A Final Look Back: 3 Months Later

Looking back two and a half months later, it is still pretty hard to put into words how incredible this trip was. Personally, I think it was three of the best months of my life, and I think Andy would say the same (Yup. - Andy). Having readjusted to the normal day to day rigors of life, I've realized how great of an experience it was to wake up every day saying, "Well, what do you want to do today? Go party in Vegas or Hike the Grand Canyon? Yeah, that sounds good." while seeing almost every part of this amazing country and meeting new people every day from all the different American cultures. Traveling to new and unknown places, both foreign and domestic, is something every person should experience. It may not change who you are, but it will make you realize how much is out there and that this country and world aren't really as small as everyone says it is becoming. Oh yeah, and seeing more than 30 baseball games in one season wasn't so bad, either.

This trip could not have been what it was without the help of a long list of people, some who we knew and some who we didn't and were just looking to help out two guys who were on their own traveling the country. For certain, everyone along the way who helped us out in one way or another is missing from this list, but here goes. We can't thank you all enough:

Kiki, Stu and Charlie in Toronto

Tom and Bob Stevens in Ypsilanti, Michigan and Allyson Abbott

Doug Paige in Cleveland, Ohio

Jerry Crab and Brad Mohr of the Cleveland Indians

Matt Jamula and the Northeastern Club Baseball Team

Chad Pearson and Brandon De Roziere in Cincinnati, Ohio

Aric Mine and Mara in Chicago

Steve and Tracy in Milwaukee

Aunt Chip in Kansas City

Chris, Katy, Tyler and Max in Kansas City

Jen Crawford in Denver

Chris in Jackson, Wyoming

Sam, Lydia, John-O in Colorado

The Sleeping Bulldog B&B in Seattle, Washington

Austin, Casey, Mary and company in Sonoma, California

Sara Johnson in San Diego, California

Nate Orsi, Harold and Tiffany in Manhattan Beach, California

Sally, Mike, Mary and Sam in San Antonio, Texas

Bob and Julie Johnson, Sagamore and West Palm Beach, Florida

Pete Mackinas in St. Petersburg, Florida

Meghan Bucheit in Atlanta, Georgia

Joe DeBoer in Atlanta, Georgia

Tim and Cathy in Greensboro, North Carolina

Richard Lavoie, Lauren Lavoie and Brian Barsalou in Baltimore

Luke and Liz in Fairfax, Virginia

Mark Crawford in Maclean, Virginia

David and Yvonne Crawford

Richard and Gail Lavoie

Everyone else who was a part of this trip, thank you!

To wrap this website up for a final time, we'd like to leave you with our "favorites" from the trip. This was a fun way way to kill time on some highway somewhere towards the end of the trip.

Best Game: Andy-Rangers at Blue Jays. Ben-Cubs at Brewers

Best Pitching Performance: Andy- Luke Hochevar KC Royals. Ben- Luke Hochevar KC Royals

Best Ballpark Food: Andy- Crab Fries at Citizens Park. Ben- Poutine at the Rogers Centre

Best Tourist Attraction: Andy- St. Louis Arch. Ben- The Grand Canyon

Best Party Town: Andy- Vegas. Ben-Vegas

Best Bar: Andy- The Black Fin. Ben- Great Lakes brewery. Honorable mention to Portland Tap House and the Signature Room at the Hancock Tower, Chicago

Best Restaraunt: Andy- Harry Cary's on the Pier in Chicago. Ben - BBQ in Kansas City

Best Mascot: Andy - Mr Redlegg. Ben - The Philly Phanatic

Best Vendor: Unanimous- The "Don't Fear, It's Just Beer!" Guy

Best Crowd: Andy - Tampa (Worst=Cubs). Ben - Philadelphia (Worst = Athletics)

Best View: Andy- The Grand Canyon. Ben - Beartooth Pass

Best Hosts: Andy - Aunt Chip. Ben - Chad and Brandon in Cincy

Best Campground: Andy - Sinks Canyon. Ben - Redwood National Forrest

Best State: Unanimous - California.

Best Brewery: Unanimous - Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee.

Best Meal: Andy- Steve's Ribs. Ben - Breakfast at the Bulldog B&B

Best Fast Food: Unanimous - Culvers (Wisconsin).

Top Parks:

Andy:Fenway, Citi, Tampa, KC, Citizens, Atlanta

Ben: Camden Yards, Citizens Bank Ballpark, AT&T Park, Petco Park, Fenway Park.

A Final Stop: Citi Field

Our final stop on our journey to 30 baseball stadiums, throughout 37 US States, a foreign country, and over 16,000 miles of road was to see the New York Mets at Citi Field in Queens, NY on Tuesday, August 24th. We took the MegaBus down for our second trip to the Big Apple, leaving from South Station in Boston. Neither of us had riden the MegaBus before, but it turned out to be pretty nice. The double decker bus provides plenty of room, there is free wi-fi, they played a movie on the way down, it was non stop and very cheap. Much better than most other buses I've ever taken.

We made it to the city fairly early in the day and had plans to meet up with a college friend, Sean Kelly, who lives and works in NYC. Since he was in the office, Andy and I hiked around the city seeing the usual crazy sights of New York, got lunch at The Heartland Brewery, a pretty good spot at the bottom of the Empire State Building. The weather wasn't too welcoming but we managed to stay mostly dry until we got to the game, which featured Josh Johnson of the Marlins (who was having a great season) and R.A. Dickey for the Mets, a knuckleballer. So it seemed like it could be a fun way to finish off the trip.

Though it got much less press, Citi Field actually opened the same year as Yankee Stadium. Despite not getting as much attention as its cross-town rival, which could be said for the Mets organization as a whole, Citi Field is a very impressive place. An expansive entranceway welcomes you into the venue, featuring a great museum of Mets history which we spent quite a bit of time in having arrived pretty early.

We made our way up, and up and up to our seats which were in the upper level of the park in the area behind home plate. Drizzling rain and high winds loomed for most of the game, which was somewhat ironic considering that we had such great luck for the three months beforehand. After watching the game from our seats for a few innings and getting some good views of the whole park, we headed down towards the main concourse level and did our usual walk around the stadium, catching an inning here and an inning there. The game turned out to be a great way to wrap up the trip as well. The Mets carried a 4-2 lead into the top of the 7th inning, but surrendered 3 runs in the top half of the inning, putting the Marlins up 5-4. Along with the rain, it dampened the mood of the fans and us, as we were hoping for a final hometown victory to cap of the trip.

But, the Mets didn't let up and scored a run in the 8th to tie it up, and then Luis Castillo pulled through with a walk off single to score Angel Pagan in the bottom of the ninth. A walk off to end the trip! It couldn't have really gone much better than that. After the game we headed back and met up with Sean at his apartment. It was late and he had to work early, so we had a couple beers and were able to catch up with him a little bit before hitting the hay. Thanks a lot Sean for coming through on short notice and letting us crash at your place! It was a big help.

New York, New York

After a little break from the road, Ben and I met up in Boston to head to Germantown.  The game was going to be on a Wednesday night, Yankees vs Tigers.  I asked my Dad to come to the Yankee game with us so he lined up tickets for us to this game well ahead of time through Stub Hub.  We tried to figure out where the seats were located the night before but it was sort of mysterious where they were going to exactly be.  We knew were at field level but the section was 121BS but all we could find on the Yankees website was 121B.  After doing a little research we figured out that the S stood for some type of bar stool seat in the back of the section behind even the handicap seats (according to this).  It seemed like it could be hit or miss but the tickets got us in the door and that's all that really mattered.

We headed down to the city early to beat traffic, which we found out is impossible in NYC, and to walk around the stadium for a while before hand.  After a solid 30 minuets of traffic we got there around 5:30 for a 7:05 game.  We immediately wanted to check out these mystery seats.  It turns out that they had some great benefits that we did not expect.  The seats were right where we though they were but we got the elevated version of that website above rather than the ground level.  Plus there weren't even any handicap people in that section that night so the view was great.  There were only four chairs to the section so we basically had the bar to ourselves.  My dad got setteled in and Ben and I went to check out the highlight of the new Yankee Stadium, Monument Park in center field.

When we got out there the line to get in was enormous.  We were standing in right field on the stairs going up to the second tier when we started but the stadium workers ensured us that the line moved fast and it wouldn't be a hassle.  Boy, he was right.  We only waited about 15-20 min for a line that could have taken hours at a "normal line" pace.  Right when we walked in my Dad called me from the home plate seats to let us know that Ben stuck out like a sore thumb, even from back there, with his Red Sox hat sticking up way above everyone else.  We made our way through the crowd, checking out all the plaques and noting how many retired numbers the Yankees had.  My personal favorite item is the giant floor emblem of the Yankee symbol in the center of Monument Park that states how the symbol was put on a medal of honor given to a police officer and then turned into the Yankees logo. 

After monument park, we finished our lap around the concourse and made it back to the seats.  Since there was a little time before first pitch, we went to the gift shop to get our postcard.  We looked high and low and as it turns out the only post cards they sell are Derek Jeter postcards.  Ben was not about to buy something of just Derek Jeter so we decided to push off our souvenir selection until later since we had used up all the time before the game and the National Anthem was starting.

We were at the stadium during "Hope" week where the Yankees pick from a bunch of special stories and treat them to a special day in the city.  The kid that day was from Africa and learned English just so that he could go to college in the USA.  The Yankees brought him into the city and got him a chance to ring the opening bell on Wall Street and met with the Mayor of NYC before the game.  A bunch of the Yankees were there all day with him and he got to throw out the first pitch. It was a pretty neat thing they had going and interesting to hear this kids story.

As the game got started we picked our home run derby candidates (2 per team for each person) and they immediately paid dividends.  My Dad got right into the action because he had Teixeira who hit a home run as the third batter of the game and luckily for me Cano went back to back with him so I got into the action.  Ben was all down on his luck but he had Miguel Cabrera who hit one in the top of the second inning. 

After the flurry of the bottom of the first and top second things settled down a bit.  Ben was sitting next to a guy who claimed to be here with friends but wasnt with anyone that we saw.  He was really talkative and always had something to say about nothing, talking about how he was a Mets fan, and the Mets were doing so horrible but he wanted the Yankees to lose, and on on he went.  He tried to connect with Ben because he was sitting next to him and Ben was a Red Sucks fan and the guy was a Mets fan so they could both hate the Yankees but this guy was a total "Yo bro" Bronx guy and was more of an annoyance than anything. 

With the Yankees at a big lead I decided to go a venture over to the place where they sell the Lobels Steak Sandwich.  This did not disappoint even though it cost me $15 and a pretty good wait.  After getting the Crab fries in Philly and this, it made me disappointed that I had not made it a point to get the signature dishes more often.  Regardless it was like candy it was so good.

Meanwhile Cabrera made the game interesting with his second home run in as many at bats, making Ben the rich man in the home run derby contest.  The Yankees started scoring lots of runs but the tigers kept hanging around after a 2 run home run by Don Kelly (who no one had selected).  Granderson hit another home run (made me 2 bucks) a couple innings later the Yankees would get some more runs.  The game was exciting through every inning because even though the ending score was 9-5 each team had at least 7 runners left on base. 

By the end of the game a little bit of the crowd had left but there was defintaly a mad dash to get to the parking lots.  Coming out of our lot we got the NYC traffic shuffle and ended up going home a roundabout way but it was all part of the experience.  Next up is the Mets game a week away.