Updated 2017 Baseball Game Stats
I was at Game 5 of the ALDS back on October 11. After Didi Gregorius of all people hit his second home run off Cy Young winner Corey Kluber to essentially clinch it for the Yankees, I kicked the seat hard enough that I momentarily thought I had broken my big toe. The nail is still somewhat bruised two months later as I write this. Thus, for the second year in a row I was in the Jake sitting next to my friend Ed when the Indians were eliminated. The clear solution is that we should stop going to playoff games together!
Although the ending wasn't great, the rest of the baseball year was excellent. I had previously been able to say after the 2015 season that I had seen all 30 MLB team when I finally saw the Houston Astros play in San Diego. After the 2017 season, I am finally able to say that I have been to every active MLB park, with the Oakland Coliseum being the last to fall. I even went to Cooperstown in November, so at this point the obvious baseball related tourism items (and quite a few less obvious ones) have been checked off. Unless I decided to make a concerted effort on minor league baseball (I'm not currently interested), I'm not sure what baseball tourism to do next.
Bur rather than looking ahead on the future, let's dwell on the immediate past for a bit. I went to 20 games this year, which breaks my record of 19 from 2016. Those 20 games included 5 visits to new parks ( Atlanta, LA Angels, LA Dodgers, San Francisco and Oakland), 2 return visits to road parks (San Diego and Oakland again), 11 regular season Indians games and 2 playoff Indians games. The other game was the Trevor Bauer game, which I saw with M. I also the Indians tie the AL record for consecutive wins at 20 en route to shattering it.
Here's the number of times I've seen each team, broken out by division and ranked.
American League East 39 total
New York Yankees - 12 times.
Boston Red Sox - 10 times.
Toronto Blue Jays - 8 times.
Tampa Bay Rays - 7 times. The first three times they were still the Devil Rays.
Baltimore Orioles - 2 times.
American League Central 146 total
Cleveland Indians - 106 times.
Minnesota Twins - 15 times.
Chicago White Sox - 14 times.
Detroit Tigers - 6 times.
Kansas City Royals - 5 times.
American League West 52 total
Oakland Athletics - 35 times.
Texas Rangers - 6 times.
Anaheim Angels - 4 times, once as the California Angels and thrice as the Anaheim Angels.
Houston Astros - 4 time.
Seattle Mariners - 3 times.
National League East 16 total
New York Mets - 5 times.
Washington Nationals - 4 times.
Atlanta Braves - 3 time.
Miami Marlins - 2 times, once as the Florida Marlins and once as the Miami Marlins.
Philadelphia Phillies - 2 times.
National League Central 25 total
Cincinnati Reds - 7 times.
Chicago Cubs - 6 times.
Pittsburgh Pirates - 5 times.
St. Louis Cardinals - 4 times.
Milwaukee Brewers - 3 times.
National League West 14 total
San Diego Padres - 5 times.
Los Angeles Dodgers - 3 times.
San Francisco Giants - 3 time.
Colorado Rockies - 2 times.
Arizona Diamondbacks - 1 times.
That brings my lifetime total to 146 games, or if you prefer 141 regular season games and 5 playoff games. With just 16 more I will have been to a "full season". Since I have no travel plans for next year, I suspect I'll top out at 11 regular season games (10 in my regular season package + the home opener).
For fun, using these rankings, my play off seeding would be:
1. Cleveland Indians
2. Oakland Athletics
3. New York Yankees
4. Minnesota Twins (WC1)
5. Chicago White Sox (WC2)
1. Cincinnati Reds
2. San Diego Padres
3. New York Mets
4. Chicago Cubs (WC1)
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (WC2)
Mets fans everywhere just rejoiced, because that's the best finish they've had in years! (too easy?)
Although the ending wasn't great, the rest of the baseball year was excellent. I had previously been able to say after the 2015 season that I had seen all 30 MLB team when I finally saw the Houston Astros play in San Diego. After the 2017 season, I am finally able to say that I have been to every active MLB park, with the Oakland Coliseum being the last to fall. I even went to Cooperstown in November, so at this point the obvious baseball related tourism items (and quite a few less obvious ones) have been checked off. Unless I decided to make a concerted effort on minor league baseball (I'm not currently interested), I'm not sure what baseball tourism to do next.
Bur rather than looking ahead on the future, let's dwell on the immediate past for a bit. I went to 20 games this year, which breaks my record of 19 from 2016. Those 20 games included 5 visits to new parks ( Atlanta, LA Angels, LA Dodgers, San Francisco and Oakland), 2 return visits to road parks (San Diego and Oakland again), 11 regular season Indians games and 2 playoff Indians games. The other game was the Trevor Bauer game, which I saw with M. I also the Indians tie the AL record for consecutive wins at 20 en route to shattering it.
Here's the number of times I've seen each team, broken out by division and ranked.
American League East 39 total
New York Yankees - 12 times.
Boston Red Sox - 10 times.
Toronto Blue Jays - 8 times.
Tampa Bay Rays - 7 times. The first three times they were still the Devil Rays.
Baltimore Orioles - 2 times.
American League Central 146 total
Cleveland Indians - 106 times.
Minnesota Twins - 15 times.
Chicago White Sox - 14 times.
Detroit Tigers - 6 times.
Kansas City Royals - 5 times.
American League West 52 total
Oakland Athletics - 35 times.
Texas Rangers - 6 times.
Anaheim Angels - 4 times, once as the California Angels and thrice as the Anaheim Angels.
Houston Astros - 4 time.
Seattle Mariners - 3 times.
National League East 16 total
New York Mets - 5 times.
Washington Nationals - 4 times.
Atlanta Braves - 3 time.
Miami Marlins - 2 times, once as the Florida Marlins and once as the Miami Marlins.
Philadelphia Phillies - 2 times.
National League Central 25 total
Cincinnati Reds - 7 times.
Chicago Cubs - 6 times.
Pittsburgh Pirates - 5 times.
St. Louis Cardinals - 4 times.
Milwaukee Brewers - 3 times.
National League West 14 total
San Diego Padres - 5 times.
Los Angeles Dodgers - 3 times.
San Francisco Giants - 3 time.
Colorado Rockies - 2 times.
Arizona Diamondbacks - 1 times.
That brings my lifetime total to 146 games, or if you prefer 141 regular season games and 5 playoff games. With just 16 more I will have been to a "full season". Since I have no travel plans for next year, I suspect I'll top out at 11 regular season games (10 in my regular season package + the home opener).
For fun, using these rankings, my play off seeding would be:
1. Cleveland Indians
2. Oakland Athletics
3. New York Yankees
4. Minnesota Twins (WC1)
5. Chicago White Sox (WC2)
1. Cincinnati Reds
2. San Diego Padres
3. New York Mets
4. Chicago Cubs (WC1)
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (WC2)
Mets fans everywhere just rejoiced, because that's the best finish they've had in years! (too easy?)