Talking baseball: Vol. 2

I took a trip.

Back in February I had a big round number birthday that just did not excite me. If I am being honest, it still does not excite me. In an effort to cheer me up my wife suggested that I do something nice for myself and take a trip somewhere for my birthday. Immediately I knew what I wanted to do. Baseball. A multi-city baseball trip. Something reasonably close, something that worked out with a couple of different games in a couple of different cities, and just enjoy a couple of games, a few beers, some good food, and exploring different places. Even if it was two teams I did not care about, it would still be amazing because I have always said my absolutely happiest moment of recreation is sitting at a live sporting event involving two teams I do not care about.

Immediately I settled on Philadelphia and New York to start with. As luck should have it, I found a stretch of games in mid-April where not only were both teams home on back-to-back days, but they were also at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates on a Sunday afternoon and Monday night.

This would be an easy decision and the planning started immediately. Initially this trip was also going to include a Baltimore Orioles game on Saturday night, but that did not come together as easily. No worry. We still had Philadelphia and New York. It also turned out to be better than I could have imagined.

Game one: Philadelphia

I have been to Citizens Bank Park on two different occasions, both for work-related purposes. The first was actually a hockey game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers for the 2012 NHL Winter Classic. The second was a Philadelphia Phillies playoff game. Both games had me sitting in the press box and did not really give me an opportunity to truly explore the stadium or get the fan experience. This would be my first time in the stands, and I have to say, I absolutely loved it.

From the outside Citizens Bank Park looks pretty bland. It almost does not even look like a stadium in some areas (depending on where you are standing), but once you get in it definitely has a ton of charm and character to it. The concourses are wide, they flow easily and the ambience is that of an old-school ballpark. It also has tremendous sight lines.

This place was packed on Sunday and I never felt cramped trying to navigate around.

The thing that really makes this place though, is the crowd. And it has a very different feel than most other stadiums I have been to in the sense that they are ALL BUSINESS here. There is not much happening between innings to distract you. People are intensely focused on the game. It sort of reminded me of Yankee Stadium when it comes to no frills and no sideshows where everybody is focused on the action on the field and nothing else. The only difference is this stadium actually has some charm to it.

Also — every single person here is decked out 100 percent in Phillies gear, and it is typically a jersey. Any city that has an NFL team is probably going to have the football team be the top dog in town, and I imagine that is true here, but I can not imagine that Philadelphia goes this crazy for the Flyers or 76ers. They love this team, and it shows. you can *feel* it. It’s not just a game. It’s an event.

There was a part of me that was a little nervous to wear a Pittsburgh shirt to a Philadelphia game, but honestly, everybody was really cool. The only tense moments involved an extremely vocal Pirates fan sitting a couple of rows back finally annoying the Phillies fan across the aisle from me, resulting in some “go back to Pittsburgh” and “Crosby’s a bum, too” responses in return. But that was the extent of it. When the Pirates scored, Pirates fans cheered and Phillies fans got mad at their team. It all went as it should.

The other thing that stood out here was the price of the tickets, which I also think is a reflection of the Phillies popularity here.

These were our seats in section 136, row 14, just down the left field line.

Those ended up costing over $200 for the pair (after Stubhub taxes and fees, of course) which just seems outrageous for a Sunday afternoon game in April against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

But it was worth every penny for the way the game turned out because it ended up being one of my favorite games I have ever attended, and that is not hyperbole or an exaggeration.

The biggest reason for that was the fact Andrew McCutchen hit his 300th career home run, and I got to see it happen in person.

Andrew McCutchen is one of the biggest reasons I fell back in love with baseball.

Baseball has always been my favorite sport because it was the one I was actually able to play (badly, but I tried hard!) and the one I always got to attend the most. But after watching the Pirates lose for 20 consecutive seasons your interest is naturally going to drop.

But McCutchen’s arrival and ascent to superstardom was the type of thing that brought me back. He wasn’t only good, he was FUN. He did literally everything at a high level and for a solid five years was legitimately one of the five best players in baseball. He finished in the top-five of the MVP voting four years in a row, winning one of them, and helped almost single-handedly bring the Pirates back to relevance.

Do you know how many players in the history of the Pirates franchise finished in the top-five of MVP voting four years in a row?

Andrew McCutchen.

That is the list.

Stargell didn’t do it. Clemente didn’t do it. Bonds didn’t do it. Parker didn’t do it. Kiner didn’t do it. Waner didn’t do it.

He has been off to a brutal start this year, but every time he came to bat on Sunday I just kept thinking, “man would it be cool to see it here.” Then in the top of the ninth inning he did it. It was one of those “crack of the bat” moments where as soon as he made contact, and as soon as you saw its trajectory off the bat, you just knew it was gone. Every Pirates fan in the stadium instantly went nuts, and even Phillies fans applauded.

I had forgotten how long McCutchen played in Philadelphia and he received a nice ovation every time his name was announced.

Add in a Jack Suwinski grand slam to put the Pirates ahead in the sixth inning, a Joey Bart(!) home run, a 9-2 win and beautiful weather and it was just simply a fantastic day.

The other thing that thoroughly impressed me about Citizens Bank Park was how easy it is to get to from Pittsburgh. You get on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and you literally follow Interstate 76 until you arrive at the Philadelphia Sports Complex about four-and-a-half hours later. That is it. You do not even need google maps or directions. It literally takes you right to it. There are also a few hotels within the complex (we stayed at the Live Casino) that make it even easier if your only intention on the trip is a game.

The Philadelphia Sports Complex, by the way, is a fascinating idea. And it works. All of the stadiums and arenas are located in one spot south of the city separated away from the downtown area. While I do enjoy the convenience of a downtown stadium or arena and the other amenities that offers, the reality is there were two sold out sporting events happening at the exact same time (a Philadelphia 76ers game was also being played across the complex) and you would have never known. My Pittsburgh brain simply can not comprehend two major events happening at the same time and it not turning everything into the thunderdome.

It also probably helps that Philadelphia has a real mass transit system that gets people there without the need for a car. But that is a different discussion for a different place.

Overall in terms of atmosphere, look, and the ease of everything I give Citizens Bank Park high marks. I still do not think it cracks my top-five, but it is well worth the trip. I will be back.

Game two: New York

After spending Sunday night in Philadelphia, we were off to New York City for the Pirates-Mets game on Monday night and a trip to a stadium that DOES make my top-five rankings right now — Citi Field. I love this place, and I was reminded of that again on this trip. Maybe I am biased because I love visiting New York City in general. Maybe it is the combination of that and the stadium itself. Either way, this place rules.

We ended up driving about 40 minutes north to Hamilton, New Jersey, and taking a New Jersey Transit train in to the city. It is $16 a person, and again, the drive was incredibly easy from Philadelphia.