Best-of-Trip Awards

Best Fans: Milwaukee, with St. Louis a close second. Both games were sellouts, but there just seemed to be more dedication emanating from the Brewers fans. I suppose this is a bit of an upset selection, considering St. Louis' reputation.

Best Neighborhood: St. Louis, by a landslide. None of the other parks were downtown, except Minnesota, but that neighborhood was dead.

Best Out-of-Town Scoreboard: Busch Stadium (St. Louis). I think I've already written about the fact that the rest of them were pretty standard, while Busch's scoreboard provided in-game information, such as the current batter, runners on base and number of outs.

Best Promotion: The Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat, Kaufmann Stadium (Kansas City). I sat two rows behind the lucky owner of this seat. She won a copy of the book, The Soul of Baseball: A Roadtrip Through Buck O'Neil's America, by Joe Posnanski. I guess the promotions that night weren't all bad.

Best National Anthem: Barcel Suzuki String Academy, Miller Park (Milwaukee).

Best Performance (Pitcher): CC Sabathia, Milwaukee vs. Houston, August 18 (9 IP, 130 pitches, 11 H, 2 BB, 9 SO, 2 ER). Honorable mention: Justin Verlander, Detroit vs. Kansas City, August 22 (6 2/3 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 6 SO, 0 ER).

Best Performance (Batter): Albert Pujols, St. Louis vs. Atlanta, August 23 (3-for-5, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI). Honorable mentions: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit vs. Kansas City, August 22 (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI); Corey Hart, Milwaukee vs. Houston, August 18 (3-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI).

Best Beer: Summit Extra Pale Ale (St. Paul, Minnesota). Honorable mention: Boulevard Pale Ale (Kansas City, Missouri).

Best Motel/Hotel: Microtel Inn & Suites, Kansas City. I stayed here two nights because, for $65, this low-end suite was a tremendous value, especially when compared to the dumpy Super 8 I paid $80 to stay at in Ames, Iowa.

Friendliest People: The employees at the 18th & Vine Museums, Kansas City.

Best-Looking Women: St. Louis. Sorry, no pictures.