I go to ballparks.
It has always been an obsession of mine. Well, maybe not so much that...maybe a goal, perhaps? I'm not sure. It started with my determination to go to every stadium in Major League Baseball. That started in 1989 and I've gone sporadically ever since. Stadiums left: San Diego, Denver, Houston, Texas, Cincinnatti, Forida, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Washington, Baltimore, Detroit, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Baltimore, New Cominsky, Toronto, both New Yorks.
But everybody does that, right? A kid graduates from school and goes on a road trip to all 30 cities. A gentleman last year rode his bike to all 30 in a drive for cancer research. I'm not belittling this at all. I started thinking about all the different venues I've been to. I thought about what my friend, Luis, did on one particular Saturday in 1988 when he was in Los Angeles: attended the UW/USC game at Memorial Coliseum at 12:30, got into the World Series Game 1 between Oakland and the Dodgers (yep, the Kirk Gibson game) at 5, and then made the 8 pm LA KIngs hockey match at the Forum. Good folklore. Three ballparks in one day. I like that.
My wife, Morgain, asked me that when I finally did finish my major league tour would I be satisfied. I thought for a moment. "Well, honey, there's college football. Lot of stadiums I would love to go to. College basketball too. NBA, NFL, high schools, hockey, love to go to see Australian Rules football, Wimbledon..." She interrupted me. "So, this can be never-ending." piercing the utopian thoughts I had. I smiled and sighed "Yes". She threw up her hands. Lovingly, of course.
What are these ballparks? How does the venue accomodate the audience? How does it present the entertainment? How is the venue different from others and what makes it unique? Who are the people that come to the venues? Why do people refer to some ballparks as a living place? Why is it a dump?
My goal is to see this. I also include going to live theatre because I love to see how people create a performance space out of a closet, a warehouse, a loft, a bond issue. Same with stadiums. But also, I want to try to do this in a surgical strike method. One town today, another town the next. May not get a lot out of the town in mere hours, but to get a taste via a ballpark or theatre. Report it. Move on. Maybe, I'll have to go back.
I go to ballparks. As many as I can. How 'bout you?
Paul Shipp
5/17 - 6/3, 2006
posted by paul shipp @ 10:56 AM
1 Comments:
I went to the Safe last night. First time in the Hit It Here, which is very cool except for the fact the PA sounds like an adult in a Peanuts cartoon up there.
Another rarity, I watched Beltre and Sexson hit homers in the same game. Nothin' gets an offense on track like a visit from the Royals.
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