Stadium Tour: Nationals Park

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The final baseball stadium I visited in 2010 was Nationals Park, near the end of my August roadtrip to the nation's capital. The game was the first for Mike Quade as Chicago Cubs manager as Lou Piniella orted not to manage the remainder of the Cubs' season the day before. The visit to the park came near the end of four days in Washington and nearby Rosslyn, Virginia.

The stadium is one of the newest in the league and very well laid out. I would rank it ahead of Target Field, but the Nationals' lack of a storied lhistory takes away from the baseball atmosphere a bit. As with most Cubs road games, at least half of the crowd is wearing blue.

The seats I had were on the highest level, but with a great view of the U.S. Capital building and the Naval base on the Potomac River.

The Cubs beat the Nationals in Quade's first game as a manager, and Quade was named full-time manager after a successful two month stint as the interim boss. The race of the presidents in the middle of one of the innings was entertaining as I expected it to be. That is really the only thing that makes Washington unique.

Great park, clean, nice seats, real convenient. It just needs more of a baseball atmosphere.

Rank: 7 out of 10

Stadium Tour: Oriole Park at Camden Yards

BALTIMORE - One of the few stadiums on the east coast I have never been to prior to 2010 was Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles. And although their team is a constant struggling story, the Orioles should be commended for their ballpark.

The main feature that makes Camden Yards so unique is that it was built right by a former train station and has a warehouse for a backdrop. On the inside side of the warehouse is a good area for eating and drinking. All parts of the park were easy to get to and it seemed that you would have a good view at any vantage point.

The fans were very friendly, and basically ignored the fact that I was wearing an Indianapolis Colts jersey, a garment that is not too popular around the town the Colts abandoned in 1984. But the fans seemed laid back and the ushers were very helpful, one even offered to take a photo of my father and I with the stadium as the background.

As it is with most stuggling baseball franchises, the Orioles did not have many people out for the game, even though it was a Friday night. Most of the concessions on the top level were closed, much like how it was when I went to a Florida Marlins home game.

The Orioles were bad in the game, but I was glad to see one of the best performances by Texas Rangers hurler C.J. Wilson, who threw a two-hitter in a 2-0 Rangers victory. Buck Showalter provided one way for the crowd to get excited, getting thrown out of the contest after coming on the field to argue on two different occassions.

I liked the experience, and part of that was the comfort provided with a small crowd. The ushers clearly did not care where you sat regardless of where your tickets were. They were happy people showed up.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Stadium Tour: Target Field

MINNEAPOLIS - Last weekend I had the chance to visit Target Field, America's newest major pro sports stadium. In it's first year as the home to Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins, the stadium has been applauded as a big improvement from the Metrodome and one of the league's finest ballparks.

While it is without a doubt above average, and I would even say a top five ballpark, I wasn't overwhelmed. It didn't have much to separate itself from other new ballparks. And Lucas Oil Stadium was still more impressive.

They did a good job of highlighted past greats like Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek and Harmon Killebrew. Their fans are friendly and classy and I would say it's the most convenient park I've been to. Nice bathrooms, lots of hallway space and plenty of counters. I also loved how they have evergreen trees in the outfield and the outdoor atmosphere is great on a nice summer night in the Twin Cities.

I enjoyed my seats too. Even though I was far from the plate, I was always entertained because of the view of the Minneapolis skyline.

As usual, whenever I travel with the White Sox, they lose (1996 in Toronto the exception). This year, it was a 7-4 loss to the Twins with Gavin Floyd having a rare shaky day. The White Sox trailed by five in the ninth before scoring two off Twins close Jon Rauch and had the go-ahead run at the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out. But Chicago's two best hitters, Paul Konerko and Alex Rios, were unable to get on base and put an end a possible thrilling come from behind victory.

Convenient isn't necessarily great. I'm sure it's a clear improvement from the old dome. I'm probably being too hard on it because I was expecting it to be the best I ever saw. It wasn't, but still very, very good.

Photo: In enemy territory, I wear a Carlos Quentin jersey at Target Field in Minnesota.