Progressive Field Tour
Progressive Field-Cleveland, Ohio: Ever step into crap and come out smelling like roses? Well, this is kind of what happened to us here in Cleveland (I am not implying at all that Cleveland is crap. In fact, everyone we interacted with was extremely nice, especially at Progressive Field). After enjoying the Baseball Heritage Museum, and getting a bite to eat in downtown Cleveland, we found that we had plenty of time on our hands before heading east for the Lake County Captains game. Noticing that we were only a few blocks away from Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians, we decided to head over that way and poke around a bit. Outside the ballpark, we were greeted my none other than Bob Feller, himself.
Statue of Bob Feller
Upon further exploration, we found that the main gift shop was open, and I saw a sign inside that advertised the ballpark tours. Wow, this was too good to be true, here we are with extra time, and a big league ballpark to poke around! When I asked about the tour, I was informed that the last one of the day had just left. But hey, we’re in Cleveland, and these staff members were pretty cool. One ran out the door to hold the tour for us, while we purchased our tickets. I had forgotten my camera, so I used my phone for all the photos at the museum, and was now looking at just under 20% heading into the tour. We caught up with the group in the indoor batting cages. This was a pretty cool area, and it’s amazing to find out how many hours the players spend in here hitting the machine and off of the tee. We were at the tail end of the group while leaving, and I happen to see a little patch of white by the door. It was none other than an official Major League baseball. I, of course, did the noble thing, and shoved it into my cargo pocket.
We then made out way to the Indians dugout, which is a pretty fun place to hang out. We were able to sit on the bench and check out the phones used for calling the bullpen, and for a challenge. I have to admit the major league dugouts are very impressive.
Better get Vaughn up!
I was also able to get some good photos of the ballpark from ground level. Despite using my phone, some turned out pretty well.
Selfie from the dugout
We then made our way around home plate toward the visitors dugout. Lucky for me, the visitors were the Detroit Tigers, and sitting in the dugout preparing for the game was Don Kelly. He was nice enough to sign some autographs for some of us fans, and I was lucky to have found that baseball! It would have nice to chat with him for a bit, but the staff giving the tour prompted us to keep moving.
Don Kelly signing the baseball I, uh, found…
Our next stop was the bullpen, and we were able to see the other end of the phone that was in the dugout. Back inside the park, the tour took us to the lower levels where the merchandise was unloaded and taken to the booths in the stadium. We were also in the area where the players make their way up from the parking lot, but we weren’t lucky enough to run into any more players, though.
The suites above home plate were pretty amazing, though. Here I took probably the best pic of the tour. We’ll definitely have to look into more ballpark tours on our future trips. The staff at Progressive Field treated us very well, and I highly recommend the tour to any baseball fans visiting Cleveland. Next time I’m in town, we might just have to take in a game there. By the way, still had 2% left on my phone when the tour ended.
Here’s a video from my YouTube channel. I’m not sure why, but it was filmed sideways. Maybe it was the low battery? Anyway, just tilt your head to the right, and enjoy…
All photos and video property of Minoring In Baseball
Baseball Heritage Museum
Baseball Heritage Museum-Cleveland, OH: With a little extra time, and us being so close to Cleveland, we decided to check things out for the day. Right in downtown, the Baseball Heritage Museum is tucked nicely inside the 5th Street Arcades on Euclid Avenue. This is a great little museum that contains many artifacts from the major league, minor league, and negro league. It’s run by two gentlemen who simply love the game of baseball and its history. These gentleman are more than happy to tell stories and talk baseball with all the fans that visit. They have a nice collection of old programs, pennants, photos, as well as game used paraphernalia. Being in Cleveland, there is a lot of stuff from Bob Feller, Satchel Paige, and other Hall of Famers who played for he Indians.
They have a row of seats from an old ballpark in Chattanooga, that I thought was very impressive, also.
I thought the display of the radio and broadcast equipment was pretty cool, too.
In all, this was a fun place to visit, and I highly recommend any in the Cleveland area to check it out. They only charge by donation, so it’s not like you’d have anything to lose, anyway. Most likely you’d finding a way to contribute, because this museum hosts many items you won’t see in Cooperstown.
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 2-Van Meter, IA
Bob Feller Hometown Museum: The second day of our pilgrimage took us west via the exciting I-80 highway, past the World’s Largest Truckstop, and into the small town of Van Meter, Iowa. Van Meter is just west of Des Moines, and home to Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller. A nice little museum was constructed in his honor there, and since we were going to Des Moines anyway, it seemed like a good stop on our trip. The museum wasn’t very big, but it was packed full of memorabelia from his early baseball days, to his MLB career and no-hitters, to his days in the Navy during World War II. Yes, Feller was one of the brave men who gave up his baseball career for a couple of years to server his country. Thank you for that, too, Bob. It was hard to get some really good pic because the building wasn’t big enough for me to back up and get some wide angled shots. We were also just shy of meeting Dwight Gooden, who was there the day before signing autographs. Some of the cooler stuff they had was the bat that Babe Ruth used to lean on during his retirement ceremony at Yankee Stadium, which belonged to Feller, and a couple seats from the old Cleveland stadium. It was a fun time and definately worth the trip.
Photos property of MIB
Minoring In Baseball
