Space Coast Stadium. (Viera)

Hello all!

After a long, hard 5 months or so without baseball I started counting down the days until camp started, and I had a little internal celebration when pitchers and catchers reported, even though it's glorified pitch and catch, hey, it means baseball is coming again. So, you can imagine that I was pretty excited when Spring Training started. I've been to Roger Dean Stadium more times than I can count, (I wrote up one trip here) so I wanted to branch out. So, I went to a Marlins vs. Nationals game at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, FL. (As an aside on that link, I can't decide if "fear the sea cow" is the best or worst team slogan I've ever heard. I'm leaning towards worst.)

If you've never heard of Viera, FL, don't worry, no one else has either. It's a small planned community just north of Melbourne and south of Cape Canaveral. It was about a 2 hour drive for me, which is part of the reason that the Cactus League in Arizona is flourishing and the Grapefruit League is withering. The Nationals may move out of here soon, because of drive time due to the fact that this is one of the few Spring Training sites still going here on the east coast of Florida. So, all the better to catch it before it's gone.

The stadium is easy to get to, looks really nice, and the experience is everything you could ask for from Spring Training, from the ushers, to the seats, to the people. (The food is your average stuff, I tried the hot dog when I probably should have gone for the bacon cheeseburger.)

I had quite a nice moment during the anthem, this girl who couldn't have been any older than like 8 or 9 went up and totally belted it out. I stood there thinking, as you could feel the electricity build...yeah, this is what it's all about. This is why I love baseball, because there's always another chance. Had a bad year last year? That's ok, in the Spring you start 0-0, and you get another chance. I thought to myself, this is what's good in the world, right here, and I think I wasn't the only one, judging by the thunderous applause that erupted at the end of the song.

"If you woke up breathing, Congratulations! You have another chance."
— Andrea Boydston

8 down, 22 to go. (New Yankee Stadium-NYC)

Here it is, the cathedral of baseball, well the new one at least. Yankee Stadium is pretty amazing in a lot of ways. It's amazing to look at, amazing to see a game in, amazing to eat a hot dog at. (Though I don't recommend the chicken sandwiches.) It's easy to get to on the subway, the stop is right across the street.

There's the usual New York hubbub surrounding the park on game days, dudes playing soprano sax for money, cute girls handing out strip club flyers, you know, typical fare. I was in an obstructed view seat, behind a fair pole in the upper deck, and it was still a pretty good seat. The game that I saw wasn't that amazing, the Yankees whooped the A's, but it was still an amazing experience that I would recommend to anyone to partake in.

7 down, 23 to go. (Petco Park-San Diego)

Welcome to Petco Park in San Diego. I saw a Marlins vs. Padres game here, which the Marlins won. It's a really nice place to take in a game. It's famous for the old Western Metal Supply building integrated into leftfield, and for being a pitcher's park. It should also be famous for its super nachos, but that's another story. (See above.) Somehow I avoided gaining 10 pounds after gnawing through those bad boys.

It's one of those new downtown parks that really livened up the area around it, in this case the Gaslamp District. I definitely recommend going there after a game and taking in the sights.

So the food is good, the fans are knowledgeable, and the park isn't bad to look at, all in all a nice getaway for the family.

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-

3 Down, 27 to go. (Turner Field-Atlanta)

It's been a while, but I didn't wanna blow all my posts at once and not have anything else to talk about for a long time, because this is my last major league ballpark to post about. That's right, 27 to go. I do have plans to see four in California in July, (all except Oakland, couldn't work that in) so that will help my total, but I do have a ways to go. Nothing I can't handle though. For now, time to report on ballpark #3, Turner Field in Atlanta.

The ambiance is really neat, there's a nice plaza at the entrance with statues of all the retired Braves. The ballpark itself is, okay I guess would be the best word. The sight lines are good, and they do show you a good time, but it doesn't really inspire you the way I get inspired seeing the shrines of baseball on TV. For what it is though, it succeeds. Oh, and the food was okay too. (Had to sneak that in.)