I’ll start off this thread with a brag: I finally saw a ball game at Coors Field Friday night, and – although there are still a couple of new ballparks I need to get to – I have now seen every MLB team play at home! I think that’s pretty cool, if I do say so myself. (My current tally is 47 MLB stadiums and 126 Minor League parks.)
Feel free to ask me about my quest, but rather than me going on and on about my trips, I’d also like you to share your own experiences with regard to traveling for sporting events. Where have you been? What teams did you see? What are your favorite sports-vacation memories?
I’ve been slooooowly whittling away at the same target since my childhood and have been trying to get to a new ball park whenever we take a road trip to the US. So far my tally is as follows:
Exhibition Stadium - Toronto Blue Jays (way back in the 70s and early 80s)
Anaheim Stadium - California Angels (way back in the 70s as well – I got to see Reggie Jackson play with the Baltimore Orioles that night. )
Kingdome - Seattle Mariners
Safeco Park - Seattle Mariners
Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs (incidentally, I saw the Mariners and Cubs games in consecutive years and, in both cases, they were playing the Padres)
So really, I’ve just scratched the surface.
I’ve also seen CFL games at both McMahon Stadium in Calgary and Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. I’d like to see an NFL game and an NCAA football game at some point as well to experience the atmosphere.
I “collect” racetracks. I am up to 29 Thoroughbred tracks, 21 harness (really 23, but for 2 of those, I’ve seen both Thoroughbred and harness there so I won’t count them twice) and 6 greyhound tracks.
'Tis but a drop in the bucket compared to this guy, who is also an entertaining writer.
I got nothing. I did, however, go see a T-20 cricket match in Manchester last month at Old Trafford. That was cool.
I once met England’s biggest hockey fan - he had come to North America alone on a 10-day trip and saw something like 8 NHL games in 6 different cities as well as 2 basketball games (in Detroit, IIRC). Sounded like an awesome trip. I only met him because we were both on a delayed flight to the UK… he helped me figure out how to get to my destination because my original ride from the airport was no longer available. Great guy; never got his name, though!
I grew up near Philly, so was at the old Vet many times, and the Spectrum for concerts, rasslin’, and the Globetrotters (they won). When I visited colleges, I saw games at Fenway, Camden yards, and Atlanta-Fulton county Stadium. I’ve seen the A’s at the Coliseum. Georgia tech football and basketball games.
This is one you’ll always have on me, so don’t feel so bad! I didn’t get to Toronto until after the Blue Jays had fled Exhibition Stadium for the SkyDome. (Drove past it, though!)
Dog tracks don’t have a whole lot of variation. Horse tracks have quite a bit. There’s a huge difference between the huge oval, million-dollar thoroughbreds and giant grandstand at Belmont Park and, say, the fair atmosphere, slow old horses and tiny racetrack at (now-closed) Three County Fair in Northampton, Mass., which I forgot to include on my list (so it’s 30 thoroughbred tracks).
My favorites? Well, for thoroughbreds, it’s gotta be Saratoga in upstate NY, and Keeneland in Lexington, KY (which are atop almost everyone’s list) as well as Monmouth Park in NJ. Harness - that’s tougher, but The Meadowlands in NJ had the world’s best racing back when I used to go, and Mohawk Raceway and Flamboro Downs, both in Ontario, were nice.
Greyhound tracks are usually pretty spartan, plus I’ve only been to some of them once, but maybe Seabrook in New Hampshire was the best. I think they’re closed.
I can’t match the OP travels either but I’ve been to a few of them
MLB
Cleveland Municipal
Jacobs Field
Tiger Stadium
Commerica National Park
Toronto Exhibition Stadium
Skydome
Yankee Stadium II
Shea
Citi Field
Wrigley Field
Comiskey Park
US Cellular Field (Chicago) (Comiskular Park as my sister calls it)
Milwaukee County Stadium
Riverfront Stadium
Great American Ballpark
3 Rivers Stadium
PNC Park
Montreal Olympic Stadum
Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, to see the Expos play the Giants
Anaheim Stadium
MiLB
Akron Aeros
Buffalo Bisons
Toledo Mudhens
Columbus Clippers
Binghamton Mets
Canton-Akron Indians
Lake County Captains (Eastlake OH)
Lake Erie Crushers (Avon OH) - Frontier League
Potomac Cannons (Woodbridge VA)
College Football
Notre Dame
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Kent State
Akron Rubber Bowl
Toledo Glass Bowl
Oberlin College
Pitt Stadium
Ford Field (Motor City Bowl)
Giants Stadium (Meadowlands)
Pro Football
Cleveland Stadium
Cleveland Browns Stadium
Riverfront Stadium
College Basketball
Cleveland State Woodling Gym
Cleveland State Arena
Akron James Rhodes Arena
Kent State MAC Center
Ohio State St. John Arena
Ohio State Value City Arena
Notre Dame Athletic & Convocation Center
Pontiac Silverdome
Pittsburgh Civic Center Arena (aka The Igloo)
Pittsburgh Consol Energy Center
NBA
Richfield Coliseum
Cleveland Arena
Quickens Loan Arena Cleveland
Chicago Stadium
The Palace of Auburn Hills
Good call. In my admittedly poor defense, I got interrupted.
For hockey, all I’ve got to show for venues visited is Joe Louis Arena, the Igloo, the Cleveland Arena Richfield Coliseum and Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The first NHL game I ever saw wasn’t until 1988 or '89, when the Penguins played the LA Kings in an exhibition game at Richfield.
Whoa, that’s awesome. I’ve only seen Major League baseball games at two parks other than the ones in my home of New York - Camden Yards (when it was still relatively amongst the newest) and Kauffman Stadium twice, since I’m a Royals fan (despite living in New York).
Favorite memory? Easy - when I went to the K on 6/25/2008, my wife surprised me by getting me greeted on the scoreboard…and then, two innings later, the fan-cam showed me (holding my then-five month old daugher and alongside by then-ten year old son) on the big crown scoreboard.
Also, I have never heard bigger cheering - and I mean EVER, not just in KC - than when Joakim Soria came in to close out that game.
P.S. - outside of MLB, I’ve also been to a minor league game in New Haven, CT, an NHL game in Atlanta (ironically, the Islanders were the visiting team - like I had to go to Atlanta to see them?) and NBA games in Oakland (probably the most fun basketball game I’ve been to), Orlando and Los Angeles (Clippers). When affordable, it’s nice to spend a day of vacation at a sporting event.
I’ve been to 21 current and 12 defunct MLB parks. I would be reluctant to pick a favorite because many of the new ones are very nice, but my least favorite, by a wide margin, was the Metrodome. That place had the charm of a Soviet tractor factory.
I’ve been to a slew of baseball ballparks, but only in the eastern half of the United States–all up and down the coastal states, all around the South, and a couple trips into the the Midwest.
Roadtripping to minor league towns, especially in the South, is lots of fun if you’re open to meeting people. I’ve discovered some great local restaurants and such by meeting people at games. It’s fun to trade stories with local folks and other travelers. Just after Joe Mauer got to the big leagues, for example, I was at a game in Elizabethton, TN, hearing anecdotes about his first professional games, on the bottom rung of the minor league ladder, and telling them about his time in the Double-A Eastern League, where I’d seen him playing in New Britain, CT. I’ve followed the careers of a few guys you’ve never heard of after meeting their parents, siblings, or host families in the stands. (Tip: If, at a weeknight game in a small town, you see a couple in their fifties, wearing caps for the road team, and one of them scoring the game, go talk to them.)
I did, however, have the pleasure of visiting Target Field in its inaugural season last year. They sure did get it right this time. And, I really enjoyed hanging out in downtown Minneapolis; more so than I remember when I saw the HumpDome back in '91. Of course we didn’t research our destinations quite as thoroughly then.
Kingdome, Safeco Field, Qwest/CenturyLink Field all in Seattle.
Two years ago I started collecting Pac-10/12 stadiums. So far I’ve only got Martin Stadium (Pullman, WA), Husky Stadium (Seattle, WA), Reser Stadium (Corvallis, OR) and Memorial Stadium (Berkeley, CA). Was going to try to pick up Autzen in Eugene this year, but I’m already headed to Seattle for both the Oregon State and UW games.
I haven’t been to nearly as many places as I’d like to go. Wrigley Field several times and old Cleveland Stadium once. A couple minor league baseball stadiums and hockey arenas, and that’s about it. Unless you count high school football stadiums, been to a ton of those due to my marching band days.
Dodger Stadium
Rangers Ballpark in Arlington
Chase Field
Anaheim Stadium (before and after the renovations)
Jack Murphy Stadium (San Diego) before Petco
Oakland Colosseum
Candlestick Park
Whatever the Marlins call their current stadium
Houston Astrodome
Minor League Baseball
The old Columbus Clippers stadium
The old Indianapolis Indians stadium
El Paso Diablos (when they were in the Texas League)
Ft Lauderdale Yankees (when the were the Yankees A ball team)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
San Bernardino Stadium
Pro football
Orange Bowl
University of Phoenix Stadium
Ice Hockey
Nationwide Arena Jobing.com arena
Whatever the Florida Panthers call their current arena
Staples Center
Schottenstein Center (Ohio State University hockey)
American Airlines Arena
Soccer
Crew Stadium
Lockhart Stadium (Miami Fusion, contracted MLS team)
Rose Bowl (LA Galaxy)
University of Indiana
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