The
Gibbs Ballparks Page
I am a ballpark collector. My mission is to attend a baseball game at the home stadium of every professional and collegiate team. As of July 19, 2009, I have attended games at 222 baseball stadiums. This count consists of 42 Major League, 136 Minor League and independent league, 37 college, 3 foreign professional league, and the 4 Alaskan collegiate summer league ballparks, located in the United States, Canada, Japan and Puerto Rico. The primary thrust of my mission is to attend a game at the home of every North American professional team. I suspect that one lifetime might not be enough for me to get to a game in every stadium in every city and town across this enormous continent, but I guess I'm gonna try.
Several links are shown on the left column of this page. They will take you to various interesting places in this website as follows:
The ballparks at which I've gone to games so far are listed as appropriate in the first four links which go to my Major League, Minor League, Independent League, and College & Collegiate and Foreign Professional League Ballparks. There are also links to my special feature websites, The Ballparks of the Alaska Baseball League and the annual Midnight Sun Game; Minor League Ballparks of Yesteryear; and College Ballpark CyberGallery. Note: Included on the Major League Ballparks page is a link to a photo tribute to Chicago's original Comiskey Park.
A review of my lists of ballparks will disclose that each has been assigned a letter grade. This is an appraisal of my overall impression of the ballpark based on my experience in attending ballgames there. I suppose I'm an easy grader as there's only A+, A, and A-; as of yet, no ballpark at which I've ever attended a game has presented me with an experience that I would grade lower than an A-. You'll also note in celebration of the longevity of some hallowed baseball venues, ballparks of the mid-20th century and older are included in a special recognition listing.
My list of Other Baseball Places includes some places and things that may not be ballparks but are of interest to baseball fans. The link for my personal baseball history displays a listing of some features of my ballpark collecting activities. The subsequent link is my overall 2009 Game Plan as it is shaping up so far.
I hope you'll enjoy my tribute page dedicated to "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, who could have gone down in baseball history as the absolute greatest. And by visiting my Links Page you can get to some truly magnificent cyberplaces associated with our great national game.
I've noticed that ballpark collectors really enjoy getting together for ballgames, and some of us have been able to do so as covered in the next link. And finally, I've got a link to a feature page that I've assembled to honor baseball following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
It's said that in baseball sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains. After traveling long distances or otherwise going through the effort and planning to attend games at certain ballparks, I have had a few rainouts. I've been fortunate to be able to make return visits to some of these wonderful places in order to see ballgames and include these yards to my count. My rainout record with make-ups is as noted:
(1) Wichita, KS, in 2000
Lawrence-Dumont Stadium
revisited for a ballgame in 2005
(2) Richmond, IN, in 2002
Don McBride Stadium
(3) Florence, KY, in 2004
Champion Window Field
revisited for a ballgame in 2005
(4) Casper, WY, in 2005
Mike Lansing Field
revisited for a ballgame in 2009
(5) Ypsilanti, MI, in 2009
Oestrike Stadium
In conjunction with all of my ballgames and baseball-related activities, I thought it might be both interesting and challenging to try to get to a ballgame during every month of the calendar year. After several years of nibbling away at it, I finally reached that goal and have now attended baseball games in all twelve of the calendar months as follows:
JANUARY -- NCAA.
FEBRUARY -- NCAA.
MARCH -- Major League (spring training and regular season) and NCAA.
APRIL -- Major league, minor league and NCAA.
MAY -- Major league, minor league, independent league and NCAA.
JUNE -- Major, minor, independent, College World Series, and collegiate summer league.
JULY -- Major, minor, independent and collegiate summer league.
AUGUST -- Major, minor, independent and collegiate summer league.
SEPTEMBER -- Major League (regular season) and independent league (regular season and post-season).
OCTOBER -- Major league (regular season and post-season) and NCAA (fall season).
NOVEMBER -- Arizona Fall League.
DECEMBER -- Puerto Rico Winter League.
If at all possible, someday I'd enjoy getting to more of the Puerto Rican and Japanese ballparks as well as the ballparks of Mexico. And then of course there are the ballparks of the other Carribean countries, Central and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Perhaps someday.
I had another quest to visit all 50 states, and although I have done so (as of 2004) there are still 11 state capitals I have yet to get to. I've also been to 48 of the 50 largest U.S. cities, but the two remaining ones (El Paso and Albuquerque) both have baseball teams so I'm sure to clear that list sooner or later. Besides all that, I'll try to intensify my efforts towards hitting all of the Canadian provinces and territories (I've been to five of the thirteen so far) and the Mexican states (five of the thirty-one so far, plus Mexico City, D.F.) while I work on getting to all of the Caribbean countries.
There are so many ballparks out there waiting for me to come and bask in a soul-enriching celebration of our great national game and pastime. Weather permitting, it's just a matter of time before I attend a ballgame at all of them. And no matter how many ballparks I've collected so far, there are still so many left to collect. If I should ever collect 'em all, maybe I'll start adding to my bullring collection; so far I've seen a bullfight in just one, Plaza de Toros in Madrid.
The baseball-related quote shown at the top of this page changes every day, so visit often.
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This page last updated July 27, 2009
COLLEGE & COLLEGIATE BALLPARKS AND
FOREIGN PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE BALLPARKS
BALLPARKS OF THE
ALASKA BASEBALL LEAGUE
and the MIDNIGHT SUN
BASEBALL CLASSIC
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