KANSAS CITY — My father’s stories of the life and times of the Boston Red Sox in the 1920s, 30s and 40s created a lifetime love of the game, and an interest in seeing it played at the highest level.
My early years, ages five to 10, involved regular trips to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston to see baseball games.
Sitting on the porch of my cousins house in Palmyra, Pennsylvania, the sport became a conversation piece as I memorized the starting lineups of major league teams in the late 1960s and earlyb 1970s.
As I grew older, the opportunity to see games in more varied locations became an option of which I took advantage.
Last Saturday, I was able to photograph a game at Kansas City’s Kauffmann Stadium which I believe completed my tour of at least seeing ball parks in all 32 major league cities.
The only one that leaves questions is whether I saw the former Twins home in Minneapolis in the 1990s. My poor memory is sketchy on that one.
I am so old I have been able to see games at two different professional stadiums in 12 different cities and three stadiums in one of them.
The three-stadium city is Philadelphia having seen the Phillies play in Connie Mack Stadium in the early 1970s, the Vet in the late 70s, 80s and 90s and more recently at Citizens Bank Park.
The cities with games at two parks are the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Washington Senators/Nationals, Atlanta Braves; Stl Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians/Guardian and the Detroit Tigers.
Several deserve an asterisk as the first Cardinals game was an amateur game, and the Braves was an Olympic Trial event before it became a full-time baseball park.
Eight of the baseball stadiums I saw in person, but have not been able to see a game, yet.
The opportunity to see bits of history along the way only increase the richness of the experience.
In the summer of 1991, I was blessed to see Wilson Alvarez throw a no-hitter at Baltimore Memorial Stadium.
In 1967, I was able to see a game as the Red Sox headed for the World Series.
In 2023, in a brand new stadium, I was able to see the Texas Rangers on their way to a World Series victory.
Some of the special memories include a late-night adventure with my father to Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia that turned into a three hour rain delay. That game featured San Francisco Giant Bobby Bonds.
My father waited out the weather with me and Bonds — yes the father of Barry Bonds — played a key role in the game.
Some of the best memories include trips to Fenway Park where the Green Monster beckoned and tradition eked from the seats of the building where my father attended games in the 1920s and 30s.
Travel schedules must now be adjusted to make sure the stadiums that I have seen from a distance can become a place where a game has been seen.
Let the games begin.
