Most people on the quest for 30 usually collect some sort of memento from each ballpark.
For some, it could be a logo ball, a mini bat, or a team patch. For others, they could choose the home team’s hat or a uniform.
But for Father Steve, who was a member of the Diamond Baseball Tours group, he collected something different – socks.
“I try to collect something that I would need, and who doesn’t need socks,” said Father Steve, who is pastor of a Catholic church in Illinois and a Cubs’ fan.
Myself, I have taken to collecting lapel pins, usually with a representation of the stadium emblazoned on it. I also have a few special edition pins, like one for Miguel Cabrera’s 500 home runs and 3,000 milestones.
In addition, I have a scratch off poster of all 30 parks. So far, I have been able to scratch off 16 parks. I have been to 20, but four have since been retired. Those are Tiger Stadium, Houston Astrodome, Turner Field, and the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Park. Globe Life Field is their current, domed stadium.
Another way to help commemorate visits is the MLB Ballpark Pass-Port. Similar to the National Parks Passport, you collect stamps at each park you attend. Stamps, which are usually available at guest services or the team store, have the date of the game you attended, as well as the name of the stadium, city and zip code.
It is a private company that was granted the MLB license. There are several types of books. The main is the MLB leather bound book, which is best for first visits to each park. It includes an entry for each team with info about the park, as well as blank pages to put game info and any memories. For more frequent visits to parks, there is a smaller gameday version with just blank pages for the stamp and game info. There is also a minor league book and a spring training book.
There is also a Facebook group for people to share their stamps. That is one of several groups out there dedicated to ballparks. The group I share the most with is called Ballpark Chasers. There are some members that have attended more than 400 different ballparks (major, minor, collegiate, and independent leagues).
Most stadiums offer a “First Game Certificate,” commemorating the first visit with their name and date. In recent years, some parks have started shifting that online, giving the fan a web site address to print out their own certificate at home.
Another keepsake that seems to have gone by the wayside is ticket stubs. I have several envelopes of stubs from many sporting events. With the advent of cashless parks and digital tickets, stubs have almost become extinct. Some parks will print you off a stub for a nominal fee, which could range up to $10.
Back to the tour, our next ballpark was one I had already visited, although it had been more than 15 years and endured several name changes, so it still felt somewhat new to me. I also had lower-level seating in June. During my first visit, I sat in the upper deck, where the seats are at very steep incline. Now, maybe that could just be my perception, but they could definitely be a problem for someone who doesn’t like heights.
Guaranteed Rate was built in 1991 next to the old Comiskey Park site, which is now a parking lot next to the stadium. There is a plaque marking where home plate was in the old park. It was the first major sporting facility built in Chicago since Chicago Stadium in 1929. It was also the last MLB stadium built before the wave of “retro” parks started in the late 1990s.
HOK Sports (now Populous) had wanted to eliminate some of the overhang problems in older stadiums, where the upper deck was set on top of the lower deck with gradual inclines. HOK moved the upper deck further back. This created better sight lines, but also created one of the highest upper decks in MLB. The first row of seats in the upper deck of the new stadium is as far from the field as the highest row of seats in the upper deck at the old stadium.
Another quirk at the Chicago stadium is the inability to explore the ballpark if you bought upper-level seating. That is an ownership decision that could date back to when a Chicago fan attacked Kansas City first base coach Tom Gamboa. The following year, the Sox also had problems with rowdy fans entering the playing field.
But the new park did retain some of the old features. The front facade of the park features arched windows. In the original park, then-owner Bill Veeck installed an exploding scoreboard with spinning pinwheels. The new park’s scoreboard is very similar in design, although it doesn’t have the ‘exploding’ aspect. The pinwheels do spin and light up after home runs and victories.
Newer technology allows the White Sox to use flicking LED lights for whenever the team takes the field before the first pitch, hits a home run or wins a game.
There is a nice center field concourse with party areas, statues honoring past ballplayers and one of the more unique items you’ll see in a ballpark, an old shower stall from the old Comiskey Park. And it actually works. It will provide a mist to help fans cool off on hot days. There are also ‘rain rooms’ to provide fans’ relief from the heat.
Like most parks, the stadium pays homage to some of its past greats. Guaranteed Rate is no different. There is a plaza out in center field with several statues.
It starts out with former owner Charles Comiskey as well as Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox, located behind Section 100. Harold Baines, a recent National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, is behind Section 105.
Billy Pierce, Minnie Minoso, and Carlton Fisk all take up residence behind Section 164. Recent stars Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko are set up behind Section 160.
On the center field fan deck is a plaque honoring the first player, Jim Thome, to hit a baseball on to the fan deck on June 4, 2008 as the Sox beat the Kansas City Royals. Later that year, he did it again, as Chicago beat Minnesota, 1-0, in a one-game playoff to win the American League Central Division.
There are also two blue seats, marking two different accomplishments during the 2005 World Series. Konerko’s grand slam (left field, section 159) and Scott Podsednik‘s game-winning home run (right center field, first row of section 101). Both seats are the original blue seats.
Guaranteed Rate Field is known as a hitters’ ballpark. Here are the dimensions: 330 feet down the left field line, 375 to left center, 400 feet to center, 375 in right center and 335 down the right field line. The backstop is 60 feet from home plate and the outfield wall height is eight feet.
On the ramp heading to the upper decks are two great photo opportunities and a great view of downtown Chicago in the distance. One sign says Southside in script letters, the other says Chicago.
Food-wise, you can’t go wrong with a nice Italian beef sandwich, by Buona Beef. There are also plenty of options for dinner before or after the game, although most are not very close to the stadium. Portillo’s is a hot dog, hamburger, Italian beef place, originating in Chicago, but has recently expanded into Michigan with a Sterling Heights location. Deep-dish pizza is also an option.
The game featured the White Sox hosting the up-and-coming Baltimore Orioles, who ended up with a 4-0 victory. Dean Kremer pitched into the sixth inning, allowing seven hits with four strikeouts.
Former No. 1 overall draft pick Adley Rutschman hit the second home run of his career for all the scoring the Orioles would need. The 2019 draft pick had just been called up about a week before this game. Current Tiger center fielder Riley Greene was drafted fifth in the same draft.