Yesterday was the first day of my eight-day, eight-game Rust Belt trip. I’m spending the first three days in Detroit for the A’s-Tigers series. Ninth inning collapse aside, it’s been good. The weather today is expected to be hot and humid, with thunderstorms at night and cooling through the rest of the week.
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The rest of the trip is supposed to look like this (all times Eastern):
- Today: Comerica Park tour, 11 AM; A’s @ Tigers, 7 PM
- Wednesday: A’s @ Tigers, 1 PM; drive to Toledo; Columbus @ Toledo, 7 PM
- Thursday: drive to Pittsburgh; Dbacks @ Pirates, 7 PM
- Friday: drive to Canton; Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Saturday: drive to Cleveland; Royals @ Indians, 7 PM
- Sunday: drive to Columbus: Pawtucket @ Columbus, 6 PM
- Monday: drive to Cincinnati: Cubs @ Reds, 7 PM
- Tuesday 7/8: drive back to Chicago, fly home
Since I’ll be in Ohio on Sunday, I won’t be able to use my tickets to the final game of the Blue Jays series. If you’re interested, comment below with a brief explanation of why you should get the tickets. They’re free and I’ll have to email transfer them to you, no snail mail. I’ll weed out the poor entries and randomly pick among the best, just like last time. You can also reply to me on Twitter or via email. I’ll announce the winner after tomorrow’s A’s-Tigers game.
newballpark.org 
I’d love the tickets because I’m a loyal, long-time reader (and a lurker who was finally persuaded to comment!) And an even more loyal A’s fan. Despite living in the Central Valley 90 minutes from the Coliseum, I go to games whenever I can so Uncle Lew might spend some of my money on the team. Some nice free tix would be great so I could take my nephew (whose A’s fandom I cultivated) to the game.
Thanks for the time.
How was Comerica Park? It always seems to fly under the radar when people discuss the newer parks.
@4Libertee – I’ll be driving in just in time to make the game. Maybe during the game?
ML – Sure. Call or text me at *number removed*.
I went to Comerica in July ’11, which happened to be the game where Matsui hit his 500th pro baseball homer. Unbearably hot and humid. I had assumed that a cold-weather city would be nice in the summer, but evidently not. The wife’s still trying to kill me for thinking that renting a tandem bike that day was a good idea.
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The people around us at the game said that it was Detroit’s worst weather in 10 years, so maybe it’s the A’s that bring the weather.
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As for the ballpark, I was a little underwhelmed. The stupidity of having it face south is a little hard to ignore, especially when the glare off of the empty left field seats (that face the sun) can be seen from everywhere else in the place. And the upper deck was UP, which was strange since it only has two decks.
Tell me if you want to catch up when you’re back in Chicago.
Detroit sucks. Bastards got our number.
I have to disagree with Brian. I’ve been to Comerica twice and came away impressed both times. Its a solid park, and I think they did just the right amount of tackiness playing up the Tiger thing. Statues. Columns with claw marks and tiger faces. I love how all the seats are angled to face the pitcher, even up the baselines. Right downtown with a decent skyline view. Even the city blight around the stadium has gotten better. I went to a game in 2001, got to the stadium early and decided to go looking for a convenience store to get some batteries. I walked a couple blocks and felt like the Omega Man, walking around a post-apocalypse city. Went back in 2012, and its actually gotten better.
I was lucky enough to get to visit a distant minor league stadium over this past weekend in Boise, ID and it was a ton of fun. I’m jealous ML. Getting to hit a bunch of MLB and MiLB venues on the road is living the dream.
You’ll have to give us your review of PNC Park from a game. I’ve almost universally heard it’s one of the top stadiums in baseball.
PNC is definitely the best stadium in baseball. Not only is it a gorgeous park on its own. It’s best placed stadium in baseball as far as, close to downtown, across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and offering a stunning view of downtown. Who would have thought Pittsburgh would have suck a nice skyline, and PNC park has an incredible view of it.
Hey Marine Layer, sorry I wasn’t able to make it to the Clippers game. I hope you enjoyed Huntington Park, though. I go to about five or six games there a year, and it is a very nice park.