Our Visit To Progressive Field

by Paul Semendinger

August 21, 2024

***

As the Yankees battle the Cleveland Guardians, it seems an appropriate time to share my thoughts on Progressive Field, the home of the Cleveland team.

About a month ago, Ethan and I took a few days to drive out to Ohio to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame and then take in a game at Progresssive Field. As big baseball fans, we have attended games in a host of ballparks. We've now seen the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Orioles, Nationals, Pirates, Braves, and Guardians all playing in their home ballparks. While I'd like to someday say that I have been to every single big league ballpark, I'm not making that a goal. We get to games when we can, but there is no big push to get to all the parks all in any set time, or even ever. We might eventually get there, or not. We're not making this a compulsion, rather when the opportunities come that we can make the time to get to some ballparks, we go.

Progressive is a nice ballpark. It is clean. I like the fact that it is right in the heart of the city. Cleveland itself, where we stayed, is a very nice city. For a city, it's very quiet. It seems very safe. There is a lot to do in the downtown area all in walking distance from the ballpark including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (a place we visited years ago and also enjoyed). The homes stadiums for the Browns (football) and Cavaliers (basketball) are also right there.

Getting into and around Progressive Field is easy. The lines into the ballpark moved quickly. The stadium workers seemed to all be happy and helpful. Progressive Field has a nice family feel to it. I'd be comfortable taking a small child to the game there.

As we entered the ballpark, we quickly saw that we were right by the visitor's bullpen and were able to watch, very closely, one of the Padres' pitchers doing some throwing from a spot basically right behind his catcher. Making this more fun was the fact that the pitcher who was participating in his throwing session was former Yankee Michael King. We got a great sense of his pitches. (Ethan noted that he throws just a little harder than I do.)

The next ballpark feature that captured my attention was the area called Hertitage Park where they honor their past great players. This area actually has two tiers with a special area for the Cleveland players in the Baseball Hall of Fame in one area and another area for the team's own legandary players. As a Yankees fan, I am always drawn to the players recognized who also had connections to the Yankees of which there were many. Among these are Joe Gordon, Kenny Lofton, Sam McDowell, Gaylord Perry, and Joe Sewell. So many other players with ties to the Yankees were also recognized such as Al Rosen (who was a Yankees executive), Bob Lemon (who was a Yankees manager), and so forth. This whole area was done extremely well. Ray Chapman, the only Major League baseball player to die from being hit by a pitch (thrown by a New York Yankee, Carl Mays) was recognized in this area as were a host of other notable former Indians including Satchel Paige, Bob Feller, Cy Young, and many others. Of note, every player in the Baseball Hall of Fame is recognized as are a host of notable former Indians. The entire area is extremely well done.

Of note, the night when we attended, it was "One Dollar Hot Dog Night" so Ethan and I were able to eat a ballpark specialty for a great price. As I ate my hotdog, I commented to Ethan that, unfortunately, the hotdog was worth what we paid for it. I love ballpark hotdogs, but the ones I had that night were not very good. It was also dollar beer night, but I dislike beer and didn't partake in that feature. (I'd love a ballpark to have "Dollar Cola Night.")

Our seats were right behind home plate... in the upper deck. This is one of my favorite places to sit in a ballpark as it gives one the ability to take in the entire venue. Progressive Field is a pretty ball park. The sight lines were great. Everything is bright and crisp and clean. We had great seats for the game, although, the seats, in this area at least, seemed smaller than in other ballparks and crammed together with not much leg room. Walking past people to exit one's seat was not easy.

Also missing, even though Progressive Field has a gigantic scoreboard, was an out of town scoreboard. I missed that. Now, of course, I was able to check the Yankees score that night on my phone, but it would have been nice if Progressive Field had a scoreboard, or a portion of their scoreboard that gave regular updates from around baseball so I didn't have to use my phone.

Of note, also, was how quiet the stadium was. Unlike Yankee Stadium where the speakers are louder than anything else on earth, there were times during the game when there was no, or very little sound coming from the scoreboard, PA system, or otherwise. The Guardians don't play dumb sounds just for the sake of playing dumb sounds. It was all more refined and it felt much nicer than the noise pollution that one experiences at Yankee Stadium. I have noted this at other ballparks as well. It makes for a much much much nicer fan experience.

Overall, I really liked Progressive Field. We had a great time there.

In addition to the dollar hot dogs, it was also Fireworks Night. After the game, they put on a great fireworks show that brought great closure to a wonderful night at the ballpark.