The Great American Ballpark Ranking

Since THC completed visiting all 30 major league parks, he thought it only proper to present his completely objective ranking of the sun-dappled (except for domed stadiums and night games) fields of play.  Our methodology was to arrive at least an hour before the game (we couldn't do this in all cases), walk the entire stadium, sample the food, and then stay until the last out.  Below are my top three parks, along with the rest divided among three tiers.  You may notice that there are not an equal number of teams in each tier.  I don't care.  This is my post.

Bottom line, any park is a good place to watch a baseball game.

Extra bonus feature - learn which park is best suited for you to survive a zombie apocalpyse!

Top Three

Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox, 1912) - Hey, I'm a Red Sox fan, what'd you expect?

AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants, 2000) - Views of surrounding area, sight lines to field, and food all top notch.

PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates, 2001) - Views of the bridge and city.  Good seating and food.

Top Tier

Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs, 1914) - Some advice; don't go to a June game on a sunny day if there's a brisk wind blowing in from the lake, or at least sit in the bleachers where you are protected.

Petco Park (San Diego Padres, 2004) - Tied for best food with AT&T.  Also like that factory facade built into the stadium.

Safeco Field (Seattle Mariners, 1999)

Kaufman Stadium (KC Royals, 1973)) - An older stadium with a nice feel to it.  Very comfortable and open.

Coors Field (Colorado Rockies, 1995) - I may have been unduly influenced by the magnificent fireworks display at the end of the game.

Busch Stadium (St Louis Cardinals, 2006) - Great atmosphere, great fans and food.  And that's even with us ending up in last row of third deck in left field.

Middle Tier

Marlins Park (Miami Marlins, 2012) - A lot of folks don't like this one but I did except for the stupid statute in center field which they should blow up.  Instead, they blew up the team.

Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers, 2000) - Much better than anticipated.

Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers, 1962) - Great location, memorable history, but the park itself is looking old and tired.

Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles, 1992) - The state of the art stadium when it opened, it's now been surpassed by the competition.

Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks, 1998) - I've developed a soft spot for the park of my new hometown team.  Decent in every category, plus you can buy a Paradise Valley Burger there.  On the other hand, team management wants out of the stadium because of dispute with city over deferred maintenance.

Globe Life Park (Texas Rangers, 1994) - Interesting park to walk around with good vantage points.  My advice: don't get seats on third base line for afternoon or early evening games in the summer.  I left some skin.

Target Field (Minnesota Twins, 2010) - Fun place, right near downtown.

Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati Reds, 2003) - Like the river setting.  Good BBQ in left field corner.  So, do you think Joey Votto takes too many pitches?

Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers, 2001) - Fun place to watch a ballgame.  Also the ballpark best suited for you to survive a zombie apocalypse.

Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia Phillie, 2004) - Like the promenade and food area around the outfield.

Citi Field (New York Mets, 2009) - If you go try to tie in a visit to the Louis Armstrong House Museum in nearby Corona, Queens.

Nationals Park (Washington Nationals, 2008)

Bottom Tier

SunTrust Park (Atlanta Braves, 2017) - We saw it last year when it opened. It left me cold.

Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees, 2009)) - Yes, I hate the Yankees but hear me out.  I've been to both the original Yankee Stadium and its 1970s replacement and thought highly of both of them.  The new stadium, which I've been to several times, is a nothingburger, and a number of my Yankee friends agree.

Rodgers Centre (Toronto Blue Jays, 1989) - Nothing special in any way.  Needs renovation.  My view is admittedly colored by our seats behind the right field light stands.  Devoted fans however.  48,000 showed up for a mid-week game with the Tigers with neither team in contention.

Progressive Field (Cleveland Indians, 1994) - Impressed on my first visits to the stadium, but it had aged badly by my last in 2012.  The field was renovated in 2014 and 2015 so maybe some of the old glory has been restored.  I hope so.

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland Athletics, 1966) - Last there in 1972.  I'm told it's not gotten any better.

Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros, 2000) - Like watching a game in a shopping mall.  Great scoreboard though. The team is not too shabby either.

Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago White Sox, 1991) - Winner of Worst Name for a Ballpark award.

Angel Stadium (Los Angeles Angels, 1966) - Low-rated otherwise, but don't miss the bacon and cheese sandwich which comes with a ton of bacon.  This Trout kid may amount to something.  Keep an eye on him.

Somewhere Between AAA and Major League

Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays, 1990) - Like watching a game in a circus tent.  It was so ridiculous I found it enjoyable, at least for one game.

Ballpark Roadtrip 2018

After seven long, grueling years, THC and LDC reached the end of their quest to see games at all thirty major league ballparks, with our recent visits to Denver Seattle, and San Francisco.  For all of our annual trip reports go here.

Ballparks Visited

CITY	NAME	CAPACITY	OPENED
Denver	Coors Field	50,944	1995
Seattle	Safeco Field	47,715	1999
San Francisco	AT&T Park	41,915	2000

Game Results

DATE	SCORE	ATTENDANCE	TIME
July 3	Rockies 8, Giants 1	48.072	2:51
July 5	Mariners 4, Angels 1	32,128	3:22
July 8	Giants 13, Cardinals 8	38,855	3:47
July 9	Giants 2, Cubs 1 (11 innings)	38,024	3:09

Winding up our travels with visits to three outstanding ballparks was a treat.  As nice as Coors and Safeco are there is no doubt that AT&T is the best stadium we've seen (excepting, of course, Fenway - hey, THC is a Red Sox fan, what'd you expect?), edging out PNC in Pittsburgh.  We enjoyed AT&T so much we changed our plans and went to a second game there the following day.  Adding to the enjoyment was going to games with two old friends from high school and with the THC Son and his girlfriend.

(Old Friends - MG, LDC, and THC)

AT&T gets the #1 rating by virtue of the views (our right field seats in the upper part of the upper deck featured views of McCovey Cove, San Francisco Bay, the Oakland Bay Bridge, and the SF city skyline), the sight lines to the field (excellent from anywhere we looked in the stadium), and the food which ranks with Petco Field in San Diego (try the tri-tip steak sandwich in the food area behind the center field scoreboard).

The July 3 game at Coors Field featured a spectacular fireworks display at the end of the game which drew a huge crowd (second biggest to the Rogers Centre in Toronto).  We had to wait for a least a half hour after the end of the game as they emptied the bleachers, moving fans onto the field, because the fireworks were launched from the back of the bleachers.  We were close enough to have debris fall on us.

Photos and our annual awards follow.

COORS FIELD

SAFECO FIELD

Seahawks and Mariners stadiums.

Mike Trout hitting a double.

AT&T Park

AWARDS

Best Pitching Performance

Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs made it look easy on July 9 against the Giants, pitching 8 innings of five hit ball, walking nobody and fanning eight.  Very few hard hit balls and a game he should have won 1-0, but for the joint efforts (or non-efforts) of our next award winners.

Best Heads Up Play & Worst Fielding/Lack of Hustle Play

Alen Hanson/Anthony Rizzo/Javier Baez.  In the bottom of the 5th, with the Cubs leading 1-0, Pablo Sandoval hit a weak ground ball on which Rizzo made an error catching the throw.  The next batter, Alen (that's really how he spells it) Hanson hit a grounder, forcing Sandoval at second. Hendricks made a pick-off attempt on which Rizzo made an error.  Rizzo and Javier Baez showed a lack of hustle getting to the ball, allowing Hanson, who turned on the jets, to score all the way from first.  Watch the play here.

Best Pitching Performance By "Who Is That Guy?"

Antonio Senzatela was recalled from the minors by the Rockies on July 3, in time to start that night's game.  We had no idea who he was, but he tossed seven innings of three-hit shutout ball.  Unfortunately, Antonio gave up six runs in six innings in his next start.

Most Enjoyable Player to Watch

Pablo (The Panda) Sandoval.  He doesn't look capable of playing the field and falls over a lot but he was very effective at third base.  Pablo also hit a three run homer into McCovey Cove (see next award) on July 8, and the next day had the walk-off game winning single in the 11th inning.  To the chagrin of this Red Sox fan, Panda was more productive in those two games than during his entire Red Sox career (look up "debacle" in the dictionary and you'll find his Sox free-agent contract).

Most Home Runs Into A Water Body

And the winner is McCovey Cove, the inlet behind the right field stands at AT&T Park.   Two balls reached the Cove on July 8, Sandoval's homer and a smash by Matt Carpenter of the Cards.  One was picked out of the water by a kayaker, the other by someone onshore with a fishing net.

Most Exciting Player

Dee Gordon of the Mariners hit a triple and can that guy fly!  He also made a tremendous play at second to stifle an Angels rally.  Watch his catch here.

Best Repeat Performance Arguing Balls & Strikes

Baseball's best player (I'm required to write that) Mike Trout usually doesn't get too excited but he twice got into an argument with the ump on called third strikes.  Trout has a pretty good eye (he leads the AL in walks) so he probably had good reason to be upset.  He lost both arguments.

Best Game To Take Someone To Who's Never Seen A Game Before 

The Giants-Cardinals game which the Giants won 13-8.  Lots of action which gave old-guy THC plenty of opportunity to explain the details of the game to a novice, who kindly pretended to pay attention.

Best Ballpark For A Willie Mays Fan

As my readers know, Willie Mays is my favorite player, so you know the answer.

Best Drive

From south of Portland, Oregon to Petaluma, California (over two days).  We drove through the Willamette Valley and then the mountains and valleys of southern Oregon on I-5 before turning off at Grant's Pass and heading towards Crescent City, the northernmost town on the California coast, where we stayed overnight.  The next day, we took Route 101 along the coast until it turned inland south of Eureka, got off for thirty miles to drive the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt State Park, and then followed 101 to Ukiah and through the wine-growing valley to the south.

The Sunday morning drive the next day on 101, across the Golden Gate Bridge, through San Francisco, and the on I-280 to Palo Alto wasn't too shabby either.

Most Exciting Drive 

LaHonda Road in Woodside, CA.  Several miles of twisting, turning and narrow pavement, with sheer drops along the side, up the mountains to Skyline Drive which runs along the spine of the peninsula south of San Francisco.

Biggest Tree

Best Place To Watch Junkies Shooting Up 

Courtyard Marriott Pioneer Square in Seattle.  Very nice room but it was in rear of hotel, facing an old brick building with broken windows.  Glancing down into the alley below we saw one apparently homeless person doing odd stuff with scraps of something scattered on the pavement and who was soon joined by another person sitting several feet away who was clearly shooting up.  Actually, a lot of downtown Seattle, particularly near the Pike Street Marketplace was occupied by a motley collection of characters and it was pretty grimy.  Like NYC in the 70s although we walked a lot of the city outside the immediate downtown area and it was quite pleasant.

Ballpark Roadtrip 2017

Larry and I recently completed our sixth annual roadtrip, visiting Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Miami.  Only three parks left - Colorado, Seattle and San Francisco, which we'll do in 2018.  You can read about our prior adventures here.

Ballparks Visited

CITY	BALLPARK	SEATING CAPACITY	OPENED
Atlanta	SunTrust Park	41,149	2017
St Petersburg	Tropicana Field	31,042	1990
Miami	Marlins Park	36,742	2012

Game Results

DATE	SCORE	ATTENDANCE	TIME
June 22	Atlanta Brave 12 San Francisco Giants 11	25,521	3:37
June 24	Baltimore Orioles 8 Tampa Bay Rays 3	23,902	3:10
June 25	Miami Marlins 4 Chicago Cub 2	25,110	2:51

The Parks

SunTrust Park in Atlanta opened in April.  It's a nice, new ballpark in the typical Camden Yards style but there is nothing distinctive about it.  We stayed at a hotel that was a 15 minute walk but unless you do that access is pretty bad, even for locals.  They did build a nice entertainment district right outside the park where you can catch a bite or a drink before or after the game.

We few, we happy few

Tropicana Field is quite odd.  It looks terrible from the outside and inside your first impression is that it is more than a minor league park but not quite a major league park.  It's like being in a circus tent with the offwhite roof and metal catwalks.  However, there are some positive aspects.  If it wasn't so hot and humid it would be an easy walk from downtown. Tropicana is so small it creates a certain intimacy.  We had seats on the 200 level where the luxury boxes (such as they are) are located.  It's a small and quiet area and the views from the seats are excellent.  Would recommend purchasing seats in that area if you go.

Domed like Tropicana, Marlins Park was my favorite of the three, except for the atrocious Marlins insignia dominating left center field.  Please remove it. 

Wide concourses.  Good sight lines.  Excellent field.  The view of downtown Miami through the window in left and center is terrific.  If you get seats behind home or on right field side of park you'll have the view.  The outside of the park reminds me of Tomorrowland at Disneyworld.

Annual Ballpark Roadtrip Awards

Biggest Rain Delay
Atlanta.  Longest rain delay in our 27 games - 86 minutes.  Humidity was also 173% so it felt like we were underwater even when not raining.  Since the game took more than 3 1/2 hours to play it was also the latest finish of any game we've seen - 1245am. 

Most Runs Scored
Atlanta - San Francisco.  23 runs (and 31 hits!) in a 12-11 game.  The previous high was a 2014 game in which the Tigers pummeled a hapless Royals squad 16-4.  The Braves-Giants contest was much more entertaining.  Atlanta jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first.  The Giants came back and were leading 6-4 going into the bottom of the 5th.  The Braves started off their half of the inning like this: Home run, single, single, single, single, single.  They added another three hits and a walk, resulting in eight runs, before the inning ended.   It looked like they had a comfortable lead but the Giants came storming back scoring three in the 8th and adding two more in the 9th before they made the last out with a runner on second.

Best Throwing Arm
Austin Slater.  Didn't even know who he was before the game.  He's a 24 year old rookie, playing his 17th game for the Giants.  Started in left field and was moved to center later in the game.  Made three outstanding throws to the plate during the game.  Has a rifle for an arm.  The first throw actually went over the catcher's head on which he was charged with an error; the amazing thing was I didn't think he had any chance on the runner until he unleashed what looked like an Aroldis Chapman fastball.  He also went 2 for 4 in the game with a double. As of today, he is hitting .318 with an OPS of .846.

Most Home Runs Hit On Consecutive Pitches
Two.  Corey Dickerson and Evan Longoria hit back to back first pitch homers off of the Orioles' Dylan Bundy.  Both were monster shots.  Bundy kept his composure and held the Rays off the scoreboard for his remaining 4 2/3 innings.

Biggest Difference Between Announced and Actual Attendance
Atlanta.  We thought the announced attendance at all the parks was substantially larger than actual,  but it was ridiculous at SunTrust.  Reported attendance was 25,521 but we'd be surprised if there were 12,000 at most.  By the seventh there were no more than 250 in the entire bleachers and by the ninth less than 1,500 in the entire park.

Jumbo Diaz Fielding Award
Jumbo Diaz of course!
As you can see, Jumbo is quite large and, as we found out, does not move well.  He's 33 and listed at 6'4" and 278 pounds (that may be just a bit on the low side).   With the game between the Rays and Orioles tied 3-3 in the 7th, Jumbo came in on in relief for Tampa with a runner on first.  Over the next two innings, Jumbo gave up five hits and five runs of which three were bunt singles which he could not handle (to be fair the last one was more the fault of the Rays muffing coverage at first base).  After the third bunt (and second in a row) we wondered if Buck Showalter was going to continue to do so until the Rays reacted.  I guess he decided to have mercy on Jumbo.

Best Food
The Mojo pork sandwich at the Latin Cafe in Marlins Park.  Deliciously seasoned and textured thin-sliced pork with cilantro and onions.

Nicest Downtown
St Petersburg.  Hadn't been there before and thought it'd just be a bunch of old people (like us) and old buildings, but the small downtown has a lot of new businesses and restaurants with a lively mix of folks.  Would definitely visit again.

Quickest Home Run
Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run against the Cubs that reached the left field seats before we realized what had happened.

Ballpark Roadtrips 2016

This year, The Other Larry and I did something a little different, deciding to go to the two eastern ballparks we'd missed on our earlier swings, Toronto and Washington, and to do it in two short trips.  You can read about our past trips here.

Ballparks Visited

CITY	NAME	SEATING CAPACITY	OPENED
Toronto	Rogers Centre	49,282	1989
Washington DC	Nationals Park	41,313	2008

Game Results

DATE	SCORE	ATTENDANCE	TIME
July 7	Blue Jays 5, Tigers 4	46,283	3:18
August 6	Giants 7, Nationals 1	36,404	3:29

That makes 24 ballparks for us.  Left are Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Miami, Colorado, Seattle and San Francisco.

The games, and the ballparks, were very different but they both had in common the temperature - low 80s, and the humidity - very high. I heard a rumor that Washington is built on a swamp, explaining the feel of being underwater.  Not sure what the story is with Toronto.

We made the eight hour drive to Toronto, which is quite nice through New York State.  On the way up, we stayed overnight in Mount Morris, a pleasant older town about an hour from Buffalo.  Like many smaller towns today, the brick fronted stores on the Main Street were predominantly antique dealers or providing government services.

Our plan had been to buy tickets for the Blue Jays contest on the day of the game, as we often do.  We figured it was the Blue Jays, on a Thursday night against the Tigers, so no problem.   That was a mistake.  When we went to buy tickets, the only seats available were up in the fifth deck and we actually had to sign a waiver acknowledging we would not be able to see the scoreboard.  Up we trudged to Row 34, the next to last row from the top of the stadium, in right field foul territory, behind the light stand!  Not only could we not see the scoreboard, seeing the right and center fielders was a challenge at times.  Midway through the game, we were able to find seats about 25 rows closer, in front of the lights and with a full view of the field.

Even with all that, the game was one of the best we've seen.  The Blue Jays jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, but Justin Verlander kept them in check after that and by the bottom of the 7th, the Tigers had taken the lead 4-2.  The Jays came roaring back with rallies in the next two innings, scoring once in the 7th with an RBI single by Troy Tulowitzki and taking the lead in the 8th, with a two-run single by Tulo to win the game.

Rogers Centre is an older multi-sport stadium without a lot of charm (though Toronto is an impressive city).  Clearly in the bottom tier of today's ballparks.  The folks at the game were all very nice and polite - they are Canadians after all.

A few days ago we took Amtrak to DC to catch the first place Nationals play the first place Giants.  Unlike Toronto, we'd gotten our tickets in advance through some connections and they were only four rows from the field, next to the first base dugout.  So the view was much better, but the game not as interesting as the Giants won easily 7-1.  However, there were some interesting things going on.

Stephen Strasburg was the starting pitcher for the Nats and had won 15 of 16 decisions in 2016.  He started out gangbusters, giving up only one hit, no runs and striking out five in the first three innings.  Then, in the bottom of the third, he came to bat and stroked a ball down the right field line.  Hustling, he made it to second with a double.  I don't know if that, along with the humidity, took something out of him, but he fell apart in the 4th, giving up two runs on a triple, three singles and a walk, although he also struck out three batters swinging.  In the 5th, he gave up two more runs on a triple, double, single and sacrifice fly to deep center, before leaving the game.

The deterioration of 2015 MVP Bryce Harper also continued.  He struck out three time in three at bats, looking completely baffled before being removed with a stiff neck.  On April 24, nineteen games into the season, Bryce was hitting .328 with six doubles, nine homers, 24 RBI and a slash line of .430/.844/1.274.  In the 86 games he's appeared in since, he's hitting .212 with seven doubles, eleven home runs, 33 RBI and a slash line of .363/.349/.712.

For the Giants, their new acquisition, Eduardo Nunez, was a revelation.  He hit two triples and watching him run was like seeing someone with rockets attached to their shoes.  He showed the same speed after hitting a single and advancing to third.  What fun to watch!

And, in the category of In Baseball You See Things You've Never Seen Before, we have Hunter Pence's encounter with a batted ball.  I've seen plenty of batters foul a ball off their foot or legs but until this game, never saw one foul a ball off their face.  It was pretty scary when it happened because Hunter got hit squarely in the eye when the ball bounced off the plate.  Like the trooper he is, Pence stayed in the game.  Here he is, right after it happened.  You can see the seams of the ball on his face. You can watch the incident here,

Nationals Park is a decent place to see a game.  The outfield seats, in a particular look good because there is not an upper tier of seats, eight miles from the field.  I'd put it in the mid-tier of ballparks. 

 

Ballpark Roadtrip 2015

Larry and THC just completed their fourth annual ballpark roadtrip.  This year it was the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Brooklyn, oops, Los Angeles Dodgers.  Though THC's made several business trips to Southern California they were of brief duration and he'd done very little sightseeing so this part of the excursion was mostly new territory for him. 

Ballparks Visited

City	Name	Seating Capacity	Opened
Phoenix	Chase Field	49,033	1998
San Diego	Petco Park	42,445	2004
Anaheim	Angel Stadium	45,050	1966
Los Angeles	Dodger Stadium	56,000	1962

Game Results

Date	Score	Attendance	Time
June 1	Braves 8, D-backs 1	18,258	2:45
June 2	Padres 7, Mets 2	22,264	3:00
June 3	Rays 6, Angels 5 (10)	28,245	3:20
June 4	Cards 7, Dodgers 1	45,050	2:56

We've now been to 22 of the 30 major league ballparks.  You can read all about our prior jaunts here.

The average game time was about 20 minutes less than the 2014 marathons.  As you can see, three of the four games were not close and the Phoenix game was pretty poorly played.  In fact, Chip Hale, the D-backs manager, apologized afterwards for the "dead, sloppy" play of his team, blaming it on the 17 inning game they'd played in Milwaukee the day before and their 430 AM arrival back in Phoenix that morning.  Nonetheless we had a good time at each park witnessing bizarre plays and managerial choices, seeing something that had only happened once before in major league history (for more on that see below), having a line drive foul ball almost whack Larry in the noggin (Angel Stadium) and getting to watch games with the THC Daughter (Phoenix) and friend Kurt (Dodgers).

Let's review the venues followed by the Annual Ballpark Roadtrip Awards.

All four locales are good ballparks but THC's favorite was Petco.  Set in downtown San Diego with beautiful views of the harbor, spacious walking areas, interesting seating and architecture and an incredible variety of interesting food.  Only complaint was the loud speaker system - the noise was too much (and while we're being crotchety - get off my lawn!).  Our seats felt much closer to the field than similar seats at Chase the night before.

Chase Field is another domed stadium.  We've now been to three, Minute Maid in Houston and Miller Field in Milwaukee being the others and baseball is just a very different experience in a dome, even when it is open.  THC thinks Chase was the best of the three (though Miller definitely had the best tailgate area) with Minute Maid being the oddest.  The location is good, right in downtown Phoenix.

Angel Stadium though it opened in 1966 was extensively remodeled in the mid-1990s and we were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it.  Great sight lines of the field from the seats, comfortable for walking around.  Very engaged fans.  The surrounding area of Anaheim was pretty boring.

Dodger Stadium is a classic.  Lovely setting in the hills above L.A.  The stadium itself has a very retro-60s feel but it is showing its age; it feels more crowded and cramped inside and food and facilities are much more limited than in the newer parks.  Best aspect: Vin Scully does the pre-game analysis on the scoreboard and his play by play is piped into the restrooms and other general areas.  That voice instantly brings me back to my childhood.  Now in his 66th season broadcasting Dodger games.

The Ballpark Roadtrip Awards

Best Food Selection:  Petco Park

Best Food Actually Eaten: Chase Field.  Hot dog smothered in Mac n'cheese (Larry), Italian sausage with peppers & onions from Hungry Hill (THC), and, at the insistence of the THC Daughter, an ice cream churro dog shared by us all.  We were comatose by the end of game which, given the quality of play, was probably a good thing.

Honorable mention goes to the thick cut bacon & cheese sandwich at Angel Stadium.

Most Puzzling Managerial Decision:  In the bottom of the 6th inning, with the Dodgers trailing 5-0 and runners on 1st and 3rd, the L.A. pitcher, Carlos Frias, was scheduled to come to the plate.  Frias had not pitched well and this was a great opportunity to pinch hit and maybe get the team back in the game yet manager Don Mattingly decided to let him hit.  Frias laid down a sacrifice bunt moving the runner over to second, the next batter struck out and the opportunity was gone.  An account the next day said Cardinals broadcasters were stunned by the decision as were we sitting in the stands.  It was like saying "we surrender".

Most Puzzling Decision (Undetermined By Whom):  In the bottom of the 10th inning, with the Angels trailing 6-5 with one out and a man on first, Matt Joyce bunted, which we interpreted, given the circumstances, as a gesture of existential despair.  We were unable to find any mention in the newspaper coverage as to whether Joyce did it on his own or was directed to do so by manager Mike Scioscia.  With two out, Chris Iannetta, hitting just .179 came to the plate and dribbled a weaker grounder to short ending the game.

Best Game: Tampa Bay Rays 6, L.A. Angels 5 in ten innings.
Very well played game.  In the first, Mike Trout hit a 430 foot bomb onto the grassy knoll in centerfield.   Angels jumped out to a 4-0 lead and their pitcher, Hector Santiago was cruising giving up only two hits and a walk in five innings.  And then he completely lost it in the top of the 6th with the first five batters going Hit By Pitch, HR, Single, Walk, HR.  Five batters, five runs.

In the bottom of the 8th, with the Angels trailing 5-4, Albert Pujols led off with a single.  Kole Calhoun followed with a single to right with Pujols beating the throw to third but Calhoun got tagged out oversliding the bag at second. The next two batters struck out and Pujols was left stranded.

In the bottom of the 9th, the Angels got a lead off single but the pinch runner was thrown out attempting to steal second.  This was followed by a walk and a single and then Erick Aybar hit a sacrifice liner to right field scoring the tying run.   With a runner on second, Mike Trout was intentionally walked bringing Pujols to the plate but he grounded out sending the game to extra innings.

The Rays got a lead off home run in the 10th and we then had the puzzling decision discussed above and the game was over.  Plus, as mentioned Larry had a close call with the liner from Rene Rivera and we had two other pop fouls fall near us.

Best Bargain on Seats: Angel Stadium.  Seats just beyond third base about 15 rows from field for $25 with special AAA Member rate.

Worst Double Play Combo:  Dodgers - Jimmy Rollins (SS), Enrique Hernandez (2B).  Looked like they were playing in molasses.  Slow and slower.

Best (And Only) Celebrity Spotting:  Mr T at our gate in LAX!  Happily chatting and getting his picture taken with anyone who asked (and a lot of folks did). 

Weirdest Pitching Line:  Noah Syndergaard, Mets
4 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 0 BB, 10 K
Syndergaard threw as hard as 98 mph but if a Padre got their bat on a ball they got a hit.  Of the twelve batters he retired, 10 were by strikeout, one by sacrifice bunt and one (Matt Kemp) on a weak grounder so of 11 Padres who hit the ball while attempting to get a base hit, 10 were successful.  The last eight outs were all strikeouts.  It was the most dominant yet bad pitching performance THC has personally witnessed.

It was only the second time in major league history a pitcher struck out at least ten while giving up at least ten hits in less than five innings.  The first time was the night before in the same ballpark by Andrew Cashner of the Padres!

Best Workout Club in Stadium:  Chase Field.  Actually, it's the only one THC has ever seen in a ballpark.

Best Driving Experience.  Too many to choose from so THC didn't:
(1) Last 90 miles on I-8 into San Diego.  Leave the Imperial Valley and immediately climb to 4,000 feet elevation into picturesque country.
(2) Pacific Coast Highway from just north of San Diego to Laguna Beach.
                                                                (Encinitas)

(3) Pacific Coast Highway in the Malibu area and then driving around Santa Barbara.
                                                  (Santa Barbara from the pier)

(4) Route 150 from Carpinteria past Ogai to Santa Paula. 
(5) Laurel Canyon Rd and Mulholland Drive in L.A (too crazy to take any pictures).

Best Flashback To the 70s: The stores in Topanga Canyon.

Best Pitching Performance: Michael Wacha (Cardinals)
7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5K.  Made it look easy. 

Best Catches:
Yonder Alonso, first baseman of the Padres, and just off the disabled list, making a leaping catch of line drive by Lucas Duda of the Mets in top of the 6th.
Todd Cunningham, substitute center fielder for the Braves, making a diving catch to rob the D-backs Aaron Hill of an extra base hit in the bottom of the 7th.

Best Non-Ballpark Eating: The Brulee Burger at Paradise Valley Burger in Phoenix.

Tourist Spot To Skip:  Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood.  What a sleazy dump.  Like Times Square in the 1970s.

Tourist Spots Not To Skip:
Musical Instrument Museum (Phoenix).  THC wrote of his previous visit here.  Just as good the second time around and they've added part of Keith Moon's drum kit from The Who's 1960s touring days.  You can spend hours listening to music from around the world and looking at the instruments.

                       (Inscription reads "Keith Moon Patent British Exploding Drummer")

Universal Studios (L.A.).  Probably helped that THC's friend Laura gave us a guided tour but the studios and the park are a lot of fun.  Larry and THC did notice that they have reached the age where they triggered three or four of the warning signs on several of the rides.

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (Simi Valley).  Stunning location on a hilltop.  Well designed museum with interesting exhibits plus the Air Force One used by every President from Nixon to George W Bush.  Enjoyed it as much as the FDR Museum at Hyde Park.
                        Section from the Berlin Wall (for more read Tear Down This Wall)