In my quest to attend a baseball game at every Major League ballpark, I was able to check another park off the list today. I went to O.co Coliseum (it’s been called so many different names through the years) to take in some afternoon baseball between the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Dodgers (some would say it was Dodger Stadium North with all the Dodger fans in attendance today). To say the least, O.co was a very interesting stadium…especially when you could still see the yard lines from last Friday night’s Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams football game…and the fact that almost the entire third deck is covered with tarp. There was nothing special at the ballpark in terms of food or beer either (except high priced premium beers), but overall it was a pretty decent experience (and an easy BART to the game). The ballpark has a very intimate feel as it only seats around 35,000 for baseball games (56,000 for football). There really wasn’t a bad seat in the house and I was able to sit in a lot of different areas without any hassling from the ushers (that will happen when your team has the worst record in the AL…even the ushers have given up). So as of today, I have been to the following Major League ballparks (only 20 to go¡):
National League: Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers), Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs), Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati Reds), Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals), Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks), Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers), AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants), and National Park (Washington Nationals).
American League: Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles) and O.co Coliseum (Oakland Athletics).
I’m not sure what my fascination is with Major League ballparks (or any athletic facility to be honest), but I just love checking out and experiencing games in different cities. From the looks of my list, I guess I have a little catching up to do in regards to American League ballparks, but that could make for a great road trip sometime in the near future.
Note: I also attended games in two former ballparks (Milwaukee County Stadium and Busch Memorial Stadium) before they were replaced.