Great American Ball Park

Cleveland Indians @ Cincinnati Reds
July 2, 2004

Indians 15, Reds 2

W: Kazuhito Tadano
L: Jesus Sanchez
HR: Ron Belliard (CLE), Victor Martinez (CLE), Casey Blake (CLE), Coco Crisp (CLE), D'Angelo Jimenez (CIN)
Attendance: 36,156
Time of Game: 3 hours, 3 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Cincinnati, OH
First Game: March 31, 2003
Capacity: 42,059
Type: Open
Surface: Grass

My last stadium visit in 2004 was Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. After nearly a week in Illinois, I started my trip back to Virginia. On a Friday morning, I left for Cincinnati. Although I have driven through Ohio countless times over the years, this was my first time in Cincinnati in a very long time. I went to a game at the old Riverfront Stadium many years earlier, but remember very little of that.

I timed my trip so I would be able to get to Cincy in time to find a place to watch the Sox/Cubs game that afternoon. I wound up watching the game at a bar near the ballpark. Coincidentally, the bartender was a Cubs fan, so I had no problem getting them to turn the game on. After the game, I walked to the stadium down by the river.

On the shore of the Ohio River sits Great American Ball Park. It is situated immediately next to where Riverfront Stadium used to be. The park opened in 2003, so I was there for a game in just the second season for the stadium. The ballpark is situated with the river beyond right field, just like PNC Park in Pittsburgh. I didn't make it up to the upper deck, but from there, you would surely have a nice view of the river as well as the shores of northern Kentucky. There is a single level of seats in right field separating the field from the river.

An identifiable feature of the park are the large light towers in the outfield. Also in the outfield are a pair of smokestacks that emit smoke and fireworks throughout the game. They are reminiscent of the stacks from old steamboats that used to flow down the Ohio River.

The primary seating areas have some unique features too. There is a large gap between seating areas down the third base line. From the point of the gap out towards left, there are two large upper levels of seats, while going the other way, there is a much smaller club level below the large upper deck. The unique design of the third base seats keeps more upper level seats closer to the field. I sat in the lower level of the left field seats. I was quite a ways back from the field, so my seat was covered by the second deck of seats in left field. As you can see from one of the photos below, my seat was directly down the line, to the point where the foul pole nearly blocked my view of the plate.

The is one of the best hitters' parks in baseball. The outfield seats are easily reachable in all directions, especially left field. It plays similarly to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. I suppose fans love to see home runs, but I don't particularly like how some of these newer parks have cheapened the home run. Not all that surprisingly, there were five home runs hit in this game.

The game wasn't quite a sellout, but it was a nice crowd for the battle for Ohio bragging rights. Both teams were having mediocre seasons to this point. Only one team would leave this game with their dignity in tact though, and ironically that was the team that started a pitcher who used to make money by acting in Japanese gay porn movies (hopefully this doesn't get my blog black-listed). Kazuhito Tadano got his first Major League start for the Indians. Jesus Sanchez started for the Reds.

The Reds actually scored first. In the bottom of the second, Tadano walked Brandon Larson with the bases loaded to force in the first run of the game. The Reds lead would not last long though. In the top of the third, Tadano singled in his first career at bat, which would be a sign of how things would go for the remainder of the game. Ron Belliard hit a two run home run to give the Indians a lead they would build upon from there.

The Indians broke the game wide open in the fifth inning. They launched two different three run home runs in the inning (Victor Martinez and Coco Crisp) to take a 9-1 lead. The six run inning was their first of two such innings. In the eighth, they added six more, highlighted by the third three run home run of the game, this one by Casey Blake. The game mercifully ended with the Indians pummeling the Reds by a score of 15-2.

While the Indians power was impressive, the real story of the game was Tadano. The guy who was previously only known for raunchy videos, had the game of his life... literally. He pitched seven strong innings, allowed just four hits and sruck out 10 batters. Plus, he added a single and a run scored on offense. Unfortunately, this wound up being his only career win.

Great American Ball Park is a very nice stadium. It makes good use of a great location on the river as well as the close proximity to downtown Cincinnati. There are a couple parks that are slightly more scenic, but this one ranks high on the list.

This was my final stop in an abbreviated 2004 trip. With only four parks hit that year, I had to make up for it with a six stadium tour down the road. It was nice to be part of big crowds for all of the games I saw in 2004 though.

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Next stadium: RFK Stadium, Washington

Kauffman Stadium

St. Louis Cardinals @ Kansas City Royals
June 26, 2004

Cardinals 3, Royals 1 (10 inn.)

W: Julian Tavarez
L: Rudy Seanez
S: Jason Isringhausen
Attendance: 40,963
Time of Game: 3 hours, 36 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Kansas City, MO
First Game: April 10, 1973
Capacity: 40,793
Type: Open
Surface: Grass

After the game in St. Louis, I stayed at Scott Air Force base with my buddy Dom who was stationed there for the summer. After my second night there, Dom and I took off for Kansas City on Saturday morning. The drive across Missouri took less than four hours.

We arrived in Kansas City relatively early in hopes of being able to find somewhere to watch the White Sox vs. Cubs game that afternoon before heading to the Royals game. We drove around downtown Kansas City looking for a sports bar. I have never seen a quieter downtown of a semi-large city than Kansas City on this Saturday afternoon. Apparently not many people hang out in the city on weekends. Eventually, we did find a place to eat, but unfortunately we were not able to catch the Sox/Cubs game.

Kauffman Stadium is located in the southeast outskirts of Kansas City in the same complex as Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs. The advantage of being so far from downtown is that there is plenty of space, so there is ample parking. However, there isn't a lot to do before or after games in the immediate area. This was my second game at Kauffman Stadium, but I was quite young the first time around.

In my opinion, Kauffman Stadium is the best baseball stadium built in its era (60's and 70's). The fact that it was built for baseball only is a huge plus, but what really sets it apart is its openness. The upper deck does not extend to the outfield. In fact, the only outfield seats are near the right and left field foul poles. The rest of the outfield area is covered with grassy hills, water fountains with the signature giant waterfall, and a couple large scoreboards. The large upper deck is well designed to keep a majority of the seats between the bases. There are very few upper deck seats way down the baselines. So there are not too many bad seats in this park.

One thing this ballpark lacks (as of 2004 anyway) is a decent out-of-town scoreboard. In fact, electronic info/score boards are few and far between in the entire park. Maybe I wouldn't have even noticed this except I was trying to get updates during the late stages of the Sox/Cubs game. Of course, this was before I had mobile web access, which has almost obliterated the need for out-of-town scoreboards today.

For some reason, the park had an artificial surface until the mid-90's, which never made any sense in a baseball only park. Fortunately, they fixed that mistake and now have natural grass. This is definitely one of the best parks for pitchers. The symmetric outfield wall has deep dimensions to all fields. There are very few cheap home runs hit at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals had a rare sellout for this game, only because they were hosting their cross-state rivals from St. Louis. The Cardinals fans may have had the Royals fans outnumbered. Knowing the game would probably be a sellout, I purchased tickets ahead of time. Our seats were actually not together. One seat was a row in front of the other. They were in a good location though, in the lower part of the upper deck behind the plate.

This was my second Cardinals game in three days. As usual, the Royals entered this game buried in last place of the AL Central. They got a surprisingly good start out of Dennys Reyes, who has almost exclusively pitched out of the bullpen since 2004. Cardinals starter Woody Williams was equally effective. After three scoreless innings, the Cardinals finally crossed home plate with a run in the fourth on a double by Edgar Renteria, scoring Albert Pujols. The Royals tied it in the fifth on a RBI singly by Tony Graffanino.

Things got really interesting starting in the eighth inning. Both teams left the bases loaded without scoring a run in the inning. The Cardinals stranded three more runners in the top of the ninth. The Royals also missed another great chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. With two on and one out, Mike Sweeney hit a line shot right at the shortstop, Renteria, who doubled off the runner at second to send the game into extra innings. The Cardinals finally got a couple key hits in the top of the tenth. Renteria and Mike Matheny notched RBI singles to break the tie, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead. Jason Isringhausen closed things out in the bottom half for the Cardinals extra inning victory.

This game was the Royals third straight loss, and was just the start of a terrible stretch in which they lost 13 of 14 games. As I mentioned in the St. Louis review, the Cardinals had a terrific 2004 season. They were 2-0 on my trip on their way to a 105 win season.

With all the great parks built in the last twenty years, Kauffman Stadium is no longer mentioned as one of the best. However, considering its age, it is a very nice park. It's unfortunate that they rarely ever field a competitive team to give the fans a better reason to visit this nice ballpark.

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Next stadium: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati

Old Busch Stadium

Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals
June 24, 2004

Cardinals 4, Cubs 0

W: Chris Carpenter
L: Matt Clement
Attendance: 48,042
Time of Game: 2 hours, 14 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: St. Louis, MO
First Game: May 12, 1966
Capacity: 50,345
Type: Open
Surface: Grass

My 2004 trip back to the Midwest consisted of three stops for baseball games. I had previously attended games in all three cities (St. Louis, Kansas City and Cincinnati). In fact, the only ballpark I saw for the first time on this trip was Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. I had been to a couple games at the old Busch Stadium in St. Louis and one at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The trip was also supposed to include a stop at Wrigley Field, but my friend who was supposed to go to that game with me was unable to make it, and there was no way in hell I was going into enemy territory by myself. So the Wrigley visit was postponed for a few years.

While the trip lacked great ballparks that I was dying to see, I made up for it by picking three interesting matchups. I'll call this the Rivalry Trip. I saw one of the biggest rivalries in baseball with the Cubs visiting the Cardinals, followed by two intrastate, interleague games: St. Louis at Kansas City and Cleveland at Cincinnati.

I left the DC area late on a Wednesday in June and headed west through Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. I drove well into the night before crashing at a hotel in the middle of nowhere, Kentucky. The following morning, I completed the trip to St. Louis. Well over 800 miles, the trip from DC to St. Louis was the longest solo drive I had ever completed (surpassed the following year). I was fortunate enough to meet up with a bunch of friends in St. Louis for the game though.

We spent the afternoon doing touristy stuff, including a trip up the Gateway Arch and a tour of the Budweiser brewery. Those are almost certainly the two most common destinations for tourists in St. Louis. Personally, I had been to the city several times before, so the only new experience was the Budweiser tour. St. Louis is your typical Midwestern city. It is a fun place to visit with plenty to do. The downtown area is a short walk from the Gateway Arch and Mississippi River. Old Busch Stadium, which has since been demolished, was situated at the south end of downtown St. Louis.

Busch Stadium was one of several round, multi-purpose, cookie cutter stadiums built in the 60s and 70s that all essentially looked the same. I've been to a few of these stadiums (RFK in Washington, Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia and Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati) and would give a slight edge to Busch over the others, partly because of the switch from astroturf to natural grass which occurred in the 90s. From the outside, Busch sort of blended in with the nearby parking garages. With no true exterior wall, you could see right into the park with the seemingly endless pedestrian ramps that look just like different levels of a parking garage. The roof featured the signature arches of St. Louis all the way around the stadium.

The perfectly round design didn't leave much room for unique aspects to the park. The upper deck surrounded the entire park, cutting off most air circulation and also removing any potential view of the St. Louis skyline. The enclosed feel of the park also made for some very hot, sticky summer nights. Fortunately, it wasn't excessively hot for this game.

Old Busch Stadium was a pretty good pitcher's park, with the symmetric playing field having deeper than average outfield wall dimensions. Mark McGwire did manage to turn it into a hitter's park for a few years though. We had seats in the upper deck down the left field line, which weren't exactly the best seats in the house, but at least we were in the house for this big game.

Cubs/Cardinals games are always big, no matter how good or bad the teams are, particularly because the road team always brings a huge crowd to the opponent's park. I've seen this matchup in both parks and it would be hard to say which park had more opposing fans. The games in 2004 were especially big because the Cubs were the defending division champions, but the Cardinals had one of the best teams in baseball. The Cards entered this game in first place with a two game lead over the Cubs. Props to the Cardinals on sticking it to the Cubs fans who decided to buy a program for this series. The cover feature celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio trade, in which the Cards acquired the future Hall of Famer, Brock, from the Cubs in quite possibly the most lopsided trade in baseball history.

The Cardinals had their ace, Chris Carpenter, on the mound opposed by Matt Clement. Both pitchers had it going in this one, but Carpenter got some help from Sammy Sosa, of all people. Sosa led off the second with a single and advanced to second on another single with no outs. After a strike out, Corey Patterson lined one to deep center field. Jim Edmonds successfully deked Sosa into thinking he was going to make the catch as the ball bounced off the wall. Because he had been tagging up, Sosa was thrown out at the plate, unable to score from second on a hit off the wall. Two innings later, Sosa was again unable to score from second on a base hit, this time electing to stop at third base. The Cubs recorded three singles in the second and fourth innings, but did not score in either frame.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Clement was let down by his defense. The Cardinals loaded the bases with one out, but a Hector Luna groundball to short should have been an inning ending double play. Instead, Rey Ordonez booted it, a run scored, and the inning continued. After a sacrifice fly made it 2-0, Chris Carpenter helped his own cause with a RBI single. Tony Womack added another single to stretch the Cardinals lead to 4-0. Three of the runs in the inning were unearned, but none of them would have scored if the double play had been turned. Neither team got much started offensively after the fourth. Carpenter pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine. Jason Isringhausen completed the shutout in the ninth for a 4-0 Cardinals victory.

The Cardinals went on to win a MLB best 105 games in 2004. They also won the National League pennant, but were swept in the World Series by the Red Sox. The Cubs finished the season in third place.

I had a great time in St. Louis, especially with the Cardinals win. Prior to the Nationals coming to DC in 2005, the Cardinals were my favorite National League team. Seeing them beat the Cubs was especially fun. The new stadium, which would be built immediately to the south, was little more than a hole in the ground at this point. It opened for the 2006 season. I returned to St. Louis for a game in the new park in 2008, which I will write about later.

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Next stadium: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City