Rogers Centre - Toronto Blue Jays

A day after visiting Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park in Detroit, I made my way to Toronto, Ontario, Canada for the day. I had one main agenda for the day, the Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. Ever since I began my tour of the MLB stadiums, I always imagined that Rogers Centre would be the last one that I would visit given its geographical location to the other 29 stadiums. Rogers Centre was stadium number 13 of the 30 active that I would be visiting in order to complete the circuit. Before going into the experience, let me provide some quick history of the stadium.

Rogers Centre, originally known as Skydome is a multi-purpose stadium located in Toronto, just steps from the famed CN Tower. Before the Rogers Centre, the Toronto Blue Jays played nearby at Exhibition Stadium from 1977 - 1989. Given that the ballpark was an outdoor stadium located relatively close to Lake Ontario, problems arose over the years where weather played a major factor through-out the season, most notably the only major league game played with the field covered entirely in snow on April 7, 1977, the Jays first game there. Following many ill fated weather plagued events, the demand came for a domed stadium closer to downtown Toronto. After years of searching for a new site, one was located at the base of the CN Tower near Union Station, a major Canadian railway yard.

The Rogers Centre finally opened on June 3, 1989 with the first baseball game held on June 5th. It was the first major North American sports stadium with a fully functional retractable roof. According to the tour guide, the roof is made up of four retractable panels, the last one in a stationary position which takes 20 minutes in length to fully open. The stadium is one of two remaining MLB ballparks still using an artificial field, other being Tampa Bay and the only one without a dirt infield. Also unique to Rogers Centre is the Renaissance Hotel that is located within the stadium that includes 348 hotel rooms, with 70 of them overlooking the field.

Prior to the game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim later that day, I took a brief tour of the stadium for a price of $16.00. The Rogers Centre stadium tour begins at Gate 4 only a few feet from the base of the CN Tower. Our tour guide, Kayla quickly ushered the three of us into the friendly confines of the Rogers Centre to begin the tour. The first stop on the tour was just shy of the right field foul pole at the end of the first base line. Rogers Centre holds the distinction of being the only MLB team to not have the traditional foul pole in favor of yellow mesh nets. These nets were created so those sitting in that part of the ballpark wouldn't have an obstructed view of the game.

While making our way through the area containing the suites, Kayla went into detail about the origins of the Rogers Centre and how the name was chosen for the original name, the Skydome. Chosen as part of a province wide "name the stadium" contest in 1987, the Skydome was chosen from 150,000 entries from 12,897 different names. Eventual winner, Kellie Watson, was drawn from a barrel containing over 2,000 entries that contained the name "Skydome." For winning the contest, Kellie was awarded with lifetime seats behind home plate including concerts.

During a brief visit to the media center and press box, Kayla shared several interesting facts about Rogers Centre including its playing field and rotating seats. Depending on which event will be at the stadium, whether baseball, football, soccer or a concert, the lower seating bowl can be reconfigured to accommodate the event. Beneath the seats is a track that can quickly transform the Rogers Centre from a 49,000 seat baseball stadium to a 53,000 seating capacity for football games. While learning about the seating capacity, the grounds crew was just below us hard at work getting the playing field ready for that evenings game. Much to my surprise, I didn't expect to see a grounds crew hard at work preparing the field at 11:30am for a 7:00pm game. Sure, I have been to many ballparks, but never have I seen work commence this early for a game. The Rogers Centre holds the distinction of having the only MLB pitchers mound that can be stored below the playing field and doesn't contain real dirt until it's placed on it prior to the first pitch.
Our last stop on the tour was the playing field that took us behind the center field wall and into the spacious outfield. The playing field, like Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay is the only one to use an artificial surface and the only one without a dirt field. To reduce the amount of time converting the field, a roll-based Astroturf was installed prior to the 2010 season. Rogers Centre previously used FieldTurf from 2005 - 2010 that took about 40 hours to remove for concerts.

If you plan on eating while at the game, there are plenty of options including your standard hot dogs, burgers and peanuts stands located through-out the stadium. Located near Gate 5 is a family friendly food stand containing everything from pizza to burgers, sandwiches and many more options. Do you prefer to eat before or after the game? The area between the Rogers Centre and Air Canada Centre provides several options including sports bars, Subway, Mexican, pizza and a pita restaurant that specializes in Schwarma wraps.

ROGERS CENTRE FACTS:
Home to the NBA's Toronto Raptors from 1995 - 1999
1992 and 1993 MLB World Series
WWE WrestleMania VI in 1990 and WrestleMania X8 in 2002
UFC 129 on April 30, 2011 that set a UFC attendance record of 55,000 seats after the previous number of 42,000 were sold-out on the first day

Maple Leaf Gardens - Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada is an historic arena that was constructed as an arena for ice hockey. Considered one of the "cathedrals" of ice hockey, the arena was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League from 1931 - 1999. From 1932 - 1967, the Leafs won 11 Stanley Cups while playing at the Gardens.

The Gardens opened on November 12, 1931 with the Maple Leafs losing to the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 2-1. Five years later, the Gardens would play host to the first NBA game in history between the Toronto Huskies and New York Knicks. During the 1990s, the owners of the Gardens considered a number of new sites to replace the arena as it had become to small and lacking in revenue-generating luxury boxes.

The Maple Leafs eventually moved to nearby Air Canada Centre that they share with the Toronto Raptors of the NBA.

Canadian Retailer, Loblaw Companies and Ryerson University agreed to turn the Gardens into a joint grocery store and athletic centre for both companies.

MAPLE LEAF GARDENS FACTS:
Toronto Maple Leafs won 11 Stanley Cups while playing in the arena
Site of the first NBA game on November 12, 1931
Only North American venue to host The Beatles during their three tours
First arena in the NHL to have separate penalty boxes on November 8, 1963
Only Elvis Presley concerts outside of the US on April 2, 1957
First NHL arena to have Plexiglas inserted in the end zones of the rink in the 1946 - 1947 NHL season

Comeric Park - Detroit Tigers

Comerica Park is an open-air ballpark located in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It serves as the home of the Major League Baseball Detroit Tigers organization, replacing historic Tiger Stadium in 2000.

One day after visiting the legendary football stadium, "The Big House" in nearby Ann Arbor, I had a few hours to explore the Detroit area before heading to Toronto that evening. The city of Detroit is known by two familiar nicknames, The Motor City and Motown, while also going by popular 20th century nicknames, including Hockeytown after the legendary Detroit Red Wings NHL franchise and Detroit Rock City after the popular KISS song. Comerica Park was part of a revitalization plan for Detroit that included the construction of Ford Field, home to the Detroit Lions of the National Football League.

Several minutes after arriving to Comerica Park, I had purchased my ticket for the tour of the ballpark and met the tour guide, Stanley. Since the tour wasn't scheduled to begin for several minutes, I took turns sharing baseball stories with Stanley and his fellow tour guide. As I came to find out, one of them used to live in the same city as I do, so talk about a small world after all. Much to my surprise, the tour guide took off his Detroit Tigers 2012 American League Championship ring off and let me take a look at it. Never did I think on this day here I would have been given permission to physically touch but get to see the Tigers 2012 ALCS ring as close as I did. Sure, I've seen various awards through-out the past few years, but this was amazing!

The tour kicked off a few minutes later as our tour group proceeded into the part of the stadium nicknamed, "The Jungle." This area of the park is located within the Pepsi Porch picnic deck between the 100 and 200 levels. The next area that we visited on the tour was a living tribute to Detroit Tigers legends that could be compared to the New York Yankees "Monument Park" at Yankee Stadium. Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Hal Newhouser, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg and Al Horton have individual statues dedicated to them, each made in a unique way that the player was known for in their playing time.

Just shy of the player statues is the massive LED video scoreboard that I was informed reaches nearly 10 stories in height, ranking 4th in MLB stadiums. Located at the ends of the scoreboard are two of the eight Tigers statues that are located through-out the ballpark. These tigers eyes light up following a home run or victory for the team.

>Many tours of professional sporting venues always include a brief visit to a "designated suite" on the tour that can be your typical suite that anyone can purchase if they have the money or in some cases, the owner suite. We were treated to the Detroit Tigers Champions Suite on this tour. Four suites were converted into the Champions Suite that contains the legendary Tigers 1968 and 1984 World Series trophies, Justin Verlander's 2011 American League MVP and Cy Young Awards and Miguel Cabrera's 2012 American League MVP Award. In route to winning the 2012 AL MVP Award, Miguel Cabrera left his mark in MLB history becoming the first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the Triple Crown in batting. The Triple Crown Award is located inside the Champions Suite only a few feet from his MVP Award.

Comerica Park contains many artifacts and historical pieces that make up the Tigers history spanning one generation to another. Making up a unique portion of the lower seating bowl is the Tigers Den, special seats that offer in-seat service, VIP hospitality and great views of the ballpark. These seats are are sold as full and partial season ticket plans. Leftover seats are also offered as single game tickets. Stanley informed us to check StubHub should we ever want to sit in these seats.

Our tour of Comerica Park ended with a visit to the press box, visitors locker room and dugout, the training room and playing field. This was the fifth tour I've taken of an MLB ballpark and is one that I won't forget for sometime.

COMERICA PARK FACTS:
Hosted the 76th MLB All-Star Game in 2005
2006 and 2012 World Series
Sold-Out Jay-Z/Eminem concert on September 2nd and 3rd, 2010
Vans Warped Tour annual stop

Tiger Stadium Hollowed Grounds

Tiger Stadium was a stadium located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. On April 20, 1912, Navin Field was opened, the same day as the Boston Red Sox Fenway Park. It hosted the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball team from 1912 - 1999 and the Detroit Lions of the National Football League from 1938 - 1974. The stadium was built on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumball Avenue that gave it its nickname of "The Corner." Tiger Stadium as it became to be known in 1961 by team owner, John Fetzer, was previously known as Navin Field and Briggs Field, both after its previous Tiger owners. Under the Tiger Stadium name, the stadium witnessed the World Series titles 1936 and 1984.

Beginning in 1938, the NFL's Detroit Lions began a partnership that allowed them to host their home games at Briggs Stadium until 1974. The Lions eventually moved to the Silverdome in nearby suburban Pontiac. As the 1970s went on, the facility gained a reputation for its aging and obstructed views, but it was still loved by baseball enthusiasts for its historical feel. Despite several attempts to keep Tigers baseball at Tiger Stadium, the final home game was played on September 27, 1999 in a winning effort against the Kansas City Royals. The Tigers moved to their new ballpark, Comerica Park in downtown Detroit leaving Tiger Stadium unused.

Since the Tigers departure, the city of Detroit spent nearly $4 million dollars between 1999 and 2006 maintaining the stadium. The HBO film, 61 was filmed in Tiger Stadium during the summer of 2000.

Partial demolition of the stadium was completed in September 2008, leaving all but the lower deck of the stadium spanning from dugout to dugout that included the upper deck portion. Unfortunately, to those who fought to preserve the

While the stadium may longer be there, a group of volunteers known as the Navin Field Grounds Crew has resorted and maintained the playing field since the spring of 2010.

"The Big House" - Michigan Stadium

Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House", is the football stadium for the University of Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan Stadium was built in 1927 is the largest stadium in the United States with an official capacity of 109,901. The stadium is the third largest stadium in the world. On September 7, 2013, the Michigan vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish football game set a NCAA single-game attendance record of 115,109 at Michigan Stadium. Over the decades, Michigan Stadium has undergone many transformations that has seen the attendance level raise from 82,000 to a capacity of 109,901.

I recently had the opportunity to explore The Big House while on a trip back east. Within a few minutes of entering the stadium, I was standing in the area that houses the legendary Michigan Wolverines locker room and the tunnel, yes that tunnel that the legendary players ran through to get to the playing field. I have been granted access to many sporting venues over the years that had access like this, but as I made my way through the tunnel, the very sight of the field growing bigger and bigger until I set foot on it was unbelievable. The feeling of stepping out of the tunnel and onto the playing field for the first time at The Big House was mind blowing as it gave me a better appreciation for this stadium, its legacy and how awe inspiring it really was.

(The Michigan Wolverine Locker Room)

Next up on the tour were the two structures which houses the new press box, 83 luxury boxes and 3,200 club seats that was part of a $226 million renovation and expansion project for Michigan Stadium that was approved on June 21, 2007 by the University's Board of Regents. Having previously worked in both NCAA/NFL/NHL/MLB/NASCAR organizations, I had an idea of what I would be experiencing but once again, Michigan Stadium stole the show. These two structures which span the west and east sections of the stadium are decorated in Michigan football history from its early beginnings where NCIS star Mark Harmon's dad, Tom Harmon, was considered by many Michigan's greatest football player ever to the 2012 Sugar Football Trophy where Michigan defeated Virginia Tech.

Over the next few minutes, I made my way through the suites and spent some time in the press box just catching in every minute of the stadium that I could prior to departing. Michigan Stadium truly lives up to its reputation as one of the greatest stadiums in the world.