6 down, 24 to go. (AT&T Park-San Francisco)

Welcome to AT&T Park. It's an incredible place to see a game. I saw two games here, both Giants vs. Marlins. The Marlins were losing 9-2 in the first game, tied it 9-9, then lost in 10 innings. Anibal Sanchez threw a one hitter in the second game and the Marlins won.

The park itself has a great view, all baseball fans know about McCovey Cove in right, where sailboats can be seen in the distance on a clear day. (Barry Bonds' 756 plaque has been relegated to a dark corner.) There are really no bad seats in the house. Walking around the concourses, you can see great Giants players of the past on the walls, on your way to get some garlic fries, which are frickin' amazing. Outside there are statues of the great Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda.

So sit back, enjoy the ball game, and the view.

5 down, 25 to go. (Angel Stadium-Anaheim)

Welcome to Angel Stadium of Anaheim, home of the elusive Rallius Monkeyius, a.k.a. the Rally Monkey. I saw an Angels vs. Red Sox game here. There were a lot of Red Sox fans in attendance, and a good percentage of them were obnoxious. (Not a huge fan of the Sawx, in case you couldn't tell.) The Angels lost their brand new acquisition Dan Haren to a linedrive off of the arm, gave up two homeruns to Big Papi, and despite breaking out the Rally Monkey, still fell to the Red Sox that night.

You gotta love the Rally Monkey though. What I liked about this place is you didn't have the canned noise that you see in a lot of ballparks, telling fans when to cheer, when to clap, when to go to the bathroom, etc. If you don't know when to cheer, I don't know what to tell you.

The stadium is really nice, despite being 40-odd years old, it still looks like new, the rockpile in center, the big A hats out front, good parking, all lend to a nice ambiance. The food is not that bad, but pretty expensive in my experience. Maybe I bought the wrong thing, I had a grilled chicken BBQ sandwich.

It's certainly a world apart from its LA neighbor Dodger Stadium, but not in a bad way, just different.

Till next time-

4 down, 26 to go. (Dodger Stadium-Los Angeles)

It's been a while, huh? Don't worry, there will be several posts upcoming.

Welcome to Dodger Stadium. It's a great place to see a game. My first thought when seeing the field was, "damn, this is a big stadium." It's huge, but somehow has kind of a homey feel to it. It's kind of shoehorned into a canyon (the erstwhile Chavez Ravine). The sightlines are good, there are plenty of concession stands and bathrooms, and the crowd is pretty knowledgeable, late-arriving as they are.

Of course you know I couldn't get away without extolling the virtues of the Dodger Dog (good, and frickin' huge) and the garlic fries. Get them both. They also sell water in this cool souvenir bottle. Make sure to slather on sunscreen when you go, as my epidermis can attest to.

See you all soon-