IT'S REALLY NOT A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME >>>

I grew up with Cheney Stadium: as a childhood Oakland A's fan - my family was from the bay area - trying to catch foul balls off the bats of Tacoma Tigers, to the last few years of tailgating with my heckle-happy co-workers. I've been to a few M's games at Safeco, but it's always felt like a foreign place, for someone else's teams. Cheney is my baseball home.

So it's interesting to see that, for all the shiny newness that bombards fans as they enter the overhauled stadium, once you're in the seats watching the game, very little has changed. Foss High School still looms in the background. All the players are still close enough to hear your cheers (or otherwise). Upper tier fans still make their way down to the front as less-dedicated season ticket holders flee the rain. If we could have seen the sun at any point it would no doubt have thoroughly blinded everyone on the first base line.

The biggest changes seem to be in the moneymaking department. Turn toward home plate and it's tough to miss the grand wall of suites. Wander through concessions - and there are now concessions literally every way you turn in the concourse - with an ever-widening array of options with an ever-climbing host of prices. After all, if you can charge $3.50 for a bag of peanuts, how much do you think you can charge for four half-pound burger patties and eight strips of bacon on a whole ciabatta loaf? (Hint: a lot)

No doubt there are a host of structural improvements to ensure that the stadium won't fall apart for another 50 years. And many people will appreciate the updated bathrooms - not epic masterpieces of toiletry beauty by any means, but it's nice not to be pissing in a trough.

The best part of what's changed is what's stayed the same. Same game, same fans, same Tacoma baseball.

The Tacoma Rainiers lost their home opener to the Sacramento River Cats, 6-5.

P.S. I must also give personal props to the location of the moderately giant bike rack. As the friendly parking attendant told me, "Right up front." With the Scott Pierson Trail skirting the border of the lot, cycling baseball fans are a good demographic to account for. When it's dry enough for people less crazy than me.

LINK: Home opener loss stats