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I’ve noticed recently I’ve had a small influx of followers on the Stadium Obsessive Instagram who are groundhopping in the world of baseball - so hello and thank you! You’ve inspired me to write about my baseball adventures in some memorable stadiums.
As I understand it, in the US at least, baseball is as much of a sporting religion as football is in the UK. As an Aussie, it’s not a sport I’ve ever been particularly close to - but as a cricket fan, I get the concept of ‘hit the ball and run’, and know what an innings is - so with that knowledge, I arrived at baseball prepared.
I remember playing different baseball video games as a kid, and watching movies like A League of their Own and Field of Dreams, then Bull Durham and Moneyball when I got a bit older. Like all major sports, modern day baseball seems heavily affected by commercialisation and money, but similarly to football fans in the UK, a lot of Americans follow teams steeped in history and have those same matchday rituals that their families have practiced for generations.
So in recent years when I’ve had the opportunity to travel to the States, I made sure I caught a ball game each time. There’s a stereotype that people go to baseball and just get drunk because the game is so long and boring, and if you can afford to drink $18 beers for hours at a time, then go for your life. My experience was a little different to that.
Baseball’s Last Dive Bar - Oakland Coliseum
The story of the Oakland Athletics (the A’s) is a bit depressing (and I’m not an expert, so bear with me). After their glory years in the 70s and 80s, they didn’t have much major success and more recently, seemed to be getting beaten pretty easily, pretty regularly.
After a long drawn out process, Major League Baseball club owners all voted unanimously for the club to move from Oakland (across the bay from San Francisco), to Las Vegas (across the desert in another state). Opposition from fans was strong but seemed to fall on purposely deaf ears, and even the Oakland Mayor deemed that the discussions around the A’s staying in Oakland were purely being used as a negotiation tactic by the team’s ownership to get a better deal for their move to Sin City. So the A’s are now in Sacramento purgatory before moving to Nevada in a few years, and the Coliseum will likely be demolished.
So that sucks.
In August 2023, I did a quick stopover in San Francisco between Sydney and London. San Francisco Giants were playing away and there were no other sports on at the time. Oakland Coliseum was only a BART ride away though, and the A’s were playing Kansas City Royals.
I grabbed a ticket online, stressing over where in the stadium I was going to sit (as it turned out - I could’ve sat anywhere I wanted). The game was at 1pm on a Wednesday, and bitterness over the proposed move as well as the team’s poor form meant a meagre crowd.
I’d heard a lot of good things about Oakland including a fantastic beer and food scene, great parks, and all the stuff that make an area worth visiting… and I’m sad to say I saw none of it. Once the train crossed the gigantic Bay Bridge and passed the huge container port, it seemed to be street after street of tents, RVs, trash and debris. It was genuinely confronting but people sleeping rough is a reality that can’t be ignored. Plenty of locals were on the train, so it was only my preconception that made me feel uncomfortable, and that’s on me - but I absolutely would’ve benefited from having a local show me some of the parts of Oakland that would have given it a better impression in my mind.
Arriving at the stadium and realising it was going to be a long way from being a sell out, the staff couldn’t have been friendlier - offering to show me to a seat in the shade to avoid getting cooked. I’d like to think these people were looked after when the team moved but something tells me that might be wishful thinking.
Despite the lack of occasion, this was my first ball game as an adult and I just fell in love with it.
The National Anthem was sung with the gusto and vocal acrobatics of someone performing in front of 200,000 people, let alone the 2,000 or so that actually turned up. I was lucky enough to see all the tropes that Hollywood had taught me about - guys walking the stands selling hot dogs, people catching foul balls, the 7th Innings stretch - Kansas City even hit a couple of homers for me. On top of that, the people around me in the crowd were just so incredibly warm and welcoming - which I found everywhere I went in the States (I’m going to put it out there but maybe the media’s portrayal of every day American’s is a little bit fucking skewed).
There was one guy who did remind me that English football fans have a little more nuance with their chants though, as he shouted ‘HEEEYYY GAAAARRRCIIIIAAAA, YOUUU’RE AN IIIIDDIIIIOOOOOTTT!!!’ at a Kansas City player who definitely would have heard him.
The fans I spoke to were stunned that an Aussie from London was at Oakland, and they truly won a fan for their team that day (even if that fandom was short-lived, because I’ll be fucked if I’m supporting a team from Vegas). I’ll still wear my Oakland A’s baseball cap with pride for the great memories I was afforded that day.
The Grudge Match - New York Yankees v Boston Red Sox
Some time in 2023, Metallica announced a tour and I wanted to go and see them somewhere that I’d never been. Back in the early 90s, they had brought out a live album called ‘Live Shit: Binge and Purge’, recorded in Mexico City. The crowd on the recording sounded unreal, so I decided Mexico City was going to be the place I would visit… in late 2024. Because that’s how early gig tickets are sold these days.
A trip that was originally planned as a few days in CDMX grew arms and legs and ultimately began with my wife and I fulfilling a dream to visit New York City.
6 days and 160,000 steps later, we made sure we packed each day to the brim - visiting every place we’d ever wanted to see. Mostly Sex and the City filming locations for her and bars, burger joints and Lower East Side hardcore punk spots for me.
We bought $35 sandwiches from Katz’s and saw Antoni from Queer Eye walking his dog. Trip of a lifetime.
Of course, with any trip I book, I look at what sports are on, and as it turned out, the Yankees were playing the Red Sox which I discovered is like the Manchester United vs Liverpool of baseball.
I half expected the new Yankee Stadium to be like any brand new, modern ground - a soulless bowl that replaced a charming piece of history.
I have to say (with the caveat that I never visited the old stadium), I was pleasantly surprised.
At the raised Subway station over River Avenue in The Bronx, the gilded lettering of the stadium greets you at eye level. The external facade of the ground, with it’s long arches, could be mistaken for a state library, a town hall or a fancy old bank - and in fact, just inside these arches is the Great Hall, showcasing the many legendary players that have worn the famous pinstripes. Inside, there is a frieze (like a picket fence hanging from the roof - I’ve just learnt that word) along one of the main stands which mimics the one that was in place at the old stadium - so it seems to this untrained eye that some attention to detail was paid by the architects, and they’ve built an impressive replacement.
Given the ground was pretty much at capacity, it was relatively easy to get a drink at the Stan’s Sports Bar before the game, but getting into the stadium took a little longer, with slow moving queues well before the first pitch was thrown. We made sure we got inside with plenty of time to go and visit Monument Park, which sits at centre field - a memorial garden which pays tributes to the best of the best Yankees, like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Don Mattingley’s sideburns, amongst others. It closes 45 minutes before the first pitch and it was busy. The staff though, again, were fantastic - making sure they got as many people in and out as quickly as possible so that nobody missed out. It’s truly a unique feature that I would suggest is a must-see on any visit to the stadium.
Being a Saturday lunch time game, the atmosphere was great, but a football derby it was not - friendly banter was about as vicious as it got between the two sets of fans, though admittedly we were sitting on the opposite side of the field to where the bleachers were, where the rowdier fans tend to watch the game.
So the night before we went to this grudge match - Aaron Judge hit a grand slam (a home run with bases loaded), to take the win for the Yankees. We were up the top of 30 Rock and we could see the lights of the stadium from a distance, which got me keen for the game the next day, and I thought we’d be in for an absolute barnburner.
I guess it’s appropriate that the term ‘curve ball’ is used to describe an unexpected situation. Yankees went up 1-0 early, and we thought it’d be a tight, competitive match…
The Red Sox won 7-1. The previous night’s hero, Judge, had a shocker too. He struck out without swinging with his first at bat, and managed one hit in 4 visits to the plate. According to the commentators and post match discussions, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole seemingly didn’t want to face Boston’s Rafael Devers and intentionally walked him early, presumably due to a lack of confidence (or to the laymen - not wanting to get smacked out of the park). I also found it odd that after a thorough demolition, ‘New York, New York’ by Ol’ Blue Eyes himself was playing on repeat after the game - though the Yankees have recently announced they won’t be doing that any more as the players are sick of hearing it.
So it was an unusual game and disappointing for the home fans - but we were at Yankee Stadium. We didn’t care one bit - we were ticking things off our bucket lists left, right and centre that week, and Yankee Stadium was well and truly on mine. I visited again later in the week for a New York City FC game… I’ll start spreading that news a bit later down the track.
RBI: Random Baseball Instances
I’ve encountered baseball on multiple occasions through my life and, while it wasn’t until I went to Oakland that I actually became a fan, it has somehow always been a significant memory.
Sydney - 2000 Olympics
In 2000, the Olympics came to Sydney. I was 14, and my parents were offered some free tickets to South Korea vs Cuba at the Sydney Showground, which my mate and I were happy to take off their hands. These teams ended up with the Bronze and Silver medals respectively.
Cuba had won the Pan American games and were gold medal favourites, and our tickets were right next to the South Korean fans - so we decided to cheer for Cuba, spending the next 3 or 4 hours being obnoxious little pricks about it. Cuba won 6-5 though South Korea were leading for the majority of the match, and the Korean fans took all our unfounded gloating (for a country neither of us have still ever been to) like champions.
Gimme a C, eh? Gimme an N, eh? Gimme a D, eh?
I have a cousin who lives in Toronto and in 2001, whilst on a family trip to North America, he showed us around the city. Getting peckish, he took us to the Hard Rock Cafe which was located inside the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre). Toronto Blue Jays were playing Texas Rangers at the time, so I got to see my first ever Major League Baseball game, while being in awe over Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix’s guitars and eating a burger and fries (probably). The Hard Rock isn’t there any more, but I found a Facebook post with people reminiscing about it.
The London Series
Living in the UK affords me a lot of opportunities to see events that wouldn’t have made it to Australia, and there is a real hunger for American sports like NFL and baseball in England. In 2024, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies played the MLB London Series - 2 regular season games that actually count towards the teams standings, played across the ditch. While I’m normally opposed to teams not playing their games at their home stadiums, teams in the MLB play about 700 games a week so I think it’s fair if they can spare one or two for us over here.
There was a takeover in Trafalgar Square with batting cages and other pop-up experiences, and the London Olympic Stadium hosted the matches. The Mets were in poor form, and the first game was won easily, 7-2 by the Phillies. The Mets did take the second in an absolute thriller that finished 6-5.
I ate a box of nachos that was about a metre long and drank beer out of a plastic baseball bat which all felt very American, and it was a special feeling being able to watch even more Major League Baseball in my adopted home city.
The Wishlist
Unfortunately none of these games have made it onto my stadium list (though the stadiums have if I’ve watched football there) - but having watched the MLB a bit more closely, some stadiums have really stood out as must visit venues. Wrigley Field and Fenway Park for the rich history, Oriole Park in Baltimore because the warehouse alongside the field looks pretty sweet. Minnesota, San Francisco and Cleveland all look great on TV too - to be honest, I thought I had my work cut out for me with football stadiums in the UK, and baseball has opened up a whole new world of places to visit.
Of course, I can’t count Canada out either, and seeing the Rogers Centre with the roof open, with the CN Tower looming over it, looks like a site to behold - and I decided against going to a game at the Tokyo Dome when I was in Japan, because it would’ve taken up too much of the 2 days we were spending there.
So, as always, there’s plenty of places I need to go - and the USA really takes the cake for gigantic, impressive ballparks. I look forward to the next time I make it back over there and experience everything there is to offer from America’s pastime.
Red Sox fan here, and I've been to Fenway a number of times, most recently in June this year, albeit only for the tour that time. But Fenway is a must, as you say. I did the Rogers Centre on the same trip, and really liked that, but then again I've nothing bad to say at all about anything in Toronto. I've done Yankee Stadium and the Trop too, both watching the Sox. Oh, and the first London series too!