First Cleveland Game

[NCWahoo]

My family and I are coming to Cleveland for our first Indians game this June (Saturday, June 16 at 4pm). Never been to Cleveland before. Can anyone give me some suggestions?

What time does the ballpark open to the fans?
Can you watch batting practice or get autographs?
Good places to eat or what is the best food at the ballpark?
Convenient hotels in walking distance to the ballpark and the new casino? (My wife enjoys the slots, I enjoy the food).

Thanks for any help on these things. I've been a Tribe fan since 1960 and enjoy ClevelandFan.Com every day.

David
Danbury, NC

[skatingtripods]

My family and I are coming to Cleveland for our first Indians game this June (Saturday, June 16 at 4pm). Never been to Cleveland before. Can anyone give me some suggestions?

What time does the ballpark open to the fans?
Can you watch batting practice or get autographs?
Good places to eat or what is the best food at the ballpark?
Convenient hotels in walking distance to the ballpark and the new casino? (My wife enjoys the slots, I enjoy the food).

For a 4 pm first pitch, gates will probably open at 2:30. Definitely by 3.

You can pay extra for the Batting Practice Xtra Experience, I think it's like $160/person and watch BP from behind home plate on the field. Gate C (Right Field) is open at 4:30 for weeknight 7 pm games and you can watch BP, but they don't do that for weekend games. You can line up along the 3rd base line for pregame autographs, but good luck.

Best way to get autographs is to go to the players' parking lot and wait by the gate. For a 7 pm game, they arrive between noon and 3 pm, so I imagine for a 4 pm game, they'll show up between 10 am and noon or so. The players' parking lot is on the corner of East 9th and Carnegie.

Food: East 4th. Michael Symon's restaurant is called Lola. There's also a House of Blues with decent food. Can also go to Brasa Grill or Blue Point Grille near Public Square. Depends how much you want to spend. For more affordable food, there are a ton of places right next to the Radisson on Huron, like Panini's, Winking Lizard Tavern, or Huron Point Tavern (formerly Alesci's, homemade Italian food). There's also a Hard Rock Cafe and a Morton's attached to Tower City Center's shopping mall.

In the ballpark, there are Food Network themed concession stands now. Haven't had them, but I imagine they're your best bet.

Most convenient hotel close to casino and ballpark would be the Radisson on Huron. You can also stay at the Renaissance Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, or Holiday Inn Express. The Hilton Garden Inn is very close to the ballpark, but would be the farthest from the casino. Renaissance is probably a 10-15 min walk to the ballpark, but right next to the casino.

Glad to help with any other questions. Just post here or shoot me a private message.

[Pressrunnr]

Most important, bring a win with you.

[NCWahoo]

Thanks for the quick info. I live in a small town and don't travel to a big city much. We'll only be there for two nights, so all your recommendations will help us enjoy our short stay much more.

Any time you want to come to Danbury, NC you can stay with me. I can cook a good steak.

David

[skatingtripods]

Thanks for the quick info. I live in a small town and don't travel to a big city much. We'll only be there for two nights, so all your recommendations will help us enjoy our short stay much more.

When you say "family", what are you talking? You, wife, and a kid or two? That'd be useful for letting you know what else you can do while you're in town. Also will help with dining recommendations.

If you are bringing kids, you have a decent shot at getting at least a couple autographs near the players' parking lot, especially because it shouldn't be too crowded by the gate with the lowly Pirates in town.

[NCWahoo]

The family is my wife and adult daughter. Daughter gave me the ball game tickets for Fathers Day

The plan is to arrive late Friday, sightsee a little Saturday morn, go to ballgame, then casino. Leaving Sunday around noon, so our time will be short. My wife and I are self-employed so it's our first time away in some time and may be our last out of town trip for a long time. At least I will be able to take one more item off my "bucket list".

Thanks again for your suggestions. I'm really looking forward to visiting Cleveland and seeing the Indians play (and win). I watch the games on TV and it looks like everyone has a great time there.

[skatingtripods]

Well, then I'd definitely recommend eating at Michael Symon's Lola. I'd call and make a reservation. Here's the website if you want to flip through the menu. I've also heard good things about The Greenhouse Tavern, but I've never eaten there. Whatever looks the best to you, I'd suggest a reservation a couple weeks in advance. There are a ton of other places. Rich (Swerb) is our resident Cleveland food connoisseur, he'd be better at recommendations than me.

Michael Symon's also going to have a restaurant in the casino, but I'm not sure it'll be open by mid-June when you're here.

Hopefully you'll have a great time.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

It's a great ballpark for the fans. No silly gimmicks like some newer ones. A brat with hot mustard and a cold beer..... great times.

[swerb]

Progressive Field is awesome - never get sick of watching baseball there. 20 years now. Just a great, great ball park.

Tripods suggestions about the ballpark, autographs, batting practice, and hotels is spot on.

Lola is outstanding. Other higher end places downtown, Mortons is my favorite of the steakhouses. Blue Point the best seafood. Chinato is a good new Italian place.

A little lower end, I like the atmosphere/food/prices at John Qs. Chocolate Bar, Greenhouse Tavern, Cadillac Ranch are good.

If you just want to get drinks and party with a lot of people ... Thirsty Parrot, Paninis, Flannerys, Harry Buffalo.

Have fun, enjoy your visit to Cleveland. If you have any more specific questions, gang here and myself would be happy to answer em.

[pod2dawg]

NC Wahoo,
If you can hit, they may ask you to stay awhile. ;)

[bookelly]

If you wanna go 1st class, the Ritz is available for around $200 a night, and you'd be right in the middle of everything. It's really, really nice there.