My Ticket Collection, Part II

Have you had a chance to check out the blog post about the first part of my ticket collection?

Yes? Glad to hear it!

No? Here’s the link.

That brings us to Part II, which will give a rundown of the tickets that I’ve amassed from 2012 onward. It’s important to note that since 2012, I’ve been fortunate to receive media credentials to most of the games that I attend — although there are still a handful each season for which I buy my own tickets. This means that when I attend a game with a media credential, I don’t have my own actual ticket. That said, I often try to find a random ticket laying on the ground at the end of the game. Sure, it might not be my own ticket, but it’s still one from the game and worth adding to my collection. So, here’s the second half of my collection, which is made up of my own tickets and some tickets that I’ve found at games.

August 16, 2012: Richmond Flying Squirrels at New Britain Rock Cats

This ballpark visit wasn’t very memorable, unfortunately. The Rock Cats were just a few seasons away from relocating, so their park was fairly outdated. That said, any day at the ballpark is a good one, and I’m still glad to have this ticket. Design wise, it’s a fairly simple ticket with a nice image of the American flag being displayed on the field before a game.

August 21, 2012: Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox

In 2012, my top road trip priority was to visit Fenway Park during its 100th season, and I was happy to get there twice. Here’s the ticket from one of those games. The bottom two-thirds are uninspiring, but I love the top portion with the Fenway Park 100 Years logo. You might also notice that this was a Standing Room ticket. It was the cheapest ticket I could find for this game, and since I spend so much of my time at ballparks walking around rather than sitting, it worked out fine.

September 29, 2012: New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays

The design of the Blue Jays tickets was pretty good in 2010, not as good in 2011 and equally not very good in 2012. I’m nevertheless happy to have this one in my collection because it represents the first Jays game I attended after the team switched to its current logo and uniforms.

September 30, 2012: New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays

There’s not much else to say about this ticket from my second straight day at Rogers Centre late in the 2012 season. One detail of note is that while the overall design of both tickets is the same, they use different fonts. I’m not sure if I’ve ever encountered that before — especially on subsequent days.

May 13, 2013: Durham Bulls at Rochester Red Wings

I attended this game with a media credential, but managed to find this attractive ticket in the stands before I left. You can attribute its stylish design to being part of a season ticket holder’s package — those tickets always look more appealing than the regular tickets fans buy at the box office. I love the unique vertical orientation of this one and the close up of the bat in the dirt.

June 4, 2014: Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers

Comerica Park is one of my favorite big league facilities, and seeing the Tigers (my second-favorite team) host the Blue Jays (my favorite team) is still something I fondly recall. You have to love the affordability of this ticket; even back in 2014, this was a good deal. The Jungle Rooftop Bleachers section isn’t just affordable — it’s also a really fun place to watch a ballgame. Design wise, this is a sharp ticket. I especially love the 2013 AL Central Division Champions logo at the top.

July 14, 2014: Chicago White Sox at Philadelphia Phillies

I attended this game, but this is not my ticket. In fact, it baffles me how it’s in my collection. I definitely did not sit in Suite 30 at Citizens Bank Park, on this date or at any other. Furthermore, I can’t currently put my hands on my own ticket from this game. This is mildly concerning to me.

August 17, 2015: New Jersey Jackals at Ottawa Champions

This is the first independent team ticket in my collection, and it’s one that is special to me. This is the ticket from when I took my three-year-old nephew to his first baseball game. Lots of highlights on that night, including him getting a pair of baseballs. This ticket has a simple design, but it works.

August 24, 2015: Mahoning Valley Scrappers at Auburn Doubledays

Auburn’s Falcon Park holds a special place in my heart. I visited it on my very first road trip, and it’s also the first park where I threw out the first pitch. In 2010, the Doubledays’ ticket design was outstanding. Five years later, things had obviously taken a step backward. This design is really bland, and the use of green is unfortunate because green isn’t featured anywhere on the team’s uniforms.

August 26, 2015: Milwaukee Brewers at Cleveland Indians

This ticket is from my second day in Cleveland on this late-season trip. On my first day in town, I watched the Indians from the #TribeLive suite area. Day #2 was a chance to buy a ticket and roam the park as I normally do. As a ballpark lover, I appreciate this ticket’s design because it features Progressive Field’s iconic toothbrush-style lights in the background.

August 28, 2015: Evansville Otters at Washington Wild Things

I also made it a priority to get to Washington, which is just outside of Pittsburgh, to see the Frontier League’s Wild Things. More aptly, I was there to see my buddy Jeremy Nowak play for the Otters. This was the fourth and final time that I saw him play before he retired, so it’s a special ticket to me. The design of this ticket is a little lacking. The Wild Things share their ballpark with a professional softball team, so the background that features both teams’ logos and images is too busy for me.

August 29, 2015: Colorado Rockies at Pittsburgh Pirates

A day after being outside of Pittsburgh for indy ball, I was in the city itself. I believe this is the lone ticket in my collection that is autographed. I normally prefer to keep my tickets clean, but when Rockies reliever Christian Friedrich started signing right where I was standing, I didn’t have anything else to sign and handed him my ticket. The background design of this one features hashtags and other slogans, but the background is so light that the details are hard to read.

August 30, 2015: Colorado Rockies at Pittsburgh Pirates

Here’s a non-autographed ticket from the next day at PNC Park. When you look at this ticket versus the one from a day earlier, you’ll notice that I moved from the Grandstand section to the Upper Grandstand section in order to save $13. When I’m visiting a ballpark for two games, I always like to buy tickets in different sections to experience the game from different angles — even if I don’t actually spend much time in my seat.

May 12, 2016: Oklahoma City Dodgers at Round Rock Express

I have such fond memories of my 10-day, 10-game trip through Texas in 2016 that seeing the ticket from my first game of that trip brings a smile to my face. It’s a simple design, with the catchy Express logo centered in the background. I’m also a sucker for powder blue uniforms, so I love the overall color of this ticket.

May 14, 2016: Frisco RoughRiders at Corpus Christi Hooks

The Corpus Christi Hooks have one of my favorite logos in the minor leagues, so I love the stylish use of the two hooks on this ticket design. While it’s a pretty simple look overall, this ticket gets bonus points for featuring the ballpark name. Surprisingly, a fair number of MiLB tickets don’t include this information. As a ballpark lover, this is a cool detail for me. (And, yes, I definitely ate a Whataburger while at Whataburger Field.)

May 20, 2016: San Antonio Missions at Frisco RoughRiders

This is a lively ticket, but my favorite part of it is something that is really subtle. The RoughRiders’ home uniforms are cream instead of white, and this ticket is cream, too. (Although it doesn’t show up well in the scan.) It’s another ticket that features the ballpark name, and you’ll also see the Dr Pepper Ballpark logo in the lower left corner.

June 21, 2016: Arizona Diamondbacks at Toronto Blue Jays

Here’s a rather generic ticket design. This one is almost identical to what the Blue Jays used back in 2012. It’s not a design that offers much to write about, but I do like the team name positioned on the right side.

September 19, 2016: St. Louis Cardinals at Colorado Rockies

There’s nothing very exciting about this ticket design, either. The team name gets hidden behind the black printing on the ticket, and the use of multiple fonts makes for somewhat of a sloppy finished product. One thing that’s awesome about this ticket? The $4 price to sit in the Rockpile section! That’s incredible value for one of the most unique seating sections in the big leagues.

September 20, 2016: Coors Field Tour

I love taking MLB park tours when my schedule allows it, and the tour at Coors Field stands out as one of the best I’ve experienced. I really like the use of the Coors Field image in the background, especially given that I think the front of this ballpark is one of the most stylish in baseball.

June 16, 2017: Cuban National Team at Ottawa Champions

Design wise, this independent league team’s ticket is pretty bland. I prefer the design from a couple of seasons prior. That said, the content of this ticket is outstanding. This was the first time that I got to see an international team play, as the Ottawa club was hosting the Cuban National Team. It was a lively evening at the ballpark, with plenty of Cuban supporters in attendance.

July 16, 2017: Quebec Capitales at Ottawa Champions

Funny enough, the background of this ticket is the same design as the previous one, but the colors came out differently.

August 24, 2017: Trois-Rivieres Aigles at Ottawa Champions

I went to a handful of Champions games in 2017, as you may have noticed from seeing this series of ticket stubs. This ticket has same design as the one above it, but I think it’s interesting how the game’s promo event — “Ottawa Injury Day,” which sounds sort of awkward — is printed on the ticket.

March 27, 2018: St. Louis Cardinals at Toronto Blue Jays

Here’s the first French language ticket in my collection. It’s from when I checked out the Blue Jays in Spring Training action in Olympic Stadium, the old home of the Montreal Expos. Visiting “The Big O” was interesting — it’s a unique ballpark that has a number of downright bizarre features, but this was a fun night of baseball. The ticket design is generic — brownish yellow with some curved lines that don’t have anything to do with baseball. You’ll notice the warning that backpacks weren’t allowed, and you can imagine how I felt about that.

August 30, 2018: Chicago Cubs at Atlanta Braves

Before the end of my first game at SunTrust Park, I knew that this new ballpark belonged among my favorites. It’s an outstanding place to watch a game, and the neighborhood around the park is just perfect, too. Those facts alone make this ticket a favorite. I love the design with the huge tomahawk in the background. If I’m going to be picky, I’d prefer if the “BRAVES.COM/TICKETS” wording weren’t in the middle of the design. It looks better in its stylized form on the right side.

September 18, 2018: Pacific Coast League Champion at International League Champion

Here’s a ticket from another first for me — the 2018 Triple-A National Championship Game. For an event of this magnitude — a one-game, September showdown between the two Triple-A champions — I’d have loved a better ticket. The Columbus Clippers hosted this event, and used standard Clippers tickets. Too bad.

April 19, 2019: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at Buffalo Bisons

My two-day visit to Buffalo in April of 2019 was challenging, to say the least. A single game and a doubleheader were on the schedule for my two days in town, but inclement weather limited the teams to just two total innings of frigid play over the two days. Weather aside, this is a smart-looking ticket that features a clear image of three Bisons players.

July 1, 2019: Salem Red Sox at Fayetteville Woodpeckers

This is a special ticket in my collection because it represents my first visit to a first-year stadium — in this case, the outstanding Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C. The design is a little plain, but I really like the use of the inaugural season logo in the background.

July 2, 2019: Rome Braves at Kannapolis Intimidators

From a first-year stadium to one in its final year of operation, here’s a ticket from Kannapolis, N.C. During this off-season, the team rebranded to the Canon Ballers and will begin play in 2020 in a new ballpark. I’m happy to have this ticket because of that — and, as a NASCAR fan, I like the Dale Earnhardt image (he formerly owned the team) in the background.

July 26, 2019: Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies

I love the use of the Citizens Bank Park logo in the top right corner, and the fact that the background of this ticket design is a ballpark panorama. Overall, I really sharp design from the Phillies.

Thanks for reading! Do you have some favorite tickets in your collection? If so, I’d love to see them on Twitter.