Buckeye Blog

Continuing what I started back on June 29th, this past weekend I drove to Philadelphia and Baltimore, thus completing my drive from the Pacific to the Atlantic in one summer (FYI it takes about 47-50 hours of actual driving time).  Since I became committed to reaching every MLB Ballpark in America, I am liable to be anywhere in the U.S. at anytime during baseball season.  And there is almost nowhere in the U.S. that I don’t consider to be in driving distance.  I’m not entirely sure how this attitude developed (in college I found the drive from Cleveland to Columbus to be quite burdensome!), but I will say that being on the cusp of achieving a long-time personal goal certainly increases motivation and desire.  I would plan another trip for this weekend, but sadly the baseball regular season has come to a close. 

But what a season it was!  This year alone I visited 16 ballparks in 16 different cities and attended many of Cliff Lee’s league-leading 22 wins, including his first win in Oakland and 20th win in Cleveland.  I ended the season on a high note too.  Saturday in Philadelphia I witnessed the Phillies clinch the NL East at Citizens Bank Park (first picture)–which set off a wild party for Phillies fans.  And Sunday in Baltimore at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (second picture) I went to Fan Appreciation Day for the first time.  

I already can’t wait for the 2009 season to start!!!   

Pictures from the ballparks:

http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.miller.0217

Pittsburgh and San Francisco: Gorgeous cities with beautiful ballparks.  Any day I spend in either city is a good day, so yesterday was…well, a good day.  :)  Last night I visited PNC Park in Pittsburgh with my brother Josh, and I have moved Pittsburgh’s ballpark back into a tie with San Francisco’s for best ballpark in the country.  Pittsburgh is just a quick 2 hour trip from Cleveland along the Ohio Turnpike, so I think I’ll be heading to Pirates games more often now.  The city–surrounded by the Allegheny, Monogahela, and Ohio Rivers–sits on an island connected to the ballpark by walkable bridges.  See the link below for pictures of this phenomenal setting.  I’m a fanatic for skyscrapers, bodies of water, and bridges, so you’ll see why I speak so highly of Pittsburgh and PNC Park when you open the link.  It’s really something that the midwest/east can be proud of.  Absolutely beautiful.

http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.miller.0217/PNCParkPittsburghPirates#

With the release of the 2009 baseball schedule on Wed, I am now able to plan out the remaining baseball stadium trips, as well as the rest of my vacation plans for the next 9 months or so.  =)  So here they are:

2008

Sept. 20^th: Day trip to Pittsburgh to see PNC Park

Sept. 27^th-28^th: Weekend trip to Philadelphia and Baltimore to see Citizens Bank Ballpark and Camden Yards

Dec. 7^th-11^th: Annual trip back to NC, including day trip to Atlanta on Dec. 9^th to see Turner Field

Dec. 11^th-16^th: First annual trip back to San Jose

2009

Apr. 18^th-19^th: Weekend trip to Toronto to see Rogers Centre

May 8^th-12^th: Annual visit to Chicago, including visit to US Cellular Field on May 9^th and day trip to Minneapolis to see the Metrodome on May 10^th

June 5^th-June 13^th: Final ballpark trip through Boston (Fenway Park June 6^th), New York (New Yankee Stadium June 8^th and Citi Field June 9^th), Miami (Dolphin Stadium June 11^th), and Tampa (Tropicana Field June 12^th)

Can’t wait to see my friends and the remaining ballparks!  The next year figures to be very exciting and June 12, 2009 will be a very rewarding day! J

In the last few weeks I have begun working on a project that I am very proud of.  As many know, I am in the process of visiting all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums around the country between July 2007 and June 2009.  But everyone may not know that I have recently started to document my travels.  The final results of this project will include a scrapbook (composed of pictures, ticket stubs, stadium information, and a timeline of my visits), an online photo album for each stadium, a rankings list, and a personal narrative describing my experiences traveling throughout the country.   I take pride in record-keeping and I’m looking forward to the day when I can share the finished products with my friends.  Stay tuned to this blog for updates.  The remaining trips are now in the planning process and PTO is getting booked.  =)

Currently I am in Chicago woot woot!  I’m visiting my aunt and uncle for the 14th(!!) consecutive summer.  =)  This annual trip has become a time-honored tradition.  No matter where I’m living or what is going on in my life, I always find a way to make a summer visit here.  Historically this trip has also been a baseball excursion, as my aunt and uncle are also big baseball fans.  Actually, I do believe it’s genetic that all of us love the sport.  This year’s trip has been no different, as today I visited Wrigley Field–Home of the Chicago Cubs.  In years past we have also visited the ballparks for the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers.  But Wrigley is definitely our favorite.  This is the year for the Cubs!!!

Yesterday I took off work and drove to Detroit to see Comerica Park.  The Tigers were playing the Blue Jays at 1pm so I decided last minute to go see stadium #23 on my list!  :)  Unfortunately I had to enter the state of michigan for the first time in my life, but at least it was a short trip haha.  As a bonus, I also drove over to the corner of Trumbull and Michigan Ave to see [what's left of] Tiger Stadium, the historic home of the Tigers from 1912-1999.  Sadly, it is slowly being torn apart and soon will be completely demolished.  It’s too bad it can’t be turned into a museum.

Today I had quite a unique opportunity.  I was lucky enough to win tickets to watch the Indians vs. Orioles from Deloitte’s dugout suite at Progressive Field!!  I was right at field level, separated from the Orioles’ dugout only by glass and from the on-deck circle by protective fencing.  I was so close to the action that I could smell the pine tar and hear the players calling for pop-ups.  Four different people called me to say that they saw me on tv–either drinking wine or laughing with co-workers.  Haha I totally watched this game in STYLE.  Quite an experience! 

Today I went to the “businessman’s special” noon baseball game between the Indians and Tigers at Progressive Field.  I could not pass up the opportunity to go since I AM a businessman after all haha.  The ticket was only $8 and Deloitte’s building is within a short walk so it all added up to a nice lunchtime event.  I had just gone to Indians-Tigers games the last two nights as well, and I even got to sit in a suite last night.  It’s definitely been a big baseball week.  Good times for sure!

Hard to believe it, but I’m finally back to Columbus—Home of The Ohio State University and quite possibly my favorite place on earth!  :)  So glad to be back! 

Josh and I arrived here after driving 7.5 hours from St. Louis.  We started the day by going to the Union Station Mall in St. Louis and having lunch at the Hard Rock Café.  On the way to Columbus I had an idea and asked Josh to check the sports page to see if the Cincinnati Reds were playing a home game tonight.  Sure enough they were, so I suggested that we make a quick stop-over in Cincy for the game.  I had already been to the Great American Ball Park in 2005 so I had not planned in advance to go to this stadium.  But we went anyway and it worked out well because it was fireworks night at the ballpark!  We ended up seeing a good game and a great fireworks show.  It doesn’t get much better than baseball and the 4^th of July!    

After we left Cincy we encountered a terrible rain storm, but we still made it to Columbus just after midnight.  In all it took me about 2700 miles and 40.5 driving hours to reach Columbus, OH from San Jose, CA.  We’ve still got to drive 2.5 hours to get to Solon tomorrow, but OSU is my home too so this is effectively the conclusion of the long cross-country journey.  I can’t believe I did it!  At times the trip was hard, but seeing my brother and being able to go to 4 stadiums in 4 cities in 3 days made it all worth it!  But I think I’m going to take a break from road trips for a while now!

Happy 4^th of July everyone!

Today my traveling party increased by one as I met up with my brother, Josh, in St. Louis.  We came from different places and by different means of transportation—he flew in from Ohio and I drove over from Kansas—but now we’re reunited at last.

Earlier in the day, before I arrived in St. Louis, I continued along highway 70 East and passed through Manhattan, Topeka, and Lawrence, Kansas; as well as Kansas City and Columbia, Missouri.  It was great to pass through so many cities that I’ve actually heard of.  I stopped in Lawrence to see the University of Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse and in Kansas City to see the Royals’ Kauffman Stadium—#21 on my list!  It was cool seeing Allen Fieldhouse in the same year in which the Jayhawks won the national championship game (which I witnessed in person).  And seeing Kauffman Stadium turned out to be one of the more exciting stadium visits that I’ve had because I had to sneak past security to get inside haha.

When the day started I had no plan as to how to get into Kauffman Stadium, since the Royals were playing in Baltimore and the ballpark is off limits for tour groups while it is undergoing renovations.  But I still wanted to go to KC and try anyway.  My first attempt to get in involved me pleading with a security guard on the basis that I came all the way from California and didn’t want to leave without a photo.  He ended up letting me inside the left field gate for a distant picture (and was nice enough to give me a batting practice ball that had landed in one of the fountains as a souvenir!), but he did not allow me to go all the way behind home plate like I wanted because he was being watched by a security camera too. 

But I was not about to give up.  I wandered around the perimeter of the ballpark until I found an unlocked gate that was marked as a construction entrance only.  I then proceeded to do what any good baseball stadium enthusiast would do—I made a mad dash through the gate, went behind home plate and snapped a photo, and then ran back to my car lol.  Even though the fountains were not turned on, I still liked what I saw and gave the ballpark a decent ranking of #13.  It does not, however, have the modern stadium amenities necessary to get a higher ranking (the ballpark opened in 1973).

After I picked up Josh at the St. Louis airport we went to the Cardinals-Mets game at Busch Stadium—#22 on my list!  I was VERY impressed with the ballpark and ranked it a strong #4.  The outside is made from beautiful red brick and the backdrop behind center field is highlighted by the Gateway Arch.  The Mississippi River is also visible from certain parks of the ballpark.  More specifics to follow in my facebook album later.  Down to just 8 stadiums remaining now!

And after 8 more hours of driving today, the total for the trip now stands at 33.