It’s opening day in baseball, and opening day for this blog. Hi friends, my name is Dima and I love ballparks. There is no other sport in the world whose stadiums are so different or have so much personality and character. Most sports you can watch at any venue and they will basically be the same; only the teams and fans will change. But baseball is a completely different experience at every ballpark. And that is especially true in the Major Leagues. There are strange dimensions, large imposing walls and flagpoles in the field of play. There are fountains in the outfield, or a giant fruit that greets home runs, or a working train, or aquariums full of fish behind home plate. There are pitchers parks and hitters parks. There are historic landmarks that have barely changed in a century and marvels of modern engineering. And then there’s the food. From your typical ballpark fare of hot dogs and burgers (although some dogs are special of course), to various ethnic options, world famous barbecue, beer brewed inside the ballpark itself, and all kinds of greasy wonders.
I need to experience it all. And I want to share what I learn. My goal is to catch a game at every Major League ballpark, and to do it with as much local flair as possible. I will pregame where the locals pregame, try every food unique to the ballpark (usually one item per ballpark, unless you’re talking Cincinnati), and speak with hometown fans to get their advice and impressions on the park. Then I will share all that information with you, so that you can have the full experience when visiting any ballpark in the country (or Toronto).
This blog is also a challenge for me. I have been to 15 ballparks already, I have 15 to go. I will post my first ballpark review after I make yet another return trip to my hometown ballpark, New Yankee Stadium, on April 16th. After that, I will post one ballpark review per month during the baseball season. Right now, I have enough material for two and a half seasons. The goal is not to skip a month. To make that goal, I will need to visit the other 15 ballparks in the next five years. I am counting on you all for encouragement. If I know people read this blog (and comment), I’ll be extremely motivated to finish in time. I hope that by the 2017 season, this becomes your go-to source for ballpark information.
Join me on this journey. Enter your email on the right side of this blog to sign up for email updates. You will only get one a month, when I post my monthly review. And hopefully you will enjoy reading them. Thank you in advance for your support.
PLAY BALL!
