a beautiful night for baseball at chavez ravine in los angeles

all of this post-season baseball has me excited for, well, the best sport in america.  i haven’t always been a fan, though.  during a wildly fun trip to new york in the summer of 2004, my best friend dragged me to a new york yankees baseball game.  i was very skeptical of this outing (why do we need to go to the bronx again?) and frantically looked up safety issues for the surrounding burroughs.

my first ever major league game at yankee stadium with kim!

once in the park, though, i fell in love.  the fans, the music, the hot dogs and beer, the players – i loved it all!  and it was so decidedly new york.  it was big and it was passionate and it was that crazy high of community you get at any great sporting event.  and it didn’t hurt that a-rod hit a walk-off home run to win the game (fact: i did not know who a-rod was at said game, but rather fell in love with hideki matsui).  riding back on the subway to manhattan (crammed full of fans, by the way – no safety issues there!), a long-time yankees fan struck up a conversation and, after hearing this was my first game, said, ‘after a game like that, you’re a fan for life.’  and so i am.

enjoying the game from the bleachers at the rangers ballpark in arlington

fast forward 9 years, and i’m now married to an avid baseball fan, which means we spend a fair amount of our summers watching baseball.  naturally, any trip to a major city involves catching a game or at least a stadium tour.  i’m looking for a map to track the stadiums visited (anyone have any ideas?  i’m all ears!), but in the meantime, please enjoy some photos and, of course, some lists.

the view of downtown pittsburgh from pnc park – stunning!

• favorite stadium overall: old yankees stadium (of course, it’s where the magic happened)
• favorite view from the stands: tied between pnc park, where the pittsburgh pirates play, and petco park, where the san diego padres play.  one is on the water with the city in the background, and the other is in the middle of downtown san diego.  stunning.
• favorite hot dog: the world famous dodger dog in dodger stadium in echo park, los angeles
• favorite beer: the many microbrews offered at safeco field, where the seattle mariners play
• favorite stands: the crammed and awkward stands at fenway park in boston (especially the green monster!)
• favorite fans: the bleacher creatures :)

the view of downtown san diego from petco park

what are your favorite sports related sites to visit?