Ballpark Tour of Duty

The Big A

mlblogstourofduty1 — Fri, 27 May 2005 21:19:09 +0000

Anahiem has a beautiful ballpark and the waterfall in center makes you feel like you are in Southern California. Anahiem was the first ballpark to shoot fireworks during the National Anthem which was nice touch. It made the song have more power. The waterfall shoots water after home runs which was a nice touch also. Sitting about 15 rows back of the third base dugout ( thanks to the generosity of the Angels media department ) we saw a pitchers duel. Bartalo Colon took the mound for the Angels and Mark Burhele was on the hill for the Sox’s. They both pitched great but Burhele pitched nine strong innings and the Sox’s won in eleven innings.

Now the fun stuff. Dodger dogs are everything they are built up to be but they lost a close battle to the dogs at Petco field in San Diego.

Sean’s hot dog rankings: 1) Petco Park (SD) 2) Dodger Stadium (LA) 3) Wrigley Field (CHI) 4) Camden Yards (BAL) 5) Anahiem Stadium (LAA) 6) Yankee Stadium (NYY) 7) U.S. Cellular Field (CWS) 8) Shea Stadium (NYM) 9) RFK Stadium (NAT) 10) Jacobs Field (CLE) 11) Busch Stadium (STL) 12) Fenway Park (BOS) 13) The Great American Ballpark (CIN)

our seats at petco

mlblogstourofduty1 — Fri, 27 May 2005 20:52:03 +0000

Jackson on the kids ballyard in cf at Petco

mlblogstourofduty1 — Fri, 27 May 2005 20:52:00 +0000

The view from centerfield at Petco

mlblogstourofduty1 — Fri, 27 May 2005 20:51:58 +0000

Kevin, Smiley, Jack and Sean at the Padrees game

mlblogstourofduty1 — Fri, 27 May 2005 20:51:55 +0000

We love LA

mlblogstourofduty1 — Fri, 27 May 2005 20:45:44 +0000

Well, It’s been a while but on Sunday we had a great time at Dodger Stadium. It was a early afternoon game and we talked to Ben Platt of mlb.com and he hooked us up with press passes and got us on the field for b.p. After we watched a few players take some hacks Ben took us up to the press box where we got to meet Dodgers radio announcer Rick Monday and then we had the chance of a lifetime. We met Tommy Lasorda and Vin Scully. After all that we went to Ben’s office and he showed us how he conducts business and then took in a great game. The Dodgers won and we got to see Rickie Ledee hit a home run and we saw Gange come in and pitch a 1, 2, 3, inning. What a beautiful ballpark. I would have to say that Dodger stadium is one of the very best parks we saw on the trip. As far as experience; We will never forget it. Thank you Ben for hooking us up.

With the legends

mlblogstourofduty1 — Sun, 22 May 2005 21:15:47 +0000

Talk about posing with Dodger legends. That’s Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully second from the left and our fellow MLBlogger and Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda on the right.

With Jason Repko

mlblogstourofduty1 — Sun, 22 May 2005 21:15:45 +0000

Last week he was going 3-for-6 with three runs against the Marlins. Here, the Dodgers’ outfielder was hanging with a couple of guys just on a Ballpark Tour of Duty.

Next to the cage

mlblogstourofduty1 — Sun, 22 May 2005 21:14:18 +0000

Here we are behind the batting cage before the Angels and Dodgers took BP in their Interleague game.

Padres game

mlblogstourofduty1 — Thu, 19 May 2005 21:06:37 +0000

Well we went to the Padres game on Tuesday night and have been just taking in the sun in the meantime. Let me tell you that Petco Park where the Padres play is the best ballpark Sean and I have been to. They thought of everything when the people in San Diego built this park. We entered near center field in the rear of the stadium. Immediately to the right is a beautifully kept grass hill for anybody to pay $6.00 to sit and watch the game. Also, there is a big screen out there just in case those fans want to see the replay. Also, in that section there is a play field for kids where the Padres have a couple of people tossing wiffle balls to the little ones. TVs are all over the stadium most of which are plasma in high definition TVs. The food is great there. There are plenty of big screens so no one gets left out of seeing that. The field also has an old building that was built into the ballpark and believe it or not into the field of play. The left filed foul pole is the edge of that old building. In addition to all this they have a sand pit which Padres fans call "the beach" right behind the fence in center field. No doubt these guys thought of everything.

The game was amazing, We got a chance to see Smoltz pitch. He took a 1 run lead into the 9th and then the Padres loaded the bases and Khalil Green got the game winning RBI single. The fans went nuts — all of about 30,000 of them.

Sean’s hot dog rankings . . . are to follow. Still trying to decide if Petco will take 1st place.