{"id":706,"date":"2010-08-03T13:08:42","date_gmt":"2010-08-03T18:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/?p=706"},"modified":"2010-08-03T13:08:42","modified_gmt":"2010-08-03T18:08:42","slug":"four-games-four-ballparks-four-cities-four-days-a-baseball-fan%e2%80%99s-dream-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/archives\/706","title":{"rendered":"Four Games, Four Ballparks, Four Cities, Four Days: A Baseball Fan\u2019s Dream Vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A few months ago, someone I barely knew asked me what I want to do before I die.\u00a0 As common a question as that may be, it was one I\u2019d never been asked before.\u00a0 So naturally, as I often do in situations where I don\u2019t know what to say, I blurted out the first answer that popped into my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to visit all thirty major league ballparks.\u201d<\/p>\n

My questioner was impressed and satisfied with my answer, and as I thought more about it, I decided I was too.\u00a0 After all, as any of my friends (or any of my family members, co-workers or ex-girlfriends) can tell you, I am a die-hard fan of not just the Colorado Rockies, <\/strong>but the game of baseball itself.\u00a0 And reflecting on the question later that night, I couldn\u2019t come up with a single good reason why I should not <\/em>visit all thirty major league ballparks before my time here comes to an end.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Many of my friends and co-workers are football fans who just aren\u2019t excited about baseball because they don\u2019t like to watch it on TV.\u00a0 And while I of course see things differently, I can\u2019t help but agree with them to some degree.\u00a0 Because while football is a game that is often better <\/em>enjoyed on a TV screen than at the stadium, there is nothing quite like taking a trip out to the ballpark and watching a baseball game in person.\u00a0 And as enthralled as I can become watching a close game in the late innings on MLB.TV, it\u2019s nowhere close to the excitement level of being at the ballpark.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for me, I\u2019ve already been alive almost 24 years and my total stands at a measly six ballparks (Citizens Bank Park, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium, Busch Stadium Nationals Park and of course Coors Field for anyone interested).\u00a0 I\u2019ve also been to the old Busch Stadium and was on hand for the last baseball game ever played at Mile High Stadium in Denver (a 13-0 Rockies loss to Greg Maddux and the Braves), but I have lots of work left to do to check off the item currently at the top of my very short Bucket List.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, my dad shares my love of baseball and is generously willing to throw down a few thousand bucks so that a couple of die-hard fans can take a trip to the golden coast and catch a few ballgames.\u00a0 So on Labor Day weekend, he and I will meet up on the other side of the country in San Diego International Airport and embark on a vacation filled with baseball.\u00a0 Our schedule will be as follows:<\/p>\n

Saturday, September 4: Rockies vs. Padres, PETCO Park, San Diego, CA<\/p>\n

Sunday, September 5: Giants vs. Dodgers, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA<\/p>\n

Monday, September 6: Indians vs. Angels, Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA<\/p>\n

Tuesday, September 7: Giants vs. Diamondbacks, Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ<\/p>\n

Sure, we\u2019ll have to make a six-hour drive from Anaheim to Phoenix.\u00a0 And yes, we\u2019ll have to deal with Los Angeles traffic for the Dodgers game\u2014I\u2019ll certainly be packing my radio so we can listen to Vin Scully<\/strong> during the action and have the full Los Angeles Dodgers experience\u2014which will almost certainly be on Sunday Night Baseball.\u00a0 And it\u2019s quite possible that the NL West race could be decided before Labor Day weekend, leaving the Rockies to once again fight for a wild card berth.<\/p>\n

But none of that matters now.\u00a0 One month from today, I\u2019ll be seeing four games in four ballparks in four cities in four days.\u00a0 So forget about the standings.\u00a0 Forget about the mountain of work that will be left for me upon my return to the office Thursday morning and forget about what it\u2019s going to take to get to the ballpark.\u00a0 Because it\u2019s a great weekend for baseball.\u00a0 So let\u2019s watch four.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few months ago, someone I barely knew asked me what I want to do before I die.\u00a0 As common a question as that may be, it was one I\u2019d never been asked before.\u00a0 So naturally, as I often do in situations where I don\u2019t know what to say, I blurted out the first answer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,6,11,14],"tags":[509,654,428,653,559,210,584,310],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":712,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions\/712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}