Road quest to touch all the bases

A journey to ballparks around the nation is a deliciously rewarding and exciting effort

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Rooting for the home team is the perfect way to spend a summer or fall day on a mainland vacation.

And it's not a shame if they don't win as long as the bratwurst is hot and the beer is cold and not too overpriced.

Star-Bulletin reporter Craig Gima is on a mission to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums.

The problem is they keep tearing down the ones he's visited and building new stadiums.

This year he returned to Milwaukee to take in a game at Miller Park.

Taking a trip out to the ballgame is not just about baseball, he says.

It's a lifelong quest and passion.

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STADIUM BOX SCORE Places I've seen a game and some where I have to go back: American League Tampa Bay Boston Toronto New York* Baltimore Chicago Minnesota* Cleveland Detroit* Kansas City Los Angeles Texas Oakland Seattle National League New York* Philadelphia* Florida Atlanta Washington* Chicago Milwaukee Houston St. Louis Cincinnati Pittsburgh* Los Angeles Arizona Colorado San Francisco San Diego Been there: Crossed off my list. * Visited old stadium, have to go back to visit the new stadium

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MILWAUKEE » About an hour before the big rivalry game, the city bus driver stops a Cubs fan getting on the No. 90 bus from downtown to Miller Park.

TIPS ON GETTING TICKETS TO A GAME If there are more than two people in your group, split up or buy tickets ahead of time for the best seats. If you have a bigger group and want to sit together, it's better to buy tickets in advance for the best seats or a group discount. If you're buying tickets at the last minute, it's sometimes better to split up to get better seats. If you didn't buy your ticket in advance of sold-out games, don't lose hope of getting in. Here are a few strategies: » Single seats: Single tickets are the easiest to get and the hardest for scalpers to get rid of. I generally hang out near the ticket office or entry gate to try to buy a ticket from someone who has an extra. Sometimes people will just give you a ticket if you look like someone they'd want to sit next to. » Check for day-of-game seats: Even if a game is sold out, the ticket office will sometimes have standing-room tickets. Tickets also become available about an hour or two before the game when people or groups who can't go to the game return them. » Scalpers drop their prices after the game starts: Prices come down dramatically when scalpers try to unload their tickets instead of eating them. If you're a single and the game is not sold out, try not to pay more than half of face value, even for the best seats. » Be discreet and watch out for rip-offs if you are buying from a scalper: Some states prohibit ticket scalping, so you might have to make the deal away from security and police. But be careful: There are plenty of counterfeit tickets. Also, check the date to make sure it's for the game that day. If a deal is too good to be true, it could be.

Wearing a blue-and-white Kerry Wood jersey, the fan yells out, "Go, Cubs!"

"Wrong bus," says the bus driver, obviously a Brewers supporter.

It's midsummer, and on an unseasonably cool night, the best ticket in town is to take yourself out to the ballpark.

The game in late July was for first place in the National League Central Division. A sold-out Miller Park is about evenly split between Brewers backers and Cubs fans, who drove about 90 minutes to Milwaukee for the game.

But you don't have to be a fan of either team to enjoy a baseball game while traveling. Whenever I visit a city, I check the Major League Baseball schedule to see if there's a game and another baseball stadium to cross off my list. So far, I'm up to 26 ballparks; but teams and cities keep building new stadiums, so I have 11 more to go.

Last year I went to RFK in Washington, D.C., to see the Nationals, but this year they're playing in brand-new Nationals Park. The Smithsonian might have to wait for the next time I'm in the nation's capital.

The goal of visiting every Major League baseball stadium could be a never-ending yet totally satisfying quest.

You don't even have to be a big baseball fan to enjoy going to a ballgame. Part of the fun is to wander around the stadium and take in the crowd, explore all the nooks of a modern ballpark and sample the food, which usually reflects the region and is more than just hot dogs, peanuts and Cracker Jack.

Sample the fried Rocky Mountain oysters at Coors Field in Denver, Italian sausage with bell peppers and onions at Fenway Park, turkey legs and barbecued brisket at the Ballpark at Arlington and bratwurst at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

My favorite stadiums so far are Wrigley Field in Chicago (especially at a day game in the bleachers), Pac Bell Park in San Francisco, Fenway Park in Boston and Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Least favorite: the Metrodome in Minneapolis and Dolphins Stadium in Miami. Both are also used for football and just don't have the right atmosphere. Although, the Twins are planning a new ballpark.

Most modern stadiums now have areas for kids to play games, and bars in the outfield for adults.

At Miller Park there's an exhibit on Wisconsin baseball history in a corner near right field and another exhibit with Brewers memorabilia in the Club Level Metavante Club.

Every time a Brewer hits a home run, their mascot, Bernie Brewer, goes down a yellow slide in the outfield.

And there's also a baseball game.

Years ago, at my first Cubs game, Sammy Sosa hit three home runs, a hat trick in hockey, so fans threw their caps onto the field. In an interview after the game, Sosa, who grew up in the Dominican Republic where not much hockey is played, said he didn't understand why people were throwing their hats at him.

During a game at Comiskey Park when the Chicago White Sox played the Seattle Mariners, both Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. hit home runs.

I also saw Randy Johnson record 12 strikeouts with the Houston Astros in 1998 as the team made a successful run to get to the postseason.

This trip, at Wrigley Field, the Cubs came back from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Florida Marlins 9-6.

Then at Miller Park, Derek Lee doubled in the ninth inning to bring in the go-ahead run as the Cubs beat the home team Brewers 6-4.

A great baseball game, brats and beers. I might have to go back to Milwaukee.