Tour 2018: Progressive Field Renovation

All photos of Cleveland and Progressive Field available on Flickr.

Tour 2018 came at yet another point of transition in our lives.  It was my first trip away from my 6-month old daughter, and Erik's final trip as a resident of Minnesota.  We always really value our time together and don't take these trips for granted amidst all the major changes.  So it was only fitting that this year we returned to our favorite ballpark of the original tour: PNC Park.  However, our first stop was Cleveland on Thursday to see the newly-renovated Progressive Field.  I left Milwaukee shortly after dawn on Thursday (since being up early no longer phases me) and picked up Erik at the Cleveland airport around 2pm.  We checked into a hotel in the Lakewood neighborhood that, even by our incredibly low standards, was quite shady.  We got there at 2:40 and were told we could not check in until 3:00 without a penalty, so we got to sit in the lobby and fully immerse ourselves in the old textures and odors the hotel had to offer.  Getting into our room required a staff tutorial on how to jiggle the handle, and our room had lovely features such as holes in the drywall and a bathroom that had more accessibility code issues than I could count.  We discussed our affinity for cheap lodging over a couple flights of beer at the Noble Beast Brewery before heading to the 7 o'clock game vs the Yankees.

As I eluded to earlier, Progressive Field has undergone an extensive renovation over the last few years, in particular the outfield area.  We had seats in the 3rd deck of the right field corner at our last visit in 2007, and today those seats don't even exist.  The upper deck has been cut in half, and the top rows of seats replaced with "terraces" for lack of a better term - stepped berms with a small amount of seating offering a unique view and plenty of space for advertising and retired numbers.  It was unclear to me whether or not these are seats for the general public or if they are group areas.  The seating directly below the terraces was significantly reduced as well to open up the 2nd level concourse.  Directly behind the pole is a new multi-level bar area called "The Corner," akin to the "Chop House" in Atlanta.  Just like at SunTrust Park, it offers a large indoor bar with sliding glass doors open to the field and terraced seating below, and also a smaller second level bar with open tables above that.  This all replaces the open bar that seems to have been eliminated from centerfield.  Instead of the bar and an awkward gate that caused bad congestion at the outfield gate, this is now a nice open standing area with view to the relocated bullpens, in a stepped fashion similar to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.  Opening up the centerfield concourse also gives more prominence to the Indians' version of Monument Park called "Heritage Plaza," featuring statues and plaques of famous players, including Larry Doby, Jim Thome, Satchel Paige, and most notably, Frank Robinson, the first African-American manager in MLB history for the 1975 Tribe.

Our seats were in the club level on the 2^nd level, which looks to have existed previously but we never had access to on our last visit.  It’s sort of a hybrid of the Johnson Controls and club level areas of Miller Park.  It has the privacy and the views of a private area, but the traditional seating of a club level, offering the best of both worlds.  The Progressive Field version features an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord with a carving station, a pasta station, and standard ballpark fare.  The bar area has glass facing the field, which opens up and steps down to the seating.  It’s not a great view from the indoor portion, but you still feel like you’re part of the stadium, and it allows you to be as interactive with the game or with other fans as you want to be.  This is definitely the ticketing option I would recommend to anyone.  Beyond this club level and the new outfield, the remaining portions of the stadium seemed to be mostly the same, aside from more concessions options and a general dressing-up.  We spent about half the game in our ticketed seats and then walked around the seating bowl, eventually ending up at “The Corner.”  Cleveland has some very passionate fans but, due to crappy spring weather and general franchise futility over the years, do not draw particularly well most of the year.  Reducing a very large capacity stadium to make room for social areas and interactive fan experiences was a no-brainer for the Indians.

They had no problems filling the stadium with the Yankees in town.  We were fortunate enough to see an all-star pitching matchup of team aces - Corey Kluber v. Luis Severino.  I actually saw Kluber pitch against the Crew earlier this year and he got shelled, including a homerun to pitcher Brent Suter.  I seem to be his bad luck charm as he gave up another 6 runs on this night, although he did last into the 8th and struck out 9.  Severino did not fare much better, giving up 4 over 5.  It may have been naïve to expect a pitching duel between these two teams.  The game featured 5 homeruns, including two by the biggest head in the league - Brett Gardner.  The game was tied at 4 through 7 innings, and took the lead on an Aaron Hicks double in the 8th.  Gardner added insurance with his 2nd homer in the 9th against the Indian's beleaguered bullpen.  The Cuban Missile Aroldis Chapman pitched an uneventful 9th to lock down his 25th save.

After a long day it was straight to bed for both of us.  Our Friday morning and afternoon salvaged my opinion of the "Mistake by the Lake," as Cleveland has been infamously dubbed.  We started the day with a tour staple - going for a swim.  We found a nice and quiet Lake Erie beach and were both pleasantly surprised with both the cleanliness and the warmth of the water.  I was pretty embarrassed that a body of water that was once so badly polluted that it caught on fire was nicer than Bradford Beach in Milwaukee.  We then toured Great Lakes Brewery and imbibed in probably one too many samples.  The brewery is in the Ohio City neighborhood, which 30 years ago was nothing but dilapidated buildings and factories, and today is known as the "Walking Hangover" because of all the breweries that have injected life back into the area.  I wish we could have seen all of them, but alas, there was more ball awaiting us ahead.  We set off about 2pm for Erie, Pennsylvania.

park rankings and statistics 
(see previous post from 7/1/07):
aesthetics - 10
views from park - 7
view to field - 7
surrounding area - 8
food variety - 7
nachos - 7
beer - 9
vendor price – decreases to 8
ticket price – 9 (very reasonable for MLB)
atmosphere - 7
walk to park – 6
parking price/proximity – improves to 7 ($10 garage very reasonable for MLB)
concourses - 8
team shop - 8

best food – anything with “Cleveland world-famous mustard”
most unique stadium feature – “The Corner” bar
best jumbotron feature – nothing of note
best between-inning feature – Hot Dog race

field dimensions - 325/405/325
starters – Corey Kluber (CLE) v. Luis Severino (NYY)
opponent – New York Yankees
time of game – 3:07
attendance – 31,267
score – 7-4 L
Brewers score that day – 6-3 L

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 07.17:
Brewers 55-43, -2.5, +1.0 WC (3 v. Dodgers, 3 v. Nationals, 4 @ Giants)
Reds 43-53, -13.5, -10.0 WC (3 v. Pirates, 3 v. Cardinals, 4 v. Phillies)
Twins 44-50, -7.5, -12.5 WC (3 @ Royals, 3 @ Blue Jays, 4 @ Red Sox)

2018 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 10 (+12 worked)
Peter - 18