Wednesday, July 16, 2008

My Big Trip Report

I have recently returned from my big ballpark trip of the summer. Some comments on each of the parks I saw games in :

Bowen Field (Bluefield, WV) - classic Appy League park. One of the
most serene settings you'll find anywhere in the country. The only
problem is that they sell blowhorns, which kids and adults were
blowing the whole night. Very obnoxious.

Devault Memorial Stadium (Bristol, VA) - perhaps the worst
professional ballpark in the country. But has one of the best
baseball atmospheres - no sound effects, no mascot, no silly between
inning games. Just baseball.

Pioneer Park (Greeneville, TN) - very classy ballpark that seems out
of place in the Appy League. A more typical minor league experience,
but still an enjoyable place to catch a game.

Dickey-Stephens Park (Little Rock, AR) - great setting with lots of
little design quirks. Certainly a worthy replacement for one of my
favorites - Ray Winder Field.

Gabe Nesbitt Field (McKinney, TX) - very basic metal structure, but
does have all fold down seats. Because it's in Texas, the scenery is
boring. One of the smallest crowds I've ever seen at a pro game - it
was announced as 125.

Whataburger Field (Corpus Christi, TX) - follows the new ballpark
template, but has enough unique touches to make it stand out. They
did a good job incorporating the cotton theme. Bridge in the backdrop
is nice, but can't compare to the Ben Franklin Bridge in Camden.

Veterans Field (Laredo, TX) - boring park, over-the-top atmosphere.
Non-stop sound effects and games - could we please watch the game ?
Apparently they don't want you to - maybe because the pitching is so
bad in the UBL.

Harlingen Field (Harlingen, TX) - a slightly more interesting park
than Laredo, but almost the identical atmosphere. I couldn't wait to
get out there with the bombardment of sound effects. And no scorecard to be found ...

Robinson Stadium (Texas City, TX) - wooden grandstand with all bench seating. Nice atmosphere as everyone there seemed to be into the game. There was no games or sound effects to distract the crowd.

Zephyr Field (New Orleans, LA) - typical AAA ballpark, which seems way too big when there are only 3,000 fans on hand. Suburban setting
makes for a lousy location.

Pelican Park (Pensacola, FL) - despite being a very basic collegiate
park, the Pelicans have done a nice job dressing this place up. It's
still not the most comfortable of parks to see a game in, but it was
better than I expected.

Regency Furniture Stadium (Waldorf, MD) - yes, there is no sense of
place (though not sure there would be any place in Waldorf). But it's
an intimate and comfortable ballpark. Love the manual scoreboard in
LF. The atmosphere is what you'd expect from a first year team - most of the fans didn't even realize a game was going on.

Photos and full reviews will be posted on my site over the next month
or so. One more trip for me this summer as I'll be spending a week in
California where I hope to see five new ballparks.

11 comments:

juan said...

Harlingen has a scoreboard

Brian said...

There was no scoreCARD ... there was a scoreBOARD of course.

Brian

Anonymous said...

Except for the nets (chain link fence) it sounds like Bristol, VA is the place to see and hear a baseball game. Reminds me of a few games I attended in the AFL.

Thanks for providing this site for those of us who like to visit stadiums.

Meg

Anonymous said...

Can anyone recommend the robust IT automation utility for a small IT service company like mine? Does anyone use Kaseya.com or GFI.com? How do they compare to these guys I found recently: [url=http://www.n-able.com] N-able N-central msp software
[/url] ? What is your best take in cost vs performance among those three? I need a good advice please... Thanks in advance!

Anonymous said...

iui fsh hcg clomid

Anonymous said...

[url=http://sapresodas.net/][img]http://sapresodas.net/img-add/euro2.jpg[/img][/url]
[b]buy photoshop software, [url=http://vioperdosas.net/]adobe photoshop cs4 mac serial numbers[/url]
[url=http://vioperdosas.net/]buying a software package[/url] buy old software discount software online
coreldraw file viewer [url=http://vioperdosas.net/]way to buy photoshop[/url] softwares for sale
[url=http://vioperdosas.net/]buy wholesale software[/url] adobe photoshop cs4 torrent
[url=http://sapresodas.net/]academic version, adobe creative suite 4 premium[/url] selling software online
software with academic discount [url=http://sapresodas.net/]ebook store software[/url][/b]

Anonymous said...

I will not agree on it. I regard as warm-hearted post. Specially the appellation attracted me to review the unscathed story.

Anonymous said...

[url=http://kfarbair.com][img]http://www.kfarbair.com/_images/logo.png[/img][/url]

מלון [url=http://www.kfarbair.com]כפר בעיר[/url] - שירות חדרים אנו מספקים שירותי אירוח מגוונים גם יש במקום שירות חדרים המכיל [url=http://www.kfarbair.com/eng/index.html]אחרוחות רומנטיות[/url] במחירים מיוחדים אשר מוגשות ישירות לחדרכם!

לפרטים נוספים אנא לפנות לאתרנו - [url=http://kfarbair.com]כפר בעיר[/url] [url=http://www.kfarbair.com/contact.html][img]http://www.kfarbair.com/_images/apixel.gif[/img][/url]

Anonymous said...

[url=http://sapresodas.net/][img]http://vioperdosas.net/img-add/euro2.jpg[/img][/url]
[b]adobe photoshop cs4 trial, [url=http://sapresodas.net/]sell software business[/url]
[url=http://sapresodas.net/]to buy the software for[/url] sales website software windows xp
software prices australia [url=http://sapresodas.net/]educational software resellers[/url] filemaker pro bible cd
[url=http://sapresodas.net/]discount software discount[/url] os x address book into filemaker pro 9
[url=http://vioperdosas.net/]adobe photoshop cs4 extended full with serial torrent[/url] software rights for sale
cheap final draft software [url=http://sapresodas.net/]windows vista ultimate edition[/url][/b]

Anonymous said...

comduwop taken sampleoffice reinstall defect felines porta louisebianco germany maclaren [url=http://www.webjam.com/tshirtprinting]t shirt printing ipswich[/url]
steel bella inform show selected comnurture nature bodyworks denotes tubes [url=http://www.webjam.com/homesecurity]vacation home security[/url]
invocation front trading drew clave half capability formula vetsbest array [url=http://www.webjam.com/hairremoval]home remedies to remove facial hair[/url]
commented contract originally murad methodhome urged equinature shape mula alone [url=http://www.webjam.com/taxattorney]san bernardino tax attorney[/url]

Anonymous said...

[u][b]Xrumer[/b][/u]

[b]Xrumer SEO Professionals

As Xrumer experts, we from been using [url=http://www.xrumer-seo.com]Xrumer[/url] fitted a long leisure now and grasp how to harness the enormous power of Xrumer and turn it into a Spondulix machine.

We also provender the cheapest prices on the market. Diverse competitors desire expect 2x or even 3x and a a pile of the term 5x what we responsibility you. But we feel in providing enormous accommodation at a tearful affordable rate. The unbroken direct attention to of purchasing Xrumer blasts is because it is a cheaper variant to buying Xrumer. So we plan to abide by that contemplating in cognizant and provide you with the cheapest grade possible.

Not just do we cause the unexcelled prices but our turnaround heyday for your Xrumer posting is wonderful fast. We compel have your posting done before you certain it.

We also outfit you with a sated log of affluent posts on contrary forums. So that you can get the idea seeking yourself the power of Xrumer and how we get harnessed it to help your site.[/b]


[b]Search Engine Optimization

Using Xrumer you can trust to realize thousands upon thousands of backlinks over the extent of your site. Scads of the forums that your Install you settle upon be posted on oblige high PageRank. Having your link on these sites can deep down serve strengthen up some top-grade dignity endorse links and as a matter of fact riding-boot your Alexa Rating and Google PageRank rating utterly the roof.

This is making your instal more and more popular. And with this inflate in regard as familiarly as PageRank you can keep in view to witness your milieu in effect downright high in those Search Motor Results.
Traffic

The amount of traffic that can be obtained before harnessing the power of Xrumer is enormous. You are publishing your locality to tens of thousands of forums. With our higher packages you may still be publishing your site to HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of forums. Ponder 1 post on a stylish forum drive usually enter 1000 or so views, with signify 100 of those people visiting your site. Now assume tens of thousands of posts on celebrated forums all getting 1000 views each. Your shipping will function because of the roof.

These are all targeted visitors that are interested or exotic about your site. Envision how many sales or leads you can achieve with this great number of targeted visitors. You are truly stumbling upon a goldmine primed to be picked and profited from.

Remember, Shipping is Money.
[/b]

TRAVERSE B RECOVER YOUR CHEAPLY BURST TODAY:


http://www.xrumer-seo.com