Park #20

Well, the tour is over, and what a great way to end it, at home with the Tribe and Jacobs field. You know, I've been to Jacobs field for probably 100 games, so I'm not gonna go through the inner workings of the field, because they are nothing new to me. If you want a detailed report, email me.
First of all, I want to talk about the food. A Jacobs field dog is excellent. There are two kinds you can get at the Jake. First are the typical hot dogs at the concession stands, those are nothing special. But the good ones are the ones on the grill. They put chopped onions (also cooked on the grill) on the dog. This dog was great, it was kind of smoky and well done, but not too well done (where it gets too crunchy). The only downside of these dogs are that they are much smaller than other hot dogs at other stadiums. Also, I got french fries. Now, I wouldn't think that Cleveland was a place for french fries, but the Jake has quite a french fry selection. You can get either regular fries, seasoned curly fries, or ranch flavored fries. Now, I love seasoned curly fries, so i pigged out on those. Scrumptious.
As for the game, there was a 45 minute rain delay in the 2nd inning, the first rain delay on the entire trip. Well, the Tribe (who is leading the wild card race-BOOYAH), was playing the As. Jake Westbrook pitched and didnt give up a hit for 5 innings. This guy has really improved a ton since the beginning of the year, he has really settled down a ton. However, Westbrook did give up a 3 run homer in the 5th inning, but he still pitched a good game. So, in the 7th, Barry Zito was still pitching for the As. At this point he had thrown about 110 pitches, and they left him in. Well, Peralta singled and Hafner walked. Then Zito managed to get Martinez to strike out. At this point i couldn't believe Zito was still in the game. Ken Macha (the manager) came out, and everyone thought he was gonna pull Zito. But we were all wrong. And no surprise, on Zito's 122nd pitch, he left some meatball out over the plate and Ronnie Belliard jacked a 3 run homer that has yet to land.
Well, with a 6-3 lead the tribe brought in Bob Howry, who has been fantastic all year, and managed to keep the game at 6-3. In the ninth, the Tribe brought in Captain Fitness, also known as Bob Wickman. This guy is like 300 pounds and looks like he hasn't done a situp since Carter was in office. But, he's leading the majors in saves. Although, he has NEVER gotten a 1-2-3 inning, and this game was the same. He gave up a homer to make the game 6-4, but managed to get the save. So, the tribe rules, and I'd just like to say that I went to 3 tribe games on my tour, and they won all 3.
Well, the game was great, and I was with some great friends. The Jake is great, but there are so many better stadiums in this country, I think the Jake will have to get a b/b+ rating.
Now, I'd like to take this time to end my blog:
When I first came up with the idea for this trip it was in October of last year. And over the winter, all the crap about steroids came out and got me (and a lot of others) down about baseball. I started to worry about the future of baseball due to people like McGwire, Bonds, Giambi, etc. Well, the more I thought about it, the better idea it seemed to do a baseball tour. This trip totally made me forget about the steroid contraversy and realize that baseball is as strong as its ever been and cannot be hurt by a stupid thing like a few steroid users. If anyone out there needs more convincing, you can email me.
I would like to rank all 20 stadiums from best to worst:
1. Fenway
2. PNC Park
3. Citizens Bank (Philly)
4. Wrigley
5. SBC Park
6. Camden Yards
7. Miller Park
8. PETCO Park (San Diego)
9. Comerica (Detroit)
10. Jacobs Field
11. Safeco Field
12. Yankee Stadium
13. The Rogers Centre
14. Anaheim Stadium
15. Shea Stadium
16. RFK stadium
17. US Cellular field
18. The Great American Ball Park
19. McAfee Coliseum
20. Dodger Stadium

Well, it was a great trip and i loved your comments. Be sure to keep commenting and you can view my pictures at: photos.yahoo.com/jefflazarus
there are three albums for the pictures, i think they are each under "Baseball tour pics"
Well, talk to you all soon,
Laz