[Nathans_Dad]

Had an amazing baseball fan experience last night.

I brought the family out to DC to visit my dad who has been really sick in the hospital recently. Anyhow, we have been doing the usual DC thing, taking the kids to the various museums and sites. I am a big Texas Rangers fan (they suck I know) and suddenly it dawned on me yesterday morning that they were playing that night in Baltimore. So, I went onto Stub Hub (best ticket site ever, BTW) and scored two tickets 4 rows behind the Rangers dugout for $35 a piece. What a deal!

The drive from DC to Baltimore in rush hour traffic SUCKED, total of 2 1/2 hours...my poor 6 year old was going nuts in the back seat, "Are we THERE yet??". Luckily he had his Nintendo DS to keep him busy.

So we finally arrive at Camden Yards and make our way to our seats. That park is just beautiful. I like The Ballpark in Arlington too, but there is something extra special about baseball in a downtown location. Anyhow, the Orioles got out to an early 4-1 lead by the 5th inning. The Rangers bullpen was able to shut them down and the bats started to chip away at the lead, a solo homer here, a dribbler RBI there.

Top of the 9th, Orioles lead 4-3. The closer is in, apparently called the "Brim Reaper"...not sure where they came up with that one. First batter is the catcher, Jared Saltalamacchia...Salty for short. He was 3-4 in the game but struck out this time. Out #1. Next up is the rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus. He hits a little dribbler to the infield and is thrown out. Two down.

The top of the order is up, Ian Kinsler steps up to the plate. He is the best hitter on the team, batting around .380 for the season so far. The last time he faced the Orioles in Texas he went 6 for 6 AND hit for the cycle...only the second time that has been done in baseball history. Kinsler gets down 2 strikes early, the crowd is standing and cheering for that last strike. He battles back to a full count. Fouls off two or three pitches that would have been strike three. Then he gets one over the plate and knocks it into shallow left for a base hit. The crowd quiets again.

Next up is Michael Young, the Rangers All Star 3rd baseman (and my personal favorite player). He has been hot lately, he has knocked in the winning run in the 9th inning in 2 games out of the last 4 including a 9th inning walk off homer about 4 days ago. Kinsler is taking ridiculous leads at first and almost gets picked off twice. 1-1 count, 2 outs, top of the 9th. The pitch is a fastball over the plate and Young turns on it....it's going...going....OUTTA HERE!!! A 2 run dinger which puts the Rangers ahead 5-4. I swear you could feel the air get sucked out of that stadium.

Of course, here my son and I are right in front of the Rangers dugout going nuts while all the Oriole fans around us are booing...

The Rangers closer comes in and shuts down the bottom of the 9th, RANGERS WIN!

What a game. You gotta love baseball.

I was thinking about what stadiums I have been to in my life...the list is pretty short but I am going to try and make it a point to get to some games when I travel...it would be nice to say I have been in every major league stadium.

So far I have seen games at:

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington
Astros Park (formerly Minute Maid Park)
The Vet (haven't been to the new Phillies stadium though)
Camden Yards
Wrigley Field
Royals Ballpark (back in the 80's...it's probably been replaced by now)
The OLD Angels ballpark (again back in the 80's)
Various AA and AAA parks.

What is your favorite baseball experience and how many parks have you been to?