Baseball Diaries

Pulaski Mariners vs. Danville Braves

2012-01-12T20:46:00.000-05:00

July 20, 2011

Wednesday night

with Marc and Erik

Calfee Park, Pulaski, VA

Check out this awesome place! Calfee Park - originally built in 1935 as part of the WPA.

(photo by Marc I think)

I think Erik was offering this Braves pitcher some dip.

The offer was refused and the gate was closed on us.

Erik wasn't inside for more than 30 seconds before it was mascot time.

(photo by Erik)

We all loved this ballpark. We had never even heard of it before this trip. It was mellow and kind of awesome. It was so mellow that there was no dizzy bat race or 7th inning dance off or anything. It was so mellow that the kids didn't even chase after foul balls. In fact, was it awesome or was it too Twilight Zone-like?

Marc was in love with the section of suites which are pictured below - basically they were just picnic benches.

I proposed that we go sit in the empty "suite" reserved for the Pulaski Community Hospital. Erik noticed a seat reserved for Dr. Herman. We contemplated impersonating the good doctor.

A few minutes later, a Pulaski hitter was hit in the head by a throw from the Danville catcher in a failed pick off attempt at first. For a brief moment, we felt fortunate that we hadn't pretended to be doctors. Paging Dr. Herman. Paging Dr. Herman.

After the batter recovered his senses, he remained in the game. The very next pitch was a 2 run home run! Take that Danville! And Dr. Herman's services weren't even needed.

I couldn't get enough of the trees, the hills, the houses, the houses on the hills.

Post game stroll to the locker rooms.

Erik took a picture of me through the Danville team bus.

(photo by Erik)

And I took a picture of him.

And Marc got in on the action too.
(photo by Marc)

Posted: 1/12/12

Norfolk Tides vs. Toledo Mud Hens

2011-12-11T21:09:00.002-05:00

July 19, 2011

Tuesday night

with Marc and Erik

Norfolk, VA

It was Kraft Two for One night at the ballpark. All we needed to bring was a Kraft Cheese wrapper and we could get two tickets for the price of one! Erik had even bought some

cheese back in Brooklyn for this very purpose. Sadly, he left the wrapper back in NY. Luckily for us, a guy in line gave us an extra wrapper so the day was saved.

We received high fives from the ticket takers as we entered. Lovely. Perhaps we received the high fives because it was Faith Night?

Mascot Tally thus far: 3 games, 3 mascots.

(photo by Erik)

Posing with random vendors tally, 3 games, 1 vendor photo.

Back in '08, the three of us had a speed pitch competition. I peaked early in the trip with a completely underwhelming 56 MPH. Erik tied me in the last game but was in pain for days afterwards. Since then, he keeps trying to beat the vaunted 56. He hasn't been able to do it and I refuse to try until he does. I know my limitation.

This is a picture of what throwing below 56 MPH looks like.

See above.

On another note, I have countless photos on these trips of stadium workers and random passersby checking Erik out while he competes in stadium events. But they always ignore Marc and me. No judgement, just an observation.

Bring on the clowns!

(photo by Erik)

David Johanson has really fallen on hard times.
(photo by Erik)

The night was mellow. That is until RACCOON!!!!

I like that Balgavy is in the lower left corner.

The raccoon got scared and took off around the corner. Erik went for a closer look. Marc and I didn't want to get too close though. As Marc stated, "They've got the rabies."

And there it goes.

(photo by Erik)

What an event. As Erik pointed, "That was the first time I've ever heard 'Raccoon!" yelled at a game."

The view behind the bullpen. For at least an inning, I thought that the decrepit building by the water was the bullpen pitchers' bullpen. It wasn't.

After Orioles farmhand Ryan Adams hit a home run, a nearby battleship shot a celebratory firework display. Actually, that didn't happen but I wish that it had. There were no battleships or fireworks anywhere in sight on this night.

This did happen though - Marc said, "That ball was hit so hard it landed in Whiskeytown." Pause. Giggle. "I love me."

I love America.

(photo by Erik)

On the way out.
(photo by Erik)

Other things of note:

1. There was a Timo Perez sighting on the Mud Hens! Timo!!!

2. We missed Jerry Lawler Night by a mere 5 days.

For pictures from earlier in the day, check here.

Posted: 12/11/11

Hickory Crawdads 5 Delmarva Shorebirds 0

2011-11-28T23:14:00.000-05:00

July 18, 2011

Monday night

with Marc and Erik

Delmarva, MD

First of all, let me just state that this ballpark smelled. Secondly, let me just mention that if you were ever wondering what happened to the next Cal Ripken (Mr. Ryan Minor) wonder no more. He is now the manager of the Class A Delmarva Shorebirds.

We were excited to arrive on The Eastern Shore for our second game of the day.

Upon entry, I was impressed by this Brad Bergeson pennant. Too bad no one bothers to proofread these things. According to this banner, he pitched for the Shorebirds when was 11-years-old. I guess he peaked too early.

Marc snagged a T-shirt that was thrown our way. He wasn't as excited about this horrible shirt as he was by this great one back in '06.
(photo by Erik)

Fore! The kid in the orange shorts couldn't take his eyes off of Sweet Touch.

Before the NBA labor agreement, Erik was hoping to be a scab.

(photo by Marc I think)

What is this - Detroit?

(photo by Erik)

The Crawdads took it to the Shorebirds.

We explored the gift shop. Hi Earl!

And then we had a choice of the arcade or some fruit smoothies. We chose the arcade.

Before we left, we had time for some more mascot-on-Erik action.
(photo by Erik)

The mascot is definitely saying, "Get a load of this guy" with his body language here.
(photo by Marc? Sorry dude, I can't remember which pictures you took.)

Hitching a ride to the next destination.

A few other things of note.

- Marc really enjoyed the way the visiting pitcher pitched but for the life of me, I can't remember why.

- Erik was so busy playing games and posing with mascots that he didn't realize that the Crawdads are a Rangers affiliate and that we had watched two of their top prospects play - Jake Skole and Jurrickson Profar.

- Our tickets were only two dollars.

After the game, there were some shenanigans.

Posted: 11/28/11

Lowell Spinners 11 Cyclones 5

2011-11-14T20:58:00.000-05:00

July 18, 2011

Monday afternoon

with Marc and Erik

Brooklyn

The original plan for the 2011 Baseball Trip was to go to Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. However, due to the declining health of my dad, I decided it made more sense to stay within a few hours drive of MD. Marc and Erik agreed and we quickly came up with a new plan for the trip. The first game was supposed to be on a Monday night on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

But ... when I was at the Cyclones game the day before, I found out that not only were the Cyclones playing a 12:00 game on Monday afternoon but that Jose Reyes was going to be playing his last rehab game before coming back to the Mets. I immediately thought one thing - two park doubleheader! Marc and Erik agreed and we quickly came up with a new plan for the trip. We figured if we left the game by 2:00, we wouldn't have a problem getting to the night game on time. It was a plan just crazy enough to work!

Just be prepared for a lot of Jose Reyes photos to follow.

Hey - look it's Jose Reyes playing shortstop!

Hey - look it's Jose Reyes at the plate!

The players were excited to watch Reyes hit as well.

The first of many Erik and mascot photos on this trip.
(photo by Erik)

I wasn't the only one taking photos of Jose.

Cheering for Jose.

The summer camp kids cared more about making a racket and being annoying than watching Jose.

Legging out a double.

On third. I was hoping he'd try to steal home. He didn't. But he did score.

After taking the field for the 7th, Jose was called off the field to rapturous applause. It was almost 2:00 anyway, so we took off. It was perfect timing.

How many hours to Delmarva?

The only other thing of note was that the dad of one of the Cyclones players was sitting right behind us. So if Cole Frenzel (7th round pick) ever makes it to the Mets, I'll always have that to put on my pedigree.

Posted: 11/14

Brooklyn Cyclones 4 Lowell Spinners 1

2011-08-09T23:23:00.000-04:00

July 17, 2011
Sunday evening
with Sujan, Sam, Otis, Donovan, Amy, Elliott, Dave, Henry, Matt, Liz, and Carrie
Coney Island

After a day driving back from Maryland, the boys weren't exactly in the best mood for a baseball game. But there's nothing that a crusher can't fix.

One of the draws for this game was that Toodee from Yo Gabba Gabba! was there. The line was super long, everything was super disorganized, and the boys were in no mood to wait. So we took some covert photos. And even though we didn't get a good shot, at least we got to see a player named Daniel Muno. Hopefully, he makes the Mets while the boys still love Yo Gabba.

Sam had zero interest.

The bullpen. Throw a quarter in the cup, win a ball.

Otis didn't win a ball.

By the 7th inning or so, we ended up at the playground overlooking the field. I dug this guy's John Maine shirt.

Otis pondered about whatever happened to John Maine.

I like how you can see Donovan, Amy, and Dave in the background.

This kid loves to swing.

Oh, hello.

I'm not sure what was happening here other than Elliott was hiding.

Otis cracked up thinking about what he calls the Cyclones - The Baby Mets.

Best ... baseball game ... EVER.

Posted: 8/9

Athletics 7 Mets 3

2011-08-08T21:37:00.000-04:00

June 21, 2010
Tuesday night
with Marc and Matt
Queens

Dillon Gee lost his first game of the season to fall to 7-1. Jemille Weeks scored 3 runs. The A's won their 6th in a row after losing 13 out of 14. But the story of the night was somehow Marc injured himself while eating a pretzel.

This e-mail exchange occurred the next day.

Marc, "I just felt a throbbing pain in my finger. Realized the pain is from biting that finger last night."

Matt, "I already forgot, was that on the pretzel or the chicken fingers?"

Marc, "Pretzel. I like that I'll forget about this until Dan's write-up of the game. I don't think I'd know a single thing about any baseball game I've attended without those."

You're welcome Balgavy.

(photo by Matt with his fancy smartphone)

Speaking of pretzels, there was a discussion about what was worse - the pretzels at Shea Stadium or the pretzels at Penn Station. Having never had a Penn Station pretzel, I can't imagine they could be worse. Anyone out there ever sampled both?

Matt and I also discussed whether or not Gary Carter was actually good or not. I said yes. He said no. I think I won the argument once he actually bothered to look at his year-by-year stats.

Jose Reyes fell down at one point and Matt and I were amused at the thought of Otis yelling out, "Jose fall down." Or maybe I was the only one amused.

Matt was also amused at Jason Bay's choice of walk-up songs - Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam. He said it felt like it fit perfectly with what he'd picture Jason Bay would listen to.

Matt also wondered who would even want Carlos Beltran in a trade and insisted that the Mets wouldn't get anything good for him.

Zach Wheeler and I both like proving him wrong.

Athletics: 34-40
Mets: 35-38

Published: 8/8

Angels 7 Mets 3

2011-08-07T22:44:00.000-04:00

June 19, 2011
Sunday afternoon
with Jason and three students
Queens

After a few years off from being bid on, it was time to be part of a school auction again. In the pre Double Trouble days, it used to be Sujan and me. This year, I asked a co-worker Jason if he wanted to join in the fun.

Not only was he excited, but he photoshopped this hilarious picture to pump the kids up.

After the auction, we had a winner to take the place of David Wright. Congratulations Louis! But who would he choose to go with him?

After a few days of debate, he made a choice. But who was going to replace Jose?

Louis was very indecisive about who the third kid would be. Eventually, the decision was made but not in enough time to photoshop a new picture. Still, we got this nice shot in front of the apple.
(photo by Jason)

We watched a couple of pitches from this vantage point before the kids let us know it was time to get some food.

We sat in our seats for maybe an inning or two. We did successfully convince the boys to fill out All Star ballots though.

None of the boys had had much experience at the batting cages. 9 pitches were tossed. None were even fouled off.

Strike 9!

Jason and I spent a lot of time helping the boys pick out what souvenirs to buy. Louis couldn't decide what to buy. At the very last moment, he decided to plunk down 40 bucks or so on a Mets toaster. That's right - a contraption that makes Mets toast.

I tried to talk him out of it by reminding him that he liked the Yankees, not the Mets. He said, "Yeah, that's exactly why I want to buy this. So every morning, I can eat the Mets and destroy them." How can I argue with that logic?"

Cotton candy on the subway. Pure gluttony. Perfect.
(photo by Jason)

We dropped the boys off and I made Louis promise he'd have his mom send me a picture of the toast. Within a couple of hours, I received this brilliant pic.

Apparently, Vernon Wells went 3 for 4 with a homer and 3 RBI in this game but I'm not sure I even watched a pitch. Jon Niese got spanked (according to the boxscore.) Go Mets!

Angels: 35-38

Mets: 35-37

Posted: 8/7

Pirates 9 Mets 3

2011-08-04T16:07:00.000-04:00

June 1, 2011
Wednesday night
with Jason, Marc, and Erik
Queens

This game will live in my memory for pretty much only one reason - this guy.

(photo by Jason)

Let me explain --

Jason and I were in line for the game. This guy cut in front of me and I told him that the end of the line was behind me not in front. He then trudged over to the line next to me and gave me a sneer. I gave him a fake round of applause.

As luck would have it, we both ended up entering through the gate at the exact same time. I said to him, "Congratulations" or something like that.

He said, "What? What? What are you going to do about it? What are you - a pussy?"

I responded, "I'm not going to do anything about it other than call you on it and tell you that you are an asshole to your face."

We started jawing at each other in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. He kept challenging me to hit him. I eventually called him a fat f#&@. At this point, a security guy came over and whisked us out of the stadium. Was I about to kicked out of the game before I even got to my seats? I was so looking forward to attending my first game with Jason since 2002. Instead, the security guy took us to his supervisor who wanted to know if me and the fat f$%# knew each other. When he heard that we didn't, he told us to stop yelling at each other and go back in.

The security guy then told me that they had had a problem with that guy before and were trying to send a message to him. But how exactly does that send a message to him if you slap us both on the wrists and then let us both back in? We both went back into the rotunda. He made it ahead of me to the top of the escalator. When I got to the top, I told him how talented he was and inquired if he'd cut in line to get me a burger at Shake Shack. His response was "Grow up man - just like the security guy told you." I told him he was awesome again and left as he yelled gibberish at my back.

The odd thing is that I'm convinced I've seen this guy before making trouble but I can't place him. Anyone recognize him?

The game itself was a frustrating one. The Mets took a 2-0 lead to the 7th where they promptly gave up 5 in that inning and 4 the next. Ugly. Kevin Correia improbably became the first eight game winner in the majors. In the 7th, Sujan e-mailed me this message, "This inning pretty much personifies the Mets since 2007." It was and has been a constant comedy of errors.

And without David Wright, Ike Davis (both injured), and Jose Reyes (bereavement list) the lineup was pretty weak. There were way too many Mets with lower slugging percentages than on base percentages. The team should really market a new blue and orange T-shirt with the slogan "Snakebit, baby!"

A few days before the game, Erik put this post on Craigslist:

Wanted: Old, used Mets print at home ticket wanted (Anywhere)

Hello there, I have a favor to ask of a kind soul out there. I'm looking for a PDF of the print at home ticket sent from the Mets to someone who has used one in the past. I'm hoping to use the image at the top for a school project (I'm a teacher), and my attempt to re-create it has fallen short. You're welcome to remove your name or the transaction information on the ticket, but if you don't, rest assured, that information will simply go into my computer's recycle bin once I copy the top image. If anyone can forward one along to me, I would be grateful.
Thanks so kindly!

Unfortunately, no one sent him a ticket that he could use. But that didn't stop him from his Photoshopping magic anyway and we ended up in our vaunted seats once again. Viva la Sweet Touch! Marc is such a rule follower though that I'm not sure he enjoyed the good view. Or a beer for that matter.

Pirates: 26-28

Mets: 25-30

Posted: 8/4

Mets 9 Phillies 5

2011-06-13T21:05:00.001-04:00

May 29, 2011
Sunday afternoon
with SHR, Sam, Otis, and Matt
Queens

This was Otis and Sam's first game of the year. And they were so excited. They have really gotten into baseball this year. Otis loves calling out "home run" every time the ball is hit. He now knows what a flyout is some of the time. And SHR taught them what a triple is. They can name most of the key Mets (and even some of the non key ones) instantly.

We arrived to the game and they were so excited. SHR took Sam out but then we realized that I should do a little bit better job of parking. So I got back in the car with Otis still in his car seat. He thought we were leaving and started crying out, "Mets game! Mets game!"

When we entered the ballpark we got free baseball cards. We were hoping to get a Beltran or Reyes card. Instead we got 2 David Wrights, 2 Ike Davis's, and 2 Jason Bays. 2 injured guys, 1 sucky guy, and all white.

The boys were happy though and let us know that David Wright and Ike were not playing because they had owies. They assured me that Jose was playing though. I had told them that Carlos might not play (it was a day game after a night game after all) and they kept saying Carlos nehneh (Japanese word for nap) over and over even after I told them that Carlos was playing.

Sam dragged SHR to get a better view of the 7 train.

A baseball card and a train = perfect day.

Let's go Mets!

The Mets were great. They scored 4 runs in both the 1st and 2nd innings. But all the boys cared about was Jose. He had 4 hits, including 2 triples. It was the third time this year he had two triples in a game. The boys were a little confused on what to focus on at the beginning but they got the hang of it. Every time Reyes was in the field, they'd say "Jose walking." When he legged out his triples, it was "Jose running!" But most of the excitement was reserved for "Oh 7 train coming!"

But my favorite Double Trouble quote of the day was the Big O's statement of "Big party" every time there was cheering.

In the 4th or 5th inning, we went down to the kids area where Sam thought that he was 7-years-old and tried to sneak into the action. He wanted to take balls and throw them everywhere. We had to put an end to that which led to a tantrum. He also got upset when we decided not to buy a $23 Mets train car that he fancied. We had to leave in the 5th. Otis would have stayed but with the 9-1 lead in hand, we felt confident that the Mets wouldn't blow it.

Lost in the excitement of Double Trouble's first game of the year is the fact that this was Matt's first ever Mets game.

On the walk to the car, we saw some Phillies fans. SHR tried to get the boys to call out "Boo Phillies." Otis tried and said "Boo Foolies." Sam got mad and said, "No! Boo Yankees!"

They fell asleep in the car. When we got home, we asked them if they wanted to watch the end of the Mets game. Otis said, "Inside! On the TV!" I don't think he wanted to head back to Queens. Although for the next few days, he did like to keep repeating that we had gone to Citi Field.

Boo Foolies! They almost made a real comeback of it.

Sam was inspired to draw this illustration of the day's action.

That night, Otis slept with his Jason Bay card and Sam slept with his Ike David card.

More pictures from the day can be found here.

Phillies: 33-20

Mets: 24-28

Posted: 6/13

Phillies 6 Mets 4

2011-06-08T20:26:00.001-04:00

May 27, 2011
Friday night
with SHR, Sean, and Rebecca
Queens

This was Sean and Rebecca's first Mets game. In fact, I want to say this might have been Sean's first ever sporting event with more than 50 people in attendance but that might be a slight exaggeration.

The game was a pretty good one for the first 7 innings. The Mets took a 4-2 lead into the 7th. Chris Capuano continued his solid pitching, Jose Reyes stayed torrid, and Justin Turner had 4 hits. But it wasn't enough to withstand the rookie Domonoc Brown's late onslaught.

He entered the game in the 8th, singled, stole a base, and scored a run. In the 9th, he hit the game tying single as Francisco Rordiguez went onto to blow the save. Bah. The Mets lost their 5th game out of 6 after having played well for a number of weeks.

Right as SHR left the seats, the "official fan photographer" stopped by to take a photo. They clearly hate Koreans in Flushing.
Other things of note:
- Some Mets player (I can't remember who) has a 50 Cent song as his intro song. There were some complaints that the song was overplayed. I could proudly say that I had never heard it before because that's how out of the loop I am.

- Willie Harris's intro song is Michael Jackson's Pretty Young Thing which impressed Sean. We wondered if Harris was referring to himself as a pretty young thing.

- I learned what 4chan is. I had no idea. I'm not upset that I had never heard the 50 Cent song but am a bit annoyed I had no idea about this. But it did allow SHR and I the opportunity to tell Sean and Rebecca about the Opening Day where the Mets got Rickrolled.

- Sean and Rebecca filled us in on their recent visit to Pittsburgh and how we all are planning to move there one day if we could just get everyone in Brooklyn to join us.

- The Mets newbies were a bit taken aback by the stink that is Willets Point. Can you blame them?

First Mets game!!!!!

Phillies: 32-19
Mets: 23-27

Posted: 6/8

Mets 6 Dodgers 3

2011-05-09T20:59:00.003-04:00

May 6, 2011
Friday night
with Marc, Mitch, and Dave
Queens

I began this game bored with baseball but ended the game excited about it again. I'm not quite sure how that happened.

Could it have the discussions of the new film adaptation of Thor? Maybe the debate about how new Met and king of the 3 run home run Jason Pridie pronounces his name. (It's Pride-ee by the way.) Maybe it was being amused by Marc being so grumpy about how loud the music and announcements were. "All I want to do is go to a game and be able to talk to my friends and I can't even do that!"

If not those things, it might have been Mitch likening his Blue Smoke chicken breast to Kate Moss. Or maybe a half inning discussion about what Pete Buck was up to before and after The Baseball Project show the week before. It could have been sharing the nuggets of wisdom that the world famous composer and father of a student in my class shared with me during a recent parent-teacher conference about how no one in the world is really happy, now are they?

Because it probably wasn't the excitement of seeing Andre Ethier extend his hitting streak to 30 games (it ended the next night). And it couldn't have been the exciting play of Jose Reyes who hit 2 triples, a double, scored twice, was on base 4 times, and stole a base. Or seeing Ike Davis blast his 7th home run. Or the Mets continuing their solid play of late.

It definitely wasn't any of those aspects of the night. It had to have been how much fun it is to see how angry Dave gets when he sees Cowbell Man who has decided to take the hyphen out of his name these days. And even that annoyed Dave who muttered to himself, "Cowbell Man, how are you spelling your name these days, asshole?"

Baseball is #1!
Mets: 14-18
Dodgers: 15-18

Posted: 5/9

UPDATE:
Dave sent this to me in an e-mail.

“Cow-Bell Man”: http://gothamist.com/attachments/tien/2007_04_cowbell.jpg

“Cowbellman”: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4498837976_ecebf1d579.jpg

(Perhaps my favorite. “Sadie, let me tell you about the buffet at the Cowbellman bar mitzvah…”)

I have also seen him with “Cowbell Man” (last Friday night) and “Cow Bell Man”.

Asshole.

Nats 6 Mets 2

2011-05-05T20:43:00.000-04:00

April 8, 2011
Friday afternoon
with SHR, Marc, and Erik
Queens

Another bitterly cold Opening Day for me. But that's fine. I don't care how cold it is, I like going when I get the chance. This was my first time Opening Day in three years. And it wasn't nearly as cold as that Sunday night game in Baltimore seven years ago. That was cold.

It was nice to know that the Mets' staff were in midseason form. A persnickety usher asked me to present my ticket to him 30 minutes before the game in the upper deck. What? Lame.

I also was trying to buy tickets for a future game but the ticket office wasn't open upstairs. I guess they've already given up on selling advance tickets on Opening Day. The Mets really are a Cracker Jack operation.

But who cares? I can at least be optimistic for a few minutes before the first pitch.

I love the pomp and circumstance of Opening Day! David Wright!

What is this? Yankee Stadium 2001? It's not like Osama bin Laden had been killed yet or anything.

Once again - the Mets brought out all the stops for the big event - Michael Amante!!!!!!! And he totally was rocking the white pants. 6 weeks before Memorial Day, no less!

He was good but he has definitely lost something from this glorious rendition a few years back. And who can get this sight out of one's head? Some things you just can't unsee.

On another note, I loved this guy's attire.

First pitch. RA Dickey delivered the goods.
Unfortunately, he wasn't so good on the day. He only lasted five innings. Apparently, he cracked a fingernail in the 1st inning which led to him not being able to control his knuckleball. I wonder what his excuse has been in the subsequent month of crapitude. On the day, the Mets pitchers walked 9 batters.

It might have only been 42 degrees and rainy but this toy rabbit had fun. I brought him as part of a school project. He's no Doala but he'll do.

Other things of note:
1. SHR and I decided that we wouldn't be opposed to Beltran coming back in 2012 if he agrees to two things in a new contract - choose a new intro song to his at-bats and (more importantly) have his mole removed.

2. SHR had the quote of the day about Jayson Werth's behemoth new contract with the Nats, "Apparently no one in Washington manages money well."

3. The woman behind us who keep calling out ,"I love DICKey" somehow managed to become more and more annoying with each utterance.

4. The homophobic slurs directed at Jayson Werth at one point led me to secretly root for him to hit a three run home run to get the jerk to shut up.

Met killer Willie Harris has finally joined up with the good guys. What a badass!

Taking the rough with the smooch: The two sides of Wee Willie Harris.

The Mets are #11!

We left early. As did countless others. The announced sold out figure of 42,000 also seemed quite inflated.

A sad, empty stadium. The first of many to come this season I'm sure.

Mets: 3-4
Nats: 3-4

Posted: 5/5

Yankees 6 Astros 4

2011-04-20T18:07:00.002-04:00

March 25, 2011
Friday night
with Jim, Jamie, and Marc
Tampa, FL

I'm glad I had the one great spring training experience at the game earlier in the day. Because this game and the whole experience was as terrible as you'd expect a Yankees spring training game to be. I've kind of blocked it all out. I do remember though that the fans and especially the ballpark staff all seemed like the genuine obnoxious Yankees article.

Need I say more? Jeter at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Boo!!!!!

Good view of the bullpen as we left. We left early.

Even seeing the replica of Yankee Stadium lattice work made me steamed. I was prepared to hate the whole endeavor. I was in midseason Yankees hating form.

Never again.

For more pictures from the trip, check here, here, and here.
Posted: 4/20

Rays 9 Pirates 5

2011-04-13T22:10:00.001-04:00

March 25, 2011
Friday afternoon
with Jamie, Marc, and Jim
Port Charlotte, FL

Now this is what I was hoping for from a spring training game! Especially after the events from the night before. No need for advance tickets. Sun, relaxation, and a chance to be close to the players. I can't wait to take my first family vacation to Port St. Lucie in a few years.

We settled in on a grassy knoll.

Smartphones ruined the spring training trip.

I love spring training.

Jamie and I took a walk around the park. This picture was taken moments before we were told by an usher not to lean on the fence.

These clowns weren't told squat.

I love spring training.

Hangover Jim spent the game at the bar in the shade nursing a ginger ale or something.

I love spring training.

This is probably my favorite baseball photo from the trip.
Right after I took this photo, a couple of dudes from Cleveland chatted up the coach inquiring about the speed of Peralta's pitches. He didn't know so he asked Peralta and then reported back to the fans. That sort of interaction would not happen during a regular season game. At least not in New York.

Jamie thought I was crazy but something about this sign reminded me of a sign at a Nazi concentration camp. Work will set you free! We are one team! Go Rays!

They sold beer until the very last out. I love spring training. This vendor's name was Fungus.

This game was notable for being the last time I saw Manny being Manny in person. Thanks for the memories Manny!

Posted: 4/13

Twins 5 Orioles 2

2011-04-11T17:30:00.000-04:00

March 23, 2011
Wednesday night
with Jim, Marc, and Jamie
Fort Myers, FL

After a day of betting on dogs and eating at Hooter's, it was time for my first ever spring training game. And all I can say is ... eh.

I was hoping for a relaxing vibe. What I got was an oversold ballpark where I couldn't even see anything or have any space.

Back when things were hopeful ...

The ballpark was built in 1991 - right before Camden Yards and the craze to build parks with ample standing room areas. There wasn't one at all here. But that didn't stop them from selling hundreds of standing room only tickets. Yet, there was nowhere to sit or stand to actually see the game. If we had gotten to the game early, we could have staked out a spot to stand in front of the second section of seats. Alas, we weren't early so we were pretty much screwed.

Jamie and I walked around the stadium a couple of times just to see some of the game.

There was one standing room area that was super packed. If I held my camera up high, I could see the game.

If I didn't hold my camera up high, this was the best I could hope for. Joe Mauer, Derrek Lee, and a huge schnozz. I think that is actually a song title on the new Baseball Project LP.

We left during the 5th inning right after Mauer hit. Luckily, we had a much better experience for our next game.

Posted: 4/11/11

Braves 6 Mets 4

2011-03-07T16:37:00.000-05:00

September 17, 2010
Friday night
with Erik, Marc, Mooney, and Paul
Queens

The Mets were desperate to fill the seats last September. So desperate they called me to offer me free box seats for a game. How could I say no?

Especially when the Wilpons were pulling out all the stops to make my experience as a fan a memorable one. Go Mets!

No complaints about the seats.
(photo by Mooney or Erik. At this point, I don't remember.)

The most exciting thing about the game through the first few innings was Lucas Duda's first career home run. We had actually seen him play a couple of years ago in New Britain. I couldn't tell if he still looked like Matt Gentling or not.

Then we picked it up a notch from the cocoa butter we had won in July. Pizza race time!

Erik got our row pumped up to win.

We won!

And then for what seemed like the 56th time in 2010, Erik ended up on the scoreboard. This time, he brought Marc and me along for the ride. Still nothing beats this one though.

After the joy of victory subsided, I kind of wish we had lost. The pizza slice wasn't that great and led to some stomach problems later in the night. Damn you Wilpons!

Again - not sure who took the next 3 photos.

A few other things:
1. We saw Ron Darling after the game. He made it quite clear in a polite enough fashion that he had no interest in chatting with us.

2. Carlos Beltran started hitting a bit after this game but we realized that he had been paid over 4 million dollars per home run thus far in 2010. Ugly.

3. From Marc's Facebook status update:
Marc: My row just won the pizza race at Citifield. Thanks Casa-something! EC was champion team leader. We are all now eating our free slice! SHR: Amazing, that EC has the magic touch. Multiple jumbotron appearances, lucky cocoa butter row and now this! WHAT A SEASON!

Exactly. What a season. And 2011 promises more of the same, doesn't it?

Opening Day is only a few weeks away. And this year, I'm actually going to go to some spring training games for the first time ever. Exciting, no?

Braves: 84-64
Mets: 74-74

Posted: 3/7/11

Phillies 3 Mets 0

2011-02-03T22:20:00.002-05:00

September 12, 2010
Sunday afternoon
with SHR, Sam, Otis, Erik, Amy F, and Alex B
Queens

Last year, we took the boys to 6 games. This year - just one. And by the time we got to the game after their naps, we only saw 3 or so innings.

Sam loved his seat but he didn't love that Roy Oswalt pitched a complete game shutout of the Mets.

Hey, is that a healthy Carlos Beltran?

A sad sight.

Otis told Erik, "Hey man, can you get me on the scoreboard?"

Here comes the camera! Erik thought quickly and realized the best way to get on the scoreboard himself was to hold up a toddler.

Score!!!!!

Otis had no idea how cool it was that he had just been on the scoreboard.

But he did know how cool it was to wear the sunglasses that were the day's giveaway.

SHR and Sam pretended to cheer a non-existent Mets run.

Tons of pictures were taken. I couldn't decide which one to include so I put them all in.

High Five.

Wishing that they were old enough to actually have seen a game at Shea Stadium rather than just looking at what it had become.

Sam pouted all the way home about having his three game Mets winning streak ended. I assured him that since he didn't even arrive at the game until the 6th inning that his streak was safe heading into 2011.

Or perhaps he was pouting that we didn't buy him a Mets bobblehead on sale. There were so many 10 dollar bargain options on this day. Our choices:

Jeff Francoeur (terrible and then traded a few weeks earlier to be a platoon player for the Rangers.)

Francisco Rodriduez (suspended for beating up his girlfriend's dad at the ballpark and subsequently injured.)

Carlos Beltran (a 17 million dollar malcontent.)

Daniel Murphy (injured and bad - a deadly combination.)

Oliver Perez (12 million dollar once a month mop-up man.)

What incredible choices, huh?

Phillies: 83-61
Mets: 70-73

Posted: 2/3

Orioles 4 Rangers 0

2011-01-09T22:12:00.000-05:00

August 19, 2010
Thursday night
with Erik
Camden Yards

Erik and I dropped the boys off at my parents' house for my sister to babysit them and it was time for games on back-to-back nights. Erik and I had been talking about seeing a game at Camden Yards for years. The timing was perfect as he got to see his favorite team in his first ever trip to the ballpark in Baltimore. Little did we know that we'd be seeing three of the four teams to play in the championship series on successive nights.

Only 14,000 other fans had any interest in attending the game though. Plus I think that number is greatly inflated. It still makes me so sad to go to games in an empty Camden Yards.

Remember the days when the line at that Boardwalk Fries was super long?
(photo by Erik)

(photo by Erik)

We spent the first couple of innings down the line.

It was fun watching the interplay between the outfielders and the crowd. Since it was so dead quiet, fans were guaranteed to be heard by the players.

At one point, a fan yelled out to Adam Jones, "Hey Adam!" Jones tipped his cap. The fan yelled, "What's up?" Jones looked at the fan and shrugged his shoulders in a "Hey man, I'm playing for a team 37 games under .500 and there is no one at this game. That's what's up" kind of way.

We moved to better seats.
(photo by Erik)

We had a good view of the verbal scuffle between Ty Wigginton and Andres Blanco who didn't like that Wigginton wasn't playing like he should have been on a team 37 games under .500. Apparently, Wigginton blocked third with his knee as Blanco slid headfirst into the bag. Bawlmor will miss you Ty!

The game was great - for an Orioles fan. Brian Matusz threw 8 shutout innings, the Birds scored 4 in the 7th, there were great diving plays all night, and the Orioles improved to 11-6 under Buck Showalter.

Closing it out.

Orioles: 43-79
Rangers: 67-53

Posted: 1/9/11

Phillies 8 Giants 2

2010-12-29T20:07:00.001-05:00

August 18, 2010
Wednesday night
with Erik
Philadelphia

After an afternoon with the Phillie Phanatic and Double Trouble at the Please Touch Museum, Erik and I were excited to have Rosemary, Brian, and Amy babysit. We also were excited to catch some quality National League baseball (a preview of the eventual NLCS), something we don't see that much of in New York.

We bought standing room only tickets and wandered around eating some mediocre cheesesteaks and enjoying the cold beer.

And oh yeah - Jimmy Rollins singled, tripled, and hit a three run home run. The Phillies were playing well having won 20 out of 25. The Giants weren't. Matt Cain got slammed. It was the 99th straight sellout at Citizen's Bank Park. And the Phillies hit three triples.

Why doesn't Mr. Met do funny things like this?
(photo by Erik)

We ended up in some pretty good seats and we didn't even need counterfeit tickets. For some reason, I was amused by the solider with the ice cream cone.

Erik took a closeup.

After a Domonic Brown homer in the 8th, Erik was forced to give a high five to a Phillies fan. He felt violated.

Hot Tub Eric and I were e-mailing each other throughout the game (don't text the guy - he'll kill you!) and he recommended we look for the afterparty with Pat Burrell. Because you know that guy parties when he comes back to Philly.

A last minute bathroom break gave us a clue as to where Pat the Bat might be partying after the game.
(photo by Erik)

Other items of note:

1. As I entered the ballpark, the usher insisted that he knew me. When I told him it was my first game in Philly since 2007, he almost didn't seem to believe me.

2. A foul ball almost hit Erik. I'm not sure he noticed it because he was so busy trying to figure out how to get on the scoreboard.

I took this picture earlier in the game when Carlos (Chooch) Ruiz was sliding into third with a triple.

The next day, Hot Tub Eric sent me another e-mail:
Saw this photo again today. Made my morning. E-mail me the Burrell after party iphone shots when you sober up! I don’t care it they NSFW! You picked a helluva game to catch. Triple triples! Too bad you didn’t get to watch the post game stuff. Blanton pounding budwiesers. Uncle Charlie’s post game interview had a bunch of “you bet your sweet ass!” lines. When Manuel starts getting excited, you know they’re hot. How about CHOOCH? Is there a better 8 holer in baseball? And how about UTZ working his stroke back? And the BROWN DOM-INATOR going upper deck? Hell of a game. Coolest team in baseball? What you gonna do when HOWARD is feeling up to it? How was that crowd? If you wanna keep the party going, bag Bawlmer and go see Hamels tonight.

Phillies: 68-51
Giants: 67-54

Posted: 12/29

Lincoln Saltdogs 15 St. Paul Saints 1

2010-12-13T22:01:00.001-05:00

August 14, 2010
Saturday night
with SHR
St Paul, MN

It was my first time at a St. Paul Saints game since 2004, one of my all time favorite experiences at a ballpark. While there was no way that this game could live up to that game, I still had a great time. SHR did as well. At one point, she compared the zaniness of it all to the generic feel of most minor league parks these days, "This is what I thought all minor league games were like." She also likened the feel of the place to a street fair/carnival.

While most of the aspects of the promotions were similar to minor league parks, little touches made things more fun. I loved the guitar tech dizzy guitar race.

I love that the announcer is in the stands. I love the real life train!

The no wave zone is still in place. These kids didn't get the message. Right after this happened, Mudonna the team mascot ratted the offending hooligans out to an usher. They were harshly reprimanded. Bravo. Age is no excuse for such a lame pastime.

Not only is the park a no wave and no tie zone, it is also a no texting zone. The signs read - "No texting. Life is out there. Look up."

This Paul Bunyon character wasn't there in 2004.

Check out the abandoned building in right center. And if you are wondering, they still harness someone to the right field wall every game.

Mudonna went streaking and was led off the field by a uniformed official.

One big reason why this game wasn't as good as the game in 2004 -- this was as close as I got to the pig this time.

Hey look - it's karaoke with a real life Japanese guy - just like in 2004! Since it was Social Security night, he sang an Eddie Money jam.

Some of the contests on Social Security night consisted of such pointed commentary as playing for your kids' piggybank and being forced to run through red tape to win a race. Not that it had anything to do with social security but the Kiss Cam winners won a room at a casino for every one in their row. And there was also a ten-year-old vendor.

In the 7th inning or so, there was a huge downpour. Hundreds of fans cramped into the crowded concourse. SHR compared it to South Korea because it felt so busy and hectic.

We decided to leave after the rain slowed down a bit. Snoopy!

Look - it's the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame!

After waiting in vain about a half mile from the park for a bus back to our hotel, we headed back to the game for another inning after the game restarted. And then we took a cab back.

Posted: 12/13

For non baseball photos from the trip, check here.

Twins 4 Athletics 3

2010-12-01T21:38:00.000-05:00

August 13, 2010

Friday night

with SHR

Minneapolis

Another new park for me to conquer! Seemingly every time I reach the vaunted ALL 30 major league park status, I only get to enjoy it for a year or so before a new park opens. Granted, I didn't reach the ALL 30 mark for the first time until 2007 but still ... But after attending this game, I'm set until 2012 when supposedly the new park in Miami opens. In case you are wondering how it feels -- it feels good. Damn good.

So ... how was the park?

It was good enough. It was definitely better than the Metrodome. But not as good as some other parks that I was hoping it might be similar to like Detroit's ballpark. But who cares? It was good enough. And it was also a lot of fun to go to my first game with SHR w/o the boys since the 2008 debacle of a game.

The outside of the park reminded me of San Diego's and Pittsburgh's parks.

The Twins don't need fans to complain in the offseason like the Mets brass do to actually put Twins stuff up. There was Twins stuff everywhere!

Bombo!

SHR and I had standing room only tickets which was fine. We had an excuse to walk around the park.

I don't think I've been to a game since the one in St. Louis in 2006 that had so many fans decked out in their team's gear.

New park nooks and crannies.

It was on this trip that I complained about being made to feel super old. I was aghast at the time but now that I see this picture, I realize that I did look like I was in my 50's. Yikes.

That's a lot of winning.

Ugliest shirt of the year? The combination of crappy player and hideous shirt is utterly spectacular. Perhaps the ugliest baseball shirt I've seen since these from 2007.

The view from the team store.

SHR enjoyed the soft serve. As good as Pittsburgh's? I think not.

We love the Twins logo so much that we bought the boys a shirt with it on it.

Double Trouble's favorite beer.

We could have really used these in Harrisburg back in April.

Norman Rockwell, 2010

So the view is pretty great but I almost think the park is more impressive looking on TV than in real life. I don't know what it was but I just didn't love this place as much as I was hoping I would. Still - pretty darn solid place to watch a game.

Hey look - another improvement on the Mets stupid ballpark. You can actually see the game from the bar area! And you don't even have to sneak in!

No retractable roof but rocket like. Or something like that. Kinda creepy.

Speaking of creepy.

Where is Kirby's other hand?

Other things of note:

1. They played a Westerberg song before the game. Keeping it local. Nice touch.

2. Overheard in the gift shop before the game:

Black dude to white female friend: I'm Joe Mauer, only a bit darker.

White girl: You're too black.

Black dude: Ok I'm Denard Span.

3. I loved all the people in fake Carl Pavano staches. He won his 15th game on this night. The power of the 'stache!

4. SHR and I heard perhaps the worst song ever recorded at the game. It was some sort of song about Chicken fried or something. We had never heard it before but I knew that my parents would know it. I brought it up to them and sang a lyric. I was right. They know it AND love it. What has the world come to?

Don't believe me that it's awful?
Check it out. Skip ahead to 1:30 to get the full effect.

Minnesota: 66-50

Oakland: 57-57

Posted: 12/1

Cardinals 8 Mets 7, 13 innings

2010-11-22T21:39:00.003-05:00

July 28, 2010
Wednesday night
with Erik
Queens

The score was 6-0 Cardinals before I even arrived. And I arrived after the first half inning! Not what I was expecting with Santana on the mound.

I met Erik at our usual meeting spot and we headed to the Pepsi Porch for awhile.

On the way to our usual seats, Erik posed for his next Facebook profile pic.

Erik and I lamented how lame the Mets were. He said that he arrived to the ballpark just 5 minutes late. The bases were already loaded with no outs by the time he got on the escalator.

At least we won some cocoa butter.

Hey look - Erik is on the scoreboard. 2010 was definitely the year of Erik on the scoreboard.

The Mets made a big comeback though. They scored 4 in the bottom of the 8th to tie it at 7. Albert Pujols knocked in the go ahead run in the 13th which was fine. It was time to go - the game was over four and a half hours long.

Other things of note:
1. Carlos Beltran hit his first home run of 2010. Even after missing the first half of the season, the jerk still hasn't changed his intro song. I hope he does well in 2011 and all but I am definitely looking forward to him being gone in 2012 so I don't have to hear that song anymore. 6 years and counting is too long to hear the same damn song every time the guy is up.

2. The promotion for the movie premiere of Billy Joel's The Last Play at Shea was unrelenting. They kept touting it as the biggest outdoor movie premiere since 1919. I never did find out what movie premiere in 1919 was so big.

3. We have a mission for 2011. As you well know, Erik does a bang up job every game of getting us into the good seats. But from there, he wants more. He wants to sit in the padded seats right behind home plate. No dice at this game though. The old time usher kicked us out before we could even settle in our seats. Erik swore that he would get us into the padded seat section for a future game. He said, "I'll put my Photoshopping skills against his eyesight any day."

Erik's nemesis.

Watch out dude, we are coming for you in 2011!

Cardinals: 56-45
Mets: 51-50

Posted: 11/22

Montgomery Biscuits 11 Jacksonville Suns 2

2010-08-11T22:54:00.000-04:00

June 7, 2010
Monday night
with Marc and Erik
Montgomery, AL

State Number 40!

Montgomery was by far my favorite of the parks on this year's trip. And it was the only one actually situated in the city.

The view from the parking lot.
(photo by Erik)

The ballpark smelled incredible as soon as we entered - like chicken and biscuits.

We were a little sad that we missed Mike Stanton by 2 days - he had just been called up by the Marlins. Oh well. But we did get to see cheerleaders. And even though, they weren't nearly as cute as the ones in Brooklyn, there were cheerleaders for the second time on the trip.
(photo by Erik)

This picture was taken by Erik during the nightly "Where's Marc now" game in the 3rd inning. Oh there he is - right behind the outfield wall.
(photo by Erik)

All is forgiven for being abandoned though because Marc always gets so many good shots. Like this one.
(photo by Marc)

I love the next 2 photos. Erik and I both took pictures at pretty much the exact same time. We are such nerds.
(photo by Erik)

From these seats, we overheard a player in the Suns bullpen (perhaps the player pictured above) heckling the first base ump. I believe the heckle was a simple, "Are you drunk?" The ump got pissed and turned around and said, "Man up. Who said it?" None of the players would own up to it. The umpire picked a bald player who he thought might be guilty and made some reference to Rogaine. Nice. At this point, Erik stood up and yelled to the ump, "I said it!"

During the next half inning break, a Suns player walked by the ump and called out, "I didn't say it. I'd tell you if I said it." The ump responded, "I think you said it and you are just too scared to admit it." Erik was silent.

But he wasn't silent a little later when a foul ball was nearby. Please throw the ball here!

Here it comes!

Pure happiness. No one is going to take this ball away from him like the night before. And there's no way, he's going to leave it in the rental car like he did in 2007.

Yes!

I'm not sure why I like this picture so much, but I do.
(photo by Erik)

It was around this time that they started throwing free biscuits into the crowd. I don't think I've ever seen Marc and Erik run so quickly. Unfortunately, neither snagged one.

Root beer float deliciousness.
I made sure to post this on Facebook but SHR had commented that the most recent half dozen or so pictures on my wall were of me with a beer including the picture I posted from the second night of the trip.

Erik got cheeky with Evan L.

We left the game a little early because we had an early flight to catch in Atlanta the next day. As we left, we saw a home run ball clear the fence and land on the railroad tracks. We decided to try to get it. We spotted it but a teenage girl ran in front of us and got to it before we did. She then offered to give it to us and said, " I don't really want it. I just didn't want that prick kid getting it." About 20 feet away, we spotted the kid in question looking quite deflated.
(photo by Marc)

For pictures from the next day in Atlanta, check here.

Posted: 8/11

Pensacola Pelicans 4 Fort Worth Cats 2

2010-08-10T22:26:00.001-04:00

June 6, 2010
Sunday night
Pensacola, FL
with Marc and Erik

Please no loitering for baseballs.

I wish we could drive around in this for Baseball Trip '11.

Scoop riled up the crowd.

The Pelicans play at the Univ. at Central Florida's ballpark. I love independent league baseball.

The high class suites at Pelicans Park.

After walking around the park, I headed to the bathroom. I was told not to come in by a worker. She said, "You don't wanna come in, someone doodoohed all over the floor. Probably one of the childrens. But adults do it too." Nice.

I love that kids were allowed to sit on the dugouts to watch the game.

Erik snagged a foul ball! Moments after this picture was taken, an 8-year-old girl came over and asked for the ball. She said that her baseball coach (who was watching a couple of sections over) had told her to ask for the ball. Erik's hand was forced and he felt like he had to give up the ball. The coach and the entire team gave him a round of applause. Hooray for extortion!

(photo by Erik)

Immediately after the game ended, kids were allowed on the field to get player autographs. Erik was happy to see that the girl who stole his ball was getting it autographed by all of the players.

After the game, we saw some lights so we headed over to watch the end of some Little League tournament.

For other Florida pics, check here.

Posted: 8/10

Mobile Baybears vs. Birmingham Barons, Postponed

2010-07-12T23:11:00.000-04:00

June 5, 2010
Saturday night
Mobile, AL
with Marc and Erik

On the way to the game, I read a snippet on Wikipedia that mentioned that the Padres left Mobile a few years back due to "stadium deficiencies." Hmmmmm... what exactly did that mean?

Hank Aaron Stadium is only 13 years old but it felt kind of dumpy. Nice rainbow though.

A Listmaker at the end of the rainbow.
(photo by Erik)

Or is it a Bud at the end of the rainbow?
(photo by Erik)

We settled in our seats a little before the 7:05 start time. The rain had ended about a half hour earlier. But there was no sign of the game starting anytime soon. First they had to squeegee the field first. But there were only 4 dudes doing anything and they weren't squeegeeing all that vigorously.

It gave us some time to really study the dumb layout of the stadium. The lower deck was all suites which meant that the rest of the seats were pushed back further than you'd expect at a minor league stadium. Hank Aaron allowed his name to be put on this dump?

Squeegee already! There's a guy in the stands that is about to add his 40th state to his 50 State Baseball Adventure!
(photo by Balgavy)

A start time was announced but then nothing happened. Occasionally, the team president came out to the field to make an announcement letting us know that the field still wasn't ready.

So the Baybears' staff decided to kill some time by having kids come up to a microphone in the stands to ask the PA guy trivia questions. I'm sure they were expecting questions like "What is the capital of Alabama?" Instead, they got "How do you want to die?" Which then turned into a discussion about hanging before the kid was politely shooed away. The South is weird.

The teams continued to wait it out.

Finally at around 9 pm, the announcement was made. The game was postponed. But don't worry - kids were invited to come onto the field to run the bases!

As the team president finished his announcement, Marc stood up and yelled out, "This is why the Padres left you as an affiliate!" Well played Balgavy!

We went to the ticket booth to ask for our money back. It went like this.

Marc: We need a refund for tonight's game.
Ticket Girl: We don't --
Marc: (interrupting) Yes you do.
Yes she did.

I would have been devastated if this had been my only chance to see a game in Alabama but we still had Montgomery. It was a tough enough blow that I didn't get to see Rico Brogna manage the Baybears on this night. Very very sad.

This marked the second year in a row that a game was either called or moved due to lack of a proper drainage system. A new baseball trip tradition? I hope not.

Posted: 7/12

Montgomery Biscuits 6 Mississippi Braves 3

2010-07-11T23:09:00.000-04:00

June 4, 2010
Friday night
Jackson, Mississippi
with Marc, Erik, and Eric P

State #39 in my 50 State Baseball Convoy!

A refreshing beverage.

(photo by Balgavy)

This new trend of minor league teams with cheerleaders is ok with me.

It was a nice night but a pretty uneventful game at a pretty boring park.

Definitely in the South.

Balgavy was hoping to catch a shirt to liven up the night.

The highlight of the game was definitely when the Hot Tub Eric cheers for the Biscuits rubbed some area kids near us the wrong way. There were some really dirty looks shot Eric's way every time he cheered for Montgomery.

Other than that the only real highlight was when Hot Tub asked a woman for restaurant recommendations. Her response was - "Underground 119. It's classy. They have appetizers." Later we found out that the appetizers in questions were tapas. I love Jackson.

The real fun came after the game.

Posted: 7/11

New Orleans Zephyrs 4 Omaha Royals 3

2010-07-05T23:21:00.003-04:00

June 3, 2010
Thursday night
with Marc and Erik
New Orleans

Despite this being state #38 in my 50 State Baseball convoy, this was a complete snoozefest of an event. Easily the most depressing game I've ever been to that didn't involve Tom Glavine.

It was hot as hell. There were bugs everywhere. There was no one at the game. There was no energy. And it was out in the boring suburbs.

At least, it was Jewish Heritage Night. Shalam y'all!

It started off fun though. Erik spotted a speed pitch and wanted to attain the sole speed champ status he's craved since 2008. Back then, he tied me at 56 MPH on the final game of the trip. I told him that unless he threw 57 or higher, I was out. The last thing I needed to do was throw out my arm.

Check out the teenager in charge of the speed pitch. He loooooved Erik.

Big smile.

Checking out the goods.

Erik is so handsome!

18 and Up Champ!

For at least a couple of minutes!

The Giant Z is for zzzzzzzzzzz.

Marc had a whole section to himself.

One of the annoying bugs that began swarming as soon as the sun went down.

These kids were heckling the Omaha rightfielder. Lame heckles like, "If you are so good, how come you don't play professionally?" Um, yeah ...

Maybe I was just bitter on this night because we couldn't sweet talk our way into the pool party in the right field corner.

Let's try this one again.

Other things of note:
- There was a Gookie Dawkins sighting.

- This was at least the second and maybe third time I've seen Kila Ka'aihue play in the minors. The dude is tearing it up this year and should be called up soon. He might have played in the Gulf Coast League game that Jamie and I stumbled upon in 2002. It's hard to say since there was no scoreboard at that game and I'm pretty sure there were no announcements of any kind. The last time I saw him play was in 2005 in High Desert. At the time I wrote, "But we did get to see my new favorite player -- High Desert superstar Kila Ka'aihue. What a name! I’m super excited for his chances to take the crusty world of MLB by storm by 2009!" Come on KC! Call him up!

- The Zephyrs announcer liked to announce Danny Richar as Danny Reeeeeeeeeechar! I wonder if this guy is related to the former Tigers announcer from 1999 that couldn't get enough of announcing Juan Encarnicion and Frank Catalanotto's names.

- Marc announced at one point, "The bases are juiced!" I'm not sure why this struck me as so funny but it did.

- For an inning or so we enjoyed playing the game Bug or Peanut? as we ate peanuts while swatting away bugs.

Bug? Peanut?
(photo by Erik)

- The Royals should really call up Alex Gordon as well.

- The ad on the Beer Cozies is for the lawyer to call if you get a DWI. Perfect.

- I was disappointed at how boring the locale was for the game. I like when ballparks incorporate some of the local flavor. I'd have it liked it more if the game was played in the swamp on a barge. The dugouts could be houseboats and spectators could watch from the barge or from one of those awesome airboats you see in the swamps. No one ever listens to my good baseball ideas. It's very frustrating.

- Earlier in the day I overheard a store owner state that there was two seasons in New Orleans: hot and Christmas. That about sums it up.

The Listmaker Post

Posted: 7/5

Mets 3 Phillies 0

2010-06-15T09:54:00.000-04:00

May 27, 2010
Thursday night
with Erik
Queens

A nearly two hour rain delay led to Erik and me drinking more than we really needed to.

The game finally started around 9 pm and it was a great one. The Mets completed a three game sweep of the Phillies - all shutouts! What? The Mets had won their fifth in a row and Pelfrey ran his record to 7-1. Amazing.

We were so close to the pizza race!

Erik and I relaxed and enjoyed ourselves on a pretty mellow night. We discussed the series finale of Lost, planned the upcoming baseball trip, and talked about the style of women's shoes that Erik hates. And we also eventually moved down to some great seats.

As we walked back to the subway, I heard my favorite heckle of the year thus far to a fan wearing a sleeveless Pat Burrell t-shirt. "Hey Burrell! Could you cut your sleeves a bit shorter? Burrell? Is he even playing baseball anymore?"

My favorite line of any baseball article this year so far: From CBS - "Jose Reyes, fresh from giving batting tips to the newly crowned Miss USA, was pretty at the plate." It was definitely that kind of a night.

If only the Mets could win on the road, maybe this team could do something this year!

Mets: 25-23
Phillies: 26-20

Posted: 6-15

Mets 6 Yankees 4

2010-05-25T23:58:00.002-04:00

May 23, 2010
Sunday night
with Marc, Jim B, his father-in-law Fred, and Howard

Saw this guy on my way in. I wish I could have sat near him.

On my way to my seats, I saw a guy wearing this t-shirt. Love it.

On a night of a stellar pitching matchup (Santana v Sabathia), everything was perfect in the Mets world. Maybe Manuel will save his job after all. Santana was great. Jason Bay hit 2 homers for a total of 3 on the year. And K-Rod saved the day in the 9th by striking out A-Rod with runners on 1st and 3rd to end the game.

What could have been a big disaster instead ended as a satisfying victory. The Mets had a 6-0 lead after 6 but a single run in the 7th and then another one in the 9th brought in Rodriguez to face Jeter with 2 on. Jeter promptly doubled in two runs. Blah. Not again. But with a 3-2 count, Rodriguez went down swinging. I'll never get sick of leaving a Mets game to the chant of "Yankees suck" even though we all know it isn't true. We'll take what we can get.

By the 8th inning, many fans had already departed to watch the finale of Lost on their DVR's.
(photo by Howard)

The Mets were still in last place but only 5 games out. The Yankees, on the other hand, fell 6 games behind the Rays. Two out of three over the Yankees might not be that big of a deal but it still feels pretty damn nice.

Plus it was the first time I had actually seen the Mets beat the Yankees in person in six years. Before this, I had to suffer through four straight Yankees victories.

Mets: 22-23
Yankees: 26-18

Posted: 5/25

Mets 1 Braves 0, 5 innings

2010-05-13T22:59:00.000-04:00

April 25, 2010
Sunday night
with Erik
Flushing, Queens

What seemed to be yet another awful season all of a sudden seemed like it might be A-Ok after all. With the rain shortened victory, the Mets swept the Braves, ran their record on the homestand to 6-1 (eventually 9-1), and found themselves over .500 for the first time since Opening Day.

Despite slogging through 5 innings (5 walks, 106 pitches) Mike Pelfrey ran his record to 4-0 and extended his shutout streak to 24 innings.

The Mets scored the only run of the game in the 1st inning on a Chipper Jones throwing error. Love the rain! And I loved that the game got delayed after one pitch in the 6th inning and then never resumed. I'll take a cheap victory any day.

I love that Ike Davis had only been up about a week but people were already sporting Davis jerseys.

Still one of my favorite places to watch part of the game at the new ballpark.

Erik and I spent a good portion of the night walking around to the different clubs that we are privy to these days thanks to Erik's cleverness and awesome Photoshopping skills. By the 3rd inning or so, we settled into some great seats.

The Mets actually were letting fans move down to sit in the lower level box seats - just not the ones right behind home plate. Nice gesture but I still find it incredibly lame that no one is ever allowed to sit in the really good seats in the new ballparks. Erik pointed out that they probably only were letting fans move down because the game was on ESPN. It was a pretty sparsely attended game.

After Fernando Nieve's first pitch to start the 6th inning, the rains came.

We spent about an hour in the "clubs" but didn't feel so special since they were letting every lower class slob in. Erik snagged a nice umbrella for the walk to the subway.

Mets: 10-9
Braves: 8-10

Posted: 5/13

New Britain Rockcats 2 Harrisburg Senators 1

2010-05-02T22:12:00.001-04:00

April 16, 2010
Friday night
with Marc, Erik, Mooney, and Yu
Harrisburg, PA - the site of Marc's first ever game on a baseball trip back in 2004

Right before the season started, Chris proposed a road trip to Harrisburg to see the phenom Stephen Strasburg before he got called up to the majors. I'm sure that I will see him plenty over the years since he is in the Mets division, but I'm always up for a road trip to see baseball. Plus, how many people will be able to say that they saw the next Walter Johnson while in the minor leagues?

The weather was a bit dicey. But we were running a little late anyway so we weren't too upset about the rain delay. The game was sold out and there wasn't any parking available on City Island. So we parked on the other side of the river.

(photo by Marc)

With the game still delayed, we had plenty of time to get some drinks and dogs. I quite enjoyed my Strasburg Dog.

Erik - always doublefisting.
(photo by Marc)

These guys spent the whole drive to Harrisburg on their smartphones on the drive over. They needed to charge them up at the game so they unplugged a vending machine. What big city ruffians I travel with!

Waiting for the game to begin.
(photo by Marc)

Mooney loves mascots.

(photo by Marc)

Finally taking the tarp off.
(photo by Marc)

Finally at about 9 pm, the game was about to begin. The announcer was so excited. Not only was this going to be Strasburg's Harrisburg debut, but it was also the home opener and the debut of the newly renovated ballpark. Right as he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, here it is - the moment you've all been waiting for!" the lights went out. He wasn't even able to finish the sentence. Bloody brilliant.

iPhones ruined the Harrisburg trip.
(photo by Marc)

Finally, they got the lights back on and the game started. Two and a half hours late.

The phenom in action.
(photo by Marc)

We had standing room only tickets but there were plenty of empty seats to choose from. The ushers were super mellow and encouraged us to sit wherever we wanted to. After an inning, we had to leave our seats though when the rightful owners showed up.

We moved over a section but those seats weren't too good. What a renovation!

During the second rain delay, Yu wondered what she had gotten herself into.
(photo by Marc)

Especially when Marc made her take pictures of him in front of kegs of beer.

Strasburg only threw 2 and 1/3 innings. He gave up an unearned run and 2 hits. He struck out three. His first inning was incredibly impressive though. He struck out the first batter, Ben Revere on 3 pitches. The second hitter popped up on the 1st pitch and the third hitter popped up on the 2nd pitch. 3 outs, 6 pitches. Nice and tidy.

During the 2nd rain delay.

After the 2nd rain delay. No Strasburg. No crowd.
(photo by Marc)

(photo by Marc)

At this point, we had been drinking for quite awhile.

We left sometime during the 8th inning I believe. Details are hazy. I do know that Erik was taking everything with him that wasn't nailed down.

(photo by Marc)

Hey, can you get me Strasburg's autograph?

I wish I know what I did with this. At least I have this picture of the picture.

On the walk back to the bridge.
(photo by Marc)

Erik in the process of hitting balls into the river.

Self portrait on the drive back to the Harrisburg Hojo's.

Posted: 5/2

Marlins 7 Mets 6, 10 innings

2010-04-16T09:14:00.002-04:00

April 7, 2010
Wednesday night
with Erik, Jim B, his father-in-law, and a friend
Flushing

Never mind the fact that the Mets did such a terrible job of having their "world class" ballpark ready for last season. It has been well documented how it felt that the Brooklyn Dodgers played there last year rather than the Mets. This year, they actually have added some Mets flair to the proceedings. They renamed the Ebbets Club (for the richies) to the Champions Club (wishful thinking, right?) And they also brought the old home run apple from its hiding place to right in front of the ballpark. A nice touch. Maybe for 2011, they'll rename the Jackie Robinson Rotunda for erstwhile speed merchant Vince Coleman - complete with firecracker sound effects.

I don't even know what was going on here but it cracked me up.

This season, Jim B and his family have joined the proceedings. We also moved our tickets down the line quite a bit in order to get a lower row. The Mets won't let anyone other than a full season ticket holder get anywhere close to the field in between the bases in the upper deck. Oh well. If I'm going to hate my tickets and hate the Mets for screwing me, I might as well get the cheapest seats I can.

And SHR and I only ordered one ticket rather than our customary two. The chances of Double Trouble actually going to six baseball games this season like they did last season are pretty low. Squirmy one-year-olds don't mesh well with actually trying to enjoy watching a game. But we'll see how the season progresses. The Mets were 3-0 last year with the boys in attendance so we might need to bring them to help the team's playoff chances.

Not that the Mets have much of a chance to make the playoffs this year. After a satisfying Opening Day victory, it was back to reality for the team. John Maine was craptastic. 5 innings, 4 runs. What happened to him? Remember the Maine that used to be good?

The Mets were down 6-1 after 6 innings. But then things started turning around. They scored two in the 7th and 3 in the 8th to tie it. But it wasn't pretty. In fact, none of the Mets six runs came from hits. 2 sac flys, 2 bases loaded walks, a fielder's choice, and the tying run scored on a balk. And then there was the 7th inning debacle where David Wright was up with the bases loaded and 2 outs. The first pitch he saw was wild. Fernando Tatis tried to score from third and was thrown out at the plate. Typical.

But the real fun of the night was Erik's craftiness. He had gone to Opening Day with his boss. They printed out their tickets in the "Excelsior" section. Basically, it is like club level seating - sort of comparable to the blue loge section at Shea. The ticket also lets you into a number of air conditioned bar/restaurant areas where you can buy beer after the last call. Erik did a little bit of photoshopping and changed his opening day ticket to a game 2 ticket so we could get into the "special" sections.

Erik's handiwork.

But the whole club level thing is so stupid anyway. It was a beautiful night. Who wants to be inside? Not to mention you can't even see the damn action from the bar area. Lame. But this was only one of the "clubs" so we decided to try another one.

The Caesar's Club it was. This one was a lot better because we actually had access to the good level of seats that Erik sat in on Opening Day.

And we had access to the editing room. Pretty damn cool actually.

Hey look - it's the 9th inning and Erik has a full beer!

I might watch an entire game from this vantage point. Coupled with my rising alcohol levels, I couldn't get enough of this.

Erik was very excited to be the first to check in at both the Promenade Club and the Caesars Club.

From our seats, we saw the inglorious ending. A Ronny Paulino RBI single in the 10th followed by a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th and the Mets were losers yet again. It's going to be a long season, isn't it?

Other things of note:
1. The lines to get into the ballpark were ridiculously long. It's nice to see that the Mets staff is in fine mid season form of suckitude.

2. Half of the food venues in the upper deck were closed for a game with an attendance of 39,000. The weather was incredibly nice so they probably weren't expecting such a large crowd, but again - typical Mets. I can't imagine the Yankees would close down half of the food options like that. The Mets really are a cracker jack operation.

3. But sometimes that works to my benefit. For the second year in a row at my first game of the season, I snagged a free dinner. The Mama's of Corona stand was so disorganized that they just hand you the food and then it's your responsibility to flag down the attention of another worker to pay. F that. Both Erik and I enjoyed our free Mama's Specials.

4. I forgot my ID at home so I had to have Jim's friend pretend that the 2nd beer that Erik was buying from a vendor was for him and not me. God forbid a 37-year-old should be able to buy a beer. We card everyone. Blah blah blah.

Mets: 1-1
Marlins: 1-1

Posted: 4/16

Padres 6 Mets 5

2009-03-20T22:41:00.000-04:00

April 16, 2009
Thursday Night
with Erik and Marc
Queens

After having gone to the last 8 openers at Shea, I could not get tickets for this season's opener. No matter, I went to the third game. I like the symmetry of it all. I also was shut out of the Camden Yards opener (after going to 10 straight at Memorial Stadium). I went to the third game at Camden Yards as well.

First, let me be clear. Shiti Field is definitely no Camden Yards. But I do like how close the entrance is to the subway.

The Jackie Robinson Rotunda looks kind of nice in a new mall kind of way. But, as Erik pointed out, why doesn't it open up to the field? Why does it open up to a dark dungeon like tunnel?

Speaking of which, I'm sick of the lies I keep hearing about how you can walk all around the ballpark and not miss a pitch. Unlike many of the other new parks, you can't do that at Citi Field. You can almost do that in the lower deck - except for the very exclusive restaurant that effectively shuts you out from seeing the game between the bases.

Jackie's number is an attraction. I like it but I'd prefer a statue.

It was quite a draw.

Upon arrival, I made my way around the park. I do like the outfield quirks and the overhang in right.

I also like the Kosciusko Bridge replica. This is the bridge one crosses on the BQE while traveling from Brooklyn to Queens. Get it - Fred Wilpon really really liked the Brooklyn Dodgers but now he has a team in Queens. But he really really liked the Dodgers. The Mets? Eh, whatever. The Mets are just a vehicle to recoup some of his lost Madoff money.

The new park is only a tiny bit closer to Laguardia but it feels like it is much closer.

The glitz of the new park is also closer to the rundown chop shops of the Iron Triangle.

The old home run apple.

The old skyline from Shea is nicely incorporated into the Shake Shack design. One game, I'll wait the requisite 90 minutes to get myself a burger.

What about the park itself? Eh. It'll do. It's better than Shea but so what? The park is pretty generic. And what is the point of that humongous scoreboard in centerfield other than to block the view of Queens (because who wants to remind the richies coming to the game where they are?) and to sell more ad space.

I don't like ballparks where I feel closed in. The enclosed feel of the park makes me feel claustrophobic. Maybe, I'm just grumpy because after being a partial season ticket holder for 10 years, the best tickets I could get were in the next to last row of the upper deck. My dad had tickets for years in the last row of the upper deck at Camden Yards and they weren't that bad. My tickets at Citi Field are not very good. Especially compared to my very good seats the past 8 or so years at Shea. Plus, the seats are even more cramped than at Shea. Bah!

I do like the Pepsi Cola sign that is a replica of this one on the East River.

The game itself sucked. Carlos Delgado's three run homer off of Jake Peavy in the 1st gave the Mets a 3-0 lead. But John Maine was terrible and gave up six runs in five innings. David Wright and the rest of the gang continued their complete crapitude with runners in scoring position all night. Chase Headley had 4 hits and former Met Heath Bell rubbed it in again with another save against the Mets - his second in three nights. Ugly. The Mets lost their fifth out of seven games.

And it was super cold to boot!

In the late innings, we moved to the lower deck in time to see Ramon Castro's 2 run home run bring the Mets to within a run in the 8th. The time lag on the video feed was disconcerting though.

Annoying, right?

The big question of the night though - how were the pretzels? They were inedible at Shea. The verdict at the new park? The smile says it all.

We made our way to center for the bottom of the 9th.

Before the game, while waiting in line for chicken nachos (more on that later) I saw Cow-Bell Man walk by. The two guys behind me yelled at him, "You suck Cow-Bell Man! You should have stayed at Shea!"

As we watched the end of the game, Cow-Bell Man walked by again banging his cowbell in my ears. I am now fully onboard with Dave and his hatred of this farce of a "character."

Erik made his opinion known.

Delgado got the job done in the 1st. Not so much in the 9th.

All in all, the jury is out. I'm willing to give the park more chances. I mean, do I have a choice? It's nice enough. But I was hoping for more after hearing for so long about the "world class" ballpark that the Mets were building.

Other things of note:
1. You can buy soft drinks with the cap attached. I can't remember the last time that this was allowed at a ballpark. But you can't buy beer (at least that I could find) in a bottle. Instead, the bottled beer is poured into a plastic cup. Boo. I'll miss the ice cold 20 oz. Bud bottles.

2. The Wilpons have gone out of their way to point out that they have trained the food staff for this season. Seminars, workshops, etc. And they all get to wear buttons that proudly proclaim that they are a "Hospitality Attendant." I decided to get some chicken nachos before the game from some hospitality attendants. They looked good and were made to order. Of course, you can call the vendors whatever you want to call them but if they are the same folks from Shea, then the service will be crap.

Long story short. It was completely disorganized. I kept getting ignored. I finally forced their attention. I got my food. It was wrong. I pointed it out. Eyes were rolled. New order. I spent about 30 seconds waving my money in front of the three hospitality attendants who had spent the previous 8 minutes either ignoring me or not listening to my order. Finally, I gave up and walked away. The $8.50 nachos were good though and they were even better free.

3. Later in the game, another hospitality attendant tried to short Marc out of a dollar. It was clear from his reaction when called on it that it was intentional.

4. Marc pointed out that there were no ads in the Men's Room and that he missed them.

5. After the game, people outside the park were handing out cards for escorts. I never saw that happen at Shea but I guess they figure the moneyed elite that go to Citi Field can afford to pay for a little play.

Mets: 4-5
Padres: 7-3

Posted: 5/18

Brewers 4 Mets 2

2009-03-19T21:56:00.000-04:00

April 19, 2009
Sunday afternoon
with Alex
Queens

Three days after my first game, I was ready to give the new ballpark another shot. Hell, I remember being a bit disappointed by Camden Yards at first because of how much I missed Memorial Stadium.

Hey! I love this view. I'll have to come back to it and watch an inning from this vantage point.

I needed to get a closer look at one of my favorite aspects of the new park.

What's left of Shea.

After walking around a bit, Alex and I headed to the seats to watch Nelson Figueroa get a spot start in place of the injured Mike Pelfrey. Wasn't 2008's feel good story (local boy makes good but is super not good) enough? Did we need a 2009 reprise?

And did we really need Michael Amante yet once again. I mean, I know that he is a special friend of the Mets, but enough is enough!

It turns out that Figueroa wasn't bad - three earned runs in 6 innings. Still, I wasn't sad to see him get sent down after the start.

I like this ballpark better during the day. But that probably is the case with all ballparks.

A big complaint about the new park - the out of town scoreboard seems like a complete afterthought. Tucked away way up in the upper deck, it is kind of lame. Plus, it never gives scoring details the way that the scoreboard at Shea did. This is a clear downgrade from Shea. Plus, I wonder how bad the seats are behind the scoreboard. I'll have to see for himself someday.

The Mets closed to within 3-2. Delgado was up with the bases loaded but he hit into an inning ending double play.

In the 8th, the Mets put the first 2 runners on but couldn't score. They were 2 for 13 on the day with runners in scoring position. Who would have thought being referred to as a team full of David Ortizes would be considered an insult?

Tired of talking about babies, we decided to walk around for the final two innings.

The view from centerfield? A big screen and lots of ads.

The bitter end. The Brewers added a run in the 9th and the Mets went down quickly in the 9th. Jeff Suppan beat the Mets again. I hate Jeff Suppan.

On the way out, I saw Hawk Lady! Hawk Lady! Oh how we miss you. When will the Section 6 reunion happen?

Hawk Lady, where are you going? Don't go away!

Alex wonders if he should ask Hawk Lady what she thinks about David Wright.

Glitz will always beat chop shops. How much longer can the auto shops stay in business?

Alex had never walked around the area by the ballpark. Me? I love parking there. Alex likened it to rundown parts of Ecuador. Flushing, how I love thee.

I still don't love the park but I did like it better on the second outing.

Mets: 6-6
Brewers: 4-8

Posted: 5/26

UPDATE: 6/26

Dave spotted Hawk Lady before the first game of the Yankees - Mets series in Queens. We can't shake her.

Marlins 4 Mets 3

2009-03-18T22:47:00.000-04:00

April 29, 2009
Wednesday afternoon
with Marc and Yu
Queens, NY

For reasons very similar to this game, I almost felt guilty for even being at this game. The key word in the previous sentence would be almost.

I didn't feel guilty for three very important reasons. The day was beautiful, the company was fabulous, and Johan was on the mound.

We parked the car and got into the game a few minutes late. Before heading to our seats, we watched part of the 1st inning downstairs.

Then we headed upstairs. Our tickets were super cheap and despite being a little down the line were much better than my usual season tickets. I hate the Mets ticket policies this year.

Johan!

It wasn't long before Yu busted out with Doala. This was the 2nd time I had been to a game with Yu and both times she traveled with Doala. I love the kid in the row in front of us. I think he might have been the same kid who earlier in the game was telling his friend that Cody Ross looked too old to be a ballplayer. What? The man with the friendliest smile in all of major league baseball doesn't look like he belongs?

The pitching duel of Josh Johnson vs. Santana was a good one. It looked great when Fernando Tatis hit a solo home run in the 6th to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. The home run was reviewed by instant replay - my first time ever seeing instant replay in person. Obviously, it was terribly exciting. Santana left after 7, leading by a score of 3-2. But in the 8th, JJ Putz gave it up to, (who else?) Cody Ross who hit a 2 run go ahead single. Too old, my ass.

During a Marlins pitching change

In the 8th, we moved down to the lower deck to sit with SHR's brother, Charlie. Doala liked the better seats.

The Mets threatened in the bottom of the 9th. Sheffield and Beltran walked. With 2 on, David Wright was up. SHR continued her torrent of mean-spirited text messages about Wright and predicted a double play. She was wrong. He merely struck out.

With 2 outs, Tatis got hit by a pitch and the bases were loaded. Jerry Manuel pinch hit Ramon Castro with Omir Santos, a man who came into this season with one career hit. Santos was in the bullpen and had to run to the plate to get ready.

The tying run was so close.

But oh so far away. Santos popped up and Manuel set himself up for a lot of second guessing. The Mets were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Like anytime spent with Yu, she had some excellent observations and general musings.

Some highlights:
1. I was telling her that Sam & Otis recently had being given mohawks by their mom. She misheard me and thought that I had said that SHR had a mohawk. Now that would have been something.

2. She complained about how bad TV reception looked at her apartment (like a storm and a big snowball) and was very happy to be at a game in person where she could actually see what was going on.

3. There was a lot of talk about mascots and how the ones in the U.S. aren't nearly as good as the ones in Japan. When I showed her the picture of SHR posing with Youppi, she was sad that Youppi no longer existed but stated that SHR was lucky to at least have the picture.

4. According to Yu, the lack of bands playing in the stands make U.S. baseball inferior as well. There was a lot of talk about trumpets.

The other highlight of the day was that Charlie thought that Marc and Yu were married.

After the game, Yu sent me an e-mail. She wrote:

I wish the Mets had fans like this:

This is another example of what I don't see in American baseball. This footage is 2:09 long but just pay attention from 1:30 to 1:40. You see the coach gets tossed in the air a few times by the players.

I also love the craziness of the mascot in the 2nd clip that Yu forwarded.

In general though, Yu doesn't need to convince me. I think baseball in Japan is a lot more entertaining than it is here.

Marlins: 13-8
Mets: 9-12

Posted: 6/21

Yankees 9 Orioles 1

2009-03-17T23:17:00.000-04:00

May 19, 2009
Tuesday night
with Mitch
Yankee Stadium

A beautiful Tuesday night in May seemed like as good a time as any to visit the evil that is the home of the Yankees. The last game I went to at the old Yankee Stadium was awful. I was hoping for better on this evening but wasn't terribly optimistic considering the matchup was CC Sabathia vs. Brad Bergeson.

The view from the subway platform. The old stadium (oh I meant to say THE old STADIUM) is on the left, the new one is on the right.

As Mitch pointed out, it was strange to make a right out of the subway rather than a left. Inside this building lurks evil.

Go O's!

Unlike the Mets new ballpark, there are actually plenty of reminders of who actually plays in this park. I mean, it goes without saying - the Yankees love talking about how great their history is and I guess I can't blame them.

Way too many interlocking NY's.

Definitely not something you would have seen at the old ballpark.

I arrived early so I could walk around the ballpark. It really does look like the old place - but better. It has taken the best aspects of the original, the renovated version (that was a piece of utter crap) and then modernized it all. I like the place a lot despite what my heart tells me.

I love that they don't cover up the NY during batting practice. What a bunch of wankers.

Although I'm not sure I like the staircases.

I'm surprised management even felt the need to put up protective screens during batting practice considering they won't let anyone sit anywhere near the field during BP unless they have $1,000 for tickets and those folks sure as hell aren't coming early for batting practice.

Even in the outfield, fans are not allowed to sit in the seats during BP.

The usher tells fans to go away.

I talked to another usher who told me to write management because that is the only way they might change some of their policies. Eh, whatever. I'll let someone else fight that fight. I don't plan on going to the stadium much.

Even with 1.5 billion dollars spent, there are still hallways that look almost as dank as the old place. Give it a couple years.

The view from the staircase.

This is a decent enough picture but I wanted to get closer to the edge. The usher told me that I wasn't even allowed to stand past the rail for 5 seconds to take a picture. This was 30 minutes before game time. Ah Yankee Stadium. It was also nice to know that they still won't let you bring in bags to the game because if they did, the terrorists will have won.

The empty space where I was not allowed to go.

I lifted the camera to get a better shot.

I went up the last row to see what the view was like. It was a hell of a lot closer to the field than my terrible seats at Shiti Field. I'd love to sit in these seats for a game.

I'm not sure what Orioles pitcher this is - it might have been Bergeson. But he is not really holding a ball. Plus, there's no catcher there anyway. Still, he went through the motions and threw a few "pitches." This reminded me of the fun times in Long Beach.

1.5 billion dollars can buy a lot of fancy elevators.

I can't believe they put Paul O'Neill in this series of photos. His clean shaven face completely ruins the series of 'staches. Poor planning.

One of the few parks that actually remained after the Yankees tore up the old ones to build their new park. The last I heard, they still have not even begun to plan on how they are going to rebuild the parks like they had promised they would. NY Yankees = all class. 26 world championships and evictor of recreational activities for city kids.

The old Yankee Stadium

Finally, it was time to meet up with Mitch and enjoy some Orioles baseball.

The game was surprisingly close until the 7th. New York held a 2-1 lead on the strength of Alex Rodriguez's 2 run home run. Since coming off the DL 11 days earlier, Rodriguez had 7 hits - 5 homers and 2 singles. This was the 4th straight game he homered. After the game, he said, "I love this place. There are so many things here you can use to your advantage." Hmmm ... are they giving out doses of boli?

The scoreboard is crystal clear. The out of town scoreboard is a step up from the old Yankee Stadium but neither of the new ballparks are as good as Shea on this front.

I think the new park even outdoes Citi Field in the amount of televisions everywhere.

We almost got on the scoreboard! We almost got on the scoreboard! These people did.

In the 7th, the Yankees scored 7 runs and blew it open. Derek Jeter hit a bases loaded double and Mark Teixeira hit his fourth home run in 4 games and the route was on. Mitch and I watched the Birds go down quickly in the 8th before heading back to Brooklyn.

I love the infielders body language after Teixeria's home run made it 9-1.

Hard Rock Cafe is so 1991, isn't it. TV screens everywhere!

A few thoughts:

1. Thank you to Charlie (SHR's brother) for hooking me up with tickets.

2. I like that the team simply tried to rebuilt the old stadium. I much rather would prefer something like this than the generic Mets ballpark. The original plan for the Mets ballpark back in the late 90's was to remake Ebbets Field but with a retractable dome. The dome would have been unnecessary but an Ebbets Field replica would have been preferable to what was built.

3. I normally don't like parks that make me feel enclosed, parks where I can't see out. But I don't mind it at Yankee Stadium and I'm not sure why. Mitch and I came up with the idea that perhaps the place is so evil that I don't want the evil to spread out of the park. Since it is so enclosed, it feels like the evil is contained and that I can leave and escape it if I need to. The place is so evil that I want it to feel different than real life - it's own unique hell.

4. Not that I could see this detail from our seats but I love that the Orioles road jerseys now actually say Baltimore on them instead of just Orioles. I also love the new Maryland flag patch that they wear on their jerseys. I don't care if SHR dislikes the Maryland flag, I'm a big fan.

5. We talked a lot about Mitch's upcoming popping the question to Suzy. She said yes. Congratutions Mitchell!

6. Once again, I now have been to all 30 of the current ballparks in major league baseball. Nice job Listmaker!

Orioles: 16-23
Yankees: 22-17

Posted: 6-29

Tigers 6 Orioles 3

2009-03-16T01:11:00.000-04:00

May 30, 2009
Saturday night
with SHR, Amy, Sam, and Otis
Camden Yards

This was a momentous night. Double Trouble's first ever game! Too bad we were a bit late. It takes a long time getting anywhere with twin infants. We left my parents' house, dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and walked over to the ballpark.

I'm not used to entering from this side of Eutaw St. I like it.

We arrived to out seats in the 5th inning. It was time to feed the boys and they were going absolutely nuts. Screaming and a whole lot of carrying on. Come on boys - there's no crying in baseball! If you don't behave, no more baseball for you! They screamed so loudly that a few people sitting near us actually got up and left for new seats.

Feeding time

I love this park. I hadn't been to a game in Baltimore since 2006 which made me very sad. In '07, Stone Groove, Amy, and I tried to go to a game but a thunderstorm hit right as we got to the ballpark and the game was rained out. Last year, I was too depressed that my streak of 27 years in a row attending a game in Charm City was over and I couldn't bring myself to go to a game there. Either that or I just didn't make the effort.

I didn't like that my seat had an obstructed view though.

After feeding the boys, we moved a few seats down so I could have a better view. In fact, the whole thing ended up working out perfectly. SHR and I thought it made more sense to take the boys to their first game in Baltimore rather than in New York because we figured there would be more room to spread out. And we were right. We had the whole row to ourselves - especially after the crying scared people away. Then again, if we could afford $1,300 tickets, we'd have plenty of room to spread out at Yankee Stadium in the premium seats since those seats are always empty.

As we were feeding the boys, O's wunderkind rookie Matt Wieters (in his second major league game) got his first hit - a triple! The boys weren't impressed.

Wieters rounded second on his way to third.

He followed the triple with a double in the next inning. Still - absolutely no reaction from Sam & Otis. Quite disappointing.

The game was decent enough. The Birds were losing 4-0 when we got there but then they began to chip away with 1 in the 5th and 2 in the 6th. Sam and Otis brought good luck to the O's! But that was as close as the Orioles got. Justin Verlander won his 6th in a row to run his record to 6-2. Clete Thomas (he of 2 homers in 191 ab's prior to this game) hit 2 home runs and the Orioles wasted a 1 out, runners on 2nd and 3rd opportunity in the 7th when Aubrey Huff fouled out and Melvin Mora struck out. Baltimore's five game winning streak came to an end.

Hats courtesy of Mitch and Suzy

I lent Sam my hat.

He let me know that he prefers the Mets.

There was a game back in the early 90's where my dad and I took Amy to an important September pennant race game. She spent the entire game playing with her Barbies. We've never let her live it down. Now in '09, she doesn't need Barbies to occupy her time at ballgames - she has my sons.

I taught Sam the words to Orioles Magic and he decided that he could like both the Mets and the Orioles.

I have a goal of writing up a ranking of all 30 ballparks sometime this summer. I always go back and forth in ranking the ballparks in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore at the very top as far as the newish ballparks go. Now that the horrible monstrosity of a Hilton has been built thus obscuring the Bromo Seltzer Tower, Camden Yards might have fallen a notch or two. Absolutely horrible.

I do like how you can see the reflection of the tower on the glass building on the right though.

Hooray for baseball! Hooray for Double Trouble!

The sad Bromo Seltzer Tower tries to peek through.

The postgame room service dessert.

Other things of note:
1. The first home run the boys got to see (or least be in the ballpark for) was Luke Scott's 2 run homer in the 6th. It was Scott's 6th home run in 4 games and he remained scorching hot after returning from the DL.

2. In Brooklyn, we can't go anywhere without people oohing and aahing at the twins. People in NYC love twins! Not so much in Baltimore. No one cared at all. Not one smile, not one "Ahhhh!" In NY, SHR and I feel like celebrities because we can't walk anywhere with the boys without drawing attention. In Baltimore - nothing.

3. Diaper change tally:
Sam - 2
Otis - 1
When I was changing Otis after the game, a young boy tried to sneak a peek. His dad steered him away and said, "It looks just look yours son, only smaller."

Orioles: 23-27
Tigers: 27-21

Posted: 7/8

Mets 6 Cardinals 4

2009-03-15T17:43:00.000-04:00

June 22, 2009
Monday night
with Bart and Erik
Flushing, Queens

Hooray! After losing their first three games in which I had attended at the new ballpark, the Mets finally put one in the Win Column. Going back to last September, the Mets had been working on a six game losing streak with me.

Bart came to the game with Erik and me. I had been badmouthing Citi Field for so long that his expectations were so low that he actually kind of liked the ballpark. But he was critical of the unnecessary quirks of the outfield. He likened it to Project Runway or something. Something about not taking the idea of trying to make a new park look like an old park so literally. But I don't quite recall how he likened it to Project Runway. It definitely made sense at the time in a Decoursy kind of way though.

I had just become Mr. Mom and this was one of my first outings out. I was ready for it. I was talking a mile a minute and having a great time. Bart and I got pork sandwiches from Blue Smoke and shared some fries from Box Frites with blue cheese sauce. I also had one of those great Blue Smoke Ales and a Tiger Beer. A Tiger Beer at a Mets game for chrissakes! Granted, it didn't taste as good as it would have if was drinking it while floating down the Mekong but it was tasty nonetheless.

Bart and I gabbed so much that we didn't even make it to the seats until the 4th. Erik was a bit lonely by the time we arrived.

Tim Redding pitched into the 8th but when he gave up a leadoff homer to Brendan Ryan to cut the Mets lead to 5-4, things looked a bit dicey. And when a runner was on with only one out and Albert Pujols at the plate, the crowd was a bit nervous. But Brian Stokes induced a comebacker for a double play and the Mets escaped the 8th. They added a run in the bottom of the inning and Francisco Rodriguez notched his 19th save. Omir Santos continued his surprising play with a 4 for 4 night and Daniel Murphy hit a rare home run for the Mets. All around, a very good night. The Mets barely had more home runs as a team entering the game than Albert Pujols did by himself. Pujols had 26 going into the game.

To make things even worse, Beltran went on the DL after the game. He joined Reyes and Delgado. In fact, Reyes was in a car accident earlier in the day. Quite minor but it all added up to the feeling that this Mets squad is cursed.

Other things of note:

1. The thought of Bart coming with us on Baseball Trip '09 was first introduced at this game. Bart was immediately enthusiastic.

2. The Mercury Mets were a topic of discussion. Neither Bart or Erik had even heard of this stellar promotion from ten years ago. I still laugh every time I think of SHR running into Melvin Mora during that season in an elevator and he was wearing his Mercury Mets cap.

3.Pujols on the double play he hit into in the 8th, "He made a good pitch. I swung. That's all. I'm human. What, am I supposed to hit everything out of the park?" Taking HGH since infancy still qualifies one as human? BAM!

On another note, I got grief all night for giving Pujols so much grief for being a cheating jerkwad.

4. We miss the subway race.

Mets: 35-33
Cardinals: 39-32

Posted: 7/14

Mets 3 Cardinals 2

2009-03-14T22:17:00.000-04:00

June 25, 2009
Thursday afternoon
with Sam, Otis, Carrie, Marc, and Ezra
Flushing, Queens

The boys were excited to go to their first Mets game but were sad that their mom had to go to work.

Matching shirts!

One of my all time favorite pictures.

Sam wasn't happy after Marc broke the bad news that Jose Reyes wasn't playing this afternoon.

Unlike Baltimore where apparently they hate babies, everyone at this game made a fuss over the boys. From the first ticket taker who joked that the boys each had to have 1/4 of a ticket to the security guard at the end of the game who loved the guys, it was all sunshine and lollipops. I still don't understand why they hated us so at Camden Yards. Maybe they didn't hate us, but we were invisible. In Flushing, we were gawked at like we were celebrities. Damn right!

Sam enjoyed the view.

Ezra pointed out that this was the first time we had gone to a game together since Game 7 in '06 - also, of course, against the Cardinals. Ezra's dad implored him not to go to this game with me. No worries though. Johan Santana pitched well after a shaky start. 1 earned run in 7 innings in a pitcher's duel against Chris Carpenter. The Mets scored 3 in the 4th powered by a Nick Evans 2 run double. Francisco Rodriguez notched his 20th save.

Santana worked out of a bases loaded jam in the 2nd by inducing Pujols to fly out.

Already reeling from the discovery of no Jose Reyes, Sam lost it when he heard about Carlos Delgado.

Otis on the other hand could have cared less about the absence of Carlos Beltran.

Carrie recently had gone through her old baseball cards at her parents' house and took some of the best ones back to Brooklyn. She recognized Eddie Murray from my Facebook profile photo so she made sure to take his card with her. She thought it would be funny to bring it to the Mets game to show me. As she was telling me about this in the car on the way to the game, I assumed it would be some early 80's card. Nope! It was his rookie card! Oh Eddie!

The protective sleeve is vintage circa late 70's from her collection. She still insists that maybe one of the cards she has is a 1952 Mantle but this has yet to be verified.

Sam almost stole Marc's lunch.

The boys (and Balgavy) rehydrated.

Marc explained to Otis that he should stop drooling because Mets fans rule, Yankees fans drool!

Otis explained the infield fly rule to Marc.

So the question I have is this - will the boys outgrow the Jose Reyes shirt before Reyes actually plays another game for the Mets? The clock is ticking.

SHR was jealous when I e-mailed her this picture while she was at work. She responded that she should photoshop her face over Carrie's so she could pretend she was at the game.

Otis enjoyed channeling Urkel. Lower those pants dude! Halmony wasn't even at the game to do this to you! What's the deal?

Sam was all hip hop style as he majorly showed up his brother.

On the way out, Sam discovered he liked to hold onto Marc's chest hair.

Let's see - what else?

1. The injury depleted and slumping Mets somehow won 3 of 4 from St. Louis.

2. Marc and Ezra graciously went to go get food for Carrie and me as we fed the babies. I asked Marc to get me a hot dog with mustard. He passed the duty off to Ezra because he was too afraid to put condiments on my dog. Not only does he not like to eat any condiments, apparently he is petrified of the mere thought of them.

3. The boys weren't even 4 months old when they attended this game yet only had 4 fewer home runs than David Wright.

4. The best way to sneak anything into a ballgame is to carry a baby and a diaper bag. Security waved me through - no poking around in the bag and no pat-downs. Awesome.

Diaper Changes:
1 each - after the game. It was a short game.

Mets: 37-34
Cardinals: 40-34

Posted: 7/28

Yankees 4 Mets 2

2009-03-13T23:28:00.000-04:00

June 28, 2009
Sunday night
with Bart and Erik
Flushing, Queens

Look - it's Hawk Lady yet once again! I sent this picture to Dave who had seen her at a game earlier in the week. He wrote back, "You saw her too? What the f-- are we stalking her or is she stalking us?"

There goes Hawk Lady up the stairs!

We also saw weirdo Comic Book Girl right after I snapped the Hawk Lady picture. Gross.

The Mets were truly a disaster by this point. The Yankees finished up the sweep. Mariano Rivera notched his 500th career save. He even got his first career RBI when Francisco Rodriguez walked him with the bases loaded in the 9th.

Other than David Wright and I guess Gary Sheffield, I'm not sure that too many other teams would start any of the Mets starting lineup on this night.

The lineup:
Daniel Murphy
Alex Cora
David Wright
Gary Sheffield
Fernando Tatis
Fernando Martinez
Brian Schneider
Luis Castillo

Granted, shortly after this game, Castillo got really hot.

The Mets were so bad that even Chien-Ming Wang got his first win of the year and lowered his ERA to 10.06 to go with his 1-6 record.

It was so ugly that there was an obnoxious fan in our section with the words "Mets suck" carved into his haircut. He barely watched the game because he was taunting Mets fans all night. And nobody even did anything to the guy.

Other things of note:
1. My obsession with the tacos at the ballpark was in full effect.

2. Bart wouldn't stop talking about how great Ugly Betty is. Bart: "Each episode is a work of art. Vanessa Williams is awesome. The swipes are amazing. Great writing." This is from a man who doesn't watch The Office.

3. I spent the whole night bashing Derek Jeter to Bart. Last time - it was Pujols. This time - the captain. What? He's supposed to be so great just because he's the captain but doesn't wear a C on his jersey. I tried to remember Dave's argument about why that play against Oakland in the '01 playoffs is overrated but I couldn't quite remember. Dave - care to chime in?

4. Bart mentioned that a friend of his knew a doorman at a Manhattan hotel who told him that Jeter often had 2 prostitutes at a time sent to his room for 2000 bucks each. "Brilliant!" Bart decreed. "Quiet and discreet!" During this conversation, I was shocked to discover that neither Bart or Erik had ever heard of Margo Adams.

5. Worst scoreboard line of the season: "Let's rock this Citi!"

6. We discussed for at least an inning whether or not Rickey Henderson is the greatest player of all time. Probably not but perhaps the top 5? Maybe not - but almost definitely top 10.

7. I dropped them off after the game and made it home just in time to feed Double Trouble. Perfect timing. Terrible game.

Bart wore this shirt in tribute to Timothy Carey and my first viewing of The World's Greatest Sinner.

Mets: 37-47
Yankees: 43-32

Posted: 8/2

Lehigh Valley Ironpigs 6 Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees 3

2009-03-12T23:51:00.000-04:00

July 9, 2009
Thursday night
with Bart, Erik, and Marc
Allentown, PA

Baseball Trip! What? Really? I've got twins at home! How the hell did I swing this? Dave couldn't believe it.

He e-mailed me, "Are you on a baseball trip for real?"

I wrote back that it was an abbreviated trip of 4 games.

He wrote back, "Wow--your wife is the best person in the world."

The boys and I were all geared up for the game in Scranton. We had bars to hit, breakfast places to try, and a hotel booked. Plus the Scranton ballpark looked like it was going to be kind of cool.

We arrived at the ballpark about 5 minutes before start time. The first thing we noticed was the empty parking lot. What was going on?

Marc wondered if he had read the Scranton website incorrectly.
(photo by Erik)

Bart went to inquire.

He couldn't believe the news.

So --- there was too much rain in the days leading up to the game and the field was still too wet. The game had been moved to Allentown - about 75 minutes away.
(photo by Erik)

After a brief moment to discuss, we piled back into our rental HHR and headed for Allentown. We were somewhat upset but also saw the humor in the situation. A first for a baseball trip! Marc planned on writing a letter. We discussed what we were going to demand upon arrival. Would we make them restart the game for us? Free tickets? Or at least they could serve us beer until the 9th rather than the usual cut off of the 7th.

We arrived in the 4th. We had beers in our hands before even sitting down. It was time to make up for lost time.

It was Raul Ibanez Rehab Night as sponsored by the local rehab center. Brilliant marketing. In fact, the next night Ibanez was with the Phillies. Could the nefarious Allentown rehab clinic be responsible for making sure that this game was in Allentown rather than in Scranton thus sabotaging the game there?

For obvious reasons, the game wasn't terribly crowded. But I did find it odd that the picnic area was completely blocked off. That is, except for when foul balls were hit into it and it was a madhouse dash to retrieve them.

Female mascots are rare. Especially ones that lift their skirts to give the fans a show like this one did.

Bart was too cool for school to do the YMCA.

Many beers later.

I should have bought this for Sam & Otis.

A few days after the trip, I read this article in the NY Times. Looks like Scranton could lose their team if they don't do something about the drainage. They even have tried to dry the field using a helicopter.

Other things of note:
1. I found out (or was reminded) that the first game of Baseball Trip '05 was the first time Balgavy ever had Dippin' Dots.

2. Bart would never throw back a home run ball if he caught it. Not even if it was a Jason Varitek homer at Yankee Stadium.

3. I liked how they had the Phillies game on at all the concession stands. There were a lot of people watching it. I wish the Mets would do that at Cyclones games. Well, maybe not this season.

4. My favorite name of the night - Yurendell DeCaster.

5. 4 innings into his first baseball trip and Bart had already been placed on Baseball Trip probation. I can't recall why but maybe I blamed him for the change in venue.

6. Is the Ironpigs the worst name in baseball?

Posted: 8/11

Sussex Skyhawks 6 Wooster Tornadoes 4

2009-03-11T23:00:00.000-04:00

July 10, 2009
Friday night
with Bart, Erik, and Marc
Augusta, NJ

After a terrible dinner at a terrible 50's wannabe diner, we made our way to some Can-Am League action. Hell yes!

Time to cleanse the palate after the disappointing dinner.
(photo by Marc)

Night falls on August, NJ

The Skyhawks were cruising to victory. They had a 5-0 lead after 7. But a rousing Wooster comeback made it a nailbiter.

The night was a relaxed one. The joke of the night - lots and lots of Mike Hunt jokes based on a player in the game, Jeremy Hunt. Good ol' Erik.

There were some interesting between innings hijinks as well. There was a water chugging contest which was a new one to me. The Party Marty of Augusta didn't quite know how to pronounce one contestant's name to our great amusement. The kids' name? Caleb. His first attempt came out as Cal (as in Cal Ripken)-eb. He knew that was wrong so he corrected it by pronouncing it Cah-leb. Is Caleb really that unusual a name? Apparently in August, NJ it is.

At one point, Marc overheard kids teasing each other and commented how glad he was to be an adult because kids are so mean. I love going to baseball games and learning things about my friend's traumatic childhoods.

Speaking of kids --

Augusta - home of the kid mohawk.

And the kid mohawk meets a tail combo. Yikes.

In the 8th, a swarm of teens (no mohawks though) sat right behind us so we were privy to some good 'ol Augusta gossip.

An example:
That's not wearing the pants. That's being a bitch. Break up with her.

I'm working on it.

What? It only takes 2 seconds!

The one negative of the night - the PA was the loudest I've heard at any ballpark in recent memory.

Apparently, Augusta used to or currently still does have a lot of farms. The ballpark looks like a barn from the outside. And the players walk to their locker rooms after the game to another building that looks like a barn.

Fireworks night

They actually were kind of the most amazing fireworks I've ever seen. Independent league baseball is awesome!

Check here for more pictures from the first two days of the trip.

Posted: 8/12

Saratoga Phillies 4 Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs 0

2009-03-10T22:35:00.000-04:00

July 11, 2009
Saturday night
with Bart, Erik, and Marc
Little Falls, NY

After a day sampling beer at the Ommegang Brewery, we almost skipped out on this game because of the gloomy weather. I said no way! It's a baseball trip! We're going!

Plus, it was hot college league summer action and the last time I saw that, it was super awesome. AND it was Halloween Night - wear a costume, get free admission. Before we left for the trip, Erik threatened to drag his chicken costume on the trip. Alas, he didn't. I guess he's made of money these days if he's willing to pay 3 bucks that he didn't have to pay if he had simply made a little bit of an effort. I was quite disappointed.

The only costume though was a Diamond Dawg player who wore a purple mohawk. I give him props but am very disappointed in Little Falls, NY.

Despite the threatening skies, it never actually rained.

Bart wasn't worried.
(photo by Marc)

I liked the ballpark. Nestled in a quiet neighborhood and across the street from an ice cream stand, Veterans Memorial Park opened in 1949. It is a bit rundown but still quite charming. Little Falls actually was the home of the Mets' NY Penn League team (currently the Cyclones) in the late 70's and early 80's. Now it houses summer college ball. Nice.

(photo by Marc)

Scarier skies.

The Diamond Dawgs didn't play too well. The Phillies of Saratoga clearly are not David Bowie fans.

I love games in parks like this - where the players walk through the grandstand to go to the bathroom or to get snacks before heading back to the dugout. The kind of park where the players sell raffle tickets to fans between innings like this did on this night.

I never got a good picture of the hilarious batboy but he reminded me a lot of Spanky from The Little Rascals. At one point, he was swinging a bat between innings for practice. The bat was way way way too big for him and he kept falling over on the back swing. He also wore an old man mask for one hitter earlier in the game. So I guess I was wrong - two people wore costumes on this night.

This was the best I got.

We left a little early. We had some drinking to do in Albany.

Other things of note:
1. A kind woman overheard Marc mention that he never had had a peanut. She immediately handed him one. He tried it and hated it. But then he thought more about it and decided to have another. Bart bought a bag and by the end of the game, Marc had been won over to the joys of peanuts at a ballgame.

2. A girl almost fell through the bleachers if it hadn't been for the sure hands of my tripmates. Nice save guys. I can't remember who it was but I'll give credit to all three.

3. There was an ice cream eating contest between innings. At the completion of it, the two boys decided to wipe the ice cream all over their faces and hair.

4. The first inning was terrible. The defense was putrid. It was laughable. However, after the 1st, things immediately turned for the better and we were treated to stellar defensive plays. Diving catches in the outfield, great double plays, diving stabs with strong throws from third base. Very impressive.

Posted: 8/13

Binghamton Mets 11 New Britain Rock Cats 8

2009-03-09T21:52:00.000-04:00

July 12, 2009
Sunday afternoon
with Bart, Erik, and Marc
New Britain, CT

Connecticut: State #37 on the 50 State Baseball Convoy. Slowly, but surely I will reach all 50. Another interesting bit of trivia. This was the first day game on a baseball trip since this infernal one in 2005.

(photo by Erik)

That's a big flag.
They needed it because on this day we had to hear America the Beautiful and The Star Spangled Banner before the game. Not to mention the obligatory God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. Bleh. Does George Steinbrenner own this team?

There were some Binghamton Mets fans at the game. We overheard a guy near us wondering who would travel from Binghamton for this.

This guy's delivery was a bit funky.

The ballpark was nice enough.

I actually liked the interior more. It had a bit of character. In fact, it reminded me of Fenway Park.

I wonder what the promotion was.

Speaking of good promotions, Bart found this winning ticket taped to the bottom of his seat. He was so excited.

He skipped over to fan services to claim his prize. A Bob Dylan CD! How random. Or so we thought. Bart mentioned that he had a choice of a few other CD's but couldn't remember what they were. Maybe a John Mellencamp?

A few innings later, the PA announcer told the crowd to check underneath their seats to see if they had won a prize of either a Dylan CD, Willie Nelson CD, or John Mellencamp CD. It was a promotion for an upcoming concert at the ballpark.

Bart showed off his prize to anyone who cared to look.

A few minutes later, a girl was lucky enough to receive a baseball from a player when he tossed a foul ball to her. Bart boasted, "Yeah, but did you get a free Dylan CD?"

Other things of note:
1. Bart said, "I don't care if I never listen to that CD, it will be my favorite Dylan album ever!"

2. There was a Dunkin' Donuts race like the Sausage Race. On the very hot day, hot coffee was booed quite loudly upon being introduced.

3. Marc thought that Mets farmhand Lucus Duda was a dead ringer for former Archer of Loaf, Matt Gentling.

4. Speaking of Mets' prospects, Bart fell in love with Ike Davis.

4. Erik came within inches of getting a free t-shirt when it was tossed into the stands but he clearly lacks the closer instinct.

5. There was also a foul ball that landed right near us. Close but not close enough. We were on the big screen during the replay.

6. There was a terrible heckler behind us. He was brutal. Not funny at all. Half of what he said didn't even make sense.

Some examples:
Hey Tejada, your girlfriend is gorgeous.
A pitch later:
She's still gorgeous.

He also kept heckling players on his team. He proudly mentioned to his friend that last year he had gotten the Rock Cats third baseman to give him the finger.

Finally, we couldn't take it anymore. Erik turned around and asked if he had anything funny in his repertoire.

The doofus immediately responded, "Not up to New York standards. Go back to Binghamton." He must have deduced we were from Binghamton since I was wearing a Mets cap.

He turned to his friend and said, "The guy in the 70's shirt is heckling me!" Erik quipped to us, "It's more like '68."

After this altercation, the dude was quiet. I guess he didn't have anything funny in his repertoire.

7. Apparently, you can buy beer in New Britain until after the 7th inning. But you can only buy sno cones until after the 6th. The dumb heckler was quite perturbed by this fact upon discovering it.

8. There was a big discussion about who pays minor league players. Are the teams responsible? Do the parent clubs pay the salaries? That's my guess but we weren't sure.

Upon arriving back to Brooklyn, Marc sent us an e-mail letting us know how much we owed him from the trip Bart responded, "hey marc- what's your address? also- any chance my cheese ended up in anyone's luggage?"

Sadly, the cheese was never recovered.

Check here for Days 3 and 4 pictures and the baseball trip movie.

Posted: 8/23

Rockies 4 Mets 2

2009-03-08T22:03:00.000-04:00

July 30, 2009
Thursday night
with Erik and Jamie
Flushing, Queens

A night after this debacle, we tried again.

I arrived a bit late and missed this fun.
(photo by Jamie)

Earlier in the day, Johan Santana dominated the Rockies (he had been the scheduled starter the night before) and things were becoming exciting in Mets Land. They had beaten the wild card leading Rockies three in a row. Could they go for a 4 game sweep?

The answer was no but at least it was a nice night.

I arrived in the 1st and watched for a few minutes in the outfield.

Hey look, it's Kevin Burkhardt!

The game was pretty good. The score was tied at 1 in the 7th when Clint Barmes hit a 2 run homer. The Rockies scored 3 in the frame. The Mets added a run in the bottom of the inning but couldn't get closer. Jorge De La Rosa won his 7th straight and the Mets' five game winning streak (and last excitement of 2009) came to an end.

Jonathan Niese gave up all 4 runs but at least he was healthy - for the time being.
David Wright had 2 hits and was healthy - for the time being.

The boys went to get some food and a judo match broke out

We spent a lot of time discussing the relative merits of possible hall of famers. I made a claim that without the steroids, Mark McGwire is just Dave Kingman. Upon further review, I was wrong. Dave Kingman completely sucked.

We also spent a lot of time trying to answer trivia questions that we had just heard.

Question 1: Who is the only player in baseball history to play in three straight World Series on three different teams? Jamie drove himself crazy trying to answer this one. He finally got it after many hints.

Question 2: David Wright just eclipsed a player for 5th place all time on the Mets RBI list. Who did he eclipse and who are the four remaining players ahead of him? I didn't do too well on this one. I think I got 3 of the 5 correct.

Question 3: Name at least one player at each position (including pitcher) who have won back-to-back MVP awards. This one made my head hurt and I barely tried. I got a few.

Erik loves his boss's tickets.
He didn't love the guy who sat behind us who kept saying, "Yeah, baby!" I'm pretty sure that he had just recently moved on from "Schwing!" as his catchphrase of the summer.

Mets: 49-52
Rockies: 55-47

Posted: 8/26

Diamondbacks 5 Mets 2

2009-03-07T00:29:00.000-05:00

August 2, 2009
Sunday afternoon
with SHR and Double Trouble (sort of) and Erik
Queens

The forecast called for rain but we had tickets so we went. Plus it was Mr. Met t-shirt Giveaway Day.

Otis wasn't happy to wait out his first rain delay.

SHR and Sam didn't seem to mind though.

I tried to explain to Otis that if the Mets didn't play, then they couldn't lose.

Start the game!

Who cares about the Mets when you have a full bottle? Sam showed off his bottle holding skills.

After waiting for over an hour, we decided to head home. At least we had some yummy tacos.

Time to go.

Right before we arrived home, the game had started after a two and half hour rain delay. I kissed the family goodbye, picked up Erik and headed back to the park.

Otis didn't mind that he had to stay at home.

Bye boys! I'll try to bring home a Mets victory! Unfortunately, the Mets ran into the buzzsaw known as Jon Garland.

We arrived back to the park in the 4th. It was dead.

I like this spot.

We watched a good portion of the game from the Pepsi Porch. We also saw a few interesting things.

We saw:
1. A guy try to take a fake punch at Cow-Bell Man. Apparently, everyone hates that guy.

2. Jeff Francoeur hit a home run, Cory Sullivan hit a triple, and Alex Cora hit a double to start the 5th. Erik and I wondered if any team in the history of baseball has ever hit a backwards cycle in an inning without making an out. But Brian Schneider's ground out ended that discussion.

3. Some dude lost his cap. Justin Upton picked it up and thought about trying to throw it to the second deck back to the fan but thought better of it and handed it to a ballboy.

4. An interesting play at the plate. Miguel Montero missed the plate. Schneider missed the tag. Both players stood there waiting for the call. But the umpire simply stood there not making the call. Finally, both players realized what was going on. Montero tried to get back to the plate but Schneider was able to tag him out. Nice play.

5. Garland threw a complete game. The Mets make everyone look like Cy Young these days.

(photo by Erik)

Erik documented me taking a picture of Willets Point.

Say what you will about Shea but at least they didn't have something like this.

Mets: 50-54
Diamondbacks: 46-59

Posted: 9/8