Husband and Wife Baseball Road Trip 2012

My wife and I just returned from our 2012 baseball road trip in time to go back to work. This time I can honestly say that we enjoyed Wrigley Field the best. Of the parks we visited for the first time (Atlanta, Houston, Texas, Denver and Kansas City) we agreed that we enjoyed Kaufman Stadium the most.
We saw a Friday afternoon game at Wrigley on a picture perfect day. We made sure to get to the Cubby Bear early as recommended by ballpark chasers and made a stop at Murphy's Bleachers as well. A Cubs win over the Rockies made it that much better as I think one of the great newer traditions in baseball is the singing of Go Cubs Go after a win.
Kaufman Stadium, although not having really anything outside the ballpark still had a good crowd despite the Royals being out of the race. It really is a nice looking ballpark as you would never be able to tell that your in a park built in the 70's. The fountains and big screen look great along with the picturesque midwest sky.
Coors and Minute Maid kind of dissapointing mostly because of the small crowds due to the performance of the teams.
Anyway, we have 17 ballparks visited together including the entire AL and NL Central. Next summer the plan is to hit some east coast parks we haven't gotten to yet and we'll start saving for a wet coast trip down the road.

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Comment by Kurt Smith on September 2, 2012 at 11:21am: Good luck with the E-Guide Bill! By all means let me know of any inaccuracies you find, too. I think it's pretty close to being right on, but this stuff changes a lot!

Jvolks, you're exactly right about Wrigleyville, people are there for a great time and if the Cubs win it's a big bonus. The whole area comes alive on game day. Chicago vs. New York as a baseball town? That's an idea for a blog post...

With regards to Camden, if you're coming from NY, would you consider a Megabus or Boltbus? It's a long way to ride a bus, but they're extremely cheap, and if you plan well enough ahead, which you should be able to do, you might even score one of those $1 fares. I don't know about Boltbus but Megabus stops at the White Marsh Mall, and you can take a bus to Camden Yards from there.

I agree it's tough to avoid the tolls, and I'm coming from South Jersey. There are a couple of ways to avoid them, but usually I just grit my teeth and pay it.

Tickets to see the Orioles are still very cheap; that may change if they go far in the playoffs this year but it's a great value right now. You can get a free ticket for your birthday, and it's actually a decent seat. Upper level at Camden is better than most ballparks, much closer to the action.

If I drive, which I do most times, I usually park in a public garage on Eutaw Street north of the ballpark, which generally goes for $10. The approach to the ballpark from there is fantastic. There are outside vendors everywhere, and you can bring in your own food, but the cheaper ones are on the east side of the warehouse. There's a church there that has sustained itself for years selling peanuts to ballgame goers. But if you head over to Pickles and Sliders on the west side of the ballpark, they have good pre-game beer specials too. Natty Boh!

Inside the park they now have a Gino's, which is a popular institution for burgers in the area. Boog's BBQ is famous, but I've never tried it (!), so I can't speak to how good it is. They have Polock Johnny's red hots which are very good; get one with the "Works" sauce.

Hope that's not too much...be glad to help with anything more you need.

Comment by Bill Pritchard (29) on September 2, 2012 at 10:17am: I can't speak for the Camden E-Guide, but getting to Baltimore from NY/NJ can be expensive. If you are near the city or coming through NJ into Delaware, it costs from $15-20 in tolls one way. If you can plan it correctly, you can take Route 1 through Delaware and avoid all of the toll stops on 95. There are several traffic lights along the way, but they usually stay green and have no traffic after dark. If you are coming from Western/Central New York and you are close, take 81 and 83 all the way down. Baltimore is a great city but I hate when I have to drive there during the day and get my EZ Pass bill at the end of the month.

Comment by jvolks (19) on September 2, 2012 at 10:05am: Thanks Kurt. We live in NY but actually have never been to Camden Yards or down to Florida. Any hints you have on Camden would really be appreciated.
I think that Wrigley may be a dump for the players. We did a tour the first time we were there (best ballpark tour I've been on) and saw the small size of the clubhouses. The bullpens down the line are probably uncomfortable too. But, the game is not for them its for the fans, and nothing beats a day game at Wrigley in the summer. I completely agree with your response to Gammons' quote on your website. I think what makes Wrigley is the fans, history and surrounding neighborhood.
Chicago is a unique and terrific baseball town (maybe even more so than my hometown of New York). When you ride the red line to Addisson and get a glimpse of Wrigleyville as you approach the station, you know your going to be in for a good time no matter what place the Cubs are in.

Comment by Bill Pritchard (29) on September 2, 2012 at 9:55am: I like Wrigley and thought it was updated just enough, it made me appreciate what the game used to be. In some ways, I actually liked it more than Fenway. The only thing I didn't like is I couldn't see the current score at the end of the scoreboard where it usually is, but other than I really enjoyed the atmosphere. Kurt - I'm using the Detroit E-guide today. I knew about the $5 parking already, but I'll let you know how the rest goes!

Comment by Kurt Smith on September 2, 2012 at 7:21am: Wrigley is starting to take some abuse from fans...Peter Gammons called it a "dump" (and I addressed that on my website), but it's still a fantastic place to see a ballgame, and still better than many of the new ballparks out there. It's just classic baseball, all of the things that baseball has been about for a century. You realize when you go to Wrigley that baseball doesn't need Jumbotrons or clambakes...just a lot of people rooting for the home team and hot dogs!

I loved Kauffman but haven't been there since 2003...I would love to see the new remodeled version of it. It's a great ballpark.

By all means let me know when you're headed to the east coast, I can definitely help you save time and money! :-)