Fox Sports MLB has been spending their quarantine posting polls about almost every baseball-related topic. They've asked which team has the best fanbase, best uniforms and now, best ballpark.
They start out by narrowing the teams down by each division, posting a tweet like the one below.
Of course, the Braves won the contest for best fanbase and uniforms while also winning best ballpark in the NL East. But that's beside the point.
Once Fox Sports started asking which team has the best ballpark, I decided to look at which division has the best group of ballparks, and in my opinion, no division has better contenders than the NL Central. Just look at the above tweet. There's no beating that group of five. I've been to 14 different MLB stadiums, and four of the five in the NL Central, so I feel as if I'm qualified to have this discussion. To start things off, Wrigley Field is a classic, there's no beating that ballpark. As the second-oldest ballpark still in operation, it's one of the most historic stadiums in MLB. PNC Park is the epitome of the retro-classic style of ballparks, with one of the best skyline views in the league. Busch Stadium is the only one in the division I haven't been to, but everyone else in my family has. The home of the Cardinals also has a great skyline, with the Gateway Arch in view from the stadium. Great American Ballpark and Miller Park aren't historic and don't have great views, but they're still great places to catch a game. GABP is right along the Ohio River in Cincinnati and has smokestacks that are reminiscent of the steamboats that used to sail along the river. If for nothing else, Miller Park is special for the slide that Bernie Brewer takes a trip down whenever the Brewers hit a home run. If any other division can come close to the five ballparks in the NL Central, it has to be the NL West. I've been to San Diego, Arizona and Colorado, and they're all great ballparks. Dodger Stadium and Oracle Park have great reputations, and I can't wait to make it to each of them. But until I do, I'll have to remain firm in my stance that the NL Central has the best group of ballparks in MLB. What do you think? Which division has the best stadiums in the league? Leave a comment below and let me know.
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I wrote my first bourbon review last week, giving you my thoughts on Buffalo Trace, a big-name brand out of Kentucky. For today's bourbon review, I'm going with a small craft distillery in Nelson County, Virginia.
Silverback Distillery is owned by U.S. Congressman Denver Riggleman and his wife Christine. According to the origins page on their website, the women in Christine's family have always made their own alcohol. After a trip to Scotland, she decided to start making her own whiskey. She apprenticed at a distillery in Washington before becoming a master distiller and starting Silverback in the mountains of Nelson County. My parents visited Silverback while doing a tour of the breweries and distilleries along Route 151 in Nelson County. They brought back this bottle of Blackback bourbon, which we were all excited to try. This bourbon won the competition for Best Bourbon Under 4 Years at the 2018 New Orleans Bourbon Festival. It has also been rated a 94/100 by Cigar & Spirits in 2017, so there were some high expectations. Now remember, my bourbon tasting skills aren't that great, but good enough to know if I like something, and this bourbon lived up to my expectations. It had a smoky aroma and an equally smoky taste. It was a stark contrast to the Buffalo Trace, which was smooth and sweet, but still very good. Their website describes it as having notes of vanilla and oak. I definitely got the oak notes, but not much vanilla when I tasted it. I liked the smokiness that I tasted, and I would definitely recommend this bourbon to anyone looking to try smaller distilleries. Rating: 8/10 If you're tired of blog posts about Cheerwine recipes, you might not want to read this one. But if you're a normal person and you love the taste of the cherry cola, read on. I made a Cheerwine bourbon glazed ham for Easter dinner last Sunday, which called for 24 ounces of the soda. We had bought a two-liter bottle, so we had plenty left over after dinner. Instead of just drinking it, I decided to put it to use in my Quarantine Cocktail series. The Old Fashioned is my go-to cocktail, and Cheerwine is my go-to soda, so when you mix them together, it's just about the greatest think you could drink. There's a little bit of prep work that goes into this cocktail, but nothing strenuous that should stop you from crafting this delicious drink. I made this for the first time during a virtual happy hour with my family on Friday evening and I've made it a few times since then. It's a very serious contender for my new favorite drink. The official recipe on Cheerwine's website calls for some orange bitters in addition to the usual Angostura bitters, but I didn't have any and the drink still tasted great. Cheerwine Old FashionedIngredients
2 oz. bourbon 3/4 oz. Cheerwine simple syrup 2 dashes Angostura bitters 2 dashes orange bitters (optional) Directions 1. For the simple syrup, boil two cups of Cheerwine and one cup of sugar until it reduces a bit. 2. Add the bitters, simple syrup and bourbon to an Old Fashioned glass with ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange peel and two maraschino cherries. 3. Enjoy! Bear with me as you read this bourbon review as it's the first that I've done. I've done a few beer reviews and some cocktail recipe posts, but this is the first time I'll be reviewing a bourbon.
My palate and tasting abilities are not fully developed, so I'll do my best to describe what I tasted from this bourbon. Buffalo Trace is one of the most widely available bourbons, but due to it's affordability and quality, it has skyrocketed in popularity, making it hard to find in certain areas. My parents are never able to find it at any of the ABC stores around Harrisonburg, but I never have any trouble finding a bottle at liquor stores in D.C. With a suggested retail price of around $25, it's a great choice for someone who is just getting into bourbon and wants to try a good product. However, you'll have a hard time finding it for that price, and could end up paying around $34 to $50 for a bottle. Buffalo Trace is made with a low-rye mash bill that is roughly 10 percent rye. This makes it a sweeter, smooth bourbon. And that's exactly what I got when I tasted it. Smooth and sweet. I told you I'm not great at detecting flavors yet, but I'm working on it. For now all i know is that this is a very smooth bourbon that is easy to drink, and is great for someone who is starting to enjoy whiskey. I haven't tried too many bourbons, but I can tell that this is one of my favorites out of the ones that I have tried. Rating: 8/10
While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep its grasp on American life, summer baseball leagues around the country have to make decisions on how to go about their 2020 seasons.
Two weeks ago the Valley Baseball League became the first collegiate summer league to cancel its season. I figured that this would kick off a domino effect of other leagues making the same decision, but so far there hasn't been much news, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, though, the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League in California made the decision to axe its 2020 season yesterday. As far as I know it joins the Valley League as the only two to cancel their seasons so far, but it's likely that more will follow in their footsteps as we get closer to the summer. The Northwoods League, which operates in the Midwest, released a statement yesterday regarding its contingency plans for the upcoming season. The league says it has been closely monitoring the developments of the pandemic and has been looking at numerous scenarios so that it can play baseball when it is safe to do so. However, due to Wisconsin's stay-at-home order being extended through May 26, the same day the Northwoods League was scheduled to begin play, the league's season will now be delayed. The league is still looking at multiple scenarios and trying to figure out how to best to about its season. According to a tweet from WFRV's Kyle Malzhan, Dick Radatz, Jr., Chairman of the Northwoods League, said "If they're not playing, I don't see how we're going to be playing," referring to Major League and Minor League Baseball.
There's still a little over a month before most summers leagues are scheduled to begin play, and anything could happen in that month. The situation in the U.S. could get better, or we could see social distancing restrictions extended further. All we can do now is continue to stay home, wash your hands and hope that we have summer baseball.
If you have any updates on summer baseball leagues in your area, please reach out to me through the contact form on my website. I'd love to tell your story. It's been a while since I've done a Quarantine Cocktail post. I decided that a week of abstaining from any kind of alcohol could be a good thing after all the beer reviews and cocktails I had been doing, so I haven't had a drink since Sunday. But it's Friday, and it's time to get back to happy hour. Tonight's drink is a twist on a classic. Everyone has heard of a whiskey and Coke, or more specifically a Jack and Coke, but you can really make this drink by mixing any type of whiskey with any type of cola. Cheerwine is probably my favorite type of soda, or at least a close second behind cherry Coke. As I've said in previous posts, I'm a sucker for marketing that appeals to anything Southern or rustic. Cheerwine is classic Southern soft drink, and with the slogan "Born in the South, raised in a glass," I would probably be willing to buy it even if it was terrible. For this particular drink, we used Black Back Bourbon from Silverback Distillery, which I'll have a review of soon. But like I said, you can use any type of bourbon or whiskey for this delicious, simple cocktail. Cheerwine and BourbonIngredients
2 oz. bourbon Cheerwine Directions 1. Pour bourbon over ice. Top with Cheerwine 2. Enjoy! With yesterday being Jackie Robinson Day, I re-watched the movie "42" earlier this week. In my opinion one of the greatest baseball movies, it does a great job painting a picture of Jackie Robinson's journey to breaking baseball's color barrier and playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. But as with all biopics, I'm sure there are moments that have been dramatized for the big screen. I want to take a look at some of the more memorable events throughout the movie and see just how accurate they are. Jackie Robinson's meeting with Branch Rickey In the movie, Robinson meets with Dodgers' GM Branch Rickey for the first time to discuss the possibility of playing for the Dodgers. The conversation is tense, with Rickey telling Robinson he wants him to "have the guts to not fight back." Rickey even begins to yell at Robinson, calling him a "black son of a bitch" just to see how he would respond. According to Rickey's grandson, Branch Barrett Rickey, that's pretty much what happened in the meeting. Rickey tried to provoke Robinson, attempting to get a response out of him before telling him he needs a ballplayer who will not fight back when faced with prejudice and abuse. Panama Spring Training and Dodgers petition against Robinson The film portrays a scene during Spring Training in which multiple members of the Brooklyn Dodgers start a petition saying they will not play on the same team as Robinson. Although in the movie the 1947 Spring Training takes place in Panama, the Dodgers actually held their spring camp in Cuba that year. However, some Dodgers players did actually begin a petition against playing with Robinson, and the team did take a trip to Panama to play a three-game series against Brooklyn's minor-league affiliate and Robinson's current team, the Montreal Royals. That's when manager Leo Durocher found out about the petition and put an end to it. Durocher's outburst during the movie, in which he exclaims "I don't care if he is yellow or black or has stripes like a zebra! If Robinson can help us win, and everything I have seen says he can, the he is going to play on this ball club," is pretty close to his actual quote. Also, just like in the movie, Durocher was actually suspended for the entire 1947 season after the Catholic Youth Organization withdrew its support of the Dodgers due to his affair with actress Laraine Day. Ben Chapman's tirade One of the toughest scenes to watch in the movie is when the Dodgers are playing the Phillies and Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman stands outside the dugout hurling racial slurs at Robinson. Eventually Robinson's teammate Eddie Stanky confronts Chapman and tells him to leave Robinson alone. Both of those events happened, although Stanky's confrontation with Chapman took place the next day during the second game of the series. A scene that takes place later in the movie also happened in real life as well. When the Dodgers took their first trip to Phildelphia during the 1947 season, Chapman took a picture on the field with Robinson as an attempt to bury the hatchet. Pee Wee Reese's moment with Robinson
One of the more moving scenes in the movie comes when the Dodgers travel to Cincinnati for a series against the Reds. Brooklyn shortstop Pee Wee Reese was a native of Kentucky, so he had family and friends in attendance at the game. In the movie, he walks over to first base for a quick chat with Robinson, in which he lets him know that he has his support. Reese puts his arm around Jackie, and offers a few lines of encouragement. While it's generally accepted that Reese embraced Robinson at some point, it's likely that it happened during the 1948 season rather than 1947. As pointed out in this article from ESPN, Robinson played second base in 1948, so it would have made more sense that he and Reese would be standing near each other. Additionally, Robinson said in 1952 that the event occurred during the 1948 season in Boston. Whether it happened in 1947 or not, it is a noteworthy event and one that shows camaraderie during a divisive time. Robinson's pennant-clinching home run The dramatic climax of the film comes on Sept. 17, 1947, when the Dodgers were playing on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a chance to clinch the pennant. Robinson hits a home run off Pirates pitcher Fritz Ostermueller to supposedly win the game. Brooklyn broadcaster Red Barber says that "barring an unlikely comeback," the Dodgers will win the pennant. Robinson did actually hit a home run that game, but it came in the top of the fourth inning and was the first run of the game. The Dodgers won the game 4-2, hardly an insurmountable lead. "42" is a fantastic movie and one that I consider one of the best baseball movies of all time. After looking at the facts behind the story, it seems as if it is mostly accurate, but of course they had to dramatize some of the events to make it Hollywood-worthy. A few days ago I wrote a post about the Chinese Professional Baseball League beginning play in Taiwan over the weekend. As I am in desperate need of some live baseball, I decided to get on board and begin following along with the league.
I chose the Uni-Lions as my team to root for. According to CPBL Stats, they're an underdog team. On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best at any given category, the Lions are rated a 3 in batting, starting pitching, bullpen, baserunning and defense. Not great compared to some of the more advanced teams in the league, such as the Chinatrust Brothers or Fubon Guardians, but I didn't want to be a bandwagoner, so I decided to throw my support to the Lions. They won their first game of the season 4-1 against the Brothers and made international headlines for hitting the first home run of 2020. After Sunday's opening game, they had a few days off before resuming play against the Monkeys on Wednesday. Since Taiwan is 12 hours ahead of the East Coast, games begin at 6:35 a.m. ET. I'm not committed enough to get up that early yet, but when I woke up yesterday, the game was still going. Down 7-5 in the eighth inning, the Lions put two runs across the plate to tie it up. The game eventually went into extra innings, and from what I understand, the CPBL has a 12-inning limit for games. The Lions put another run up in the top of the 10th, but the Monkeys quickly answered in the bottom of the inning. After failing to score in the next two innings, the game went to the bottom of the 12th. Monkeys designated hitter Zhu Yuxian stepped up to the plate and promptly hit a walk-off blast to right field to win the game 9-8. Fast-forward to today's game, I wake up and check the live stream on Twitter to see if the Lions are bouncing back this morning, only to find that they're down 15-2 in the eighth inning. While the Lions were able to get one run across the plate in the top of the ninth, the deficit was too much for the Lions as they fell to 1-2 on the season. They'll take on the Fubon Guardians tomorrow. Fubon is 2-0 on the season Some thoughts so far on the CPBL:
So far, I'm a fan of what I've seen in the CPBL, and until we get baseball back in the United States, and maybe even after we do, I'm going to continue to follow the CPBL and the Uni-Lions. If you're like me and you've been sitting around at home with nothing to do for a month now, you might've thought about exercising at some point during that time. I've gone for a few short runs and some walks around the park, but nothing too exhausting or difficult. Until the other day when I stumbled upon a workout video that the Los Angeles Dodgers posted on social media. During this time of social distancing or quarantine, or whatever you want to call it, the Dodgers have been posting workouts with their Director of Strength and Conditioning, Brandon McDaniel. I saw one of these videos on Monday and thought I would give it a shot. That was a mistake. I've always thought I was in pretty good shape. I wrestled for six years in middle and high school, I did P90X one summer, and I run occasionally. But this workout was on a different level for me. There were hardly any breaks and it works every part of your body. Since today is Jackie Robinson Day, McDaniel decided to make the workout inspired by Robinson's career stats. It's an EMOM workout, which means every minute on the minute you change the exercise you're doing. The video consisted of six rounds of five different exercises. This particular workout when a little like this: 27 squats (for a total of 137. Robinson hit 137 career RBIs) 37 seconds of bear crawl (One second for every base Robinson stole in 1949) 42 mountain climbers (this one shouldn't need an explanation) 42 jackknifes 10 burpees (one for every season Robinson played in MLB) You do all of that, you're tired, ready to quit, and then you have five more rounds to go. If you really feel like getting your workout for the week in half an hour, try out this video. Today is the three-year anniversary of Truist Park being the home of the Atlanta Braves. Despite the terrible new name, it's still a beautiful park and deserves a few minutes of recognition.
The Braves moved into Truist Park, known at the time as SunTrust Park, in 2017. The plan was to build a contending team by the time they moved into the new stadium, but as the Braves finished 2017 with a record of 72-90 and in third place in the division, that clearly didn't happen. The new ballpark replaced Turner Field as the home of Atlanta's team. While I didn't love Turner Field, it had some charm to it. It was the Braves' home stadium during some of their most dominant years in the late 90s and early 2000s. It hosted 11 divisional series, four league championship series and one World Series. It also hosted one Wild Card game, but Braves fans try to forget that one. Turner Field was right in the middle of Atlanta, close to downtown and right next to the location of the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. It was a good spot for a ballpark, but it wouldn't last. The Braves played their final season at Turner Field in 2016, and in a move that was highly controversial, they moved out to their new home in Cobb County. I wasn't a fan of the first renderings that were provided of Truist Park. The outer features of the ballpark looked too empty and ugly, not like the brick that we're used to seeing at baseball stadiums. But when the stadium was finished, it was beautiful. Truist Park fits into the retro-modern category of baseball stadiums, with retro-looking facade on the outside and modern amenities on the inside. It's a beautifully-designed stadium with plenty of features such as the Coors Light Chop House, the Coca-Cola Corner and the Heavy Hitters drumline that make it feel like home for Braves fans. The first game that I went to at Truist Park was right after the All-Star game in 2017. The Braves were hosting their first homestand since the All-Star break and were facing the Chicago Cubs. My friend and I drove down to go to one of the games, and although the Braves lost, it was a great experience. One of the advantages that Truist Park has over Turner Field is the mixed-use development built around the stadium. The Battery Atlanta describes itself as a "365-day entertainment experience." The area features everything from retail to bars and restaurants to apartments and hotels. Fans can spend their entire day in the development and never run out of entertainment options. It makes for a great way to get fans in, while increasing the excitement of the pre-game atmosphere. While it does have its shortcomings, such as the aforementioned controversy and the failure to name the stadium after Hank Aaron, Truist Park is a great place to watch a game. I might have to do a blog post soon about the time I went to the 2018 NLDS in Atlanta, but that's a wild story that features skipping class, speeding tickets and flat tires. We'll save that one for another time. For now, let's just take a minute and imagine what it would be like to be back at Truist Park right now, watching a Braves win in a pandemic-free world. |
AuthorMatthew Atkins, Journalist and Baseball fan. Archives
March 2023
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