Damkier's Travels: 30 MLB Ballparks

Special T-Shirt at Fenway Park

I have been blessed with the time and resources needed to attain a special goal. Over the years, I have visited several Major League Baseball parks through normal vacations and work trips. Recently, the prevalence of interleave play has made it much easier to see my San Francisco Giants play across the United States. The appeal of visiting all 30 ballparks also helped justify some great visits to many of the major cities across the country as well. With my last trip to the East Coast, I have visited all 30 of the teams in the MLB.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

My first stop was Baltimore. The city is often overlooked for the larger Washington, DC area, but Baltimore is still a popular day trip from the DMV with high speed rail and a popular Inner Harbor tourism area close to the ballpark. Oriole Park at Camden Yards is the oldest modern classic ballpark in the MLB, meaning it was the first new park to adopt the features of a classic American field with uneven fields, lots of exposed brick and steel, and fitting into a downtown area. This place still rocks with a great fan base, excellent selection of food and drink, and a beautiful look and feel. This is truly one of the best places in modern baseball.

Nationals Park

Unfortunately, I was unable to see the Giants play in the Baltimore-Washington area. They play both teams this year, but the schedules did not work out. Fortunately, I was able to find a week in which both the Orioles and Nationals had home games and squeezed in a game at Nationals Park Friday night before heading out of town. Nationals Park is very new and modern with good sight lines, great concessions including Shake Shack, and even a Presidential Big Head race! Unfortunately, the overall experience is hampered by a mediocre fan base and lack of a real feel. It was also very hot and humid for the game which made drinking water much more important than a $10 beer.

Fenway Park Panorama

Fenway Park is home to the Boston Red Sox and is one of the oldest and most famous ballparks in baseball. It was also the 30th ballpark I visited and the last home team. I purposely scheduled my trip to see the Giants play the Red Sox and was glad it worked out. The place feels like history, although they have upgraded the overall experience over time. Boston had cooled off dramatically the day I arrived, so the game was cool and dry even though the Giants lost the game. The fans are pretty rude and the food and drink are fairly average, so the history is what keeps this place packed. On a more weird note, this is the only ballpark I have attended where there are separate lines for food and alcohol. Usually you can purchase both at the same time, but Fenway requires you to stand in two lines for a Fenway Frank and Sam Adams. Weird.

Baseball Hall of Fame

One of the more challenging parts of my trip was traveling to Cooperstown, NY to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Nestled in a little village in upstate New York is one of the best museums I have visited with an extensive collection of baseball history including all the best players. The museum dominates an otherwise lovely town with a classic baseball field in the parking lot. It took me all day to drive from Washington to Cooperstown through miles of construction on the Interstate and many miles through the rural countryside. You may think the East Coast is pretty crowded and urban, but there are wide expanses of rural landscape dotted with gems like Cooperstown. Unfortunately, the locals only wanted to discuss football!

Yankee Stadium

I visited Yankee Stadium in 2008 before it was replaced with Yankee Stadium. The old stadium was being replaced, and I wanted to see it before it closed. Since I had never visited the new Yankee Stadium and the Giants were scheduled to visit here after losing in Boston, this was a perfect opportunity to see my 31st ballpark and cheer on my team. It was hot and miserable for most of the game sitting in the direct sun. Even with trips to the interesting, and air conditioned, Yankee Museum and drinking gallons of water and lemonade, the heat made watching my Giants lose in bad fashion much worse. The stadium is big and modern with lots of throwbacks to the original, but the fans and overall feel was just too sterile and pretentious. This combined with near heat exhaustion and a possible cold setting in cut my visit short, but I was still able to stand for the 7th inning stretch and catch the subway before the Yankee fans invaded.

Citi Field

Citi Field is what a MLB ballpark should be. When I visited New York in 2008, I went to games at both Yankee and Shea Stadium since both were closing and due for replacement. On my New York trip, it was only fitting to see the new Citi Field. This place is very nice. The stadium is big and modern with some of the best food in baseball. The fans and the overall fan experience are excellent with everyone having a great time. There is easy access to the subway and rail, and the ballpark is right next to Flushing Meadows and the former World's Fair area for a nice pre-game stroll. Other than the constant stream of jets taking off from LaGuardia in the outfield, this is one of the better places to see a game in the United States.

Coors Field

I was not expecting to see another ballpark after Citi Field, but my flight back to Sacramento was delayed in Denver for several hours. There is now an express train running from the Denver Airport direct to downtown making a quick trip much easier. I visited Coors Field back in 2007 with some college friends living in the area and had a great time. Since the Rockies are in the same division as the Giants, I have seen the ballpark many times over the years and can appreciate the park - especially the small forest park in the outfield! Alas, all the tours were sold out so I had to walk around the exterior, but being stuck in Denver gave me an option to see one more before heading home. Please enjoy the rest of my pictures below.