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. 

Philadelphia

The next morning we hit the road again for The City of Brotherly Love. Though, it was one of the last few times we'd hit the road on this trip, as our days away from home were soon coming to a close. It's only about a three hour drive, so we got to the area where the Phillies' stadium, Citizens Bank Ballpark, is located a little before lunch time. We searched around for parking for a bit, and found out we could park at a Holiday Inn only a block or so away from the park for a decent price, but we had to wait about an hour until the lot attendant got there. We were dreaming of Philly Cheesesteaks the whole ride, so to kill some time we drove to the popular stop Geno's and also got some waterice (sort of like italian ice) at a place nearby and ate it in the truck. The cheesesteak was definitely satisfying, especially the kind with cheese wiz on it, but I don't think it was the best steak 'n cheese I've ever had. The water ice was good too, but uber sugary.

After satisfying our stomachs, we went back to park the truck and then went on a search for a metro stop (its called the Southeast Pennsylvania Transit by the way, SEPT for short) because we wanted to go check out the liberty bell and Independence Hall, the famous building where both the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were enacted. The subway was pretty simple to use, but they still deal with the token system, unlike DC and Boston who have switched to the card type system and I think is much better. We got to Independence Hall, which most certainly had the look of a 18th century colonial building, but unfortunately the tours ended up being sold out for the day so we couldn't go inside. Across the plaza, the Liberty Bell is located inside its own building which showcased the history of the famous bell, time lines of events and famous addresses and speeches in its presence, some short videos, and the bell itself in the back of the building. It was a fun thing to see, especially for those with an interest in American History. That wrapped up our tourist sight seeing for this city, and it was time to catch the train again and head back to the ballpark.

We got to Citizens pretty early, which turned out to be good because there was a lot to do. We walked around the outside a little bit first, then headed inside the park while the Dodgers, the visiting opponent for the evening, were taking batting practice. Out in center field, behind where you see the big sign with the bell on it on tv, there's a concourse with all kinds of games to play and collect tickets and get free stuff with the tickets. First, we did the fastpitch which was probably the coolest one of the trip. There was a cardboard cut out of a catcher and if you hit the mitt a bell would ring, which I did at about 75mph so I was happy. Next was a trivia game that Andy did against some kids and their dad, but it was tough for non-Phillies fans. The only question we each knew was what number Jimmy Rollins, their shortstop, wears...and I only really knew that because I saw it on someone's jersey that walked by. Nonetheless, Andy got a ticket and we moved along to the last one, a run-in-place run the bases game. You run in place as fast as you can and lights light up on a board and circle the basepaths in a race to home plate. I took that one home so we each ended up with three tickets, which got us each a free plastic cup thanks to Citizens Bank.

At this point, batting practice was still going on so we sat in the left-center field bleachers and watch that wrap up, but we were curious why it was done so early as there was still a lot of time left before game time. It turns out there was a celebrity softball game featuring local "celebs" from radio stations and news stations and such. The only guy I had vaguely heard of was the play by play guy for the Sixers. It served as good entertainment and a chance to stay in the shade on another hot day. I also took the opportunity to get some food from a big BBQ stand that was also in the center field concourse. It was pretty good, but nothing like the ribs that Steve smoked for us back in Wisconsin. Man, that seems like ages ago already.

Once all that was over, we headed to our seats which were in lower bowl but the last row of the section down by the right field foul pole. But that didn't matter much because we had a great view of the field and could the jumbo tron and all the important stuff. The fan attendance and atmosphere was very impressive as there wasn't an open seat in the house that we could see. It was a lot of fun, especially coming from DC and Baltimore. It was an exciting game too. Roy Oswalt started for the Phils, our first time seeing him since his last start as a Houston Astro back in Texas, and Chase Billingsly threw for the Dodgers. It was a tight scoreless game until the fourth inning, when the bases were loaded and a run scored on a ground ball in the infield. The hometown team got on the board again in the 6th on a double by Raul Ibanez that scored Mike Sweeney, who had just entered the game after pinch running and was thrown into the fire right away. That was all the scoring for the night.

The atmosphere of the park was really what made it a great time. It was packed, like I said, and all the fans were really into the game and knowledgeable about what was going on. I couldn't help but notice a lady in front of my checking players' stats on her phone all night, and the lady to the right of me who was with her husband (who was listening to the radio and tuning everyone out) and family, but she was well aware of all the players and knew what was going on. You definitely don't see that in a lot of places around the country, even in some of the better teams' venues. There was one guy in the section to the right of us who was more than into the ballgame, yelling all night and getting really upset at one point when the third base coach didn't send the runner on third home on a fly ball to the outfield. He surely would be been out by a mile, as it wasn't that deep of a ball and the outfielder gunned a perfect throw home. But this guy wouldn't shut up for like two innings saying how he should have been sent home, cursing out the coach, who he knew by name. This all made for great fun, and in the end everyone was happy as the Phillies won 2-0.

Philadelphia also has, what both of us agree to be, the league's best mascot, the Philly Phanatic. The large green indescribable creature (pictured above) did not disappoint this night. He was all over the place, but his best moment was before the game started. He drove out onto the field on a quad and was racing around the outfield pumping up the crowd for the game. He made his way over to the Dodgers dugout along the first baseline and was doing his best to distract them before the game. One of the dodgers eventually threw a gatorade cup at him, and the battle was on! He momentarily hid behind his quad, evading more potential incoming fire, and then hopped on and drove away. But it wasn't over. He headed over to the Phillies dugout and sneakily grabbed a baseball. Then did another lap and was again in front of the Dodgers dugout. He took cover again behind his quad, but this time retaliated and hurled the ball grenade style into the dugout! It was pretty awesome and hilarious, and I'm sure caught the Dodgers by surprise. But it was all in good fun and made for great entertainment.

So that was the end our trip...for now. You've probably heard we're taking a hiatus at this point so Andy can go to his cousin Nora's wedding in Maine. We'll reconvene next week as we go to the new Yankees Stadium. But for now, we hit the NJ Turnpike for a late night drive, headed north to Germantown, NY to the Crawford house for the night.

Strasburg and the Nats

The morning after the Baltimore game we all got going our separate ways.  Brian was hurting quite a bit from the night before so he kinda dragged his feet a little but the rest of us were feeling great.  The Lavoie party had to drive all the way to Connecticut but we were only going about an hour away to the other side of DC to Fairfax, VA, where my cousin Luke lived.

When we got to Luke’s house, his wife, Liz, was on her way out to a bridal shower but us men hung around the house and relaxed with stories of the open road and our tales from across the country.  We broke out the Wii once Liz got back, on a conquest to beat the high score of the “3-point shooting” game that their friend had set.  We gave it a good run its money but it was out of reach.  We grilled out for dinner with some BBQ chicken and brats.  The Yankees/Red Sox game was on Sunday Night Baseball which provided us with our entertainment for the night. 

On Monday Luke and Liz went to work but since we had both see most of the tourist stuff in downtown DC on previous trips, we headed down to Mount Vernon, to the home of George Washington.  Washington took pride in his farming so his home was a farm with almost every type of crop possible for that climate somewhere on the property.  It was almost a self contained village because they had all types of crafts scattered across the property.  I thought it was most amazing that they still had blacksmiths, which made all the tools, to try to keep the integrity of the era.  We checked out GW’s grave, the waterfront and took a tour of the farmhouse and then called it a day. 

We scooted up to McLean, VA, to my Aunt Betsy and Uncle Ray’s house where my cousin Mark was just in from his internship in Salzburg, Austria. We assisted him in assembling his keggerator for the upcoming wedding in Maine.  Mark invited over one of his friends, who was really into baseball as well.  It turns out that the friend (sorry I forgot your name), went to Stephen Strasburg’s first game, and unless you have been living under a rock, you know that was a big game.  He was actually the fan that caught the first major league home run hit off Strasburg, and he threw it back! It sounds crazy I know, but he got interviewed on PTI and created his own little 15 minutes of fame. 

Another fun fact he told us about was the Presidents race.  Like every other team that has copied the sausage race in Milwaukee, the Nationals have a race where the four presidents from Mt. Rushmore race against each other around the warning track.  He informed us, from his inside source, that whoever is running as Teddy is not allowed to win!  How unfair is that.  Teddy is allowed to do anything he wants, as long as he doesn’t win.  We ended up crashing at Mark’s house for the night with the Nationals game and more importantly, Stephen Strasburg, on the horizon for the next day. 

On Tuesday, we gathered ourselves up after breakfast and made the trek over to Luke’s for showers and to get our stuff.  We planned on taking the Metro into the game to avoid traffic and parking fees so the McLean house was the better home base.  Around 2:30 we headed down to check out the park ahead of time and maybe get some beers before the game.  The metro was a breeze to navigate so we got there with plenty of time but there aren’t really any bars or anything in that part of town so we just headed right to the park.

I’m not sure if the architects did it on purpose or not but, when walking up to the park, it gave the slight appearance of a battleship on the water.  It may have just been the angle we were walking up to the park but the bottom levels are covered in a smooth gray façade and the upper deck looked like the antennas and dishes that would be protruding from the deck.  That comparison might be a stretch but its better than just thinking it was a just another ballpark. 

Right outside the gates, there was a tent set up with a beer garden inside called the Bullpen.  This was a great place to hang out, people watch, and get some non-$8 beers before the game.  They had some live music and a good beer selection.  Also, there was a fast pitch area, which cost $2 (lame), but provided great entertainment from all the fools that could not throw a ball faster than 60.  They did have a high score board, where if you beat the speed of the current high speed, you got a free beer and hot dog.  Unfortunately our age group’s speed we had to beat was 88 (which is REDICULOUS for not warming up and off flat ground with no rubber) so that was not going to happen. 

After a few beers the park opened up so we headed into the park.  Right at the entrance was the presidents (the ones from Mt. Rushmore) that do a race around the park in the middle of one of the innings.  Since we heard what a hard time Teddy had winning we decided we needed a picture with him.  I tried to pump him up and say “it was his night that night” and he got really excited.

We took a lap around the stadium to see what cool stuff there was to see, and you could tell that the nationals didn’t have much history, because they had history from all across baseball, not just Nationals/Expos.  However we were there the night when Andre Dawson, an Expo great who had just been inducted to the hall of fame this year, returned and was celebrated at the stadium.  There was a little ceremony and video montage of his career before the game for him. 

We made our way to our seats (at least our section) way up in the upper deck and there was a definite buzz in there air mixed in with some uncertainty.  Strasburg was coming off his first trip to the DL as a professional so people were questioning how good the game would be. On ESPN earlier that day, it was announced that he would be held to a 90 pitch limit, which indicated a short outing anyway. 

In the first inning Strasburg brought the heat, throwing 99 a few times, but it was obvious that he didn’t have his best stuff when he walked the second batter.  Dan Uggla made him pay for that by crushing a 2 run HR that screamed over the fence.  This is when the Nationals fans got there kicks in. 

National’s fans seem to be a sarcastic bunch.  They loved to cheer for the mistakes that the team made, once Strasburg was pulled early in the game, before even reaching his 90 pitch mark, they were saying things like “Oh here we go, Batista will shut them down”, which he didn’t.  Also it didn’t help that Anibal Sanchez of the marlins had a pretty good game on the other side of the frame.  He let up no runs through 6 and 2/3 with 7 K’s. 

As soon as Strasburg was pulled, looking at the entrance, we could see clearly from the upper deck that people were flooding out of the stadium.  By the end of the game there were probably 1/10 of the people that were there for the first pitch.  We got to move down close to the field to get a better view though.  All in all, it was one of the worst games that we have seen on the trip. An early blow out to a team with no enthusiasm to get back in the game and fans that enjoyed seeing their team mess up.  It still beat any day not going to a baseball game though.

The East Coast...Part Two

After going to the game in Atlanta on Thursday night, we had to get to Baltimore, Maryland to meet my Dad, my sister Lauren, and her fiance Brian for the Orioles game Saturday night. We headed out from Georgia Friday morning and drove straight to Greensboro, NC to stay with Andy's cousin Tim and his wife Cathy, who were hosting us so we could split up the 10 hour drive. We got to their house in the late afternoon and a few hours later went out to dinner to a local Vietnamese restaurant. We got talking with them about our trip and what not during dinner and the food was delicious and we were more than stuffed. But, it didn't stop us from getting ice cream supposedly the most popular spot in town, just across the street from UNC-G. The ice cream certainly lived up to expectations! We went back to the house to watch the Sox-Yankees game...I felt like I was in New York or something with Andy, Tim and Cathy all die hard Yankees fan. However, I got the last laugh as the Red Sox won! (Although, Tim almost made me sleep in the yard in my tent. Almost.) We woke up the next morning to biscuits and gravy to get us started for the second part of our trek up to Baltimore. Thanks to Tim and Cathy for having us and showing us around Greensboro. It really seems like a nice town, hopefully we'll get to spend some more time there at some point.

So, we hit the road once again and despite Tim's advice to not take 95 north to Baltimore, for some reason we didn't it anyway and ran into some pretty heavy traffic. Our GPS (which has some issues sometimes but for the most part gets us where we need to go) also got us going pretty much through downtown DC instead of going around the city. Anyways, we got there, and apparently did so easier than my family, as it took them 7 hours to get from New Haven, CT to Baltimore! Ouch! But, I was ecstatic to see them, as I hadn't seen any of my family in almost three months.

So, we caught up with each others lives in the hotel for a bit, then headed over to Oriole Park at Camden Yards which was only a few blocks from where we were staying. We headed over, and it was the first time any of us had been to this stadium so it was really fun to check it out. One of the nicest parts is the open concourse in left and center field. You can only get there with a ticket, but you still feel like you're walking on the street as the famous brick buildings are on your left and the field is on your right. Andy and I even noticed a footbridge that was one or two stories up and went over the street into the field. We were both a little curious about that, probably some VIP area. We kept walking around and ended up finding some open seats near the left field foul pole. I was told to just by the cheapest tickets you could and sit wherever there are open seats, and I would give this advice too after going to a game here. There was a decent crowd (all things considered) but there was still lots of empty space scattered about. For Dad, Lauren and Brian it seemed strange to them to see so many empty seats (having only been to Fenway) but with all the empty ballparks Andy and I have seen this summer it really wasn't that bad.

Before the game started, we got to see an Orioles Hall of Fame Induction ceremony which was pretty cool. For those who don't know, Buck Showalter recently became the manager of the Orioles and has really turned the team around and they were actually undefeated going into this game under the Buck Show. There was definitely some excitement in the air and it was an entertaining game against the Chicago White Sox, though the ChiSox took away the victory 4-2 with AJ Pierzynski, Alex Rios, and Carlos Quintin doing most of the damage.

There were some interesting fans around us too. Some kids in front of us to the left were from western Mass, and then the guys in front and behind were all from New York. They certainly made for more entertainment throughout the game, so it was a great time all around. After getting back to the hotel, Lou, Brian, Andy and I went out to some bar for a couple more beers but it was pretty late so we crashed after that, and a failed attempt to walk to the harbor. They all had to leave early in the morning to head back up north, so we all said our goodbyes and hit the road again! It was great to see you all...very glad you could make it down for this part of the trip!

We're still playing catch up but there's so much to talk about so we'll continue in a later post. Check back soon.

The East Coast...In a Flash!

Sorry once again to everyone for the delay in posting. We didn't have too much internet access and frankly, spent more of our free time enjoying the end of the trip! Also...we recently passed the 2000 hit marker! (The ticker is at the bottom for those of you who haven't noticed) Thanks for reading everyone and the trip is almost over, so keep checking in and enjoy the blog while it lasts.

So...to catch you up on our recent travels. Andy left off last in Florida on August 7th and since then we've been to Atlanta, Greensboro North Carolina, Baltimore, Washington DC, Philly, Germantown and now Boston! The end of this trip has sure gone by in a flash. It seems like only last week when we were partying it up in San Diego with Matt.

We made our way from West Palm Beach to Atlanta, Georgia where we stayed with our friend Megan Bucheit from Northeastern. Megan's working for a music festival planning company down there for the summer, traveling all over the country as well from music festival to music festival. It actually sounded like a blast...another great way to spend a summer. So we got to her place in the evening and after catching up and resting up we headed out to a bar called the Vortex. It was a cool place and the best part is they had a bingo style game going on called "DRUNK". So we had some food and some beer and played that which was a lot of fun, and we even won some prizes! I got a gift certificate, so that paid for some of our grub. Andy got a chattering skeleton toy thing (hard to explain), and some other halloweenish flavored items like a rope with skulls on it and a skull bowl. Not sure what was up with the theme of the prizes, but it was a good time nonetheless.

The next day, Meg had to work so Andy and I spent the day seeing the sights of downtown Atlanta. We drove into the city (again, the public transit here was sub par it seemed) and first got some much needed food at a taqueria. I got the "diablo burrito" and, despite that it seemed pretty tame at first, I was sweating it out by the end due to its spiciness. After that we went to the Aquarium. It boasted the reputation of being one of the best aquariums in the world, and honestly it lived up to that. The place was HUGE! We saw whale sharks, other types of sharks, beluga whales, sea otters, just about every type of fish you could imagine, crocodiles, poisonous frogs...you name it we probably saw it. One of the bigger tanks had a tunnel built at the bottom so you could walk through and look up to see all the animals swimming above and around you. That was really awesome.

Across the street was the World of Coke so we headed there next. It started off with a lady talking about the history of the company and showing us all kinds of different memorabilia, new and old. The oldest thing they had there was a soda fountain from the late 1800s that you might find in a pharmacy, where Coca-Cola was originally sold. It was pretty cool. Then we saw a "4D" movie, which was a 3D movie but there were special effects as well like moving seats and mist sprayers and some weird thing that poked you in the back to pretend like a bug was stinging you. Scared the crap out of me, that's for sure. After the movie, we walked around a bit, saw a polar bear (mascot, fake), then went to the tasting room where we could sample 54 different beverages produced by Coke around the world. There is no way anyone could ever do all 54 though, wayyy too much sugar.

After that, we were super excited for the game because my friend from home, Joe DeBoer, and two of his buddies from work were meeting us to go to the Braves game that night! They work for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and were in Chattanooga, Tennessee for training which is only a couple hours from Atlanta. It didn't seem like they were going to be able to make after talking to them early in the week, so when we found out they were coming it was a great surprise. Two of Megan's friends also joined us at the game, so we had the biggest crew we've had at any game with the eight of us. The game started off on a good note, as I caught my first t-shirt toss t-shirt out of those air canons that they shoot off. I got pretty luck though, because he was aiming for the upper deck and it hit some rafters and fell back down to the lower level and I just happened to be walking by after getting a drink or something. You know what they say though, sometimes its better to be lucky than good. The Braves were playing the San Francisco Giants and we got to see a pretty good matchup between Tim Lincecum (last year's NL Cy Young Award winner for the best pitcher in the league) and Jaer Jurrjens of the Braves. It was a good game, and Eric Hinske blasted a homer in the sixth to help propel the Braves to a home victory. More importantly, I won 5 bucks as Hinske was my pick of the night in Home Run Derby! Atlanta won 3-2 in a great game.

I'll leave it at that for now. Atlanta treated us well and much thanks to Joe and Megan! It was great seeing you both! From here we were headed up to Greensboro, NC to stay with more of Andy's tremendously large family, this time his Uncle Tim. More will be coming tonight or tomorrow so be sure to check back.

Florida

As Ben mentioned in the previous post, the condo was an excellent relaxation hub. We basically vegged out all week before the tampa game. We played some golf, fixed up the truck a bit, and got to know the pool pretty well.

After catching our breath for a few days, Friday rolled around and that meant our Yankees at Rays game up in Tampa. We drove up to meet a relative of Ben's, Pete. He met us at our hotel an immediately took us out to lunch and we proceeded to discuss all things Tampa.

After lunch pete brought us over to the bar that he actually owned, Doubles. It was a working mans bar, as he put it. I thought it had an excellent atmosphere with a pool table, darts, and tvs a plenty. Pete pointed out some old photos that decorated the place of movie stars like Marilyn Monroe and Paul Newman and explained that it was ironic that the photos were left over from the previous owners because it was a ruff tough biker bar. Even bikers like movies stars apparently. After a few rounds he hooked us up with some free Doubles t-shirts and took us on a tour of the highlights around St Petersburg (where the stadium is actually located, not Tampa).

We got back the the hotel and turned right around to head to the stadium. It was free t-shirt night and we had already missed out on Houstons tshirt night so we knew we had to get there early. Once we got there, the place had an electric atmosphere. The Rays were only 2 games back of the Yankees for first place of the AL East at the time. ARod was sitting on 599 HRs, Vasquez was throwing for the Yankees and _ was starting for the Rays so it looked to be a pretty good matchup.

Walking up to the stadium the place seemed to be 50-50 Yankees fans to Rays fans. After the game got going it turned out to be more like 70-30 rays to Yankees but they definatly had a presence.

Before the game we walked around the stadium and checked out all the things to do. First we waited to go up to the stingray tank. They have a tank out in right center with 10 to 15 stingrays that you could pet for free and feed for a small fee. After that, near center field, there was the "Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame." it seems a little odd that this was here but Ted Williams was a major community contributor in the metro area. I'd have to say that this was one of the coolest things that I've ever seen at a ball park. They had stuff from all decades, teams and events. It wasn't totally dedicated to hitters either. Lots of community service awards and management awards were on display as well. There seemed to be an underlying theme of Red Sox and Yankees though which we thought was cool.

After those things there wasn't much to write home about at the stadium. There was a lot of stuff for kids to do and lots of places with diverse food choices but we just did our usual lap and then found our seats.

It was also Latino night at the park so right behind us was a band of Latino music which played throughout the game. It was extremely loud for us but it made it exciting at the same time.

The game can be summed up by 2 plays. Swisher hit a 1st inning 2 run home run to give the Yankees an early lead and then the Rays took the lead in the 7th with a 3 run home run by Matt Joyce, the Rays right fielder.

After the game there was a free Los Lobos concert which we were allowed down on the field for. We just wanted to go out on the field so we stuck around and watched some of it before heading back to the hotel.

Saturday we drove back and Sunday we headed down to Boca Raton beach for some fun in the sun. Monday we played some more golf before heading to Miami Tuesday for the Marlins game.

The Florida Marlins currently play at the Dolphins stadium but are moving in 2012 to their own. We got there early to get tickets and hopefully check out some of Miami. We went to the pro shop to get tickets and it was all dolphins stuff except for a few sections which were Marlins gear. It was obvious who the money makers were.

After we got tickets we had some time so we drove to Miami beach and got some food then headed back to the stadium.

The marlins match up seemed pretty one sided because Roy Halladay was pitching for the Phillies and the Marlins had a kid who was making his first major league appearance. The game came out just as we thought. Right off in the first inning the Marlins let up a few runs. Then Halladay went to work shutting down the Marlins. He did give up a solo home run to Dan Uggla to left field but that was all for them. The real story of the game was the marlins defense. I'm not sure how many errors they were actually scored but they should have had many more.the center fielder ran back to catch a ball and got turned around so the ball ended up landing right next to him. The third base man had a rough night all night. Uggla booted two easy ground balls. It was just messy.

After the game we headed back up to the condo and got ready to head up to Atlanta the next day.

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

Hey Everyone....a quick side note from our usual postings.

On September 25, 2010 I will be joining some friends in running the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure in Boston. This is a 5k fund raising event to benefit those suffering from breast cancer and to help develop a cure for the disease. Our team is raising funds, and I have a personal fund raising goal of $500, all of which goes towards developing a cure for breast cancer and helping those in need. Any help you may be able to give will be greatly appreciated!

You can read more about our team and donate at the following web address: http://komenmassrace.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=347587&lis=0&kntae347587=3C4C92F1B78F47F2A4E422CE7FB6AF4F

If you have any questions, or would like to join our team, feel free to send me an e-mail. Thanks very much!!

On The Move...

In our last post, we were spending some time to vacation from our vacation in San Antonio. Thanks to our great hosts the Del Vecchios, we had a really nice and relaxing few days, playing with their kids, going to the gym, going to the pool, and seeing the new movie “Inception” in IMAX (by the way, the movie definitely lives up to the hype. Go see it. Do it.)

On Thursday night, we went out on the town in downtown San Antonio. Mike dropped us off at the Alamo, the famous mission that served as a battle ground during the Texas Revolution in 1836. It was a very interesting place, though had kind of an odd feel to see this kind of historical site in a city center. We left there and headed over to Joe’s Crab Shack for a drink and an appetizer of crab dip and calamari. What’s cool about downtown San Antonio is that most of it is focused around the RiverWalk, a river that winds back and forth throughout a few blocks with boat taxis and tours, and no shortage of bars and restaurants. So we hopped around from place to place for the rest of the night. Surprisingly there were a lot of Irish pubs (I think we went to 2 or 3?), one of which had a piano player who put on a good show. He was asking everyone where they were from and, when learning we were from Boston, played Sweet Caroline and the Cheers theme song. There was also this girl at another table who was absolutely hammed, so she served as great fodder for his jokes. There were also huge buckets of peanuts on every table so the place was full of empty shells everywhere, which was something different. After grabbing some food there, we continued to hop around, finding one place with this drink called a “Hurricane”. The name explains everything. Also, we went into the Coyote Ugly bar, where one guy proceeded to by 33 beers and gave them out. We were close by and got some, so it was a worthwhile stop for sure. We eventually found a cab to get home, and it was quite a long ride. Another city much bigger than Boston, its small size has really spoiled us over the last five years.

The next day, it was time to pack up and hit the road again. And hit the road we would, as over the following four days we would drive to Arlington (Dallas), Houston, New Orleans and West Palm Beach, Florida. We started off by going north to Arlington for the Rangers-Angels game Friday night at the Ballpark in Arlington. Andy found a nice hotel only a couple miles from the park, and there is also a trolley that goes to all the touristy spots in Arlington. It took us a while to catch it but it was way better than driving. We saw a great game, as CJ Wilson of the Rangers and Joe Saunders of the Angels both threw great games. Michael Young's homer in the first turned out to be the only run scored of the night to give Texas the 1-0 victory, and it turned out to be Joe Saunders’ last start as an Angel as he soon thereafter got traded to the D’Backs in the Dan Harren deal. He didn’t seem to take it too well either, as he started balling on tv during an interview. Rough life being a baseball player. The crowd was excited for a Rangers win and we were surprised with a great firework show after the game. During the game, we got talking to two guys in front of us who were also doing a little baseball trip of their own, going to 10 games in 10 days. One of the two (unfortunately we didn’t get their names…if you guys are reading this feel free to leave a comment!) seemed really intrigued by our trip and got the OK from his wife to do this trip of his own at some point. We hope you do it someday! It really is an amazing experience. So we had a good time talking to them for a while, and after the fireworks took the trolley back to the hotel.



For those of you who don’t know, the new Dallas Cowboys football stadium was built in Arlington right next to the ballpark. It is absolutely unbelievable. I’d bet money that if you were to see it for the first time (as we did) your first words would probably be: “Oh. My. God!” maybe with an expletive or two mixed in there. So, in the morning we drove over to take a look, hoping to do a tour. Unfortunately we couldn’t fit the tour in because it would have taken like two hours and we had to be in Houston for a 6pm game that night, and its about a 4 hour drive from Dallas to Houston.




It was young professionals night in Houston, and we were hoping to get tickets for that section because you got 8 buffalo wings, a soda, a baseball hat, and a souveneir mug with a ticket for 48 bucks, and most likely some “networking” opportunities. But, that was sold out unfortunately. But seats are pretty cheap there, so we got seats maybe 15 rows up along the right field field level for $39. We had been buying nosebleeds for the most part lately, so it was nice to splurge a bit. And, it was Roy Oswalt against the young Reds phenom Johnny Cueto so we were anticipating a good matchup. But, despite lots of trade talks, Oswalt laid an egg and didn’t throw too well. The Red Legs (who I think are my favorite National League team now) took this one handily, 7-0. Afterwards, we found this tap house which claimed to have like 200 beers on tap. It didn’t disappoint, as it was pretty packed and there was lots of good beer. They also have this beer club there, and this one guy was celebrating what we thought his 1800th different beer there. It was hard to understand how many he exactly was celebrating, but either way it was insane. We tried going to the upstairs section, but apparently he had that area on lockdown to celebrate. It was kinda cool. But, that’s a lot of beer, and way too much money. Not really something I’d want to invest thousands in. After talking to two girls, we found out that the “Midtown” area was really the happening place. We attempted to start walking there, but that got old quick so we hailed a cab and it only turned out to be like 7 bucks. First we stumbled upon this interesting coffee shop/wine bar/café/beer place. Everything was made out of dark old looking wood, and it had couches and tables and a patio in an open area downstairs, then upstairs there were tables all around the outside, but it was open like a balcony and you could see the first floor. Then there was another outdoor patio upstairs. I really digged it and it reminded me of something that you might find in Cambridge, Mass. We left there and went to this place called the Poison Girl, which was recommended by the two girls at the tap house. It wasn’t bad, but it was getting late and after a beer we went back to the hotel.

The next day, we went to the Johnson Space Center in Houston which turned out to be really awesome. I would definitely recommend it for kids because it has lots of games and activities for them, but we also did a good tram tour that took us to mission control, where all space missions are controlled and all the communication with the space crew is conducted, you know like “Houston, we have a problem.” Anyways, it was fun. We got to do a space shuttle landing simulator, see the Saturn V rocket which was absolutely massive, and see all sorts of other cool artifacts. Definitely something and engineer would enjoy.

We headed out from Houston in the early afternoon. Our next game from here wasn’t until Friday the 30th in Tampa, so we didn’t really have any plans and we had lots of time to kill. So, we decided to go to New Orleans, or should I say “Norlens” as they pronounce it down here. Let’s just say Bourbon Street lived up to the hype. You don’t even really have to go into any bars to feel like your in a party. Drinking is legal on the street, and the place is flooded with all sorts of characters. It’s really indescribable until you go there. I can’t even imagine what it must be like on Mardis Gras. We saw all kinds off great jazz and blues music, a band of young kids playing in the street and a whole bunch of people dancing around them for seemingly no other reason than to have fun. We also saw lots of crazy shops and t shirts, one of which said “FUBP” with the BP logo tainted in oil. I bought that one the next morning. It was slow going in the morning as some of us were feeling it pretty good from the night before, but we eventually made our way back to Interstate 10, which we’ve gotten to know all too well on this adventure as it spans the width of the the country along the southern states. So, we were on the road again with no real idea of where to go. It’s kind of an interesting feeling to be driving all day and have no idea where you’re really going. Try it sometime.

As I said, our next game is Friday and then we’re probably going to the Marlins game next Tuesday. Since we didn’t know anyone in Tampa that we could stay with, we decided to hunker down and drive all the way to West Palm Beach, where we’re staying at a condo that my family friends the Johnsons were awesome enough to let us stay at while we’re here. Thanks so much, you guys are the best! So we’re here now, we hit up the pool yesterday and got some groceries and grilled out last night. No real plans for the next couple days yet, most likely going to the beach and maybe the driving range. But its been a whirlwind of the last four days. So once again, we’re a-okay with taking it easy for a couple days. That’s about it for now. Pretty soon we'll be heading up I-95 with home in sight. Happy reading everyone.

Kickin' It in San Antonio

We've heard some rumblings of how we haven't posted in a few days. So, to keep all you readers from falling off your chair in anticipation, here's a quick update on our last few days of The Tour.

After camping in Joshua Tree and driving through New Mexico, we camped again in the Guadalupe National Park which is in the Guadalupe Mountain Range in west Texas. It was a pretty cool place to stay and we finally got some cool weather (I think it dropped into the 80's?) so it made for the first good nights sleep in a while. We also saw some pretty crazy bugs, mainly big beetles and a nasty looking black wasp-type creature that seemed to be the size of my fist. Andy didn't believe how big it was when I first saw one, but then he caught a glimpse and was like "Holy S#*%!".

So after that night we headed out early in the morning after some time zone confusion (Guadalupe is right on the Mountain/Central zone border) and decided not to do a hike we thought about the night before. But, it was for the better since it was hot, we didn't have much water and we had a long day of driving ahead of us. We stopped for breakfast at a small place in the middle of nowhere when we got close to Route 10. It turns out we were the only ones there who spoke English as a first language, which was sort of an eye opening and odd experience that made us feel like we were actually in Mexico and not in Texas. I thought about trying to bust out the old Spanish skills from high school, but considering I haven't taken classes for five years I thought better of it, thinking I probably would have no freaking clue what the waitress would say in response. Anyways, we had a really good meal (Mexican fare, of course) and headed out for a non-stop trek to San Antonio.

We got to Andy's cousin Sally and her husband Mike's house just about dinner time. They live about a 15 or 20 minute drive north of the downtown area. It was great to get a solid meal in our stomachs after a few days of mainly PB&J while camping, so Sally's home made lasagna certainly hit the spot. We got a chance to play with their two kids, Mary and Sam before they called it a night, and we did too soon thereafter.

Since then, its been a pretty relaxing few days here in the Lone Star State. We've been going to the gym the last two days with Mike who was able to get us some guest passes despite getting some gripe the first day we showed up from the attendent since we didn't "call ahead" before. We made sure we did that the next day. Yesterday, we went to the nearby pool with Mike and the kids and had a blast playing with them for a while. Something about little kids that just makes everything that much more fun!

We're planning on maybe seeing an IMAX movie today and then tomorrow hitting the downtown area to see the Alamo, probably get dinner along the RiverWalk and then check out the San Antonio nightlife. Definitely hopping in a line dance or two to show of the skills.

As far as baseball goes (that's why we're on this trip, isn't it?) we'll be heading up to Dallas early Friday morning for the Ranters game, crashing there hopefully not in the truck, and heading to Houston the next morning for the Astros Saturday night which is also "Young Professionals Night". We'll be sure to bring our game faces for that one. Then its off to Florida with a probable one night stop in New Orleans! Keep tuned for more details soon.

In the desert during a heat wave

We took a extra day to finalize our path to our next stop, San Antonio, TX. Since our next game is not until next Friday, we figured we would take our time getting there.

We have been camping, as you may know. Camping fits us perfectly because it is inexpensive, casual, and quite relaxing after being in cities like LA. Recently though, our path, the southwest, has had a drought and a severe weather warning for heat.

For our first stop we went back to joshua tree national park for one night because, as the ranger had said, once you get in the park the elevation results in about a 10 degree difference. Since it was 110-115 in the desert that meant that the park was 100-105. It was somewhat uncomfortable but we made due because we had lots of water and a breeze.

We learned our lesson to stay out of the heat, and stayed at a KOA outside of Tucson, AZ, which we made sure had a pool.

The camp also had a 9 hole mini put course. After a good swim to cool off, as members of the Dav 312 Mini Putt Club, we played the course. Ben beat me with a late comeback 27 to 28. Par 18. We were a little rusty to say the least.

KOA also had it's own unofficial mascot, who we named Thumper. He was this bunny that hung out in our site, digging holes to lay in and cool off. I even threw him a leaf and he ate it.

All in all the desert isn't so bad if we drive during the hottest part of the day. If you find yourself ever in a similar situation, swimming and wildlife watching, combined with some friendly competition is an excellent break from the heat. It's worked great for us.

Mile:10,563.0

PS - in case you wondered if a Toyota Tacoma trip mileage meter can go over 10,000 miles.... It can't. We had a scare that we lost track because of it.

81st MLB All-Star Game

As some of you may know, I recently joined the smart phone world when my dinosaur phone finally called it quits after about three years of duty and I got the iPhone. So, this is my first post from on the road! Andy and I spent last night in J Tree again and headed east early this morning, arriving at a KOA in Benson, Arizona not too long ago.

As Andy mentioned in his last post, we went to Tuesday night's all star game in Anaheim. It was pretty hard to pass up the chance given this trip and that we happened to be in the same city. (Well, more or less the same city. Side note: still don't get the Angels switch to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. LA, you have the Dodgers and they're close but definitely not the same city. I know there's some history there but it just seems unnecessary.)

Anyways, we got to the park early again, ever afraid of the LA traffic which, by the way, definitely lives up to the hype. Cars everywhere! We poked around the game area again to get more free stuff and try our luck at the 80mph radar gun again. I did hit 76! But 80 is kinda nuts given the setting. After hanging out there for a bit we went into the park to check out what was going on. This being our third time to Angels Stadium, we were quite familiar with the grounds so there was no need for the usual tour. Instead, we posted up along the third baseline hoping for some foul balls. It was the only section they were letting fans go (mind you it was still only about 3 o'clock and the game started at 5) so it was real crowded. The American League was taking BP and we didn't get any foul balls but Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler came over to sign some autographs. I had the BP ball I got in Cleveland and Andy had an all star game hat on so we got each of those signed by Kinsler which was kind of cool.

After that we spent some time walking around, I got a hat and then we found our seats which were in the upper deck near the right field foul pole in the second row of the section. But, once again we had to deal with the sun and this time it was pretty brutal since the game was early.

It was a really entertaining game though, for those of you who didn't watch it. It seemed as though the AL was going to come away with their 14th straight win when they jumped ahead early. But Atlanta's Bryan McCann stole the show with a bases clearing double to put the NL up. Despite threatening in the 9th, the boys from the AL couldn't muster a comeback and the NL won for the first time since 1996. We got to see some great pitching on both sides and all the stars of the show, so it was a really awesome time.

The next day we spent on Redondo Beach and headed out yesterday from LA for good this time. Thanks so much to Nate, Harold and Tiffany for having us! It was great spending our time there and we had a blast.

So, we are headed east for good now. We're on our way to Texas and Florida and finally up the east coast home. Less than a month left which is really hard to believe but it will be nice to settle down after all these adventures. It's been a wild ride and unforgettable so far, but we're not done yet! Plenty more stories to come so stay tuned. We hope you all are enjoying the blog...we have lots of pictures coming up too so be on the lookout for those. Until next time!

Home Run Derby

Once we got Jamula onto his plane we looked forward to the Home Run Derby.  We anticipated an all day event since doors to the stadium opened at 2 and the Derby Started at 5.  I picked up Nate from LAX around 11:30 and he immediately wanted to come.  As it turns out, the later you wait on events like this, the cheaper you can get tickets.  He paid $20 less than we did and he got a better ticket (the right field seats) than we had (upper deck behind home plate).

We got ourselves together and headed to Anehiem.  We got there and in the parking lot there was a pregame activity area.  There was a Wiffleball Home Run Derby with an amazing field, and a mile long line; Fast pitch, all sorts of ways to get free stuff, and places to get you picture taken.  We got to hit in a Nike hitting cage where they use a pitching machine to throw fastballs and curveballs.  Supposedly according to the guy handing out helmets and bats, I hit the curve the best all day. We did a fast pitch game and Ben hit low 70's i hit high 60's.  In order to win, girls and little kids had to reach 50 but guys had to be able to throw 80!  No one that we saw broke 80, or got close. The prize was a fleece MLB Bank of America blanket, but we managed to get 3 anyway from answering trivia questions and surveys.  

After getting our fill of that stuff we went in the park and explored our chances at getting an autograph.  Not a chance.  We walked around for a while exploring merchandise stores and watching BP from different seats.  I could tell that this BP wasn't just any BP because as soon as we walked in we saw a group of David Wright, Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez, and Ryan Braun.  Arguably the three best 1st basemen in the MLB and 2 starters in the all star game. It was pretty amazing how hard the balls were hit. 

We ended up sitting in our seats because we could get three together (why make someone sit alone?) and because it was a good overall view of the stadium.  The hitter was probably equidistant from the right field fence to us so that we could get a full view of the arch of the home run.  One thing about the home run derby is that they have a pop artist perform at the beginning.  I'm not sure why someone thinks that people coming to see the home run derby would want to also see a Train concert, but it happens every year.  The announcer went over the rules and then we got going.

I should mention that during all the pregame activities people were handing out scratch tickets to match to the distance of any home run hit with 9 outs (the golden ball).  Between the three of us we had about 15 different ticket ranging from a little over 300 feet to 522 feet! (Fat chance of 522, but nevertheless we had a good shot with all the tickets we held)

In the first round, Chris Young and Vernon Wells hit a total of 3 Home Runs in 20 outs which wasn't very exciting.  Corey Heart stepped up and pounded 13 home runs. That part was awesome but he didn't hit any golden balls out and he didn't really get on a streak.  Swisher hit 4 and got booed each time for being a Yankee.

During each intermission, where, if you were watching it on TV, you probably saw commercials, we were more entertained with lots of cool stuff. We saw awards get given to Pujols and Mauer for being the top vote getters, Reggie Jackson interview Hank Arron and Rod Carew about hitting home runs, and comedian Will Ferrell, a SoCal native and Angels fan, give an interview which was pretty amusing.

Four batters advanced from the first to second round: Corey Hart of the Brewers with 13 in the first, Florida Marlin Hanley Ramirez with 9, Boston's David Ortiz (aka Big Papi) with 8 and Detroit Tiger Miggy Cabrera with 7. Cabrera seemed to be the most promising coming in, but disappointed the crowd in not even reaching double digits in the first round.

The second round got a little more exciting. Cabrera would have gone first, but since he had just gone last in the first, Ortiz led off this round (it took us a few minutes to figure out why Papi led off). Papi put on quite the show jacking 13, most of which were laser shots down the right field line flirting with the foul pole and the fench. Angels stadium, by the way, is quite the lefty friendly ballpark so David had a bit of an advantage.

Since Corey Hart didnt hit a single home run and Cabrera did match Papi, the only other person to move on was Hanley Ramirez.  He was wearing shinny silver cleats, which is probably what made him hit more home runs (jk).  Papi and Hanley moved onto the finals where the last rounds home runs are wiped.  Ben obviously wanted Papi to win and it looked like it would end that way once he hit 11 for the final round.  Hanley put up a good fight with 5 but it was not enough.  Papi wins!

The scoreboard was keeping track of how many home runs we saw.  By the end it was over 100 and they said that it was over 8 miles worth of home runs.  With all the antics that come with the derby, like the mid round Gatorade breaks, the backwards or no hats, silver shoes, and kids on the sidelines, this event was a great exhibition event.

Ive heard stories of other skill competitions.  I think it would be good for baseball to re implement other type of events like this because it would set the stage for skill competitions for kids and lower leagues.  Only good things can happen with that.

After we got home, we up and got tickets for the all star game the next day.  We had such a good time at the derby, we couldn't pass up the all star game.

Re-LA

When we got back to Los Angeles, we had a couple hours to relax and shower before the Dodger’s game. We decided to take public transportation into the city (which is pretty much unheard of in LA) – now we know why. We left Nate’s at 4:30 and got to the field just before 7. We didn’t want to bother driving in the LA traffic, plus we were hoping to go out to the bars around Dodger’s stadium afterwards. Well it turns out there was nothing around Dodger’s stadium as well as nothing in it, as far as we were allowed to see. We bought left field bleacher seats, and stood in line for two different entrances before getting told we weren’t allowed in. Finally (third time is the charm), we made it to the correct entrance and were allowed in. Underneath the bleachers was a sea of I-beams, under which Ben had to constantly duck. They were only 6 - 6 ½ feet of the ground. We tried to walk around the Stadium but literally weren’t allowed out of our section. There was security everywhere (unnecessary), and we joked throughout the game that we were afraid to stand up at the wrong time in fear of getting ejected. The Stadium (from what we could see) was really plain, although the outfield bleachers sections were packed. Dodger Stadium received multiple awards: “Worst Stadium thus far” agreed on by all three of us, “Most sporadic wave attempt stadium,” because random people in different sections would just stand up and try to start a wave just about EVERY inning, and “Stadium most like a prison.” I think Oakland would rival this because of the dull concrete structure that is McAfee Colliseum, but as I mentioned since we were on lockdown we didn’t really get to enjoy the ballpark.

Afterwards we walked for a mile or so before determining we were in the middle of nowhere, even though Dodger Stadium is in downtown LA. So we took a solid $75 cab back to Redondo Beach where we bar hopped for a little bit, found a Irish pub with live music, and eventually made our way back to Nate’s.

(Ohbytheway, I lost track of the number of games I went to - should be 8, not 7. Props to Andy & Ben for remembering correctly every time)

My last day of the trip was Saturday. We went to Venice Beach and enjoyed the relatively nice weather. We were eating outside at a bar when it started raining. People were so startled they didn’t know what to do. One person thought they got pooped on by a bird, another thought he got spit on. Everyone was scrambling and running for cover as if the rain was dangerous (it was a drizzle). On top of that they were recounting what happened for the next 20 minutes like it was some sort of phenomenon. We certainly got a kick out of that.

I wish I could stay and join Ben and Andy on the rest of their trip, but work on Monday and lack of money make that pretty much impossible. They’re taking it easy in LA for a few days and are headed to the Home Run Derby in Anaheim on Monday night. I’ll leave it for them to fill you in and finish up the last month of the trip.

Thanks Ben and Andy and everyone on the trip!! I had an amazing vacation.