Stadium Tour 2016: Miller Park

The Brewers had 1 last home stand before the end of the season and the hubby wanted to go. He wanted to go bad enough that he was okay skipping a meeting to go. Honestly, I checked out of baseball when football began and really didn’t care if we went or not. It’s not like we have never been to Miller Park before.

The hubby found front row tickets for $100/person just past the Brewer’s dug out and camera pit. We’ve never sat in the first row. We got lucky and ended up sitting 2nd row a few years ago when a guy gave us his seats when we were walking in. He just wanted the Robyn Yount Bobblehad. Now not only are we going to another game this, we’re sitting in the first row. Great! Duck and Cover Territory and neither of own a glove anymore.

Close enough to smell the dirt

I am glad Miller Park has a roof since it was calling for rain. I would not have been happy if we spent $200 on tickets and the game got rained out. Luckily the rain didn’t start before we got inside so we didn’t even get wet walking to the stadium from the car.

We have been to Miller Park (and County Stadium before that) numerous times. Until we visited other stadiums, I didn’t realize how drab and unimpressive Miler Park truly is. It is missing the WOW factor that many of the other stadiums have that we have visited. Miller Park feels industrial. Everything is painted in this enchanting shade of gunmetal green and industrial grey. Even the concession stands are drab in comparison to other stadiums. I understand that it is a dome stadium but it feels more like a warehouse or a factory than a baseball park.

Sitting in the front row does have its perks if you don’t mind 50 other people in your space trying to get players’ attention before the game for an autograph. Keon Broxton stopped by and let people sign his cast, sign autographs, and take pictures. The hubby got his hat signed and I get my picture taken. Scooter Gennett was over for a little bit after the National Anthem until he realized he better get on the field. I would have liked a picture with Scooter.

Even though we were sitting Duck and Cover Territory, we had only a few balls come our way. One there was a scramble for and the guys next to us go the ball. That was the closest one. The other one was a pop up in foul territory that the first baseman caught. Because it wasn’t third out, he had to give the ball back to the pitcher. Even the players were stingy giving balls away on the third out or after warm ups.

The game itself was kind of boring. The first 3 innings took forever. The Brewers end up losing 4-1. We had more fun watching the first base umpire. It’s pretty sad when I notice his pants are wrinkled and that he’s not in a traditional position. He spent most of the game pacing up and down the line.

The other highlight of game was when Counsell got thrown out of the game for arguing a foul ball didn’t hit off the batter’s foot. He really went at the home plate umpire The hubby said watching the replay of the game later the ball clearly didn’t go off the guy’s foot. Counsell should have asked to see the ball.

This was my fifth and final Major League Baseball game of the year unless somehow we end up getting Cubs play-off or World Series tickets. I have seen all 5 National Central Teams play at one stadium or another. I’ve been to 3 of 5 National Central Stadium. It must be the year of the NL Central.

As long as the hubby keeps on wanting to visit more stadiums, I will continue to go. His short list includes Detroit, Kansas City, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. My Top 5 Stadiums now are Yankee Stadium, Camden Yards, Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and PNC Park in Pittsburgh (last of the NL Central Stadiums). Turner Field (or whatever they end up naming the new stadium) makes the list at Number 6 only because Pittsburgh snuck in there after we went to St. Louis. Until we find out if and where the hubby would go for a World Series, I am waiting to find out what stadiums we get to go to next year.

Stadium Tour 2016: Busch Stadium

The hubby asked as he was getting ready to leave for football last Friday if the Cubs were in town on Wednesday. I check the schedule and discovered they were in St. Louis for a day game which is ONLY a 7 hour drive from here. He thought we should go to the game that way we can see Busch Stadium which happened to be in my top 5. I thought he was nuts since we’d have to leave at 4:00 AM. After serious contemplation, we decided to go to the game. It was crazy and not like us but hey we only live once and when can you possibly see the Cubs clinch the pennant in person.

We took the train from Rock Road to the stadium. In the future, I would park out a few stops to the west and pick up the train at North Hanley Station. The train, like Minneapolis, makes getting to the stadium easy. It drops you off right at the stadium and it was $10 for both of us to ride the train round trip ($2.50/person/Ride). Not bad at all. The all-day pass was like $7.50/person. We figured we didn’t need that as we weren’t planning on doing anything else in St. Louis besides the Arch which was within walking distance.

Busch stadium exceeded our expectations. Sure we had to wait in a line to enter the stadium but it moved and it was probably no more than 10 minutes to get through security. Busch Stadium is a very open stadium. There is an opening between the bleachers in the outfield (above the batter’s eye) that allows spectators to get a view of downtown and the Gateway Arch. The third deck has open air concession stands. I really liked the openness of the stadium. Even the Redbird club was bright and airy feeling.

The concourse behind our seats. Love the openness

After the hubby hemmed and hawed over which seats to buy, we ended up sitting in the 400 level directly behind home plate with no one in front of us. These were definitely great seats. Even though we were up high, it didn’t feel like it and we could see the entire field.

It was probably the best game we saw all year. The Cubs jumped ahead early and stayed ahead. There were two home runs. So I’ve seen a home run in all the parks I visited this summer. There was a replay situation where the Cardinals base runner was thrown out at 2nd base trying to steal. They reviewed and the call stood. From the replay, it looked he was clearly safe but later when we saw it back in the hotel, it clearly looked like he did over slide the bag.

Not sure where the Cubs weren't out there for the National Anthem

Of course the hubby needs a picture of the umpirs

Lester pitching

Great Seats

Home Ru 

Besides the food and drinks prices being ridiculous ($15 for nachos, $8.75 for a bottle of beer), Busch Stadium is great. They really cater to the fan experience. Clark Street between 8th and Broadway is blocked off before the game so they have their version of Yawkey Way. Across the street is Ballpark Village which has additional restaurants, the Fox Sports Studios, the Authentic Store, and the Cardinal Museum plus an outdoor area. We did go into the Authentic Store so the hubby could get a game ball.

This trip really surprised me. I really didn’t think we would get to another game this year and St. Louis at all. I was surprised when the hubby suggested but it turned out to be a nice little trip. We would definitely visit Busch Stadium again.

Stadium Tour 2016: Target Field

After we finished dinner and I finishing up the dishes on Wednesday, the hubby asked if the Brewers were in town on Monday. I checked the schedule, they were home against the Cubs. The hubby wanted to sit in the bleachers and I looked at ticket prices and nearly died… $40 for bleachers. Then it dawned on me, the Brewers were playing the Cubs and they jacked the ticket prices. We could get nose bleed seats in the upper deck for $35. I was willing to pay little more for decent seats but the hubby wasn’t entirely sold on spending $65-$70 a ticket.

Then he asked if the Twins were home. I checked and they were home against the Royals. Ticket prices were much more reasonable -- $20 for home plate view. We found a cheap hotel and I texted my co-worker to make sure she was ok with me taking Tuesday off. She was. Because it was cheaper to see a Twins game in Minneapolis with a hotel than it was to go to the Brewers/Cub game in Milwaukee, we bought tickets and booked the hotel… off to Target Field we were going.

The easiest way to get to Target Field is by taking the Metro since it literally drops you off at the Stadium… no walking involved. We picked up the Train at the Mall of America and rode it the entire way to the Stadium for only $3.50/person for unlimited rides on Monday. If we wanted to walk around the Vikings Stadium or see the Gopher’s Stadium we could and not have to pay additional fare. It was cheaper to ride the train than it is to park near the stadium and there are no traffic headaches.

We picked up our tickets at Will Call, which at Target Field was any ticket window. That made it nice… no traipsing around the stadium looking for 1 window specifically for Will Call. A friendly usher explained how to get to our seats because we were unsure of what gate we needed to go in. A quick jaunt through security, a short elevator ride to the top, and we were up by our seats.

Honestly, I wasn’t impressed with our seats at first. I thought they were too high and the speakers were right by our head not to mention a guy’s head blocking my view of home plate. I had a headache before the game even started. The view was good though. Once the game started, the speakers weren’t as annoying and my headache ceased. The hubby scooted down a seat and I had a better view of home plate without Mr. Bighead in my way.

The game ended up being a blow-out. The Royals won easily. Dozier for Minnesota had 3 home runs and that was almost all of their runs. At first I was concerned when he hit his first one that the Twins were going to win but the Royals put together a couple nice innings and were leading 6-4 going into the 8th when they broke it open. The final was 11-5.

After the 7th inning stretch, we decided to go down to the main level and check out the rest of the stadium especially since the hubby was getting stiff. The view from the lower deck was amazing. We actually stood in along the rail on the first base side and watched the rest of the game. I would get seats down here next time or maybe up one level. We even got our picture taken with their mascot while checking out the plaza area.
Even though the ball park was very family friendly, I didn’t see a designated kids’ or family area like Cincinnati and Milwaukee have. It might have been on the 2nd deck since we didn’t explore that level. I
always like to see what fun things I could do if I wasn’t with the hubby as he isn’t into all the hoopla… he’d rather watch baseball.

In the course of the last month, I’ve seen three Major League Baseball games at three different stadiums. I’ve seen an interleague game, a National League Game, and an American League Game. 3 stadiums, 6 different teams, and 1 from each league plus interleague, I would call that a success. 2 of the stadiums were in my Top 5 Stadiums I want visit (Fenway and Target Field). Now the hubby decides we should plan future trips around what stadiums we can get to. 5 down, 25 more to go. I’m not sure what the future brings but I’m pretty sure there will be more stadiums to visit.