We loved Oracle Park when we visited back in 2018.

Can't really speak to the conditions around San Fran nowadays but the weather, park, and atmosphere were top notch. There's some great things to do, see, and eat around the park.

You already have some good choices but if y'all haven't been to the hall of fame then NY/Cooperstown and maybe Boston could possibly be done in a weekend.

Final Record: 98-64
Division Finish: 1st place
How Does it End: WS Champion
Team MVP: Yordan Alvarez
Team Cy Young: Framber Valdez
Biggest Surprise(s):

• Hunter Brown - he takes the next step and gives us 150+ IP with a low 3 ERA.
• Lance McCullers - he's back in Aug and gives us a 2022-like performance in a handful of starts and continues well into Oct.
• Someone(s) steps up in the bullpen and replaces Maton/Stanek in the 5th-6th inning role. My money is on Sousa, Coleman, and Garcia.

Biggest Disappointment(s):

• Chas McCormick - I don't think he has a bad year, but I think its more like 21-22 Chas, not 23 Chas.
• The AAA Crop - no one makes a major impact between Loperfido, Melton, Wagner, Dezenzo, Arighetti, etc.

A Random Hot Take(s):

• Yordan is not only the team MVP but the AL MVP with a 40-100-100 season.
• Espada honeymoon ends of this thread - posters are split 50-50 on him. Lots of hate gets thrown around.
• Tucker signs an extension before the 2025 season.

That's A LOT of traveling. Cooperstown isn't exactly close to NYC or Boston.

All I do is Nguyen said:

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Final Record: 99-63
Division Finish: Winner
How Does it End: We win the WS against the Doyers
Team MVP: Yainer
Team Cy Young: JP France
Biggest Suprise(s): Yainer picks right up where he left off and is in the top 5 of the lineup by August
Biggest Disappointment(s): Meyers still doesn't turn the corner and is sent back to SL or traded
A Random Hot Take(s): Pena returns to form and then some, hitting 25 HRs and has an OPS of .850+

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I think the MVPs are your hottest takes and biggest surprises.

Taxman90 said:

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You already have some good choices but if y'all haven't been to the hall of fame then NY/Cooperstown and maybe Boston could possibly be done in a weekend.

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We've been to Cooperstown a couple of times and had a great time.

Alex Bregman has evolved from the brash 22-year-old kid who stared into dugout cameras and brought his bat to first base after a World Series homer. He's an entrepreneur, businessman, the closest thing his clubhouse has to a spokesman and, now, "at peace" -https://t.co/88DnWvp5Qf

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) March 27, 2024

Final Record - 95-67
Division Finish: Winner - Astros
Runner Up - Rangers
3rd - Mariners
How Does it End: Lose in WS
Team MVP: Yordan (and AL MVP)
Team Cy Young: Javier
Biggest Suprise(s): Bregman finishes top 5 in AL MVP voting with a huge contract year
Meyers ends up being an actual offensive threat scoring 85+ runs
Biggest Disappointment(s): Chaz surprisingly has a down year without having a manager to bring him his super banana pudding
Verlander continues to struggle health wise and only makes 20 starts.
A Random Hot Take(s): McCullers and LuAce both come back at the second half of the season as dominant back end of the bullpen guys while Pressley falls off and gets relegated to lesser duties. Montero gets shipped off somehow.

agproducer said:

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Big Jon (though I hope he does well) is released in June.

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I... disagree

Final Record 98-64
Division Finish: Winner Winner Chicken and Rice Dinner
How Does it End: Champs
Team MVP: Tuck
Team Cy Young: Javier
Biggest Suprise(s): Blanco
Biggest Disappointment(s): Abreu
A Random Hot Take(s): LMJ makes a serious contribution out of the bullpen down the stretch

Farmer1906 said:

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Everyone go on record before tomorrow.

Final Record 99-63
Division Finish: Winner
How Does it End: Win the whole f***in thing (again)
Team MVP: Yordan
Team Cy Young: Framber
Biggest Suprise(s): Meyers
Biggest Disappointment(s): Abreu (again)
A Random Hot Take(s): Both the Yankees and Rangers will finish third in their divisions. Also, once Spaghetti comes up, he'll stay up.

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Final Record 100-62
Division Finish: #1
How Does it End: WS Title #3
Team MVP: Yordan
Team Cy Young: Hader
Biggest Suprise(s): Joey Loperfido
Biggest Disappointment(s): Jake Meyers
A Random Hot Take(s): Bregman signs long-term extension in November

IN!!!!!!

Final Record: 94-68
Division Finish: Winner
How Does it End: WS
Team MVP: Yordan
Team Cy Young: JV
Biggest Suprise(s): Jose Abreu has a fast start
Biggest Disappointment(s): LMJ sees less than 5 starts
A Random Hot Take(s): Yankees finish out of the playoffs, hovering around .500

Final Record: 93-69
Division Finish: 1st Astros, 2nd Rangers, 3rd Mariners
How Does it End: lose World Series
Team MVP: Yordan Alvarez
Team Cy Young: Christina Javier
Biggest Suprise(s): Bregman returns to 2018/19 form
Biggest Disappointment: Yainer Diaz and Chas take a step back
A Random Hot Take(s): Meyers doesn't take the step forward most think he will, and we make a midseason trade to replace Jose Abreu

Had us losing the WS to the dodgers in the predictions thread but I think the Ohtani cloud might loom and I'm switching to the Braves beating us in the WS

Final Record: 101-61
Division Finish: Winner
How Does it End: WS Champ
Team MVP: Yordan Alvarez - full healthy year with 45+ bombs
Team Cy Young: Framber returns to form
Biggest Suprise(s): Jeremy Pena breaks out of his funk in a big way for a 20 homer year
Biggest Disappointment(s): Hader struggles, resulting in Pressly reprising is role as closer for at least month
A Random Hot Take(s): Bregman is pressing too hard in a contract year, has average results, and opens the door for the Astros to re-sign him to a shorter term deal

Final Record: 93-69
Division Finish: Winner
How Does it End: ALCS Loss
Team MVP: Tucker (30/30)
Team Cy Young: Verlander
Biggest Suprise(s): LMJ comes back and contributes when we need him most down the stretch
Biggest Disappointment(s): Hader struggles and has a mid-season injury
A Random Hot Take(s): Pena has an OPS north of .900

Final Record: 96-66
Division Finish: AL West Champs
How Does it End: AL still runs through H-town. Stros over Braves 4-2 WS Champs
Team MVP: Breggy since I'll be defending him all year long and he is the GOAT 3B. Crane backs up the brinks truck and we extend Breggy.
Team Cy Young: Framber
Biggest Suprise(s): Montero figures it out after the all star break and goes on an insane streak. Our bullpen is nothing but filth with Montero, Abreu, Pressly and Hader.
Biggest Disappointment(s): Father time catches up with the other goat JV. He retires after winning another WS in H-town.
A Random Hot Take(s): We sweep the Rangers in the regular season and ALCS to shut up all the Dallas d-bags.

In!

Final Record: 101-61
Division Finish: Champs
How Does it End: WS Champs
Team MVP: Tucker
Team Cy Young: Framber
Biggest Suprise(s): Jake Meyers hits 30 HRs; Jose Abreu makes the All-Star team
Biggest Disappointment(s): Peña's continued lack of power; Lack of impact moves at trade deadline
A Random Hot Take(s): Dodgers miss the playoffs after a season of controversy, injuries, and an underperforming pitching staff; Trevor Bauer pitches in MLB.

The Yankees have acquired utility infielder Jon Berti from the Marlins pic.twitter.com/p94B9biEYv

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 27, 2024

Thinice said:

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Anyone catching the boys on the road this year?

I'm planning to knock out 3 of my remaining 6 stadiums to complete my ballpark quest:

@ Detroit 5/11-5/12
@ Minnesota 7/5-7/7
@ Cincinnati 9/4-9/5

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I'll be at all three Twins games because I live here.

Hoping to hit up the Wrigley Thursday afternoon game as well.

I'll be at some Arlington games.

Final Record. 96-66
Division Finish: 1st. Numero Uno
How Does it End: lose in WS
Team MVP: Yordan
Team Cy Young: Framber fixes his head
Biggest Suprise(s): Diaz although it's not a surprise
Biggest Disappointment(s): Pena
A Random Hot Take(s): Abreu the hitter has a good bounce back year.

texasaggie2015 said:

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Also- let me pick the brains of my fellow brethren.

My dad called me last night and said he wanted to take a weekend trip in August to a ballpark none of us have ever been to. I'm going to take him up on that.

He's only been to a handful, and I've been to quite a few.. so I don't mind repeating if it's somewhere he's never been.

He's mid 60s, doesn't drink, won't want to be out late. He enjoys sightseeing during the day and doesn't mind doing a lot of walking. I'm thinking Cubs/Cardinals at Wrigley but I want to make a list of 3 or 4 options for him to choose from. I'm likely paying for the trip but he doesn't know this yet.

Any ideas?

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PNC Park in Pittsburgh is one of my favorites and in a great location with plenty of sightseeing and stuff to do nearby. It's an underrated city in general, IMO.

Camden Yards and Oracle have already been mentioned. Truist in Atlanta is solid. Busch may be the best one I've visited, but it's in St. Louis. Awesome stadium. Citizens Bank in Philly is great, but the surrounding area not so much. Kauffman in KC was almost like a large minor league stadium but still worth the trip. The Royals moving downtown should be a big upgrade.

Interesting story from @dennistlin about Petco Park removing the ivy from its batter’s eye in center field. The Astros, for whatever it’s worth, kept last September’s extension paint job on their ivy-dominated batter’s eye, but made no other changes - https://t.co/VzOTDBDHPg

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) March 27, 2024

Final Record: 91-71
Division Finish: 1st place
How Does it End: ALCS
Team MVP: Alvarez
Team Cy Young: Hader
Biggest Surprise(s): McCormick has a great year
Biggest Disappointment(s): Framber declines and Bregman doesn't have a great contract year
A Random Hot Take(s): Division race comes down to the wire again and we will be melting down the entire time. This season feels kinda like the end of the magical run we've been on

Dodgers extending catcher will smith another 10 years at $140m