Update on 2nd Lt. Vogt

Your prayers are working. Please keep them up as Nick has a long road to recovery, but right now, things are certainly looking up.

A True American Hero, 2nd Lt. Nicholas Vogt

I'm changing things up here for this post. I've run a couple "patriotic" feel posts before, but this one is different. This one is personal. This is something I am sharing with you all because I'm urging you to pray for my friend Nick. He was recently injured in Afghanistan after stepping on an IED in the ground. I can assure you he's a man of honor, faith and integrity. He's the kind of guy fathers want their sons to become, mothers want their daughters to marry, Soldiers want to have as an officer, and other men envy because of how he's developed himself morally, mentally and physically. Nick is an Army Ranger and I know his plans after that included becoming a combat surgeon for the Army. He is a 2010 graduate of West Point. I'm telling you, he's an American hero and he needs your prayers to stay alive.

Please.

Marlins... Even "Fishier" Than Before?

In this Jeff Passan article, he describes how the now Miami Marlins are still the same old baseball crooks as yesterday under the ownership of Jeffery Loria.

Preview

Couple of pictures of a stadium soon to be reviewed

Too Much Moneyball

In fairness to the Yankee-haters out there and combining my recent posts about the movie Moneyball, here's a funny video entitled Too Much Moneyball by the guys at College Humor. Enjoy.

Dan's Moneyball Review

I saw Moneyball opening weekend with Mandi and overall was very impressed. First of all, it's been a long time since a notable baseball movie has come out. For the casual baseball fan who was completely unaware of the sabermetric revolution, I'd say this movie is a fantastic catch. It certainly explains how the Oakland A's, led by their General Manager Billy Beane did what many thought was impossible - compete with the big market teams like the New York Yankees for several years and started the wide-spead acceptance of modern baseball statistics. Moneyball correctly shows them valuing statistics that help teams win and not just individual player hit-production that were otherwise undervalued in the player-evaluation market in addition to showing many of the fallacies in scouting players. Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill played their parts perfectly if not entirely accurately. The biggest character error, at least from my reading and understanding of it all was the depiction of the on-field manager of the A's - Art Howe. While I do remember him getting a significant amount of credit during the A's run with the movie critiquing him for it, I don't believe it was all undeserved. I'd also add that Art Howe is apparently quite angry over Phillip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of him. With that said, I don't necessarily believe that the movie changing Art Howe so much made it less enjoyable - it was clearly to aid the rest of the storyline depicting the resistance that Beane faced when trying to get people on board with a stat-based team and not a scout-based team. However, where I do find much fault in the movie is that Moneyball never made any mention of the contributions of their ace pitching staff of Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and Mark Mulder nor the likely scouting (or statistic development for pitching) that got them to the A's. It also never makes any mention of the rise of Miguel Tejada, instead showing a couple screenshots of his jersey flash across the screen in random plays. The biggest strength on the player side of the movie is certainly showing the transformation of Scott Hatteberg from baseball washout to a valued statistical baseball player.

Without question, the movie's star Brad Pitt needs to be given credit for his excellent portrayal of Beane. He perfectly acted his moments and expressions of belief, frustration, flashbacks, endearment and disgust. Jonah Hill, while probably not a great depiction of Paul DePodesta (read more about him here), who is portrayed as "Peter Brand" in the movie since he wouldn't allow his name to be used, did provide a great character in Peter Brand who really was the driving genius behind the use of "Moneyball" statistics. I would also have to give credit to Chris Pratt who played a convincing Scott Hatteberg.

Now, not for nothing, buuutttt

Early season prediction of how 2011 Red Sox would rival 1927 Yankees as greatest team in history... Hmm.

Sorry, I had to, I'm a Yankees fan and Mandi is an O's fan... 

Moneyball

A new movie is coming out this weekend called Moneyball starring Brad Pitt who portrays Billy Bean, the manger of the Oakland A's who was really the groundbreaking GM in terms of using modern advanced statistics in evaluating players as opposed to relying on the human eye of scouts. While the A's haven't won a championship, they certainly became a wonder-team for several years during Beane's tenure. Mandi and I will be watching this weekend, hopefully!

The Stadium Shmadium Tour 2: Make It Stop (Pittsburgh Pirates)

The second installment of the Stadium Shmadium Tour, PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Another hilarious entry for these guys. I'd say the best part is Dave's "winning streak" of questioning the knowledge of the Pirates' fans. Hilarious.

Ninemoreouts Stadium Shmadium Tour

As the baseball season winds down and my job is becoming increasingly more demanding, Mandi and I will likely be unable to review any more stadiums and games this season. With that said, I'm going to introduce you all to some of my favorite videos on Youtube and will link some of their videos on our page. The premise is that three best friends get together for a trip each year to a baseball game and become that home team's biggest fans for a day. They have some pretty humorous stuff - here's their first one, for the Blue Jays. Probably my favorite lines are regarding the pitch speeds in centimeters/hour to poke some fun at the metric system. You can watch below, or click here!

Enjoy! Thanks to Scott, Dave and Mike for letting us post their videos on our website!

Standby in the future for more of Ninemoreouts' videos as well as a second post regarding the Corpus Christi Hooks! 

Nick Swisher and Wife Plan "Honeymoon" to Afghanistan

Yup, you read that right - they're doing it to visit troops over there. All the more reason to love the fun-loving right-fielder for the New York Yankees.

Columbus (GA) Yankees featured in ESPN's Uni-Watch for Confederate Flags

ESPN runs a column called Uni Watch that looks at some interesting and notable uniforms throughout the decades of sports. This one I found to be particularly interesting as it details how the Columbus, GA Yankees, a AA affiliate of the New York Yankees from 1964-1966 and were often known as the Columbus Confederate Yankees (ironic, I know), wore a Confederate "Stars and Bars" Flag on their sleeves - including their black players. (You can see Yankee Roy White in the uniform, above.) Today, I think many people would be aghast at that, but Uni Watch did some thorough investigating as to the background of the patch and whether it was sinister racism at play, a marketing ploy, or an afterthought that is a bigger deal nowadays. You can read Paul Lukas' article here.

Indians Band Together to Help One of Their Own

A great story about how the Indians banded together to chip in $35,000 to rent a private jet so that journeyman infielder Jack Hannahan could rush back to Cleveland to see his wife give birth to their (very) premature baby. Read the story here, it's a good one of all you baseball cynics out there.

Mississippi Braves Surprise

A Major in the Army came back from 9 months in Afghanistan and surprised his wife by posing as the catcher for her ceremonial first pitch. Watch it on CNN here. As you may recall, we featured the Mississippi Braves in a post not too long ago.

Charlie Manuel, one of Baseball's Good Guys

Read this article about a story that is just being told now, though it occurred back in 2008 when the Philadelphia Phillies won the NLCS. In short, Charlie Manuel, the manager of the Phillies gave a sick and dying fan a nice phone call after winning the series.

Frederick Keys (Mandi)

June 2011 - I went to a game with my parents in Frederick, MD.  It was a single A team.  I have been going to these games since I was two years old.  My mom's old company used to have season club box seats.  They were really nice. From what I can remember, food of all kinds, the mascot (Keyote) would come visit (as a child, that was the best thing in the world), and really comfortable seats.  I guess I saw the stadium differently when I was a younger.  Since being able to travel and see many more stadiums (thanks to Dan!), I felt like this one was really lacking a lot. 

One of the traditions at the Key's games is to shake your keys anytime bases are loaded, someone hit a home run, or during the seventh inning stretch.  They have a coyote as the mascot who they call "Keyote."  The Keys won the night we went 4-1.  The Keys are the minor league team for the Baltimore Orioles (which is why I am wearing the Oriole shirt in my picture).  They play at a stadium called the Harry Grove Stadium.    Okay, I am just going to go into the ratings.  I can explain a lot there without being repetitive. 

Ratings:

Food:  3/10:  The only food options available were hot dogs, popcorn, nachos, pretzels, and peanuts.  They did not have anything unique.  No cracker jacks! 

Crowd:  8/10:  The stadium was pretty packed and the people were very friendly.  We made friends with the people next to us and behind us.  The person behind us actually sang the national anthem.  Although when you go anywhere with my mom, you will make friends. 

Cleanliness: 4/10:  I believe that the overall stadium was pretty clean.  Our seats were wiped down for us before we were seated and the area was clean.  The bathrooms on the other hand were pretty gross.  There was barely any toilet paper, and no soap! 

Transportation to Stadium:  5/10:  There is usually always traffic on the way to the stadium because you have to get on one of the main highways.  It always has traffic because everyone is always headed to the mountains.  A Saturday or Sunday game is probably better but we went on a Friday when everyone is headed out.  The stadium is pretty out in the middle of nowhere as is Frederick.  Very farm country, so driving is about your only option.  There are no buses or trains or anything like that around unless you go with a bus group. 

Stadium Appearance: 4/10:  The stadium is a very old one.  All the walls are billboards or advertisements.  The field looked very well kept.  The concession area was very small and crowded.  You could easily feel crammed.  I don't think it was the prettiest of stadiums but again, it is very old.  Also, unless you have close seats, you will be sitting on the bleachers. 

Cost:  10/10:  The cost was very reasonable.  My mom was able to get us tickets in the front row behind home plate for $11 a person.  Nothing is overpriced in seating here.  The cheapest is Youth or Military at $5 to reserved seating at $11 a person.   

Entertainment: 1/10 There was none.  There may have been a trivial question or two on the big screen but no on field games or anything to keep you interested.  They do have a kids area where kids can go play in bouncees, and merry-go-rounds.  But of course to ride it, you have to pay.  I am not sure the price. I didn't go over there.  There were also fireworks on a Friday night.  We saw them, and they were pretty lame.  There was one firework, and then 4 minutes later, another one would go up.  Pretty boring to watch. 

Overall:  4/10:  It was a nice friendly environment to go to, but I wouldn't put it anywhere near any of the other ones we have been too.  It wasn't the cleanest and the most fun.  The team played very well though and have a lot of good players. 

Y! Sports' Tim Brown on Best Baseball Towns

He largely rates them based on their current fan environment, but takes location and stadium into account as well. Quick little video for those interested. Link here.

More Whatburger Field Pictures

Corpus Christi Hooks & Whataburger Field (Dan)

Mandi and I have frequented Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks several times now. The Hooks are a AA Affiliate of the Houston Astros.

First of all, I think the name should be addressed, especially for northerners who have never heard of Whataburger. While I typically hate how baseball teams are more and more frequently turning to sponsorships to name their field (thank God Yankee Stadium stayed "Yankee Stadium" and not something like Bank of America Stadium, or even worse: MET Life Stadium - not that I have a problem with the company, but the name would be unfortunate and ironic, no? But I digress), I actually like the name Whataburger Field. First of all, at least there's some roots in it - Whataburger, a regional fast food chain (with delicious burgers I might add), was founded in Corpus Christi, Texas. Secondly, the name "Whataburger" is just fun to roll off the tongue (it's pronounced exactly like it's spelled 'What-a-burger' - just say it faster), and finally, the logos around the stadium for Whataburger actually give it some character.

The stadium itself is of much higher quality than any other minor league facility I've been to. It's beautiful. It's clean. It has great views of the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge and the USS Lexington in the outfield. You can walk around the entire stadium and get right up into both team's bullpens. All the seats provide excellent views of the field and are all reasonably priced. There are promotions literally every night, with several cap nights and jersey nights throughout the year and every Friday night they are home there is a spectacular fireworks show. The first time we went, they even had the Budweiser Clydesdale's take a lap before the fireworks. They really put on a good show every time we've been to Whataburger field. The stadium was designed to make a tribute to the local cotton-growing industry roots here (the stadium was built on land that were previously cotton warehouses). I can kind of see it in it's design, some of the exterior seems like a barn or something, but I would never have noticed any of it without having read about it previously. The one exception is left field where there is old (I'm not sure if its original) industrial machinery built into the design and a warehouse as well. There is a pool in right center, a rock wall, a little league field past the outfield, a basketball court and a playground among some other amenities that make the park unique.

We've witnessed some good baseball there too. One of the most memorable had to have been this one where we witnessed Xavier Cedeno pitch 14 K's, of which the first 9 were in a row. He was perfect through 5.2 innings. Sadly, the bullpen blew it and the Hooks lost, but still, very memorable.  

The food is good, and reasonably priced, though if I had to choose, I'd say the food is a little pricey for the minor leagues. Mondays are dollar hot dog and soda nights which is nice. There are several options - a BBQ pit, typical hot dogs/sodas/fries, and of course, there is a Whataburger within the stadium. As far as the minor leagues go, they surpass most places in terms of variety and as I said are maybe slightly above average in pricing. Figure it'll cost you about $12 for 2 sodas and 2 standard hot dogs on a non promotional night. There are some food promotions they'll do in game, like "if a Hook scores this inning Cracker Jacks are a dollar" which is always nice when they do get that run (and the Cracker Jacks bags are pretty large!).

The location is fairly good. It's close to downtown (probably out of walking distance for most people though) but is near the museum USS Lexington and across the parking lot is Brewster Street Ice House (which is a neat bar/restaurant that has lots of live music from some notable bands) and Concrete Street, another live music venue. As I mentioned, the view is beautiful and occasionally, if you're lucky, a Navy plane will buzz the stadium which always enamors the crowd.

The fans are mostly good. It's a pretty young crowd typically with some families as well. The fans really do love the team - it's not common to see "diehard" minor league fans, but they certainly exist here with the nearest major league team being 4 hours north (the Astros). It's also neat that the fans here are mostly Astros fans so they are seeing their own prospects. After every home run, some of the season ticket holders will go around and collect money for the player with some fans donating a few bucks for him. I've never seen anyone get rowdy but the fans are more enthusiastic about the team than the average minor league team for sure.

The weather in Corpus is typically pleasant for the games - it's warm, sometimes even too hot, but there is a constant coastal breeze and the games typically start late enough in the day that it's comfortable.

Onto the ratings!

Here's the breakdown:

Food:  6/10 - Good variety, mediocre pricing. Neat that there is a Whataburger within the stadium.  

Crowd:  7/10 - Better than the typical minor league fan base; the fans truly seem to care about the team. 

Cleanliness: 9/10 -This ballpark is extremely clean and it feels new.

Transportation to stadium: 6/10 - There is a bus system in Corpus but I couldn't tell you if there is a stop near the stadium. Driving is easy though; there's hardly any traffic here.  

Stadium Location: 7/10 -Better than average - there is an "entertainment" district. It's a 5 minute drive to downtown where there are some great bars and restaurants, and a walk across the parking lot to get to Brewster Street Ice House to get a beer some food and listen to a good band.

Stadium Appearance - 10/10 -As far as minor league parks go, this one blows the others out of the water. It's nicely constructed, has a pleasant exterior, left field has the cotton warehouse shout-outs, the center field has a wonderful view of the bridge and the USS Lexington and, to be honest, I enjoy seeing the neon Whataburger signs.

Cost: 9/10 - You can get a front row seat for $10 on a weeknight. Some promotional nights, if you bring in a receipt that you bought honey or Kraft cheese it's buy one get one free.

Entertainment: 7/10 - Decent baseball and some mid inning antics that are suitable for minor league baseball. Additionally, I have yet to find a game that does not have some sort of promotion.

Overall:  8/10 - As far as dates go, this is a great place to be. You can make a great evening by going downtown for dinner, get to the ballgame and have a blast, then head out to Brewster Street afterwards for some drinks and music. The baseball is fun, the crowd is pleasant, the stadium and weather are beautiful - have a great time!

And a little gift for you all...

I forgot to add these into the Petco Park writeup; here is a picture of the main entrance and some panoramic shots.

 

Happy Independence Day

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

Petco Park - Dan

So, as Mandi promised and I previewed several weeks back, Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres is our next review. Once again, I'll have to apologize for having so long of a time between posts; work was getting crazy, I had 4 days off in 4 weeks (each Sunday) and was getting a little burnt out and even on those days off, I had to do a considerable amount of preparation for the next week.

With that said, ONWARD with the Petco Park review! 

First, a little history: 

Petco Park became the home of the Padres in 2004, replacing the dual-use (shared with the San Diego Chargers) Qualcomm Stadium. If I recall correctly (I can't seem to verify it), Petco was the first to introduce open concourses in a baseball stadium, which is very neat and becoming more common today (the New Yankee Stadium has this as well, for example). What this means is that if you leave your seats for the restroom or concessions, you just have to turn your head to still see the game. You're not missing anything and walking around the stadium does not make you feel like you're missing the game. There are no (or at least very minimal) walls that separate the seating from the shops, food and bathrooms so you can view the game and feel a part of the crowd the whole time. Certainly, it is a breakthrough in baseball from an architecture standpoint in my book. Below is a picture taken as we were just walking around the stadium getting a feel for it, and like I said, you can nearly walk around the entire stadium and still watch the entire game on the field. It's also pretty neat to be able to watch the game, at least for a little bit from a perspective of the more expensive seats, like right behind home plate. 

Apparently, Petco Park is broken into "neighborhoods" which, despite two visits in two different seasons, I still don't really get. They do have some neat exhibits like a World War II dedication to Naval Aviators and veterans (I can't recall exactly, but I believe the mannequin is designed to be George H.W. Bush, a WWII Naval Aviator) and this flows with many of the Padres promotions and claims of being America's "miltary team," obviously playing off the fact that San Diego is home to one of the largest Naval bases and populations in the world, not to mention nearby Marine Corps bases Miramar (yes, the one from Top Gun when it was a Navy base for all you movie buffs) and Pendleton.  

The stadium itself fits fantastically downtown. Getting there is as simple as hopping on one of San Diego's trolleys which should run you less than $5 round trip. The stadium is situated right next to the beautiful Gaslamp District, a revitalized downtown area full of trendy restaurants, nightclubs, bars, shops and other attractions. The Gaslamp district is very easy to walk around, and, while it may be more common on the West Coast (can a Californian or somone confirm this for me?), for East Coasters like Mandi and I, it was neat to see they had diagonal crosswalks so you don't have to wait for 2 crossings to get going in the same direction on the other side of the street. Also within a 3 minute walk is the Convention Center which always seems to have something going on, most notably perhaps in the summertime is the Comic Con convention, which if nothing else, is just neat to see all the people in elaborate costumes. Additionally, in building the stadium, the left field has the remnants of the brick "Western Metal Supply" building built right into the stadium, complete with seating on its exterior, which just adds a very neat touch to the atmosphere -which you can see in the three pictures below.

There's a "park within the park" too out in center field which includes a small baseball field for the youngsters and an open grassy area that seems more common to minor league parks but would make for a nice picnic on any one of San Diego's seemingly endless beautiful sunny and 78 degree days. 

The food in the ballpark is mostly typical ballpark fare - beer, hot dogs, fries, nachos, pretzels, etc.; I don't recall anything really sticking out to me. The Western Metal building has some higher end meats such as brisket and bacon-wrapped sausages, but nothing that's truly unique to a baseball stadium. They have some local chains like Rubio's and Oggi's Pizza as well. They do have some faddish "health" and gluten free options, but not as many as I would have expected going to the West Coast.

The crowd is pretty much what I expected for the West Coast - not as into the game as some of the more storied franchises around the league, but they did get into it pretty good against the Dodgers and at the time, the Padres were actually in contention for possibly winning the 2010 Western Division (they didn't end up winning, having a sad collapse towards the end of the year that coincided with a magical San Francisco Giants run). 

Most of the seats have excellent views and while I haven't witnessed it myself, apparently some of the left field seating has blocked views from the Western Metal building.

Here's the breakdown:

Food:  6/10 - Nothing groundbreaking as previously discussed.

Crowd:  5/10 - The Padres play off the military crowd in town for sure, which does probably bring in quite a number of additional fans, but with most of them not from San Diego, are not the most enthusiastic crowd for the Padres, with many of them just looking for a relaxing night at the ballgame and then going downtown. While we saw some liveliness and pep against the Dodgers while the team was in contention for a divisional title, I'm sure that nowadays with the Padres out of contention, the fans have probably gone back to the relaxed "West Coast" crowd.

Cleanliness: 10/10 -This is easily the cleanest ballpark I have ever been to. Literally everything about Petco Park felt clean and even after six years of use, when we visited in 2010, you could have told me it opened yesterday. While I'm sure that like all stadiums, there are some minor health violations, the overall feel of the stadium is spotless.

Transportation to stadium: 8/10 - The trolley system is easy to use and inexpensive. Should you choose to park, it is limited, expensive, and driving in and around the Gaslamp district is not the most fun thing to do. 

Stadium Location: 10/10 - This is how baseball stadiums should be located. It is easy to get to and in a great, fun area of town. There are plenty of things to do and see within walking distance and even more so within a couple minutes on the trolleys both before and after the games. On top of all this, the stadium feels like it is built into San Diego with the inclusion of the Western Metal building.

 

Stadium Appearance - 9/10 - I've already spoken about how clean the stadium appears; the overall design of the stadium is attractive as well. It's not the typical cinder block stadium and it certainly has quite a bit of added value with the Park within the Park as well as the Western Metal Building. I still don't get the "neighborhoods" built into the stadium, but that's easily made up for by the fact that they were innovators with the open concourse seating.  

Cost: 8/10 -Padres games are very reasonably priced for the Major Leagues. Furthermore, their ticket staff on the phone was extremely helpful in trying to get us the best deal, seats and promotions, even calling me back after a question couldn't initially be resolved.

Entertainment: 7/10 - Good baseball and some mid inning antics; additionally, there are often various promotions for each game and seating sections.

Overall:  10/10 - As far as dates go, I cannot imagine a better way to incorporate baseball into a date. Polite fans, a great downtown location, a beautiful stadium, inexpensive and nearly hassle-free transportation to the stadium and consistently good weather make Petco Park one of, if not the best place for a baseball date.

San Diego Padres - Mandi

Sorry it has taken me so long to write. My computer died, been working, and finally just got back to Texas with Dan! 

Last summer, the end of July, Dan and I took a trip to San Diego.  First of all, San Diego is an amazing city and I would recommend going to anyone!  We went on the beaches, mountains are beautiful, botanical gardens, and baseball games.  It's a great date city for sure.  I can't remember the names of all the places we went, but when Dan gets home, I will ask and update!  The very first night we were there, we went to a Padres game.  We were seated in the upper deck.  It was a perfect view of the whole stadium.  During the innings, they played games like they do at minor league games which was very entertaining.  Of course being with Dan, we walked around the whole stadium, which was open, so we were able to stand behind home plate and watch as well.  Pretty cool.  I think Dan would do better at rating this stadium than I would so I will let him do the honors there. 

It was located in the middle of the city.  We took a trolley to get there because we were staying on the Navy base.  Everything you can do in San Diego is within reasonable driving distance. I will write some more later, when Dan gets home and tells me the name of things!  I can't remember the names, but I do remember it was one of the best vacations Dan and I have ever been on together! 

Classiest Move In Baseball (Dan)

In baseball news, the Texas Rangers drafted the University of Georgia's Johnathan Taylor in the 33rd Round in this year's Amateur Draft. What's so special about this? Mr. Taylor was paralyzed from the waist down after an on-field collision with a teammate from this past season. The Rangers had expressed interest in him and had been scouting him for some time apparently:

"We thought selecting Johnathan was the right thing to do," Rangers director of amateur scouting Kip Fagg said. "We would have drafted him either way, regardless of any other circumstances involving his injury or Zach's draft status. Our area scout in Georgia, Ryan Coe, has had a relationship with Johnathan since he was a high school player. The club has always liked his passion and ability as a player."

 Absolutely the classiest thing I've heard done by a baseball team in a long time. Way to do the right thing, Texas Rangers. I wouldn't be surprised if this was approved as far up as Nolan Ryan, the principal owner of the Rangers, who is known to be one of baseball's "good guys."

You can read the whole article here, courtesy of Yahoo! Sports.

Which Sport is the Best for a Date? (Dan)

According to Brit Martin Rogers, baseball is! From his article (a self titled "Sorta Scientific Study"): 

"Most people buy tickets in sets of two and a large proportion of sports spectators are people on dates," Lehrman says. "Many couples don't enjoy watching sports on television together but like attending it live.
"We have found that baseball tends to be the best couples sport. The action is not continuous, which allows for time spent talking. It has the widest range of food options and there are plenty of natural breaks in the action. If you are looking for a winner on a first date, you can't go wrong."

 I couldn't agree more. He ranks baseball, soccer, hockey and basketball in that order, though I think most Americans would likely have football in that list somewhere too. Despite the fact that he is predisposed to enjoying soccer as a Brit, it's good to see he realized the potential that baseball games have for perfect dates. There's plenty of food options at every stadium, usually some fun antics in between innings and breaks occur naturally instead of a penalty, which is more common in the latter two sports. His article is a fun read as he had to find four different female companions to take to four different events and rate each date.

Something I would also add is that baseball stadiums and fields are all unique - sure they have the same infield dimensions and general shape, but that's about it - and that's part of what makes baseball so great - the Yankees with their short right porch and facade, the Rockies with their mile-high stadium, the warehouse in the right field of Camden Yards - every single stadium is unique, especially nowadays, whereas one basketball/hockey stadium is hardly different from one another, not to mention the playing dimensions are all the same. Baseball stadiums are becoming more and more part if a city landscape and are more and more representative of a city's culture as well, which I think adds something great to a date.

In Honor of the Fallen

Again, I know this is unrelated to baseball, but it's important. A good read from the Baltimore Sun about two former Naval Academy athletes and roommates, turned into a Marine Officer and a Navy SEAL Officer, who both died in combat operations and are buried next to each other in Arlington National Cemetery. 

Remember the Fallen

On another note, you'll see baseball's players today wearing special "patriotic" (if that's what you're willing to call them) ball caps. Remember the reason - the sacrifice of many in the defense our country and our ideals.

Which Baseball Stadium is the Best? (Dan)

Interesting New York Times article that simply just ranked stadium experiences by the 1-5 scale on Yelp.com. It's good to see that they aren't just ranked by performance on the field (the Pirates' Stadium, PNC Park, which I've only visited the exterior, was ranked #1). I'm surprised to see Petco Park ranked as low as it is (coming in at 17 as they have good pricing, great views and a very accessible stadium among other things), and I'm also surprised to see that the Rogers Centre, home of the Blue Jays is ranked last. While I've never been, I've always been kind of marveled at the Rogers Centre. I'm not surprised that the Oakland Coliseum/ Overstock.com Coliseum is ranked low as that stadium looks ugly and is a clear cookie-cutter late 20th-century football/baseball bland stadium common throughout the 1970s and 1980s baseball (thank you Camden Yards for putting an end to this trend). Same goes for the Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL, home of the Marlins which is a stadium I've seen baseball played at and it was an abomination for the baseball fan - both the team on the field and the fan experience.

Teaser

A little teaser for an upcoming review of Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres.

Sorry! (Computer down!)

Hey all, it's Dan. I've been quite busy with work lately but should have some time this weekend to maybe post. Mandi's computer died but she'll be getting a new one as well (tomorrow hopefully!) so you should start hearing from us again soon!

Until then, best wishes! 

Mississippi Braves (Mandi)

Dan got me into the Biscuits too. Check out how awesome their logo is!

August of 2010: I was moving to Mississippi to go to college.  Dan and I made it a fun road trip and after unpacking all my things and rearranging my room many times until I liked it (Dan had to loft my bed multiple times which he wasn't too happy about), we decided to see if the minor league team was in town for a game.  The Mississippi Braves are an AA affiliate team for the Atlanta Braves. One of Dan's favorite minor league teams is the Montgomery Biscuits (AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, whose single A affiliate Hudson Valley Renegades played in Dan's home town) and it just so happened that the Braves were playing them the night we planned to go. 

Dan and I cheered for both teams but I definitely think Dan was cheering more for the Biscuits and by the middle of the game, the Braves were losing so bad, I was rooting for the Biscuits too!  The Biscuits did play much better than the Braves and won the game with a huge lead.  It was a fun date night for Dan and I though. We got really close, cheap seats and the stadium was pretty empty.  I have also been there with a bunch of friends of college and it was a nice girls night out as well.  It was a little more crowded because it was the beginning of the season and nice weather (not too hot yet), but still a fun time.  

  

Here's the breakdown for this stadium:  

Food:  5/10 - You have your basic hot dogs, nachos, ice cream, etc.  They did just put in a chick fila so people were very excited about that.  My favorite is the dip and dots though!!

Crowd:  2/10 - It was a weeknight crowd, probably under a thousand people.  The people we did come across though were very nice.

Cleanliness: 8/10 - Pretty clean, including the bathrooms, but was probably distorted with the few amount of people there.

Transportation to stadium: 10/10 - There is never any traffic going to the game. There is only one entrance into the parking lot but many roads to get to it.  

Stadium Location: 5/10 - Trustmark Park - The stadium is very easy to get to.  It is built out in the middle of nowhere like most of Mississippi.  It is next to a Bass Pro Shop, some restaurants including a Cracker Barrel (my family's favorite place to eat), and close to hotels and movie theater.  The stadium is actually located in Pearl, MS which is literally ten minutes from Jackson, where my school is.  Downtown Jackson is about ten minutes away as well, but is pretty deserted.  The capital building is located here which is pretty but looks like every other capital building in the world.  Jackson is a nice area during the day but very dangerous at night. Do NOT walk alone or really be anywhere in Jackson at night.  Pearl is a much nicer area.  Flowood is also a nicer area with a lot of shopping but literally everything but the Whataburger closes around 9pm. 

Stadium Appearance - 4/10 - For minor league stadiums, it has modern amenities such as an open concourse but overall the stadium is bland. 

Cost: 10/10 - We were able to get front row first base line seats for $5 on a promotional night but there really aren't any seats above $15 at all.  

Entertainment: 5/10 - They may have better things on the weekends but as far as a weeknight, it was just baseball, which is not what you expect at a minor league game considering the typical in between inning gimmicks.  

Overall:  5/10 - It was a nice place for a date or a girls night out if you so happen to be in Jackson, MS...which is not necessarily a good place for a date or a leisure trip. 

The only photographic evidence of this game: a picture of some Biscuits' players with the concourse in the background; shot from Dan's cell phone.

  

Where it all Began: Camden Yards (Dan)

Perhaps the summer of 2010 is where it all started. Before I graduated college, I went to Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles, for a Yankees game with one of my friends who hardly understood baseball but by the end was cheering for Brett Gardner and Phil Hughes. I immediately realized however, that Camden Yards was a good date spot for Mandi and I seeing as we shared at least a few discussions about baseball in the months prior. As soon as I graduated college, Mandi and I spent the next few months together almost every day and went to several games, with the first of many more to come at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles, which is near where Mandi is from and I went to college.

First experience with her and her family was a late father's day celebration which we got the package for all you can eat... ice cream, hot dogs, (or "douwgs" as Mandi says it), nachos, salads (?), sodas, cracker jacks, peanuts, etc. It was awesome. It's nice to be able to not have to think about the overpriced baseball food because it's already completely unlimited. It was also neat because we got there early enough to watch the Blue Jays' BP and the players in the OF would occasionally throw a ball our way. Our seats were second deck in the club level, just overlooking the bullpens in left center field. Pretty good view of the ballpark. (Note the picture below is from the second trip to Camden we made with my cousins later in the summer, but the seats were similar; we were actually lower and closer to the bullpens/ CF for the first trip).

One of the many things we enjoy about Camden Yards is that it feels like it was built into the city, not just a random sports complex in the outskirts of a city a-la Citzens Bank Park in Philly. The right field has a view of the old B&O Warehouse that is now part of the Camden Yards complex (see below). It is within walking distance to the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore which is probably it's main tourist attraction, but a place that locals go to as well with many sights to see and places to eat.

Below that warehouse is Eutaw Street (see above) which is the main entrance to Camden Yards, and, if you walk all the way down, actually leads to M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. Along Eutaw street are little brass baseballs to show where players have hit home runs whether in regulation play, All Star Games, or Home Run Derbies out of the stadium and onto the street. (In one case, there is one on the actual warehouse where Ken Griffey Jr. blasted one!) Below are pictures of one of former New York Yankee's Paul O'Neill's blasts and current Yankee Robinson Cano's as well. (You'll find out as we continue to write this blog that I'm a huge lifelong Yankees fan and besides, my mom's favorite player when I was growing up was always Paul O'Neill, I can still hear her yelling "Let's Go Paul-ieeee" anytime he'd come up to bat during a crucial moment).

Here's the box score for the game - I distinctly remember being pissed off at Kevin Gregg because he was on my fantasy team at the time.

Later that summer, two of my cousins came down from New York so I could show them around D.C., Annapolis, and of course, Camden Yards. We had a full day of touring D.C. followed by a White Sox - O's game to witness yet another Orioles loss. Nonetheless, it was fun evening we all enjoyed (I think by this point in the season Mandi realized the O's supposed revival of 2010 wasn't going to happen and my cousins and I were pretty apathetic to the score; seeing as it would have almost no impact on the AL East standings).

Anyway, like I've said, Camden Yards is a very nice place for a date or to just catch a ballgame. Here's our take on it (on a 10 point scale):Overall: 7/10

The breakdown:

Food: 6/10 - the food here is pretty standard, but they do have some additions of bbq and Maryland crabcakes you might not find at a typical stadium. Also, Mandi's dad will ONLY eat Eskay hot dogs nowadays seeing as they've been served with the Orioles for years apparently, so I guess they have to be somewhat good (her dad is a super picky eater, right down to the type of corn kernels he'll eat -Mitchell's Shupeg White Corn... no joke).

Crowd: 7/10 - the fact of the matter is, Baltimore fans are pretty tame which is nice for a date or for a family experience. I've hardly heard any cursing in my times there (and they were actually from Boston fans in town to root against the Yankees). They're pleasant, but they're not intense when you're trying to get into the game.

Cleanliness: 7/10 - overall stadium and surrounding area is very clean, but the bathrooms could use some work.

Transportation to stadium: 8/10 - Baltimore traffic isn't bad for a city its size. There's ample parking nearby. There's also a metro train or light rail train you can take in.

Stadium Location: 10/10 - Camden Yards is beautifully built into Baltimore which inspired several other stadium to use existing architecture (see Petco Park in San Diego for the best example, I think). Nearby is the Babe Ruth museum (he was from Baltimore) and another sports museum as well. Below is a picture of a monument erected for the Babe right on Eutaw Street. Stadium Appearance: 10/10 - Camden Yards was completed in 1992 and it started a revolution in baseball stadiums in providing for the fan experience in a "classical" feel stadium with the modern amenities. It got rid of the cookie-cutter mentality of stadiums that plagued baseball throughout the 70s and 80s and inspired many stadiums like the Ballpark at Arlington, Petco Park, Coors Field, PNC Park, Citi Field, AT&T Park in San Franciso and many others.

Cost: 8/10 - let's be honest. You can't compare major league to minor league costs here, but the fact is that Camden Yards is some of the most affordable major league baseball there is. They have student night tickets as low as $5 and regularly have other seats available under $15. Half of the time, there's hardly any crowd and you can move to better seats anyway. The all-you can eat tickets were $40 in 2010.

Entertainment: 4/10 - Major league parks focus on baseball, whereas Minor League parks often have gimmicky games in between innings. The Orioles have their little traditions such as inexplicably playing "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" during the 7th inning stretch (ok ok, there are many rural parts of Maryland) and, in my opinion, one of the worst traditions in all of baseball, yelling "O!" during the "Oh" of the National Anthem. Orioles baseball hasn't been that exciting to watch in a decade or so, but Buck Showalter is bringing a young group of kids together that I think will improve the team in the next few years to come. They're definitely a future team to be aware of, already displaying flashes of hope.

Introduction

Hi there! If you're reading this, you've either run across this because you're interested in baseball or you thought Mandi is hot. Either way, we hope you enjoy the blog. We're a couple that's been dating officially since February of 2010 and have gotten an opportunity to travel throughout the country. During our visits, we often try to stay "off the beaten path" but the one thing we seem to constantly enjoy in every town is baseball at any level. We'll be posting about our baseball experiences focusing not only on the games but the fan experience each park gets to offer and to some extent, the experience each park offers for a date. We hope you enjoy!