2015 - ATLANTA BRAVES/TURNER FIELD

The 2015 Season is about to get underway so plans are being finalized for the 26th Anniversary of The Dead Stadium Tour. This will be the first time we return to a city we have already visited and see a second stadium that is going to be torn down. We visited Fulton County Stadium in 1996 and actually were in Turner Field at that time to see the Olympic Time Trials going on at the same time. Now Turner Field is about to be torn down so we will be returning to the same city, for the same team, for the second time.

The 26th Anniversary trip began with a visit to CNN and a private tour escorted by CNN Producer Daphne Sashin.  Daphne wrote the piece that was on CNN in 2014 about The Dead Stadium Tour as we celebrated our 25th Anniversary.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/28/travel/dead-ballpark-stadium-tour-irpt/

On our last visit in 1996, Fulton County Stadium was the home of the Braves.  Today, it is just a parking lot for Turner Field but the infield has been preserved.

We could not resist the opportunity to use the former Fulton County Stadium footprint.  Matt the Marauder came up to bat against his dad Rich with Father John rounding out the battery as catcher.  Matt cleared the fence while Rich resigned himself to being remembered only as a swimmer (and Ironman athlete) while Father John goes back to praying for our sin of bringing Pepsi products to the group photo in front of the World of Coca Cola (more on that below............)

"The Pose"

As if the temperature in Atlanta in July was not high enough, we had to endure this hot air blowing into the stadium............

We always talk with our ushers and security when we visit the stadiums and try to highlight the best of the best.  Melvin was our usher for the first game and was very friendly and helpful and an enthusiastic Braves fan.  The Braves are fortunate to have someone who really cares about helping the fans and making the ballpark experience a positive one.  Even though we were in a different section the second game, we went to find him to be able to include him in one of our group photos.

 Thanks Melvin!!!!!

A big THANK YOU to the Braves organization for allowing our website to be displayed on their scoreboard.  Only one other stadium has permitted that with all others being under the mistaken impression this is a commercial website rather than a trip down baseball's memory lane.  In appreciation, we have now made this scoreboard shout out our banner for each page on this website.

Next home of the Braves under construction

When we began looking for hotels for this trip, we were surprised to learn that almost the entire city had been sold out.  Apparently there was a big convention in town and we were relegated to the suburbs.  For the first two days we endured the massive traffic jams back and forth and came back late to see construction cones just about 100 yards past our hotel.  Sunday morning I decided to drive to the other side of that hill and found out that we were staying right next to the construction site for the new stadium.  What a coincidental opportunistic photo op............

Cola wars

It is no secret that I like Pepsi products.  I just prefer the taste - no paid endorsements here (although if Pepsico is reading I would gladly take some free samples - but I digress.........)  No visit to Atlanta would be complete without a tour of the World of The Competition, I mean Coca Cola.  It was a typical Hotlanta day with temperatures about 3 degrees cooler than  standing directly on the surface of the Sun and with humidity rising to the level of being measured in buckets of sweat.  There were long lines to get in so some of us just had to cool off with a refreshing beverage.   It took a road trip 20 miles into the suburbs to find Pepsi products, but we are loyal!

The Vault containing the only copy of the recipe for Coca Cola

Georgia Aquarium

Maybe I should not have asked if "Cubs" stood for:

Completely
Useless
By
September

2016 Tour Destination!!!!!!!!

The 2016 destination originally was selected not because of the imminent demise of the Rangers ballpark but simply was the result of that being the only team not already visited on a weekend that worked for the entire group!  And so we chose to return to Texas in August to accommodate everyone and will endure Texas heat in the middle of the dog days of summer for the second time.   Since selecting the Rangers, media reports confirmed that a new stadium will be built and, thus, we are able to consider this trip a true part of the Dead Stadium Tour!

One of the scheduling issues involved the high school graduation of one of our younger members.  We are pleased to announce that beginning in the Fall of 2016 Rich's Lauren (aka "Lauren #2") will be joining her brother and fellow Dead Stadium traveler Jeff at Penn State!   Congratulations Lauren # 2!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 27th Anniversary of The Dead Stadium Tour got off to a rocky start due to weather.  Half of our group was flying from Philadelphia in the afternoon and were scheduled to arrive at 5:00 pm.  The airport is only 15 minutes from the stadium so in theory that was plenty of time.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature does not believe in theories........

A severe thunderstorm system shut down DFW Airport causing their plane to be stacked and circling.  After it became apparent they did not have enough fuel, they were diverted to Austin to refuel and then head back to DFW.  Well it appeared that many other planes had similar issues so it took 4 hours on the tarmac waiting to be refueled.

But the flip side of a severe storm delaying their flight is that the game was also delayed - 2 hours and 46 minutes.  So we kept texting them to keep their spirits up and let them know there was still time to make the game.

They landed at DFW at 10:34 p.m but now were told there were no gates available.  Once again, thanks to the storm we were only in the second inning at that time.  Amazingly, a gate did not become available until 12:10 A.M.!!  (We were still in the 7th inning..........)  They were on the plane for 11 hours, unable to get off and without any food.

So for the first time in 27 years not all of us were together for the first game but after everyone finally checked into the hotel at 2:45 a.m. we were ready to play ball!

I'm a NYC kid having grown up in Sunnyside (Queens).  Sunnyside kids had and still have a strong bond of friendship that has lasted decades.  "Miss Liz" and I grew up together and she knows that if she never needs anything she just needs to send up the "Bat Signal" and help is on the way.  Shortly before we left for Dallas,  Liz required some medical attention so we wanted to make sure she knew we were thinking about her.....
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Our version of Where's Waldo is "Where's Father John?" He explores each stadium and I need to be able to pick him out of the crowd of 40,000 and try to find where he has managed to grab a seat. Caught him here hiding in the front row above the visitor's bullpen in center field, texted him that he was located and he stood to toast my eagle eyes.....
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We took a morning to visit Dealey Plaza and the Book Depository 6th Floor.  There is a JFK exhibit atop the Depository and ​while rummaging through the files we were shocked to find this pic in their archives........

Despite being a lifelong New Yorker, I am also a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan so we couldn't pass up the chance to visit A T & T Stadium, home of the Cowboys, located right across from the Rangers.
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It almost seems surreal that this is our 27th Anniversary trip!

"Lauren Squared" try to form the missing "X"................

Well, it appears that the get well wishes that were sent to Liz during Friday night's game may have resulted in me being outed....................

I surprised Lauren by arranging for her to bring the game ball out to the mound before the Sunday afternoon game!  Thank you to the Rangers assistant who shot this footage for me while I snapped stills!

Jeff was kind enough to make his way down to the top of the dugout to shoot this video clip of Lauren

2017

The 28th Anniversary of the Tour started off with a long day, having left the NY area at 3:00 am and not getting back to the hotel after the game until 22 hours later.  It seemed like 122 hours later when you factor in  Los Angeles traffic which is an unholy nightmare (even Father John could not get summon up a little divine intervention to avoid a 2 1/2 hour 30 mile trip to the Angels Stadium).  But we had primed ourselves by starting our trip with some sustenance at In & Out Burger before hiking up to the Griffith Observatory for a group pic and view of the city and the Hollywood sign.

"THE POSE"

Battleship Iowa

After seeing the Angels split two games with the Red Sox it was time to move from the 4th oldest stadium in baseball to the 3rd oldest - Dodger Stadium.  Sitting in Chavez Ravine, Dodger Stadium has amazing views from the upper deck. 

The Angels would not post this message because they claimed it was not my real name but the Dodgers graciously gave a shout out to the last remaining Batman.......

This pic was over 30 years in the making. We graduated law school together and did moot court together and haven't all been in the same place at the same time in over 30 years. John on the left gave up his corporate law practice to become a Priest several years ago, Matt Arkin stopped practicing law in real life and began playing lawyers (and others) on tv/film/stage and Dan on the far right retired from the District Attorney's office a couple of years back. And it was the first time Matt met "Father" John! Thanks Matt (and Abby) for making the trip up to join us.
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A few hours down time before the 4th and final game of our trip gave us the chance to visit the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach.

I had promised Lauren I would take her to Rodeo Drive and surprised her with a visit to Mikimoto because she loves pearls.  She is coming down to making a final decision as to which college she will commit to play soccer so I bought her a necklace for all of her hard work and training she has been doing to get to this stage.  Fortunately, I took pics of her in the store because when we got to Dodger Stadium and security was doing bag checks amazingly they wanted her to open her gift wrapped box that said Mikimoto on it but we were able to keep it wrapped because I was able to show them on my phone what we bought.  L.A. security is bit much at times.......

The Dodgers pay college students to take pics of fans throughout the stadium (and sell them to the fans during the game) and give them cheap Nikons to shoot. I gave five bucks to one of them and asked him to shoot my camera and he was thrilled with the tip and the chance to shoot a pro camera. He was having so much fun with my camera I thought he was going to pay me.....

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​The Dodgers gave us a shout out after the 5th inning

Music video montage of the L.A. leg of "The Tour"

Another successful stop on The Dead Stadium Tour is in the books and everyone is back home safe and sound and looking forward to next year.  Only two teams remain on our list - the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres.   We have decided 2018 will be Arizona and San Diego will be our "final" stop on the 30th Anniversary edition of The Tour in 2019.   And then we start all over again seeing the teams in the "new" stadiums that were built to replace those seen on this website.    Until next year...............

“Ray. People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. "Of course, we won't mind if you look around", you'll say, "It's only $20 per person". They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again. Oh...people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”

2018 Arizona Diamondbacks - Chase Field

The 29th Anniversary of The Tour (more on that later.....) found us in the desert heat July 20-22 in Phoenix, Arizona.   With daily temperatures approaching and even exceeding 110 degrees, we took comfort in the realization it was "just a dry heat".  Or, as my cousin would say, "do you want your lobster steamed or broiled...……."

However, despite the daily forecasted temps as high as 117 degrees, we knew Chase Field had a retractable roof that would be closed in the summer heat.  What we didn't know until we got inside was the fact that the air conditioning was not functioning properly since shortly before our arrival.   But, hey, it was now dry indoor heat...…….

This year our group was only 7 since Father John had Church responsibilities back home but as always he was included in our stadium shout outs on the Jumbotron.   John ultimately would perform a very important role upon our return (once again, more on that later...….)

Let's get to the pics!

"THE POSE"

We are getting better at honing our skills to get "noticed" in the stadiums.  Quick cell phone pics uploaded to social media resulted in several highlights displayed inside Chase Field.....

The Churro Dog

DAY TRIP TO SEDONA FOR SOME OFF ROADING

STADIUM "SHOUT OUTS"

There has always been a friendly "dispute" as to the correct anniversary calculation of each trip.  One of the original members of The Tour dropped out after the first year and a new member was added the following year which "traditionally" had been the date chosen as the start.  Well, the passage of decades has softened this member as evidenced by this scoreboard message......

Jeff was participating in the virtual reality home run derby at Chase Field.  One night he went 8 for 8 with home runs but his total distance was not enough for the record.  He went back the next game intent upon setting the Chase Field virtual reality home run derby record.  Jeff had an impressive start with a 458 foot home run on his first swing.  Jeff proved too might for even virtual reality baseball as on the second pitch...…...he broke the bat!

Another successful Tour visit came to an end leaving just one more stadium to visit - the San Diego Padres in 2019.   Although Father John was unable to attend this year, he did play an integral role upon our return.  On the day after our return, my mom passed away just three weeks short of her 90th birthday.  Her life and memory were honored with John being given permission by mom's local parish, St. Raphael's in Sunnyside Queens (the borough of the Mets) to conduct the funeral mass and then the graveside prayers.  Thank you Father John...…...​

​2019 San Diego Padres - Petco Park

The 30th Anniversary* of The Tour brought us to San Diego and Petco Park and marked the final leg of "Round 1" of the Dead Stadium Tour.  Amazingly we are still going strong after 3 decades and the Padres are the final team we are visiting and Petco was the last stadium on the list.  Unlike last year in Arizona, the weather for baseball is perfect in San Diego.  Indeed, the easiest job in San Diego is weatherperson since it is always 78 degrees and 60% humidity.

Petco Park is a beautiful stadium and is very clean, spacious and fan friendly.  A great layout with good food and drink choices.  The only downside was the camera policy that prohibits most of my gear from being brought in.  The longest lens I was permitted was 105mm (6 inch fully extended maximum length) so that hindered my usual ability to get good action shots of the game.  But I did the best I could under the circumstances so let's play ball!

p.s. and no Chickens were harmed during the weekend...….
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"THE POSE"

Every year the group strikes "the pose" with the stadium in the background.  We try to survey the area to find the best location to safely gather and set up a tripod with remotes.  Petco was difficult because  it is tucked away among many building blocking a view of the stadium.  We found a VIP Parking lot that would be a good location but we didn't have passes and we didn't want to pay the charge just to take the shot.

We were fortunate to speak with Elizabeth and Jackie who were at the gate and explained we were hoping just to be able to go in to take our family pics.  They let us in with the only request being that we "take beautiful memories" so we would like to give a shout out to the ladies for their help in these annual pics!  THANK YOU ELIZABETH & JACKIE!!!!!!!!!

​Bob Hope USO Memorial

BATMAN GETS OUTED AT PETCO

USMC APPRECIATION DAY AT PETCO