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The Accidental Baseball Fan
In 1992 I attended the All Star Game in San Diego. At the time, I admit to not having much appreciation for the game of baseball. We had excellent seats; it was a fabulous day; the stadium was
packed; but I longed for the end of the game so I could escape the crowds and baseball in general. This is the national pastime? I had been to other regular season baseball games at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium, but I understood an All Star game was a special event. When I came home to NJ after this trip and shared the fact that I had been to an All Star game, people were duly impressed. This unexpected reaction made me curious – maybe there was more to this baseball thing than I realized.
Over the course of the last 15 years, I have attended countless baseball games all over the US. Anytime we traveled to a city where there was a major league team or a minor league team, we got
tickets for a game. It really didn’t matter who the home team was or who they were playing – we always got tickets. Initially, these baseball games were a dreaded part of my travel experience, but gradually I developed an interest and now find the ambiance of a major league stadium intoxicating. Sometimes we purchase our tickets in advance, but we often just take our chances at the box office on game day. No tickets available at the box office? No problem! There is usually a supply of eager scalpers ready to assist you with your ticket purchase on game day. On a trip to Cleveland, we found the scalpers were charging a premium because Pedro Martinez, then of the Boston Red Sox, was the opposing starting pitcher.
The truth is that I am not so much a fan of the game of baseball as I am a fan of traveling around the US and experiencing the sights and sounds of the various baseball venues. Every ball park
is unique: from the ivy-covered wall of Chicago’s Wrigley Field with its old manually operated scoreboard, to the brand new granite façade of the PNC Park in Pittsburgh, to the circus atmosphere within
the confines of Tiger Stadium in Detroit. I am completely fascinated by the enormous domed stadiums like Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix (cool off in the swimming pool), Miller Park in Milwaukee (you’ll
love the sausage races), and the spectacular Skydome in Toronto. Too hot, too cold, rain or snow in the forecast? These domed marvels open and close as dictated by the local weather. From our seats in
Busch Stadium in St. Louis (2005 is the last season for this showplace), we could see the city’s famous landmark, the gleaming stainless steel arch, reaching towards the sky – an especially awesome sight in the evening. Of course Yankee Stadium is a special place for all baseball fans, and if the opportunity presents itself, you must see Monument Park. This park within the park is the monument to all the Yankee greats like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig and so many more.
I’m mainly interested in the visual experience of baseball, since I’m the photographer for our road trips. My significant other, Fred Burg*, is the real baseball fan. Having grown up in the
Bronx, Fred is a life-long Yankee fan and lover of all things baseball. He can give you the play-by-play of every game; I can describe the architecture of the stadiums and show you my photos of their
scoreboards (I photograph the scoreboard in every ballpark we visit – another fascination for me).
I was lucky to have attended a World Series game during the Subway Series of 2000. It was the infamous game two of the series between the Yankees and the Mets where Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens
tossed a piece of a broken bat at Mike Piazza. An especially memorable baseball moment occurred when Cal Ripken played his last game in 2001 against the Yankees (before his retirement) in New York. I was
unprepared for the emotional impact of this on the fans and on Cal himself. In fact, surprisingly, I found myself sobbing along with everyone else in the stadium while Cal gave his farewell speech.
Emotions run high in baseball and not only in the ballpark. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY is brimming over with emotions. I went there expecting to see “a tribute museum” but
quickly discovered the entire town is a monument to all things baseball. The exhibits in the Hall of Fame brought out many emotions. I was warmed and teary-eyed by the nostalgia of many the exhibits and
got a great chuckle out of seeing You’re in the Hall of Fame Charley Brown! Since the late Peanuts cartoonist, Charles Schultz, was an avid baseball fan, many of his comic strips reflected this theme. Schultz said he considered baseball to be a metaphor for life. After my visit to Cooperstown, I finally understood he was right. No wonder this is the national pastime.
So our journey continues – to visit every city with a major league baseball team and see as many minor league games and stadiums as possible along the way. It has taken us 16 long years to get to this point, and the end of this road trip is nowhere in sight. But I’m not complaining; thanks to baseball, I’m seeing America!
Notes by Andrea Tarr
*UPDATE 4/2010: These notes were written many years ago, and Fred Burg and I have not been “significant others” for several years. As you can see from reading my notes, he had a major influence on my interest in baseball and for that I’m grateful to him and, therefore, wanted to include these notes. Thanks, Fred.
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