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Recap of Major League Baseball (MLB) Ballpark Tour

By on Monday, June 10, 2019

Hubby and I have traveled all over the world, but sports are a common thread throughout our travels. Sports, and attending sporting events, bonds us together. We’ve journeyed to Maui for the Maui Invitational and New York City for the Big East Tournament. We said we were going watch our alma mater play college basketball, but really, it’s an excuse to go fun places! We’ve attended numerous soccer games in Europe, and once attended a US Soccer Men’s National Team game in Belgium though that was a fluke. We arrived in Brussels only to realize that the US was playing Belgium in an international friendly that night so we had to go, of course. I suppose that sums up our love of intertwining sports and travel – there was a game, so we went!

Hubby and I have been attending MLB games together 1996 when we became friends in college. Every time I think about the origins of our Major League Baseball (MLB) Stadium Tour, I remember different details. I am fairly certain that we decided to do it during a trip to Cincinnati for the Flying Pig marathon in May 2007, while we were sitting in the stands at a Reds game (we were in the city, there was a game, so we went!). But, sometimes I think we discussed it in the stands of a Chicago White Sox game in the summer after we got married in 2002. Or, it may have been in 2005 when Hubby was working in Central Coast California and we road tripped to San Francisco to see a friend, and decided to go to a Giants game.

The truth is, I have no idea how the MLB ballpark tour started. I do know that Bro in Law wanted to do an MLS Stadium tour, and we decided we were going to join them (and they agreed to let us, or at least, didn’t say no), and that’s how our annual stadium tour came to be. (They are not trying to see all of the MLB ballparks, though they will see many by default!)

Because Hubby and I have always attended games together, and the stadium tour had no “official” beginning, our stadium tour origins date back to the late 90s. For you younger readers, that means it was a time before social media, with a place to memorialize all of our daily activities. It was a time before digital cameras. It was a time before cameras on cell phones. In fact, it was a time before I even had a cell phone. Translation: I don’t have pictures of all of the ballparks we have visited. I know I took pictures at all of them, but it would take a miracle to find all of them (e.g., Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh, Detroit).

What I do have are fantastic memories of spending time with my then-boyfriend, now husband, as we explored a new city and watched a baseball game in ballparks all over the country.

National League Central

  1. Milwaukee Brewers (Miller Park) – Various dates (2001- current)
  2. Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field) – Various dates (1998-2002)
  3. Cincinnati Reds (Great American Ballpark) – Various dates (2007; 2016-current)
  4. Pittsburgh Pirates (PNC Park) – June 2006
  5. St. Louis Cardinals (Busch Stadium) – July 2014

National League West

  1. San Francisco Giants (Oracle Park) – March 2005
  2. San Diego Padres (Petco Park) – April 2009
  3. Los Angeles Dodgers (Dodger Stadium) – August 2012
  4. Colorado Rockies: TBD
  5. Arizona Diamondbacks: TBD

National League East

  1. Atlanta Braves (Turner Field/SunTrust Park) – July 2010/April 2019
  2. Philadelphia Phillies – April 2017
  3. Washington Nationals: TBD
  4. New York Mets (Citibank Field): TBD
  5. Miami Marlins: TBD

American League Central

  1. Chicago White Sox (Guarantee Rate Field) – Various dates, 2000-2003
  2. Detroit Tigers (Comerica Park) – Various dates, 2006-2009
  3. Kansas City Royals (Kauffman Stadium) – May 2013
  4. Minnesota Twins (Target Field) – July 2011
  5. Cleveland Indians (Progressive Field) – September 2017

American League West

  1. Texas Rangers (Globe Life Park in Arlington) – April 2012
  2. Seattle Mariners (T-Mobile Park) – May 2012
  3. Los Angeles Angels (Angel Stadium) – May 2014
  4. Houston Astros (Minute Maid Park) – May 2015
  5. Oakland Athletics (O.co Coliseum) – September 2016

American League East

  1. Toronto Blue Jays (Rogers Centre) – July 2007
  2. Baltimore Orioles(Oriole Park at Camden Yard) – July 2007
  3. Tampa Bay Rays (Tropicana Field) – September 2018
  4. New York Yankees: TBD
  5. Boston Red Sox: TBD
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