He Knew He Was Right

A snapshot of the current AAA venues where I've seen a game. The funny thing about AAA ballparks is I can't think of a single one I didn't really like. Well, at least not after a renovation gave me a second chance to form a first impression. Nor until attendance at unseasonably cold or damp April and May games in some of the northeast stadiums was remedied with second and third games at them in the summer months, rectifying any lukewarm perceptions I may have previously had. Yes, it may have taken a couple of ballgames at them, but each AAA ballpark left me with a very favorable impression. Unlike MLB ballparks, where my journey to see them all started 20 years earlier, my AAA chase is a more recent undertaking. With 5/6 of the AAA ballparks now under my belt, I thought I'd take a look back at the journey so far. Not long after moving up to the Hudson Valley in the mid 2000s, my MiLB ballpark chasing got underway, much like a ballplayer's journey might progress, fro...

From August 4, 2013 through the start of this MLB season, it felt good knowing that I had seen all 30 teams play in their current home ballpark. I've watched the home team play in a total of 43 ballparks, in fact. The Braves opening their new stadium this year of course knocked me out of that all-30 club. Surprisingly to me, though, I didn't feel an overwhelming urge to visit the new ballpark as soon as the season got underway. I was perfectly content to wait until the NFL schedule release later in April to see if I might in one weekend couple a visit to SunTrust park with one to Mercedez-Benz stadium to catch the Falcons in their new digs. A few weeks later, the scheduling gods did set up the alignment I sought, but I balked when realizing the football half of the setup was a Sunday night game in their new stadium's debut. While that'd be nice to see, chances are it's going to be more expensive than I'd like. So, I still haven't made plans to see the B...

And here I am in Raymond James Stadium! Finally--two weekends deep in November and I'm seeing my first football game of the year. It's almost embarrassing. But, I don't create the schedule and this game was picked for good reason. You see, Big Blue is in town, along with a bunch of my closest Big Blue buddies. Just like last year in Jacksonville, we circled this date on the calendar when the schedule came out. My day started with yet another stupid early flight, and once again I somehow woke up 2 minutes before my 4:00 am alarm, initially panicking since I thought I might have missed it. Though it was a nice crisp early morning with temps in the 30s, there was no snow in the yard like last year . The night sky created the beauty this time, with a sinking crescent moon being chased to the horizon by a bright Venus and Jupiter, coupled with some clearly visible Leonid meteor shower bursts that were actually a bit alarming in my pre-caffeinated drive down 684. ...