Game 11, the final game of our trip was at the New Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY featuring the World Champion New York Yankees adn the team with the worst record in baseball, the Baltimore Orioles.
Pregame
As a Yankee fan, I must say that I was the most excited for this pregame experience. Unfortunately for me, I cannot say that it lived up to what I was hoping for. it was not the player's fault. It was just taht it was Yankee Stadium and the Yankees, which is the biggest market in all of sports. the reason that I say I was disappointed was because I was hoping to have a conversation with some of the Yankee players. These are players that Maxwell andn I have watched for years. It was fine though. We found ways to make this pregame a good experience.
We started the game ball scavenging, like we always do. however, these are the Yankees, the team who draws the most fans in baseball. it became nearly impossible to get a ball because of the countless number of fans that were there during pregame. So we did a "mini audible". We went to the Baltimore Orioles side of the stadium where the players were warming up.
We had a guest with us like we did at Citi Field. Freddy Porges joined us fro our final stop of our Baseball Odyssey. Freddy and I (Spencer) were standing down the third baseline in the oufield when Kevin Russo, a rookie utility infielder/outfielder, hit a BP line drive down the line. it bounced into the stands, and essentially right into my lap. This would be the only ball that we would get in Yankee Stadium. I did make the ball count. I got autographs from Baltimore's two best starters, Kevin Millwood and Stanford graduate Jeremy Guthrie. Everyone else managed to get a Millwood autograph.
The Game
Well, after watching countless teams that were not the Yankees, I was ready to watch my ballclub go to work. The Orioles sent out struggling starter Brad Bergesen and the Yankees sent out their young "phenom" Phil Hughes. Bergesen had major strike throwing issues. It was only a matter of time before the Yankees, one of the most patient teams at the plate in the league, broke it open. The scoring started when Robinson Cano lined a single into right. After a walk, Curtis Granderson drove in two runs with a double to deep left center field. Later in the inning, the Yankees put runners on second and third with two outs. Nick Swisher came up to the plate and belted a ground rule double which drive in both runs. By the time the inning was over it was 4-0 Yankees. With Phil Hughes being doinant, there was no turning back. New York loaded the bases in the bottom of the third inning and two more runs scored. After 3, it was 6-0. Baltimore first baseman Ty Wigginton drove in Baltimore's only run with a 2 out single which made it 6-1. in the bottom of the 7th Robinson Cano hit an absolute bomb to right field. It was 8-1. The Yankees tacked on 1 more for good measure. 9-1 final. Utter domination.
Win-Phil Hughes
7IP, 6H, 1BB, 1ER, 7K
Loss- Brad Bergesen
2.1IP, 7H, 2BB, 6ER, K
Yankee Stadium II
Fans: 7
Food:8
Seats:8
Overall Experience: 9 (New York puts on a show)
Other Notes
Mark Teixeira went 0-5 and left 5 men on base. Alex Rodriguez had 2 hits. By the end of the game Phil Hughes had the best ERA in the American League. Armando Galarraga, a Detroit Tigers starter had a perfect game taken away while we were at the game. I saw the highlight a number of times. It was the worst umpiring I have ever seen. Instant Replay needs to be in baseball.
The trip was unbelievable. We all had the time of our lives!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Game 10: KC @ Bos
Game 10 of our trip featured the Kansas City Royals (for the 2nd time) and the evil Boston Red Sox. We had a special guest for game 10, Spencer and Maxwell's friend, Kit!
Pregame:
We spent a lot of time before the gates open, wandering around Boston, and ate at a pizza place, the pizza was very nice. For me, I hated being in Boston, I felt incredibly out of place as I texted me dad, “we’re behind enemy lines… SAVE ME!” Anyway, once at Fenway, Ned Yost had recently replaced Trey Hillman as the manager of the Royals. When asked about his new manager, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner, Zack Greinke said "he looks like he used to manage the Brewers, he probably managed the Brewers..." Mr. Greinke is of course right about this. So, at Fenway, Sam yells "Mr. Yost! You look like you should manage the Brewers!" Yost did not understand the joke at all. Baseball players and coaches claim to not read the newspaper, apparently they are telling the truth. At Fenway, we walked around to different parts of the stadium, including on top of the green monster. We also tried to talk to Mr. Greinke, who was busy showing off his skills as a baseball player to the fans by gunning the ball as hard as he could as if he was a catcher. I don't think Greinke was a fan of ours, in partciular Sam. During this game, we caught and recieved 0 balls. Remember our buddy, Bruce Chen of the Royals from Cleveland? Well, throughout much of warmups and batting practice we yelled "BRUUUUUUUUUCE" to get his attention and he would always wave, and apprecaited the attention. So, on his way into the dugout at the end of bp, he comes up toward us and tries to bounce a ball to us, but it bounced to the right and these 2 guys from Chicago who we were talking to recieved the ball. These guys have been to numerous stadiums over the last few years, but did not go all at one time like we have been doing. The Red Sox opted not to take batting practice, which lowered our chance of getting foul balls.
The Game:
The starting pitchers in this game were Daisuke "Dice-k" Matsuzaka for Boston and right hander and former NY Met great, Brian Bannister for KC. The game was scoreless for the first 3 and 1/2 innings even with a shaky Matsuzaka who at that point had handed out 3 walks and hit a batter. With runners on first and second, Adrian Beltre hit a clean single to left that scored first baseman Kevin Youkilis, giving Boston a 1-0 lead. Everything fell apart for Dice-K in the 5th inning. He walked 5 batters, surrendering only 1 hit in the inning but allowing 3 runs which scored on rbi’s by David Dejesus, Billy Butler, and Jose Guillen giving KC a 3-1 lead. Matsuzaka didn’t even get to finish the inning as he was taken out of the game in favor of reliever, Joe Nelson who finished off the inning. The Red Sox chipped back in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer by centerfielder Bill Hall. The teams traded 2 out RBI doubles in the 6th inning, Dejesus again for KC and Boston’s beloved captain, Jason Varitek for the Sox. It was 4-3 after 6 innings. And the bullpens took control of the game in the 7th inning as no one reached base for the rest of the game following Varitek’s double. Joakim Soria closed out the game for Kansas City in the 9th as the three of us went home happily with a Red Sox loss.
Win- Bannister
6IP 9H 3ER 0BB 4K
Loss- Matsuzaka
4.2IP 2H 3ER 8BB 1K
Save- Soria
1IP 0H 0ER 0BB 0K
Fenway Park
Fans: 8 (we deducted a point because they did the wave, and it went around 3 times…)
Food: 6
Seats: 4 (expensive and far back… ew)
Overall Experience: 7
We really did enjoy our experience, and having Kit there was a lot fun. The only thing that we ate at the ballpark was some New England clam chowder. Spencer and Sam both had some and said it was very good. The game itself once the Bullpen took over was really well pitched. Spencer and I loved the end of the game when the Red Sox lost. Kansas City seems to have the ability to not lose on the road. The Mets won in Philly, and KC won on the road twice, other than that, it’s been all home teams. Next stop… THE BRONX!
Game 9: Oakland @ Baltimore
Our 9th game featured New Jersey native Jack Cust of the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball's Worst team, with a manager who since the game has been fired, the Baltimore Orioles.
Pregame:
Baltimore was the site of one of our most enjoyable pregame experiences. We received no balls from the players, caught no homeruns (thanks in large part to the lack of talent on the Baltimore Orioles), had to wait outside the gate and talk to an incredibly stupid person, but it was still amazing. The reason why it was amazing was Oakland Athletics' Third Baseman, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Kouzmanoff showed us the human side of a baseball player. We sat online in order to talk to him while he had a 20 or so minute conversation with an old family friend. During this time, the A's catcher, Kurt Suzuki, came up to the fans and began signing autographs, so my mitt now had 3 signatures. The three of us grew to respect Kevin Kouzmanoff the man, not the baseball player. Earlier, Sam, had teased Kouzmanoff during Batting Practice yelling at him, "KOUZ! WARNING TRACK POWER!" Kouzmanoff laughed at Sam's joke. Finally after his long conversation, we had the chance to speak with Mr. Kouzmanoff a little bit, amidst the swarm of fans begging for the newly acquired 3rd Baseman's autograph. He then asked if we wanted to sign anything, we said sure, so he signed my glove and a few other items. We then watched more of batting practice as the A’s did hit some home runs. Cust and A’s first baseman Daric Barton put on a show launching balls over the high scoreboard in right field. The last interesting pregame action was when Sam wandered off with the intention to speak to Flemington, NJ native, Jack Cust. He joked with Cust about being from “the Dirty jerz” and told him that Pingry’s baseball team practiced at his facility in Flemington over Spring Break. Cust enjoyed the conversation, so he signed Sam’s glove. Next up… the game itself.
The Game:
The game itself featured Oakland Athletics’ left hander, Dallas Braden who was about to pitch for the 2nd time since he threw the 19th Perfect Game in Major League history and the Orioles’ highly talented and Stanford graduate (I mention that for Sam’s amusement), Jeremy Guthrie. The scoring opened in the top of the 2nd following a leadoff walk to none other than Jack Cust who later scored on a groundout to 2nd by Mark Ellis and the A’s took a 1-0 lead. It took a few innings for the O’s to bounce back. They tied the game in the 4th following a pair of walks to Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada. After Markakis was retired on a fielders’ choice, Tejada scored on a throwing error by Cliff Pennington, the A’s shortstop. Although Braden had been pitching well, he mysteriously left after the 4th inning due to an apparent ankle injury. The Orioles took advantage of getting to the A’s bullpen early and bounced on reliever, Tyson Ross on a pair of sacrifice flies by Ty Wigginton and Adam Jones in the 6h, giving the team a 3-1 lead. Guthrie was strong for the O’s going 6 innings allowing only 1 run. The Orioles looked for insurance in the 8th inning against A’s reliever Craig Breslow. An actual conversation during the 8th inning: Spencer: “Markakis is so underrated…” Sam: “I know” Me: “it’s probably because he hasn’t been hitting homeruns.” Seconds later we look up, and Markakis appeased me by hitting a fly ball over the right field seats, giving the Orioles a 4-1 8th inning lead. Later in the inning, Matt Wieters hit an rbi double for the Orioles making it 5-1, and lefty reliever Will Ohman made the lead stand with a 1-2-3 9th inning including 2 strikeouts. Final score 5-1 Baltimore.
Win- Jeremy Guthrie
6IP 6H 3BB 1ER 2K
Loss- Tyson Ross
1.2IP 0H 2ER 2BB 0K
What we Ate:
This is a somewhat interesting segment of this because Sam and I didn’t really eat at the ballpark. We went to the Inner Harbor about a 5 minute walk from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. At the Inner Harbor, we went to a seafood restaurant, and Sam and I “pigged out” on oysters, shrimp, muscles, and clams. They were wonderful, probably some of the best oysters I have had in my entire life. Spencer had a hot dog at the game + Lobster Bisque at the seafood restaurant.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards:
Fans: 7 (There were so few people at this game, it was truly unfortunate)
Food: 10*
Seats: 9
Overall Experience: 8
*Game Notes*: Our seats were 8 rows back and right in line with 3rd base. Orioles 3rd baseman Miguel Tejada apparently loved attention. We would yell “MIGUEL” at him at random time throughout the game and no matter what the situation was, he would acknowledge us. Tejada also made a terrific diving catch on a line drive hit by none other than our buddy, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Braden went 4 innings allowing 3 hits, a couple walks and no earned runs before leaving due to injury. We spoke a little bit with the two gentlemen sitting behind us. One of them claimed to have seen Hoyt Willhelm’s No-Hitter for the Orioles in 1959. Camden Yards, despite not being as beautiful as some of the newer ballparks, is the pioneer for the new wave of baseball stadiums. It is beautiful in many ways and has now completed 15 years of being home to the Baltimore Orioles, and everyone who visits there loves it.
Pregame:
Baltimore was the site of one of our most enjoyable pregame experiences. We received no balls from the players, caught no homeruns (thanks in large part to the lack of talent on the Baltimore Orioles), had to wait outside the gate and talk to an incredibly stupid person, but it was still amazing. The reason why it was amazing was Oakland Athletics' Third Baseman, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Kouzmanoff showed us the human side of a baseball player. We sat online in order to talk to him while he had a 20 or so minute conversation with an old family friend. During this time, the A's catcher, Kurt Suzuki, came up to the fans and began signing autographs, so my mitt now had 3 signatures. The three of us grew to respect Kevin Kouzmanoff the man, not the baseball player. Earlier, Sam, had teased Kouzmanoff during Batting Practice yelling at him, "KOUZ! WARNING TRACK POWER!" Kouzmanoff laughed at Sam's joke. Finally after his long conversation, we had the chance to speak with Mr. Kouzmanoff a little bit, amidst the swarm of fans begging for the newly acquired 3rd Baseman's autograph. He then asked if we wanted to sign anything, we said sure, so he signed my glove and a few other items. We then watched more of batting practice as the A’s did hit some home runs. Cust and A’s first baseman Daric Barton put on a show launching balls over the high scoreboard in right field. The last interesting pregame action was when Sam wandered off with the intention to speak to Flemington, NJ native, Jack Cust. He joked with Cust about being from “the Dirty jerz” and told him that Pingry’s baseball team practiced at his facility in Flemington over Spring Break. Cust enjoyed the conversation, so he signed Sam’s glove. Next up… the game itself.
The Game:
The game itself featured Oakland Athletics’ left hander, Dallas Braden who was about to pitch for the 2nd time since he threw the 19th Perfect Game in Major League history and the Orioles’ highly talented and Stanford graduate (I mention that for Sam’s amusement), Jeremy Guthrie. The scoring opened in the top of the 2nd following a leadoff walk to none other than Jack Cust who later scored on a groundout to 2nd by Mark Ellis and the A’s took a 1-0 lead. It took a few innings for the O’s to bounce back. They tied the game in the 4th following a pair of walks to Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada. After Markakis was retired on a fielders’ choice, Tejada scored on a throwing error by Cliff Pennington, the A’s shortstop. Although Braden had been pitching well, he mysteriously left after the 4th inning due to an apparent ankle injury. The Orioles took advantage of getting to the A’s bullpen early and bounced on reliever, Tyson Ross on a pair of sacrifice flies by Ty Wigginton and Adam Jones in the 6h, giving the team a 3-1 lead. Guthrie was strong for the O’s going 6 innings allowing only 1 run. The Orioles looked for insurance in the 8th inning against A’s reliever Craig Breslow. An actual conversation during the 8th inning: Spencer: “Markakis is so underrated…” Sam: “I know” Me: “it’s probably because he hasn’t been hitting homeruns.” Seconds later we look up, and Markakis appeased me by hitting a fly ball over the right field seats, giving the Orioles a 4-1 8th inning lead. Later in the inning, Matt Wieters hit an rbi double for the Orioles making it 5-1, and lefty reliever Will Ohman made the lead stand with a 1-2-3 9th inning including 2 strikeouts. Final score 5-1 Baltimore.
Win- Jeremy Guthrie
6IP 6H 3BB 1ER 2K
Loss- Tyson Ross
1.2IP 0H 2ER 2BB 0K
What we Ate:
This is a somewhat interesting segment of this because Sam and I didn’t really eat at the ballpark. We went to the Inner Harbor about a 5 minute walk from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. At the Inner Harbor, we went to a seafood restaurant, and Sam and I “pigged out” on oysters, shrimp, muscles, and clams. They were wonderful, probably some of the best oysters I have had in my entire life. Spencer had a hot dog at the game + Lobster Bisque at the seafood restaurant.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards:
Fans: 7 (There were so few people at this game, it was truly unfortunate)
Food: 10*
Seats: 9
Overall Experience: 8
*Game Notes*: Our seats were 8 rows back and right in line with 3rd base. Orioles 3rd baseman Miguel Tejada apparently loved attention. We would yell “MIGUEL” at him at random time throughout the game and no matter what the situation was, he would acknowledge us. Tejada also made a terrific diving catch on a line drive hit by none other than our buddy, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Braden went 4 innings allowing 3 hits, a couple walks and no earned runs before leaving due to injury. We spoke a little bit with the two gentlemen sitting behind us. One of them claimed to have seen Hoyt Willhelm’s No-Hitter for the Orioles in 1959. Camden Yards, despite not being as beautiful as some of the newer ballparks, is the pioneer for the new wave of baseball stadiums. It is beautiful in many ways and has now completed 15 years of being home to the Baltimore Orioles, and everyone who visits there loves it.
Game 8: KC @ Cle
Game 8 of our trip was at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. Shin Soo Choo and the Cleveland Indians took on Billy Butler and the Kansas City Royals.
Pregame
Pregame in Cleveland was pretty average. We got to the game as soon as possible, and were one of the first to enter the stadium. To be frank, that is not saying much with the amount of fans that were there. Like all games, we began our quest for balls. Scott Posednik got us started by giving Maxwell a ball.
Good piece of advice if you ever go to the game early: act like a fan of the visiting ball club. It is almost a can't miss strategy for getting a ball.
We all watched a bullpen session of Royals Starter Kyle Davies. Surprisingly, he looked very good. The bullpen coach was a nice guy and decided to give Maxwell a ball. Like a nice person, Maxwell gave the ball to Sam to add to his personal collection.
We then found a speed gun, which Maxwell decided to attempt to throw hard. He did not. I believe he maxed out at 56mph. That is pathetic. :)
I just want to say that if you want to see a game in Cleveland, do it. We sat in field box seats for less than $30. It was unbelievable. Seats were outstanding. They even competed with our front row seats in Pittsburgh.
I need to give a shout out to BRUCE CHEN!
The Game
This baseball game was one to remember. The Indians starter was Justin Masterson who was riding a winless streak that extended into last year. The Kansas City Royals sent out Gil Meche, a left handed pitcher who has been battling injuries. The scoring got started when the Royals made a throwing error while attempting to turn a double play. Travis Hafner came around to score to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. A 3rd inning rally gave the Royals a 2-1 lead. In the 5th inning, Cleveland CF Trever Crow hit a single to centerfield driving in the tying run. The tie game was short lived when Mitch Maier game the Royals a 1 run lead on a double. The Indians were able to get 1 run in both the 6th and 7th giving them a 4-3 lead. Rafael Perez and Tony Sipp shut down the Royals for the rest of the game until Closer Kerry Wood came in to
pitch. Then the disaster began...
Mike Aviles began with a lead off triple. By then you knew that the lead was essentially gone. After a bingle (Swinging bunt single) there were runners on the corners with nobody out. Billy Butler hit an absolute bomb double that put runners on second and third. He then was able to strike out Jose Guillen. To set up the double play he loaded the bases by intentionally walking Alberto Callaspo. He then had a 5 pitch walk with the bases loaded to give the Royals a lead. Yuniesky Betancourt then cleared the bases on and 0-2 pitch, lacing a double to the wall. By the time Wood was removed from the game, it was out of hand. 8-4 the Royals won, scoring 5 runs in the 9th. It was hands down, the worst pitching performance I have ever seen, and I have seen A LOT of baseball.
Win- Bruce Chen
1.1 IP, 0H, 1BB, 0K
Loss-Kerry Wood
.1IP 4H, 2BB, 5ER, 1K
Progressive Field
Fans: 4
Food: 6
Seats: 9
Overall Experience: 6
The Indians lived up to the hype with having the lowest attendance in baseball. There had to have been less than 10,000 fans at the ballpark. The seats were very good and very cheap. The food was solid. The thing about Progressive Field was that nothing was outstanding. When you are watching some of the worst teams in baseball, the game can drag out which seemed to happen until the 9th.
Other Notes
Cops in Cleveland are cool. Nice cop had a conversation before the game. Lebron rules the city until he moves to NY.
Game Seven: COL @ CHC
Game 7 took us to the iconic Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL to see the Chicago Cubs host the Colorado Rockies. But before we could get there, we ran into some trouble on the Illinois highways (you have to ask us in person for details...). When we got to Chicago, we parked on the University of Chicago campus, located smack in the middle of the south side of the city. Our public transportation journey to the stadium was scary, but thankfully we made it (and took a cab home instead!)
Pregame
We spent pregame down the first base line, which is the visitor's side at Wrigley, talking to Colorado players. Jason Giambi gave us a nice nod when we cheered for him, but sadly he didn't come over. One of the highlights of the trip was when Ubaldo Jimenez, the greatest non-Nationals pitcher in baseball, walked over to us and signed Sam's scorecard and Maxwell's glove. We were in awe for some time after that. We were also fortunate enough to meet the Rockies' bullpen catcher, who was from Ridgewood, NJ. He cracked joke after joke at the expense of these 2 drunk women next to us. He even threw in a few riddles that stumped them every time. Overall, it was a very fun pregame, capped by Lindsay Vonn, US Gold Medalist skier, throwing out the first pitch.
The Game
The game matched Cubs surprising ace Carlos Silva vs. Jhoulys Chacin. The game was fairly uneventful early on, with a 0-0 score through three. However, like the previous 5 games we had attended, the home team broke through, in part due to Chacin's lack of control. The Cubs put up three in the fourth capped off by a clutch RBI single by Kosuke Fukudome. The Rockies pulled within one with a 2-Run shot by Todd Helton in the 7th, but the Cubs pulled far ahead again for good with 3 more in the 8th, bringing our home team win streak to 6.
Win: Carlos Silva
6 IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 4K
Loss: Jhoulys Chacin
5.2 IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 5BB, 6K
Wrigley Field
Fans: 7
Food: 7
Seats: 8
Overall Experience: 7
We had a very good time, but it was hard to make up for the weather. It was unbelievably cold and windy on that May Chicago Night. The food was solid, not amazing. We had some deep dish pizza, some ballpark franks, and Sam tried the Chicago beef sandwich, a local specialty. Sam barely edged out Spencer for fat ass of the game with the sandwich and half a pizza vs. Spencer's full personal pizza and a hot dog. We all also had some hot chocolate during the game to stay warm.
Other notes: The hot dog guy was very funny. After serving Maxwell and Spencer, he saw Lindsay Vonn step on the field. He promptly ended our conversation by saying "I want to see how hot she is in person" and left. A few minutes later, we saw him come back, and asked for his opinion. The verdict... "A lot taller and more muscular than I expected, so just ok, but I was a bit disappointed."
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Game Six: WSH @ STL
Game 6 of our Baseball Odyssey led us to Busch Stadium in the heart of St. Louis, MO. This was our audible game. When we woke up at our hotel in Dayton, OH and checked the weather in Detroit, our worst fears were realized. We saw that Detroit would be absolutely rained out that night, and due to our tight schedule, we would not be able to see a game there, bringing our total amount of games down to 10. Maxwell had the idea to see if St. Louis was home instead, and Sam ran with it. While the Brothers Polans shaved, showered, and packed up, Sam found out that St. Louis was home, bought tickets on StubHub, printed out directions, and booked a hotel on the road from St. Louis to Chicago. We had saved the day.
Pregame
Busch Stadium opened up 2 hours before game time. We immediately rushed to our seats in left center to talk to the Nationals Relief Pitchers warming up in the outfield. That morning, Brian Bruney had been demoted to allow for Drew Storen, Washington's other 2009 first round draft pick out of STANFORD University, to be promoted to the big leagues. Sam made sure to show off his Stanford gear, attracting a smile from the obviously nervous Storen.
Batting Practice was fairly uneventful. We did get another ball and we met National's Pitcher Craig Stammen's cousin. Most importantly, we met a rising Duke University senior who "had definitely heard of" Alex Golding. The stadium looked gorgeous, with the St. Louis arched mowed onto the grass. However, the sky was much cloudier than we anticipated. The storm was supposed to stay to the Northeast of St. Louis, but we began to fear that it would follow us to our audibled game 6.
The Game
The game consisted of a matchup between Cardinal's Ace and ex-Phillies great Kyle Lohse vs. National's superstar Craig Stammen. The Cardinals broke the game wide open right away in the bottom of the 1st. After the first two batters got out, the Cardinals' bats came alive. Matt Holliday, in the three hole, worked a walk, Albert Pujols singled, Colby Rasmus got an RBI single, David Freese knocked in 2 with a triple, Yadier Molina brought Freese home with a single, and then Scott Schumaker finally ended the inning with a ground out to first. The Nationals pulled within 2 in the 5th, but the Cardinals added 2 more in the 8th to take a commanding 6-2 lead, which ended up being the final score.
Win- Kyle Lohse
6 IP, 6H, 2R, 1ER, 1BB, 4K
Loss- Craig Stammen
6IP, 6H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 4K
Busch Stadium
Fans: 9
Food: 9
Seats: 8
Overall Experience: 9
We had a great time at this stadium. It was a great idea to audible here. The food was unbelievably good. We had pulled pork, giant barbecued turkey legs, toasted raviolis, and much more. Sam won fat ass of the game, and doesn't regret even one bite of food.
The funniest moment of the game revolved around Drew Storen's major league debut. As a proud future Stanford Cardinal, Sam stood up and cheered for Storen when he entered the game for the Nationals, much to the dismay of the Cardinals fans around us. They asked Sam "Why are you a Stanford fan if you live in Missouri! Go back to California!" As funny as this was, the best part was when a crowd of other fans yelled back, in complete seriousness, "You guys are idiots. Stanford is in Connecticut, not California!" Enough said Missouri...
Other notes: It drizzled a little bit, but luckily, the game was never interrupted.
Game 9: Oakland @ Baltimore
Our 9th game featured New Jersey native Jack Cust of the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball's Worst team, with a manager who since the game has been fired, the Baltimore Orioles.
Pregame:
Baltimore was the site of one of our most enjoyable pregame experiences. We received no balls from the players, caught no homeruns (thanks in large part to the lack of talent on the Baltimore Orioles), had to wait outside the gate and talk to an incredibly stupid person, but it was still amazing. The reason why it was amazing was Oakland Athletics' Third Baseman, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Kouzmanoff showed us the human side of a baseball player. We sat online in order to talk to him while he had a 20 or so minute conversation with an old family friend. During this time, the A's catcher, Kurt Suzuki, came up to the fans and began signing autographs, so my mitt now had 3 signatures. The three of us grew to respect Kevin Kouzmanoff the man, not the baseball player. Earlier, Sam, had teased Kouzmanoff during Batting Practice yelling at him, "KOUZ! WARNING TRACK POWER!" Kouzmanoff laughed at Sam's joke. Finally after his long conversation, we had the chance to speak with Mr. Kouzmanoff a little bit, amidst the swarm of fans begging for the newly acquired 3rd Baseman's autograph. He then asked if we wanted to sign anything, we said sure, so he signed my glove and a few other items. We then watched more of batting practice as the A’s did hit some home runs. Cust and A’s first baseman Daric Barton put on a show launching balls over the high scoreboard in right field. The last interesting pregame action was when Sam wandered off with the intention to speak to Flemington, NJ native, Jack Cust. He joked with Cust about being from “the Dirty jerz” and told him that Pingry’s baseball team practiced at his facility in Flemington over Spring Break. Cust enjoyed the conversation, so he signed Sam’s glove. Next up… the game itself.
The Game:
The game itself featured Oakland Athletics’ left hander, Dallas Braden who was about to pitch for the 2nd time since he threw the 19th Perfect Game in Major League history and the Orioles’ highly talented and Stanford graduate (I mention that for Sam’s amusement), Jeremy Guthrie. The scoring opened in the top of the 2nd following a leadoff walk to none other than Jack Cust who later scored on a groundout to 2nd by Mark Ellis and the A’s took a 1-0 lead. It took a few innings for the O’s to bounce back. They tied the game in the 4th following a pair of walks to Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada. After Markakis was retired on a fielders’ choice, Tejada scored on a throwing error by Cliff Pennington, the A’s shortstop. Although Braden had been pitching well, he mysteriously left after the 4th inning due to an apparent ankle injury. The Orioles took advantage of getting to the A’s bullpen early and bounced on reliever, Tyson Ross on a pair of sacrifice flies by Ty Wigginton and Adam Jones in the 6h, giving the team a 3-1 lead. Guthrie was strong for the O’s going 6 innings allowing only 1 run. The Orioles looked or insurance in the 8th inning against A’s reliever Craig Breslow. An actual conversation during the 8th inning: Spencer: “Markakis is so underrated…” Sam: “I know” Me: “it’s probably because he hasn’t been hitting homeruns.” Seconds later we look up, and Markakis appeased me by hitting a fly ball over the right field seats, giving the Orioles a 4-1 8th inning lead. Later in the inning, Matt Wieters hit an rbi double for the Orioles making it 5-1, and lefty reliever Will Ohman made it stand with a 1-2-3 9th inning including 2 strikeouts. Final score 5-1 Baltimore.
Win- Jeremy Guthrie
6IP 6H 3BB 1ER 2K
Loss- Tyson Ross
1.2IP 0H 2ER 2BB 0K
What we Ate:
This is a somewhat interesting segment of this because Sam and I didn’t really eat at the ballpark. We went to the Inner Harbor about a 5 minute walk from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. At the Inner Harbor, we went to a seafood restaurant, and Sam and I “pigged out” on oysters, shrimp, muscles, and clams. They were wonderful, probably some of the best oysters I have had in my entire life. Spencer had a hot dog at the game + Lobster Bisque at the seafood restaurant.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards:
Fans: 7 (There were so few people at this game, it was truly unfortunate)
Food: 10*
Seats: 9
Overall Experience: 8
*Game Notes*: Our seats were 8 rows back and right in line with 3rd base. Orioles 3rd baseman Miguel Tejada apparently loved attention. We would yell “MIGUEL” at him at random time throughout the game and no matter what the situation was, he would acknowledge us. Tejada also made a terrific diving catch on a line drive hit by none other than our buddy, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Braden went 4 innings allowing 3 hits, a couple walks and no earned runs before leaving due to injury. We spoke a little bit with the two gentlemen sitting behind us. One of them claimed to have seen Hoyt Willhelm’s No-Hitter for the Orioles in 1959. Camden Yards, despite not being as beautiful as some of the newer ballparks, is the pioneer for the new wave of baseball stadiums. It is beautiful in many ways and has now completed 15 years of being home to the Baltimore Orioles, and everyone who visits there loves it.
Our 9th game featured New Jersey native Jack Cust of the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball's Worst team, with a manager who since the game has been fired, the Baltimore Orioles.
Pregame:
Baltimore was the site of one of our most enjoyable pregame experiences. We received no balls from the players, caught no homeruns (thanks in large part to the lack of talent on the Baltimore Orioles), had to wait outside the gate and talk to an incredibly stupid person, but it was still amazing. The reason why it was amazing was Oakland Athletics' Third Baseman, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Kouzmanoff showed us the human side of a baseball player. We sat online in order to talk to him while he had a 20 or so minute conversation with an old family friend. During this time, the A's catcher, Kurt Suzuki, came up to the fans and began signing autographs, so my mitt now had 3 signatures. The three of us grew to respect Kevin Kouzmanoff the man, not the baseball player. Earlier, Sam, had teased Kouzmanoff during Batting Practice yelling at him, "KOUZ! WARNING TRACK POWER!" Kouzmanoff laughed at Sam's joke. Finally after his long conversation, we had the chance to speak with Mr. Kouzmanoff a little bit, amidst the swarm of fans begging for the newly acquired 3rd Baseman's autograph. He then asked if we wanted to sign anything, we said sure, so he signed my glove and a few other items. We then watched more of batting practice as the A’s did hit some home runs. Cust and A’s first baseman Daric Barton put on a show launching balls over the high scoreboard in right field. The last interesting pregame action was when Sam wandered off with the intention to speak to Flemington, NJ native, Jack Cust. He joked with Cust about being from “the Dirty jerz” and told him that Pingry’s baseball team practiced at his facility in Flemington over Spring Break. Cust enjoyed the conversation, so he signed Sam’s glove. Next up… the game itself.
The Game:
The game itself featured Oakland Athletics’ left hander, Dallas Braden who was about to pitch for the 2nd time since he threw the 19th Perfect Game in Major League history and the Orioles’ highly talented and Stanford graduate (I mention that for Sam’s amusement), Jeremy Guthrie. The scoring opened in the top of the 2nd following a leadoff walk to none other than Jack Cust who later scored on a groundout to 2nd by Mark Ellis and the A’s took a 1-0 lead. It took a few innings for the O’s to bounce back. They tied the game in the 4th following a pair of walks to Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada. After Markakis was retired on a fielders’ choice, Tejada scored on a throwing error by Cliff Pennington, the A’s shortstop. Although Braden had been pitching well, he mysteriously left after the 4th inning due to an apparent ankle injury. The Orioles took advantage of getting to the A’s bullpen early and bounced on reliever, Tyson Ross on a pair of sacrifice flies by Ty Wigginton and Adam Jones in the 6h, giving the team a 3-1 lead. Guthrie was strong for the O’s going 6 innings allowing only 1 run. The Orioles looked or insurance in the 8th inning against A’s reliever Craig Breslow. An actual conversation during the 8th inning: Spencer: “Markakis is so underrated…” Sam: “I know” Me: “it’s probably because he hasn’t been hitting homeruns.” Seconds later we look up, and Markakis appeased me by hitting a fly ball over the right field seats, giving the Orioles a 4-1 8th inning lead. Later in the inning, Matt Wieters hit an rbi double for the Orioles making it 5-1, and lefty reliever Will Ohman made it stand with a 1-2-3 9th inning including 2 strikeouts. Final score 5-1 Baltimore.
Win- Jeremy Guthrie
6IP 6H 3BB 1ER 2K
Loss- Tyson Ross
1.2IP 0H 2ER 2BB 0K
What we Ate:
This is a somewhat interesting segment of this because Sam and I didn’t really eat at the ballpark. We went to the Inner Harbor about a 5 minute walk from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. At the Inner Harbor, we went to a seafood restaurant, and Sam and I “pigged out” on oysters, shrimp, muscles, and clams. They were wonderful, probably some of the best oysters I have had in my entire life. Spencer had a hot dog at the game + Lobster Bisque at the seafood restaurant.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards:
Fans: 7 (There were so few people at this game, it was truly unfortunate)
Food: 10*
Seats: 9
Overall Experience: 8
*Game Notes*: Our seats were 8 rows back and right in line with 3rd base. Orioles 3rd baseman Miguel Tejada apparently loved attention. We would yell “MIGUEL” at him at random time throughout the game and no matter what the situation was, he would acknowledge us. Tejada also made a terrific diving catch on a line drive hit by none other than our buddy, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Braden went 4 innings allowing 3 hits, a couple walks and no earned runs before leaving due to injury. We spoke a little bit with the two gentlemen sitting behind us. One of them claimed to have seen Hoyt Willhelm’s No-Hitter for the Orioles in 1959. Camden Yards, despite not being as beautiful as some of the newer ballparks, is the pioneer for the new wave of baseball stadiums. It is beautiful in many ways and has now completed 15 years of being home to the Baltimore Orioles, and everyone who visits there loves it.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Rainout
Detroit and Chicago was rained out. We changed our plans and decided to go to St. Louis! Lets follow the Cards!
Game 5: Stl @ Cin
Game 6 of our trip was at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. The game featured King Albert and the St. Louis Cardinals and Joey Votto and the Cincinnati Reds.
Pregame
Pregame was pretty uneventful. For some reason nobody was taking Batting Practice except for a small group of Cardinals. The thing was, that they were the really good Cardinals. Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Ryan Ludwick, and the biggest bat of them all, Adam Wainwright. Pujols, Holliday, and TRL (The Ryan Ludwick) did not hit one ball out of the park with their swings. The show belonged to the only pitcher of the group, Adam Wainwright.
He hit a bunch of homeruns and even hit a ball off the facing of the second deck. Let me remind all of you HE IS A PITCHER!
Since there was no batting practice, the only other thing to do with our pregame time was to eat. We went to something native to Ohio, Skyline. Skyline is a one of a kind place. The three of us, by suggestion of our a "Threeway". Now, I know that sounds phallic, but it is really delicious. If you do not know, a threeway is Ohio chili with spaghetti and cheese. If anyone is ever in Ohio, go to a Skyline (they are everwhere).
Unfortunately there was nothing else exciting. We did not get any baseballs or communicate with any of the players. So instead of talking about other players now, I will just say one thing:
FRANK CATALANATTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Game
The game featured Bronson Arroyo of the Reds and ex Red Sox Brad Penny. In the first inning, Scott Rolen hit a line drive homerun over the right field fence to make it 2-0. He was not done though. In the third inning he drove in another run on a single to make it 3-0 and give him his 3rd RBI of the game. Johnny Gomes made it 4-0 later in the inning. Then, later in the game with the score 4-1, starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo came up with runners on and drove a single into right driving in 2 more runs, helping his own cause. The only real drive by the Cardinals was hit by back up catcher Jason LaRue hit a drive into the left field seats. Brad Penny was attrocious. He gave up 7 runs in 5 innings while giving up 13 hits. He was just being slapped around the whole game. Arroyo on the other hand, was brilliant. He pitched a complete game and was never really hit hard despite giving up two runs. Final Score: 7-2
Win- Bronson Arroyo
CG, 7H, 3BB, 2ER, 4K
Loss- Brad Penny
5IP, 13H, 7ER, 7K
Great American Ballpark
Fans: 7
Food: 5
Seats: 8
Overall Experience: 6
The food was certainly interesting, but it was never really all that good. The fans were very passionate and there were many of them in the park when we arrived. The issue was that we hit some bad weather. Some rain in the 5th inning, combined with some general cold weather, was a bit of a turn off. The game was still alright.
Other Notes
The fans behind us were idiots. Best quote: "why would you bunt with a runner on third?"
Pregame
Pregame was pretty uneventful. For some reason nobody was taking Batting Practice except for a small group of Cardinals. The thing was, that they were the really good Cardinals. Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Ryan Ludwick, and the biggest bat of them all, Adam Wainwright. Pujols, Holliday, and TRL (The Ryan Ludwick) did not hit one ball out of the park with their swings. The show belonged to the only pitcher of the group, Adam Wainwright.
He hit a bunch of homeruns and even hit a ball off the facing of the second deck. Let me remind all of you HE IS A PITCHER!
Since there was no batting practice, the only other thing to do with our pregame time was to eat. We went to something native to Ohio, Skyline. Skyline is a one of a kind place. The three of us, by suggestion of our a "Threeway". Now, I know that sounds phallic, but it is really delicious. If you do not know, a threeway is Ohio chili with spaghetti and cheese. If anyone is ever in Ohio, go to a Skyline (they are everwhere).
Unfortunately there was nothing else exciting. We did not get any baseballs or communicate with any of the players. So instead of talking about other players now, I will just say one thing:
FRANK CATALANATTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Game
The game featured Bronson Arroyo of the Reds and ex Red Sox Brad Penny. In the first inning, Scott Rolen hit a line drive homerun over the right field fence to make it 2-0. He was not done though. In the third inning he drove in another run on a single to make it 3-0 and give him his 3rd RBI of the game. Johnny Gomes made it 4-0 later in the inning. Then, later in the game with the score 4-1, starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo came up with runners on and drove a single into right driving in 2 more runs, helping his own cause. The only real drive by the Cardinals was hit by back up catcher Jason LaRue hit a drive into the left field seats. Brad Penny was attrocious. He gave up 7 runs in 5 innings while giving up 13 hits. He was just being slapped around the whole game. Arroyo on the other hand, was brilliant. He pitched a complete game and was never really hit hard despite giving up two runs. Final Score: 7-2
Win- Bronson Arroyo
CG, 7H, 3BB, 2ER, 4K
Loss- Brad Penny
5IP, 13H, 7ER, 7K
Great American Ballpark
Fans: 7
Food: 5
Seats: 8
Overall Experience: 6
The food was certainly interesting, but it was never really all that good. The fans were very passionate and there were many of them in the park when we arrived. The issue was that we hit some bad weather. Some rain in the 5th inning, combined with some general cold weather, was a bit of a turn off. The game was still alright.
Other Notes
The fans behind us were idiots. Best quote: "why would you bunt with a runner on third?"
Saturday, May 15, 2010
What We Ate: Game 4
Fisher- Chocolate Shake, Burger, Corn on the Cob with spices, One sushi roll.
Shake=BAD Burger was solid COC and sushi were great.
Maxwell- Burger, Shake, one sushi roll, Carvel ice cream, and one more thing we forget. We only know because he was the fat one of the bunch.
Spencer- bad chocolate shake, slice of pizza, hot dog
Harrison- Carvel, milkshake, sushi
Maxwell is ENORMOUS.
Shake=BAD Burger was solid COC and sushi were great.
Maxwell- Burger, Shake, one sushi roll, Carvel ice cream, and one more thing we forget. We only know because he was the fat one of the bunch.
Spencer- bad chocolate shake, slice of pizza, hot dog
Harrison- Carvel, milkshake, sushi
Maxwell is ENORMOUS.
Game 4: SF@NYM
Game 4 of our trip featured the San Fransisco Giants at the New York Mets. For this game, we had a special guest join us at Citi Field, my brother Harrison.
Pregame
Citi Field was quite the experience. We started by trying to gather as many balls as we could. It started with Hisanori Takahashi, the Japanese pitcher on the Mets. We met an man with his kid who had the Japanese translation for "Excuse me, can you please give us a ball." Turns out it worked like a charm. He was however, amused by our pronunciation of the phrase, and asked us to repeat it a number of times. That was only the first of our many balls. Next came out best friend, Frank Catalanotto.
Just as we had in Philly, we yelled for Frank throughout warm ups. We were there early enough that we could yell loud enough for him to understand us. We asked him if he remembered our "Frank Catalanatto Fan Club", and he acknowledged us. He then gave us 2 balls, one of which was given to my brother. Since I am writing this post way after game night, I am going to give a shout out to Frank. He was recently cut by the Mets and we all want to give him out praise. He was a great ballplayer who was under appreciated.
The worst pitcher in baseball history, Todd Wellemeyer, also gave us a ball, which was our 4th ball of the night. Sam also decided that it would be a good idea to drop 2 balls. Nice Job!!!
Batting practice was otherwise pretty uneventful. We tried to get Frank's autograph, but were unsuccessful.
The Game
The starters for the game were Mike Pelfry for the Mets, and Jonathan Sanchez for the Giants. Pelfry was dealing. He got into the 8th inning and gave up 3 runs. He really was solid. Sanchez on the other hand, was just OK. He pitched 7 innings, but gave up 3 monster homeruns. Ike Davis clubbed a pair and Rod Barajas unloaded against him as well. The Mets were up 4-3 going into the 9th inning, so they brought in their closer, Fransisco Rodriguez. K-Rod is one of the premier closers in baseball. John Bowker came off the Giants bench and tied the game with a solo homerun. K-Rod blew the save which, due to his obnoxious personality, was highly amusing. After the big fly, Ike Davis made an unbelievable catch. He went flying into the dugout. I cannot express how awesome the catch was. After the Giants, ninth inning comeback, Rod Barajas hit a walkoff two run homerun. The stadium went wild. It was the most enthusiasm we had seen all trip. Just something to point out... we have been to 4 games,2 of which Rod Barajas has played in. He has hit 4 HRs.
Win-Fransisco Rodriguez (Blown Save)
1 IP, 3H, 1ER, 2K
Loss- Sergio Romo
.1IP, 1H, 1BB, 2ER
Citi Field
Food: 8
Seat: 9
Fans: 3
Overall Experience: 7
Even though the stadium was very loud after the walk off Homerun, I believe that it is partially due to the fact that there were just about as many Giants fans as Met fans. The food was very good. There was a Shake Shack and Sushi. It generally equals a win. We had outstanding seats. They were right in the front of the stands in left.
Other Notes
It was very cold. We also barely made it into the city. We made it onto our train with less than 1 minute to spare. I am guilty of that because I left the tickets in the house. Brilliant... eh? Ike Davis is really really cool. Like really really cool.
Pregame
Citi Field was quite the experience. We started by trying to gather as many balls as we could. It started with Hisanori Takahashi, the Japanese pitcher on the Mets. We met an man with his kid who had the Japanese translation for "Excuse me, can you please give us a ball." Turns out it worked like a charm. He was however, amused by our pronunciation of the phrase, and asked us to repeat it a number of times. That was only the first of our many balls. Next came out best friend, Frank Catalanotto.
Just as we had in Philly, we yelled for Frank throughout warm ups. We were there early enough that we could yell loud enough for him to understand us. We asked him if he remembered our "Frank Catalanatto Fan Club", and he acknowledged us. He then gave us 2 balls, one of which was given to my brother. Since I am writing this post way after game night, I am going to give a shout out to Frank. He was recently cut by the Mets and we all want to give him out praise. He was a great ballplayer who was under appreciated.
The worst pitcher in baseball history, Todd Wellemeyer, also gave us a ball, which was our 4th ball of the night. Sam also decided that it would be a good idea to drop 2 balls. Nice Job!!!
Batting practice was otherwise pretty uneventful. We tried to get Frank's autograph, but were unsuccessful.
The Game
The starters for the game were Mike Pelfry for the Mets, and Jonathan Sanchez for the Giants. Pelfry was dealing. He got into the 8th inning and gave up 3 runs. He really was solid. Sanchez on the other hand, was just OK. He pitched 7 innings, but gave up 3 monster homeruns. Ike Davis clubbed a pair and Rod Barajas unloaded against him as well. The Mets were up 4-3 going into the 9th inning, so they brought in their closer, Fransisco Rodriguez. K-Rod is one of the premier closers in baseball. John Bowker came off the Giants bench and tied the game with a solo homerun. K-Rod blew the save which, due to his obnoxious personality, was highly amusing. After the big fly, Ike Davis made an unbelievable catch. He went flying into the dugout. I cannot express how awesome the catch was. After the Giants, ninth inning comeback, Rod Barajas hit a walkoff two run homerun. The stadium went wild. It was the most enthusiasm we had seen all trip. Just something to point out... we have been to 4 games,2 of which Rod Barajas has played in. He has hit 4 HRs.
Win-Fransisco Rodriguez (Blown Save)
1 IP, 3H, 1ER, 2K
Loss- Sergio Romo
.1IP, 1H, 1BB, 2ER
Citi Field
Food: 8
Seat: 9
Fans: 3
Overall Experience: 7
Even though the stadium was very loud after the walk off Homerun, I believe that it is partially due to the fact that there were just about as many Giants fans as Met fans. The food was very good. There was a Shake Shack and Sushi. It generally equals a win. We had outstanding seats. They were right in the front of the stands in left.
Other Notes
It was very cold. We also barely made it into the city. We made it onto our train with less than 1 minute to spare. I am guilty of that because I left the tickets in the house. Brilliant... eh? Ike Davis is really really cool. Like really really cool.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
What We Ate: Game 3
Sam and I enjoyed splitting an order of cheese fries before the game. We both agree that they were very good.
Maxwell ate a foot long hot dog and a chicken sandwich. He said that both were good and easily beat the bad food that we had in Washington.
I had my first hot dog of the trip, and was very happy about it.
The winner for game 3 is MAXWELL. He now has 2 victories. Sam has 1 win, and Spencer has 0. Good food in Pittsburgh. Can't wait to see what comes later in the trip!
Maxwell ate a foot long hot dog and a chicken sandwich. He said that both were good and easily beat the bad food that we had in Washington.
I had my first hot dog of the trip, and was very happy about it.
The winner for game 3 is MAXWELL. He now has 2 victories. Sam has 1 win, and Spencer has 0. Good food in Pittsburgh. Can't wait to see what comes later in the trip!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Game 3 CHC @ PIT
The third game of our trip was in Pittsburgh featuring the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Pregame
Pittsburgh was a little different from the other stadiums that we have visited, as the gates opened at 5:30 instead of 4:30. Lucky for us, during our evening in Pittsburgh we were going to have the "VIP" experience. Even before the gates opened, we were allowed to go up to the Pirates Club. We just decided to order a few drinks and order a snack while we waited. FYI, cheese fries are good. Just like in DC, there were not many people around, and as a result we ended up having a discussion with the club manager. He turned out to be a pretty chill dude. He ended up asking us if we were 21 (which I know was a highlight for Sam) because he had a few bars in mind that he thought we should check out. We soon paid and went onto our daily job of ball hunting.
Since we were not allowed into the park until 5:30, we missed the Pirates BP. Honestly, I do not understand why the Pirates organization would not want their fans to see their home team take batting practice, it just doesn't make sense. Anyway, we went out to the bleachers in left and begged many Cubs for balls, from star Outfielder Alfonso Soriano to simple role players such as Chad Tracy. No luck whatsoever. During our whole experience pregame, we did not see a single Cub player give a ball to any fan. There were a bunch of Cub fans who drove over 500 miles to see their Cubbies play, but not a single fan got a ball.
I said that we got the VIP experience and here is the reason that I say it: the seats. We purchased $26 dollar seats to sit 6 rows back on the third base line. Now, most baseball fans know that sitting against the third base line is an ideal spot to get an autograph. Lucky for us, the only Pirate who's autograph is worth getting, Andrew McCutchen, just happened to be giving autographs right in front of us. We decided that we wanted to get our scorecard signed. Sam ran to get the autograph... and he made it. Unfortuanatly, Mr. McCutchen decided that he wanted to not give an autograph to a little boy and Sam.
The Game
Wednesday's starters in for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs were Charlie Morton and Ted Lilly respectively. I would like to point out now that during the 3rd inning we moved up to the front row due to the lack of fans. Really sweet. Anyway, coming into this game Charlie Morton had an ERA over 12.00, so we were honestly not expecting a stellar pitching performance. However, he was solid only giving up 2 runs over 6+ innings of work. He had a perfect game broken up in the third because he hit Cubs' pitcher Lilly in the foot. Ex Yankee great Ted Lilly was, well, not so great. The 4 runs over 6 innings isn't so so bad, but he was getting smacked around. Not pretty stuff. Pirates outfielder Ryan Church hit a monster homerun to right. It was right in a lefty hitter's wheelhouse, low and in. Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones both had 2 hit days, driving in 3 of the Pirates 4 runs. Only other thing to note was that the game was abnormally fast. We were well out of Pittsburgh and back at our hotel at 10:00 PM. For a game that started at 7:05, that is very fast. National League baseball, eh.
Win- Charlie Morton
6+IP, 5H, 2ER, 3K
Loss- Ted Lilly
6IP, 9H, 4ER, 3K
Save- Octavio Dotel
IP, 2K, HP
PNC Park
Food: 7
Fans: 8
Seats: 10
Overall Experience: 8
We went into the ballpark expecting a good experience, and we were not disappointed. At Yankee Stadium, you can get a hot dog for probably around $6-$7. We managed to get a Foot Long (actually one foot of hot dog) for $6.50. First row on the third baseline is also fantastic. I could not ask for better seats at a ball game. Though there were only about 8,000 fans in the park (which is extremely low) they were very good fans. They were true fans and were very knowledgeable. There was certainly no lack of passion for fans that were there. If there were more fans, they would easily hit a 10 on our scale.
Other Notes
Maxwell and I got choked by Pirates Mascot, Parrot. Very good picture. I cannot say how great of an experience we had in Pittsburgh. So far it is Number 1 of the 3 that we have visited. It will be tough to top. Carlos Marmol, the Cubs closer, was absolutely filthy. Seeing Carlos Zambrano come out of the bullpen was also very enjoyable, and laughable.
Pregame
Pittsburgh was a little different from the other stadiums that we have visited, as the gates opened at 5:30 instead of 4:30. Lucky for us, during our evening in Pittsburgh we were going to have the "VIP" experience. Even before the gates opened, we were allowed to go up to the Pirates Club. We just decided to order a few drinks and order a snack while we waited. FYI, cheese fries are good. Just like in DC, there were not many people around, and as a result we ended up having a discussion with the club manager. He turned out to be a pretty chill dude. He ended up asking us if we were 21 (which I know was a highlight for Sam) because he had a few bars in mind that he thought we should check out. We soon paid and went onto our daily job of ball hunting.
Since we were not allowed into the park until 5:30, we missed the Pirates BP. Honestly, I do not understand why the Pirates organization would not want their fans to see their home team take batting practice, it just doesn't make sense. Anyway, we went out to the bleachers in left and begged many Cubs for balls, from star Outfielder Alfonso Soriano to simple role players such as Chad Tracy. No luck whatsoever. During our whole experience pregame, we did not see a single Cub player give a ball to any fan. There were a bunch of Cub fans who drove over 500 miles to see their Cubbies play, but not a single fan got a ball.
I said that we got the VIP experience and here is the reason that I say it: the seats. We purchased $26 dollar seats to sit 6 rows back on the third base line. Now, most baseball fans know that sitting against the third base line is an ideal spot to get an autograph. Lucky for us, the only Pirate who's autograph is worth getting, Andrew McCutchen, just happened to be giving autographs right in front of us. We decided that we wanted to get our scorecard signed. Sam ran to get the autograph... and he made it. Unfortuanatly, Mr. McCutchen decided that he wanted to not give an autograph to a little boy and Sam.
The Game
Wednesday's starters in for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs were Charlie Morton and Ted Lilly respectively. I would like to point out now that during the 3rd inning we moved up to the front row due to the lack of fans. Really sweet. Anyway, coming into this game Charlie Morton had an ERA over 12.00, so we were honestly not expecting a stellar pitching performance. However, he was solid only giving up 2 runs over 6+ innings of work. He had a perfect game broken up in the third because he hit Cubs' pitcher Lilly in the foot. Ex Yankee great Ted Lilly was, well, not so great. The 4 runs over 6 innings isn't so so bad, but he was getting smacked around. Not pretty stuff. Pirates outfielder Ryan Church hit a monster homerun to right. It was right in a lefty hitter's wheelhouse, low and in. Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones both had 2 hit days, driving in 3 of the Pirates 4 runs. Only other thing to note was that the game was abnormally fast. We were well out of Pittsburgh and back at our hotel at 10:00 PM. For a game that started at 7:05, that is very fast. National League baseball, eh.
Win- Charlie Morton
6+IP, 5H, 2ER, 3K
Loss- Ted Lilly
6IP, 9H, 4ER, 3K
Save- Octavio Dotel
IP, 2K, HP
PNC Park
Food: 7
Fans: 8
Seats: 10
Overall Experience: 8
We went into the ballpark expecting a good experience, and we were not disappointed. At Yankee Stadium, you can get a hot dog for probably around $6-$7. We managed to get a Foot Long (actually one foot of hot dog) for $6.50. First row on the third baseline is also fantastic. I could not ask for better seats at a ball game. Though there were only about 8,000 fans in the park (which is extremely low) they were very good fans. They were true fans and were very knowledgeable. There was certainly no lack of passion for fans that were there. If there were more fans, they would easily hit a 10 on our scale.
Other Notes
Maxwell and I got choked by Pirates Mascot, Parrot. Very good picture. I cannot say how great of an experience we had in Pittsburgh. So far it is Number 1 of the 3 that we have visited. It will be tough to top. Carlos Marmol, the Cubs closer, was absolutely filthy. Seeing Carlos Zambrano come out of the bullpen was also very enjoyable, and laughable.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
What We Ate: Game 2
Fish Daddy: Brisket Sandwich, Cinamon Pretzel, 1/2 a regular pretzel
According to Sam a very solid piece of ball park food. A bit obscure though. Cinamon pretzel was solid.
Maxwell: Cheeseburger, Fries, 1/2 regular pretzel
Very mediocre cheeseburger and fries. regular pretzel was below average.
Spencer: Cheeseburger
I thought it was straight up bad.
Even though Maxwell and Sam split the fries, the hands down champ of game 2 is FISHER!!!! Maxwell did though put a fight for a heart attack. Overall, the food fails compared to Philly.
According to Sam a very solid piece of ball park food. A bit obscure though. Cinamon pretzel was solid.
Maxwell: Cheeseburger, Fries, 1/2 regular pretzel
Very mediocre cheeseburger and fries. regular pretzel was below average.
Spencer: Cheeseburger
I thought it was straight up bad.
Even though Maxwell and Sam split the fries, the hands down champ of game 2 is FISHER!!!! Maxwell did though put a fight for a heart attack. Overall, the food fails compared to Philly.
Game 2 ATL@WSH
On Tuesday we attended the second game of our trip. Jay-Hey's Atlanta Braves @ Baseball's best Washington Nationals.
Pregame
We arrived at the stadium 20 minutes before the gate opened. We were approached by a strange old man. I could have sworn he was trying to get us to come with him somewhere. He asked if we wanted to play catch... I am hoping he was just lonely.
Then, like we did at Citizens Bank Park, we went ball hunting. With the help of my buddy Alberto Gonzalez, I had a ball within 20 minutes. Now, any good Yankee fan know that Alberto is an ex-Yankee utility man, and since he is playing in Washington, and is not named Adam Dunn or Ryan Zimmerman, no one knows who he is. That is, except me. So it is obvious why I got a ball. He seemed shocked when I yelled "Alberto!!!" A minute later, the ball was mine.
Now, Maxwell was the only one with out a ball on the trip. Sean Burnett, a Washington relief pitcher, tried to throw a ball to a man decked out in Washington gear, but since he is a Nationals pitcher, he missed the man and hit Maxwell's glove.
Next stop, Braves BP by the dugout. Eric Hinske was taking BP. Just like at Citizens Bank, we decided that we would playfully pick on him. It was not like Oliver Perez, which was meant to hurt his feelings, but rather make a fan club. We yelled "SKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" every time he stepped into the cage. We knew that we got to him because with each swing he was cracking up to our cheers. When he entered the Braves dugout we got a solid head nod. Totally worth it.
The Game
The game between these two National League East "rivals" featured a man with an ERA sub 1.00, Livan Hernandez for the Nationals, and the 0-4 Kenshin Kawakami for the Braves. Livan Hernandez was lucky as he walked 5 and only gave up 2 runs (1 earned) in 5.1 innings. Kenshin Kawakami was the same 0-4 pitcher for Atlanta. He fired 5 sub par innings, giving up 3 runs. Things worth nothing in this boring game are that Adam Dunn and Jason Heyward can hit the ball really really far. They are both very good at what they do. There was really nothing exciting. Washington scored early after the Braves took a 1-0 lead and never really looked back. It was 3-2 Washington at one point, but by the end, it was a 6-3 win for the Nats.
Win- Livan Hernandez
5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 BB, 1 K, 2 R, 1 ER
Loss- Kenshin Kawakami
5 IP, 7 H, 1 K, 3 ER
Save- Matt Capps
.2 IP, 0 K
Nationals Park
Food: 4
Fans: 2 Attendance: 17,098
Seats: 8
Overall Experience: 4
So, overall, a very disappointing experience. The food was horrible. The fans were so obnoxious. They had no knowledge of the game, and seemed like they were not used to having a team in their area. It seemed as if they needed to be completely drunk to have a good time at a ball game. Honestly a 2 rating is generous. Worst of all, they lacked all baseball etiquette. Seats were solid. Since there were barely any fans there, our $10 upper deck seats turned into seats very similar to ones that we had in Philly. We wanted to sit close to the wall but a woman came up to us and asked "is these y'all seats?" We could only respond with an "uhhhhh... maybe". She wasn't very amused. So we backed up a bit. The ballpark was beautiful. The only problem I had with the actual park was that for half the game the scoreboards did not work.
Other Notes
Matt Capps continues to be a stud sporting a .63 ERA with a MLB best 11 saves. It is not gonna last. Jason Heyward is an amazing baseball player. He is going to be a star for years to come. Adam Dunn, like I said, hits straight up bombs. Roger Bernadina made the best play that I have ever seen live. It was number 1 on ESPN's Top 10 plays. Ryan Zimmerman was virtually non-existent turning in an 0-4 day. Somehow Livan Hernandez's ERA remains below 1.00.
Pregame
We arrived at the stadium 20 minutes before the gate opened. We were approached by a strange old man. I could have sworn he was trying to get us to come with him somewhere. He asked if we wanted to play catch... I am hoping he was just lonely.
Then, like we did at Citizens Bank Park, we went ball hunting. With the help of my buddy Alberto Gonzalez, I had a ball within 20 minutes. Now, any good Yankee fan know that Alberto is an ex-Yankee utility man, and since he is playing in Washington, and is not named Adam Dunn or Ryan Zimmerman, no one knows who he is. That is, except me. So it is obvious why I got a ball. He seemed shocked when I yelled "Alberto!!!" A minute later, the ball was mine.
Now, Maxwell was the only one with out a ball on the trip. Sean Burnett, a Washington relief pitcher, tried to throw a ball to a man decked out in Washington gear, but since he is a Nationals pitcher, he missed the man and hit Maxwell's glove.
Next stop, Braves BP by the dugout. Eric Hinske was taking BP. Just like at Citizens Bank, we decided that we would playfully pick on him. It was not like Oliver Perez, which was meant to hurt his feelings, but rather make a fan club. We yelled "SKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" every time he stepped into the cage. We knew that we got to him because with each swing he was cracking up to our cheers. When he entered the Braves dugout we got a solid head nod. Totally worth it.
The Game
The game between these two National League East "rivals" featured a man with an ERA sub 1.00, Livan Hernandez for the Nationals, and the 0-4 Kenshin Kawakami for the Braves. Livan Hernandez was lucky as he walked 5 and only gave up 2 runs (1 earned) in 5.1 innings. Kenshin Kawakami was the same 0-4 pitcher for Atlanta. He fired 5 sub par innings, giving up 3 runs. Things worth nothing in this boring game are that Adam Dunn and Jason Heyward can hit the ball really really far. They are both very good at what they do. There was really nothing exciting. Washington scored early after the Braves took a 1-0 lead and never really looked back. It was 3-2 Washington at one point, but by the end, it was a 6-3 win for the Nats.
Win- Livan Hernandez
5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 BB, 1 K, 2 R, 1 ER
Loss- Kenshin Kawakami
5 IP, 7 H, 1 K, 3 ER
Save- Matt Capps
.2 IP, 0 K
Nationals Park
Food: 4
Fans: 2 Attendance: 17,098
Seats: 8
Overall Experience: 4
So, overall, a very disappointing experience. The food was horrible. The fans were so obnoxious. They had no knowledge of the game, and seemed like they were not used to having a team in their area. It seemed as if they needed to be completely drunk to have a good time at a ball game. Honestly a 2 rating is generous. Worst of all, they lacked all baseball etiquette. Seats were solid. Since there were barely any fans there, our $10 upper deck seats turned into seats very similar to ones that we had in Philly. We wanted to sit close to the wall but a woman came up to us and asked "is these y'all seats?" We could only respond with an "uhhhhh... maybe". She wasn't very amused. So we backed up a bit. The ballpark was beautiful. The only problem I had with the actual park was that for half the game the scoreboards did not work.
Other Notes
Matt Capps continues to be a stud sporting a .63 ERA with a MLB best 11 saves. It is not gonna last. Jason Heyward is an amazing baseball player. He is going to be a star for years to come. Adam Dunn, like I said, hits straight up bombs. Roger Bernadina made the best play that I have ever seen live. It was number 1 on ESPN's Top 10 plays. Ryan Zimmerman was virtually non-existent turning in an 0-4 day. Somehow Livan Hernandez's ERA remains below 1.00.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
What We Ate: Game 1
Sam and I only ate a cheesesteak.
The real pig at this game was Maxwell.
He had a cheesesteak, a schmitter, french fries, and a milkshake. If you are looking for a way to make your heart stop, just do what Maxwell did.
The real pig at this game was Maxwell.
He had a cheesesteak, a schmitter, french fries, and a milkshake. If you are looking for a way to make your heart stop, just do what Maxwell did.
Game 1 NYM@PHI
Yesterday we attended the first game of our trip. Game 1 featured the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia).
Pregame
We arrived at the ballpark at around 4:30 which was 2 and a half hours before gametime. Because we were in Philly, we decided that we should eat. We know that it may have been a bit early to eat, but none of us had the self restraint to resist those famous Philly Cheesesteaks. They were fantastic! I have only been to 3 other ballparks in my life, and this was hands down the best food that I have eaten at a baseball game.
After eating, we decided that we should try to catch flyballs in the bleachers during batting practice. This is where the real fun began. We were standing in the bleachers for about an hour trying to get just one measly ball. The part that was really ridiculous was that a man behind us managed to get 6 balls before we got any! It wasn't like we were not having fun. We said before this trip that we would be on the look out for obnoxious fans... well we decided it would be fun to be them. Oliver Perez, the New York Mets $36 Million dollar AAA pitcher, thought it would be fun to warm up in front of us. As psycho baseball fans, the three of us know that Oliver Perez has control issues. We began chanting things such as "Ollie, just a bit wide" and "Don't throw it away!" Essentially, it was just humorous taunting. We did manage to get a few looks from Ollie along with a few eye rolls.
Next the rest of the Mets came out to warm up and hit batting practice. Since all 3 of us can't stand the Mets, we categorized them all as "bums". Just as we were verbally abusing Pedro Feliciano, a New York relief pitcher, a man starts yelling at Feliciano like he knew him. Since we also wanted to interact with the fans around us, we asked him if he knew him. Turns out he is Pedro Feliciano's cousin. Pretty cool, eh?
We taunted every Mets player except for one, Frank Catalanatto. Rather then taunt him, we praised him. With praise came a lot of acknowledgement from Frank. Then, the highlight of the day occured. A ball was hit in batting practice and Catalanatto caught the ball. Well, it turns out our praise was worth something. He tossed the ball to us making him a hero amongst all three of us.
The Game
The game featured the Phillies prized prospect Kyle Kendrick and Mets lefty Jonathon Niese. Both clubs had a quiet offensive first inning. The second inning was where the fun began. Jason Bay lead off with a double, and then Mets thirdbaseman David Wright hit a bomb to center field to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. They were not done as just two batters later, Jeff Francoeur hit a solo shot to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. They never looked back. Catcher Rod Barajas hit two homeruns as the Mets crushedthe Phillies 9-1.
Win- Jon Niese
7IP, 4H, 1BB, 1ER, 7K
Loss- Kyle Kendrick
5IP, 5H, 1BB, 4ER, 3K
Citizens Bank Park
Food: 10
Fans: 6
Seats: 7
Overall Game Experiance: 8
The ballpark was stunning, the food was outstanding, and despite the blowout, it was a fun game. I have to say what really grabbed my attention was having the Eagles, Flyers, and Phillies all in one Sports Complex.
Other Notes
Phillies Closer Brad Lidge Made his season debut. He is not good. He gave up a homerun to Rod Barajas. I call it "The Brad Lidge Experiance".
Pregame
We arrived at the ballpark at around 4:30 which was 2 and a half hours before gametime. Because we were in Philly, we decided that we should eat. We know that it may have been a bit early to eat, but none of us had the self restraint to resist those famous Philly Cheesesteaks. They were fantastic! I have only been to 3 other ballparks in my life, and this was hands down the best food that I have eaten at a baseball game.
After eating, we decided that we should try to catch flyballs in the bleachers during batting practice. This is where the real fun began. We were standing in the bleachers for about an hour trying to get just one measly ball. The part that was really ridiculous was that a man behind us managed to get 6 balls before we got any! It wasn't like we were not having fun. We said before this trip that we would be on the look out for obnoxious fans... well we decided it would be fun to be them. Oliver Perez, the New York Mets $36 Million dollar AAA pitcher, thought it would be fun to warm up in front of us. As psycho baseball fans, the three of us know that Oliver Perez has control issues. We began chanting things such as "Ollie, just a bit wide" and "Don't throw it away!" Essentially, it was just humorous taunting. We did manage to get a few looks from Ollie along with a few eye rolls.
Next the rest of the Mets came out to warm up and hit batting practice. Since all 3 of us can't stand the Mets, we categorized them all as "bums". Just as we were verbally abusing Pedro Feliciano, a New York relief pitcher, a man starts yelling at Feliciano like he knew him. Since we also wanted to interact with the fans around us, we asked him if he knew him. Turns out he is Pedro Feliciano's cousin. Pretty cool, eh?
We taunted every Mets player except for one, Frank Catalanatto. Rather then taunt him, we praised him. With praise came a lot of acknowledgement from Frank. Then, the highlight of the day occured. A ball was hit in batting practice and Catalanatto caught the ball. Well, it turns out our praise was worth something. He tossed the ball to us making him a hero amongst all three of us.
The Game
The game featured the Phillies prized prospect Kyle Kendrick and Mets lefty Jonathon Niese. Both clubs had a quiet offensive first inning. The second inning was where the fun began. Jason Bay lead off with a double, and then Mets thirdbaseman David Wright hit a bomb to center field to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. They were not done as just two batters later, Jeff Francoeur hit a solo shot to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. They never looked back. Catcher Rod Barajas hit two homeruns as the Mets crushedthe Phillies 9-1.
Win- Jon Niese
7IP, 4H, 1BB, 1ER, 7K
Loss- Kyle Kendrick
5IP, 5H, 1BB, 4ER, 3K
Citizens Bank Park
Food: 10
Fans: 6
Seats: 7
Overall Game Experiance: 8
The ballpark was stunning, the food was outstanding, and despite the blowout, it was a fun game. I have to say what really grabbed my attention was having the Eagles, Flyers, and Phillies all in one Sports Complex.
Other Notes
Phillies Closer Brad Lidge Made his season debut. He is not good. He gave up a homerun to Rod Barajas. I call it "The Brad Lidge Experiance".
Project Summary
The purpose of this ISP is for Maxwell, Sam, and I to explore a number of baseball stadiums in the country. Over the next month, we will be visiting 11 different ballparks. We will all be putting up our thoughts on games that we attend and look forward to the feedback of those who read the blog.
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