The Great MLB Stadium Trip Part II

  Part II

I cannot pinpoint exactly when I got the bug to see the rest of the MLB parks. It might have been The Ballpark in Arlington #23, home of the Texas Rangers. We’ve been there two times. One time was a personal tour of the inside of the stadium, including the clubhouse and the office of the general partner, George W. Bush—before he became President. We have eaten in the T.G.I. Friday’s above the giant right field grandstand. The place was enormous—Texas-sized—and it is seemingly always exceptionally hot, even if it was April.

On a family trip to Colorado when we stopped at Coors Field #14 in Denver. Seated low in the upper deck, we were able to see the downslope of the Rocky Mountains in the distance past the left field stands. We also were able to go inside the club area, which was beautiful (I have been in club areas at Citi Field, PNC Park, Turner Field, Camden Yards and R.F.K Stadium—all well-maintained for the high-paying customers). 

Another family trip deposited us in Seattle’s Kingdome #32. The place was sterile and the crowd noise dissipated. I guess it served its purpose for both the Mariners and NFL Seahawks. 

As bad as Seattle may have been, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome #33 was a nightmare. Besides the Yankees losing to the Twins on a Saturday night, the place looked like it was there, waiting for football season to begin. The covered seats past the right field wall—“The Baggie”—were just ugly. Following the ball in the roof was nearly impossible. The best thing was that they served Dairy Queen products. Other wise, we were drenched when leaving, as a thunderstorm literally sucked us out the door. 

A bad and depressing outdoor stadium was the Oakland—Alameda Coliseum #35. Home for the A’s, it was without a roof and had wide foul areas to insure that a football field for the Raiders would fit. That whole outfield grandstand for the Raiders was big and garish. 

We saw the Yankees in 1995; they lost 2-1. It was empty—we purchased half-price tickets for the day game and went to sections in the lower bowl to check out the vantage points. Not bad for driving in early that morning from Redding, California on I-5. 

My son and I spent a glorious afternoon at Wrigley Field #4 on the North Side of Chicago. We sat on the third base side, near the bag and the Cubs dugout. It was a hot day but the wind neutralized the afternoon heat. The outside looked like a very old building—which it is. The corridors are old, narrow and difficult to navigate. 

Once inside, it was like visiting a cathedral. Almost a religious experience. The ivy on the wall. The signature bleachers and the grandstand—so venerable. A hand-operated scoreboard. The grass appeared greener.  A cherished memory. 

Just as exciting and reverential was attending a Dodgers game at Chavez Ravine. Always a bucket list item, Dodger Stadium #8 looks kind of weathered from the outside and is dark in the narrow corridors in portions of the stadium. 

Contrastingly, going to our seats I was thrilled to see how beautiful the inside appeared. A big ballpark, it was nearly filled for a game against the arch rival San Francisco Giants. It was better than I anticipated, and my anticipation was high going there. 

Meanwhile, Anaheim Stadium #31, the other metro LA park, looked very weather-beaten. “The Big A” as it was called, has a poor man’s look of Dodger Stadium and Yankee Stadium. It looked partially theme park with a rocky area for homers to land. And the iconic “Big A” stood outside of the stadium. 

On that same trip, a day later, we saw the San Diego Padres host the St. Louis Cardinals at lovely Petco Park #10. The vista of the city beyond the outfield feels like it is part of the ballpark. As does the warehouse in left field. I liked Petco a lot. 

Another old stadium was Kauffman Stadium #27 in Kansas City. Located in the Truman Sports Complex almost abutting Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the NFL Chiefs, everything reeked of being in the Midwest. From Kansas State University night to the advertising, I knew where I was. For a 50 year old park, it held up. 

When our son attended Emory University, we visited Turner Field #19 after the stadium had been converted from the 1996 Olympics main stadium to a MLB baseball venue. It was nice and homey. Certainly not enough for the Braves management, which alighted for the suburbs in 2017.

Coming back from Atlanta after a visit, we detoured to Cincinnati to catch a game at The Great American Ballpark #26. My biggest thrill was to see the Ohio River and Kentucky well away from the right field stands. Security would not let you loiter there to take pictures. 

Three moveable dome stadiums had their roofs open when we attended. In Phoenix, it was hot and dry. Yet the A/C remained on at Chase Field #15 while the night game was played with exposure to the elements. 

Ditto Marlins Park #25 a.k.a Loan Depot Park in Miami, a futuristic, Art Deco monolith which replaced the Orange Bowl. I was disappointed to not be totally indoors.

We toured Milwaukee’s America Family Field #13 in its entirety before the game. Nice place. We roasted in the sun in our good third base seats near to the field and the Arizona Diamondbacks dugout. Why the roof wasn’t closed was mind-boggling. 

However, we were indoors at Tropicana Field #38. No wonder the Rays need a new place  to play. I had issues following the ball with the white roof and it seemed very artificial. 

We were also indoors in Houston’s Minute Maid Park #16—formerly Enron Field and now Daikin Park. I liked this stadium. Like its sisters in Arlington, it was all big, all Texas. I liked the dark roof and I felt I had great sight lines. Even if I dislike the Astros. 

Our other enclosed stadium was Rogers Centre #24 in Toronto. The sounds were distant and the place was quiet even with 30,000 in attendance. Yes, the hotel way above centerfield was there. It looked vacant. This is a stadium I would have liked to have had the roof open—except we were there in early April. 

Oracle Park #11 was fun to get to—cable cars took us to the stadium. It is a very modernistic place sitting adjacent to water called Mc Covey’s Cove in honor of the great San Francisco Giants’ left-handed slugger who would sent many a ball into that frigid water. 

We had a great view of San Francisco Bay and ships arriving. Watching the hordes of gulls invade the bleachers foraging for food was terrifying. Yes, it was cool—maybe not as cold as Candlestick Park, its predecessor, might have been. 

Busch Stadium #22 in St. Louis is very red. Very red. Like the Cardinals. The Gateway Arch looms high over the field. 

Progressive Field #20 in Cleveland was pretty. We walked up and purchased good seats for a nice price. It is sad that the upper deck in right field was closed to create a more intimate space. 

Comerica Park #18 in Detroit is another city stadium. Thee is no doubt that it is the Motor  City, with a Chevrolet on display. The place was all modern, fusing the older Tiger Stadium into the new building. 

Guaranteed Rate Field #25 in Chicago didn’t excite me. Parking was hard to exit and it put you on the mean streets of the South Side. Another stop on the tour—unique but not thrilling. 

My final stop was Fenway Park #17 in Boston. As a devout Yankees fan/Red Sox hater, I was reluctant to even go into enemy territory except for my need to complete my quest. Thus with some trepidation, my wife and I traveled to Boston.

The original plan was to go to Fenway years earlier and to see the Atlanta Braves play in Boston, the team's once-upon-a-time home city. Alas, illnesses, timing and other factors derailed those ideas. 

So I picked the Philadelphia Phillies to see at Fenway. Little did I know that the Phils under former Yankees great Don Mattingly acting as interim manager would be the hottest team in baseball. Nor did I know that Phillies fans would flock to our hotel. 

We were able to walk to and from the ballpark with ease. Those walks allowed us to take in the beauty of the city and that area. Closer to the stadium, it was more of carnival atmosphere. 

Inside of the building, I was surprised how wide the corridors are compared to the older stadiums. Conversely, the seats were the smallest in baseball and the walkways were as narrow.

The Red Sox management was full of pre-game promotions. Signage proclaimed that I was in “America’s Favorite Ballpark.” Nope. Not at all. 

Yes, the ballpark had charm. Yes, the Red Sox took advantage of every way to make it look old and yet updated. And yes, I saw two home runs clear the “Green Monster.” None of them reached the Citgo sign or Massachusetts Turnpike in the distance like Giancarlo Stanton or Aaron Judge might have. 

Singing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” as per tradition after the eighth inning was fun. Boston winning 3-1 wasn’t. 

With that, “The Great MLB Stadium Trip” was complete. I had visited all 30 MLB franchises. It felt bittersweet that the idea had reached its ending. Even if I will be going to Baltimore and Yankee Stadium soon. 

Which is why I intend to get my wife to Camden Yards and Wrigley Field to finish her own Great MLB Stadium Trip. 

The Great MLB Stadium Trip Part I

  Part I

I have done a real life cycle event. Maybe not for everybody. But certainly for me. And I am far from the only person to do this. 

What in the world am I talking about? The craziest idea of all—going to see games at a home ballpark for all 30 MLB franchises. 

This comes with an asterisk. I finished my journey at age 75. I actually wanted to complete my travel by age 70, but COVID and family health issues caused a pause in the journey. 

So how am I going to report on the stadiums? In six cities, I have seen games at multiple sites. There are the old stadiums—the ones which are now all at least 50 years old. Then there are the ones which MLB teams no longer play at. And I will discuss the newer ballparks. 

Once I am done, I will rank the stadiums. There are 39 in total. 

I recognize that you may have gone to many of the ballparks. My subjective analysis may completely differ from your recollections and memories. Then again, they should. It’s one man’s opinion, right or wrong.

I had a heck of a time going around the country to see the sport I love the most. Let’s get started. Take this trip with me. 

Beginning is easy. The Bronx was the first place I saw a major league game. 

The first edition of Yankee Stadium #3 was so memorable. Walking under the elevated tracks. The noise in the streets with all of the stores alive with people. And the absolute massiveness of the stadium—it seemed gigantic and endless. 

Entering the stadium was so different for the little boy and it hardly changed through 1973. The crowded corridors, the concession stands. So bustling with activity. 

Then, to enter the stands was incredible. The greenness of the grass. The height of the grandstand. The huge banks of light perched atop the roof. And the original green copper awning. 

My first game was in 1958. Detroit and the Yankees. I saw Art Ditmar pitch and Mickey Mantle had a single. Elston Howard caught and hit a home run. 

A Wednesday in July—It was in fact July 17th. My father, who drove us in on his day off from his dental practice, along with me were two of 16,144 there that day. We walked out on the running track and exited through the center field doors—what a way to end my first game. 

I can list so many games there—seeing the eventual American League champion White Sox with Billy Pierce versus Whitey Ford on a Saturday afternoon in 1959; the Washington Senators in for a doubleheader on Memorial Day; I sat in every level except the bleachers. That Yankee Stadium has a special place in my heart and mind. 

When the Yankees refitted the stadium, I attended the second game ever on a record-setting hot Saturday in April, 1976. The Yankees blasted the Minnesota Twins. The place was sold out. My friends and I were seated in the lower left field stands. The second edition of  Yankee Stadium is #2.

As many games as I saw in the older stadium, I saw many more in the newer place. I went to two All-Star Games, seated in the upper deck in left field in 1977 and with the hoi polloi in 2008, two rows behind the AL dugout. I was upstairs for a playoff game versus Kansas City in that same year and I could feel the vibrations from the raucous crowd.

This was the stadium I called home. I was as familiar with it as it allowed me to be. I can still picture the many times I was there—both before I had my family and then with my wife and children. 

The newest Yankee Stadium #5 is an ode to excess. It is gorgeous and it still has the feel of a big ballpark even if the capacity is a tad under 50,000. While I have no great complaints, for it is the home of my beloved Bombers since 2009; the stunning opulence of the stadium makes you feel like you are attending an event, not merely a ballgame. The cost of anything is commensurate with that aura which has been artificially created and accepted by the loyal fans. It is just not the same feeling of closeness that the prior two Yankee Stadiums offered. 

My next ballpark was Connie Mack Stadium #37 in Northeast Philadelphia. It looked old and small compared to Yankee Stadium. Not a lot of charm. 

What was a crowd of 16,000 plus felt like a sellout. There were old diehard Brooklyn Dodgers fans among the boo birds of Philadelphia. The Phillies defeated the soon-to-be World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers that night. My biggest memory was seeing first baseman Ed Bouchee club a homer over the metallic right field wall and onto the roof of a row house across the street. 

I visited Veterans Stadium #30 a number of times. It was big. It was sterile. It was hot. It had ugly Astro-Turf. You felt distant from the game. Not one of my favorites.

Citizens Bank Park #9 is my favorite Philadelphia venue—period. I have been to games at two baseball parks; basketball at Convention Hall, the Spectrum, the Palestra and Wells Fargo Arena (now Xfinity Mobile Arena); and Franklin Field for football. I like the layout, except for how distant the right field stands seem from the field. I like the atmosphere. I like the nuances. Philadelphia—you finally got it right with this ballpark. 

My first New York Mets game was at the Polo Grounds #39 in Upper Manhattan. It was old. It was dark. It looked so ugly and a place where minimal money was spent to maintain it. The cold and dreary day didn’t help much. The  Cincinnati Reds downed the woeful Mets on a Saturday afternoon in May, 1963. 

I saw another game or two there. Including a night game. The crowds were bigger but the outcomes were always the same— a tired stadium with a bad team. 

The Mets moved into Shea Stadium #21. I saw numerous games there. Both the Dodgers and Giants returned to New York; their games which I attended were loud and emotional. I saw the Pirates, Braves, Phillies, Cardinals, Astros among other NL squads and I went to a couple of Yankees games when the team had to abandon their stadium due to the concrete falling from the stands. The beauty of the edifice diminished in time as the wear and tear and lack of upkeep made the place into a mausoleum for both the Mets and Jets. I never liked that Shea Stadium wasn’t encircled like other dual use stadiums which followed.  

Citi Field #7 is a retro-style new park. It has its own character—it feels far more intimate than Shea Stadium although the intensity might have been a little greater at the old park. I have nothing against the place. It just seemed like the Mets needed a new place to keep up with its brethren and to compete with the Yankees. Shea Stadium needed to go. 

My first venture outside of the New York—Philadelphia axis was in Washington, D.C. While in the Nation’s Capital for a summer internship followed by a special government semester at American University, I saw a total of 11 baseball games (and one football game where I froze on an early November day). 

I was fortunate that Jim Warfield, my former Franklin and Marshall trainer, was working in that capacity for Cleveland. I saw almost all of their games along with seeing the Twins on a night a group related to then Congressman Bob Bergland from Northern Minnesota—he became President Carter’s Secretary of Agriculture. 

I was also there for the final Senators home game against the Yankees. Half-blitzed with beer, I recall Fritz Peterson grooving a pitch for D.C. fan favorite Frank Howard to launch into the upper deck. The fans overran the field and looted it to the point that the umpires called the game a forfeit. 

R.F.K. Stadium #36 was an architectural delight from the outside but a heat trap on the inside. While it accommodated baseball, the place was definitely made for football. It was a part of the D.C skyline up in Northeast D.C. and the place looked like it belonged. R.F.K. simply was not a great ballpark. 

Its successor, Nationals Park #12, built for the team which left Montreal and took on a new identity, is cute, charming and gives off a friendly vibe. A whole area of D.C. which, during my time there was not safe and looked decrepit, became gentrified and nice. 

The same year I was in D.C. I traveled up to Baltimore to see my only World Series in 1971. Memorial Stadium #34 was visible the day I played right field for F&M at Johns Hopkins in my first varsity start in 1970. Going there was a goal which I accomplished three times, having seen Yankees and Orioles open the 1971 season and the Red Sox a few weeks later. Baltimore was just an hour away from Lancaster. 

Oriole Park at Camden Yards #6 is a much nicer and happier place than Memorial Stadium, which was more for the Colts to play football in. There is an intimacy with the fans and the architecture, starting with the warehouse beyond right field and the hotel overseeing the stadium just apart from the left field stands, incorporating the concept of building the city into the stadium. I am a bit prejudiced as I go there yearly with Fan X—very happily because we can get in and out readily and the place is always hopping, no matter how poorly the O’s are playing. 

Pittsburgh was my next stop. Three Rivers Stadium #29 for a Saturday game between the Expos and Pirates. We walked on a bridge to the field—on sidewalks this time as opposed to an entire bridge being closed to traffic for PNC Park visitors. 

It was a cookie cutter, dual purpose venue, much smaller than Veterans Stadium. I hated the AstroTurf. I did get to see Dave Parker throw out a runner at third base from deep in right field. What a gun—just like I saw Pirates legend Roberto Clemente show off his arm in that World Series game in Baltimore. 

Pittsburgh’s PNC Park #1 is one of the great ballparks in America. The view of the city beyond the Allegheny River, a splash home run away, is spectacular. While it is a small capacity ballpark, it has a very big league feel. The food is really good. You definitely have an old style baseball setting in a modern facility. I have been there multiple times and have come away with a sense that this event was good fun, family enjoyment. Too bad the Pirates haven’t been as good as their stadium. 

Nothing To Write About

There isn’t a whole heck of a lot to report on this week. Sports is in a cycle where you watch the events and then comment. But there is not a lot that is controversial or noteworthy. 

The NHL Playoffs continue in the second round. Montreal did prevail over a solid Tampa Bay Lightning team coached by John Cooper. They now play Buffalo, and are down 1-0 in their series. 

Cooper hasn’t had much success lately in the playoffs—his TBL teams have been eliminated in the first round in four consecutive years after winning the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 before losing to Colorado in the 2022 finals. This comes on the heels of Cooper being the head coach for Team Canada in the 2026 Olympics. Of course, that’s when Team USA won the gold on the golden goal by New Jersey’s Jack Hughes. 

The other Eastern Conference series looks to be a walkover. While Philadelphia looked good against Pittsburgh, a team with many deficiencies, they have been up against a buzz saw in Carolina. After the Flyers’ Thursday’s home loss, the Hurricanes are ahead 3-0 in the best-of-seven series. 

Carolina plays with a fierceness and intensity which mirrors the behind-the-bench demeanor of their coach, Rod Brind’Amour. So far, in seven games played in these playoffs, the Canes are 7-0. I wouldn’t be surprised if they go 8-0 this weekend. 

In seven seasons with Carolina under Brind’Amour, the franchise has made the playoffs every year. In that span, the Canes have lost in the conference finals three times. This group appears to be the strongest one yet, although Ottawa and now Philadelphia are not top tier opponents. 

Can the Hurricanes beat either Buffalo or Montreal? Yes, they can. Either might prove to be a more formidable test. 

Even if Carolina makes it to the Stanley Cup Finals, there are some pretty fair opponents awaiting. It won’t be a cakewalk.

Anaheim surprised a number of people with its win over Edmonton to reach the next round. People in the East are unfamiliar with the Ducks level of play this season. To show how competitive Anaheim is, they went to Las Vegas and split the two games there. This is with Vegas on a sort of a winning roll having made the unorthodox move of changing coaches at the tail end of the season.

Both teams won their opening round series in six games. Going at least six games against each other would not be surprising. 

Whichever team emerges from that series will likely have to face the Colorado Avalanche, the overall points leader in the regular season. The Avs are up 2-0 in their series versus Minnesota. 

Colorado can score goals. In this series against the Wild, the Avs have scored 14 goals in two games. No matter that they have surrendered eight goals. To me, outshooting and outscoring your opponent is a winning formula. I expect to see Colorado in the Finals. 

The NHL Draft Lottery took place earlier in the week. Toronto, which has not won a Stanley Cup since 1967, to the chagrin of its faithful yet irritable fans, won the top pick. With new management and some time to build a more representative team, could the Leafs actually turn the corner and become a contender? The pressure has been turned up a notch by the successes of rivals Montreal and Ottawa both making this year’s playoffs. 

In New Jersey, a local kid who is a savant and a former professional poker player, returns to his home state to guide the team he rooted for as a kid after a stint with Florida, a two-time Stanley Cup winner in 2024 and 2025. Sunny Mehta is thrilled to be back home and brings a background in risk assessment, options, trades and hockey analytics. 

With a few tweaks, this team can contend. The nucleus, beginning with Hughes, is strong. 

Mehta has cleaned house in upper management, preferring to bring in his own people. Will he do the same with the head coach, or does Sheldon Keefe, a former Toronto head man, deserve another year after a late season run fell short? Could he be waiting for the end of he playoffs to make a move? Whatever happens, it is going to be interesting in Newark going forward. 

Enough hockey. The NBA is also grinding through its playoffs. 

Locally, for those of us who reside in the NY-NJ-PA area, we have a rematch between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76’ers. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns lived in the area growing up—Brunson was born in New Brunswick and Towns in Edison. 

Brunson followed his dad, Rick, now a coach with NYK, but along with his mother, were athletes at Temple University in Philadelphia. He spent the bulk of his youth in Cherry Hill before ending up in Illinois for a storied high school career. 

Then it was on to Villanova to play for Jay Wright and win a national championship. Three other teammates from Villanova have played with him in New York—Donte Di Vincenzo; Malik Bridges; and Josh Hart. The latter duo are currently key members of the Knicks. 

Towns lived much more locally. He lived in Piscataway, the son of the all-time rebound record holder at Monmouth University and a coach at Piscataway Technical High School. KAT grew up with basketball and traces his success back to practicing with the Piscataway Tech teams before matriculating at St. Joseph’s in Metuchen for high school and then onto Kentucky to play for John Calipari. 

New York was not the original stop for either star. Brunson, a second round selection, began his career in Dallas with Luka Doncic. Coming off the bench and then starting, the two-time NCAA champion and an Illinois Mr. Basketball showed how talented he was. 

Towns was a star with Minnesota, winning Rookie of the Year, garnering All-Star nominations and even winning the 2015-16 All-Star Skills Challenge and then the Three-Point contest during the 2021-22 season. He accumulated offensive statistics which put him in rarified air, becoming the only NBA player to score at least 2,000 points along with grabbing over 1,000 rebounds and making over 100 three-point shots in a season. 

When injuries slowed Towns down, he was traded to New York in a three-team deal. Brunson came to the Knicks with his dad as a free agent—although New York did get penalized for tampering. 

As much progress as the team has made, it appears that New York has thrived under new head man Mike Brown. With Brunson’s dad and the legendary Maurice Cheeks on his staff, the Knicks are a hustling, committed group which follows the lead of its stars, both capable of offense inside the lane as much as behind the arc. 

New York has a 2-0 advantage on Philadelphia as the series moved to South Philly. The Knicks high-powered offense did just enough to defeat a Joel Embiid-less Sixers team on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. 

Coming off of big-time blowouts in the last two games agains Atlanta and then the opener versus the Sixers, New York gutted it out against a Philadelphia team which is well-coached by a former champion in Nick Nurse. The pressure defense PHI employed along with foul trouble for Towns made the contest a much closer affair. If Philadelphia hadn’t turned the ball over as much a it did and shot poorly at the end of the game, the outcome might have been different. 

Do not count the Sixers out right now. Tyrese Maxey is an absolute dynamo. Paul George brings experience and defense. Kelly Oubre can be troublesome on offense and defense. Plus rookie VJ Edgecombe has been difficult to stop. 

Combine them with the return of Embiid at some time, maybe beginning with Friday night, the Sixers will be even more difficult to play for NYK. Even more so, with starter and strong contributor O.G. Anunoby having suffered a hamstring strain late in Wednesday game. Just ask Boston how tough a match up Philly can be—the Sixers took it to the Celtics in Game 7 of their series. 

Cleveland and Detroit are the other Eastern Conference battle. Detroit came back to overcome Orlando’s lead in their series. (Orlando management was so upset in the manner in which the team fell apart in its last two games against the Pistons—albeit without star Franz Wagner—that the coach was fired) Pistons’ star Cade Cunningham has regained his scoring magic. 

Cleveland is a nice team. Can they retake momentum from the Pistons once back in Ohio? Sure they can. Detroit is hardly invincible. 

Out West, the Los Angeles Lakers, sans Luka Doncic, are no match for defending champion Oklahoma City. Expect OKC to take down LeBron James and his mates in four or five games. There is just too much firepower on OKC to contend with and Austin Reaves alone cannot rescue LAL—despite his scoring 31 on Thursday night after a poor opening game. 

In the other series, Minnesota and San Antonio are tied at 1. The Timberwolves stole Game 1 on the road with a two point win. This was despite a record 12 blocked shots from Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, handing Minnesota its largest playoff loss ever. T-Wolves head man Chris Finch, the F&M grad, questioned how many blocks by the tall SAS center were actually goaltending calls missed by the officials. 

Minnesota has advanced to the conference finals in the past two seasons. I heard a statistic, if true, which may make this a longer series. That nugget is that the Spurs have lost seven straight in Minneapolis. With Anthony Edwards back in the lineup, even if it is with a minutes restriction, the T-Wolves will not be a pushover for a San Antonio team most everyone outside of the state of Minnesota and surrounding area thinks is destined to meet OKC. 

Briefly, I will discuss the New York Yankees and Anthony Volpe saga. Volpe, the local kid from New York City and Warren, New Jersey by way of The Delbarton School, burst upon the scene in 2023 to claim the starting shortstop spot for the team. In his first year, Volpe showed signs of hitting in the clutch and won a Gold Glove for his defense. His 20 homers and 20 stolen bases made him the 15th MLB rookie ever to do that.

However, his on-base percentage and chase rate for balls outside the strike zone has always been bad. Perhaps because he jumped almost directly from Double A ball to the majors and didn’t have enough time to develop. 

Rather than improve off of his rookie season, Volpe did not meet the standards expected of him. His hitting and fielding statistics weren’t good enough. Plus he played most of last season hurt, warranting left shoulder surgery in the off season.

Volpe was sent on rehab assignments and his hitting still hadn’t improved that much—in a limited sample. Meanwhile, his replacement, Jose Caballero, was hitting well, running the bases even better with his great speed and playing more than adequate defense. And the Yankees were winning, currently atop the American League with the best record, although Tampa Bay is breathing down their necks in the AL East. 

The statistics couldn’t be denied. General Manager Brian Cashman and Manager Aaron Boone made the difficult decision to keep Volpe in the minors for the foreseeable future. How and when Volpe returns to the big club will be dependent upon how he performs down there and any injuries necessitating his call up. 

This isn’t quite like what had happened to former Yankees mainstays Oswaldo Cabrera and Jasson Dominguez. Both began the season in Triple A, with no place on the MLB roster. 

Slugger Giancarlo Stanton went down with anther leg injury and Dominguez got his chance. He was contributing as the DH. Manager Boone saw an opportunity to rest slugger Aaron Judge by letting him DH on Thursday and slotting Dominguez in left field. 

The fates caught up with Dominguez in the first inning. Running hard for a ball hit deep to left field, Dominguez crashed into the wall. He held the ball in an amazing catch, suffering a concussion and shoulder injuries which will land him on the IL for awhile. 6’6” slugging super prospect Spencer Jones will get the call to finally show us what is expected of him at the major league level.

As for Volpe, he has to wait his turn. I really like the kid and wish him the best. I would want to see him playing the shortstop the Yankees need him to excel at. With a log jam created by Caballero’s excellent play thus far and that Volpe offers no versatility like others already in New York, including the speedy Caballero, it may be a long period before he will be back in the Yankees pinstripes. 

Moreover, George Lombard, Jr. is another highly-touted prospect who plays shortstop. Given his downward trend and the bad timing of an injury, Anthony Volpe must sit and bide his time. I root for him, but baseball is a business and performance matters. 

I end with this. Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo will forego running in the Preakness Stakes. So will a total of 17 of the 18 horses which ran in the Derby. 

The contention is that the Triple Crown races are too close in proximity that will cause a greater likelihood of injury to the animal. This issue has been raised in prior years and the Derby winner has not competed for the Triple Crown in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. 

What may not have been a concern in the industry is one now. The luster of winning the three races seems to have been shunted aside. Which is bad for the sport. 

The Derby drew 24 million viewers to a sport which remains somewhat dormant until May. With each race, the viewership grows if there is legitimate chance at a Triple Crown. Without changes, the networks will not want to pay top dollar. 

It’s a shame because nobody knew about Golden Tempo until the horse charged from dead last to win the biggest race. There would have been a ton of attention on this Preakness had he been entered. 

Hockey. Basketball. Volpe and the Yankees. The Triple Crown. Evidently I had nothing to write about this week.