![]() ![]() Directly in front of me was Dealey Plaza, the grassy knoll, and the spot where Kennedy was mortally wounded. Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connelly. I looked up to my right and realized I was standing in front of the Texas School Book Depository (now known as the Dallas County Administration Building), looking up at the sixth-floor window from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot John F. I was aimlessly wandering around downtown Dallas when I had a sense of déjà vu: suddenly everything looked very familiar. Likewise, I had a gig with the Dallas Symphony circa 2005. Not that any of us kids could appreciate what took place there in June, July, and August of 1776 (when the Declaration of Independence was debated, accepted, and signed), though I have returned as an adult and was, I’ll gladly admit, quite overcome with emotion. For example, growing up as I did in South Jersey, my elementary school took endless field trips to Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Certain places embody history because of a momentous event that took place there. For our information, sixteen(!) future Hall of Famers participated in that series, on that field. It was Ruth’s tenth, and final World Series. ![]() #Boston opera house seat views seriesThe Yankees won that game 7-5 and won the Series in a four-game sweep the following evening, on October 2. He hit the next pitch into those very center field seats. With two strikes on him, Ruth appeared to point to the center field stands. It was October 1, 1932, game three of the World Series top of the fifth inning. Traded to the New York Yankees in 1920, old Yankee Stadium – which opened in 1923 – was known as “the house that Ruth built.” Wrigley Field, though a National League park, was the site of Ruth’s most famous at bat, when he presumably “called his shot”. From 1914 to 1919, Babe Ruth occupied the pitcher’s mound, played in the outfield and first base, and stood in the batter’s box at Fenway, where he was a member of the Boston Red Sox. Let’s just talk Babe Ruth, who along with Willie Mays is arguably the greatest to have ever played the game. The reason: the history embodied in each of these parks. Hands down, the favorites were, in no particular order, Wrigley Field (in Chicago, opened in 1914), Fenway Park (in Boston, built in 1912), old Yankee Stadium (located in da Bronx, NYC, opened in 1923 and shut down in 2008). To quote the Beach Boys, “wouldn’t it be nice.” Reason two: I wanted to know what these intrepid baseball fans-slash-travelers considered to be their favorite ballparks, and why. I have, I will confess, spent a foolish amount of time sampling these accounts, for two reasons. For the non-baseball fan this might sound like an epic waste of time and money, but according to the travel website “No Small Plan”, such a trip “may be America’s favorite travel quest.” A Google search of “visit every major league ballpark” reveals scores of sites that cater to this quest, including those offering such valuable information as “Visit All Major League Baseball Stadiums for Under $1,000” ) and “How to visit all 30 MLB stadiums in 30 days” ).Īs for personal accounts by those who have indeed visited all 30 stadiums (and, for that matter, other stadiums that no longer exist), well, the search pages go on and on with online stories of their trips. This sorry state of affairs calls for a necessary dose of nostalgic escapism.Ī particular badge of honor is worn by those baseball aficionados who can claim to have visited and witnessed a game at every one of the thirty major league ballparks. (I’m writing this on Friday, July 31 for all I know, by Monday, August 3 the “season” will already be over.) Louis Cardinals), it seems to me that it’s only a matter of time before this truncated season is shut down for good. #Boston opera house seat views professionalOrdinarily, the return of professional baseball in the first week of April is a cause for celebration in my house, a seasonal marker as sure as the turning of the leaves in the fall and the true coming of spring, when the camellias bloom in mid-January (I know: if I didn’t live here I’d hate California too).īut baseball in the time of COVID is, frankly, absurd with more and more players being tested positive (today it was an unspecified number of St. I trust we’re all aware that something being touted as “baseball season” has begun. ![]()
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