Let's get this out at the beginning--I have a strong affinity towards seeing stadiums, baseball games, colleges and universities--their campuses and athletics facilities--and state capitals--the Capitol building and the Supreme Court. I had this idea to see all 50 states by age 50--which I did accomplish with trips to Hawaii and Alaska. Now I am on this kick to see as many state capitals and Supreme Courts as possible (I think I am going to miss North Dakota and South Dakota and I need to go to 7 others), as well as many major universities in the power conferences plus complete the Division III University Athletic Association by seeing Washington University in St. Louis. It also is my goal to see a baseball game in each team's home park of that particular moment before I turn 70 in just under 3 1/2 years.
Which is why I found myself with my very understanding and appreciative wife sitting in Chase Field on April 27, a day removed from flying to Phoenix. The game was featuring the-then first place Arizona Diamondbacks hosting the sub-.500 San Diego Padres. This would be home field number 20, leaving me 10 ballparks to go. Those would be Houston, St. Louis, Kansas City, Miami, Tampa Bay, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee, Boston, Detroit and Washington. The last is a sort of footnote--I had seen many games at RFK Stadium in 1971 when the Texas Rangers were called the Washington Senators--not to be confused with the first Washington Senators team which relocated to Twin Cities in 1961 and became the Minnesota Twins.
This baseball stadium odyssey is not unusual--there are fans who do all 30 stadiums in a calendar year. That has NEVER been my goal. I try to attach a reason to see an area when we go to a game. This trip was to meant to allow my wife see the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert in Arizona and the under appreciated White Sands National Monument in New Mexico--my favorite National Park. Additionally, we would take in the New Mexico state capital in Santa Fe and head north for a look see at the famed ski resort town of Taos. Although it snowed in New Mexico and we had to deal with the melting in Santa Fe the day after the city received 8 inches, the snow-capped mountain peaks and the deserts of both states were magnificent.
Moreover, this trip would allow me to go to Albuquerque to see the University of New Mexico once more and its sister school, New Mexico State University, located in Las Cruces. Neither school is in a Power 5 conference--UNM is in the Mountain West Conference of which I have two schools to see--Hawaii and Boise State. New Mexico State is a member of the Western Athletic Conference for all sports except for football, which the WAC dropped in 2012-13, forcing the Aggies to join the Sun Belt Conference as a football member. As to the WAC and Sun Belt, it will be more by accident or happenstance if I will see all of their members.
NM State has very nice facilities. A nice looking football stadium and lots of grounds for its other programs . The Pan American Center is a nice home to the basketball programs. The academic and agricultural portion of NM State looked very nice too. Exactly what I would expect from a low to mid-major school: nice.
More impressive was UNM. It was clear that this was the flagship school for the state. The buildings were nicer; there is the sizable and newer-looking UNM Medical Center, which is home to their medical school. The school itself is located on a small hill overlooking Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico with an estimated population near or around 550,000. The area adjacent to the school is both independent of the school yet replete with establishments which cater to the student population. I thought it was a fine mix of town and gown.
As much as I liked the academic side of UNM, the athletic facilities on its South Campus were first rate. The 56 year old football stadium seats a shade over 39,000 but has held as many 44,000 patrons for games versus NM State. The first game there was a drubbing of the University of Mexico--I never knew they had a team!! As a footnote, I did see the Lobos play at Rutgers this past season, so the trip back to UNM--which I first saw in 1959--was a timely one.
Located across the street from the stadium is Isotopes Park, a fairly new 15,000 seat minor league ballpark which is home to the Albuquerque Dukes of the Pacific Coast League. UNM baseball played its home games there for a number of years and in 2012 its attendance was 38th best in the nation. Now the Lobos call Santa Ana Star Field their own ballpark. The City of Albuquerque has a velodrome in that area as well.
WisePies Arena a.k.a The Pit is the most well-known of the UNM facilities. Just over 50 years old, the basketball arena has hosted a number of NCAA men's basketball tournament games and one Final Four in 1983--where the upstart underdog North Carolina State University team defeated the more heralded and heavily-favored University of Houston Cougars team on a miraculous winning shot at the buzzer. Led by their mercurial and outspoken coach, Jim Valvano, the unfortunate but heroic creator of the V Foundation to combat cancer, the Wolfpack win is one of the signature moments in NCAA tournament history. I always like the irony that the Wolfpack would naturally win a championship in the home arena of a team nicknamed the Lobos.
The Pit holds now holds about 15,000 fans, down from its 19,000 plus crowds before significant renovations took place. The venue is called The Pit for good reason--the playing surface is located well below ground level, where all fans enter the building. More daunting is the atmosphere--UNM fans are rabid and noisy, which is in part due to the architecture of the building. Then there is the other unique and somewhat intimidating feature of The Pit--it is located 5,100 feet above sea level, a fact which is advertised boldly throughout on its walls. In 1999, Sports Illustrated named The Pit 13th of the Top 20 Sports Venues of the 20th Century--ahead of more well-known facilities such as Notre Dame Stadium, the Rose Bowl and Daytona International Speedway. While we used the restrooms in the foyer of WisePies Arena (really?), it was a pleasure for this basketball junkie to peer through the locked gates and see the floor of the arena way below ground.
Chase Field, the Diamondbacks' home since the team's inaugural season in 1998 and then called Bank One Ballpark or the BOB, is the first stadium with a retractable roof over a real grass field. Given the torrid summers in the Valley of the Sun, a roof and air conditioning for the D-backs games was a necessity. a really different feature of the stadium is the swimming pool located beyond the right field fence, available as a suite package for those who believe going to an MLB park warrants a good swim. Right by the Phoenix Convention Center and across the street from the Phoenix Suns' home court, Talking Stick Resort Arena, Chase Field is easily accessible. It took us approximately 20 minutes to drive 3.8 miles from our hotel in the Biltmore section of the city and park the car; our return trip was 15 minutes since it was after rush hour.
The D-backs do not draw well. The night before, an all-time low attendance of 14,000 plus saw the Padres beat the home team. The night we were at Chase Field, there were just over 15,000 fans in a stadium designed to hold over 48,000 people. I thought that the stadium was charming. It was very fan-friendly and had ribbon bands as well as giant screen scoreboards which kept the fans completely informed. There are retired numbers above the outfield wall plus memorial tributes to Joe Garagiola--the baseball player/ childhood friend of Yogi Berra, turned announcer, turned Today Show host and D-backs' broadcaster in his "retirement"--and Joe Black, the Plainfield, NJ-born former Negro League and Major League hurler who was the first black pitcher to win a World Series game while with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952 and was a cherished member of the D-backs' organization. Of course I bristled when I saw the plaque commemorating the D-Backs' World Series win in 2001 over the New York Yankees--when a broken bat flare against soon-to-be Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera won Game 7.
We were lucky that the weather was cooler, allowing the rarity of the roof being open. The game was as indistinguishable as any other game-- a few home runs by the D-backs and one from the Padres plus an 11 strikeout performance by the D-backs' starting pitcher. The game seemed to fly by. And just like that it was over.
I have plans to see Comerica Park in Detroit and Minute Maid Park in Houston this year, bringing my total to 22. Plus my annual trip to PNC Park in Pittsburgh--simply the greatest view of a city from any stadium in the US. I may make another foray to the Bronx this summer to see the resurgent Yankees play in the palace disguised as the new Yankee Stadium, and I never know if my good friend Murray is desirous of driving 3 hours up and back to see the Baltimore Orioles play in retro Oriole Park at Camden Yards. I expect to see the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University this month and both the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University along with Texas A&M when we go to Houston in September; this will leave me only the University of Missouri to complete the Southeastern Conference. We will pick up two state capitals--Montgomery and Jackson, too. Much to my chagrin, we will also stop in New Orleans--my least favorite city in the US so my wife can experience it. At least I will see the Superdome, the home of the NFL's Saints, recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Make that a side trip on the stadium tour.
I love this portion of my retirement. Touring the U.S. with a purpose. Certainly not everyone's way of seeing the country. Yet it is mine. Imagine if I included going to game at each site--as my wife rightfully would have either divorced me or had me declared mentally unstable and subsequently institutionalized for treatment.
Thankfully this addiction, unlike a substance abuse one, is less harmful and a lot saner. Relatively speaking.
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