At the beginning, there was no conscious decision to do this.
When my kids were younger, if we went on a vacation that happened to be near a major league ballpark, I’d make a point of getting tickets to see a game there. No big deal, just another thing to do on vacation. “Hey, we’re seeing Mickey and Shamu, let’s drive over to Tampa and see the Rays.” That kind of thing.
Then, around 2009 or so, the year we went to Southern California and saw games at three different parks, I realized that I’d seen nearly half the active ballparks. It was at that point that I decided it would be kind of neat to say I’d seen them all.
Even then, until recently, we never planned a trip just to see a game. They all just sort of organically happened since we were already on vacation and liked baseball. But once I’d realized how many I’d visited, I did start scheduling the vacations around dates the local team would be home. Then, in recent years, as I got close to visiting every ballpark, I started planning trips just to see games.
A couple of years ago, my wife and I did a driving trip through Texas just to see games in Houston and Arlington.
Last year we built a New York trip around dates when we could get to Citi Field. That was my 29th ballpark, the 25th that is still active.
That’s right, this has been going on for so long (my first game was in 1976) that four teams replaced their ballparks after I’d seen them, and I had to make second trips to each. I’m looking at you, Rangers, Cardinals, Twins and Braves.
That fact made me decide at some point that there was going to have to be a cutoff. At the rate teams replace their ballparks, I could have completed my goal/quest several times, only to have it ruined by the whims of some billionaire owner who decided he needed more luxury suites. I didn’t want to find myself in my old age having to go back to Philly or Cincy or someplace I have no other reason to visit. I decided that I was going to see all thirty active parks, and then stop, even if some were later replaced.
And now we’ve arrived at the year when I’m finally going to finish. And it’s a good thing, because the A’s are about to throw a curveball into my plans with their preposterous temporary move to Sacramento and then, maybe, to Vegas.
As you’re reading this*, I winging my way back from Arizona, where my wife and I spent some time around Sedona and then drove to Phoenix and saw a game at Chase Field. Tomorrow I’ll write up my review of that experience.
(*Note: Just to give you a glimpse behind the curtain, I’m actually writing this on Wednesday and scheduling it to publish on Monday. Substack is a time machine.)
Later this year, we’re seeing the final four ballparks in one giant roadtrip extravaganza. Four ballparks in four nights, starting in Pittsburgh, then Cleveland, then Detroit, and then, finally, Wrigley Field in Chicago. I’ve had chances to go to Wrigley several times, but avoided them because my first ballpark was Fenway and I wanted Wrigley to be the last. They seemed like the right bookends for this little adventure.
I’ve written up my reviews of several parks, which you can find here:
I’ll be adding more in the future. In part they will just be straight reviews of each venue, but I’ll probably be adding some personal notes as well. In a way, these ballpark visits have served as markers for different points in my life. This started when I was just a kid, ran through the years when I had my own kids, and now is concluding when my kids are all grown and having kids of their own.
Along the way I’ve been to ballparks with my late aunt, my late father, and a late friend. I met the late Buck O’Neil at a game, and had a ball given to my daughter by the late Tim Wakefield at another game.
I went to a game with my newborn niece who is soon graduating from high school, with a brother who lives 1,500 miles away in one direction, and with another brother on the opposite side of the country.
I’ve worn a Red Sox cap to Yankee Stadium, eaten a Dodger Dog, and walked through a monsoon to get my car in Tampa.
I got to stand on the spot where Henry Aaron’s 715th home run landed. I got to stroll by McCovey Cove. I’ve seen games where my view from the upper deck was the Rocky Mountains or the Space Needle.
I watched a Sausage Race in Milwaukee, and a Presidents Race in DC.
I’ve seen statues to Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Ken Griffey, Jr., George Brett, Ted Williams, Nolan Ryan, and Tom Seaver. There were Henry Aaron statues in two places.
Friends and family members ask me how many parks I still have to go when I see them. They’ve started giving me gifts related to the Big Ballpark Tour, like a chart of each ballpark that you scratch off like a lotto ticket once you’ve visited. It’s old enough that many of the ballpark names are now outdated.
My wife gave me a keychain made from the leather of an old baseball glove, with a little medallion for each park to be added once I visit.
So before my family invests any more money in this effort, and before the A’s add another stop or two to my tour, it’s time to get this wrapped up.
After 48 years, it’s time.
I haven’t come close to getting to every major league park but we do something similar on vacations and go to a game if there is one scheduled while we are nearby. My list includes Tiger Stadium ( my first back in the 60’s) Fenway, Wrigley (a weekday day game in the 70’s) both Yankee stadiums, the Skydome, Petco, and added Progressive field to the list for the home opener this year. Watched the eclipse from the right field drink rail (we had the ballpark pass sro tickets) and watched about 4 innings before the drunks and the exhaustion - got up @ 430 to drive to Cleveland - and the sore feet combined to send us back to the hotel. Almost forgot the White Sox park, went when it was pretty new, certainly the worst of the bunch.
I’m almost halfway, and the memories are so great. Some of the games have been remarkable, and some have been forgettable, but either way the memories add up. Fenway and Wrigley do live up to the hype.