Inside The Dodgers

Given the Chance to Visit any Baseball City, Where Would You Go, and Why?

Given the Chance to Visit any Baseball City, Where Would You Go, and Why?

Howard Cole

Jul 2, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; General view of the Pittsburgh Pirates hosting the San Francisco Giants during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

I think about baseball every day of the year, every year, always. Twenty-nine days this February means I'll experience 366 baseball-obsessed days in 2020. And there are millions like me; tens of millions, actually. So what do we do, stuck in our homes 72 hours from what would normally be the religious holiday that is Opening Day?

We dream about being at the ballpark, about being at any ballpark. We dream about being at ballparks we've dreamed about being at. And we take to social media to see what our peers are up to. Which is a good thing, because there's a lot of fun stuff to see.

Dodgers Talk is a Twitter account worth a follow, and this is a great Dodgers tweet:

Scroll though the replies to Ryan Fagan's Sunday tweet and see what you think. And leave your mark.

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My little contribution to the discourse, since I was dreaming about a baseball roadtrip anyway, was to ask for responses. Given the opportunity to visit a baseball city (and you may define "baseball city" any way you like), where would you go, and why? Equally dandy is a list of the places you've been. Post them in the comments section to this column or on Twitter. Whatever gets you through the night ... and the shelter-in-place.

These are the yards I've visited, and not including Dodger Stadium (which is my home park, and my favorite), in order of preference: Comiskey Park, Petco Park, Fenway Park, Jack Murphy Stadium, Shea Stadium, Oakland Alameda Coliseum, Candlestick Park and Anaheim Stadium, which were the names at the time of my attendance.

I was in Chicago for an NRA convention (that's National Restaurant Association) in May, 1989, which was a beautiful time to be there. I could feel the city breathe sports, and in particular, baseball. And I just loved everything about Comiskey, and especially the view from my seat behind the plate in the second deck, which seemed to put me right on top of the action.

Here are the baseball cities slash ballparks (that I haven't be to), that I'd love to visit, in alphabetical order, so as not to offend the participants: Camden Yards, Cooperstown, PNC Park, T-Mobile Park (formerly Safeco) and Wrigley Field. When I cross those off my list, I'll be looking for more. I've been to New York many times and love the city, but I haven't been to Citi Field or the present incarnation of Yankee Stadium. So they make the list as well. And sorry to disappoint my SoCal friends with this one, but I love San Francisco. So a baseball trip to whatever it is they're calling that place now awaits.

Now it's your turn. Here are some of my friends’ responses to my Sunday tweet:

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I'll leave you with three stray items from social media unrelated to today's topic -- and two unrelated to baseball -- which should bring a smile. Or maybe a tear.

And remember, glove conquers all.

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Howard Cole
HOWARD COLE

Howard Cole is a news and sports journalist in Los Angeles. Credits include Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Rolling Stone, LAT, OCR, Guardian, LA Weekly, Westways, VOSD, Prevention, Bakersfield Californian and Jewish Journal. Founding Director, IBWAA.

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