U.S. Cellular Field on opening day 2013 (Getty Images)

Have a baseball road trip coming up? Well, in a bid to help you with your upcoming journeys, Big League Stew has solicited the help of the locals. Over the next month or so, we'll be hitting up our usual guest blogger crew to feature 10 tips for enjoying each of the 30 ballparks like the locals do. Have a suggestion in addition to the ones listed here? Make sure to list it in the comments below.

My good friend Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star likes to compare big league ballparks to supermodels. You might have your favorites, he says, but none of them are ugly.

It's a sentiment I really like, especially because I like to judge each of the 30 ballparks on their own merits. I'm the writer who once found 10 reasons to like Tropicana Field as a World Series site and I'm among the most vehement defenders of U.S. Cellular Field, the South Side home of the Chicago White Sox. "The Cell," as it's known by locals, is often derided for not being Wrigley Field or like any members of the avalanche of retro ballparks that followed The Cell's opening in 1991. It's a somewhat understandable reaction. Any honest White Sox fan will admit they'd love to go back in time to convince Jerry Reinsdorf to adopt the retro Armour Square plan that presumably would have beat Camden Yards to market by a season.

At the very least, they'd like to flog him with a wet noodle for not making sure The Cell faced Chicago's magnificent skyline instead of the since-demolished housing projects across the Dan Ryan Expressway.

But crying over those missteps over 20 years later takes energy and time away from touting what has become a very good place to watch a baseball game since some big renovations early last decade. The elimination of several rows of nose-bleed seats, the addition of a roof and presence of some underrated traditions make The Cell a cozy must-visit when you're in Chicago for a midsummer trip.

Once you get past that it's not Wrigley Field — something that should be an easy task for any true baseball fan — you'll find that U.S. Cellular Field brings a unique Chicago baseball experience in its own way. Here are 10 tips for maximizing your trip to the only place in town that has played host to a Windy City World Series winner.

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The rattling that Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals took by slamming into the outfield fence at Dodger Stadium on Monday has cost him his beard.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports that Harper needed to shave his face in order for medical staff to sew stitches were he cut his chin on the fence:

Harper said he's sore and feels nauseous, but otherwise no worse for the wear. Said he was most upset about having to shave his beard.

— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) May 14, 2013

Though he is due for more tests, the Nats say Harper does not have a concussion — which is hard to believe not only because of the jolt he obviously suffered but also because Harper says he's nauseous. That's a classic symptom. But if Harper's beard has become a casualty, then maybe this is all al blessing in disguise. That facial hair made Harper look like a movie villain. Hey, don't you agree, Vin Scully?

This had all the makings of a heroic moment, and Jun-Woo Jeon was ready to be a hero. Too ready, it would turn out. Jeon, of the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization, was up with a runner on base in the ninth inning, his team down two runs. So when he launched a deep fly to left field, he gave us the hero reaction: the bat flip, the slow trot, the finger-pointing to the dugout. He had just tied the game! And then the ball was caught on the warning track. Oops.

The best part is the shocked and devastated look on Jeon's face. He just stands on first base, stunned and probably embarrassed, while one opposing player pats him on the back and others laugh.

Next meal at Waffle House, it's on me. (Getty)Jeremy Affeldt makes $6 million a year pitching for the San Francisco Giants, and reportedly has grossed at least $30 million since joining the major leagues in 2002. But all of that money hasn't gone to his head. And some of it didn't even stay in his bank account, once Affeldt realized it wasn't his to keep.

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle examined Tuesday what happened when Affeldt discovered in 2010 that he was being overpaid $500,000 because of a clerical error the Giants made when typing up his contract:

Affeldt got three opinions saying the contract was ironclad and he could keep the extra $500,000, from the Players Association, agent Michael Moye and even Giants assistant general manager Bobby Evans.

Affeldt recalled Moye telling him, "You know what? As your agent I've got to tell you that legally you can keep it. As a man who represents integrity, I'm saying you should give it back."

And that's what Affeldt said he did, redoing the contract with the $500,000 excised.

"I talked to Bobby the next day and said, 'I can't take that money,' " Affeldt said. " 'I won't sleep well at night knowing I took that money because every time I open my paycheck I'll know it's not right.' "

Affeldt's two-year contract extension called for him to be paid a total of $10 million, so the unintended bonus of $500,000 represents 5 percent. That would be a significant chuck of change to Joe Average.

If you watched the video we posted recently of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu playing catch with a young fan at Dodger Stadium and said, "More players should do this" (and many people did have that reaction), then here you go:

This time it's Washington Nationals star Gio Gonzalez playing catch with a kid named Trent in the stands before Monday's game with the Dodgers. What makes this video different than the previous one is that Trent's dad is giving us commentary as he records.

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Hardly a month after right-hander Zack Greinke of the Los Angeles Dodgers fractured his left collarbone fighting with Padres slugger Carlos Quentin, his team scheduled him to start against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night. Instead of returning eight weeks after his surgery in April, he's back in five.

Zack Greinke: Speed healer.

Greinke made a minor-league rehab start Saturday, and must figure that getting through it is enough to knock off the rust, and that there's nothing left to prove for Class A Rancho Cucamonga. His faster-than-hoped return is great news for the Dodgers, who have lacked positive results in starting the season 16-22. But every bit of good news for the Dodgers seems to bring with it some bad.

The Los Angeles Times writes that right-hander Josh Beckett, who is troubled by a sore groin, might take Greinke's spot on the disabled list. Regardless, Greinke is ready to step off tonight at Dodger Stadium:

Not only did the San Francisco Giants give Melky Cabrera his 2012 World Series ring Tuesday night, they returned much of the equipment he had left behind at AT&T Park during a hasty exit this past summer. Included among Cabrera's items were some of his old bats, one of which he used to knock out four hits in a 10-6 victory for the Toronto Blue Jays.

It figures, given that Cabrera got himself suspended in August after testing positive for testosterone, leaving the Giants without one of their best hitters for the pennant drive. Cabrera addressed all of that in a post-game interview with the help of coach Luis Rivera, who translated and gave paraphrased quotes. The Associated Press writes:

Cabrera's big night came with bats he used while playing for the Giants last year, black bats stamped with an orange 53, his jersey number.

''I left some bats last season and Murph (Mike Murphy, the Giants equipment manager) sent them to me and I was using them today,'' Cabrera said through a translator.

Cabrera also left the Giants, pretty much, without saying good-bye. Or saying he was sorry, or saying anything. His quick and quiet departure caused puzzlement, if not bad feelings. Of course, we know now that the Giants won the World Series anyway, and Cabrera got a nice free-agent deal from the Blue Jays despite an association with performance-enhancing drugs.

Still, it must have been with some awkward feelings that Giants manager Bruce Bochy presented Cabrera with his championship ring in a quick, quiet and private ceremony in a hallway between clubhouses at the Rogers Centre before the first pitch. The handoff differed from what was done with Nate Schierholtz, who got his ring in a public (if informal) ceremony at Wrigley Field in April.

(Getty)

The Juice returns for season No. 6! It's almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more.

Not counting Game 3 of the 2012 ALDS against the Yankees (which counts but ... you know), Jim Johnson had logged a Baltimore Orioles record 35 straight saves going back to July. No more, the San Diego Padres said Tuesday night. With two outs in the ninth, Chris Denorfia hit a tying single and Everth Cabrera followed with a go-ahead knock to lift the Padres to a 3-2 victory at Camden Yards. Afterward, it was business as usual for Johnson, who said he never thought much of the streak. Orioles manager Buck Showalter told the Baltimore Sun of Johnson's postgame activity:

“He's grinding out on a bicycle,” he said, “Getting ready for [Wednesday].”

Never turn your back on Felix: This is why Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez can never, ever leave a ballgame under any circumstances. Hernandez took a three-run lead into the sixth inning against CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees Music Factory, but he tweaked his back on a comebacker by Curtis Granderson. The Grandy Man, in his first game back after breaking his arm during spring training, must have transferred his injury curse mojo to King Felix, who finished the inning with discomfort and didn't come out for the seventh. Hernandez said it's "nothing serious" and that he would be fine for his next start, but the M's couldn't hold on against the Yankees, who rallied for three runs in the seventh and won 4-3.