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100% I share your opinions and many of your experiences.

Though not downtown, I went to Forest Park. It's a huge city park....bigger than Central Park in NYC. There's a free zoo, free history museum, and free art museum plus a number of walking trails.

I thought the arch was cool. Seeing Busch and the Dred Scott courthouse imo was worth it. The museum underneath the arch I think makes the entire experience though. Lots of good history that one can spend a lot of time learning about down there.

Surely, the walk rates have a lot to do with the rankings as well. And Antonacci's proclivity for hbp's.

One way of saying they have no starting pitching and outfield depth. Remember how a year ago Quero AND Teel supposedly provided them a niche advantage over the rest of baseball? Now, not so much.

No helicopter trip? that's a bit more fun

One factoid today: October 22, 2005 - 46 years after their last World Series, the White Sox finally got back to another one. Game #1 against Houston was played with the Sox winning 5-3 at U.S. Cellular Field. Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede hit home runs. Jose Contreras pitched seven innings and the bullpen tandem of Neal Cotts and Bobby Jenks saved the game. Those two got out of a first and third no out situation in the eighth inning to keep the Sox in the lead. They struck out Morgan Ensberg, Mike Lamb and Jeff Bagwell.

We went in July and it had to be 120 degrees plus in the trams. It was soooooo miserable. Then to get to the top and need the Catholic school kneelers to get a view of nothing was the topper.

From Merkin's story: https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/white-sox-talk-infield-depth-ahead-of-2027-season

Dred Scott Courthouse Children's Museum if you have a family Ted Drews Frozen Custards Imo's ravioli and garlic cheese toast Anheuser Busch brewery tour Grant's Farm

I hope he is all good.

I lucked out with going to the top of the arch. Since I was there by myself, they actually gave me my own elevator both going up and going down! I'm sure I would have hated it if I was crammed in a small pod with up to 4 strangers. At the top, it is a birds eye view, but there really isn't much to see other than Busch stadium. Certainly nothing like the Sears or Hancock observation decks The rest of the city is unremarkable and on the other side, the Mississippi looks rather industrial and unattractive there. Other than thinking "gee wiz, that's the mighty Mississippi down there!", it really isn't very scenic. The observation area was small, but since it was well ventilated, that didn't bother me

Can confirm this about t-mobile. My wife and I went this year and saw the Sox play there. It was a Monday night and also happened to be Josh Naylor bobblehead night. We arrived at the park in the morning for a ballpark tour which ended like 3 or 4 hours before gates opened. We went and did some exploring around the city and decided to come back about a half hour or so before gates were scheduled to open. I thought to myself “Monday night, and who the f*** cares about Josh Naylor. We’ll get in no problem.” Holy s%*# was I wrong. Lines were insane. They actually moved fairly decently but I couldn’t believe how long lines were on a Monday night just for a Josh Naylor bobble head.

He's playing.

Miguel Vargas ranks 7th out of the 268 players ranked. Murakami ranks 65th. Antonacci ranks 104th. Colson Montgomery ranks 255. Meidroth actually ranks very low, 231. Again, not to be taken too seriously.

This isn't to be taken too seriously of course, but it is interesting to have as another data point. Unlike traditional stats that only measure the outcome of an at-bat (like a hit, walk, or strikeout), ABQ evaluates the quality of the entire at-bat. How ABQ works: Pitch-by-pitch analysis: It assigns values to a batter's decisions on individual pitches, rewarding quality swings and contact while penalizing poor chases or missed opportunities in the zone. Contact quality: It uses specific metrics to evaluate how well a player contacts the ball, focusing on exit velocity and direction rather than just the result. Context-aware: Walk and strikeout scores are weighted based on the difficulty of the pitch sequence rather than just the final outcome.

The museum is excellent. The arch itself is literally one of the two worst historic site experiences I have ever had. It's tiny, cramped, not made for actually viewing anything, and getting up there is absolutely an awful experience.

Doctors say the Pope's cancer was indeed localized with no spread and he will not need further treatment. Great news! NBC NewsPope Leo will not require further treatment after lung su...His doctors said Wednesday the pontiff suffered pulmonary adenocarcinoma, which was localized.

I stayed at the Drury Plaza Hotel, which is right across park space from the Hyatt. It was a great hotel, but I'll have to check out the Hyatt next time. For anyone visiting St. Louis, I recommend visiting the Gateway Arch at least once. Even if you don't pay to go up to the top (especially if you're claustrophobic), there's a pretty good and free history museum at the base of the arch plus it's worth walking the grounds of the arch and it's really something to stand at one of its bases and look up.

Was that the old Adams Mark?

They prioritize the T-Mobile gate (requires T-Mobile service) and all the other gates are a complete s%*# show. I was there for Ichiro bobblehead in the T-Mobile line last year and it took roughly an hour to enter. The non T-Mobile gate looked about two hours, the line was wrapped around 3-4 city blocks at that point. Part of this is just PNW culture. It's slow. People do not respect others' time like say in Chicago or LA or NYC. In many ways Seattle is still a sleepy logging town compared to a lot of other metros.

The upper deck between first and third base at Tiger Stadium was the closest to the field of any stadium ever built. You could hear the players breathing from the upper deck.

I was speaking more to the seating and views. Big old posts everywhere, not really great site lines, overhanging upper deck, plenty of oddities about the park due to things like the block it was built into etc.

I did Nationals Park during a convention and we got a box to entertain clients, so I hardly remember it. I remember who pitched (Harvey vs Strausberg), but nothing else stands out about the park. That probably means something. I love the area around the STL ballpark too. The park itself was decent, not great. My favorite spot to stay there is the Hyatt right next to the arch with the one side of the building having a clear view of the Mississippi River, the park, and the arch.

The views are amazing at T-Mobile but the gate we went into went through the gift shop and it was terrible. Super crowded and slow to move through and if the intent was to encourage shopping it encouraged the opposite. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.