Ultimate Baseball Road Trip (144 page)

Ballparks:
Seven

Marlins Park, Miami, Florida
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Turner Field, Atlanta, Georgia
Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Rangers Ballpark, Arlington, Texas
Minute Maid Field, Houston, Texas

Museums:
Seven

Ted Williams Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida
Braves Museum and Hall of Fame, Atlanta, Georgia
Ty Cobb Museum, Royston, Georgia
Negro Leagues Museum, Kansas City, Missouri
American Jazz Museum, Kansas City, Missouri
Royals Hall of Fame, Kansas City, Missouri
Rangers Museum, Arlington, Texas

The Deep South houses a sampling of post-1960s baseball stadiums. From a retractable roof stadium to ballparks in the retro-classic style, the South truly has it all. Aside from offering baseball wanderers a diverse array of yards, Dixie also provides an assortment of opportunities for fans to brush up on their hardball knowledge through visits to baseball museums. So whether or not you’ve already made your first pilgrimage to the granddaddy of all baseball history halls in Cooperstown, build a few extra days into your tour of the South. This is a great April trip for fans like Josh and Kevin who live in cold-weather climates.

In the months leading up to your trip, put Ken Burns’ epic documentary
Baseball
(1994) in your Netflix queue. We know, you’ve probably seen it before, or at least parts of it. But even so, watching this nine-plus–volume diary of the game’s past—from start to finish—is a great way to spend a chilly week in February or rainy week in March as you await the season. We also recommend that you read
The Glory of Their Times
by Lawrence Ritter, who interviewed more than two dozen Dead Ball Era stars prior to their passing to preserve their amazing memories of the game in its infancy.

There is plenty of baseball history in South Florida—much of it related to the Grapefruit League spring circuit. And now there’s a new ballpark for the Marlins, their fans, and road trippers like you to enjoy.

Game time:
The Marlins don’t have a multitude of baseball memories to celebrate, but they do have two World Series titles and counting to their credit. And that’s a lot more than Kevin’s Mariners have.

As far as domes go, Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field is one of the more aesthetically interesting ones. But it’s still a dome.

Afternoon:
Head to the scenic St. Petersburg waterfront and check out venerable Al Lang Field, former spring home of the New York Yankees and Rays, among other teams. Then follow the historical markers of Baseball Boulevard along the one-mile walkway that leads to the Trop.

Game time:
Pining for that old-time ballpark atmosphere? A well-done mural that covers much of the first and second levels of the concourses behind the stands will remind you of all you’re missing at Tropicana Field. Take a long look, and then say a prayer that no batted balls will strike the catwalks while you’re in town.

When the game hits a lull, head out to the centerfield concourse where the Ted Williams Museum treats fans to items related to Ted’s childhood, military days, fishing exploits, and prolific baseball career. What? You thought the Splendid Splinter was a Red Sox icon? Well, we did too. But Williams retired to Florida after his career and loved fishing in the Keys almost as much as he loved slashing line drives. In his final years, he ran the Museum in Hernando, Florida up north. Then, when he passed, the Rays were generous enough to free up some concourse space for it.

A beautiful ballpark of the classical ilk, Turner Field provides a great outdoor venue for hardball, especially in April and May before the famously oppressive Hotlanta weather becomes too unbearable.

Braves Museum and Hall of Fame: Arrive at Turner at least an hour early so you’ll have time to visit the Braves Museum and Hall of Fame, which is accessible from outside the park as well as from within. Check out the old dugout benches and bat racks from Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and the old railroad car like the kind the players used to ride.

Game time:
On your way into the game walk through the Green Parking Lot where a large portion of the otherwise demolished County Stadium outfield fence still stands intact in tribute to Hank Aaron. This is where history happened: number 715. The ball cleared the wall and a new home run champion was crowned.

Before heading to the Gateway City, make a detour to the Ty Cobb Museum, located in Royston, northeast of Atlanta. Despite his reputation for being a real creep, Cobb was actually very generous to the people of his hometown. He funded construction of a hospital in his later years. Appropriately then, this small museum that pays tribute to his life is located inside the Joe A. Adams Professional Building of the
Ty Cobb Healthcare System. The Ty Cobb Museum (461 Cook St., Royston) houses everything from Cobb’s Shriners fez to his false teeth, as well as a fair share of baseball mementos.

Just a mile away on Highway 17, Rose Hill Cemetery is home to Cobb’s mausoleum, so be sure to pay your respects on the way out of town.

St. Louis is a great baseball town, and the Cardinals franchise is steeped in history. But the Cardinals closed their Museum in 2008. A new Ballpark Village is scheduled to open in 2013, in the street surrounding new Busch Stadium, including the relocated Museum. So stay tuned!

Out of the unconscionable exclusion of African Americans from the American and National Leagues grew a thriving culture of baseball in the Negro Leagues. Although these leagues were separate from the white Major Leagues, they made many contributions to the evolution of the game. The first night game, for example, was a Negro Leagues affair.

Today, in order that the Negro Leagues won’t ever be forgotten, the Negro Leagues Museum (1616 E. 18th St., Kansas City, Missouri) offers a half-day worth of exhibits for fans to review. The highlight is a mock field in the center of the museum where stars like Josh Gibson, Rube Foster, Satchel Paige, and Buck O’Neil appear in the person of bronze statues, placed at their familiar positions on the field.

The American Jazz Museum is located in the same building as the Negro Leagues one. Celebrating Louie Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Kansas City’s own Charlie Parker, and others, it offers a wonderfully interactive tour that allows visitors to experience the music of Americana. Clearly, during a defining moment in American history this once vibrant community at 18th and Vine Street lived for jazz and baseball.

Game time:
Inside Kauffman Stadium the Royals maintain a team Hall of Fame on the left-field concourse. The exhibits celebrate legendary Royals like George Brett and Frank White and the 1985 World Series trophy is on display.

While the Texas Rangers may not have a World Series trophy of their own to display yet, they do have one beauty of a ballpark. For a while they also had the largest, most impressive collection of baseball memorabilia south of Cooperstown. But the three-floor Legends of the Game Museum has been reduced to its current state as a small Rangers Museum only.

Game time:
The lone player statue inside the ballpark is of Nolan Ryan, who won just fifty-one games while a member of the Rangers. But look at it this way: Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton are out on the field making history in the present. Someday there may well be statues of the pair near the one of the grizzled Texas flamethrower and you’ll be able to say you saw them in their prime.

Last stop, Houston. Road-weary and bloated with hot dogs and baseball history, you deserve a day to relax. And you can, because there’s no hardball museum to visit in Houston. Take a drive to the old Astrodome before the game and then treat yourself to some delicious Mexican food.

Game time:
On the way into Minute Maid Park, stop by the plaza on the Crawford Street side of the field and say hello to the larger-than-life statues of former Astros Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio. The two play mock-catch on a miniature infield. Inside the park, take a stroll along Home Run Alley, which runs behind the stands in left. Here, bats and gloves of former Astros are on display.

Sit back and enjoy the game. Your trip is nearing its end. Hopefully you’ll return home refreshed and ready to test your friends’ and coworkers’ baseball knowledge with trivia you gathered while touring the ballparks and museums of the South.

Days:
Ten

Cities:
Seven

Ballparks:
Nineteen (Eight current MLB parks)

PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Forbes Field site, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, Ohio
Crosley Field replica, Blue Ash, Ohio
Riverfront Stadium replica, Blue Ash, Ohio
Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
League Park site, Cleveland, Ohio
Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago, Illinois
Comiskey Park site, Chicago, Illinois
Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
Tiger Stadium site, Detroit, Michigan
Miller Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Helfaer Field, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Field of Dreams, Dyersville, Iowa
Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Metropolitan Stadium site, Bloomington, Minnesota
Midway Stadium, St. Paul, Minnesota

Aside from offering an assortment of top-notch baseball diamonds currently in use by MLB teams, the cities of the Midwest also house more than their share of old-time ballpark relics, novelty parks, and minor league parks. So build an extra day or two into your tour to accommodate some of the pit stops just off the beaten track in the Heartland.

Even though you’ve seen it before and have probably soured on all things Costner ever since that legendary
Waterworld
flop, you should rent
Field of Dreams,
pop some corn, and turn down the lights. Pay attention to the field, farmhouse, ghost players, and even the background actors or “extras.” We’ll explain why later. If time allows, you might also want to read the book upon which the movie was based: W. P. Kinsella’s
Shoeless Joe
is a quick read that contains a few twists that aren’t in the movie. We think you’ll like it.

Next, rent
61*
and
Major League,
paying special attention to the ballparks in which the two movies were filmed. See if you can guess which parks they used (hint:
61*
was not filmed at Yankee Stadium and
Major League
was not filmed at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium).

Finally, warm up your shoulder with a few hours of long toss in the days before your trip, and be sure to pack your mitt and a ball.

After enjoying the old-time flavor of Forbes Field for more than sixty years (1909–1970), the Pirates and their fans suddenly found themselves in Three Rivers Stadium, a monolithic cookie-cutter, where they would remain for three decades. For a while the team maintained its winning ways in the new stadium, but eventually the Pirates sprang a leak and fans started jumping ship. Today, old-time hardball has returned to the ’Burgh in the form of a beautiful ballpark that provides striking views of the game and downtown skyline.

Afternoon:
Visit the remnants of Forbes Field on the University of Pittsburgh campus. You’ll find the brick outfield wall, covered in ivy, the flagpole that once stood in play, and even the original home plate, which resides under glass in the lobby of a nearby academic building.

Game time:
On your way to the game, linger for a moment as you walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and reflect upon how far Pittsburgh has come since its Three Rivers days. Be sure to get a ticket behind the plate or on the third-base side, to allow for a view of the sun setting on the river and city beyond the outfield fence.

Another day, another scenic retro park located on the banks of a river. What a life! As was the case in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati once housed a regal old-time yard—Crosley Field—before building a cookie-cutter—Riverfront Stadium—and then finally building a retro park—Great American Ballpark. Notice a theme starting to develop on this trip? By the end of the day you should. You’ll be sampling the three predominant ballpark types of the last century: classical era, cookie-cutter/dome era, and retro era.

Afternoon:
While it’s not possible to actually visit the recently imploded Riverfront Stadium, home to the Reds from 1971 to 2002, or the long-gone Crosley Field (1912–1970), there is hope yet for ballpark wanderers. On the ride from the ’Burgh to Cincy, make a pit stop in Blue Ash, Ohio, where you’ll find adjacent replica ball fields that the Reds use for old-timers’ games. One field mirrors the exact field dimensions of Riverfront Stadium, and the other, the dimensions of Crosley Field. A replica of the Crosley scoreboard stands in the new Crosley outfield, and there’s even an outfield embankment like the one in the original park. Check out the multitude of plaques lining the dugouts that honor Reds greats, and then bust out your glove and take to the field of your choice for a game of catch.

Game time:
Before heading through the gates, visit Crosley Terrace outside, where statues honor such Crosley Era stars as Frank Robinson, Ted Kluszewski, Ernie Lombardi and Joe Nuxhall engaged in simulated game-action. Afterwards, follow the same protocol as in Pittsburgh. Settle into a seat between the bases at Great American and enjoy a view of the river.