Away Days

This week I have decided to return the good ole US of A, and yet another baseball park. This week we visit Jacobs Field (now called Progressive Field, but known to everyone as the Jake) home of my beloved Cleveland Indians. Camden Yards was the first, but the Jake followed on soon after, with a new downtown ball park, modelled on the ballparks of days gone by. It replaced the so called "mistake on the lake" Municipal Stadium, which held 70,000 plus, but was a dump. The ballpark coincided with a resurgence of form by the Indians (aka the Tribe), which saw them reach two World Series after years of being the laughing stock of Major League Baseball (see the movie Major League). I have been quite a few times now, I try and get a game every time I visit Ohio, and have to say what a fine venue it is. It doesn't have the history of Wrigley Field, fair enough, but on game day the surrounding streets buzz with bars, and street vendors. The stadium itself is faultless, it was recently best ballpark by fans in the magazine Sports Illustrated, and it has plenty of beer vendors. Once again, as you would expect from a modern ballpark, there isn't a bad seat in the house, and the downtown skyscrapers make a fine back drop in the outfield. When the Tribe were at their peak during mid to late nineties, it even set a record for sellouts, a string of 455 games with maximum attendances stretching from 1995 to 2001. The streak ended when the Browns made their long awaited return to Cleveland, and the teams winning season streak came to an end. Of course this means you don't struggle for tickets like you once did, although if the Tigers, Red Sox or Yankees are in town you might be advised to book ahead to avoid disappointment. A great place to watch a game on a beautiful summers day. Oh, and my mum caught a foul ball here, the only member of our family to snag one. I nearly got one here as well, but the beer affected my reflexes, and I nearly broke my neck. In fact I got so drunk at that particular game, I think we were playing the Tigers, but as far as I knew it could have been Manchester United, I fell asleep in the foot well of the car on the way home. Not an easy thing to achieve.

Statistics

• Capacity-43,345
  
• Concessions-This is America, so you know the food is going to be pretty good, and the choice extensive. And they bring you beer in your seats. What more could you ask for?
  
• Built-1994
  
• Did You Know?-The building of the stadium was funded by a 15 year "Sin" tax on alcohol and cigs.
  
• Visited By-Big Al, American Frank and Euro Bri
  
• Rating-Mount Olympus-I know I am biased, I love the place. It is smack in the middle of town, and surrounded by bars. I know it sounds like I think all bar parks are fantastic, but trust me they are not. Later in this thread I will visit at least two ballparks that do not fall in to this category. But to be fair most baseball stadiums are pretty fantastic places. As I have pointed out before, they have turned their backs on the sterile conformity that seems to infest European sporting venues at the moment, and they are a damn sight better places for it.