This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Visiting all 30 Major League ballparks is a common bucket list item not only for baseball fans, but also for players. Just ask Brandon Crawford, who finally completed his ballpark tour by playing at Minnesota’s Target Field this past weekend.
“Really cool,” Crawford said. “Kind of crazy that it took me 12 seasons to get through all of them, but between the scheduling and COVID in 2020, that’s just how long it took.”
With the Giants matching up against the American League Central in Interleague play this year, Crawford was able to cross his two remaining ballparks off his list: Cleveland’s Progressive Field and Target Field. The veteran shortstop has played in 32 ballparks now, including Turner Field and Globe Life Park, the former homes of the Braves and Rangers, respectively.
Still, it wasn’t long ago that Crawford thought he might fall short of his goal of playing in all the active ballparks. The Giants were initially slated to visit Cleveland and Minnesota in 2020, but those trips ended up being removed from the schedule due to the pandemic.
“When the schedule came out in 2020, I was excited,” Crawford said. “I thought we were going to knock both of those out in one trip. But then obviously when everything got pushed back, that was kind of disappointing. At that point, 2021 was going to be the last year of my contract, so I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to be able to ever make it to those now because of COVID.’ Fortunately, we went back this year.”
“I personally always judge stadiums on their infield, and their infield was pretty nice,” Crawford said.
Oracle Park, obviously, remains Crawford’s favorite stadium in the league. Outside of San Francisco?
“I think overall San Diego is probably my second-favorite place to go stadium-wise,” Crawford said. “Where we stay in the Gaslamp District, there are a lot of places to go get food or walk around. And then great infield.”
“I think it’s a little bit less special now that guys are going to be able to do it in two seasons,” Crawford said. “But I still think it’s really cool that I’ve been able to play in all of them.”
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