Toronto and Pittsburgh

I had a great time during the weekend as we made our way to Toronto. It took us close to 12 hours to get there, when you include a stop in Niagara Falls. By the way, that place is amazing and Ashley and I had a great time there. Toronto is an amazing city and after spending a night there, i was ready to pack my bags and move there. The city is so clean and beautiful with tons of tall buildings and the people are really nice, i guess Canadians like to live up to their friendly reputation.

We got a great deal through Travelocity on a hotel downtown that was within walking distance of the ballpark. Rogers Centre is right in the heart of downtown and i really liked the variety of bars and restaurants close by. We ate at this place called Eggspectation, I had a Mango burger that was worth every penny.

Rogers Centre is not a very attractive ballpark but i guess most domed stadiums are not and i did not like their artificial turf, it looked very run downed but the ballpark is very easy to navigate and it had great food choices. We sat on the 500 level right behing home plate and had a great view of the whole field. Ricky Romero was really good and tossed a complete game and the Jays won the game 6-1. I got the souvenir cup and a shot glass to add to my collection on my way out.

We left Toronto early Monday and made our way to Pittsburgh to watch the Cubs and the Pirates play. We got a great parking location right in front of the home plate entrance for 15 bucks. PNC Park is beautiful, I liked all the statues of their great players outside the park, specially the one for Roberto Clemente.The park was built in a perfect place and it has the backdrop of the whole city behind it, too bad the Pirates are the home team.

It was really hot that day but i didn't care because for the first time in my life i was sitting behind home plate, i guess the good part about the Pirates being bad is you can great tickets really cheap. We had a great view and it was actually a pretty good pitching matchup and the Pirates pulled through for a 2-1 win. I have to say that PNC is park as a structure is the most beautiful park i have visited up to this point and i would love to go back when i get the chance.

In other exciting news, i got an email alert from the Nats on our way back to DC about Stephen Strasburg's debut and i got two tickets before they sold out. I am really excited to see this kid pitch. My next stadium is Camden Yards on Sunday when the O's play the Red Sox, i moved my trip to Tampa for later in the summer so Philadelphia will be the next place after that.

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Comment by Scott Bell (30/42) on June 6, 2010 at 10:41am: Hansel,
Yes, been to AT&T. It is a nice ballpark - the water behind it in right field is cool but I found the in Park features (the glove and Coke bottle in left field etc.) to actually be a bit "over the top", the area around it is really one of the more uninteresting parts of San Francisco and IT IS FREAKING COLD!!!!

I went to a night game in late July - 85 during the day - and wondered why people were coming in with down vests and heavy Spring/Fall jackets.

By the 6th inning I found out - the temp had dropped to the low 50's and with the wind it felt more like an April/October game than one in mid summer.

Still top ten, maybe top five, but of the newer parks I can't rank it higher than Camden Yards, Safeco(roof open), Petco and certainly not PNC.

Still a must see and from what I understand still WAY better than Candlestick.

Comment by Chuck Booth (35) ALL 30/23 DAYS! on June 4, 2010 at 11:30am: While Toronto is a good place to visit, living there is a different matter--take it from a Canadian who knows---I wish Vancouver BC CANADA had a team here-we have 3 million people here but all talks of a team went down the drain when EDGAR MARTINEZ blew out his knee one year during and exhibition game at out version of the 'METRODOME---BC PLACE--it will look better with a retractable roof-and it looked okay during the Olympics but sadly we will not ever get aN MLB team--at least we are only a few hours from SAFECO.

Comment by Hansel Rodriguez on June 4, 2010 at 9:20am: Thanks Scott. I really hope that is the beggining of a good thing in DC, aside from the Capitals, there is not much to root for. Have you been to AT&T Park? That seems to be another one considered as the best park.

Comment by Scott Bell (30/42) on June 4, 2010 at 4:48am: Hansel,
I'm in absolute agreement with all your observations.

Toronto !!! - You're not alone on the "pack the bags and move there" sensation.

You're also not alone in rating PNC Park as probably the best venue in the majors - the comfort level as good as it gets and the setting is amazing. I also found that the fans that do show up are both knowledgeable and loyal and there is a strong Pittsburgh baseball tradition. It's a shame that Pirate ownership seems unwilling to give them the on field product they deserve.

PNC is always the benchmark for every other park we have visited and nothing has even come close yet.

That said, I have a sense that Target Field MAY provide some competition. We'll be there on June 28 and I'm definitely going to assess it with PNC in mind.

Have fun at the Strasburg game. It is probably one of the few times Nationals Park will be filled and the fans will actually be rooting FOR the Nationals.

That too would be a great venue if ownership could put a consistent winning product on the field. They DO have some pieces.

Hey, you may look back on this game some day and proudly say you were there for the start of the "Golden Age of DC baseball"

As always, have fun and keep us updated.

Comment by Hansel Rodriguez on June 3, 2010 at 9:36am: Thanks guys and Dutch, i loved the open roof but my girlfriend is still suffering the effects of the sunburn so she might have a different opinion.

Comment by Yankeebiscuitfan on June 3, 2010 at 9:23am: Man I love your pics. They are really great. I am looking forward to the next series.

Comment by Dutch Van Duzee on June 3, 2010 at 9:11am: great report and pics...PNC is my favorite park, and at least you got to see a game at Rogers Centre with the roof open

Comment by Doug Miller (30) on June 2, 2010 at 9:52pm: Ooh! Strasburg debut will be a jammed and the hottest ticket in town. Congrats on picking up a pair.

Doug