Four Summer Days In Four American Cities: Nothing But Baseball, Hot Dogs, and Highway Driving With My Two Sons – Post #1

Well, we’re all back at home following a whirlwind baseball tour of four Major League cities and their respective (all newer) ball parks – Great American Park in Cincinnati, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Comerica Park in Detroit, and PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

Getting home was another story (I still don’t have my luggage), but that’s for another time.

The experience of enjoying four-plus solid days with one’s adult sons doing nothing but either watching Major League baseball or driving from city to city amidst family-oriented baseball chatter, is one that will remain with me for the rest of my life.

The entire spectacular sports voyage was the brainchild of Doug, who planned and executed the itinerary for a father and brother who, like him, relish “the great American pastime”.

Doug and I flew to Chicago on the 4th of July and he rented a comfortable Chrysler 300 for the more than 2,000 miles of driving ahead of us. The following day we met up with Gregg in Indianapolis at noon. He had flown there from Portland the night before.

We arrived at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati (above) about 5 pm so we could take in the Big Red Machine Baseball Hall of Fame (a.k.a. the Pete Rose museum) before the game.

When we emerged, it was ominously raining steadily and the tarp covered the infield (below).

The game went on, thankfully, following a 40-minute rain delay, with “my” SF Giants losing to Cincinnati, 6-3. Perhaps more later on the game and day's events, but for this post, here are initial photos of the three other parks we would visit in the three following days.

Above is the outfield at the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis with the famed Mississippi waterfront Gateway Arch dominating the view beyond the park.

This is the beautiful Comerica Park in Detroit, with the downtown skyline as a backdrop. The tall round building in the center is the GM (General Motors) building.

And finally, here's another beautiful newer park, PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Roberto Clemente bridge, just beyond the outfield wall, connects the waterfront park site to the downtown Pittsburgh triangle just across the Allegheny River. By the way, for a larger view, just click on a photo.

If you like, you can "read ahead" on Gregg's blog, as he took along his laptop and posted daily while on the trip. He took a zillion more pics with his cell phone cam than I took with my camera, and you can see the whole trip through his "eyes" by clicking here.