For those who don't remember, I spent a week in July with my brother on a baseball stadium tour of Detroit, Cincy (twice), St. Louis, and Kansas City. Here are my reports with a few photos thrown in.

Sunday July 16: Detroit vs. Kansas City (Comerica)

The drive to Detroit was very smooth, at least until we got into the city. We then spent ONE HOUR going ONE MILE, because everyone in the entire freakin city got off at the same exit to get to Comerica. Very poor planning, Detroit. The stadium itself is wonderful. Great sightlines everywhere, attractive scoreboard and batters eye, and statues of Tigers greats on the outfield concourse. The OF concourse is great. All along, you get a great view of the game and the bullpens, and you can walk under the OF fountains to beat the heat (and it was hot--almost 100 degrees!). The game itself was remarkable in that the least likely result of the season happened--the Royals beat the Tigers! KC nickeled and dimed their way to 9 runs and their bullpen "held off" a late inning charge. However, the Tigers were fielding a typical Sunday lineup, with Omar Freakin Infante hitting third. Marcus Thames had 2 HR and 5 RBI for Detroit--both homers were no-doubters and the packed house made a lot of noise. Joey Gathright of all people was the star for KC. All in all, a great park and a decent game. My only complaint is the overpriced concessions. 8 bucks for a beer? No thanks. Here's a pic from our seats:

Tuesday July 18: Reds vs. Mets (GABP)

This was the Beltran grand slam game. 'Nuff said. We booed Narron lustily from the moon deck right underneath the smokestacks. Before the game, we dined in the Machine Room for the first time. The onion rings are by far the best thing on the menu. I love the "little pink" or "no pink" menu note for the burgers. Not a bad place to hang out before the game. It was my 5th or 6th trip to the smallpark, but my first time sitting in the moon deck. I enjoyed the game quite a bit out there. Good view of the scoreboard and close to the outfield action (granted, we were in the 4th row). GABP is certainly a nice park, but it doesn't take your breath away like Fenway or Wrigley. The best part about it is the Reds Hall of Fame. Here's my favorite pic from the game:

Wednesday July 19: Cards vs. Braves (Busch Redux)

Nothing like watching my two least favorite NL teams battle it out. My brother wore his "Cardinals take it in their Pujols" shirt and we both wore Reds caps. We didn't get too much crap for it, although an usher told my brother to turn his shirt inside out because it is "suggestive". You're damn right it's suggestive! It suggests the Cardinals suck! Anyway, this night was notable not for the game, but for the GIGANTIC thunderstorm that swept through St. Louis not one minute after the national anthem. The first part of the storm was a wall of wind, which apparently gusted up to 90 MPH. Anything that wasn't nailed down went flying around the concourses, including vendor carts and tents. We retreated to a small building covering the elevators on the upper deck so we wouldn't get impaled. Then the rains came. Biblical rains. Our shelter turned into a wind tunnel and soaked us, so we gave up and went downstairs, where the other 35,000 smarter people were. Carts were smashing up against the front gates thanks to the wind, and with every crash came a roar from the crowd. The wind was so strong it ripped a hole in the tarp, and it took them an hour and a half to clean up home plate. They played the whole game though, which ended up being a Redbird blowout. Man, I hate the Cardinals. The new Busch is fantastic though. The view of the arch makes it quintessential St. Louis, the scoreboard is one of the best I've seen, and the sightlines are phenomenal. It just has that extra "wow" factor that GABP seems to lack. The lower concourse is a bit nondescript, however, and the concessions are very expensive (7.75 for a beer!). The Cards call it "Baseball Heaven". I wouldn't go that far, but it's certainly in my top 5. Here are two pics--one before the storm, and one taken 30 minutes later!

Thursday July 20: Kansas City vs. LA Angels (Kauffman)

After 3 new parks, we went retro 70s style in KC. Kauffman is, in fact, a rather beautiful park. the curvature of the upper deck is very elegant, the logo-shaped scoreboard is charming, and the waterfalls and fountains make for a very pleasant background. Even better was that thanks to a contact in Cincinnati, we ended up with player's comp tickets (from Brandon Duckworth!) behind home plate. Free Royals baseball! Quite the bargain, I have to say. Of course we were filled up with KC BBQ (Fiorella's Jack Stack from the south side), so we didn't partake in any of the cheap concessions. However, we did witness another Royals victory! It was a seesaw game, and once again, the Royals nickeled and dimed their way to victory. The crowd of about 12,000 was into it the whole game, and they were cheering loudest when the Royals got to 11 hits (12 hits meant free Dunkin Donuts). These were truly die-hard fans. The ones who are there truly love the Royals. It's hard not to feel for them. I'd like to return one day with the upper deck filled up. However, with not a single Royal in the lineup with double digit HR it's easy to see why they stay away. One more note: before the BBQ and the game, we visited the American Negro League Museum. It's smaller than I thought it would be, but it is filled with great artifacts and a few good films as well. Definitely a must-see for any baseball fan if you're ever in the KC area. Here's my favorite pic from the KC game:

And finally, Saturday July 22 Reds v. Brewers

This was Joe Mays final appearance for the Reds, thank goodness. I almost felt bad for him as he exited, because he had one good inning and seemed fired up about it. But note my use of "almost". Stormy had his first bad outing in a while and surrendered the lead. We didn't get it back until Freel's second homer of the game in the 8th. Everyday El Guapo came in for a relatively uneventful save, and sent the crowd home happy. Typical rollercoaster Reds game. We were in great seats, about 20 rows back from the first base dugout. My brother and I almost caught a foul ball, but we didn't call for it and it bounced off both our hands. No matter what he says, it was his fault. This game was notable for the 4 Skyline coneys I ate. Best ballpark food EVER.

Ok, I'm spent. If I think of anything else I'll post it in the comments later.