Oakland A's - July 28, 2017

We were pretty excited about seeing our first A's game because we were all obsessed with the movie, Moneyball. Oakland fans are AWESOME. Even before we got into the stadium, their enthusiasm was contagious.

The stadium itself is a bit of a dump. Remember the Silverdome? Yeah, a little like that.

Inadvertently caught Aliyah in my pic of the stadium

This Toledo girl LOVED the Holy Toledo sign that lit up in center field.

The people who work at the stadium are incredibly kind and helpful.  From food service to the fan shop to security, every single person I talked to was so nice.

We happened to visit on G Eazy bobblehead night. True facts, I had to use my phone to look up G Eazy because I had never heard of him. He had some DEVOTED fans there as he threw out the first pitch.

Owen and Lee both caught balls during batting practice.

This mac and cheese was amazing, especially because it was FREEZING that night.

You can imagine who loved this scoreboard with its Advanced Stats Primer.

Owen's first churro - I have no idea why it took us this long to introduce this child to the magic of the churro.

I actually really liked the A's. I thought the physical plant was a mess. There is literally duct tape on the ground. But the spirit of the people there is so happy and excited.  They're like the Bad News Bears.  You can't help but root for them. They also have an incredible staff. The food was pretty good, though not top tier. All in all, we had a great (if chilly) night.

San Francisco Giants - July 26, 2017

The worst thing about the San Francisco Giants experience occurs at the beginning and the end - parking. Parking in any major city is a challenge, but we've never seen parking so far away from the stadium or so jammed up after a game. It sends you into the game frustrated and it's the last thing you experience when you leave the game.

Everything else is pretty cool.

First, the Giants may have the most beautiful view in all of Major League Baseball.

What a gorgeous day for a ball game and some sailboat watching.

This picture shows you how high up we were in the upper deck, but we still had a great view of the game.

We got to share the game with some of the people we love most - the PG Freemans!

The cousins smiling and laughing together

Lee needs to take some selfie lessons from Aliyah, but what a good looking crew!

The food was pretty average. Aliyah got a brat with sauerkraut, the kiddos ate LOTS of cotton candy, and Owen got a frozen treat. I just got a cheese pizza. We were surprised the food wasn't better and more vegetarian friendly. Giants fans are pretty enthusiastic and are good company for a game.

Thankfully, the company, the view and the gorgeous weather more than made up for the food and parking.

San Diego Padres - July 24, 2017

The San Diego Padres game was one of the absolute best surprises in all of Major League Baseball. The stadium is GORGEOUS. The food is AMAZING.

Look at the entrance to the stadium. You already know it's going to be gorgeous.

There were hanging gardens INSIDE the stadium. Wow!

Surfer burritos? Yes, please!

Pulled pork, garlic fries and cole slaw

Tri-tip sandwich? Where else could you get this?

The weather in San Diego is uniformly gorgeous. The food is amazing. The stadium feels like a cross between surfer coastal and Brooklyn hipster craft brewery. The only sad thing about this place is the absolute lack of enthusiasm by the fans. Maybe they're all too blissed out by the waves and the weather, but we watched them play the Mets and the Mets fans were WAY louder. (Could you even GET farther away from San Diego than New York?)

San Diego folks, you have a GEM! Get behind those Padres before you lose them.

Arizona Diamondbacks - July 22, 2017

The best thing about the Arizona Diamondbacks was the company. We got to visit our wonderful friends, the Rendells, who also put us up for the night. First stop when we got to the stadium was Guest Services to get everyone their First Game certificates. It was also a bobblehead night. I love when we don't have to buy souvenirs!
 

Hanging with my goddaughter at the game

Owen won this Bimbo t-shirt at the spinning wheel

The whole crew, minus the photographer

Owen sporting his new braces

Talking to my goddaughter about baseball during the game was the best part of the Diamondbacks game. The stadium itself is pretty average. The food was just meh. The fans were nice, but not super passionate about baseball. When you raise your kids on Comerica Park, it's tough to measure up.

Philadelphia Phillies - August 14, 2016

I wish I could go back for another Phillies game.  I loved the Phillies ball park and they had phenomenal vegetarian offerings. Unfortunately, I was experiencing some digestive issues, so I couldn't enjoy any of the delicious veggie food.

We had incredible seats for the Phillies game. Unfortunately, it was 96 degrees, so I asked Lee to trade our box seats in for seats in the back of the lower section under the overhang so we could get some shade. We spent a good chunk of the game buying and eating cherry water ice.

Rita's Cherry Water Ice was a godsend on such a hot day.

Do you see how rosy our cheeks are? That's 96 degrees (and some photo bombing from the kids behind us).

Philly also brought crab fries into our lives. Yum! Crab fries have no crab in them. They were deliciously crispy crinkle fries sprinkled with Old Bay (or something that tastes a lot like it). We went back for seconds.

The heat took its toll on the kiddos.

We had to leave in the 8th inning to catch our flight back to Detroit. I vowed never to have our timing so tight again, no matter how many times Lee calculates how much time we'll need.

Loved Philly!  I'd go back in a heartbeat. Let's just avoid the dog days of August next time.

New York Yankees - August 13, 2016

When I was growing up, some of my uncles LOVED the New York Yankees. I grew up with tales of Maris and Mantle, DiMaggio and Babe Ruth. So I was pretty excited to see my first game at Yankee Stadium.

Let's start with the positives. We got to spend time with family. Lee's second cousins Evy and Lenny joined us for the game. They are such kind and wonderful people. Visiting them was the highlight of our time in New York and New Jersey. We also go to see two rookies (Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez) hit back to back home runs in their first at bats in the MLB. Everyone was cheering and shouting for these young guys.  What memories they made!

And that's it for positives. We were so disappointed in Yankee Stadium. To be fair, it was literally 100 degrees that day and we sat in the sun for the first two innings. We were sweating in places I didn't know had sweat glands. It's hard to enjoy ANY game when you are that hot.

Yankee fans are brutal. They are loud, rude and vocal. It would be one thing if they reserved their ire for the visiting team, but they are equally likely to turn their fury on their own players. Having grown up in the passion surrounding Michigan/OSU games, I'm familiar with some good trash talking, but some of the things being said at the game were not things you really want your 12 year old hearing. That kind of environment is not really for me.

The food, sadly, was just meh. NYC is a culinary mecca, but that doesn't seem to have translated much to the stadium.

The stadium felt a little corporate and soulless.  I wish I could have been to a game at old Yankee Stadium. I've heard it was a lot like old Tiger Stadium, which holds happy memories for me.

Sorry, Yankee fans. Your team has an epic budget and a passionate fan base. But give me Fenway any day.

Boston Red Sox - August 12, 2016

It was pretty amazing to catch sight of this for the first time.

Lobster roll and fries, anyone?

Owen ate nearly the entire thing himself. This is a super flattering shot of Lee in the background.

Aliyah ponders the mysteries of the Boston hot dog.

Proof that we made it to Fenway!

Watching the guys change the scoreboard between innings.

Captain Kirk threw out the first pitch. :-)

We finally made it to one of baseball's great cathedrals - Fenway Park.  We were all really looking forward to it.  Traffic in Boston was so crazy on a Friday night that we took a cab from the hotel, but then asked the cabbie to stop several blocks from the stadium because the streets and sidewalks were so jammed with people going to Fenway.

The food at Fenway got mixed reviews. I thought it was pretty good. I had a lobster roll and fries. Aliyah got a snap dog. Owen ate an elephant ear that was bigger than his head.

We LOVED watching them update the manual scoreboard. Our seats weren't my favorite because we were right center field. That's far away from the game and you have to crane your head to see the video board.

William Shatner threw out the first pitch, so nerdy joy there. Overall, Boston fans didn't disappoint. They were as rabid as we expected. Wrigley Field is still the better of the two old ball parks, but Boston, we loved you.