101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out

Ever since 1,000 Places to See Before You Die became such a smash hit, there have been an avalanche of books with a similar concept in many genres. I must admit I love these kind of books, so I was really eager to read 101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out (clever title) by Josh Pahigian. Part of the appeal of these books is a) to see how many of these places you've been to; b) see which places the author deems to be worthy of inclusion and which you would have had on the list; c) and learn about some hidden gems that you should include on your personal list of must-see attractions. 

I was surprised to find that I've only hit 17 of the 101 places listed in the book, and that's only because last month I added Monument Park, the Yankee Tavern, and Babe Ruth's Grave to the list. I certainly have my work cut out for me. 

As for the places on the list, they are very eclectic, from the obvious (the Green Monster, Hall of Fame) to the obscure (Recreation Park in Visalia, California) to the commercial (Lenny Dykstra's Car Wash) to the bizarre (the infamous Alcor Life Extension Foundation).  I couldn't think of too many places I would have added. Probably would have had a couple more major league ballparks (there are far more minor league parks on the list) such as Dodger Stadium (the L.A. Memorial Coliseum where the Dodgers originally played is on the list) and PNC Park in Pittsburgh for the great ballpark, but the point wasn't to load it up to read like a major league road trip. I also would have included some sights in Japan (Koshien Stadium for one) and elsewhere around the world (San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic that has turned out an inordinate number of major leaguers and is known as the the "City of Shortstops"). 

Among the hidden gems in the book are the Crosley Field replica in Blue Ash, Ohio, the remains of Cleveland's League Park, and the site along the Delaware River where the mud  that is used to rub up the baseballs in the major league comes from, a gem so hidden that no one really knows where it is. 

Here are the places on the list with a Red Sox connection: The Green Monster, The Huntington Avenue Grounds on the campus of Northeaster (which has a statue of Cy Young), The Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore, Babe Ruth's grave in Westchester County in New York, McCoy Stadium (home of the Pawtucket Red Sox), the Baseball Reliquary in Los Angeles (which displays quirky artifacts such as the thong of Margo Adams), the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame in Tropicana Field, Alcor, Mike Greenwell's Bat-a-Ball and Family Fun Park in Cape Coral, Florida, and Bucky Dent's Baseball School in Florida (which has a replica of the Green Monster). The Cape Cod League is on the list as is The Irvin Allen Jr. Braves Museum in Atlanta, which has artifacts from the Braves' former days in Boston.

If you're a baseball fan, this is a book you really want to check out. 

Northern Avenue Bridge Banners

The Island Alliance has recently put up some wonderful banners on the Northern Avenue pedestrian bridge (the bridge next to the Barking Crab and the Moakley Courthouse) to promote the Boston Harbor Islands. About 10 of my photos were used on the banners, including large photos of cormorants on Little Brewster Island for the "bring friends" banner and the ruins of the mess hall on Bumpkin Island for the "explore" banner. Amazing to see these photos blown up to super size when I'm so used to seeing them on my computer screen. If you're down along the waterfront, check it out. 

Visitation to the Boston Harbor Islands Up

Interesting article in the Waltham Daily News Tribune the other day that visitation to the Boston Harbor Islands is up this year. Good to see that the increase in ferry prices didn't have too much of a dampening effect, and it's nice to see people in metropolitan Boston getting out these great resources that are right in their backyard. Hopefully some of these island visitors are toting a copy of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands. I've also heard anecdotally that boat traffic in Boston Harbor is down around 40% this year, no doubt in large part to the increased fuel prices. Amazing if that is true. 

Yankee Stadium

As all baseball fans know, this year marks the final season of venerable Yankee Stadium. I was fortunate enough to get in on one of the tours of The House That Ruth Built last weekend to see the place one final time before it gives way to the new stadium that is rising across 161st Street. From the outside, the new Yankee Stadium looks as if its the older structure with its return to the classic facade with the stadium named etched in gold. Although it's always sad to lose the history of the old ballparks, that is one definite improvement over the current Yankee Stadium.

Being a Red Sox fan setting foot into Yankee Stadium always feels strange, a place of great import but a place that's not too welcoming to people of your belief. Kind of like setting foot on the floor of the Republican Convention toting an Obama '08 sign. This being the final season of the Stadium (and all you need to say is "the Stadium" and people know you're not talking about Shea or Qualcomm), tickets to remaining games are scarce, and you won't have an easy time getting tickets to the tours either. Advance tickets for remaining Yankee Stadium tours are sold out, but the Yankees put 40 tickets on sa

le at 9 a.m. on days of tours at the advance ticket window. But you'll probably need to get there early. On the day we went, people were lining up before 6:45 a.m., and people who arrived after 8:30 a.m. were shut out. 

The access that is granted on the tour is pretty good, but it was a big group of about 60 people, which meant we didn't have a lot of time to wander in Monument Park, which was the part of the stadium I was most interested in seeing. The tour took us up to the press box, which has a fantastic panorama of the field and into the Yankee dugout. (I didn't try to high step and jump over the fence like Derek Jeter, which was probably a good decision.) We also got to walk along the warning track along the outfield wall. It was neat to see all the circular dents in the wall, which appeared to be painted, from outfield shots.   

Monument Park is an impressive place to visit, even if you're not a Yankee fan because the Yankee greats are a cavalcade of some of the best who ever played the game. I hadn't realized that the only true monuments in Monument Park honor just five greats: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Miller Huggins. There are plaques that honor other members of the Yankee organization, and a long row of numerals on pinstriped circles in Monument Park looks like the winning numbers for some new pinstriped game from the New York State Lottery, but they contain the team's 16 retired numbers. Not bad when you can have Ruth's retired number sandwiched between the display for Gehrig and DiMaggio. 

After the tour, we ducked into the Yankee Tavern, which is supposedly as old as Yankee Stadium. The walls are filled with memorabilia and photographs of Yankees, although it felt like Jeter was staring at you no matter where you moved. I liked the replica of Yankee Stadium's signature facade that hung from the ceiling of the bar and the fact the menu included a ballpark pretzel.

There was an interesting billboard just outside of Yankee Stadium that I was surprised to see. It featured David Wright of the Mets and David Ortiz from the Sox pushing Vitamin Water. How do the stars from the Yankees' two biggest rivals get their faces plastered in the shadows of the stadium? Couldn't imagine seeing A-Rod and Jeter on any billboards around Fenway.

Old State House restoration

The historic Old State House in Boston has undergone some restoration in the past few months. The Bostonian Society has restored the building's tower, restored masonry in several locations, and repaired or replaced damaged window frames. The dome and weathervane atop the tower were re-gilded, and they have been restored to their 18th-century splendor. Upgrades will continue to make the Old State House handicap-accessible and improve its interpretative displays.

The Boston National Historic Park and The Bostonian Society are celebrating the completion of the recent restoration work with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, July 25 at 11:00 AM. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and National Park Service Director Mary Bomar will attend the ceremony on the plaza outside the Old State House. The construction project is the first to be completed under the National Park Service Centennial Initiative, which seeks to reinvigorate the country's national parks in time for the centennial of the National Park Service in 2016.

Boston Harbor Islands ferry reservations

While the prices for the ferries to the Boston Harbor Islands have increased this year (understandably, due to the sharp spike in fuel prices), one of the improvements made by park management is to have dedicated ferries that go from Long Wharf in Boston directly to Spectacle Island (as well as ferries that go directly from Boston to Georges Island). In previous years, ferries would stop at Georges Island and then Spectacle Island on the way back to Boston and it would not be uncommon for the boats to not have enough room to accommodate all who were waiting at Spectacle to return back to Boston, which led to delays and sometimes a frustrating first-time visit to the islands. With these dedicated ferries, it eliminates the scenario where a rush of people boarding ferries at Georges Island will impact those at Spectacle Island. From what I've heard, it's made the ferry service operate much more smoothly this year and has been a definite enhancement in service.

Another change this year is that during the peak months when you buy your ferry ticket at Long Wharf, you will also have to make reservations for a specific time out to the islands and also for a time back to Boston. This is to ensure that ferries coming back to Boston late in the afternoon will be facing an unexpected number of passengers that they are unable to accommodate. It means visitors will have to do a little more planning when taking a trip out to the islands in terms of estimating when they will return, but it's another move that will minimize the delays on getting ferries back to Boston (some of which could be 30-45 minutes last year) and provide more certainty to when visitors can get back to Boston. Ferry schedules are available on www.harborislands.org.

One interesting stat I heard on Sunday out on Spectacle Island is that boat traffic in Boston Harbor is down by 40%. Presumably, because the high price of fuel. If that's true, it also means ferries are running into less traffic getting to and from the islands.

Gloucester Cinema

I'm not a big movie person, but I thought I'd give a quick report on a theater that we went to last weekend because the theater turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The Gloucester Cinema doesn't look much from the outside (in fact the marquee along the front advertises for ice cream and an ATM inside) but don't judge this book by its cover. Once you walk through the cramped lobby with a handful of video games and get into the theater (or at least the one of three screens on which we watched a movie this week) you'll get a movie experience on par with the major chains. The seats are comfortable, the screen of sufficient size, and the sound system is top-rate. Concession prices for reasonable--by movie standards, of course ($7.50 for a jumbo popcorn and soda). The best part: movies start at the listed movie times. You're not bombarded by 20 minutes of ads followed by 20 minutes of previews. The Gloucester Cinema is on Route 133 in Gloucester.