SANS FRANCISCO AND DIEGO, WITH L.A. IN BETWEEN

I've been wondering when I could finally write about the West Coast Ballparks. Today's a day off for the Mets (they'll be in Atlanta this weekend), so this is as good a time as any to give a 3-park review (plus a bonus fourth park where we didn't see a game).

But first - I'm delighted Steve from New York (Queens, to be more specific) took my "write more often" advice, so here he is again:

"Johnnymets -

It appears I have let out my frustration on the Mets braintrust a bit too quickly. According to the Mets website this morning, Randolph has decided to push Zambrano back to Monday at Shea against Washington and pitch the much better and much more productive Steve Trachsel against the Braves in Atlanta on Sunday. The Mets pitching appears to give them an excellent shot at winnning the series. Hopefully, our $120 million pre-madonna will make a start and begin to earn his pay check.

- The "more optimistic than usual" fan in Queens"

First, all readers must realize that Steve is very cynical, and not usually optimistic. He's like the Yin to my Yang. Or something. So by "more optimistic than usual", I'm sure Steve means he doesn't think the Mets will be out of it by the All Star break this year, like he usually does.

Anyway, I'm hearing the same thing about Victor Zambrano - that his start won't be skipped completely, but he also won't upset Steve Trachsel's pitching schedule. So Trachsel will go Sunday, against Atlanta (an important game), on his regular rest, and Zambrano will go Monday, against Washington (a game the Mets could afford to lose...but an opponent he can beat), 8 days after his last start. So I guess Steve has calmed down a bit over that issue.

Also, by $120 million prima donna, I think Steve is referring to Carlos Beltran*. Unfortunately, I don't think he'll be earning that paycheck for another week or so. I haven't heard anything about Beltran*'s health today (nor Brian Bannister's, for that matter), but last thing I heard was that Beltran* would be placed on the DL Friday to rest his hamstring, retroactive to his last action in San Diego last Friday, and Victor Diaz would be called up to replace him. A sour note here on johnnymets.blogspot.com.

Now, onto the trip:

SAN FRANCISCO/OAKLAND
AT&T is the bonus park I was talking about. I showed you the pics the other day - we didn't go in, but we walked the perimeter of the park, and looked in the gates. There was also a big gate open because the grounds crew was working on the sod after about a month straight of rain in the Bay area. The park looks great...but I'll be going back.

I should explain how these trips work for me...because I'm a little obsessive sometimes. We have to go visit a park (we is the wife and I - she's in for the long haul now, because she's made all the trips with me so far. Other people who accompany us are interchangeable - but it's always nice to have company.) during a game that counts. An exhibition game, for example, is no good. I want to be there for an official game. Any post-season games are OK, too. But exhibition games don't count - unless we're talking about Doubleday Field in Cooperstown. I've also decided if I could visit a park during the World Baseball Classic, that might count - but I'd miss some of the home crowd atmosphere, which I think is important. So a real game is criteria number one. Then, we have to get there early, so I can check out what's around the park. Then, we have to take pictures for the scrapbook - hopefully I get most of these out of the way before the game (although I do take a couple during), so that I'm not worrying about them throughout the game. Then it's the souvenir stand - a drinking glass for the bar (tough to find out West - just got one at San Diego), a program, and maybe a shot glass. Maybe a shirt or hat for the wife. Then the food stand, with a souvenir cup. Then enjoy the game.

So the trip to AT&T Park didn't count. But it was a nice scouting trip. Nice-looking inside, and it definitely looked like there was a lot to do around the outside of the park. I'm sure it's a fun place to be, with McCovey Cove and everything, before and during a ballgame. We'll be going back.

McAFEE STADIUM
The small ball fiscal mentality you see on the field with the Oakland A's extends to their off-field business as well. There is cost-cutting even at the food stands. I got the worst souvenir cup at Oakland from any stadium ever (I hate to see what Kansas City offers - it's probably paper). They also didn't have lids for the drinks. Sticking with food, the hot dogs were very good - they also had sesame seed buns, which was different...and good.

I also figured out why Raiders fans are so ornery - they pee into a trough. The stadium's men's rooms have troughs instead of urinals. Now, I never saw this before - but the wife says this is the way it used to be in Fenway Park too. I don't know how the wife knows about the men's rooms at Fenway, but I vaguely remember hearing about this. It occurs to me that I've never been in a bathroom at Fenway. I have a very strong bladder. But I digress.

The atmosphere is OK - the fans wear a lot of green, which is neat - but their biggest reaction came from the dot races on the scoreboard rather than game action. There were only 21, 256 there - and the whole upper deck is closed off this year to prevent it from looking empty - capacity is about 34,000. Big kudos, though, to the fact that the ushers hold back all fans walking around until an at-bat is through.

The concourses are dank, the stadium looks awful from the outside, but when you're sitting in your seat watching the game, it's not a bad place to watch a game from. Here's another good picture from that game - Cameron Loe delivering to Eric Chavez:

I told you Huston Street blew this game for the A's - the Rangers won it.

DODGER STADIUM

*yawn* Bland team, bland stadium. Old stadium. *yawn* I really disliked our trip to LA.It's kind of an intimidating city, and I'm a proud New Yorker, who loves Manhattan. It's just such a big city, and everything is spread out, and you can't get anywhere except by driving. So I got off on the wrong foot with this whole trip. And I guess I was predisposed to not like Dodger Stadium. But, first of all, I'm glad we got it out of the way. And second of all, it wasn't all bad.


Everything about Dodger Stadium seems old. The bathrooms (interestingly enough - troughs again), all the concrete....it really looks like it does on TV. Which is to say, there's not a lot to it. It was comfortable to watch the game there, with good sightlines - in part due to the fact that the Dodgers installed new seats (every seat in the ballpark is new) in the offseason - the first team to do a full seat replacement in the offseason. The fans were into the game - but there were a surprising number of Cubs fans at the game - almost seemeed like more Chicago fans than L.A. fans.

The Dodger Dogs were good (apparently, you HAVE to have a Dodger Dog at Dodger Stadium), but weren't anything to scream about. They're grilled, so I guess that's why they're different. And they come out of the package HOT. One of mine was covered in ketchup because I burned my hand holding it under the ketchup dispenser because it was so hot. Also, an added bonus was the organ music - not only the fact that there was organ music, but it was pretty good.

The scoreboards stopped updating out-of-town scores, which was frustrating for someone trying to run a pool. (But the most awesome thing about the West Coast is that the 7pm games are finished by the time these games get underway. I like the time change.)

And here was the number one good thing about Dodger Stadium - open concourses. I didn't even realize it at first. But for an old ballpark (outside of Wrigley, this is the oldest ballpark in the NL, and fourth oldest in the majors), the open concourses really add to the park feel. It's something I really appreciate, since Shea's concourses are closed, and you can't watch the game from behind the stands. It was a really nice part of Dodger Stadium.

As for the game, this was the game where Derrek Lee got hurt. We left right after that happened, in the bottom of the 7th. I had had it with LA. I was not in a "THINK BLUE" frame of mind.
The Cubs came back to beat the Dodgers in this game.

PETCO PARK
I've saved the best for last.
The first thing you need to know about PETCO Park is how strange it looks from the outside. It looks like a shell. Or a secret compound. It's strange. I can't really describe it. But from the highway, it doesn't really look like a stadium. The light towers are the only thing that give it away - otherwise, we wouldn't have seen it from the road. But that's the only negative thing I'll say. PETCO is up there with my favorites. Actually, it probably is my favorite, edging the former Enron Field in Houston. There's more to do at PETCO - so much more to do that I'm pretty sure we didn't see everything there is to see, and we have to go back. We barely even made it around to the right field side.

I'm kind of obsessed with this park. Especially the Warehouse in left field.I just love it. And what I didn't know is that the warehouse houses the Padres' team store on the ground floor. We went there, but apparently, you can step out of the team store onto the field behind the left field fence. I will definitely be doing that the next time we go...I found out about that too late last week.
This ballpark is beautiful (on the inside, anyway). It's like a resort. A huge resort. There's about a zillion employees, one stationed at each entry ramp, and they're all very, very friendly. It was awesome. They, too, held back crowds until at-bats were over. (Another complaint - we were sitting in a section where they had waitresses/waiters bring food orders to you. It defeated the purpose of holding back the crowds, because the woman taking orders was always standing in the way. Also, PETCO is not in a very nice area. That's another complaint. And it's expensive. Food and drink and souvenirs. That's all. I still loved it.)

Interestingly, one of the ballpark's flaws was the closed concourse. I think it's so big that they just couldn't have open concourses. They make up for this, though, by having monitors EVERYWHERE on the concourse, so you don't miss a thing. This was the game that went 14 innings, when the Mets lost 2-1, and after the last out, as we walked out, we could watch the replay of the winning run scoring, and what I insist was a bad call by the ump, all the way through the concourse to the exit.


The food was good, the atmosphere was good. Even though the Mets lost, I loved it. That probably says it all.

We have an uncanny knack of rooting for the losing team on these trips. We saw the Mets in Houston and Philly. They lost both times. (Also in San Diego.) We were rooting for the Dodgers and the A's, and they both lost. We went to Yankee Stadium, and the wife wanted to root for the Red Sox, and they lost. The Mets also lost in Arizona. It's awful. I'm seeing the Mets in Boston in June - they'd better break the streak. At least someone will win that day - the wife's Sox or my Mets.

The rest of the trip was quite relaxing.
We even went to the San Diego Zoo. An added bonus in San Diego. This gorilla must have seen a game at Dodger Stadium, too.

THE KID'S KIDS/MINOR LEAGUE REPORT:

The St. Lucie Mets have another game Thursday night against Jupiter, who they had that big comeback against last night. The standings are still the way they were after last night's game: the Mets are 13-6, a half-game up on Brevard County, and 1 up on Palm Beach.

The big news in the minors, though, is Delmon Young. If you haven't seen the video of him throwing his bat at the ump, which I mentioned last night, check out ESPNEWS soon, or come over, because I have it on TiVo. He should be suspended indefinitely, and that indefinitely should last a very long time. He chucked the bat. And it was a direct hit. It's a good thing the ump was wearing a chest protector.

Big weekend series for the Mets in Atlanta this weekend. I'll have full coverage.