“Take Me Out to the Ball Game (road trip style)”

Take Me Out to the Ball Game (road trip style)

Posted: 27 Aug 2010 06:02 AM PDT

More Photos

Click thumbnails to enlarge

Spencer Williams cheers on the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park during his second day of a three-day MLB road trip. Photos courtesy of Veronica Williams.

By VERONICA A. WILLIAMS
Special to Journal Register Newspapers

Carson Williams stands with with pitcher Chris Seddon of the Seattle Mariners at U.S. Cellular Field, the home of the White Sox.

We loaded up the car with our baseball hats, sunglasses, cameras, mitts, baseballs and Sharpie markers.

My husband, John, and I are finally ready to start the summer dream trip of our sons, Carson, 7, and Spencer, 10. We are heading out to see three Major League Baseball games at three different stadiums in three days.

The first stop is the Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

We arrive more than two hours early — the minimum requirement for watching batting practice, catching balls in the stands, getting close-up pictures, and hanging around the players' dugouts hoping to get use out of those Sharpies for autographs.

If you are willing to walk a mile or more you can find safe parking for about $15, thanks to enterprising homeowners in the area. The lots around the stadium are $30-$40. We settle on a $25 lot a few blocks away.

My kids have favorite players on every team, but one of the hottest guys this year has to be Albert Pujols, who plays for St. Louis. So Spencer is outfitted with his Pujols jersey and Carson is wearing his red Cardinals T-shirt. No disrespect to the Cubs. I figure this might build a little character if they take some heat.

Lucky us, though, they are giving away Cubs shirts on the way in. This is another reason to arrive early. Spencer gets the camera going and doesn't stop taking pictures for three days straight.

The game gets under way at 7:05 p.m., and it is a full house. Soon, the kids throw the Cubs shirts on over their Cardinals gear. They get a few looks when they start cheering for Albert Pujols, but everyone is friendly.

The game is close, and the kids alternate between Cubs and Cardinals gear. They're no dummies — they want to cheer for the winning team. The game goes into extra innings. Finally, in the 11th, one of the Cardinals hits a home run and they win 3 to 2. The kids are so caught up in the spirit they leave the stadium wearing their Cubs gear with their heads held high.

The nice thing about the simplicity of this road trip is that there are no plans other than to watch baseball, eat, sleep and swim. So, our morning consists of a complimentary breakfast at our hotel then swimming, splashing, playing catch and doing cannonballs in the hotel pool.

The next day, we pack up and make the short drive to Milwaukee, less than two hours away.

We arrive at Miller Park just after the gates open. There is on-site parking for under $20. Thanks to a Chevy promotion outside the gate, we get two free Brewers T-shirts for the kids for filling out a survey. They are ready to cheer on the hometown team.

The kids see a guy from the Reds signing autographs right when we walk in. They hustle down behind home plate and pull out their balls and scorecards. Cairo, the team's backup first baseman signs both, and the kids are all smiles.

We watch another close game unfold. It is 2 to 2 in the 8th inning. Jim Edmonds is in to pinch hit and Carson notices it is the day before his birthday, according to the scoreboard. Wouldn't it be cool if he hit a home run? Well, he did! He blasted one into the stands to put the Brewers in the lead 3 to 2. They held on to win the game. We make it back to our hotel before 11 p.m., exhausted.

The next day, we were able to walk around and take more pictures before heading back to Chicago. We arrived at U.S. Cellular Field three hours before game time. We paid $30 to park across the street. It was Italian-American Heritage night so there was a small stage set up with a guy crooning old ballads. We found a spot on a patch of grass and sprawled out until the gates opened.

We found the park to be clean and pristine. We staked out our usual spots and found one of the Mariners' pitchers signing autographs. Right before game time, Spencer spied second baseman Chone Figgins. He ran down 30 rows and got his prized autograph for the trip, an actual starter!

This time it is a slug fest. The White Sox win 11-0. Vendors were tempting us all night with pop and peanuts and frozen lemonades. We couldn't resist the loaded nachos with cheese, chicken or beef, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, sour cream and guacamole. We might have to go back just for those, or maybe for an authentic Chicago-style hot dog.

If you are planning a trip like this, try to get the best seats for your budget. It makes looking forward to the game even more exciting.

We planned the whole trip the week before. Something like this can come together over a long weekend and can be done affordably, especially if you consider mixing in a minor league game.

Similar road trips can be planned if you are hankering to head East instead of West. You can get tickets to a Toledo Mudhens game, take a quick drive to Cleveland to see the Indians and end up at PNC Park for a Pittsburgh Pirates game.

So, here's the final score: The Cubs have the best fans. The Brewers have the coolest ball park. The White Sox have the best nachos. All the games were excellent in their own way. The ballparks were immaculate. Baseball has a certain pride in keeping the grounds well maintained, and the staff everywhere was very attentive. My family enjoyed every minute of our ultimate Major League Baseball road trip.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent.