Field of Dreams

Three weekends ago I flew to Kansas City on my annual Field of Dreams trip and saw a big-league game in Kauffman Stadium there. The Royals hosted the Twins.

It was the 38th ballpark I have seen a major-league baseball game in. There are only 30 major league teams but I have seen games at some stadiums that have been demolished, like the Polo Grounds in NYC and Griffith Stadium in DC. (Right: The Polo Grounds in Manhattan.)

I have six stadiums left to go to complete my list, although the number keeps growing as new stadiums are built. Two brand new ballparks opened last year in NYC, a new stadium was unveiled this year in Minneapolis, and one is under construction in Miami.

I keep an actual list, with notes, of my visits. It has asterisks for special circumstances.

For instance, in 1979 I saw a minor league game at Mile High Stadium in Denver, and the Colorado Rockies played at Mile High Stadium for two years when they were created in the nineties. But I didn’t see a major league game at Mile High Stadium, which has since been torn down, and the Rockies now play at nearby Coors Field, where I saw a game in 2001.

So Mile High Stadium isn’t on my list of 38 stadiums, although it has a special mention of my minor league experience there, set off by an asterisk following the Coors Field entry. It’s complicated.

Here’s a personal life asterisk. Seeing a game at Coors Field was the last time I attended an event with all three of my sons.

Every summer I go see a game at one or more of the ballparks where I’ve never been. It’s my "discipline."