Mik's Mini Ballplayer Collection: Jose Reyes

Last week at the Dbacks game I got Mik a LEGO style mini figurine of Ian Kennedy because I thought it would be fun for his miniature collection.  Well, apparently this is a new thing for more than just the Dbacks, as at the Marlins game I spotted some Marlins ones and he ended up getting a Jose Reyes one.  They sure are expensive at $14.99 a piece, but since we are not actually going to any more ballparks this year I let him start a Mini Ballplayer Collection that he can slowly build over the years if they keep making more series of them or he can just end up with the two being cool additions to his overall miniature collection (mainly mini bats and miniature landmarks of the world).

Accessibility Review: Marlin's Park

After seeing the Nationals lose to the Marlins at Marlins park on Monday, May 28, 2012, we can again say that we have seen a complete game at every current MLB ballpark.  This time we should stay current for quite a while as even if Oakland ever does get their new stadium it is probably 5 years away.

I have pretty mixed feelings about the whole Marlins experience.  The first thing that really annoyed me is their website info before tickets were released for the season gave a number to call for wheelchair seats and when Dad called on the day tickets went on sale they said go buy them online.  Yes, in fact I was able to end up buying them online, but I was not pleased with ending up with crappy printed tickets and still having to pay for that as a delivery option on top of the fact they charge a convenience fee per ticket (it sure is not convenient when online was the second way we tried to buy the darn tickets!).

We did have success turning them in for real tickets at no charge for my ticket collection at the box office today, but I am further annoyed at them referring us online and wasting our time when we first called for tickets because the A to Z guide at the game says to call the number for the tickets.  That just makes it totally confusing, so I do not know if they decided online does not work or if they are back to selling the handicap sections over the phone along with the online option.

The Marlins parking also ended up annoying me.  I pre-purchased the parking pass with the tickets.  I am overall glad I did, as most of the garages had signs saying parking only for prepaid passes.  No parking was open when we ended up there at 9:30 a.m. because the last hours of driving to Miami took less time than expected.  Not being open at 9:30 a.m. for 11:40 a.m. gate opening is not an issue, but what is an issue is by the time we had driven around the ballpark all the parking garages were opened except the Home Plate one where we had our pass for.  We waited about 15 minutes before deciding to just go waste an hour at a nearby Target.  It ended up being a better option, as we still got to the park 15 minutes before gates opened, but it was frustrating that nothing says when the garages open and the different garages have at least a 20 minute difference in opening time.


There was one good thing about the parking, though.  We already had the handicap tag up when we pulled up to the the first traffic director and they noticed the tag and directed us to the far left lane and notified the person up ahead to direct us to the handicap parking area.  It was nice that they were observant and we did not have to ask where handicap parking like Dad usually does.  The parking is also quite roomy, which is good for speed demon Mik as seen in the photo.

Getting into the park was also somewhat confusing, but not too bad.  We ended up going in the 3rd Base Gate, which clearly said elevator access.  When we got to elevator and he saw we were sitting in the upper level, he said we could have gone in at the home plate suite entrance since the 3rd base elevator only goes to main concourse and we had to walk to get home plate one up to the upper area. I had noticed the handicap entrance sign by the suite entrance, but it made it seem like that was handicap entrance for the suites only.  Actually, it is for suite access along with those needing the elevators, as the elevators are right inside.

Not a big deal to end up on the main concourse and then go up again at the other elevator, though, as the main concourse is worth checking out at least for the bobblehead museum, which is not far from the home plate elevators.  Also, the entrance near 3rd base is kind of interesting with the Marlins letters in a buried sand style along the path.  The other nice thing about the elevators is that they are all controlled access to, so they not only direct people to the nearby escalators to reduce the amount using them, but also they manage what levels they are called to help more efficiently keep it flowing.


Overall once we were in the park, Marlins park was good.  The staff was very helpful in directing, except when we actually got to our section.  Just like at the old ballpark there was no one there to help figure out where to sit, which is kind of annoying because the wheelchair section just has a bunch of folding chairs and no numbers anywhere to designate where your seats are.  Sure, you can count the seats and try to figure it out, but it is confusing with some seats ending up being pushed aside for wheelchairs and not actually being removed.  It worked out fine, but it could easily be confusion and moving around as the section did end up filling up and it seemed just luck that no one ended up needing to rearrange despite figuring out later that we totally counted wrong for our actual seat numbers.


We sat in section 309.  The view of the whole field was good.  At first Mik was like I cannot see first base, but he was at least foot from the bar.  I told him he was being silly and if he just pulled up so he actually could reach the cup holder (first thing he looks for anyways) he would also see the whole field.  Overall the section was great, but Mik did get lost when he zoomed ahead of Dad on the way back from the bathroom (found companion one right by home plate elevator on our level).  It is a little odd that the access to the handicap row and the lower rows of the section are kind of hidden behind the stairs to the upper rows, but what really happened was a guy was standing in the way and a concession stand is right there, so he missed noticing it the first time he went past.

Accessibility Review: Chase Field Section 140

To celebrate the last day of school Dad decided we should go to a Dbacks games, especially since we have not been to one this season. We ended up sitting in the wheelchair row in section 140. It is located behind left field and while you cannot see the scoreboard it does provide a good view of the field and we like this section and the others next to it.

I am not sure if we have ever sat specifically in this section, as Mik was surprised that we did not exactly have the typical ballpark seats, but rather the companion seats were bleacher style. It is actually kind of cool that they are set up that way because it blends in with the rest of the section being bleachers. The only problem with the set up was that we had the end of the section and the wheelchair spot is next to that seat and no way to get out without Mik having to back entirely out of his space. Probably would have been more annoying with the manual chair, as at least with the power one he could back himself out when told it was clear behind him.

This was Mik's first ball game with his power chair. He has not gotten much of a chance to get used to maneuvering it in crowds, so it was good it was a midweek game with somewhat low attendance. He did great and it was a good move towards getting him to at least be ready to give it a shot for parts of Disney World next week. That may not work out well, but at least he is now more comfortable with it and will use it when we go to the new Marlins ballpark on Monday.

RedHawks Field at Bricktown

Dad got stuck in Oklahoma City for days this week waiting to get the car repaired on way back from Chicago with Mom.  He sent me a bunch of photos from walking around the outside of RedHawks Field at Bricktown.  Below are the photos and his accompanying text.



"Downtown OKC, in the Bricktown District, is the minor league ballpark of the Redhawks. Outside the stadium is a tribute to famous ball players with Oklahoma roots: Warren Spahn Plaza, Mickey Mantel Plaza, and Johnny Bench Plaza. I walked around the ballpark yesterday."

Warren Spahn Plaza




Mickey Mantle Plaza



Johnny Bench Plaza

Oldest Remaining Ballpark: Rickwood Field

This summer we finally got to see Rickwood Field even if it was just from the outside.  Rickwood Field is the oldest ballpark still in use having been in use since 1910.  It is barely used nowadays, but the Birmingham Barons do play one throwback game here every season called the Rickwood Classic.

Despite being over 100 years old, Rickwood Field is kept in good looking shape.  Kind of amazing considering it also is not even actively used by any team.  Although, I guess it is easier to keep a ballpark looking nice if you do not have a sell out or near sell out crowd coming in so often like the Red Sox and the Cubs have had over the years.

We only got to see the outside and peak in through the fences in a few spots, but was still worth the slight detour on our way from Kentucky to Florida.  They supposedly do have daily self guided tours, but the place was totally locked up when we got there.  Probably because we got there too late in the day.

Accessibility Review: Section 434 at Miller Park

For the July 6, 2011 Dbacks @ Brewers game we sat in the wheelchair row in section 434.  It was much better than where we had sat for the ballpark trip.  It is in the highest section, but you at least can see the whole field as well as the scoreboard.



Mik, of course, approves of them as being good seating because they have cup holders.  However, they fill the section with folding chairs and there are no ushers around to take them out of the way.  Thus with the sold out wheelchair section situation there ended up being quite a few chairs in the way of the walkways to the rest of the section.

Baseball Smashed Pennies: Target Field

At Target Field there is a Penny Smashing machine in the Main Team Shop near the registers.  Mik and I both got the design featuring Target Field.  I also got the one with the Twins logo.