Journeying to "The Jake"

Well kids, here it is. Another trip and another ballpark. This time I ventured the approximately 6 hours up to Cleveland along with my friends Joel and Patrick to watch the Indians take on the Kansas City Royals. It was my first ever visit to Jacobs Field. Baseball fans might remember that Jacobs Field was the first of the "new school" of baseball stadiums that went away from the circular "cookie cutter" stadiums to more fan/family friendly stadiums.

One of my favorite features of the park is shown in the picture on the right. It is an area called Heritage Park which could be considered similar to monument park in Yankee Stadium I guess. It featured plaques honoring all the famous Indians in the history of the franchise along with info about them.

As for the game, it was a good one. A good pitching match-up between the Indians Cy Young contender (at the time) C.C. Sabathia (who has been struggling somewhat ever since we went) and the Royals #1 starter Gil Meche. A pair of homeruns highlighted the offensive side of the game and fabulous defensive play by Indians catcher Victor Martinez (it was a web gem on Baseball Tonight) highlighted the defensive side. Overall, the game experience was a good one. We had a little trouble negotiating the roads in Cleveland but we got where we needed to go even if it took a little longer than it probably should have.

Now for the update. Here is what I am up to:
4 Stadiums
Minute Maid Park (Houston)
Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
Turner Field (Atlanta)
Jacobs Field (Cleveland)

8 Teams
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals
Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Royals