We visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
Ichiro exhibit:
More exhibits:
Bobbleheads on shaking shelves:
Women in baseball:
Baseball art:
The Baseball Hall of Fame:
Placeholders for the 2025 inductees, including Ichiro:
Media exhibits:
Baseball movies:
Who’s On First?
Good stuff.
We attended a game of the Toronto Blue Jays vs Philadelphia Phillies, playing at the Blue Jay’s ballpark, Rogers Centre, the only MLB team in Canada.
Jenn’s game summary:
Our first domed stadium. They can open the roof, but it was closed due to drizzle and maybe wildfire smoke. A lovely park with excellent food and a vibrant atmosphere. The Blue Jays came out for four runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings each to make total cream cheese of the Phillies, who only scraped together one run. Bassitt recorded his 1100th career strikeout, and Bo Bichette hit his 8th home run of the year. It was a fun game with a bit of local color—they sang a song called “OK Blue Jays” before “Take Me Out To the Ballgame,” and everyone knew the words and gestures, creating a great community vibe.
An interactive map of the ballpark environs:
This ballpark was a little more difficult to get to, as we had to cross an international border into Canada:
Toronto:
CN Tower:
Toronto Blue Jays:
Team store:
Mary Brown’s Chicken:
Poutine (of course) and chicken tenders:
Selfie from our seats in Section 119, Row 12, Seats 13 & 14:
Closed dome:
Ace, the Blue Jays mascot:
Cheerleaders:
Play ball:
Hotel rooms overlooking the field:
A run scores:
Two more runs:
The mascot “helping” the grounds crew:
Exploring the ballpark:
Chungchun rice hot dogs:
Gamsung hot dog covered in potato, and half mozzarella hot dog:
Cheerleader:
Blue Jays win:
We attended a game of the Cleveland Guardians vs the Los Angeles Angels, playing at the Guardians’ ballpark, Progressive Field.
Jenn’s game summary:
A fun game with some interesting scoring stuff I’d never seen before, including a single that was also an E7 and then an “OAD 3-6-5” with the batter thrown out at third. Also, a delayed HBP call on a final out, so guys were back in the dugout and had to get back out to continue. The Angels struck first with back-to-back homers in the third (just after the above wacky play). Mike Trout got a couple singles and an RBI double, but the Guardians got three homers of their own (José Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Carlos Santana) with some other hits mixed in to eventually win it 7-5. The food was pretty terrible (dogs were both soggy & burnt?!) but really good nachos and ice cream saved the day.
An interactive map of the ballpark:
Progressive Field:
Long line for the team store:
Pretzel, gross hot dog, soda, and water:
More edible mozzarella sticks and tots:
Angels vs Guardians:
Cheerleader:
Seat selfie:
The view from our seats in Section 136, Row Y, Seats 1 & 2:
Play ball:
This guy a few seats down from us caught a foul ball:
Heritage park:
Bullpens:
Exploring the ballpark:
Nice nachos:
Home run:
Perry’s ice cream:
Churro sundae:
Play under review:
Scores:
Guardians win:
We attended a game of the Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox, playing at the Tigers ballpark, Comerica Park.
Jenn’s game summary:
The Tigers completed a 3-game sweep of the Red Sox on a pleasant evening in Detroit. Nice stadium with a couple of fun things (carousel with tigers instead of horses and a baseball-themed Ferris wheel). Tarik Skubal pitched very well and efficiently—11 strikeouts and only one walk. Amazing homerun robbery with assist (scoring: F9-8) by the Red Sox to steal a run from Kerry Carpenter that will be in the highlight reels for years. Exciting steal and advance on a throwing error for some 9th inning heroics by the Tigers and a walk-off single to end it—a fun game.
An interactive map of the ballpark:
Entrance, with lots of tigers:
Big tiger:
More tigers:
Team store:
Carousel:
Kielbasa and pierogis:
Fried Classics:
Elephant ear:
Baseball bat drink of Tiger Fuel:
Selfie from our seats:
View from our seats in Section 126, Row 27, Seats 1 & 2:
Play ball:
The mascot, Paws:
Run scores:
We liked how the sculptures captured the motion:
Ferris wheel:
Exploring the ballpark:
Nice stats display:
New pitcher:
Tigers win:
We attended a double-A baseball game between the Akron RubberDucks (Cleveland Guardians affiliate) vs Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees affiliate) at Canal Park in Akron, Ohio.
An interactive map of the ballpark:
Entrance of Canal Park:
Team store:
The Dog Pound:
Food:
The ballpark:
Our seats, right behind home plate: section 12, row A, seats 9 & 10. It had been raining, so an usher kindly wiped our seats for us:
Selfie:
Our front-row view:
Play ball:
Home run:
Mascots:
Exploring the ballpark:
Popcorn and hot chocolate:
Jenn admired this pitcher’s long hair:
A baseball on the field:
Dancing grounds crew:
We attended a double-A baseball game between the Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals affiliate) vs Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers affiliate) at FMB Field in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
An interactive map of the ballpark on an island in the capital city of Pennsylvania:
Capitol building:
FNB Field:
Dinner options:
Weird burger and cheesesteak:
Snack:
View from our seats, section 110, row 1, seats 1 & 2:
Play ball:
Selfie:
Run scores:
Exploring the ballpark:
Hershey ice cream:
Ball hit the ump’s mask:
Wackiness:
Broken bat:
Final scores:
We attended a game of the Philadelphia Phillies vs San Francisco Giants, playing at the Phillies ballpark, Citizens Bank Park.
Jenn’s game summary:
Lovely, if cool, day for a ballgame. The Phillies Phanatic is the greatest mascot (sorry, Moose). The hometown crowd is very vocal and even boos their own players when they make an error, but otherwise, the folks we met were friendly and helpful to us out-of-towners. The park itself is rather mid-tier—no really “wow” factor, and we sadly didn’t get to see the homerun bell in action. Took over an hour to get out of the parking lot afterwards—craziness!
An interactive map of the ballpark and extensive surface parking around it:
Philadelphia:
Citizens Bank Park:
Home of the Philadelphia Phillies:
Selfie:
Crabfries:
Chicken donuts and crabfries:
Baseball stadium passport stamp:
Jenn with a model Phillie Phanatic:
Peach parfait:
View from our seats, Section 132, Row 26, Seats 1-2:
The Phillie Phanatic:
Play ball:
Camera guy and a dancing fan:
Exploring the ballpark:
Beverages:
Attendance 41,321:
Run scores:
Scores:
Phillies win!
We attended a spring training game at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida, between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays.
Selfie:
Lineup:
Bullpen:
Ballpark:
BBQ:
Chick-fil-A:
Surfside vodka beverages:
Did somebody say roadtrip?
Dippin’ Dots:
Spring Home of the Baltimore Orioles:
Final scores:
We attended a spring training game at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida, between the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies.
Grand Slam Grill:
Lunch:
Beverage:
Distance sign:
Outfield chairs:
Bullpens:
Big D:
Play ball:
Automated Ball-Strike challenge, being tested in spring training:
Mascot:
This is a summary of baseball-related posts from 2024.
One of our stretch goals in exploring the US is to attend a game at every Major League baseball stadium. As with our other goals, we have a spreadsheet to track this. Back in 2023, we visited just two, The Coliseum of the Oakland Athletics (which is now closed) and T-Mobile Field of our Seattle Mariners.
In 2024, we visited seven more: Truist Park of the Atlanta Braves, Oriole Park of the Baltimore Orioles, Nationals Park of the Washington Nationals, Busch Stadium of the St Louis Cardinals, Target Field of the Minnesota Twins, Oracle Park of the San Francisco Giants, and Dodger Stadium of the Los Angeles Dodgers (plus we revisited the Mariners).
We also visited some minor league stadiums, and the Field of Dreams movie site.
Again, you can also see the attractions from 2023, from 2022, and from 2021. And you can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top, or more specifically the baseball category (with earliest or latest posts at the top).
Atlanta Braves vs Cleveland Guardians in Atlanta, Georgia:
Baltimore Orioles vs Atlanta Braves in Baltimore, Maryland:
Washington Nationals vs Miami Marlins in Washington, DC:
Bowling Green Hot Rods in Bowling Green, Kentucky:
St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs in St Louis, Missouri:
Cedar Rapids Kernels vs Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa:
Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville, Iowa:
Minnesota Twins vs Philadelphia Phillies in Minneapolis, Minnesota:
Seattle Mariners vs New York Mets in Seattle, Washington:
Seattle Mariners T-Mobile Field guided tour:
Seattle Mariners vs New York Mets:
San Francisco Giants vs San Diego Padres in San Francisco, California:
Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres NLDS game 5 in Los Angeles, California:
Play ball!