2011 MLB Road Trip: Chicago (Twice), Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee

I like Pittsburgh Pirates caps.

They are a lot like baseball. They’ve been around forever, they are of simple design and still prominent in today’s society and they carry many meanings.

The team has worn many hats since becoming the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1912: the blue-and-red design in the ‘40s, the sailor-type in the ‘70s and, recently, a reverse color design with a black P and a yellow background.

However, the most ubiquitously worn design is the simplest—it’s a yellow “P” with a black background.

The cap is worn by Pirates aficionados, naturally, but also indicates gang affiliation (Latin Kings: black-and-yellow, “P” for People Nation) and are used by others as a fashion statement.

Similarly, baseball has been around forever. It originated before the 1900s.

Baseball is of simple design and yet is still prominent in today’s society.

A person throws a ball to a designated area, another hits it and runs around the bases. It is slow-paced, it takes many tries to hit a round ball with a round bat, but still serves as America’s pastime in an instant-gratification society.

Baseball has many different meanings.

For some it is a leisurely break after work. For others it is a liaison to the past—they root for their grandfather’s team.

For the die-hards it is a way of life. It represents society: the haves (Yankees/Red Sox) versus the have-nots (A’s). It represents demographics: north (Cubs/Giants) versus the south (White Sox/Dodgers). It represents changing times: Phillies (est. 1883) versus Marlins (est. 1993).

My goal is to visit every park. I want to meet many different people, discover different locations and understand why, in our instant-gratification society full of fair-weather fans, an everyday game that requires a large operating cost can thrive in America.

On June 21^st I left with a friend of mine on a seven-day road trip. He left Cleveland on the 25^th, but I visited a friend in Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee during my travels.

Although filling up my parents' 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser may have cost me my senior year at Santa Clara (I may have exhausted the premium gas line at a Holiday in Eau Claire, Wisconsin), the drive through America’s heartland was breathtaking and all five ballparks provided timeless memories.

The following are five locations I visited on a road trip this summer.

June 22: Chicago, Wrigley Field

I have been to Wrigley before, but it is always a blessing to visit this park.

It is essentially a baseball shrine. Built in 1914, this is where Babe Ruth called his shot, Sammy Sosa hit an apartment window on Waveland Ave. and an intoxicated person threw a beer on Shane Victorino from the bleachers.

Wrigley dogs are amazing. The onions are grilled to perfection and topped off well with a $7.00 Old Style. There is no contest: They are the greatest processed meat in the world.

While I’ve grown accustomed to viewing instant replays on a Jumbotron and urinating in an individual stall (although the Metrodome did feature the trough as well), it is wonderful to go to a park full of spirited fans who still support a team that is well under .500.

That is my favorite aspect of Wrigley: Cubs fans do not go to the park because it is trendy to support the team. They go because of the history that took place there and because they are proud to be from Chicago…

And, to be honest, because it is probably an excuse to get drunk when they should be working.

The Astros/Cubs game I saw was only one played during the day that Friday.

June 23: Cleveland, Jacobs Field (Rained Out)

Going to a rained-out game in Cleveland (my friend and I stayed until they called it at 9:00 p.m.) may sound as exciting as watching the Cavs post-LeBron, but there was a charm to the team’s festivities that kept a myriad of fans in the covered seats.

The Jake—unlike the Indians, who have Walgreen’s written on their foul poles, I’m not going to give into corporate pressure—played cartoons (Peanuts, Looney Toons), a music video (Taylor Swift, Story of Us) and Who’s on First? on the big screen side-by-side with other MLB contests.

The cartoons, which came on first, were a fitting rainy-day substitute for baseball. They are a link to childhood, like baseball, something I enjoy both at 12 and 21. Unfortunately for me, however, Marvin the Martian, my favorite character, was not featured in the Looney Toons episode.

Peanuts reminded me of home. Charles Schulz is a Minnesota native and his characters are displayed all over Minneapolis.

Also, the juxtaposition of Taylor Swift and Abbott and Costello was quite hilarious.

Story of Us was produced in 2008. Who’s on First? debuted in the 1930s.

One features a misunderstanding beautiful country starlet and her nerdy classmate (who wears the same glasses as the doctor in the CertainDri commercials). The other features a misunderstanding between two balding middle-aged men.

As soon as the digital clock in left field struck 9:00, the game was called. 

June 24: Pittsburgh, PNC Park

Pittsburgh was my favorite stop on the trip.

The ballpark is amazing. The scoreboard is strategically placed in left field, allowing a great view of the Allegheny River, the Roberto Clemente Bridge and downtown Pittsburgh from the outfield.

Limestone (imported from Minnesota) is used in the building’s façade and the steel truss structures are little details that go a long way and no part of the park feels enclosed. The river can be viewed from virtually anywhere on the right field side.

Another unique feature of the ballpark is the information displayed for the pitcher, which not only displays name, number and pitch count, but also where the ball crossed the strike zone (i.e. horizontal one, vertical minus-two).

Additionally, Yuengling, a lager that is prepared in a family-owned brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, is an outstanding beer that rivals Wrigley’s Old Style for best ballpark beer. It tastes like Rolling Rock and, unlike in other ballparks, the vendors let purchasers keep the can.

Ultimately, however, it is the people of Pittsburgh that make the ballpark wonderful.

They have some polishing up to do on their chants (the team hasn’t given them much to root for in the past 18 years, but at least they don’t chant D-fense like in Oakland), but they know how to create a great atmosphere.

The service at Jerome Bettis’ 36 Bar was amazing. The vendor who served us Yuengling’s pride in the locally brewed beer radiated from him as gave us a brief history lesson on the brewery. The people sitting around us took interest in our trip.

Overall, PNC Park definitely lives up to the hype.

June 25: Cleveland, Jacobs Field

The second trip to Cleveland was more exciting. I actually got to see a baseball game.

By this time, my friend from Minnesota had already left (he had to work), but I got to see the game with a friend of mine from nearby Shaker Heights, Ohio.

His ball team certainly has a great place to call home.

The Jake has parking lots that are connected to the park, allowing fans to move in and out easily and view the game from the corridors. There is an enclosed patio that allows fans to move around and sit in two-person tables while watching the game. Open to the public is a food pavilion in right field that offers a wide variety of ballpark eatables.

While PNC reminded me more of AT&T Park in San Francisco (mostly because it is on the water), the Jake reminds me more of Target Field.

Downtown Cleveland surrounds the stadium. Although the city is aging, it looks picturesque behind the scoreboard—which has Indians written across the top, a similar design to the board in Target Field. Behind home plate is a great view of the bridges leading into the city and the rolling hills full of lush foliage.

There are many small vendors on the upper and lower level that offer a variety of food, if an individual does not want to eat at the food pavilion.

The main problem with the Jake is the cost. Tap beer is $7.75 (about what I paid for my ticket). Honey Brown, the ballpark’s signature beer, is as tasty as it gets, but costs $10. There is a value meal at the pavilion in right field for $14, but beer is not included.

Overall, the Jake is probably the most underrated ballpark in MLB. I came in having heard little about it and, save for the outrageous prices, had a great experience.

June 26: Chicago, Comiskey Park

After Wrigley, the Jake and PNC, Comiskey is a letdown.

Built in 1991, it is older than many of the “new-era” ballparks and, despite extensive renovations, remains one of the least attractive.

It is built in an accessible location, along the Dan Ryan Expressway, meaning that virtually anyone entering Chicago sees the stadium and its "2005 World Champions" banner and across the bridge from the Sox-35 station on the L.

While the South Side is sketchier than Wrigleyville, there is a beautiful view of the city from the park. However, it is blocked by the giant metal structures that hold up the lights and the Jumbotron (which has gaudy pinwheels adorned above it).

The three advertisements, two scoreboards and Jumbotron in the outfield make the ballpark feel smaller than Wrigley, the Jake and PNC, which have very little blocking the view from the field.

One scoreboard uses yellow lighting, making it appear outdated rather than vintage, and many of the lights were out on the lower left corner.

The Xfinity porch in left field looks like the best place to watch the game. Fans there are not distracted by the outfield boards, but it also means the best seat in the park faces towards home plate rather than towards the city.

There were two significant events that took place at the Sox/Tigers game.

First, Adam Dunn hit a home run in his first at-bat. The guy hits around .160, so anytime he makes contact with the ball (read: does his job), let alone puts one in the seats, it’s a treat.

Just for safe measure: He struck out in his next three at-bats.

Secondly, Justin Verlander pitched. The guy honestly hits at least 97 with each fastball. Unfortunately, the pitch speed indicator is difficult to find in the ballpark (it is located in the upper-left corner of the left-most scoreboard).

He pitched eight innings throwing heat that I could feel in the cheap seats.

June 27: Milwaukee, Miller Park

Miller Park is practical, but not an attractive park.

The retractable roof is great; it allowed us to see a game in the rain, and is not as heinous as the Metrodome’s white bubble, but the park feels very cramped.

Unlike Wrigley, the Jake, PNC and Comiskey, it is not located in the city. It is basically in the middle of many parking lots.

However, it is extremely accessible. It is in between 894 and I-43, two major highways, and just a few miles down Wisconsin Street from Marquette University and downtown Milwaukee. Also, it is surrounded by parking lots, so it is easy for us to get a spot.

The park features a strikeout count, but the K's are electronically displayed (rather than manually placed) and cannot go backwards, so a casual observer cannot tell how many batters have struck out looking.

Personally, I enjoyed the food there. There is nothing like a Wisconsin bratwurst topped off by a Leinenkugel. However, it is difficult to view the game while waiting in line or moving around the park.

It was a Brewers/Cubs game, so naturally there was tension in a stadium filled pretty evenly with Milwaukee and Chicago fans. Both fanbases have really nice people and the Brewers, for only having three pennants to display, have extremely loyal fans, so it felt like a big-ticket game.

The place got loud immediately when Prince Fielder hit a two-run homer off of Carlos Zambrano in the second inning (the only scoring in the game), but got quiet immediately after Rickie Weeks injured his left leg beating out a single after the blast.

Zambrano, for the record, pitched in both the Cubs/Astros and the Brewers/Cubs games I went to. He loaded the bases three times in each game, but (somehow) his fielders were able to get him out of it all three times.

The Cubs fans ahead of us suggested that they give him to the Yankees for beer money and a couple of bats.

I have to agree. That probably would have been the right move.

Conclusion

First of all, I feel blessed to visit all five parks with four friends of mine. Without them this would not have been possible.

Secondly, the game of baseball is a wonderful thing. It is one of the few things in today’s society that brings massive amounts of people of all ages together to support their team and their city.

The charm of each of the cities I visited was that they are filled with people who are true to their roots.

Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Milwaukee don’t have the big lights of New York or Boston and they do not have the beaches of Miami and LA, yet people are proud of where they are from and use their baseball club to display their pride.

While the Pirates and Indians are having unexpectedly good seasons, Milwaukee or St. Louis is probably going to win the NL Central, and I see the Tigers (or, please-please-please, the miracle Twins) taking the AL Central. However, fans in Pittsburgh and Cleveland are filling those ballparks in support of their teams before October.

Certainly there are fair-weather fans who have begun to show up more recently, but I saw a lot of old shirts, jerseys and caps worn by fans that indicate that there are many die-hard Pirates and Indians who have endured the pain along with their teams.

Chicago is a big city with a big reputation and is similar to New York and Boston in that they have die-hard fans that root for teams that have been around for more than 100 years.

The South Side is a rougher area, yet Sox fans wear their gear with pride and pack the stadium for a team with an aging, unproductive core.

The Cubs have had more winning seasons recently than the Indians and Pirates, but suffer from well-documented heartbreak after heartbreak in the playoffs.

The Yankees are a perennial playoff team and the Red Sox finally got over their curse in 2004. Cubs fans have every reason to give up on their team; they are well under .500 this year, and the GM decided not to blow up the core. Eventually, you’ve got to believe they will figure it out.

For now, however, Cubs fans take pride in their patience, not their team’s spoils.

The general notion is that people who take these ballpark journeys visit each park once. I’ve got to believe this is not true.

After being at each park, seeing each team, meeting new people and enjoying a new experience in each city, I want to return again and again.

Especially Pittsburgh.

It’s no Minnesota, but it’s certainly a special place.