Colorful dancers atop the dugouts at recent OKC Comets game in OKC.
When my friend, Ed Godfrey, and I walked into Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Saturday night, we could hear the distinctive sounds of a mariachi band playing somewhere on the concourse.
It was Cielo Azul night versus the El Paso Chihuahuas at the ballpark, with the OKC Comets dressed in special Cielo Azul uniforms to honor fans from Hispanic heritages.
It’s always a festive occasion, with Mexican dancers on the dugouts between innings and special Cielo Azul caps and other merchandise on sale at the fan store.
But the mariachi band was a first for me, or at least I had not noticed a live band in the past.
Turns out, the band was stationed almost directly behind our section down the third base line. And it wasn’t just a couple of guitar players and a violin. This was a full on Mexican orchestra with vocalists, multiple guitars, trumpets and violins.
Ed and I stopped for a couple minutes to appreciate the music, then found our seats as the band continued playing. You can sample their music in the video below:
The band was still playing as the first pitch was thrown and continued for several innings. Ed found some humor about a mariachi band that refused to quit playing and began delivering one-liners as commentary on the Cielo Azul experience.
If you are a listener of the 3 Old Geezers podcast hosted by Ed, myself and Steve Buck, then you know that Ed can be really funny. We should call him our Minister of Humor, even if it’s not always intentional.
“Feels like a home game for El Paso,” Ed said as the band droned on. “Go ask them to play ‘El Paso.'”
I laughed at the thought and almost took the request to the band, but I didn’t have any money on me for a tip.
About that time, the colorful Mexican dancers walked past our seats on their way to the third base dugout. We enjoyed the interlude between innings as their dresses swirled and the music played. Watch below.
“It does feel like we’re at Casa Bonita,” Ed said.
By now, I was frantically writing down his one-liners. The dancing concluded and a female dancer walked toward us as she headed back to the concourse.
“When she gets up here, would you stop her and ask for some sopapillas,” Ed commanded.
I laughed out loud as I typed the comment into my phone.
Later in the game, the Geezer came out in Ed. A group of young girls who were perhaps 10 years old and sitting a couple rows in front of us were loudly chanting, trying to distract the opposing Chihuahua players.
The girls were as persistent as the mariachi band. They never stopped.
“This whole section is like a daycare,” Ed said.
The mascot, Yeti, poses with some young fans during a recent OKC Comets game.
The girls continued chanting in unison and having a great time.
“This is what softball culture has done to little girls,” Geezer Ed said.
It was like I was sitting next to Walter Matthau from Grumpy Old Men.
By now, we were deep into the game, maybe the 6th or 7th inning. The mariachi band had taken a break, but now they were back, playing on and on, although more distant from us this time.
It was a night that I’ll remember, but not because of the baseball. It’s exactly why I enjoy going to the ballpark, because you never know what you will see or hear.
It can be a great play on the field, a mariachi band, 10 year-old hecklers or a geezer with a keen wit.
I loved it all.
BONUS CONTENT: As Ed and I entered the ballpark this past Saturday night, the team was honoring Nelson Cruz in a special pregame ceremony to induct him into the OKC Triple A Baseball Hall of Fame. I thought it was great that the team honored a past player who went on to have an impactful Major League career. Also thought it was cool that Cruz actually showed up with his family and made a heartfelt speech. I hope the fans in attendance could appreciate him and the ceremony.
The ceremony honoring OKC Triple A Baseball Hall of Famer Nelson Cruz
Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark was full for Banana Ball
‘Clowns to the left of me Jokers to the right Here I am, stuck in the middle with you’
— Stealers Wheel, ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’
There were plenty of clowns on the field Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. And jokers, too. And I was stuck in the middle of about 10,000 of my closest friends who showed up to watch a spectacle known as Banana Ball.
Saturday’s “game,” and I’m using the term loosely, featured two barnstorming exhibition teams — the Indianapolis Clowns and the Texas Tailgaters — owned by the Savannah Bananas empire.
It wasn’t exactly baseball, as we know it, although if you watched closely between the line dancing, singing, juggling and acrobatics, there was pitching, hitting and fielding to be seen.
No one seemed to mind that there was really no way to know when a team’s at-bat ended or what the actual score was or if any of that mattered.
Well, it really didn’t.
Banana Ball is all about nonstop fun, excitement and noise. Oh, the noise.
Music blared from the stadium speakers from well before the game began and did not let up for a second until after, well, at least until we headed home after eight innings of the organized chaos.
So, you may be asking, how did all this begin and why did so many Oklahomans flock to the Bricktown Ballpark on two consecutive blistering nights in August?
The Bananas started out as a collegiate baseball team in Savannah, Ga. that eventually morphed into the entertainment phenomenon that we know of today.
Jesse Cole, a former collegiate player and coach, had taken over the collegiate team, which played the traditional game that moved at a slow pace and attracted few fans. Cole noticed that those who did show up were likely to leave well before the game ended.
He decided there had to be a better way. So he invented the concept of Banana Ball that injected entertainment into the mix, renamed the team the Bananas and it took off from there. The Bananas’ motto is “We make baseball fun.”
You can learn more about it by watching the CBS Sixty Minutes feature below.
Today, the Bananas feature seven traveling teams that fill minor league, major league and even college football stadiums across the nation. I read a story about a Bananas exhibition played in Denver the week previous to the OKC show that drew 100,000 people over three nights.
You could see in Bricktown that many in the crowd are actual Bananas fans. They wore Banana yellow shirts. They knew all of the chants and the dance routines. Some of them even got up and danced themselves.
So, it’s a show. But not The Show that players aspire to, as Major League Baseball is known.
I admit I’m a geezer and likely to shout, ‘get off my lawn!’ But I have no problem with Banana Ball or its popularity. There were people in the stadium Saturday who didn’t even realize that OKC had a minor league baseball team, so perhaps they became acquainted with the Comets. Maybe.
In reality, you can complain about the slow play of the game as played by college, minor league or Major League teams, but they all have a big advantage over the Bananas, as I see it.
You can have a conversation while sitting in the stands of, say an OKC Comets baseball game. That’s a big plus for me. You can also appreciate the strategy and great plays. You know the score and can even keep your own scorecard.
I could not concentrate on anything baseball related Saturday because of the constant disco-level volume of the music, the ongoing dancing routines or distractions like the alleged pitcher that took the mound wearing an elephant costume or the shortstop dressed as a rodeo clown.
So, I’m glad we got to see Banana Ball in all of it’s glory here in OKC.
Once was enough.
I’ll be back at the ballpark later this week to watch the Comets play El Paso. And I’ll welcome the relaxing pace of the game.
The Indianapolis Clowns entertained with a dance routine as they were introduced before the Banana Ball game in OKC.
Jeremy Ball, right, along with his father, Richard, and son, Hensley, at an MLB game in Sacramento.
Editor’s Note: My friend Jeremy Ball, along with his father and son, recently completed their annual baseball trip, an adventure that took them to Seattle, San Francisco and Sacramento. I asked Jeremy to write about the experience, and why the Balls are compelled to travel across the country each summer to watch baseball. Here is Jeremy’s report:
By Jeremy Ball
Twenty-one years ago, three generations of men in the Ball family (Me, my father, Richard, my grandfather, Lyle) came up with a plan to visit St. Louis and attend a couple of baseball games. From this simple beginning a favorite family tradition was born.
Why did we travel to St. Louis to watch baseball? Three basic reasons: the old Busch Stadium was set to be replaced in 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals were coming off a World Series appearance and looked to be very good, and my grandfather was itching to take a trip.
The next year, we naturally had to return to see the NEW Busch Stadium, and so the tradition began. We all enjoyed St. Louis, but with dad living in Texas we took in home games for the Astros and Rangers in 2007-08.
In 2009, my grandfather suggested we take in a Colorado Rockies game, this was followed by trips to a few other places. Then, around 2018, dad and I came up with an additional purpose for the trip: Visit every MLB home ballpark.
This year, three generations of men in the Ball family (Jeremy, Richard, my son, Hensley) took to the friendly skies on a Saturday morning for our annual baseball trip. This year took us to the West Coast: a Saturday night game in Seattle, a Sunday afternoon game in San Francisco, and a Monday evening game in Sacramento.
The trip involved five separate flights from six different airports, multiple trips on Seattle’s light rail, a rental car in California, and a wide variety of climates. We sat down the left field line, in the first base side upper deck, near the edge of the infield third base side, and even spent a few innings 10 rows behind home plate.
‘Hot Dogs from Heaven’ float into the stands at a Seattle Mariners game.
I witnessed one of the great promotions ever: Hot Dogs From Heaven. In the 8th inning, a few Mariners employees dropped hot dogs with mini-parachutes from the upper deck, resulting in a 10-15 second slow descent into the famished masses in the section below. People scrambled to fetch the highest margin item in the whole ballpark that was probably cooked around the same time pregame started; the whole scene was strangely beautiful and perfect.
We also had an opportunity to watch Seattle celebrate their 50 Greatest Players, and while the list wasn’t ranked they saved four greats for the final entrance: Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, and Ichiro Suzuki.
The view of San Francisco’s Oracle Park and McCovey Cove beyond right fieild.
There are still kayaks patrolling McCovey Cove (maybe 15 total?), and most were visible from the upper deck. Sacramento was a good experience, but MLB baseball in a Triple-A ballpark feels more like that latter than the former when the home team is 20 games under .500.
We marveled at the beauty and tranquility of Muir Woods, enjoyed my son’s reaction to the Gum Wall within Pike Place Market, and spent time Tuesday morning in my new favorite midsized airport: SAC. We learned that summer doesn’t really exist on the Golden Gate Bridge, where 58 degrees and 30 mph winds sent dad back to the car without us when we stopped for extra selfies. However, summer most certainly exists in Sacramento, as the 98 degrees had me sweating a few minutes into our 1/2 mile walk to the ballpark.
One thing we didn’t experience was a home win; Seattle managed only two runs during a 3-2 loss to the Rays, and San Francisco followed it up with a single run during a 3-1 extra innings loss to Detroit. Monday looked promising after the A’s took a 6-2 lead after the 7th, only to surrender eight runs to those pesky Rays in the 8th and lose 10-6.
The AL East leading Rays went 9-0 on their western road trip (they played three in Colorado before trips to Seattle and Sacramento) before returning home and losing three straight to the last place team in their division, Baltimore. Baseball is a funny game sometimes, maybe Tropicana Field is the problem?
A view from the stands of Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park
“The Trop” could be on the agenda for next year; Tampa, Miami, and both New York teams are the only ones left to make all 30 for me. Dad has made it to the Mets but otherwise lacks the other three, so we are hoping to finish our quest by 2028. My son has only made it to eight, so in much the same way baseball is cyclical I hope this trip will be as well.
As Terrence Mann once told us, the one constant throughout the years has been baseball; I sincerely hope this remains true for Ball generations now and yet to come.
I’ve celebrated the joy of discovery this past week.
This past week, with a lot of illness-related downtime on my hands — I’m fine, now — I did some casual scrolling across Youtube and came upon the video of a young musician named Jacob Collier leading a full orchestra on a 20-minute improvisational performance.
It was pure joy.
I had never heard of Collier, but he’s a young Englishman, musician and composer from a family of musicians. In this performance with a San Francisco orchestra, he directs each instrument section to play a certain chord over and over. He leads them section by section, so you don’t know where it is heading.
In fact, in a note posted with the video, Collier said the entire performance was accomplished with ‘no rehearsal, no sheet music, no prior discussion.’
When Collier finally leads every instrument section to play together as he begins to play the piano, you discover where it’s actually gone. He sings Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ and it’s a perfect fit with the instruments. Then it morphs into a mix with ‘Every Breath You Take’ as he leads the audience to join in singing key lines.
It an uplifting performance, and you can see it in the reactions not only of the audience but of the members of the orchestra. Every participant seemed caught up in the joyous moment.
I must have watched it six times. Watch it yourself below.
Collier has other videos posted where he interacts with audiences and orchestras the same way, and it’s all for the purpose of nothing more than celebrating joy.
In today’s us-vs.-them dystopian world, doing something with no motive other than to celebrate joy brings a breath of fresh air to us all. Or at least all of us who celebrate joy for, well, the joy it brings.
I’ve uncovered a few other gems that brought me joy this week that I’m sharing in this post.
First is a column by Joe Posnanski, one of America’s preeminent baseball writers. Written shortly before the Major League Baseball season began, Joe presents ‘The Most Fun Teams in Baseball.’ It’s an innovative way to consider all 30 MLB teams and rank them according to the number of ‘fun’ players rather than pure statistics. Read the column here.
Posnanski celebrates baseball with a joy that makes you want to love the game as much as he does.
Next is author and tech reporter David Pogue, whose reporting on Apple and other tech innovators over the years is always presented in an upbeat and positive manner with a touch of joyous humor thrown in. I mentioned Pogue in a recent post about the hundreds of people who lined up outside Apple retailers when the first iPhones and iPads were released nearly 20 years ago.
I’m including him in this post because he’s written a wonderful article about how he became a tech reporter and his personal interactions with Apple and Steve Jobs over the years. It turns out that we have David to thank for the ability to make screenshots on the iPhone. The comments of his readers are just as interesting — and joyful.
Finally, I ran across an ESPN Instagram feed featuring their reporter, Omar Raja, who is sort of a mobile deliverer of unexpected joy to unlikely people. In one post, he surprised a kid of about 10 years old and his dad in the far upper deck of Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium with field passes AND front row seats to the game. The kid actually spent his own Christmas money to treat his dad to their first Steelers game. It’s a feel good story.
But there’s more from Omar.
ESPN’s Omar Raja bringing the joy on Super Bowl Sunday
On Super Bowl Sunday he drives past a kid who has set up a lemonade stand just blocks from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., site of this year’s Super Bowl. He slows down and apologizes to the kid because he has no cash to pay for a lemonade. As he drives off, the kid runs up to the car window holding a complimentary cup. Omar rewards him and his dad with Super Bowl field pass and tickets and ushers them into the stadium.
Today is Opening Day for 22 Major League Baseball teams, including my Texas Rangers, who opened against Philadelphia this afternoon (Rangers lost, 5-3). Opening Day has always been one of my favorite days of the year, because it means the long Winter is finally over and there is the promise of new life, even for my favorite team.
A long ago Opening Day is one of those special days where I know exactly where I was.
And I’m not talking about the baseball.
The year was 1983. The setting was the now departed Arlington Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The game was the season opener between the Rangers and the Chicago White Sox.
I looked it up, and it was a Monday night game . Only 13,140 fans showed up with few expectations for the Rangers that season.
I was in that crowd along with Eric Brooks, a fellow sportswriter at the Southwest Times Record newspaper in Fort Smith, Ark.. We drove to Arlington to catch the 1983 season opener because I was a Rangers fan and Eric was a fan of MLB in general.
It was my first — and only — MLB Opening Day game. And what a memory it became.
Here’s what I remember from the night: virtually nothing about the baseball game itself.
But it turned out to also be a night that many American sports fans recall because of an historic upset. North Carolina State beat Houston to claim the NCAA men’s basketball championship.
It was also special to me because Eric and I got to watch the incredible finish to that game while we were at Arlington Stadium with the Rangers game still in progress. You might remember that the Jim Valvano-coached Wolfpack scored one of college basketball’s greatest upsets when Lorenzo Charles scored the game winner at the final buzzer.
So, how were we able to watch that from the stands at Arlington Stadium?
While the NCAA game certainly wasn’t broadcast on the Rangers scoreboard, a fan seated in our section held a small, portable black-and-white television in his lap.
When we saw several people gather around the guy with the TV, Eric and I got up and joined the crowd. We could see the screen pretty well and knew that it was late in the NCAA championship game.
So, we stayed put to watch the frantic finish with that small crowd of college basketball crazies.
As for the Rangers game, Texas defeated Chicago starting pitcher Lamarr Hoyt that night, 5-3, in two hours and 25 minutes. I found the box score.
After the game, Eric and I headed over to the local Bennigan’s Restaurant for a late dinner. Eric spotted White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf seated at a table with team GM Roland Hemond.
I would not have known who they were, but Eric was a big MLB fan who recognized the baseball executives. He wanted to rush over and strike up a conversation, although I talked him into waiting until they were finished eating.
Fast forward 43 years.
Today was another season opening day for the Rangers, who will play their 2026 home opener on April 3. The expectations are certainly higher than they were in 1983, but I won’t be in Arlington next week when the Rangers open at home against the Cincinnati Reds.
No big deal. I’ll always have my memories of that long ago season opener and watching the NCAA finals on a tiny black-and-white portable TV in the Arlington Stadium stands.
I was listening to a late-night sports talk radio show recently when the host began talking excitedly about ‘robo umps’ coming to Major League Baseball. He was totally opposed to the concept because, as he said, ‘it takes the human element’ out of the game.
What?
In my mind I saw images of a menacing, out-of-control robot standing behind the catcher.
Turns out that Major League Baseball IS implementing the Automated Ball/Strike Challenge System in the 2026 season. But there’s no resemblance to a robo ump.
Yet, that’s how it’s presented by broadcasters and headline writers across the World Wide Web. I wince every time I hear or see the words ‘robo ump’ used to describe the new system because of how misleading it is.
A sample of ‘robo ump’ returns from a Google search
So, what is the Automated Ball/Strike Challenge System, also known as ABS, if it’s not a robotic replacement for home place umps?
If you’ve attended any OKC Comets games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark over the last couple of years, you’ve seen the ABS system in action. You may not even have noticed, because an umpire is still behind the plate calling every pitch.
However, each team can challenge two pitches per game, and then the ABS system takes over. Multiple cameras focused on home plate reveal whether the pitch crosses through the strike zone, and the results are shown on the park’s video board.
The whole process takes only a few seconds, is very low key, and the game quickly resumes. There are no hitters and catchers loudly complaining or angry managers charging home plate.
Don’t ask me how it works, because geometry is above my pay grade.
“The ABS Challenge System monitors the exact location of each pitch, relative to the specific batter’s zone. Players can request a challenge of a ball or strike call they feel the umpire got wrong, and, when they do, a graphic displaying the result is then transmitted over a 5G network from T-Mobile’s Advanced Network Solutions and nearly instantaneously shown to those in attendance via the videoboard and to home viewers via the broadcast.”
The MLB article goes on to describe the ABS System as a way to ensure calls are correct while keeping the human element.
“The Challenge System is seen as a way to get more of the most important calls correct without dramatically altering the sport overnight. It is a middle ground between full ABS and tradition,” MLB says in the article.
When MLB implementation of the ABS Challenge System was made last September, Alex Freedman, Broadcaster/Communications Director the OKC Comets, tweeted his support of the technology. He’s seen every Comets game in which it has been used, so he would be aware of any potential glitches.
“I’ve been a fan of the challenge system since it’s been implemented in Triple-A. Among players and coaches, it’s not unanimously loved, but the large majority likes it,” Freedman said on his X (formerly Twitter) feed.
I discussed my disdain of the term ‘robo ump’ to describe the ABS System on the most recent 3 Old Geezers podcast in which I participate. My fellow geezers scoffed at my dislike of the term, saying it’s no big deal.
Ed Godfrey said he objects more to the ‘ghost runner’ used in extra innings, but that argument can wait for another day.
Ed also reminded me that a ‘Robo Niner’ mascot once roamed All Sports Stadium back when the team was known at the 89ers.
So, call me the Robo Ump Police then, because I hate the term.
Here’s what Dan Patrick, my favorite sports broadcasting host, had to say about the ABS System and the way it’s been described on the Dan Patrick radio show, which is also simulcast on the Peacock Network:
“You still have to have an umpire. There’s not going to be a robot out there. It’s not going to be a robot; it’s going to be automated balls and strikes. Everybody thinks (it’s) like that Fox football robot’s out there.”
Yep, that’s how it’s presented in countless headlines and on sport talk shows. Go ahead and do a Google search for ‘robo ump,’ and see the dozens of headlines and videos proclaiming the coming of the robot
Well, it’s not. But the robo ump hype and hysteria is real, even if the robots are not.
I’ve been everywhere, man I’ve been everywhere, man Crossed the desert’s bare, man I’ve breathed the mountain air, man Of travel I’ve a-had my share, man I’ve been everywhere — “I’ve been everywhere” as sung by Johnny Cash
If you ask Stigler, OK, native Hershel Prentice where in the world he’s been lately, he’ll gladly tell you.
“I was in Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Montenegro about a year ago,” he told me.
I listened with awe as Hershel recounted some of his travel experiences as I sat down with him at the home of our mutual friend, Ed Godfrey. Ed, with whom I worked for many years at The Oklahoman newspaper, is also a Stigler native and has known Hershel for even longer.
“I’ve been to about 90 countries so far,” Hershel said. “I’ve stood in Red Square in Moscow. I stood in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and I’ve been on the Great Wall of China.”
Did you catch that? Hershel has visited 90 — 90!– countries around the world. He told me that he lives out of hotels about half the time.
How does this happen, a country boy from rural Oklahoma literally traveling across the nation and the world virtually nonstop for decades?
A couple of things to note: Hershel is retired after 29 years of service with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. A graduate of Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, he has no living immediate family.
Hershel said he often made road trips with his grandparents as a child, which sparked his love of travel, seeing new places and meeting interesting people.
“And I like maps, globes, far away names, Budapest, Istanbul,” he said. “I’d hear those names and knew I would go someday.”
His parents, who owned a trucking firm, are deceased, as well as a sister, his only sibling. He lives in the Stigler house that belonged to his parents, although it seems to be only for temporary respite between trips.
Hershel has a philanthropic side, too, in support of his hometown. He funds a scholarship for Stigler high school graduates to support their college education. And he’s a regular at Shelly’s Cafe whenever he’s in town.
“I’m the first customer,” he said. “5 a.m.”
When I asked Hershel how old he was, he was reluctant to reveal his age.
“I don’t do chronological things, I do situations,” said this International Man of Mystery.
So, what year were you born in?
“Just pick a number.”
All right, 1950. “OK,” Hershel said to the random number that I pulled out of the air. I’ll go with it. That would make him 75 years old, or somewhere in that neighborhood.
Never married, Hershel said he prefers to travel alone.
“Fast and free that way, when you’re alone,” he said.
Yeah, but don’t you get lonely?
“Not really.”
Hershel’s travel is arranged by a Fort Smith, Ark., travel agent. Most of his world travel is done as part of group tours with a set itinerary. That ensures he’s not totally alone on his sojourns, although he said he uses free time to explore on his own.
How has he been treated as an American tourist in all these foreign lands? He says he’s been treated well everywhere and never feared for his safety, including in Cuba, where he went as part of a program arranged by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Here are some fun facts about the International Man of Mystery’s travels both here and abroad:
Hershel has visited all 50 states, visiting famous and little known museums, national parks, Civil War battlegrounds and much more. He’s seen baseball games in all but eight Major League parks, along with dozens of minor leagues parks across the country. He’s been to NBA, NFL and college football games, NASCAR events, toured multiple halls of fame, every presidential library and points of interest like the site of Custer’s Last Stand in Montana or the big ball-of-yarn museum in Kansas. He’s visited every county seat in Oklahoma, as well as in Arkansas.
He’s made friends and met many interesting people along the way. Sometimes, he’s run into fellow Oklahomans in, say, Europe or Asia.
“People that you meet who are visiting Auschwitz, people that would go pay money and time to go do that, they’re gonna be pretty interesting,” he says. “Or you’ll have a common factor. If I meet someone on a trip, I tell them I’ve been by their house, because wherever someone is from, i’ve been by there or near there.”
The most interesting country Hershel has visited?
“Probably Cuba,” he said. “It’s just amazing how they live there, how it was for a long time and how it is now. They don’t have Internet, you couldn’t use a credit card; they didn’t have that infrastructure. We had to use pesos or American money or Euros. They like the Euro more than the dollar.”
He visited Havana, along with the infamous Bay of Pigs, Hemingway’s home, and coastal areas along the island.
I became acquainted with Hershel Prentice a few years ago through Ed when we all went to an OKC Dodgers (now Comets) game together. Hershel’s also a big fan of the OKC Thunder, and sent me a photo of himself at a recent game at Paycom Center. He has called Ed from many museums, ballparks and foreign cities. He often brings him souvenirs from his travels.
Hershel showed me a set of refrigerator magnets decorated to represent the flags of about a half dozen Scandinavian countries. Of course, he’s been to all of them.
So, what’s on Hershel’s travel itinerary for 2026? For now, he’s looking at traveling to Uzbekistan and Kaspiysk, located in former Soviet Union territories and now independent Russian states.
Still, I wanted to know what compels him to stay on the move. His answer was about modes of travel as much as about locations. He likes planes, trains, trolleys, subways.
“Anything that moves,” he said. “I like it when it takes off, that little thrust, the movement. Here we go to a new place, new time, new day, new people. Being free.”
Hershel, you really are the International Man of Mystery.
Hershel Prentice at the Dardenelles Strait in Turkey in 2024.
The author of this blog post ranks Fenway Park as his favorite MLB stadium.
Baseball-themed road trips have been a big part of fandom for decades. Major League Baseball fans will drive thousands of miles over a week’s time or more to watch as many games in as many different cities and stadiums as possible.
For instance, my friend Mike, along with his brother and his son, would drive from OKC to, say, Chicago to see a game at Wrigley Field one day, Comiskey Park on the south side the next. Immediately after that game, they would drive 300 miles to Detroit to catch a Tigers game the next day, then on to Milwaukee to see the Brewers the next.
Sounds exhausting, but a big part of the attraction was soaking in the atmosphere of different MLB stadiums, each of which offers a unique experience in architecture, food, fans and even dimensions of the field.
My MLB experience is much more limited. I’ve watched games in 13 different major league ballparks in my life, six of which are no longer in existence or in use. Read a post about my first MLB experience in the early 1960s at Houston’s old Colt Stadium,
But I think I’ve sampled enough to know which ones are my favorites for the in-stadium experience. So, in honor of the official opening of MLB season — even if it was in Tokyo — I’m ranking my three favorite MLB stadiums.
I’ve also asked four friends who have experienced a lot of baseball venues to weigh in with their top three, as well. Their rankings follow my list.
As for me, I was privileged to attend the annual Biotech Innovation Organization — BIO — Convention for 12 consecutive years with the delegation that showcases Oklahoma biotech industry at the show each year. Those trips created the opportunity to watch MLB games in six different cities, including San Francisco, San Diego and Boston, which are the top three venues for me.
Here’s how I’ve ranked them.
Oracle Park in San Francisco
No. 3: Oracle Park in San Francisco (opened in 2000 as PacBell Park). I was able to combine two of my passions — rail-fanning and baseball — on this trip. I caught the Muni Metro train on Market Street, and it delivered me and about 400 of my closest friends wedged into the car right outside the stadium. As far as Oracle Park, it’s in a beautiful setting, situated so close to the San Francisco Bay that many home runs to right field land in what is known as McCovey Cove in the bay. The park offered great food and drink options, as well as a display of Giants’ World Series trophies on the left field concourse. It was a great experience, despite the chilly San Francisco weather.
Petco Park in San Diego
No. 2: Petco Park in San Diego. Another ballpark with great public transportation options. I attended a Padres game on two straight BIO trips to San Diego. Located in the heart of San Diego’s Gas Lamp entertainment district, I loved the Petco experience because it has a real open feel to it, with a great picnic area in right field, and an old downtown building incorporated right into the stadium down the left field line. It is renowned for fish tacos, but food options seemed endless.
The Green Monster as viewed from lower deck seats behind third base at Fenway Park
No. 1: Fenway Park in Boston (opened in 1912). I was in awe of this ancient baseball cathedral when my former i2E colleague and fellow Oklahoman, Rick Rainey, and I attended a game while in Boston for the BIO show. Never mind that the Red Sox lost to the lowly Detroit Tigers, Fenway offers so much history that the score didn’t matter. Where do I start? Well, the atmosphere outside the ballpark was tremendous with hundreds of fans lined up to buy food and merchandise from dozens of vendors. Inside, the Green Monster taunts hitters in left field. The Pesky Pole in right. The Triangle in Center field. The Red Sox have the ultimate between-inning music, too, hitting right in my wheelhouse with a ’60s/’70s dominated playlist. And the near capacity house that night was primed and ready to belt out Sweet Caroline when it was played in the middle of the eighth inning. It’s a great memory.
Now, let’s see how my friends ranked their top three baseball stadiums. I asked two long-time newspaper reporters and editors — Mike Sherman and Bobby Ross Jr. — for their thoughts, as well as Steve Buck and Jeremy Ball, two people who have attended the same church as I do for many years.
Here are their rankings:
Mike Sherman
I’ve seen a baseball game in 25 MLB parks, including 14 still in service. Here are my rankings.
Tiger Stadium
No. 3: Tiger Stadium. I could have picked a half-dozen parks in this spot, including the Ballpark at Arlington — the easiest place to get to the bathroom and back in your seat between innings without missing a pitch. But three things stick with me from a 1988 visit to Tiger Stadium: The greenest grass I ever saw. Sitting in the upper deck, first row, and feeling like I could snatch the cap off the third-base coach’s head. The sensation of watching baseball in a time capsule and eating my first Domino’s Pizza while my traveling companion obsessed over whether he’d ever see his car again.
Wrigley Field
No. 2: Wrigley Field: This is where I’ve seen Pete Rose return from a 30-day suspension for bumping an umpire (1988) and watched Charles Barkley throw out the first pitch before a Jake Arrieta near-no hitter (2014). On Father’s Day 2023, my two sons and I watched a guy pour his grandfather’s ashes over the rail and on the ivy from the second row of the left-field bleachers. During a 2022 Orioles-Cubs series, Wrigley ushers kept giving my youngest son — Baltimore attire head to toe — Topps baseball cards of former O’s. People love this place and it shows.
Camden Yards
No. 1: Camden Yards. If you want to discount my opinion because my father once hauled boxes of cigarettes out of the Warehouse, go ahead. Or because I snuck in before it opened to pick out my mother’s 1991 Christmas present — Sunday-only season tickets in the left-field stands. Or because my wife’s surprise for my 40th birthday was flying me blindfolded to Baltimore (I am not making this up) and not removing the blindfold until we stood on Eutaw Street, where she handed me tickets to a weekend series with the A’s. (I can do this all day.) Camden Yards is the ballpark that re-started everything. Without it, there may be no Petco, PNC, etc. Oh, and crabcakes.
Bobby Ross Jr.
Wrigley Field
No. 3: Wrigley Field. I realize I’m cheating, and this is actually the fourth ballpark I’ve mentioned. But the historic nature of Wrigley — and the wide enough seats (unlike Fenway Park in Boston) to fit a 21st century human — make this one a must-visit stadium.
PNC Park
No. 2: PNC Park in Pittsburgh and Petco Park in San Diego (tie). Both of these are spectacular with incredible downtown backdrops. PNC’s setting on the northern bank of the Allegheny River may give it the slight edge.
Globe Life Field
No. 1.: Globe Life Field. The Rangers’ home ballpark is in a league of its own. You might think I’m saying this just because I’m a Rangers fan, and you would be 99% right. This is, after all, the field of dreams where I witnessed the World Series Game 1 heroics (by Corey Seager and Adolis García) in 2023.
No. 3: PNC Park. This is largely based on location and cityscape visible from the stadium, the Clemente Bridge in particular is the best backdrop for a stadium available. Inside the stadium, has a good mixture of modern amenities/foods with more standard fare, and there isn’t a bad seat anywhere in the stadium.
Camden Yards
No. 2: Camden Yards. This is honestly the cleanest ballpark I’ve ever been to, this place literally looks like it was opened last year. This is a really intimate ballpark, soon as you walk in you are close to the seats and vantage points are great. The warehouse is a cool backdrop, even more interesting when you can walk right next to it.
Wrigley Field
No. 1: Wrigley Field. As a Cardinals fan, it pains me to say this, but the Wrigley experience is baseball heaven. The stands are really flat in the lower level, so I felt more connected to others, and the prevalence of one beer (Old Style) is a cool feature of the experience. Everything about the ballpark is intimate, and there’s something cool about how the stands are largely segregated from the concessions area. What probably sets Wrigley apart is the ‘Wrigleyville’ area outside the stadium; it’s a celebration before and after the game. It’s also the first place I ever shared a beer with my dad, so there’s a personal part for me.
A couple other notes on stadiums:
Best public transportation to a stadium: Target Field, Minneapolis — Rail drops you 100 feet from the East entrance!
Best food: Guaranteed Rate Field, White Sox — The stadium is nothing special except the wet beef sandwich with sweet peppers, OFF THE CHARTS GREAT.
Steve Buck
Arlington Stadium
No. 3: Arlington Stadium. Yes, it has been replaced twice now but I attended my first MLB game there on June 25, 1976. The Rangers played a doubleheader on a Friday night (yes, that used to be a thing). Toby Harrah, the Rangers shortstop, walked off the first game with a grand slam in the bottom of the 9th. Arlington Stadium was brutally hot and a miserable experience, but that first in-person game captured a certain 10 year olds attention and fueled my MLB enjoyment that resonates to this day.
Camden Yards
No, 2: Camden Yards. My all-time favorite baseball player is Cal Ripken, Jr. I attended games in Camden several times in the early 90’s. The unique architecture (at the time), the cool community surrounding the stadium and my passion for Ripken and his teammates made attending games there an absolute must-do. I wonder if I would see it the same way now that I no longer follow the team closely but I hope to catch Jackson Holiday soon and see if the magic still exists.
Wrigley Field
No. 1: Wrigley Field. Make no mistake, it is a dump. Outdated, inconvenient and lacking modern conveniences. All of that is true. But that is part of it’s character. Baseball in Wrigley is magic. A reminder of the game I fell in love with in my earliest years. I was never a fan of the Cubbies but attending a game there is easily a top 5, personally attended, sporting event in my life, and that includes multiple golf majors (including the Masters), seeing Gretzky skate and Jordan dominate, and several other sports historical moments. I am eager to attend a game in Fenway to compare it to the absolute rush that is baseball in Wrigley.
***
Thanks to these fans who shared their personal favorites. I love seeing the different perspectives, even if Camden Yards (in three ranking) and Wrigley Field (in four rankings) appeared early and often.
Must be a reason.
Let me know what MLB parks are your favorites in the comments to this post. I welcome your perspective. If you want to know more about the cathedrals of baseball, visit this website.
BONUS CONTENT: I ranked my three favorite stadiums, but couldn’t write this without listing my least favorite MLB venue.
Oakland Coliseum
I saw a game in Oakland in 2004 between the A’s and the Reds, and I was appalled at the venue in which people paid good money to attend. The exterior of Coliseum (as I’ve always called it) was composed of plain concrete like you might see on a bridge or a highway. And the concrete facade was chipped and jagged. Inside, the concourse was narrow and dark. When more than a half dozen people waited in line at the concession stands, it was extremely difficult to navigate. And because it was (then) also home to the NFL Raiders, the outfield seating had been remade into a giant triple decker structure that felt out of place for the ballpark. Plus, the entire upper deck was closed off and covered in green tarp. Definitely, not an enticing atmosphere for baseball. You have to give it up to fans who stayed with the A’s despite their crummy stadium. No wonder they fled for Las Vegas with a 3-year stop in Sacramento’s triple A stadium.
Dan followed up by saying that certain cities — St. Louis, Los Angeles, New York come to mind — have large fanbases, but that doesn’t translate into national interest in the game.
Plus, at that time baseball had no one player that had a national or global presence like, say, a LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes.
After I got over my initial righteous indignation, I came around to what Dan was saying about MLB. National ratings have slumped badly over the past couple of decades as young fans have put their focus on the NFL and NBA.
I couldn’t think of a single player that could command the attention of fans nationwide like LeBron or Mahomes. Shohei Ohtani may be the closest baseball player to a true global superstar.
Still, it’s clear that baseball, with its slow pace and not-made-for-TV presence — you can’t see all the players at once — has clearly been surpassed by the NFL and NBA.
So, when ESPN announced it would opt out of its MLB rights deal after the 2025 season, I was disappointed by not surprised. ESPN has been struggling with its viewership, too, and it is much more focused on NFL and NBA.
I was puzzled at how MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred planned to replace the ESPN revenue shared by all teams. What network would want to pay hundreds of millions to broadcast baseball and create surrounding programming?
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred
Turns out, Manfred DOES have a plan, according to the Wall Street Journal article. In a lengthy and comprehensive article, the WSJ outlined the commissioners proposed scenario that appears to be a long shot.
Said the Journal:
“Manfred’s model would require teams to cede control of their local rights to the league office so that MLB could sell them collectively as a unified streaming package. Viewers would be able to purchase the games of teams they want to see without the blackouts that have long vexed devotees who actually live near where their favorite team plays.
“No cable subscription would be required. Revenue would be distributed among all teams, like it already is for national deals with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery.
“The change that we’re talking about,” Manfred said in an interview, “is the only rational response to where the media market is today.”
There’s a huge problem with that plan.
MLB teams don’t share their local revenue with their baseball counterparts. Teams in Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Chicago all generate massive amounts of revenue through their local TV rights and are reluctant to give up any of that revenue for the Greater Good.
According to the WSJ, MLB teams lean on their local broadcast revenue more heavily than their NFL and NBA counterparts. Those sports have much larger national TV deals, and share the revenue across the league.
More from the WSJ:
“Cubs president Crane Kenney said in a recent interview at the team’s spring training facility last week in Mesa, Ariz., that his team would be willing to go along with a new TV model — as long as it accounts for his organization’s status as one of baseball’s highest-revenue teams.
“Treat us fairly,” Kenney said, “and we’re in.”
There’s little incentive for the big players to share their local broadcast revenue with their MLB brothers, unless they truly are concerned with the overall national decline of interest in the game. If a few teams folded, that might get their attention.
However, I can’t see the big market teams sharing their wealth with their small market counterparts — even if it helps sustain the sport.
This is 2025 America. Who does anything for the Greater Good?
A ‘Golden At-Bat’ in future for New York Yankees star Aaron Judge?
When I was a young would-be sports writer just out of college working for the Southwest Times Record newspaper in Fort Smith, Ark., my editor sent me out to cover the state small school baseball tournament.
I had not seen much high school baseball through the years, so I was caught by surprise by one particular rule the small schools played by.
It was called the “Courtesy Runner.”
That rule allowed coaches to sub in a faster runner when a slower player got on base. But the player who was substituted for could remain in the game. Usually, the coach subbed in his fastest guy for the big, slow catcher.
I was offended by the Courtesy Runner, because I grew up following Major League Baseball and knew that once a player was substituted for, he was out of the game. No coming back in.
But the Courtesy Runner seemed popular with high school coaches in back in 1979, even if it messed up my boxscore at the end of the game. It remains in play for high schools, softball and even Little League Baseball.
And now the Courtesy Runner has been joined by other earthshaking changes infiltrating Major League Baseball itself as the game seeks a younger demographic. The pitch clock. Bigger bases. Fewer mount visits.
More is coming.
Recently, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed the possibility of baseball using what he called a “Golden At-Bat.”
“You put your best player out there out of order at a particular point in the game,” Manfred said. “That rule and things like that are only in the conversational stage right now.”
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said the ‘Golden At-Bat’ is being discussed
Here’s a scenario:
Let’s say the Yankees are down two runs in the 9th inning vs. the hated Red Sox with two men on base and two outs. The Golden At-Bat rule would allow them to bring Aaron Judge — their best hitter — to the plate even if his place in the batting order was six at-bats away.
I’m offended by the Golden At-Bat idea, just like I was offended by the Courtesy Runner all those years ago.
Call me a Geezer shouting GET OFF MY LAWN, but the Golden At-Bat concept seemed to come right out of left field, so to speak. It’s goofy. It’s unneeded. It’s a terrible idea.
Baseball already places a runner on second base to start the inning in extra innings. Now this?
Like me, much of the world of MLB fans reacted with horror to a rule that would skew baseball’s beloved statistics, which have withstood the test of time for more than 100 years.
There has been a chorus of boos across the nation from baseball fans, among them radio talk show host Dan Patrick. I listen to the podcast version of the DP Show daily, and heard Patrick’s reaction last week.
“I hate it,” he said. “Hate it. I hate the runner at second base to start extra innings. Don’t go too gimmicky. Does baseball need that? It felt like baseball had a good year, a great year.”
In the spirit of the Golden At-Bat, Dan asked his entourage of co-hosts, collectively known as the Danettes, to come up with some “even dumber” ideas for baseball. The guys were happy to oblige.
“Count the Golden At-Bat as two outs if the batter fails to get a hit.”
“if your team is up by 10 runs or more you have to pitch blindfolded.”
“If you throw a pitch 100 mph or more, it’s not a strike, it’s a ball.”
“One time a game, you can require the opposing team to remove one outfielder during an at-bat.”
The Danettes struck Dumb and Dumber gold with their ideas.
But, you know what? They didn’t mention the Courtesy Runner.
And I’m still offended by the Courtesy Runner after all these years.
So, how were we able to watch that from the stands at Arlington Stadium?
I was listening to a late-night sports talk radio show recently when the host began talking excitedly about ‘robo umps’ coming to Major League Baseball. He was totally opposed to the concept because, as he said, ‘it takes the human element’ out of the game.
