands right in front of the SRO rails:

So it does take away some of the standing room only areas but there are still some areas left and the field is still visible as you walk around the ballpark on the Promenade Level. And unlike other ballparks, there aren’t any suites on this main concourse level so you can pretty much see the field the whole except for the parts where food stands are partially blocking your view.

As you walk around the ballpark (and I went up the third base line going clockwise around the ballpark), the outfield area is more narrow since you’re right up against the glass panels that give the ballpark some outside light when the roof is closed.

Right when you get to the outfield coming from the left field foul pole, around section 28/29, they have The Lineup Food Hall section with some different food stands and there’s a patio area you can walk out to and get a great view of the downtown Miami skyline which I really like.

As you walk around the outfield towards the right field foul pole, you do see their well-known bobblehead museum as well as a small kids area:

In terms of food, they offer a variety of different options besides the standard ballpark fare including locally inspired food but they don’t have actual local restaurants. It seems to be all their concessionaire’s own creations but with a local flavor, similar to what ballparks first started when branching out to more than peanuts, nachos and hot dogs. So while the food is decent, it doesn’t have the high quality being many unique great testing local foods as you see at other ballparks.

For the in-game entertainment, the Rooster Race is their equivalent of the Brewers’ Sausage Race or the Nationals’ President Race where they have four people in different rooster costumes racing on the dirt track around the ballpark.

They also do try to do things in between the innings like the Simba Cam and other skits to keep fans engaged but it seemed to end pretty early, fading into music before the next half inning started. Maybe it was because of the small crowd too but the energy of the in-game entertainment was lacking a bit.

Overall views from the seat are good and what you expect from the modern ballparks with good sightlines from the respective sections. There weren’t any sections where I felt too far/high.

The one interesting spot was in right field around section 137 as there’s a standing room area with a drink rail and high top tables but the SRO area is angled so you’re facing centerfield instead of home plate. I found this odd, as though this area was left as a gap so they just made it SRO:

So overall, loanDepot Park feels very modern but like other ballparks (Chase Field and now Daikin Park in Houston come to mine), when the roof is closed, it does feel more have that warehouse feel to it with the roof so high and it being enclosed.

Also with the lack of people there, the location being by itself and not much to do in area, it’s hard to put this ballpark that high on the list. The thing is if you’re looking for a way to catch a game for cheap and be able to move around pretty easily in the ballpark (both navigating the park and moving around in your seats), then that’s one thing you can do here. Talking to some locals, they like going here when it’s a good matchup, like if the Yankees or Dodgers are in town or the Marlins are playing Pittburgh and Paul Skenes is pitching.

Road Trip to Washington DC and Nationals Park

Posted on by Paul

It’s been over 15 years since I last went to Washington DC so figured now was a good time to go to the U.S. capital and see Nationals Park as I try to see all 30 ballparks.

Nationals Park is located in the Navy Yard neighborhood of DC, right next to the Anacostia River. It’s an area that has been redeveloped with Nationals Park playing a big part in it. There are many condos and apartments in the areas along with restaurants and bars.

I actually think because of all the development in the area, the ballpark was built so that the Center Field Gate is the corridor out to the neighborhood and vice versa into the ballpark.

This gate has a really wide open concourse once you enter the ballpark:

And when you exit out the ballpark it’s wide open to exit out to the restaurants and bars:

This is also notable since as you walk around the ballpark on the outside, it looks like indescript office buildings. From far away, you might not even notice that it’s a ballpark if you were walking around going south on 1st St SE until you saw the Right Field Gate, First Base Gate or Home Plate Gate.

Which also leads to another thing that stuck out to me, which where the parking garages behind both left and right field that are part of the ballpark’s skyline. The garages are noticeable for those like me who look at the backdrop in the outfield of a ballpark (and why PNC Park in Pittsburgh is so highly rated). The Nationals have tried covering them up with banners and Garage C in right field is partially blocked by the big scoreboard but you can see the garages:

And whether on purpose or that’s how it came to be, the buildings in the skyline aren’t that tall so the parking garages block some of the view into the ballpark. We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites Washington DC Navy Yard across the street (it’s right across from the aforementioned Center Field Gate) that has a rooftop bar and Garage C with its solar panels blocks a good portion of the ballpark view:

With the Anacostia River being blocked by the right field seats, which is the only section in the outfield with a second level, along with the parking garages and buildings that aren’t that tall, the skyline doesn’t have that great of a view when compared to other ballparks and could have been so much better.

Once in the ballpark, the wide open concourse in center field does narrow to a typical concourse size once you get to the foul pole on either first base or third base side and start going towards home plate. The concourse doesn’t feel tight or anything but when its crowded (such as after the game when everyone’s leaving), it does take awhile to maneuver through them, similar to the problems you see at Petco Park.

It’s like other ballparks where you can see the field walking around the ballpark and on Level 1, pretty much every section has standing room only with the drink rail to stand and watch the game. The only exception, like other ballparks, is when you get behind home plate, as in this case the view is blocked both by the PNC Diamond Club and the Washington Suites.

However, because the sections behind home plate are primarily for either the Terra Club (which is their premium underground club for the lower seats right behind home plate) or the PNC Diamond Club (which are the premium seats in the sections right behind the Terra Club seats, see this map where only the back parts of 119, 120 and 126 are non-premium seats to see what I mean), it’s not as big of a deal to have to walk around to access your seats behind home plate since most of these seats are premium seating with access to these clubs. In other ballparks where they have regular seating in front of the home plate suites, you end up having to walk around several sections to access your seat.

I do like the displays they’ve done around the ballpark since being a newer franchise, you can’t just rely on all historical milestones like other ballparks, so mixing it with some history and fun is a good way to give some character:

In general when you walk around the ballpark, the view is good to see game action. I didn’t really feel any seats had a bad view and the views from each area would be what I would expect from them i.e. being in the top level has that elevated view but it didn’t feel like you were super far away.

Like Petco Park, the third base side is the shade side for day games so those who like to sit on the home side (first base) where the 100 sections are will be in the sun pretty much the whole time except for the last couple of rows.

In terms of food, they have been adding more local food options spread throughout the ballpark along with some national chains (Shake Shack and Rita’s Italian Ice & Custard) and the standard ballpark fare. I found the ballpark to have a good variety of different options and among the better food options of the ballparks that are spread out to give you a reason to go around the ballpark.

What I found interesting is they replaced the big scoreboard screen with a higher clarity screen before the 2024 season but they didn’t make it bigger.

It’s a decent size but considering how much the screen plays a part in the in-game entertainment, I’m surprised they didn’t make it larger and take up the whole area in right field (replacing the permanent ads) even if they wanted the screen to have constant ads (similar to what the Giants did where they replaced the entire area and have ads on the side of the video screen when not showing replays or hype the crowd up videos)

They have in-game entertainment during each half-inning break and most involved fan interactions, such as karaoke battle, putting challenge and seat upgrades. Of course you can’t forget the Presidents Race, doing a good amount of in-game entertainment to keep the fans engaged. I bring this up because there are some ballparks where they don’t have as much in-game entertainment and spend many innings just playing background music.

Overall Nationals Park is a solid ballpark that I would put in the middle tier. It doesn’t stand out in one area to make it super great like the top tier ballparks but at the same time doesn’t do anything bad either, making it firmly in that middle range. The standard ticket prices are pretty expensive but if you can find a deal on SeatGeek or StubHub, it’s a solid place to have a good time watching a ballgame.

Road Trip to Cincinnati and Great American Ball Park

Posted on by Paul

With the Padres in Cincinnati this weekend, this was another city and ballpark I haven’t been to so I decided to do a quick trip over the weekend to see the Padres play on the road and see the next ballpark in my quest to see all 30 (the A’s and Rays will be interesting by the time I get to them).

As I arrived at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), I actually didn’t realize that the airport is located in Kentucky as I had assumed it was in Cincinnati. Granted the Ohio River literally separates Ohio and Kentucky so it’s still right there and ended up only being a 20-minute drive, even with some traffic due to road closures in downtown Cincinnati. I stayed at the AC Hotel, which is right across the street on the side of the ballpark where the Reds Hall of Fame & Musuem is located and I was able to get a room that had a balcony out to the street:

I like how they’ve turned this area right across the street into what they call a DORA and closed off the road so people can eat and drink before and after games, basically a small ballpark district next to Great American Ball Park (GABP):

From street level, you can see Paycor Stadium in the background as it’s four blocks down the street:

The way the ball park is built with the Reds Hall of Fame & Museum on the west side, the Ohio River on the south side (along with an underground parking garage), the Heritage Bank Center arena on the east side, and another ballpark building on the north side, GABP blends into its environment where you could easily not even notice the ballpark when driving by.

This may have been done on purpose since a ballpark or stadium is a large structure but it doesn’t provide the artistic look you see of other ballparks that blend into their environment like how PNC Park really blends into its location. I still remember seeing PNC as my Uber was pulling up and being in awe of how great it looked.

Once in the ballpark, on the Terrace level, which is the level you enter the ballpark on and gives you you access to the 100 seating sections, you don’t really have a view of much in the ballpark’s background being that it’s on the Ohio River and since Covington across the river doesn’t really have a skyline of tall buildings.

I entered the ballpark from Gate A and went left, so I was going up the third base side and wrapping around clockwise to see the sights and sounds of the entire ballpark. The concourse on the third base side felt pretty large and easy to get around even with it being crowded since there was a Big Red Machine 50th Anniversary Cap giveaway:

And like a lot of the ballparks built in the early 2000s, many parts of the Terrace Level allow you to see the field as you walk the concourse and the sections that allow you to see the field have standing room only areas in the back of the section which I like since it gives all fans access to see a great view if they want to walk around and stand.

But like many of these other ballparks, the sections around home plate have suites so you can’t see the field from the concourse. At GABP there are the World Series Suites behind sections 113-118, a gap to enter at section 119 and then the Founders Suites from 120-123. So besides not seeing the field you also have to enter around to go down to the seats in those sections.

As you walk towards center field, the walkway goes behind the batter’s eye but then after passing the batter’s eye, you get a nice standing room mist area (especially needed this weekend where it was low 90s at game time) underneath the smoke stacks:

And then from there it goes behind the right field seats which don’t give you a view of the field. They do have a cutout near section 140/141 where you can see the visiting team’s bullpen which was pretty cool:

Once I got to the foul pole and was heading back towards home plate on the first base side, I noticed that there were stairs (along with an accessible ramp) to continue:

The picture above is someone walking down the first base side and then reaching right field and wanting to continue so they would go down the stairs. In my case, since I was going from right field over to first base (walking clockwise around the ballpark), I had to go up the stairs.

I know people complain about Petco and how it can feel like a maze since you can’t just walk all the way around the ballpark without going up stairs or ramps so these stairs at GABP felt weird since you’re able to make it around the Terrace level smoothly without going up and down except for this part.

The other thing I noticed is once I walked down the first base side towards home plate, the concourse there was extremely crowded and hard to walk around. I contribute that to more people sitting on the first base side since for day games the sun hits the third base side pretty hard (the first base side has shade) and the fact that they put additional carts and stands on both sides of the concourse, making the walkway even smaller. I’ve seen this to be an issue at Petco as well with all the carts they’ve added over the years.

Food wise I noticed they had food stands for local food places like Skyline Chili, LaRosa Pizzeria, Montgomery Inn, Wings and Rings and Graeter’s Ice Cream along with Chick-fil-a.

I tried the Frybox that’s known as a GABP specialty, going with the Ballpark Favorite Frybox that had fries, chili and cheese. This one was pretty good and I would recommend trying Frybox as they have a variety of different Fryboxes including building your own. It’s located right where the stairs I mentioned before that go to right field,

In terms of views of the action, the seats have a good view of the action like most modern ballparks:

And if yo down the line in left field near the foul pole, you can see the Roebling Suspension Bridge:

As I walked around the ballpark, what I noticed is GABP tends to be more no-frills. They have the local Cincinnati food, some different alcohol options but you don’t see a lot of different group and social areas or a bunch of other attractions (or some might say distractions) around the ballpark. There is the Fioptics District on the 400 level near the left field foul pole but it’s easy to miss unless you specifically go up there like I did and walk around the entire ballpark:

People tend to look at these other amenities on the main level (in this case GABP’s Terrace level) since this is where most people enter a ballpark. The Reds have the great Hall of Fame & Museum but it is an additional cost and it’s located on its own right outside the ballpark. As well, the main team store is attached to the Hall of Fame & Museum outside (there are smaller stores and stands in the ballpark) so even going to the team store you would do that before or after the game.

So when you’re inside the ballpark, you’re really just looking to get food and drink and head to your seats to watch. There isn’t a lot to do as you can see with other ballparks whether it’s kids’ areas with rides/games, social/group areas to hang out, other attractions, etc.

Some may prefer to just watch a game but for others, all these different things that make up the ballpark and its experience play a part in how people rank their ballparks and why I can see people not ranking GABP as high. If you’re just looking to come watch a game and get some good local Cincy food, then GABP has you covered.

If you’re looking for everything the way some of these other ballparks offer (all the extra amenities, the view, many things to do in the area, etc) or there’s something really sticks out in a ballpark (like the view in PNC) then I can see why you wouldn’t rank GABP as high. I fall in the latter crowd, so I consider and value all the additional things when ranking ballparks and would put GABP in my middle tier when comparing it to other ballparks.

Road Trip to Milwaukee and American Family Field

Posted on by Paul

With the Padres playing a weekend series in Milwaukee and never having been there before, I decided to make a quick weekend trip to check out the city and American Family Field, formerly know as Miller Park (and what many of the Brewer fans still call it).

The ballpark is located just outside of downtown (it was about 4 miles from my hotel) and from doing some Googling before the trip, most people recommend staying downtown and then taking one of the many shuttles since there isn’t much to do in the area around the ballpark. I’m a big fan of ballparks being in downtown or areas where there is much to do around it but in the case of American Family Field, it’s isolated by itself as its right off the freeway and has primarily residential nearby and even those in the residential area have a bit of a walk to get to the ballpark.

Since many of these shuttles require a purchase at the establishment (i.e. buying a drink at the bar), I ended up taking Uber/Lyft from my hotel which wasn’t expensive ($10-$15 each way).

Getting to the ballpark is pretty easy and only took 10 minutes. I left at 5:40pm for a 6:35pm start time and from getting picked up at the hotel and getting dropped in the rideshare lot, it was only about a 10 minute drive and didn’t have any traffic on a Saturday night.

Now leaving the game is another matter as it reminds me of leaving Qualcomm Stadium and how it takes some time to leave because all the lots are funneling out to the same exits.

The one thing you noticed is tailgating is in full effect here as there are some expansive parking lots surrounding the ballpark:

And right in front of the ballpark as you walk towards the main entrance (it’s between the ballpark and the parking lots) is Helfaer Field, a little league-size field that can be used on non-gamedays:

Once inside the ballpark, I walked around the field and loge levels and noticed that the walkways are of a good size so it doesn’t feel crowded or congested or difficult to walk around.

I did notice that on the field level behind home plate they have suites so when you’re walking there you don’t have a view of the field. As well, you have to go around the suites to access seats in sections in front of the suites. For example, if you have seats in section 119-123 which are in front of the suites, you have to either access the seats from 118 or from 124, which both feed into a walkway that goes right in front of those suites to access seats in 119-124.

Similarly on the loge level, the press box blocks the view when in the walkway behind home plate. But throughout the rest of the field and loge levels, you have a view of the field as you walk around and I like that they have it set up for standing room only behind each section on both levels (unlike some ballparks like Petco Park that only have standing room on the field level).

Some people have mentioned how the ballpark is a little difficult to walk around and it does have a maze-like feel to it. On the field level, when I was walking around the ballpark and going from center field into left field, it abruptly ends and tells you to go up to the upper levels:

You have to look to the left of the team store to find a walkway to go continue on with the rest of the field towards third base and home plate:

As well on the loge level in right field, it just abrupty ends at section 201:

While in left field it ends in a private event area:

I do like that on the loge level near both foul poles they have unique food areas that include bar areas for drinks which makes these areas really become social areas to hang out and watch the game. On the left field foul pole, the have The Alley Food Truck Park:

Near the right field foul pole is the 3rd St. Market Hall Annex, which features vendors from the 3rd St. Market Hall in downtown Milwaukee:

A lot of people like the loge level at American Family Field as the view is a little more elevated so you can see plays happening a little more especially balls hit to the outfield. As well, the pricing is more reasonable here which along with the previously mentioned food/bar areas near the foul poles, make it a good place to watch the game.

On the field level, the have games for kids to play near the right field foul pole, with a larger selection of different games for kids to play than other ballparks. Below is just one section of games they have offered:

Besides the aforementioned food areas, the other food stands throughout the ballpark offer ballpark food that they advertise as being based on recipes from local restaurants:

This includes ballpark variations of local popular foods like cheese curds and frozen custard and these stands were repeated throughout the ballpark. That is, they would have a Burgers stand, Sausages stand, Chicken stand, etc and then repeat it again. The food itself was good for ballpark food and better than the generic stands that some ballparks have but I tend to like places that feature actual stands of unique/local food vendors i.e. if they had more of the unique food areas like on the loge level throughout the entire ballpark.

The new video screens in center field and right field that were installed for the 2024 season are both pretty large and clear though it was interesting they’re only 1080p screens. But the pictures were bright and clear (and didn’t seem to ber noticeably less clear than the 2K and 4K screens some other ballparks have) and provided good information on the game including video reviews when the Padres challenged and lost a video review.

From the seats, the views were pretty good as I saw a game with the roof open and then another game where they started closing the roof in the 2nd inning as a thunderstorm was coming. I had a good view on the field and loge levels and didn’t feel too far away with the exception of the loge level in the outfield which did feel like it was much further away. I didn’t get a chance to go to the club or upper levels as I’ve heard that the upper level seats feel really high and far away.

There isn’t a home plate club with premium seating like many other ballparks are doing, so you can get regular field level seats right behind home plate. On the field level they do check your tickets more than other ballparks as the ushers at each section check your tickets and they also know which rows haven’t been sold. For example the back few rows of section 125 weren’t sold for the second game of the series on Saturday and they were making people who sat there go to their actual seats.

Regardless of the roof being closed or open, the ballpark felt cavernous because of the beams and structure needed to support the roof along with the window panes in the outfield. The ballpark felt really big walking around and this isn’t the only one with a roof where I felt this way (Houston’s Daikin Park, Arizona’s Chase Field and Texas’ Globe Life Field all come to mind). As well, with the roof and the location where the ballpark is by itself, it makes the ballpark look really large and like a stadium where you just see it there the way you see football stadiums sticking out by themselves with nothing around them. Other ballparks, especially those in downtown, tend to have architecture and a look that blends in with their surroundings, with PNC Park being the best example of this.

One of the notable features is Bernie’s Slide where Bernie Brewer slides down a water park-like slide in left field after a Brewer hits a home run. I actually didn’t see Bernie Brewer sliding down since the only home run the Brewers hit in the series was the walk-off home run in game 2 of the series which had all the commotion of the crowd going crazy so I forgot to look up to see if he did the slide.

I would put American Family Field in my middle tier of ballparks as some of the other ballparks have better locations, good city views from the ballpark seats and some just do other things really well (variety of food, attractions around and in the ballpark like their hall of fame and other displays/attractions, the aesthetics of the ballpark, etc). Overall I enjoyed my time at American Family Field and I can see why Brewer fans really love their ballpark.

Road Trip to Toronto and Rogers Centre

Posted on by Paul

With the Padres in Toronto this past week, now was a good time to check out Rogers Centre after they finished doing the renovations the past couple of years and since I hadn’t been to Toronto before.

The Rogers Centre is located in downtown close to Union Station, about a 10-minute walk to the UP Express which is a 25 minute train ride to/from the Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) that you can tap with your credit card to pay $9.25 CAD each way.

The Rogers Centre is near the harbour of Lake Ontario (see the white dome in the bottom left of the pic below) right next to the CN Tower and Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada and pretty close to Scotiabank Arena where the Maple Leafs and Raptors play as well as harbour terminals to do cruises around the harbor and ferry to Toronto Island. It’s in a good location downtown so you can get to many nearby attractions and also jump on the TTC subway and trains. Uber and Lyft are pretty prevalent in Toronto as well.

I arrived at 10:30pm on a Monday night and walking around near the hotel/ballpark at midnight felt safe. There wasn’t a lot of foot or car traffic but it wasn’t quiet either.

We stayed at the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel, which is connected to the north end of the ballpark as it was something to experience, especially getting a room that gives you views as though you were sitting in upper level outfield seats.

The south side of the hotel has rooms that look into the ballpark from the outfield while the north side looks into the city, which is mostly looking at the train tracks that go into Union Station. The hotel has 11 floors of rooms but is 12 stories high. In the US, we think of the first floor as level 1 but at this hotel and many others I’ve seen internationally, the first level is the “Lobby” level and then level 1 starts on the next level (so that would be our level 2 in the US).

The ballpark view rooms are on levels 1-4 only while the city view rooms go from levels 1-11. It can be pretty pricey for the ballpark view rooms if you want to do the usual flexible rate booking (the one that allows you to cancel with no charge up to three days before arrival). If you really want these rooms, the best way is to do the prepay option (if you know for sure you’ll be going) as it then isn’t that much more than the flexible rate booking for a city view room.

Once you’re in the room, the view is pretty sweet:

And it’s cool to be able to see both teams’ batting practices from your room, the stadium filling up and the game itself:

Interesting about the ballpark view rooms is they only give you views into the ballpark for Blue Jays games; we stayed there until Saturday (the Padres vs Blue Jays series ended with a day game on Thursday and both teams left to play other teams on the road right after) and on Thursday night they were already setting up a stage for a concert. Doing a quick Google, I found a Post Malone concert for the following Monday and by early Friday afternoon, I saw they were draping a black cover over the entire outfield starting from right field (our room was in left field) so all the rooms wouldn’t be able to see the concert though you could still hear it.

The hotel has the Sportsnet Grill restaurant/sports bar on the Lobby level that also has views into the ballpark. To guarantee a window view, you have to make a reservation that costs $10 CAD per person and then you have to spend another $60 CAD per person in food and beverage. he food is pretty standard sports bar food with pricing to match but with things you would find in Canada (such as poutine).

For the first game of the series on Tuesday May 20, we decided to eat at the Sportsnet Grill. They have the radio broadcast on (which is pretty close to real time) but the TVs have a very noticeable delay to the action on the field. So you’re using the TVs almost like a replay system such as checking afterwards if you have a hard time seeing the ball and strike calls.

For the second game in the series, we went into the ballpark and sat on the 100 level on the first base side as the visitor’s dugout is on this side. I like that Rogers Centre has 17 different gates to enter the ballpark making it quick and easy to get into the ballpark.

The 100 level has a really large concourse where you can always see the field as you walk around and the Outfield District (the part of the 100 level in the outfield) is more of a social area with open standing areas and bars to buy drinks from like many other ballparks are now doing.

Even as you walk around the ballpark, there are a lot of standing rails so you can stand behind many sections similar to other ballparks like Petco Park regardless of what tickets you have:

They have a few local places like Mary Brown’s Chicken and Mill Street Brewery for food and beverage and then offer different options like poutine and chicken wings. The food is solid but doesn’t have the variety of many local options you see like at Petco.

I do like that the video screens are pretty large and they do show a lot of stats, including for each batted ball the exit velocity, launch angle and distance while for each pitch the speed, pitch type and break (both horizontal and vertical). One thing of note is they only show replays for the Blue Jays that are good for them, such as in the Wednesday night game when Manny Machado made errors but not when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made an error (or any other play that benefited the Padres).

The seats have a good view though the renovation caused every seat on the 100 level to now have an obstructed view. For example, where we sat on the first base side, when a ball was hit in the corner down the foul line in right field, we couldn’t see what actually happened. I know some people don’t like this but I guess I’m just used to it since Petco has similar obstructed views.

The one other thing of note is being a dome is depending on where your seats are at, the lights can cause a glare when looking into the stands. It doesn’t affect the view of the field of play, but more for example if you’re behind home plate and then look up into the upper level stands to see the crowds up there, the lights can glare making it hard to see up there.nfortunately, the dome was closed the whole series because of the weather with rain on both Wednesday and Thursday so I didn’t get a feel for how it is when the roof is opened.

Overall I liked Rogers Centre and a place I would recommend checking out now that they’ve done the renovations. The location of Rogers Centre is great being in downtown on the water and the dome blends in with the skyline as shown in my first pic above though up close the exterior architecture doesn’t look as nice as it did when it first opened.

But inside it doesn’t feel big like other domed stadiums do, like how Daikin Park for the Houston Astros and Chase Field for the Arizona Diamondbacks both feel like large stadiums. I like the renovations they’ve done as walking around the ballpark it feels really open, modern and a great place to be (has a good social aspect to it). Definitely was a fun place to watch a game even though the Padres ended up getting swept (a story for another day, hopefully they’ll get out of their offensive funk the next time I post).

Road Trip to Detroit and Comerica Park

Posted on by Paul

With the Padres visiting Comerica Park and since I was on some travel to the east coast, I worked it out to stop by Detroit on the way back to catch the last two games of the series.

For the first game I went on April 22nd, I sat in the Tiger Den (section TD129A that’s left center behind home plate), which are seats on the lower level right behind the front sections so they’re just underneath the overhang of the second level:

I can imagine that during a day game these seats are nice since you’re out of the sun. New for 2025, they replaced these seats to have the same style of seats as in the Home Plate Club (which is also new for 2025) except the seats don’t have the ventilation features like the Home Plate Club seats do (more on that below).

The rows for these seats don’t have many seats (the row I sat in only had four seats in the row) and the way it’s set up is seat 1 has a small tray table between it and seat 2, seats 2 and 3 are next to each other and then seats 3 and 4 have another tray table between them. So in this row of four seats, seats 1 and 4 were almost like their own seats.

What’s also great about these seats is the leg room is pretty wide so you don’t have to get up for when people are going to their seats in your row (which also won’t be that often since the rows don’t have that many seats).

You can scan a QR code to order from the MLB Ballpark app but it’s only the standard ballpark fare (hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, etc). Each Tiger Den ticket comes with $10 in food and beverage credit that you have to scan your ticket at a concession stand to use (doesn’t work with ordering from the app).

You are a little further back since it’s behind the front section and a small four-person loge box that has the same style seating but it’s a great place to watch a game if you’re looking for cover and more intimate seating.

For the Wednesday April 23rd day game, I was able to get a seat in the Home Plate Club off SeatGeek. As mentioned, this area is newly created for 2025 and it was still a work in progress as they plan to build an underground space (to be finished in the middle of the season) right next to the seats, similar to how you can go to the underground space at Petco Park for the Padres Home Plate Club.

For now, they’re using the Tiger Club for food and beverage (and if you want to get out of the elements on a hot or cold day) so only Home Plate Club seat holders can access it until they finish the new space. You enter the Tiger Club through a separate entrance outside the ballpark on Witherell St and once you enter, you go up one floor to the Tiger Club.

From there, they have buffet-style food with a bar to get all drinks, including soda, with most alcohol included (there were some higher-end alcohol that had an upcharge).

For this game they had a good selection of food including hot dogs, sausages, beef sliders, pasta and meatballs, pizza, charcuterie, sushi, salad, chicken and waffles and a dessert bar with ice cream, cream puffs and cinnamon rolls.

The food was of good buffet-style quality to me (not super high-end but good like you find in most buffets) and the space is pretty big. The only negative is there aren’t a lot of dining tables with chairs to sit at and eat, instead there are many standing height tables that have no chairs as well as couch-style seating with a low table in the middle like you see in an office waiting room.

To get to the Home Plate Club seats, you leave the Tiger Club and go down one floor to the main level and walk down through the regular sections (sections 128 and 127) to access the seats.

I sat in section 1 of the Home Plate Club and row CCC (third row) and just like many other ballparks, these seats go down so they’re lower than the field in row 1, so it depends how much you like that. I find that seats that are lower than the field it’s harder to tell how far a ball is hit so anything that’s hit deep feels like it’s going to be a home run. Whereas seats a little higher but still on the lower level (like the Tiger Den), you can more easily tell off the bat if it has a shot or a routine fly ball.

The rows here actually have less leg room than the Tiger Den (more like a standard row where you have to get up to let people by) and the ventilation feature in the seats didn’t really seem to work that well. Since it was a sunny day, I had the cooling feature set to the highest level (there are three different levels) but I really didn’t notice the seat feeling cooler. The concept seems cool but didn’t seem to work that well and I didn’t really see anyone else taking advantage of it.

As far as the ballpark itself, Comerica Park has a nice retro look to it as I like the design and it fits in well with the surrounding buildings and landscape.

It has a nice view of the downtown skyline behind the outfield in right-center and has a couple of rides people (carousel and ferris wheel).

Food wise, there had a few local restaurants and a Little Caesars stand (Little Ceasars’ headquarters is across the street) but otherwise a lot of it is the standard ballpark fare.

The main level concourse is nice and wide making it easy to get around but there wasn’t a lot to do or see really as you walked around the ballpark. It seems here it’s more about getting your food and then getting back to your seat versus the many distractions of the other ballparks. Like here I didn’t even notice the Tigers team store (the D Shop) or see many souvenir stands as I walked around.

I stayed at the MGM Grand Detroit which is only about 1/2 mile away so it was a 15-minute walk over. The MGM Grand actually has free parking so some fans actually park here to walk to the ballpark.

It isn’t a straight line to get to the ballpark but the walk itself is pretty easy. This northern part of downtown is a little desolate as I didn’t see a lot of people or cars as I walked to and from the ballpark each day and there were many buildings that were empty and rundown but I felt pretty safe walking back and forth, even at 10pm at night after the night game I went to.

I would put Comerica in my middle tier of ballparks and worth visiting for those like me who want to see all the ballparks.

Opening Day Musings

Posted on by Paul

Opening day is always a great day. Not only is everyone starting 0-0 (well except the Dodgers and Cubs since they played in Japan the week before) but it’s the first time back in the ballpark since late last year so there’s a freshness to it, especially with seeing what’s different at Petco Park since the last time I was here.

What really hits it for me is when you first hear the roar of the crowd on Opening Day, in this case when Jackson Merrill singled in Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado with two outs in the bottom of the 1st.

That roar really reminded me why I love baseball and look forward to going to games in person. Not only is Petco a great place to watch the game but there’s the energy in the stands that you can’t match watching it at home.

With that said, here are some thoughts from around the ballpark on the first day:

  • Still long lines to get into the team store even with the renovation. Granted it was Opening Day (and there usually was a line before the game the past few seasons when there were capacity crowds) but we tried going about 45 minutes before the game and the line snaked outside towards the Hall of Fame. Being that we wanted to get some food and catch the pregame ceremonies we decided to try again after the game when usually you can get in right away. However, going after the game the line was even longer so we just decided to try again on Friday.
  • The new Mini Donut Company stand (section 107 right next to Seaside Market) is definitely worth trying if you’re into donuts. They have 5 different flavors (churro, powered sugar, sprinkles with white frosting, sprinkles with chocolate frosting and plain) and were available in 6 and 12 packs.
  • The walkway where the Lexus Club and Padres Authentics stand is a major bottleneck after the game ends. Maybe because there’s also a merch stand and restrooms here too but it gets really bottlenecked if you’re on the first base side trying to make it over to the Western Metal Building after the game (such as going to the team store) or if you’re on the third base side trying to make it over to the Home Plate Gate. I’ve put in the survey to the Padres about this but if you can avoid going this way after the game (i.e. if you’re on the first base side and just want to exit go out towards the Home Plate or Park Blvd Gate or if you do want to go to the team store from the first base side walk around through right field and through Gallagher Square) as it takes a bit of time to get through.

But overall a great time, especially with the Padres coming back to win. Gavin Sheets continuing his Spring Training home run renaissance really started it in the bottom of the 7th as the place erupted when the ball cleared straight away center field as Michael Harris II tried jumping for it.

Will be back at the ballpark again at Tony Gwynn Opening Day and will post if there are any other musings.