Ballpark review of Progressive (Jacobs) Field in Cleveland.

Today we would like to allow one of our readers and facebook.com members to add his two cents. Here is Tight PP’s recount of last weekend’s trip to Cleveland.

This was my second trip to Cleveland. Last time was a game I was not really interested in years and years ago. This time it was for a three game set vs. the Blue Jays.
We arrived after an easy four to five hour drive from the Toronto area and had come across a few other Ontario natives on the way to the game.
We had a hotel room about two blocks from the park. The area was a mix of nice old buildings and those that were old and falling apart. There are many bars in the area (Prospect Street + 9th Ave) and drinks are a deal compared to Canadian prices. The Clevelander was our stop before the game. The pitchers were $8-$12 and food was in the $5-8 range. Lots of local memorabilia on the walls (Indians, Browns, Cavs), good atmosphere, and we never had any negative reception wearing Blue Jays wear.
For the first game, we sat in the upper deck at the right field foul line. They were $9 seats. Good sight lines to everything save the right field foul corner.
The game started off well with another pitching duel between two Cy Young winners: C.C. Sabathia and the Doc. The Blue Jays bats could only muster one run in the 5th…and the Doc could only hold out until the 7th, giving up six unanswered runs.
The park was not full on Friday and we were nine rows up from the front row, with the aisle railing in our view…so we moved up to the front row. We only lasted there for a half-inning before being told we weren’t allowed moving out of our section. (The first five rows are a different section from the rest of the section so the best we could do was move up to the 5th row. There were 15 people sitting in the 50 seats in front of us.)

During the Saturday game, we sat in the bleachers. Not bad again, however, the scoreboard/video screen is above you, so we couldn’t see replays and were often unsure why people screamed when nothing happened that we could see. Not much to say about this game, but it was a one-sided pitching duel. It was 6-0 in the 1st, 12-0 final. Their was also a Cavs play-off game that night so all bars and restaurants in the area were packed pre-game.
The Sunday was an overcast day, which would have been bad if we hadn’t splurged on tickets. Right behind the plate, in the second section up…which was covered. We got in the park early to wander around and see what there was to offer. The food at the park was nothing special. The bratwurst was more or less a hot dog costing about $4.50, and if you want sauerkraut it will cost you another $1.25. Then you are handed the hotdog and a package of sauerkraut — not impressed. The rest of the fare was standard: pizza, nachos, hotdogs. The one bright spot was the fried chicken, which was very tasty and it cost about $7 for three pieces and waffle fries.
There was a small hall of fame at the venue. It’s better than Skydome’s, but not as good as Comerica’s. If you have time, it’s worth a wander but not something you would be upset about missing.
The game never started and was a rainout. There was drizzle before the game, not heavy enough to call for a stoppage. It picked up for maybe 20 minutes. After about an hour and half delay, the rain stopped and people moved towards their seats. Just then the announcement was made that the game would be played on Monday. Turns out, there was no more rain in Cleveland that day.
The park has good sight lines and a good atmosphere. The fans are polite and somewhat quiet. The food is average. The location and neighbourhood are good.