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Ballpark #18

I visited Comerica Park in Detroit earlier this month. It is the 18th Major League Baseball park I have been to, out of 30 total. Can't wait to hit up a few more next year.

Campaign Commercial

My first commercial!

Baldness

Yes, I am going bald. It's something that started and been's been getting worse since I graduated college at age 22. At first, I was pretty uncomfortable with it. However, I've pretty much just come to accept it. You need to be able make fun of and laugh at yourself, so I've gotten over it. Plus I just cut my hair as short as I can, or even shave my head. They say your hair genes come from your mother's father, and considering he was bald for as long as I knew him, I'm guessing they must be right. Being bald does have its interesting moments though. Sometimes, people want to put fake tattoos on my head:

My willingness to do this may have had something to do with this being at the Taste of Syracuse, where I had sampled a few wine slushies. However, as for letting people DJ on my head, I have no good excuse:

The Weekend In Review

What a great weekend for my sports teams! The Red Sox swept the Orioles, inching closer to clinching the American League Wild Card and giving themselves a slight chance to catch the Yankees in the East. You have to feel bad for the Orioles, who the Red Sox went 16-2 against this year. Interesting fact: 1956 was the last time the Red Sox won 16 games against the Orioles in one season, and it was also the year of the Orioles biggest comeback in a game in the team's history, which was against (you guessed it) the Red Sox. That is, it was their biggest comeback until (you guessed it again) this year against the Red Sox. I was at that game on June 30th in Baltimore, and it was awful, as the Red Sox led 10-1 in the middle of the seventh and lost 11-10 in nine innings. I'm hoping the Sox are within three or four games of the Yankees come Friday night when they head to the Bronx. If they are, a three-game sweep would put them right back in contention for the division title.

Also, it was a much better weekend for my football fandom. Notre Dame held on for a close victory at home over Michigan State. It was the first time since 1993 that the Irish defeated the Spartans at home. The Syracuse Orange, led by Syracuse native and quarterback Greg Paulus, earned their first victory of the season at home over Northwestern. I was at the game, and let me tell you, the home field advantage the Carrier Dome provided in the 80's and 90's is coming back. People are excited about the new coach and hometown boy playing quarterback. And today, my Buffalo Bills held on (unlike last week) for a big win at home over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It's going to be tough next week, as the high-powered offense of the New Orleans Saints comes to Orchard Park.

More Ballparks

Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati Reds)

Progressive Field (Cleveland Indians)

Turner Field (Atlanta Braves)

(The New) Yankee Stadium

Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)

Citi Field (New York Mets)

Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox)

All photos by John Crisafulli.

Ballparks

AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants)

Rogers Centre (Toronto Blue Jays)

PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates)

Petco Field (San Diego Padres)

Dodger Stadium

All photos by John Crisafulli.

Panoramic Shots of Ballparks

I've been trying out the panoramic feature on the camera lately, and it works really well in stadiums.

Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers)

U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox)

Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs)

Above and below are Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Above and below are Nationals Park.

2010 Red Sox Schedule Announced

I know it's a ways off, and I still have September and hopefully playoffs in October to get through, but the 2010 Red Sox schedule was announced today. For those of you that don't know, I'm trying to go to all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums, and I try to see the Red Sox when I travel to a new one. I've been to 17 of the 30 stadiums so far, with a possible 18th in Detroit in a couple weeks. 11 of those 17 trips have involved seeing the Red Sox play.

Keeping that theme in mind for next year, I am going to try to make it to Denver, Colorado for the Rockies-Red Sox series (see Coors Field in the picture above) from June 22-24, and to California for the A's-Red Sox game in Oakland on July 20th or 21st and the Angels-Red Sox game in Anaheim (see Angel Stadium of Anaheim in the picture below) on July 26th. That will also involve seeing my brother, Paulie, who lives in San Diego and whose birthday is July 23rd. Thank you Major League Baseball for such good scheduling!

Part of the reason I started this blog is because of the trip I took to California this past May. I flew out of New York City, where earlier in the day I had seen a Mets game, proceeded to San Francisco where I saw a Giants game at AT&T Park, drove down the coast to Los Angeles for a visit to Dodger Stadium and then on to San Diego for a Padres game at Petco Field. On the drive back from JFK Airport in New York to Syracuse, I caught a Yankees game at their new stadium. It was the best trip I ever took other than maybe when I went to Ireland in 2003 (I promise I did a lot more in California than go to baseball games). That trip definitely inspired me to get back to California as soon as possible to visit, and to see Oakland A's and Los Angeles Angels games as well. If you've never been to California, you're missing out, and if you live there, you don't know how lucky you are. Or maybe you do.

Coors Field photo by John Maushammer, courtesy of wikipedia.org.

Anaheim Stadium Photo courtsey of vbseo.com.

Bad Football Weekend

Overall, it was a very productive weekend for my dad's campaign, but a horrible weekend for my football teams. Both Notre Dame and the Buffalo Bills blew late-game leads and lost to major rivals, the Michigan Wolverines and the New England Patriots, respectively. Oh well, shouldn't be long before Charlie Weis is fired as coach of the Irish. Tate Forcier is going to amazing for Michigan, especially if he stays around for four years. It probably won't be much longer before T.O. is complaining about not getting enough balls thrown his way in Buffalo. Maybe he shouldn't have dropped that easy pass in the first half tonight. I really thought that Bills had it wrapped up for their first win over the Patriots since 2003.

On a positive sports note, my Red Sox swept the Rays this weekend and are now 4 1/2 games up in the Wild Card race. Now if only they could catch those Yankees.

Sweet Home Chicago

From September 1-6, I was in Chicago. I had been before a few times, but that was several years ago. This time, I got the chance to go to a game at both Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field. Wrigley Field was absolutely amazing. If you're a baseball fan, it's the place to be. It's definitely right up there with, if not better than, my beloved Fenway in Boston.

While in the Windy City, I also made it to the top of the Hancock Building, took a boat tour of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, walked around Millenium and Grant Parks, spent time at some good watering holes in Wrigleyville and Lincoln Park, and ate great food. Make sure to check out Ian's Pizza in Wrigleyville and Harry Caray's Restaurant in the River North area of downtown for good eats, whether you live in Chicago or are planning a visit. Also definitely give Goose Island beer a try--- their 312 Urban Wheat is really tasty.

I also got the chance to take a trip to Milwaukee for the day when I was there. It was my first time in Wisconsin. The Lakefront Brewery's Pumpkin Ale is definitely worth a try, and Miller Park (home of the Milwaukee Brewers) is also a great destination. It was only my second baseball stadium with a retractable roof, and it definitely beats my first which was the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

On The Campaign Trail

As some of you may know, I have been working as a campaign manager the last few weeks. My father (also John Crisafulli), is running for Onondaga County Court Judge here in the Syracuse area. Check out the website at www.citizensforcrisafulli.com. You can also follow the campaign on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jscforjudge or Facebook by joining the group John Crisafulli for County Court Judge.

If you live in Onondaga County, please make sure you are registered to vote so you can do so on November 3rd. Any help with the campaign, financially or otherwise would be a great help.

These pictures are of my father--- the first with N.Y. Governor David Paterson and the second with U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, both taken at the New York State Fair.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I figured with all of the traveling and such that I've been doing it would be a good idea to start this up. Plus it will keep me in practice of writing and posting videos and pictures. Stay tuned for more.