Shea Stadium

Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Mets
August 29, 2003

Phillies 7, Mets 0

W: Kevin Millwood
L: Steve Trachsel
HR: Pat Burrell (PHI)
Attendance: 33,208
Time of Game: 2 hours, 49 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Queens, NY
First Game: April 17, 1964
Capacity: 56,749
Type: Open
Surface: Grass

Prior to 2003, I had been to New York a couple times, but really had not seen much of the enormous city. The Yankees game was my first trip to the Bronx. I have no recollection of ever being to Brooklyn or Queens prior to this trip either. We stayed at a friend's place in Brooklyn for a couple nights. It was very cool to see what New York city life is like. Also, I got to hear people with real New York accents in Brooklyn, unlike the mix of tourists and transplants that you find in Manhattan.

On Friday afternoon, we had plenty of time to kill before the Mets game at Shea Stadium, so we headed to the East Village in Manhattan to McSorley's Old Alehouse, the oldest Irish tavern in New York. I distinctively remember the only way you could order beers there was two at a time. Needless to say, we ordered several rounds. Eventually, our group of four hopped on the Subway and headed out to Shea Stadium. I mention the trip to McSorley's because it plays a bit of a role in my inability to recall every detail of this particular game. That, plus it was five and a half years ago, so cut me some slack!

Yankee and Shea Stadiums may share a city, but there aren't many similarities between their neighborhoods or the ballparks themselves. While Yankee Stadium is located in the heart of a city neighborhood with streets surrounding it in every direction, Shea is in a much more open area. It is located near LaGuardia Airport as well as the tennis complex which hosts the U.S. Open every year. In fact, the tournament was going on while we were there. Interestingly, Andy Roddick won the men's single title the following week, the most recent time it was won by someone not named Roger Federer.

Back to baseball... Shea Stadium is (I'm going to use "is" rather than "was" because I don't know if it has been completely destroyed yet) probably one of my least favorite outdoor baseball stadiums. It is one of the oldest parks in the league, but lacks the charm of the other old venues.

Shea has some similarities to the cookie-cutter multi-purpose stadiums built in the 60's and 70's, except that it is not completely enclosed. In fact, there are virtually no outfield seats in the entire park. That leaves what has to be a league high of 50,000+ seats from foul pole, around the plate, to the other foul pole. There are four seating levels. All but the lower level seats are quite a distance from the playing field. We had seats in the upper level down the third base line, which weren't too bad. I'm pretty sure we wound up sitting much closer to the field than our actual seats were though.

The openness of the outfield area reminds me a lot of the old Milwaukee County Stadium, but with far less outfield seats. The only outfield seats in the entire park are bleachers in left field. An enormous scoreboard covers the right field area, along with the famous hat from which an apple emerges when the Mets hit a home run. The perfectly symmetrical playing field favors pitchers with deeper than average distances down the lines and to straight away center field.

The Mets had a tough night against the division rival Phillies. The consistently mediocre, and always slow-working, Steve Trachsel was the starting pitcher for the Mets. Kevin Millwood started for the Phillies. Pat Burrell had the worst year of his career in 2003, but his second inning home run off Trachsel gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead, which were all the runs they would need.

After allowing a first inning single and walk, Millwood proceeded to retire the next 15 Mets batters. He and Rheal Cormier combined for a shutout, giving up just three hits, all singles. The Phillies scratched runs in the 5th and 6th and three more in the 9th to win a 7-0 shutout.

The Mets have had very good teams for most of the last decade, but 2003 was not one of them. This loss dropped them to 59-74, buried in last place. Meanwhile, the Phillies improved to a solid 71-63. Unfortunately for them, that record was not nearly good enough to keep pace with the Braves.

I only visited once, but I can't say Shea Stadium is a park I'm sorry to see go. The new Citi Field should be a major improvement. I am looking forward to visiting both of the new New York ballparks this upcoming summer. Finally, I can't mention Citi Field without displaying an image of the, sure to be trend-setting, uniform patch the Mets will be wearing this season.


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Next stadium: Fenway Park, Boston

Yankee Stadium

Chicago White Sox @ New York Yankees
August 28, 2003

Yankees 7, White Sox 5

W: Mike Mussina
L: Neal Cotts
S: Mariano Rivera
HR: Carl Everett (CHW)
Attendance: 40,569
Time of Game: 3 hours, 11 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Bronx, NY
First Game: April 18, 1923
Capacity: 57,480
Type: Open
Surface: Grass

2003 was the first year I took a long summer trip with the specific purpose of going to baseball games in different stadiums. The trip took me all over the northeast part of the country, into Canada and back to the Midwest. Over the course of a week, I got to see a couple of the most historic baseball cathedrals, visited some awesome cities and even threw in a stop at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Since there was more to the trip than just baseball, I'll write a little bit about my other activities in these reviews.

My buddy Pete was nice enough to accompany me for the whole trip. I think the final stop at Notre Dame for the football season opener was the clincher. We were able to meet up with several other friends along the way. The combination of the stadiums, cities and friends probably made this my favorite of all the baseball trips I have taken.

The first stop on the 2003 trip was Yankee Stadium in New York. We left DC early on a Thursday morning and arrived in the city in plenty of time for the afternoon matinee between the Yankees and White Sox. We took the George Washington Bridge across the Hudson River into the Bronx and parked in a garage right next to the stadium. We were probably fortunate with our timing, but I was very surprised at how easily accessible the stadium was by car, and clearly by train too since the tracks run right by the park.

The outside of Yankee Stadium isn't terribly impressive and shows the park's age a bit. However, once I stepped inside the gates, I would not have guessed by the looks of it that I was in an 80 year old stadium. Clearly the renovations done to the park in the '70s modernized the park a great deal. Especially impressive was the lack of obstructed view seats, a staple of the old ballparks.

Regrettably, I did not go out to Monument Park in left field, although as a Yankee hater, I probably would not have appreciated it as much as the Yankees fans do. I was able to see a little of that area from my seat down the left field line though. The other impressive aspect of the park is its massive size. The enormous upper deck surrounding a good portion of the stadium is quite a sight when filled with fans. The stadium holds over 57,000 people. It was the first three tiered baseball stadium. The outfield area is enclosed with signage and scoreboards, topped by the traditional white frieze, which ran the length of the roof of the stadium before the renovations.

The short porch in right field is certainly inviting to left handed hitters, however the park plays pretty fairly for hitters and pitchers. The left field power alley is very deep, but not nearly as bad as it used to be when the current Monument Park was part of the outfield. There aren't many cheap home runs hit to left, except possibly directly down the line.

Our seats were in the lower level, down near the left field corner, but in the back of the section. The tickets were actually marked as "obstructed view", but I'm not exactly sure why. The only obstruction was the deck above, which meant we could not see balls hit in the air, however I'd much rather have that sort of obstruction than a pole blocking my view of the plate like they have at Fenway and Wrigley.

As for the game, this was one of the most frustrating White Sox games I have ever attended. Die hard Sox fans like myself might remember this game as the one that sealed Jerry Manuel's fate to lose his job as Sox manager at the end of the season. They were in a heated division race in late August, holding a 2 1/2 game lead over the Twins thanks to demolishing the first place Yankees in the first two games of this series. The Sox had an opportunity for a huge road sweep on this afternoon and could have pitched staff ace Mark Buehrle on full rest. Instead, Manuel elected to keep the rotation in tact and went with rookie Neal Cotts who had been wild and ineffective in his first three career starts that season. This left Buehrle to face the pathetic Tigers the following night. Starting Cotts against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium was a disaster waiting to happen.

Well, it played out exactly as I expected. The Sox scored two runs off Mike Mussina in the top of the first, but the lead would not last long. Cotts only faced eight hitters. Seven of them reached base. Here is how the bottom of the first started: double, walk, walk, single, lineout, walk, walk. That was all she wrote for Cotts. 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 H in 1/3 IP. The Yankees held their 5-2 lead until Carl Everett connected for a solo home run in the fourth. The Sox put the heat on the Yankees in the 8th inning too. Two more runs cut the Yankees lead to 6-5.

The Yankees added an insurance run in the bottom half of the 8th on a single by Alfonso Soriano. John Flaherty tried to score a second run on the hit, but was thrown out at the plate, the second time he was thrown out at home in the game. Mariano Rivera shut things down in the 9th for yet another save.

There is no doubt in my mind the Sox would have won this game had Buehrle pitched. Mussina was not sharp, but was able to get the win thanks to the gift runs the Yankees got in the first against a pitcher who clearly didn't belong out there. The wheels fell off for the Sox after this game as they faded to a distant second place finish and Manuel was fired (thankfully leading to the hiring of Ozzie Guillen). Meanwhile, the Yankees won another division championship, beat the Red Sox in the ALCS but lost to the Marlins in the 2003 World Series.

I'm glad I was able to make it to Yankee Stadium, though this was the only game I saw there prior to it closing this past year. The most impressive part of Yankee Stadium isn't so much the park itself, but the knowledge of all the history that was made there. I was surprised and impressed with the modern feel of the very old ballpark, however I'm sure their new park will be much more comfortable and luxurious. I plan on going back up to New York this upcoming summer to check out the new stadium.

In retrospect, I bet the Yankees wish they could have rethought the program cover below, touting Jason Giambi's "modern muscle".

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Next stadium: Shea Stadium, New York

Jacobs Field (Progressive Field)

Detroit Tigers @ Cleveland Indians
July 26, 2002

Tigers 8, Indians 5

W: Brian Powell
L: Charles Nagy
S: Oscar Henriquez
HR: Bobby Higginson (DET), Jim Thome 2 (CLE)
Attendance: 38,738
Time of Game: 2 hours, 58 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Cleveland, OH
First Game: April 4, 1994
Capacity: 43,368
Type: Open
Surface: Grass

The last stop on my ballpark tour in 2002 was Jacobs Field in Cleveland. All of the 2002 stops have been a little difficult to write about this far removed, however, this one was the hardest of all. Unlike the other four parks, this game was the only time I have every been to Jacobs Field. So not only do I not recall a lot about the game, I only have a vague recollection of the stadium itself. Hopefully I'll make it back there again soon, because it is a very nice park. I decided to attend this game since I was in the Cleveland area for a wedding the following day.

Not coincidentally, the transformation of the Cleveland Indians from the laughingstock of the league to a perennial contender occurred right around the time they moved from the "Mistake on the Lake", Cleveland Municipal Stadium, to Jacobs Field (renamed to Progressive Field prior to the 2008 season). The Indians grew accustomed to playing in front of tiny crowds at the old stadium, but that changed drastically. From June of 1995 through April of 2001, the Indians had 455 consecutive sellouts, a MLB record that was recently broken by the Red Sox. During that span, the Indians won five consecutive division championships ('95-'99) and two American League pennants ('95 and '97). The Indians don't draw quite that well any longer, however the franchise is still in significantly better shape than it was prior to 1994.

The Jake is located near downtown Cleveland in the same complex as the Cavaliers arena. It is one of several downtown sports complexes in the country. The open design of the outfield provides a view of the downtown skyline from many of the seats, much like Detroit and several other parks. The most recognizable part of the park is left field. Above the very tall left field wall is a huge section of bleachers. The wall is somewhat reminiscent of the Green Monster in Fenway, but not nearly as large. Behind the bleachers is an enormous scoreboard. It was the largest free-standing scoreboard in the country until Nationals Park in DC exceeded the mark last year.

There are a number of places along the concourse, particularly in the outfield, for people to stand and watch the game. The layout of the seating area is quite unique. Three levels of boxes and suites stretch around a good portion of the park. Since there is no intermediate seating level in most areas, the upper deck seats are closer to the field than in some other parks. The club level seats on the first base side look like great seats. However, the seats in the third level in right field are a very long ways from the action.

I sat in one of the last rows of the lower level in right field. It would have been a great place to be if it was raining because the second level completely covers the last several rows. But I was just as glad there was no rain this night.

This was an ugly game for Indians pitchers, especially starter Charles Nagy. Nagy was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning after surrendering a dozen hits and six earned runs. The Tigers scored two in the top of the first on a double by the previously mentioned (Miller Park review) Italian sausage abuser, Randall Simon. Most of the Tigers damage was done in the fourth inning. Nagy surrendered five consecutive hits in the inning before being relieved. Robert Fick's double gave the Tigers a 6-0 lead.

The Indians got back in the game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth off Tigers starter Brian Powell. The teams swapped solo home runs in the sixth (Bobby Higginson for the Tigers and Jim Thome for the Indians) to make it 7-4. The last run of the game came via Thome's second home run of the game in the bottom of the 8th. The 470 foot bomb to right field might have been the longest home run I have ever seen in person. It sailed into the seats a level above me. Oscar Henriquez retired the Indians in order in the 9th to pick up his second, and final, career save. The Tigers won 8-5. Detroit tallied 19 hits, including seven doubles. Their 3-4-5 hitters (Higginson, Simon, Fick) each had four hits.

Neither of these teams were very good in 2002. The Tigers win was just their 39th of the season (with 62 losses). The Indians dropped to a disappointing 44-57 for the defending AL Central Champions. Jim Thome's two home runs gave him 30 for the season. He caught fire the rest of the year and finished with a career high 52 home runs. This was his final season with the Indians before heading to Philadelphia via free agency.

I definitely want to make it to another game in Cleveland soon. If for no other reason, so I can replace the awful photos below. Leaving the ballpark that night, I dropped my camera, exposing the film to light. Thus, almost all the photos I took were ruined. The two below were the only ones not completely lost. I suppose I could replace them with photos other people took, but I'd rather make all the photos personal shots. This led me to purchase a digital camera prior to my 2003 trip.

This wraps up my 2002 tour. It was spread out over two months and a wide geographic area. This was the only year I didn't take a trip specifically for the purpose of going to baseball game(s). 2003 was a completely different experience as you will soon see.

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Next stadium: Yankee Stadium, New York