SeeAll30.com – My Quest To See Them All!

It’s official… the airline tickets are bought, rental car is booked (and paid for) and I have already purchased a ticket to 1 of the 2 games I will be going to, with the 2nd ticket not too far behind.

I will be in Minneapolis to check out the brand new Target Field on July 18th & 19th for games vs the White Sox and Indians respectively. Can’t wait to see the park and check out all it has to offer. I will be sure to take plenty of pictures to share.

After MPLS I leave for Baltimore for 2 games at Camden Yards. Then a few days later I will be taking in a game at Yankee Stadium and one at Citi Field. I am going to try to add a game at Nationals Field as well on this trip.

July 18th – White Sox vs Twins @ Target Field
July 19th – Indians vs Twins @ Target Field
July 20th – Rays vs Orioles @ Camden Yards
July 21st – Rays vs Orioles @ Camden Yards
July 25th – Royals vs Yankees @ Yankee Stadium
July 27th – Cardinals vs Mets @ Citi Field

April 3rd, 2010 | Category: 2010 Road Trip(s), Misc, Target Field |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

After months of planning and waiting… I am sad to announce that the trip has been officially canceled as of just a few minutes ago! As sad as it is, cause it would have been an amazing trip, it don’t mean I wont be going to games this year!

Look for reports on upcoming trips and reports from the games this summer!

Thanks!

March 14th, 2010 | Category: Misc |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (1)

I got an email from Chuck the other day saying that, like me, he hates to have a day of vacation where he don’t get to see a ball game. So he worked up a new schedule for us next year and the only day(s) on the entire trip we wont be seeing a game is our big travel days to and from Denver. That just rocks! So the new schedule is:

June 22 – Drive from Lacey to Denver
June 23 – Red Sox vs Rockies @ Coors
June 24 – Red Sox vs Rockies @ Coors
June 25 – Cardinals vs Royals @ Kauffman
June 26 – Cubs vs White Sox @ US Cellular
Mariners vs Brewers @ Miller Park
June 27 – Mariners vs Brewers @ Miller Park
June 28 – Tigers vs Twins @ Target Field
June 29 – Rays vs Red Sox @ Fenway (drive from Mpls to KC, fly to BOS)
June 30 – Mariners vs Yankees @ Yankee Stadium (after a few hrs at HOF)
July 1 – Brewers vs Cardinals @ Busch (after flying in to KC from BOS)
July 2 – Giants vs Rockies @ Coors
July 3 – Drive from Denver to Lacey

8 Parks, 11 games, 12 teams…

Ballparks we’ll see:
Coors Field
Kauffman Stadium
U.S. Cellular Field
Miller Park
Target Field (current ballpark #30 for both of us)
Fenway Park
Yankee Stadium
Busch Stadium

Teams we’ll see:
Red Sox (x3)
Rockies (x3)
Cardinals (x2)
Royals
Cubs
White Sox
Mariners (x3)
Brewers (x3)
Tigers
Twins
Rays
Yankees
Giants

For you travel geeks, like myself, this trip will also include seeing 20 different states…

States we’ll see:
Washington
Oregon
Idaho
Utah
Wyoming
Colorado
New Mexico
Nebraska
Kansas
Missouri
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Iowa
Massachusetts
Vermont
New York
New Jersey
Connecticut
Rhode Island

October 19th, 2009 | Category: Tropicana Field |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Since MLB announced their 2010 schedules the week of September 15th, it was time for all of us “Ball Park Geeks” to sit down and start planning our 2010 Baseball Road Trips. 2010 will be very different than I had originally pictured it. I only need to pick up Target Field in Minneapolis to (re)complete having seen all 30 current MLB ballparks. I had planned a quick run over to Minnesota for a game, or two, then back home. I got to talking to Chuck Booth about it a while ago and we decided to make this run together. This mounted from there and I am very excited to say that I will be doing a really cool road trip with “Mr. World Record” himself next June!!!

This trip came about from the need to see a game at Target Field and the fact that Chuck didn’t like that I have the new Yankee Stadium ranked at #24 on my “Top 30!” So after some discussion, this is the trip Chuck has planned for us for next summer, assuming the schedules hold as previously announced.

June 22 – Drive to Denver from Lacey, WA
23 – Rox vs Red Sox @ Coors
24 – Rox vs Red Sox @ Coors
25 – Royals vs Cards @ Kauffmann
26 – CHW vs Cubs @ US Cellular
Brewers vs Mariners @ Miller
27 – Mets vs Twins @ Citi
28 – Cooperstown
29 – Yankees vs Mariners @ Yankee
30 – Twins vs Tigers @ Target
July     1 – Drive rest of the way home

I have to give up seeing the Cubs in Seattle for 3 games to do it, but getting to see my Red Sox @ Coors for 2 makes up for that. On the 26th, the time for the Cubs vs White Sox at US Cellular has not been announced, but most often those games are at 1:10pm EST, so if that’s the case we will be able to make that game and the nightcap in Milwaukee @ Miller Park. If the White Sox/Cubs game is scheduled differently we’re talking bypassing Chicago completely and hitting “The Field of Dreams” in Dyersville, IA on our way to Milwaukee

We would be driving from Lacey, WA to Denver (1370 miles), then to Kansas City (about 610 miles), then to Chicago (530 miles) and up to Milwaukee (92 miles) then over to Minneapolis (337 miles).  From Minneapolis we would fly to New York (LGA) for the Mets game, then drive to Cooperstown (223 miles), and back to New York (223 miles) for Yankees game before flying back to MPLS for the Twins game and hitting the road shortly after the game (1697 miles from MPLS to Lacey). Since it’s a 12:10pm start it will allow us a few hours of drive time after the game before finishing the drive on in to Lacey the next day.

On the 28th, after a FULL DAY at the Hall of Fame, we are hoping we can add a minor league game in somewhere, like maybe Binghamton. That would be cool.

Should be an awesome trip and to get to share it with “Mr. World Record” will be awesome!

September 28th, 2009 | Category: Misc |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Having been to all of the ballparks that make up the Major Leagues I have been asked what my favorite is, what my least favorite is and what my “Top 30″ is, yet I have never actually sat down to rank my “Top 30″ before, but here it is. These are based on everything that goes into going to a game, not just the park itself. It’s the overall experience… As I See It

1. Chicago Cubs-WRIGLEY FIELD
2. Boston Red Sox-FENWAY PARK
3. Seattle Mariners-SAFECO FIELD
4. Baltimore Orioles-ORIOLE PARK AT CAMDEN YARDS
5. Philadelphia Phillies-CITIZENS BANK PARK
6. Detroit Tigers-COMERICA PARK
7. San Francisco Giants-AT&T PARK
8. New York Mets-CITI FIELD
9. Pittsburgh Pirates-PNC PARK
10. San Diego Padres-PETCO PARK
11. St. Louis Cardinals-BUSCH STADIUM
12. Milwaukee Brewers-MILLER PARK
13. Colorado Rockies-COORS FIELD
14. Texas Rangers-THE BALLPARK IN ARLINGTON
15. Washington Nationals-NATIONALS PARK
16. Cincinnati Reds-GREAT AMERICAN BALLKPARK
17. Cleveland Indians-PROGRESSIVE FIELD
18. Atlanta Braves-TURNER FIELD
19. Los Angeles Dodgers-DODGER STADIUM
20. Kansas City Royals-KAUFFMAN STADIUM
21. Arizona Diamondbacks-CHASE FIELD
22. Houston Astros-MINUTE MAID PARK
23. Chicago White Sox-US CELLULAR FIELD
24. New York Yankees-YANKEE STADIUM-NEW *
25. Los Angeles Angels-ANGELS STADIUM
26. Toronto Blue Jays-ROGERS CENTER
27. Minnesota Twins-METRODOME
28. Tampa Bay Rays-TROPICANA FIELD
29. Florida Marlins-LAND SHARK STADIUM
30. Oakland Athletics-MCAFEE COLISEUM

* – Could have been just the day we went, was rainy and nasty, but this is where it ranks as for right now.

August 20th, 2009 | Category: Misc |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

We’re reporting on Chuck Booth’s World Record attempt to see all 30 MLB Ballparks in 23 (24) Days. Pictures from Chuck Booth, blog by Ken Lee. Originally posted on Ballparkchasers.com…

August 14

6:27pm (PST) – CONGRATS CHUCK BOOTH!! You are the World Record Holder!! With a walk-off HR by Brandon Inge in the bottom of the 9th, the game has ended in Detroit and thus Chuck has officially seen 30 games in 30 MLB parks in 24 days!!

Just got a call from Chuck, he is celebrating! What a way to end your World Record breaking trip with your 4th walk-off if the trip! He and 35,000+ Tiger fans got to see an awesome 2 hour and 20 minute game that ended 1-0 thanks to Brandon Inge.

3:11pm (PST) – With just under an hour to go until game time, I have confirmation that Chuck is at the ball park with the Salters…

12:18pm (PST) – The day is finally here… today Chuck Booth will make history as he becomes the fastest person to see a home game at all 30 Major League Ball Parks. I can only imagine how he is feeling as the game draws near…

I did get a call from him a few minutes ago. He let me know he was about 25 miles outside of Detroit and would be meeting up with some friends there to hang out before time and then head to the game together. Funny story is that this family, the Salters, met Chuck at a game last year when he made this attempt. They had read an article about him in the Detroit Free Press last year and then saw him at a game and introduced themselves. They have been big supports of his on both of his attempts. What’s really interesting is that they were all supposed to get together for game # 2 on Day # 1 of the trip, but after missing his plane in Pittsburgh bound for Detroit, he reluctantly had to tell them he wouldn’t be there. Now, because of that, the Salters family gets to be with Chuck as he attends game # 30, at Park # 30 on Day # 24!! You really gotta love how things all work out like that.

Game time is 7:05 pm (EST) at Comerica Park, Royals vs Tigers (Greinke vs Washburn). As soon as I get confirmation he is at the game, I will post it!!

August 13
9:45pm (PST) – I just got a call from Chuck, he is in Wilkes-Barre, PA, about 70 miles from Williamsport. He called to let me know that he will be on CKNW Sports Talk Radio at 10:10pm (PST). So in just a few minutes you can go to www.cknw.com and listen to Chuck… maybe even call in and ask a question!!

2:00pm (PST) – The rain held off, thankfully, and the game is over, # 29 is in the bag and Chuck is on his way to Detroit for # 30 and the World Record. He was able to get his rental car, a Toyota Yaris, without any issues this time and will be making a stop tonight in Williamsburg, PA, home of the Little League World Series, which puts him right about 440 miles outside of Detroit.

Next up: Game #30 – Comerica Park, Royals vs Tigers (Greinke vs Washburn)… history will be made!!

10:49am (PST) – A Yankee fan in Beantown… Chuck has made it to Boston! Tigers vs Red Sox (Verlander vs Bucholtz). This was originally scheduled to be game # 30 in 23 days, but is now # 29 in 23 days. He had been worried about the weather and so far so good. He is under cover in case it starts raining, sitting in the right field grandstands.

He got to see an interesting pregame ceremony as today is “Tickets for Troops” day and they saluted the military with over 1,000 tickets being donated to members of the armed forces by both regular fans and season ticket holders. I got to watch the ceremony on TV here at home and it was quite touching, including having the father of a local soldier that was killed in Afghanistan throw out the first pitch.

After the game he has to get outta town right away and head to Detroit for # 30 in 24 days. He had a decent drive ahead of him, just over 850 miles or so to do in about 25 hours or less. The World Record is in reach now… as long as the rain holds off in Boston!

August 12
3:37pm (PST) – Chuck made it to Atlanta just after 3pm (EST). After having issues, yet again, with trying to get a rental car from Thrifty (some problem about his credit card being used too much, too many times, with the difference between CA meaning Canada and CA meaning California… whatta hassle), he grabbed a cab and headed into town. With a quick stop at the nearest Best Western to use their internet for free, he made it to Turner Field for tonight’s game, Nationals vs Braves (Stammen vs Lowe). He got his tickets when he got to the park and was able to pull 2 upper deck seats, behind home, for $11! Day of game tickets can be an awesome way to go…

After talking to him for a while I got to thinking about a few things, so I asked some questions. There are things that he has to deal with that most of us, meant American citizens, wouldn’t have to deal with on a trip like this, such as: When booking cars or hotels online as a Canadian citizen you have to deal with the exchange rate. So if you book something in advance, the price you pay when you use that reservation may be more than when you booked it.. talk about a pain in the wallet! This is why he has booked as much as he could on Priceline and prepaid for it, the problem with that is if your schedule changes, you’re out. But if everything goes smooth, your set and you dont have to worry about the exchange rate.

Another issue is that after tomorrows game in Boston, Tigers vs Red Sox (Verlander vs Bucholtz), he has to drive to Detroit. It’s not the fact he has to drive, it’s the way he has to drive. Most of us, would just go the quickest route, which takes you from Boston to Detroit, via Buffalo and in Canada. No big deal, right? However, as a Canadian citizen, he can not drive a U.S. rental car into Canada. So he has to take a different route that, according to my mapping software, adds just over 2 hours of drive time!! It really makes you think about how hard this trip would be for anyone to do, yet when you add to that the fact that there are things that he simply can not do, it makes it that much more difficult as well as much more impressive!

August 11

6:38pm (PST) – Chuck’s World Record attempt has him in the Twin Cities tonight for a game at the Metrodome, Royals vs Twins (Davis vs Blackburn), where he will be seeing the Royals for the 4th time in 3 weeks (plus he will see them in Detroit on Friday to complete the trip).

He had an easy flight in, finally. He took the light rail from the airport to the game, and will take it back as well. Was able to get a cheap seat for the game, $10, out in the home run porch. He’s got an early flight out in the morning headed to Atlanta for the Nationals vs Braves (Stammen vs Lowe) game.

Speaking of the light rail (public transportation), he told me that he has found so far that for less than $10 R/T you can take public transpo to and from the parks in Minneapolis, Cleveland, Arizona, San Diego, Baltimore, Oakland, Pittsburgh and for both parks in both New York and Chicago. Got to appreciate that, much cheaper than getting a rental car, and more than likely, faster…. plus no fee for parking at the game!

On his trip so far the home teams are 19-7. With a quick look at the Twins game right now, its the top of the 4th, Royals are up 9-1… Twins got a long ways to go if they are gonna give Chuck another home team victory.

August 10

6:37pm (PST) – He’s made it to the desert! He was scheduled to make it to Chase Field in Phoenix a couple hours before game time, but thanks to flight delays (yet again!) and being thankful he wasn’t picking up a rental car (cause it would have taken too long), he arrived at the park via cab with only 10 minutes to spare! Had he needed to get a rental car, he would have been toast! Thankfully he had done his homework and knew it would be better to just cab it… being prepared and knowing the lay of the land pays off yet again!

Tonight’s game is the Met’s vs D’Backs (Pelfrey vs Davis). He has certainly been getting his fill of the Mets as this is his 4th or 5th time seeing them on his trip.

Chase Field is ballpark # 26 in 20 days! Tomorrow marks the 3 week mark of the trip and he will be at the Metrodome for the Royals vs Twins (Davies vs Blackburn).

August 9

2:17pm (PST) – Got a great call from Chuck just a few minutes ago… he’s at Safeco and was justifiably excited about getting parking a few blocks from The Safe for $7 to go along with his $7 bleacher seat and his amazing Garlic “Rally” Fries! We talked about the Mariners and how Ichiro always has a great game when he is there.

But let’s back up a bit… last night at the Dodger game, he finished his interview with CKNW and ended up falling asleep in his car in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. Much to his surprise nobody came b y to wake him up and tell him to move along. Luckily he woke up in time to get to John Wayne Airport at 6:20am for his 8am flight. He made it but never anticipated the full hour it would take to get through security!! He made his flight, which was slightly delayed, and he got to Seattle, a bit late, but with his buddy waiting at the Denny’s across from Sea-Tac airport with a meal ready for him, he had a bite to eat and headed for the ballpark.

After the game tonight he heads home for a bit and with some clean clothes he will head to Phoenix tomorrow for a game at Chase Field, Mets vs D’Backs (Pelfrey vs Davis). Minneapolis and the Metrodome await him on Tuesday…

12:43pm (PST) – “Home Sweet Home”… Chuck is in Seattle at Safeco Field and ready for game # 25 of his trip, the Tampa Bay Rays vs Seattle Mariners (Kazmir vs Rowland-Smith). The end and World Record is in his sights now with Arizona, Minnesota, Atlanta, Boston and Detroit left on the schedule in the next 5 days.

August 8

11:05pm (PST) – Just listened to Chuck’s interview on CKNW via www.cknw.com. If you missed it, he was on his cell phone still at the Dodger game because it was a long one as it went into extra frames. He was live on the air as he told us that the Braves won it, and broke his streak of 12 home team wins by beating the Dodgers. Was a really good interview, too short though really.

For those of you that missed it, or those that want to hear it again, I was able to record it and you can listen to at the following 2 links. It is in 2 parts cause I didn’t want to record commercials. Part # 1 starts partially into the interview, sorry about that…

Chuck Booth CKNW interview Part # 1

Chuck Booth CKNW Interview Part # 2

6:30pm (PST) – Got a call from Chuck around 4pm, he was on I-5 headed to Dodger Stadium after a quick game at Angel Stadium. He told me he got a tip on some free parking that was close to the interstate and only about 1/2 mile walk to the park. He gave it a shot and it worked out great! As it is, he had just over 3 hours til the night game and I told him he had plenty of time to go to Disneyland if he wanted lol He didn’t want to take the chance with the LA freeways lol, don’t blame him!!

This was the last doubleheader of his trip! He nailed it! Tomorrow it’s Seattle for the Rays vs Mariners (Kazmir vs Rowland-Smith). I was hoping to join him for the game, but will be unable to do so, sadly. However, I will be here to update everyone

11:31am (PST) – In La La Land… Chuck has made it to the land of Halos… Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Should be a great game, Millwood vs Weaver… national TV at that!

8:16am (PST) – Chuck will be on CKNW 980AM in Vancouver at 10:40pm (PST) TONIGHT!!! He will be live from the parking lot of Dodger Stadium. They stream online at http://www.cknw.com/, tune in and listen to Chuck discuss his trip!

7:52am (PST) - A few interesting stats: With San Diego’s walk-off win last night, Chuck has now see 3 walk-off wins on his trip. The other 2 were in Pittsburgh (his 1st game of the trip) when Brandon Moss hit an HR to win 8-7 and in Florida where Cody Ross and Dan Uggla went back-to-back for the tie and then the win. The Padres win also continues his streak of home team wins to 11 straight now with an overall home team record of 16-6.

August 7

10:12pm (PST) – Chuck is on the West Coast….he had a pretty uneventful day today. His morning flight to San Diego went as planned, he checked into a hostel which is 1 block from the ballpark and got to the game early. I got my call in about the 8th inning with the Mets leading 2-1. Chuck said it was actually a pretty boring game, figured the crowd had a lot to do with that… even if they were celebrating Rickey Henderson’s HOF Induction there in San Diego this weekend (the 2nd time on his trip he got to take in a celebration for Rickey, the last time was in Oakland a few days ago). He also told me that this is the 4th straight year he has caught a game at Petco Park and it’s kinda lost its magic. He said he honestly thought that might have something to do with the caliber of team on the field as well, but either way, Petco has dropped some in the rankings!

Tomorrow he heads to Los Angeles for a battle of the top 2 teams in the AL West in the afternoon game at Angel Stadium, Rangers vs Angels (Millwood vs Weaver). Then he heads across town for the night cap at Dodger Stadium for the Braves vs Dodgers (Kawakami vs Kershaw).

As I am typing this, his game in San Diego just ended… whatta finish! The Padres came back to tie in 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th with no outs. Then they loaded the bases, which included an intentional walk, and Everth Cabrera took a 3-2 pitch, the 10th of his at-bat, and jacked it for a game-winning grand slam!! Don’t get much better than that and keeps his streak of home teams winning alive for another game!!

August 6

4:42pm (PST) – Kansas City, Kansas City here he comes… Chuck is in KC and getting ready to see the Mariners vs Royals (Vargas vs Chen). We had a great chat about the game in Cleveland, a 2-1 Indians win, in 2 hours and 37 minutes, where Kerry Wood shut down the Twins in the 9th for his 15th Save. After the game he had to sprint darn near a full mile to get to the subway station in time, he barely made it, to ride the train out to the airport for his flight to Kansas City.

In KC, he had no problems making it to the park and after sending me his pix, he called and we chatted about things, ball park food and his upcoming schedule. Tomorrow he flies to San Diego for the Mets vs Padres game (Perez vs Correia), then it’s a bus ride to Los Angeles for a doubleheader that includes Dodger & Angel Stadiums.

8:55am (PST) – Chuck has made it to Progressive Field aka “The Field Formerly Known As Jacobs”. He’ll be seeing the Twins take on the Indians (Blackburn vs Carmona).

August 5

6:51pm (PST) – The Phillies won 7-0 (Happ tossed 8 innings of 4 hit ball and even had a double that had the crowd going crazy!), which gave Chuck 2 home team shutouts today! Not only that, the home team has won the last 8 straight games he said. He loved the Philly Phanatic and says that he is one of, if not the best, mascots in the majors… I totally agree, even though I am partial to the Moose lol

As for food, he had a cheesesteak and called it, “The single best ball park food.” Other places might offer a better selection, but the Philly Cheesesteak is the best single item anywhere. I didn’t get to ask him, but I am assuming he is referring to the “Campos” cheesesteaks there in center field. Ironically, I saw Campos on “Road Tasted” with Paula Dean’s boys today, and man they did look awesome!!

He’s headed back to Baltimore for a flight to Cleveland tomorrow, then on to KC in yet another doubleheader.

3:44pm (PST) – He has made it to Citizens Bank Park with plenty of time to spare… stay away from the Crab Fries man, they aint worth it!

1:50pm (PST) – Chuck just called from the Amtrak Station on his way to Philly, having got there in time, he should be in to Philly at 5:55pm (EST), which gives him 1 hour and 10 minutes to make the 25 minute drive with his brother to Citizens Bank Park. As for Citi Field, he felt it was ok… most certainly an improvement over Shea Stadium, but in his opinion a step down from Yankee Stadium. He still ranks it in the top 10, but not as high as AT&T or Busch Stadium. The game he saw was kinda a bummer, as the Mets won going away 9-0! It took 1 hour and 15 minutes for the first 2 innings alone! But it sped up after that and he got out of there in plenty of time as we know.

Worst off, he is now fighting a pretty nasty cold, or so it sounds like on the phone, and he did say that he is sick… and with a couple more doubleheaders coming up too… UGH!

11:02am (PST) – Chuck has made it to Citi Field in Queens for the Cardinals vs Mets game… he has now seen all 30 current MLB Ballparks! CONGRATS CHUCK!

August 4

7:45pm (PST) – Just got a really excited voice mail from Chuck. He said that the game he was at at Nationals Park was awesome and between that and the 25K+ that was there the overall experience was great and that he’s going to have to move National’s Park up on his overall list now.

He is currently driving towards NJ, where he will meet up with his brother for a doubleheader tomorrow… Citi Field for the Cardinals vs Mets (Lohse vs Niese) in the morning (the last of the current parks he needs to see to have seen them all) and then a train ride to Philly puts him at Citizens Bank Park for the nightcap of the Rockies vs Phillies (Del La Rosa vs Happ). After the doubleheader he drives back to Baltimore to drop off the rental car before hoping a 6:59am flight to Cleveland for an afternoon game, Twins vs Indians (Blackburn vs Carmona), then its a quick ride to the airport for a flight to MCI in Kansas City where he will have less 53 minutes to make it to Kaufman Stadium for the nightcap of the Mariners vs Royals (Vargas vs Chen). The Cleveland/Kansas City doubleheader is the one I personally felt will be his toughest. When he nails it, he’s got this thing in the bag baring any PPD’s!

1:53pm (PST) – Chuck has made it to our nations capital. Got a quick text saying he got in at 1pm (EST) and had time to check out the town a bit, go see the White House, and then head Nationals Park. I told him he better have a “Chili Half Smoke” for me at Ben’s Chili Bowl. It’s “Free T-Shirt Tuesday” and he got a free t-shirt for the 4th time on this trip… gotta love free clothes! Tonight’s game is Marlins vs Nationals (Johnson vs Martin).

August 3

9:00am (PST) – Chuck is at Tropicana Field for the Royals vs Rays game…

August 2

4:22pm (PST) – Got a call from Chuck in the bottom of the 9th, with the game tied at 1-1. As we talked about the ballpark, he told me that Jake Fox jacked a shot to put the Cubs up 2-1 and we figured this game was over. We kept talking about his upcoming schedule, with a 1:30am greyhound ride to Tampa, then it’s off to Washington DC for Nationals Park, with 3 doubleheaders in 4 days looming in the not so far off future. As we talked it hit us both that Land Shark stadium is the 1/2 way point for him, he has now officially seen full games in 15 parks in 12 days!!

Shortly after we got off the phone I saw where Gregg gave up back-to-back jacks to Ross (his 2nd of the game) and Uggla to win it in the bottom of the 9th! Whatta finish!… on to Tampa!

August 1

8:54pm (PST) – “AT&T Park is the best ball park anywhere, especially with that scenery. I must have taken 70 picture of the park tonight” is what Chuck told me tonight on the phone, with some really happy Giants fans yelling in the background. He didn’t get to spend much time there as this was the fastest game so far on his trip. The game, a 2-0 Giants win in 2 hours and 14 minutes, saw Lincecum get his 12th victory by only giving up 7 hits in 8 innings and striking out 8! He was part of a crowd of 42,694, which included about 300 dogs in the bleachers taking part in the “Dog Days presented by Milk-Bone and Kibbles ‘n Bits”. They even had a pregame doggie costume competition. That must have been a sight to see!

Tomorrow he jumps on a plane bound for Miami for the Cubs vs Marlins game (Dempster vs Nolasco), where hopefully he will be able to meet up with Bob DeVries, who is also on a Quest to see all 30 this summer and Landshark Stadium is #26 for him. He then heads for Tampa via Greyhound, for the Royals vs Rays and a great pitching match-up of Greinke vs Kazmir at Tropicana Field.

5:00pm (PST) – Chuck has made his way across the bay to AT&T Park…

July 31

7:06pm (PST) – He was looking for blue skies, especially no rain, and he found it in Oakland on the first night of Ricky Henderson weekend. Kinda cool to be there when they salute one of the newest Hall of Fame members.

Oakland Coliseum – “Whatta dump!” Parking cost $17, which was twice the price of his ticket! The Blue Jays are in town to play the A’s (Richmond vs Braden), so he even got to hear the Canadian National Anthem tonight.

Interesting morning for Chuck, as he sat on the plane, on the tarmac in Chicago at O’Hare for 2 1/2 hours waiting to take off for SFO! Because of that he barely had time to make it to the Oakland airport to pick up his girlfriend and get to the ballpark by 5:30pm (PST). Had he opted for a little more rest and taken the 12:00 pm (CST) flight outta Chicago, he would have missed this game because of the delays! “Always take the first available flight!” he says, which makes perfect sense, especially after this.

Tomorrow he just has to cross the bridge into San Francisco for the Phillies vs Giants (Blanton vs Lincecum). He missed seeing Cliff Lee’s Phillies debut by 1 game, but he does get to see the wonder kid, 11-3 Tim Lincecum.

Sunday he hops a non-stop flight to Miami for the Marlins vs Cubs game at 5:05pm (EST) (Dempster vs Nolasco).

July 30

5:20pm (PST) – Chuck’s flight actually made it to O’Hare on the north side of Chicago about 20 minutes early, however they didn’t have a gate ready so there they sat! Once he deplaned, grabbed a cab and told the driver he needed to get to U.S. Cellular before game time, the cabbie laughed. He finally got close to the park, thanks to some great driving by someone that obviously knows the streets of Chicago well, and got out of the cab at 35th street and start his run in (with duffel bag and briefcase in hand) towards the gate. As he was running, he could hear the National Anthem being performed. After a quick deal with a guy at the gate to let him in to a section he shouldn’t have been in, he got in to get his picture at 7:09pm, just 2 minutes before the scheduled 1st pitch!! However, as he saw the field he saw it covered by a tarp still and found out the game has been delayed about 20 minutes, so he was good to go! What is it with all this rain lately??

In the morning it’s back to O’Hare for a flight to San Francisco, then it a short drive to Oakland for the game tomorrow night and San Fran on Saturday with a flight to Miami looming on Sunday.

12:20pm (PST) – Rain, Rain go away! And stay the heck away! Got a message from Chuck and about 1 hour into the game today at Great American Ballpark, Padres vs Reds (Stauffer vs Cueto), it started raining cats & dogs! He said he was actually very surprised that they didn’t call the game, but they got through it as it cleared up in the 8th inning. That game is just now in the bottom of the 9th with a score of 7-1 Padres, with the park almost cleared out, which works great for Chuck with less traffic to deal with plus he has a great parking spot for a quick getaway. His flight from Cincy to Chicago is at 5:54pm (EST), so he should have plenty of time to make that flight as the game should be over any minute now.

Last night he was in St. Louis at Busch Stadium and saw a 15 inning, 4 hour and 53 minute, marathon that ended when Pujols singled in the winning run off Jeff Weaver (former Cardinal no less). Needless to say, on the drive to Cincy this morning he was using all of the tricks he could think of to stay awake.

12:34pm (PST) – Game is over in Cincy, 7-4 Padres, after the Reds put 3 on the board in the bottom of the 9th… too little, too late… and he is off on his way to the airport, bound for Chicago and the Yankees vs White Sox (Pettitte vs Colon).

July 29

4:05pm (PST) – Got the following picture from Chuck, looks like he has made it to Busch Stadium and best of all… look at the blue skies!!

9:40am (PST) – Just got a message from Chuck, he is on I-70 heading towards Indy on his way to St. Louis after having flown into Dayton. No surprise to him, as things have gone, he is getting rained on! That rain seems to follow him wherever he goes! A look at weather.com says 78 degrees with a 10% chance of precip at game time, then again it said that in Baltimore also and there were t-storms right up til game time! (Side note: the irony of this rain for him is that here in Western Washington and up in Vancouver, his home town, its been freakin’ hot lately! It was 104 here in Olympia yesterday!)

So, Dodgers vs the Cardinals tonight at Busch Stadium (Kershaw vs Pineiro) then it’s an all night drive to Cincy for the Padres vs Reds (Stauffer vs Cueto) before hopping a flight bound for Milwaukee, which has a stop in Chicago where he will walk off the plane and use a sedan service to get to U.S. Cellular in time for the Yankees vs White Sox (Pettitte vs Colon) game. He mentioned how, since he will have time, he is gonna map out the drive from Great American Ball Park to airport and drive it a few times, just to make sure he has it down and knows alt routes if needed. When he makes the doubleheader tomorrow, that means the worst he could do is tie the record set by Josh Robbins at 30/26… barring any PPD’s!

Here are a few more pix:

July 27

9:15pm (PST) – Just talked to Chuck as he is in the great state of Texas. He made the game in Arlington, a 5-2 Rangers win vs the Tigers, and is now on his drive back to Houston where he will catch a flight to Baltimore for Camden Yards and the Royals vs the Orioles tomorrow night.

He sounds like he is really having fun. Last night he stayed in Oklahoma, though he was already in Texas, just so he can say that he has been to the state of Oklahoma… so he is knocking off states, as well as ballparks!!

The rain has been following him around though, first it was in the Bronx, then Denver and as he made his drive towards Arlington he was listening to the weather on XM radio and told me from the sounds of it, he honestly thought they were going to call this game before it even got started. Then the clouds parted just long enough to get the game in, with it actually starting to rain in about the 8th inning (I was watching on MLBEI and couldn’t believe he was getting rained on again!). As we were talking he said it was starting to storm pretty good and due to the lightning we were actually losing cell service. It don’t storm anywhere like it does down south!

He has had a few problems though, not just missing his flight in Pittsburgh due to a terrible sedan service and lots of traffic, but he has been double charged by rental car companies which have really made things hard on the bottom line as well. The way he is doing this trip he will be using several different rentals, so to be 2x charged for even a couple of them is a nightmare. Worst part is that he is 3,000 miles from home so it’s not like he can just sit down and call the bank and rental company and say “HEY!” On his time schedule finding time, or the place, to use the internet is tough as well. He told me last night that he has even taken a few moments as he drove down the road to stop at a Best Western and feed off their free internet for a few minutes before hitting the road again… clever if I do say so myself

Oriole Park at Camden Yards tomorrow – Royals vs Orioles (Bannister vs Berken) – a look at weather.com shows 86 degrees, partly cloudy only a 10% chance of rain at game time… should be no problem getting this one in.

July 26

10:44am (PST) – Chuck is at Minute Maid Park in Houston seeing the Mets vs Astros (Hernandez vs Moehler). He was excited to find a parking spot for $3, instead of the usual $18, so he treated himself to some “Gourmet” food at McDonald’s… gotta love life on the road! He had a great 45 minute interview with CKNW Sports talk 980am, a station from his hometown in Vancouver on Saturday night.

Yesterday he was in Denver for the Giants vs Rockies (Sanchez vs De Le Rosa), which was a 8-2 Rockies win. He did get rained on though and at one point in the 4th it looked like they were gonna have to bring the tarp out, but they got through it and he got another game in.

He heads to Oklahoma tonight, staying the night in Ardmore, then it’s on to Arlington for the Tigers vs Rangers (Galarraga vs Hunter) at Rangers Ballpark!

He’s now seen 7 games in 7 parks in 5 days!!

July 24

5:10pm (PST) – Talking to Chuck right now, he made it to Milwaukee, just 3 minutes before first pitch… had actually sent me a video clip of him there just as the first pitch was being thrown. Was a crazy one coming up from Wrigley for this one, but he made it and sounds really excited about it. Said that Miller Park is packed tonight and the crowd is really loud, which I could hear over the phone!! He’s gonna enjoy this game, Braves vs Brewers, then it’s on to Coors Field in Denver for tomorrow night.

5:36am (PST) – Just got a message from Chuck, he is in Milwaukee about to pick up his rental car and head down to Chicago. Sounds like he has a good game plan on where to park to be able to get out of there fast after the game and beat the traffic on his way back to Milwaukee for the nightcap.

As for Yankee Stadium, he said, “It ROCKED! It’s my new # 1 ballpark now!”

July 23

The only update I got is that he has made both games, was expecting a call but it was really late after the Yankees game. I had been keeping an eye on the game in the Bronx last night leading up to game time because it was raining. Ironically I had told him Wednesday that I missed my game there cause of rain and I was worried I might have jinxed him. I did get a text message last night at 7:39pm (PST) that read “I am so lucky game didn’t start until 9:40pm, arrived at 7:45pm with flight delay”. Since they got that game in, a 6-3 Yankees win (their 7th in a row), sometimes a little rain can be a good thing.

It’s on to Chicago for the Red vs Cubs at 1:20pm (Harang vs Wells) and then to Milwaukee for Braves vs Brewers at 7:05pm (Vazquez vs Parra) on Friday.

July 22

3:40pm (PST) – Just talked to Chuck and he let me know that due to a bad car service, combined with a ton of school buses picking up kids on field trips at the game at PNC, he missed his flight from Pittsburgh to Detroit, so it’s now a 30 in 24 attempt! He knew going in that this would probably be the toughest doubleheader of the trip (of the 7 of them he will be doing), so far it looks like he was right. So now what? Well, he will be catching a Greyhound bus to Toronto in about 2 hours, which will get him in up there around 9am and with a 12:37pm game tomorrow afternoon, he should have plenty of time to make it for the Indians vs Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre as the bus station is only about 1/2 mile from the park. As for the game in Detroit, it gets pushed back to the last game of the Quest, August 14th vs the Royals, where he will be coming in via Boston.

Btw, the game Chuck caught in Pittsburgh was exciting. I had been keeping an eye on it and when I noticed it was 7-7 going into the bottom of the 9th I texted him about it and as I went to look and see what was going on, I noticed Brandon Moss hit a 3-1 pitch to deep CF for a game-winning HR and just then my phone beeped with a message “Game Over”. He had been standing by the gate, ready to go, watching the end of the game.. little did he know that the game wouldn’t be the problem, it would be the traffic. I guess that’s why he has back-up plans… on to Toronto!

P.S.. the game he missed in Detroit was the Tigers vs Mariners, with “King” Felix Hernandez on the hill for the M’s… BUMMER!

July 21, 2009

I have been emailing back and forth with Chuck for a while now and he asked me if I would keep everyone up-to-date about his World Record attempt of seeing a game (complete games) at all 30 Major League Baseball Ballparks in 23 days. He starts his record attempt tomorrow, July 22nd, in Pittsburgh and he will be calling me daily to let me know how it is going so I can keep everyone apprised of where he is and how things are going. He is in Kansas City tonight for a game, but it’s not going to count for his record attempt unless things go badly and he has to go back make the trip retroactive to this game. Hopefully that wont happen though.

Should be fun. As soon as he calls me I will be posting things right here!!

GOOD LUCK CHUCK… and HAVE FUN!

August 14th, 2009 | Category: Chuck Booth |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

We had tickets to tour Independence Hall at 9:30am and according to the reservation email, we needed to be there to pick up our tickets at least 40 minutes early.  To be able to make it to Philadelphia by 8:50am, we needed to be on the road by about 7am, so we got up and was downstairs to check out just a few minutes after 6:00am.  As I walked out into the lobby, with suitcase in tow, I heard this voice say “You checking out already!?”  It was the same clerk behind the desk from last night!  I said, “Yep!” and tossed my key on the desk and kept walking (we did the express check out on the tv, so I just had to drop my key)…

Four years ago when I was in this area with my wife we stumbled on a place called “Clifton Bagels”.  They had, without a doubt, the best bagels we had ever had.  With that in mind, I was going back to give them a try again.  I got an onion bagel with chive cream cheese and an everything bagel with vegetable cream cheese and they were awesome!  I didn’t realize, or remember, that Bob doesn’t like Bagels, so he ended up having a blueberry muffin that he said was “about the same as what you would get from a gas station.”  Dunno how that is possible, but ok.

The drive to Philadelphia was nice and quiet, easy going.  No rain, that was the most important thing at this point.  We got to Philly early so we had time to drive around and see a few things before having to get our tickets.  Our first stop was the Betsy Ross House.  It wasn’t open yet, but it was still cool to get to see it.  We drove around a bit (even opened the sun roof to get some air flowing, it was that nice), the streets in Philly can be confusing and annoying with all the one-way’s.  Finally, I knew where we were and the next stop was just up on my left, at the corner, so I parked there and pointed out the car to the left at Ben Franklin’s grave.  We got out and walked up to it for a closer look and of course tossed a penny on his grave.  Before we left there I pointed out to Bob the street corner right across from us, which is where I was standing 4 years ago (wearing blue jean shorts and a bright red t-shirt) as a group of kids drove by and yelled out, “Heeeeyyyyy Kooooollll-Aaaaaiiiiidddd!” On the other corner, opposite of us, is the U.S. Mint.  As we got back in the car to go a group doing a walking tour came up and we sat there listening to their guide telling them things about Ben Franklin, some I didn’t even know.  What was sad though is that most of the kids in the group looked as if they couldn’t care less.  So much history, so much to learn, and they didn’t care.  I would have been going nuts to get a chance to do something like this at their age, holy cow!

We got our tour tickets and headed to the Liberty Bell Plaza to see it first, as we had time.  The Liberty Bell is just so cool.  It represents a time, an event, something so special for this country.  I must say that I was quite shocked at the amount, or lack there of, security to get in there.  4 years ago when my wife and I came through here we had to go through metal detectors, and a series of other security things. Today… NOTHING!  Since we didn’t have a bag with us, they just waved us on through.  I couldn’t believe that.  The same exact thing happened when we went through security to get in line for the Independence Hall tour, I still can’t believe it!!

As we got in line for the tour, I was able to get a seat on a bench next to a gal from New Jersey (forgive me for not recalling your name, sorry).  We got to talking, as it started raining, about how I need to get home to Western Washington so I can dry out!!  She then told me that her sister was there with her, from Portland, which of course is about 90 minutes south of us.  She said how her sister told her many times that it just don’t rain like this back home… so true!!  Bob had a similar experience as the people right behind him were from Seattle and made the same comment!

If you have never done the tour at Independence Hall, you gotta!  To be in the same room where the documents that shaped our country were debated, written and then approved,  is, well, breath taking!  The movie “National Treasure” does a scene from here that pretty much sums it up… watch it if you haven’t.  The thing I learned this time through, that I am not sure I knew, was that it wasn’t called “Independence Hall” by our Founding Fathers.  It was just simply known as “The Pennsylvania State House”.  I guess that totally makes sense.  The tour starts in a room, with everyone seated, and a National Parks guide giving everyone the background of events that lead to the delegates from the states meeting at the state house.  It then proceeds into the “Court Room” where court was held during normal times at the state house.  After a 10+ minute presentation there, talking about court and the King, we move to the next room.  This is where our Founding Fathers and the Continental Congress met.  Several things in the room are not original, but they are from the same period.  The coolest thing in the room is the actual chair that George Washington sat in when he over saw the proceedings.  On that chair is a sun engraved in the wood.  Ben Franklin had made comments about not knowing if it was a rising sun or a setting sun.  He is quoted as saying, when they were done signing the Constitution, “But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun”. How true he was, as our country rose to greatness from that moment.  Man I love to study that time in our country… things were so much more exciting!

As we left Independence Hall, it was pouring down hard!  I mean, rain like we hadn’t seen yet on this trip and we had seen more than we really cared to!!  The fast walk back to the car wasn’t fast enough as I once again got soaked!!  That wasn’t the worst of it, as we got to the car, worried we might have a ticket cause our meter time ran out (we didn’t), Bob notices that the sun roof was still open and the inside was drenched!!  Luckily we had leather seats, so most of it just wiped up, but there must have been an inch or more standing in one of the cup holders, it was unreal!!  Bob wanted to hit Geno’s for another cheese steak before we headed out, so back to South Philly we went.  I know I shouldn’t have, yet I did, I decided to give Pat’s another try as well.   Bob kept telling me it would be a waste of $7.50 and, well, he was right.  I gotta say that it was much better than the one we tried a few days ago, but it still didn’t even come close to comparing to the ones from Geno’s.  This time around I went to Pat’s and Bob went to Geno’s.  I actually got parking right next to Pat’s, that should have been a sign.  After I ordered I was looking around and noticed on the ground a plaque that mentioned that during the filming of “Rocky”, Sly Stallone ate at Pat’s, as seen in the movie, on that exact spot, that was kinda cool, but the cheese steak still sucked!

The drive down to and basically through Baltimore was wet, very wet (I am soooo tired of rain!).  Bob was driving as we pulled into NE D.C. and just before we stopped to change drivers, the rain stopped and the sun came out.  As we got out of the car it was so freakin’ muggy and HOT!  It was awesome!  By the time we got to the Archives it was close to 85 degrees and sunny!  This is how weather should be when you’re on vacation.

As we pulled up at the Archives, there was a huge line! So I told Bob he needs to get in it cause we both agreed, you can’t go to Washington D.C. and NOT see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights.  I decided to circle around looking for parking and if I could, I would join him.  After about 45 minutes looking for a spot, with no luck, I gave up and started looking around town.  I saw the IRS Building (being a tax geek, that was cool), the Smithsonian Castle, several museums (from the outside of course) and as I sat at a red light I looked to my left and saw not only the Capital Building, but where they hold the Presidential Inaugarations.  That was pretty cool, cause when I looked to the right I was looking up the National Mall.  It’s just so amazing how much is in the area, so much to see and do.

I had finally found a parking spot, which was nowhere near the Archives, in the shade and while talking to my wife I started noticing the thermometer kept rising and it was now 90 degrees!  Bob called to let me know he was ready, so I picked him up, and we headed over to the Lincoln Memorial.  Again, parking was a problem.  This time we got lucky and Bob spotted a sign that mentioned ‘handicapped parking’.  Since I have a handicapped placard, we jumped on that and got to park really close up.

The Lincoln Memorial is awesome.  Not only is it on the back of the Penny, it’s also larger than life.  The weather brought out the people and the place was packed.  This was my 3rd time to the Lincoln Memorial and as usual, I took the elevator up instead of the stairs and met Bob up there.  As I exited the elevator room, to my right sat Lincoln, on my left is the Gettysburg Address engraved in the wall.  Having been to the spot in Gettysburg where he gave that address just a few days early, well, I got goosebumps!  I joined up with Bob, walked around taking pictures and enjoying the view.  At one point as we looked out to the Reflecting Pool, we even looked for Forrest… no luck.  What we could see though is the World War 2 Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Capital Building.  Talk about an amazing view.  From that vantage point you can also see the exact spot where Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his “I Have A Dream” speech.  There were a lot of people in front of me as I stood there looking out, but nothing like on August 28, 1963.  I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for him or any of the people that were there to witness history… chilling.

Our next stop was the Vietnam War Memorial so Bob could find the name of his wive’s grandma’s nephew who died in action in 1971 (I think it was).  After looking up the  location in one of the books, Bob took off to get pictures as I waited up top for him.  He really wanted to do a “rubbing” but had nothing to use for it.  He got his pictures and on our way to the Korean War Memorial we passed the information booth where he was able to get a pencil and a piece of paper to do the rubbing, so he ran back and got that.  When he met back up with me he told me that as he was doing it there was people surrounding him taking pictures of him.  I thought that was a bit strange, but as he said, he was the only one doing a rubbing.  As we got to the Korean War Memorial a big group of people were walking around and we over heard one of them ask which war this was for and another one said, “The same one that Forrest Gump fought in” and another corrected him by saying “No! No! No!  This was the war from ‘Saving Private Ryan!”  Ok, how sad that both referenced movies to let them know about history and even more so, they were both WRONG!!

We got back to our car and not a moment too soon because the temperature just kept rising!  With the AC blasting on max we made our drive passed the White House on our way to Nationals Park, the temp had passed 98 degrees!!  Freakin hot, but the biggest thing is that after the rain the area got in the morning, it was incredibly muggy!  Thank goodness for the AC… and how ironic after complaining about the rain, huh?  This was still so much better.

Nationals Park

We got to Nationals Park around 5:45pm, we were plenty early for a change.  As we looked for parking I noticed a sign that said that parking was “$40″!  Are you kidding me?!?!  At that point I remembered that you can park at RFK Stadium across town and ride the Nats Express (bus) to the game at Nationals Park… for FREE!  So we set the GPS to RFK and headed that way ASAP!

My last game in D.C. was at RFK (May 1, 2005 – Mets vs Nats – an ESPN Sunday night game).  As we got to the stadium, we started looking around for the lot where you park for the Nats Express.  We did 2 complete loops around RFK and still saw nothing.  Finally, I decided to ask a D.C. Metro Police Officer for help.  She looked at me really confused and said, “What?”  I slowly repeated myself and she said she had no clue but she would call 1 person who should and she did.  Long story short, after arguing with this person (her superior) for a few minutes about what way to go to the get the lot we needed, she finally told us to cut across the grass right there by her (we were in a 4×4, so that was cool), take a right on 19th, a right on C Street and a left on Oklahoma.  Easy enough, right?  Right on 19th, right on C, left on Oklahoma… BOOMER SOONER!  So we took the right on 19th (check!), then a few blocks later we took the right on C Street (check) and we started looking for Oklahoma.  We didn’t find it and the next thing you know we are on the back side of RFK Stadium again.  So we looped around and went up the section of C Street that is a one-way, headed in the opposite direction of before, so we were looking for a right on Oklahoma… didn’t see it!  By now it’s just after 6:30pm, with first pitch in about 30 minutes and I am getting frustrated.  With one more try and not seeing a left or right on to Oklahoma, we decide to just head back over to Nationals Park and pay the fee there!  Oh, if it were just that easy!  Washington D.C. has so many one-way streets that the next thing you know I got to show Bob the U.S. Supreme Court building, which is about 2.4 miles from RFK Stadium and roughly 1.5 miles from Nationals Park… so we went the opposite direction of where we needed to go.  Btw, I have since checked with a map, and that D.C. Metro cop was WRONG!  First off you can’t access that part of C Street she told us we needed to from where we were (strike one!), even if we could it would have been a left on 21st (strike two!!) before you can take a right on Oklahoma, not a left (Strike three!!!)  Moral of the story, never take directions from a D.C. Metro Police Officer….

As we got back to Nationals Park we noticed a lot that was right on the corner of the stadium for $25.  Still spendy, and the most we have paid for parking at a game on this trip, but it was $15 cheaper than the other lots and that means $15 more for beer, so we jumped on it and walked up to the gate.   We entered via the center field gate, which looks really cool with its big iron bar gates.  As you enter you are right behind the “Red Porch”, in a plaza where they have a few stautes of former players of the team from Washington (back when they were the Senators), not the same franchise, but local history still… like Walter Johnson, “The Big Train” from Humbolt, Kansas.  I dunno how we did it, but we got there in time to see 1st pitch!   As I stood there in left center watching the first few pitches of the game and looking around, I got goosebumps!  Big Rocky Mountain sized goosebumps.  No, it’s not cause I like the Nat’s, cause I am imbevelant to them, but it was because I had recompleted a dream of mine.  In that moment I had acheieved something that lots of baseball fans want to do and only a handful actually get to do… I had seen all 30 (current) Major League Baseball Ball Parks!!  Not only was Nationals Park my 30th current park, it was # 41 overall for me. Not too shabby huh.

After the usual pictures, including one where I made a “30″ with my hands, we went looking for food.  Our seats were somewhere up in the upper deck down the first baseline, but when I spotted stainless counter tops down the 3rd base line, I knew we wouldn’t make it to our seats. A short walk from where we were is the Ben’s Chili Bowl and I just had to have another chili half-smoke again!  Bob didn’t feel like one, so he was gonna go get something else, so we agreed to meet at the counter tops right behind section 110 and I got in line to get my dinner and opted for 2 of them, cause they are just that good!  After I made my way behind section 110 a guy wearing Nationals gear, as if he worked at the park, came up to me saying “Hey!”  I thought I had done something wrong!  When he got to me he says, “You don’t remember me do you?”  I went through the Rolodex in my head and no, no I didn’t.  He introduced himself as Tremaine and said that he was the one that cleared our table at the Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street back on Tuesday!  Ok, now I remember him!  He was working at this location today and when he saw me he told the people he was working with that he recognized me (my wife will tell you it’s because I am fat) and wanted to come out and say hello and thank me for visiting Ben’s in both locations, so he did.  We stood there talking for a bit about the trip and how these were my first 2 times at Ben’s before he had to get back to work.  That was pretty cool I thought, how he went out of his way to say Hello like that.  Really cool.

I had finished my first dog and I started looking around for some seats to hawk.  As I watched the game, still waiting for Bob to get back, I did my usual and took several pictures.  After a few minutes an usher walked up and I just knew he was gonna comment on the zoom lens I was using.  Nope!  Instead he asked if I would like to have a seat in the handicapped row in section 112!  I told him I would love it, but that I had someone else with me and he said that was no problem and even helped carry things over to those seats.  Rock on!  We scored some pretty decent seats down the 3rd base line for the game and that’s where we sat for the next 5 innings or so watching the game, enjoying the Presidents race (Jefferson won, cause Washington fell just before the finish line), and taking in the sights and sounds of Nationals Park while talking to our usher friend and another guy about not only this park, but others.  It was a beautiful night for a game.  The game itself wasn’t too shabby as the Nat’s pulled out a 5-3 victory thanks to a Willie Harris 2-run, game winning, jimmie jack in the bottom of the 12th inning!  To be honest, we missed all that excitement as we left a few innings earlier to go into town and see a few more sights before we had to fly home in the morning.  When we left, the Nats were up 3-1 and it was an official game at that point, as it was into the 7th inning.  No regrets.

We drove around seeing the monuments lit up, but our main goal was to get pictures by the White House.  This was the last night of our trip and we still hadn’t done that, so we headed for the White House to complete the mission.  As we drove by the back side, we could see people standing out in the field, by the fence, which is still a ways from where we were driving, but we figured if we could get parking, we would do the walk, so we circled the block.  As we were going around I spotted a better view and told Bob THAT’S where we needed to get pictures from, so I dropped him off and set out to find a place to park.  By now it was pushing 10pm and I still couldn’t find a place to park the car.  After making a couple loops, I got lucky and was able to park right next to where I dropped Bob off and so i set out on foot to join him.  I went through Lafayette Park and found myself on Pennsylvania Avenue looking at the White House, which was beautifully lit up.  This was wicked cool!  Right across the street from the fence to the North Lawn, was a protest, a peaceful protest, that says it’s been there, non-stop, since 1981!  Bob told me when the person who was there got there and took over for the gal that had been there, it was like shifts changing at work.  These people are dedicated, that’s for sure.

After getting some pictures, some video and talking to a Police Officer about when they closed Pennsylvannia Ave down, we headed back towards the car where we grabbed a bench and just sat there watching people come and go, looking at the White House, enjoying the lightning bugs and reflecting on our trip.  It was a lot of fun and it couldn’t have been a better night to do that, cause right around 11:45pm, it was still in the low 80′s, but felt so nice.

Our hotel was actually just 3 blocks behind where we sat on that bench, on Connecticut Ave.  I booked us there on purpose knowing that we would be that close to the White House so we could walk up and check it out after the game if we wanted to.  However, we did that first, which was good cause we needed to check in, get everything packed and ready, cause we had to be on the road by 4am in the morning.  So we got checked in, a little after midnight and got to our room.  It was an awesome hotel and our room was pretty cool looking, until you really started checking it out…there was hair all over there place, on the floor, the end tables and chairs even.  It wasn’t enough to make me freak out, especially knowing that we would only be there about 3 1/2 hours before we had to go.  Our room did have a mini bar, so we checked it out.  The list of items said there was a bottle of champagne for $35, so I pulled it out to look at it and the bottle was so tiny, I bet there wasn’t but about 12 oz in it, if that… for $35! Holy Cow!  So I set it on top of the mini fridge and we kept looking.  We didn’t find anything that was really worth it, but then we noticed a plastic bag so I grabbed it to see what was in it and it was a 1/2 eaten Subway sandwich!!  Seriously?!?  Needless to say I put it right back in there and Bob shut the door.  I then noticed the bottle of champagne and went to put it back in there so we wouldn’t be charged and well,  the door was locked!!  We tried several things to get that door open, but couldn’t.  So I ended up packing that bottle cause while we didn’t want to drink it then, if we’re gonna be charged for it, I was gonna take it home!

The short few hours later as we went to leave I had called for someone to help with our luggage and after a 20 minute wait, we gave up and just carted it down ourselves.  As we got to the lobby there was nobody around and I stood at the desk waiting for help for a while and still nobody.  Bob took our valet ticket and walked outside hoping to get help, yet the only person out there was the night security guard.  He did help us by getting others to come to the desk.  So I was told that if we got our invoice, we were checked out. I stood there for a moment and when I wasn’t asked how my stay was, for the first time on this trip, I said “Not that you asked how our room was, but there was hair all over the place and when we looked in the mini bar, there was a 1/2 ate Subway sandwich in there.”  I kid you  not, the guy says to me, “Oh, someone else must have left that there then.”   DUH!!  I told him I thought that was really gross and I left to go wait for our car… which was another problem.  See, the place was by no means busy, people just weren’t doing their jobs and the night security guy went and got the night hotel manager to go get our car.  So there we stood our front of the Mayflower Renaissance waiting for our car, talking traveling with the security dude.  It took almost 20 minutes to get us the car.  Was an unbelievable experience to say the least.  I can also say that as of right now, I have yet to be charged for that bottle of champagne or the valet parking… it better stay that way.

We did make it to BWI in time to get the car back, catch the shuttle and get to our flight with a little bit of time to spare, not much though.  The flight home was a long 6 hours, but I slept a good 5 hours of it, which was a total shocker to me!

What an amazing trip we had… just wish we had more time!!

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Blue Jays (37-33)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	9	0
Nationals (20-46)	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	11	0

Boxscore

June 20th, 2009 | Category: 2009 Road Trip, Nationals Park |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

When we realized that we were way too old to hang with those young kids after the game last night, we headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.  Before crashing out, Bob started reading a magazine that was in the room about different historical things in Boston to see.  We got to talking and then decided to get up an hour early so we could go see some of them.  We were out the door, in the car and headed to our first stop by 6am.

I was hoping to make the “Bull & Finch” one of our stops last night, but it didn’t happen, so it was our first stop this morning.  While we couldn’t go inside, I was able to show Bob the inspiration for “Cheers” and also where the outside shots were filmed.  From there we hit the Bunker Hill Monument, the spot where most historians say the Boston Tea Party took place, Old North Church, the Paul Revere House, the Old State Building, Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market and the spot where the Boston Massacre took place.  Driving through the neighborhood in the North End of Boston was quite interesting, those old roads certainly weren’t made for an SVU like the one we had, they are so narrow.  Was still great getting to see those old buildings and at one point Bob looked over at the right time as we passed a cemetery and got to see Samuel Adam’s grave!  Good catch there Bob! We also went back by Fenway Park so I could get some pictures during the day of not only the park, but the World Championship banners that hang outside…. wicked awesome!

After our quick tour we hit the road south outta Boston in, you guessed it, the rain!  It rained pretty good there for a while.  Once we got outta the immediate Boston area, we made a quick stop for a bite to eat (at a Stuckey’s no less, loved these places when I was a kid, always brings back memories) and I had Bob drive for a while.  A pretty boring drive really, but we did go through a new state for Bob, Rhode Island (which gave him 8 total new states so far on the trip).  As we went through Connecticut I got to thinking about lunch and thought maybe we could call an order in and stop at Mystic Pizza.  My wife and I stopped there my last time through, May 5, 2005, and it was the best pizza I had ever had!  I looked up the #, called and got no answer.  I guess they werent open yet, then again it wasn’t quite 10am yet either.  My next thought turned to Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, CT.  Louis’ is where hamburgers originated.  Would have been awesome for the historical aspect, but I have also been told by someone thats been there (thanks Barbara!) that they are awesome!  So I looked up the #, called, and not open yet.  They don’t open on Fridays until 12pm (and stay open until 2am!).  2 strikes, oh well, just another reason to come back.

Not that far into New York I took over driving and set the GPS for Shea Stadium.  I know that Shea is no longer there, it’s a parking lot now, but the GPS doesn’t have Citi Field and since it was right next door, it worked perfectly.   Our drive into town took us via the Bronx Whitestone Bridge, which gave us a pretty cool view of Manhattan from there.  At that point it was a matter of following the signs to Citi Field, and it directed us right to where we wanted to be… the parking lot by the Mets/Willits Point train station.  $18 to park, again seems steep to me but it is a game day.  We got parked, grabbed new Metro cards and jumped on the # 7 headed into town.

The train ride started out as an express, gotta love that diamond, but switched to a local and made all the usual stops, thus taking about 25 minutes to get to the Times Square station.  From here we knew exactly where we were and where we needed to go, having done this just yesterday.  This time, however, as we walked up the stairs from down below there were 2 big difference between today and yesterday…. 1) It was sunny and warm!!  Gotta love that!  No more freakin rain!!  Must have have been pushing 80 degrees and it felt awesome!  2)  Thanks to the weather (or maybe because it was a Friday) there was a ton more people out walking the streets!  It was so freakin crowded!  No biggie, we made our way over to the bus stop and after waiting what seemed like FOREVER for a Gray Line, downtown, bus to come (was probably only 30 minutes), we finally boarded and had to sit down below because there was so many people that the top was full already.  No biggie, it was just a few stops until we wanted to get off anyway.

We had tickets to go up in the Empire State Building, which was just a couple stops up the road, which is good because the seats downstairs on these double decker buses, well, SUCK!  I say that because they now have advertising covering the windows and it makes it really hard to see out, let alone take pictures (cause they certainly wont be anything worth keeping).  I have no idea why Gray Line chose to do that (other than the obvious $$$), but it really stinks for people using their service!  Either way, we got ready to get off the bus as we were passing Macy’s and as our stop came, we deboarded and headed over to get in line to go up to the 86th floor.  As we were walking to the main door, on 5th, a guy stops us telling us we can upgrade our tickets and bypass the wait (which was looking like 1 1/2 – 2 hours at this point, to just get to the elevator!).  He said if we buy these upgrades, for $18/each, we also get the New York City Skyride (blah) as well as we get in a special entry and we can be up and back down in about 90 minutes.  As temping as it was, $18 was too much to me, considering we wouldnt do the Skyride, so I told Bob I wasn’t interested, yet if he was it was cool, I would do it also.  He thought it over for a few moments and told the guy, “No thanks, we’ll pass.”  So the guy says, “Ok, come with me I will take you to the door you need to get in line at” and we proceeded to walk down the street, around the corner, passed the entrance that I thought we were headed for and right about the time I started to wonder what the heck was going on (were we about to get mugged?) we go in a door, the guy hands Bob something and tells us to go up this escalator, through security and we would be right there.  He then leaves and I ask Bob to see what he gave him and it was a card saying that we agreed to pay the $18/each additional and that we had to do so at the ticket booth!!!  WTF?!?!  We went up the escalator (a small one, thankfully), through security and at that point I told Bob, let’s use the restroom first.  So we did and as we left there I spotted a group of people leaving the first big waiting area headed for the first, of three, elevators.   So I motioned to Bob and we jumped in line with them at that point, no questions asked.  That took us to the main waiting area, passed where they take your picture (to try and sell you later) and up the 2nd elevator and you guessed it, to another waiting area!!  This was the last one, on the way up any how, as once we got to that elevator, we made it to the 86th floor.  Bob said his ears popped 4 times going up!!  You do go up really fast, as the read out in the elevator that shows you what floor you’re passing started jumping by 10′s!!

This was my 3rd time up in the Empire State Building and while the lines get old fast, the view never does.  As we walked out to the outside deck our first view was of lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center buildings were and of course, out in the harbor, Lady Liberty herself.  This was without a doubt the busiest that it had ever been on the observation deck any of my 3 times there.  It was thick with people and it took a little time to get around and get a spot to get a good view of everything, but we took the time cause it is always worth it.  It’s really amazing how the city looks so peaceful from this vantage point.  It don’t matter if you’re looking towards lower Manhattan, at the Chrysler Building, the United Nations Building, or looking out towards, and passed, 30 Rock to Central Park, there is something special about being up that high and looking at the wonderful place that is New York City.

The lines heading down were nothing compared to the lines going up (which always seems weird to me, cause the same # of people need to go down the elevators as did up, don’t they?).  Either way, we were down (again Bob says he ears popped 4 times on the way down, same as going up), and back out on to the street within 90 minutes of getting there.  Looks like we scammed the scammer!!  Take that douche!!  Either way, we had to wait a couple buses to get on and when we did, we got seats up top for an amazing view of the city as we were being driven around.  I had been telling Bob that this is the ONLY way to go when seeing NYC and I stand behind that (wasn’t as happy with the service of Gray Line, but there is another option also now).  After our 2 1/2+ hour bus ride, which included several stops (SOHO, TriBeca, South Street Seaport, WTC, Wall Street and sooooo many more cool places) back to Times Square, Bob fully agreed with me!  What really makes a great tour is your guide.  The more they get into the tour, the better the tour will be.  Our guy was AWESOME!  He wasn’t afraid of sharing his opinions on things and pointed out so much around town, was simply amazing!  If you ever get to NYC, check out the double decker buses, you wont be disappointed… and be sure to tip your guide and driver… Bob did… $20!

Citi Field

Once we got back to Times Square, we had to get back on the #7 and head to Citi Field.  It was already almost 6:30pm, first pitch was at 7:05pm.  We had to make a restroom stop at the worlds funkiest McD’s in Times Square.  I dunno how to really do it justice, but with the video screens and all, it was pretty wild!  They were playing a Miley Cyrus video when we were there, was quite strange.  Once we got outta there, we got on the train and rode it straight to the Mets/Willits stop (with very few stops… gotta love that diamond!).  I talked to my wife earlier today to see if she could look up on Mets.com to see if they allowed video cameras and back packs, she did and they didnt say about the back packs, but no video cameras.  I decided to drop the bag and video camera off at the car, which was parked right there at the station.  As we were walking to the car I asked an NYPD officer if back packs were allowed, and he said “Yes, for sure.” So I decided to not take the time and headed straight for the gate…

The outside of Citi Field is beautiful!!  The brickwork is something else.  The main entry way is reminiscent of Ebbets Field from so long ago.  It’s really cool.  As we were walking up I remembered my video camera, so I took it out of my bag and stuffed it in my pocket.  Little did I know that they were doing pat downs… ugh!  As we got closer, I opened my back pack, the security dude looks in and starts my pat down.  He barely touched me and then said, “Ok, go on…”  I was shocked!!  I could have had anything in my pocket like that and the guy didn’t even notice it or didn’t care to notice it!  Either way, we entered the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, took a few pictures and proceeded to the main concourse to begin our walk around the park.

When we could finally see the field, we were just past home on our way towards 3rd base.  I have watched several games from Citi Field this year and when I got there and could see the field, it was really weird to realize that I was there!!   We took several pictures, as the game had already started, and kept walking around.  We were down by the foul pole when I remembered that I had been told by several people, including Kenny the Mets fan at Camden Yards, that we needed to eat at “Shake Shack”.  We started looking for it and I figured the best thing to do would be ask an usher, so I did and he pointed us in the direction of center field and told us that “Blue Smoke” was also there that had some great ribs and amazing BBQ!  As we got out there and could see it, we also saw the line that must have been 100 people deep!  No thanks, we’re too hungry to wait that long, so we went looking around for something else.  We were out in left field when we found a place that has chicken strips and buffalo chicken nuggets.  Bob got the strips, I got the nuggets and holy cow, they were awesome!!  They were all white meat, huge nuggets that were lightly breaded, deep fried and soaked in buffalo wing sauce (more than likely Franks Red Hot sauce) and the sauce just soaked right into the breading.  For $8 there was about 10 pieces.  Was really good and I had planned on getting a Nathan’s Hot Dog afterwards, but the chicken filled me up, so I had to pass on the Nathan’s, which was a bummer.

We continued to walk around, taking time to watch the game from different vantage points.  Out in center field, just past where Shake Shake is, they have a few cool features: 1) “Big Apple Brews” – it’s a beer stand that has like 30+ different beers to chose from…. that rocks!  It’s soooo much better than the usual boring choices of Bud, Bud Light, Miller and Miller Light.  2) Picnic tables – they have these picnic tables that have a great view from center field.  What a cool way to watch the game, something different.  3) 1/2 moon shaped tables – somewhere around section 143 they have these tables that point towards the action.  I love having a place to sit my beer, dog and score book (see comments about Citizens Bank Park a couple days ago) 4) A bridge – they incorporate a bridge into the design of the park which ties together several possibilities (depending on how you look at things), such as bridging the old to the new (stadiums) and of course the many bridges in the NYC area.  I really dug that design feature.  I also loved how they brought over the old Home Run Apple and put it on display.  While I didn’t take the time to go down the stairs to see it up close, I did get a good look at it from a spot above it.  That was cool.   Just a short ways from the bridge and where you can see the apple is this vantage point that is perfect for pictures.  From there you can get a great picture with the Citi Field scoreboard behind you, not sure if that was on purpose or just happened that way, but it’s really cool… other parks should have such a spot for us ballpark geeks!  I got my usual picture taken there and then did one with my hands reading “40″ to show that Citi Field is my 40th overall ballpark that I have seen.

As we left the game we took a few moments to sit around the flower gardens outside the main entry and just enjoy the look of Citi Field at night.  It was something special.  After all of the rain we had been getting, we finally got a great night to just relax, temps in the mid to upper 70′s, a slight breeze and we took advantage of it.  It didn’t hurt that Citi Field is beautiful lit up at night like that either.  It hit us earlier as we walked around, but sitting there after we left, it really sunk in and that is that Citi Field is by far the better of the 2 new ballparks in New York… there is no question!  It has nothing to do with my hatred of the Yankees,  cause I can’t stand the Mets either.  Just all around, Citi Field is the better park.  The views from the walk around, the design, everything.  Heck, when I say everything, I mean right down to the fans and the ushers… they were much nicer at Citi Field.

The walk to our car from Citi Field was nothing, we were so close, it was great.  We grabbed the car, beat most of the traffic and made our way into Manhattan.  There was still a few things we wanted to do before we headed out of town, like get Bob’s wife a t-shirt from the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, so we headed there first… and got lucky to get a parking spot so close (like 4 spots from actually be in Times Square – I should have bought a Powerball ticket after that!).  Bob ran and got the shirt while I parked the car.  He hadn’t been out of the car for more than 2 minutes when he called me and told me how there was people in the street sitting in lawn chairs in the middle of Times Square!  I remember Yvonne telling me that they blocked off a couple sections of road and made it pedestrian only so I called her to tell her what Bob said then headed up into the square to meet up with him.  It was wicked cool standing there, with the video boards lit up, it was soooo bright!  Sure enough there were people sitting on green lawn chairs, lots of them.  Looked really weird to me, but it was so cool because everything was so open.  Instead of being confined to the sidewalk, there was so much more room.  I dunno why they did that, but it works.

We ended up in the ESPN Zone for a beer (they have tvs above the urinals, as well as in the stalls… too cool!) before we headed back to the car and went to see a few more things.  Our first stop was for some dogs at Papaya King.  I couldn’t find parking, so Bob jumped out and ran in and I picked him up on the next block.  Btw, they were good dogs, had a good snap when you bit them, but overall, Nathan’s is still better.  I then took Bob to see Grant’s Tomb.  We had hoped to see it during the day so we could go in it, but at least he got to see it from the outside.  Next stop was “Tom’s Restaurant”, which of course played the part of “Monk’s” on Seinfeld.  We headed back towards Times Square, past Trump International, Columbus Circle, and the Ed Sullivan Theater (where Letterman tapes “Late Night”).

It was now pushing midnight as we headed to our hotel in Lyndhurst, NJ via the Lincoln Tunnel.  As we got there I asked the guy working the desk, “Is there any way we can have a room with 2 double beds, instead of a king?”  I had asked this at every hotel on our trip and every one told me most certainly.  However, not tonight.  I was told, and I quote, “It would take a rate increase to do that.  You booked your room on Priceline so you can only change your reservation online and it’s too late to do that.”  I was so tired that it actually took a couple moments to sink in that while he said it would take a rate increase, I still couldn’t do it if I wanted to.  I was really surprised that they wouldn’t do that as everywhere else had, including the other Courtyard by Marriott we stayed at in Philly… with no problems at all.  This guy simply wouldn’t budge.  He did however tell us that he would have a rollaway bed sent to our room for us to use, didn’t say if we would be charged for it.  He asked how many room keys I needed, I said “Just 1″ and so he handed me 2.  As we went to head to our room we noticed a little store there, so I grabbed me a bottle of water and  a Gatorade, as I was being rang up for them I overheard that guy saying, “What do you mean there are no more rollaways?”  The guy on the other end of the radio was kinda pissy when he said, again, there were none!  So we started walking away and the clerk says to me, “Um, Sir, I am going to have to ask you to let me exchange your keys.”  I asked what that mean and he said “You will n eed to use these instead” and hands me new room keys.  I knew what the deal was, but wanted to hear it from him and when he finally told us that he had to give us a room with 2 double beds, it pained him, badly, to admit that… I loved every moment of it!!!  Take that douche!!

Random Thoughts:

As we stood at Citi Field, just after we ate, the guy next to Bob (outta the blue) asks Bob, “Is this your first time here?”  Bob told him it was and that was all the guy asked him.  It may have been cause he heard us talking about different parks that we had been to on this trip and all, but never heard another word from that guy.

Our tour guide on the double decker bus gave everyone several cool tips, along with tell us, repeatedly, “Get out of Times Square!  You can’t experience the real New York until you get out of Times Square, it’s such a waste of time to be there!”  He also mention that people shouldn’t go up in the Empire State Building, it takes too long and costs almost 2x what it does to go up to the “Top Of The Rock” in Rockerfeller Center.  He told us that if we want to go see the Statue of Liberty, don’t pay to take the ferry out to the island, you can’t even get in there any more and you have a great view of it from the Staten Island Ferry, and its FREE to ride it to and from Staten Island.  He also suggested several great places to eat, most within a short walk of the bus stops… he was awesome!

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Rays (35-34)	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	3	6	0
Mets (34-31)	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	X	5	10	1

Boxscore

June 19th, 2009 | Category: 2009 Road Trip, Citi Field |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

We wanted to be in Times Square by about 9am, which meant having to leave the hotel by 6:30am and that’s what we did.  However, as we stepped outside we can see that it rained all night and was still coming down pretty hard. Oh well, what’s a little rain, right?   Our plan was to park as close to Yankee Stadium as we could, so as we got close to the city, we crossed the George Washington Bridge, which dropped us right into the Bronx.  Traffic was really heavy coming into the city, and since we were a bit behind schedule, that just made sense that time of the  morning.

When we could finally see the new Yankee Stadium and the old one, we started looking for parking.  There is a parking garage that is right next to the new park and was perfect for what we needed.  It was $18 for a 23 hour period, a bit steep, but it was game day in the Bronx, so we paid it and headed for the train station at 161 & River Ave.  This was Bob’s first venture into the New York City subway and for the past few weeks he has been telling me how freaked out he was about it.  See, Bob has been picturing the subway circa 1984 and everything you see in the movies from back then… aka graffiti everywhere, people getting mugged in broad daylight and just plain out dirty.  I have told him, as of 4 years ago when I was last there, it was nothing like that.  We took the # 4 train down to Grand Central Station, grabbed the # 7 over to Times Square.  When we came up outta the station, it was pouring rain like we hadn’t seen yet on our trip!

I had heard that NYC could stand to get 2+ inches of rain today and I think they were getting it in that very moment we stood there, cause there was a running river of water heading down each side of the street and within a couple minutes, I was soaked to the bone!  What we wanted to do today was to get our tickets and do the uptown loop of the Gray Line Double Decker Bus Tours.  There was a Gray Line employees selling tickets just as we got out of the station, check!  He told us the buses picked up right across the street from where we were standing, so we crossed and stood in the rain, cause the overhang of the building was already filled with other people, waiting for the uptown loop.  We waited, and waited and waited.  The only bus that did come was the downtown and at that, the bottom was jammed cause nobody was sitting up top and getting soaked on a day like this.  As we stood there waiting I did hear someone ask a Gray Line employee when the uptown bus came and I swore I hear him say it didn’t stop here!  I asked him and sure enough he said “That loop picks up at 8th and 46th”  We were at 7th & 42nd.

We took off walking and at the corner, Bob bought a big $10 umbrella.  Worked great for him, I was already soaked and once you’re that wet, you just cant get any wetter, so we kept walking.  If you have ever walked in NYC, you know that the cross-town blocks go on forever.  Now add a horrid down pour of rain.  It was miserable.  By the time we got a couple blocks from where we needed to be, Bob was saying how hungry he was (I could eat too, for sure) and I was noticing the time.  We just didn’t have the time to do both.  So I suggested we grab a bite to eat at the McDonald’s that was right there, rest a bit, and then head back to the train station to get back to the Bronx, so that’s what we did.

Instead of walking back to the same place we started, I thought we could just head down to the subway at a different station and do the walk via the tunnel to where we needed to be.  The sign there said we could, so we headed underground to get outta the rain.  I hate stairs, and I really hate wet, slippery stairs, but I made it.  The turnstile was a bit different as people could exit the station and go in at the same one.  This wasnt your typical turnstile, aka “Nutcrusher”.  This was different and I really don’t know how to describe it except to say that from the floor up there are these bars that go between other bars.  Well, as I got to one a guy was exiting the station, as he left, I swiped my Metro card ($7.50 for all day – a great deal) and I proceeded to enter.  I got part way and the bars just stopped, with me in it still!  I told Bob to swipe his, he did and away I went.  The real problem came when he went to swipe his again and it said its already been used.  He tried mine, same problem.  See, the passes are unlimited use for the day but you cant use them that quick.  Make sense, that avoids 1 person buying a pass and passing it back to several others to use.  So here was our problem.  I was in the station, Bob wasnt.  So he used to call box and the gal at the other end basically told him he needed to go up the stairs and get to a main station and someone there could help him.  Well, as tempting as it was, I wasn’t going to let him walk that alone, so I exited the turnstile and walked back up the stairs into the driving rain and walked with Bob over to the station at the corner of 42nd and 7th, in Times Square.  The gal working there listened to our story and let us through, no problems at all.

Yankee Stadium

The ride back to the Bronx was the exact opposite of the ride in, so we took the # 7 to Grand Central, jumped on the # 4 to the Bronx.  I have read stories and seen interviews with people, like Billy Crystal, who talked about taking the 4 train to Yankee Stadium and how cool it was.  They weren’t lying!  Granted it was still pouring down rain, but as you come up out of ground and can see (old) Yankee Stadium, well, as much as I **HATE** the Yankees… I had tears in my eyes!  There was that historical building, one that was being discarded for the a  new one.  As the train moved by it, then you could see the big, bright, shiny, new Yankee Stadium.  It was quite cool.  We exited the train hoping they would at least have the gates open, cause with this much rain, I didn’t see them getting a game in today.  Sure enough, we saw the gates were open and people were filing in, so we headed for the nearest gate, # 6, and got in line.

This is where things started going down hill for me at Yankee Stadium.  I was so excited to get to see the new park, but there are things, or should I say people, that really ruin that for someone.  Ok, let me back up and say that I had my Red Sox hat on, so maybe that influenced everything, but if so… are you serious?!?  So we get to the gate, an employee there says he needs to look in my back pack.  I opened it up, like always, he looks in, says outloud “Camera, video camera, score book,  Red Sox jersey… ok”.  As I start to walk, he stops me!  “WAIT! No, you can’t go in.  No back packs allowed.”  I tried to get him to understand its just a camera bag, but he said “No back packs, unless its on a kid or you have a diaper in it.  You can bring in bags, purses, regular camera bags, but no back packs.”  I stood there, getting pissed on by the rain in the Bronx, and looked at him and said, “Let me get this straight, I can bring a hefty garbage bag in, women can bring in purses and if I had a son and put this on his back, we could bring it in?”  He told me that was correct.  Ok… STRIKE ONE! Luckily we parked close by to this gate, so Bob and I walked back to the car, changed out the back pack for my smaller camera bag.  I couldn’t fit my jersey in it, so Bob agreed to carry it for now, under his umbrella, so it wouldn’t get wet and we headed back to the nearest gate, which we passed on our way to the car, gate # 8.  We get in line, the gal working there says that she wants to look in my bag, I say sure and open it for her.  She looks in, I told her its just my cameras and she asks “What is that?”  I said, “My digital camera.”  She asked what the other item was, “I said a zoom lens”.  She then asked about the 3rd item in the bag, so I pulled it out and said “My video camera.” She said “No video cameras allowed in Yankee Stadium, period!”  Wow… STRIKE TWO!! Now, let me say that I have since read on their web site and sure enough, it reads “movie cameras and any other video or audio recording equipment are not permitted in Yankee Stadium”.  (it also mentions no “extended length zoom lenses”, but I guess that was overlooked… not once, but twice!)  Ok, my bad. But the other 29 parks allow them, per MLB rules you cant video game action, but you can other things.  My bad!  What gets me about this though is that the guy at gate # 6 didn’t say a word about my video camera and he knew it was there.  Had he told me then, I would have just left it at the car when we were there. So Bob graciously says he will take it back to the car for me, but before he goes, I wanted to make sure that everything else we had was ok, so I start asking, “I have a Red Sox Jersey, is that ok?”  I am told “Yes”, with a grin on her face.  I ask about my regular camera, my Red Sox hat, my wallet, keys and finally I say “I am a fat guy, are fat guys allowed in Yankee Stadium??”  The gal looks at me strange, breaks out into laughter and looks away.  I asked for clarification, cause after twice trying to get in and having to go back to the car, I wanted to make sure we could enter with what he had.  She finally says, “Yes, even fat guys are allowed in.”  Wow, totally the wrong way for her to answer it, but ok.  So Bob heads back to the car and I waited for him at the gate watching others go in.  As I stood there I got to talk to several people, one guy told me “You need one of these” as he points to his Yankee umbrella.  I told him, “I’m from Washington State, this is nothing.”  That sparks a conversation and come to find out his brother-in-law lives about 20 minutes from me.  Small world.  Bob still wasn’t back yet when a guy walks up with a back pack.  I thought to myself, “ohhh poor guy.”  The gal has him open it, looks in, and puts a wrist band around the handle and lets him through…. I guess I was louder than I thought when I smirked cause the guy asked me, in a deep New York accent, “WHAT!?!”  I told him how I was told no back packs and he said, and I quote directly, “Just put a diaper in it and they can’t say anything!”… STRIKE THREE!!!

I had been talking to this older gentleman who was also working the gate, a really nice guy, when Bob got back.  We finally got the “OK” to enter the park, I guess 3rd time is a charm, and away we went.  The first thing you notice when you enter gate # 8 is concrete… and lots and lots of it!  As we walked around, there was no immediate signs of there actually being a baseball field anywhere near where we were at that point.  We came to a “T” and I looked both directions and could see nothing but people… and concrete!   We took a right and started walking down the seriously depressing walk way.  Finally, like a sign from God that things will get better, we see some green grass!  People always talk about how they walked into (insert ball park name here) and how they saw the field and how amazing it was… I will never forget the depressing concrete of Yankee Stadium.

We stopped for a few pictures, the tarp was still on the infield, but we snapped pictures any way.  I decided it was time, so I put my Red Sox jersey on and posed for a few pix around the park as we walked the loop.  I had thought it was maybe just me, but no, even Bob commented on how sterile and blah the look of the new park was.  I tried to tell him that the dark blue they used is a Yankee color and everywhere you look they made sure you knew you were at Yankee Stadium, cause everything was named “Yankee Stadium” this and “Yankee Stadium” that.  Had they not done that, I might have thought I was on a tropical beach in Fiji or something.  I had been told that everything was more expensive at the new park than anywhere else and they werent kidding.  Heck even the penny smashers, which are usually $0.51  elsewhere, were $1.01 here!! (we did get a few pennies smashed, thus doing our part to help pay A-Fraud’s salary). We did like how they incorporated the history of the Yankees into the decorations as you walked around the main concourse.  That’s one thing I said I really like about Comerica Park in Detroit, yet Comerica does it so much better.

I stopped to get me a drink, in a souvenir cup (as I always do) and the guy at the counter said “How can I help you Mr. Red Sox?”  I thought it was funny and he told me how it took balls to wear my Sox gear here and he appreciated it.  I didn’t catch as much flack as I thought I would, honestly, but then again maybe it was just the general low keyed mood cause of the rain, I dunno.  It was a little after 12pm when we decided to try and find our way to the Yannkee Museum to see if we could say hello to Brian Roberts (the nephew of our tour guide from yesterday in Gettysburg).  We finally found out how to get there, most of the ushers we talked to had no clue either, and found a huge line waiting for us, so we opted out of that and found ourselves by the bleacher section in left center taking  more pictures and just checking everything out.  From here you can see the retired numbers, the championship plaques (which have already had a few stolen by those great Yankee fans) and of course, Monument Park.  Now, honestly, I don’t know if it is just me or not, but the new and improved Monument Park looks sooooo much smaller than the previous one.  The line for it formed right behind us and there was no way that I was gonna get in that either.  As we stood there taking it all in I realized that it was 12:50pm, game time was supposed to be 1:05pm  and the tarp was still on the infield and the rain hadnt let up at all.  It was time to crap or get off the pot, so that’s what I did and decided it was time to leave and head north to Fenway!  I am still really bummed we didnt get to see a game at Yankee Stadium, but we certainly got to see the park and well… NO THANKS!  Unless things change when I go again, it will not even be in my top 10 or top 15.

The drive to Boston went pretty smooth, it just rained almost the entire time.  I set the GPS for Fenway and it took us a completely different route than I would have.  Not sure what way it was, but it was 2 lane most of the way and I remember something about the Merritt Parkway.  Either way when we got to Hartford, CT I called my nephew Sean to see where he was with his girlfriend and his buddy Josh.  He told me they were just about to leave town as we were pulling through, so the race was on.  From there to Boston is quite the boring drive really, thank goodness I had Bob driving most of it.  We did make a stop in some little town that not even Nicole (Sean’s GF) had heard of.  We needed gas, a restroom and something to snack on.  The place we stopped at had a Dunkin Donuts, so we gave it a try… big mistake!  Their commercials say “America Runs On Dunkin’”  Im sorry America, you’ve been swindled, cause Dunkin sucks!

I love the drive into Boston on the Mass Pike (aka I-90) as you get to see Fenway just up the road and eventually pass right by it, as we did.  Our hotel, the Sheraton on Dalton, is about 8/10 of a mile from Fenway.  Sean and his group got booked at the Hilton on Dalton, which as we pulled into our hotel, we could see if right across the street from ours, literally.  We checked in and headed over to the Hilton to join up with everyone before heading to Fenway.

Fenway Park

Fenway Park is truly amazing.  I love every aspect of it.  Yet, I will admit, that even though I am a die hard Red Sox fan, have been for almost 22 years now (August 19, 1986), Fenway ranks a big # 2 in my book of my favorite ball parks… right behind Wrigley Field.  There is no shame in that, cause Wrigley is awesome.  This was my 4th time to Fenway, 3 games and I took the tour of the park with my wife back on May 7, 2005.  Every time I go to Fenway it’s something special.  My first game there, July 20, 2003, my nephew Sean and I had “Green Monster Seats”.  It was the first year of the seats on the Monstah and we had front row seats. We could reach out and touch the front of the Monstah, and Sean got a BP HR ball from Nomar!  It was awesome!!  Red Sox beat the Blue Jays behind a great pitching performance by Pedro.   My 2nd game was with my wife, May 8, 2005 and while it rained like it would never rain again, we had amazing roof box seats down the first base line, counter top seats with bar stools, too cool.  The Red Sox lost to the Mariners on a wind blown grand slam by Richie Sexton, in the 2nd game of a double header cause the previous nights game was rained out.  This time to Fenway, was just as magical as the others…

Our hotel was literally 8/10th of a mile, but with the rain, I decided to take a cab and the cab ride was darn near 12 minutes and at that they dropped us off a couple blocks from the park, so after we walked up, made it through the gate, up the elevator and found where our “Standing Room Only” (SRO) section was, we had missed most of the first inning.   We were actually quite surprised that they started the game on time with the rain, but that’s how it goes.  The SRO section we were in is called the Pavilion SRO, which is down the 3rd base line.  While you are up pretty high, the view is fantastic!  You even have your own restroom and concession stands for this section only, that’s pretty cool.

We found us a spot to stand and I looked at Bob and said, “I’ll be right back”.  It was time to get a Fenway Frank!  WOOHOO!  The best dog in the majors!  I grabbed a couple, dressed them up, and headed back to give Bob his first taste of a Boston tradition.  He loved it, and who wouldn’t? (other than my wife and Lindsey Meeks!) The game itself moved along pretty fast, which wasn’t cool at all.  Youkilis homered in the 1st to give the Sox a 1-0 lead, but the Marlins came back in the top of the 2nd and scored 2 on solo jacks by Uggla and Paulino.  That’s where the scoring ended cause in the middle of the 6th the heavens opened up and the tarp was brought out to cover the infield.  It was a bummer end to a great trip to Boston.  But that wasnt the only excitment at the park that day…

It must have been the middle of the 2nd when Bob and I met a guy named Rick.  Rick and his girlfriend, Kate,  were sitting in seats 2 rows down from where we were standing.  When he walked by me he saw my camera and asked if I worked for the Red Sox, I told him “No” with a bit of a chuckle and he told me that in the middle of the 5th he was going to propose to his woman.  He’s from Cananda and this was his first ever baseball game and he was kinda lost following it.  Over the next couple innings Rick came back, said Hi, and got a beer.  He was really nervous.  In the 4th inning he showed us the ring he bought for Kate and holy cow that thing was huge!  It was just over a 3 carat diamond ring and man that baby shined!  When the 5th inning came we were getting ready for the middle of the inning cause he had said there would be something on the video board about it and he goes off and drops to one knee and pops the question!!  Dude was early, so we though, must have been the fact he got the innings exchange rate wrong or something.  No, we found out that he had to do it then cause in the middle of the 5th they put up a message saying “Congratulations Rick & Kate”.  Btw, she said YES!!  It was quite the moment, that’s for sure.  Thanks Rick for letting us in on it so we could share in your magical moment.  May the 2 of you have many, many happy years together… and Kate, take Rick to more games, you need to school that boy on the fine art of baseball! 

Random Thoughts

I ended up having 4 Fenway Franks… DE-FRICKIN-LICIOUS!

During the rain delay I met a couple from Florida, she is a Marlin’s fan, he is a Red Sox fan.  I had a great time talking to Amy & Charlie.  At the same time, Bob met a guy that is originally from Kirkland, WA, which is just over an hour form where we live, small world, huh?

We hung out during the rain delay for a while,  Sean & Nicole made their way over from  their SRO section to meet up with us, and after taking a few pictures, we decided to call it a night and headed out.  As we walked out I soaked up every aspect of this amazing ball park.

After a walk up Yawkey Way, we went straight into Boston Beer Works.  The place was jammed!   Bob and I stayed for 1 beer each (I had the “Back Bay IPA” and Bob had the “Patriot Lager”.  Nicole had a blueberry beer that actually had blueberries floating in it!  Sean had a watermelon beer that had a chunk of watermelon on the rim of the glass!).  Sean wanted to eat so while him and Nicole got a table to eat, Bob and I called it a night and headed back to the hotel.

Btw, the Yankee game got started, 5 1/2 hours late!  The best part is that the Yankees lost to the Nationals 3-0!!

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Marlins (33-35)	0	2	0	0	0	0	x	x	x	2	8	1
Red Sox (40-26)	1	0	0	0	0	x	x	x	x	1	1	0

Boxscore

June 18th, 2009 | Category: 2009 Road Trip, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment