Showing posts with label Boston Red Sox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boston Red Sox. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Boston Red Sox @ Texas Rangers



At the Rangers game I got a baseball that was a souvenir for the particular series we saw. On one side it has the logos of the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox and in between it says vs. Below the logos it says Rangers Ballpark at Arlington. It was because it did say the ballpark name that I did not end up also getting the ballpark souvenir baseball I saw. On another side it has the Texas Rangers T logo on a blue background and on the side opposite that is the Boston Red Sox socks logo on a red background.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Game 28: Boston Red Sox 1 @ Texas Rangers 3

Today we drove up to Arlington, Texas from Houston. The KOA we are staying at here is very near the ballpark, so we set up camp before the game. We then headed to the game after a few hours relaxing in the lounge at the KOA.



We got to Rangers Park at Arlington about 45 minutes before it opened. We walked around a little outside before just getting in line to wait for the gates to open. It was a little crazy going into the park with a lot of kids there for Autograph Wednesdays and rushing to be in line for that. That and some little league tournament had a bunch of teams there.



After getting into the park we walked around a little and stopped at one of the team shops. We then ended up going up to the seats we had tickets for in section 344. We got to those and Mik was so disappointed in the view of right field being blocked. Other than that they seemed fine, but we did not end up staying there long because we ended up with another surprise upgrade.



We ended up sitting on the 3rd base side in section 18. The view of the field was way better and we also could see the scoreboard. We also got goodie bags that included Rangers ballcaps, Rangers batting helmets, autographed cards, stickers, magnet schedules, 2009-2010 calenders, and Rangers circle logo pennants.



The game was kind of long considering the rather minimal scoring, but it was a good game with the home team Rangers winning. The Red Sox took the lead first with their one and only run, which was a home run in the top of the 3rd. The Rangers tied it up with a homer in the bottom of the 3rd. They got the lead with two runs scored in the bottom of the 4th and then that was the end of the scoring plays in the game. One of the most interesting plays, though occurred in the bottom of the 5th when one of the Rangers got out because he was hit by the ball his teammate hit while avoiding his teammate's broken bat. Mik was happy to see Papelbon come on and pitch an inning for the Red Sox.

Overall an enjoyable game experience. There sure were a lot of Red Sox fans, but the Rangers fans were still obviously there and cheering for their team, which does not always happen when teams like the Red Sox play. The hot humidity of Arlington is not as bad as Houston, but boy is the Astros park much more comfortable with it's AC. At least the Rangers Park does have it's own uniqueness with the feel of old ballpark architecture that is helped by the lack of a massive jumbotron. Sure they have a decent scoreboard, but it only has a small part of it is a screen for the video stuff and they keep the bottom as the box score all the time.

Sent from my iPhone

Friday, July 10, 2009

Accessibility Review: Fenway Park

Fenway might not be expected to be that great of an accessible park and it would have a reasonable excuse since it is nearing 100 years old. However, like Wrigley it does not work with the excuse and instead does a great job of being as accessible as it can be for such an old park. It is kind of sad that old parks have adapted, while newer parks are the ones with the biggest issues in terms of accessibility. The only main complaint related to Fenway and accessibility is the parking.

We arrived several hours before the park even opened and easily found parking in a lot across the street, however they technically have no van accessible type handicap spots and it only worked because we took the only spot that is at the end of a row that is not against the wall. Normally when there is not a handicap spot we take two spaces to give room to get Mik out, but here they were going to charge us for two spaces, which would have been $70. If they did not have that one spot we would have just left and parked across the bridge at the place that cost $40 and had a few true handicap spots. There are also supposedly a few street parking spots by the park according to the Red Sox’s website, but very few and when we got there several hours early I only noticed one open.



The Team Shop is easily accessed before or during the game on Yawkey Way via a ramp up to the exit of the store. The novelty and hat part of the shop is the best accessible gift shop we have seen on the trip. The clothing part, which we did not go into looked like it might have been a little tighter, but it was nice that the novelty stuff and cap displays were just along the walls behind counters with wide open space in the middle of the shop. The display cases also made it easy for Mik to see the bats and such to choose rather than some places that have them in buckets that we have to help him get them out to see or up on shelves too high for him to see them at.

Getting into the park was not too hard, as you just go to the left side of the turnstiles, but it is kind of confusing because this is one of the few parks no one has directed us to the spot and it is not exactly obvious. Once in the park the elevators were straight ahead. There was not an attendant outside, but this is one of the few parks that the general public that did not need an elevator did not even try to use it. There were a few people that hopped into that did not really need it at the end of the game, but they did squish in and they yielded to those that needed it before getting on.



Our seats were in section 14. The view of the field was pretty good. There was a part of the outfield blocked by a pillar, but you have that problem anywhere in the upper half of the bottom sections. At least you cannot have the pillar right in front of you in any of the handicap seating. The wheelchair seating is set apart from the standing room very well and even with no ushers in the area the standing room people respected that they had to stay back in their area. There were no cup holders, but none of the rest of the park appeared to have any either, so Mik did not feel left out. The only thing that irritated Mik was that the seats are not raised up above the regular seats more than a normal row, so when people stand up it made it impossible for Mik to see the game since he could not stand up to see over them. This was particularly a problem with the game going into extra innings and the fans cheering way more than normal then.

Overall Fenway is a great accessible experience. It does have a few faults, but surprisingly few for being an old park and it is understandable that it has the one fault. The handicap parking fault is an annoyance that I feel should not have been an issue, as parking lots can easily be relined to have at least a few van accessible spots. The issue of the seats not being high enough above for the wheelchair person to still see when those in front stand up is just one of the quirks about it being an old park.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Car Sticker Update: Boston Red Sox


At the Boston Red Sox game we got a sticker with the Boston Red Sox logo with the red socks in the middle of the circle.Now that the Boston Red Sox sticker is on the American League side of the car that side is getting quite full. Only three more teams to see in the American League, so it is not like we need that much more space on this side. Good thing there are fewer American League teams than National League, as it seems a lot of the bigger stickers we ended up with are American League, especially the Seattle Mariners one.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Green Monster

The second ball I got at Fenway is a Green Monster one. I mostly got it because it has a cool Fenway Park logo on one side of the green ball. The other side has Boston Red Sox B logo. The other strip has a view of the Green Monster along with a picture of the Green Monster mascot.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Fenway Park

One of the two baseballs I got at Fenway Park is a blue baseball. This one says Fenway Park on one side and Built in 1912 on the other side. The other strip of the ball has a view of the field. It is different than many of the other balls of field views, as it shows the infield and not just an outfield view that could be any park since the Green Monster is also obviously there.

Mik's Mini Bat Collection: Red Boston Red Sox


The second mini bat Mik got at Fenway Park is a regular Boston Red Sox logo one. He choose the one that is red on the top half and natural on the bottom half. The main reason for the color choice being his favorite color is red, but it also seemed fitting to have a red mini bat for a team with red in their name. The mini bat has the circle with red socks in it Boston Red Sox logo.