tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13102726712641911252024-03-12T21:58:45.746-04:00scoreboardsweepThis blog follows our journey to all MLB parks. It's baseball and travel, offering thoughts of a one-time sportswriter and his wife, a new baseball disciple. We've hit the home parks of the: Athletics, Nationals, Pirates, Braves, Reds, Cardinals, Orioles, Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Indians, Phillies, Blue Jays, Tigers, Red Sox, Twins, Marlins, Rangers, Astros, Padres, Rays, Royals and Rockies - 23 of 30, plus a few Minor League visits. Please enter your email below to follow our journey!scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-61650299772010178492020-05-18T20:17:00.001-04:002020-05-18T20:35:42.174-04:00<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1pIouA-HyX7eBfL8fnf4AyGVWU8EsxahphjuZb7e7WAHF-Fz6Rg9p_rsWUifyngCxlsCa3AhqFU4R6XI9XsnPSswaACGq_PBm0eOe9zzj3fTEM1j5f_HK1Ixiqk0jY4Re-zFwCCFYRlb/s1600/20190803_175029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1pIouA-HyX7eBfL8fnf4AyGVWU8EsxahphjuZb7e7WAHF-Fz6Rg9p_rsWUifyngCxlsCa3AhqFU4R6XI9XsnPSswaACGq_PBm0eOe9zzj3fTEM1j5f_HK1Ixiqk0jY4Re-zFwCCFYRlb/s640/20190803_175029.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lovely Penny, 45 minutes before the first pitch, from centerfield at Coors Field </td></tr>
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<h2>
Denver: The Rockies; a hitter's park; a tourist's downtown</h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Coors Field and the area around</i></span></h2>
<h3>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">August 5, 2019</span></i></h3>
<h4>
San Francisco Giants 6, Colorado Rockies 5</h4>
<div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This
is like welcoming an old friend. The baseball blog.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Life
has gotten in the way of happiness – if I’m defining baseball as
happiness, that is, which I am.
</div>
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This
is a late, late blog entry, which certainly defeats the purpose of
writing a blog, I suppose..</div>
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But
here’s what happened. Penny and I visited Denver in August 2019 and
took in a Saturday night game at Coors Field between the Colorado
Rockies and the San Francisco Giants. It was, in fact, one of the
best games we’ve seen on our journey of touring ball parks. </div>
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The
number of parks we've visited is now 23, by the way.</div>
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But about life interrupting us, since
that excellent, warm night at Coors Field in August, we have experienced sickness in the family, personal illnesses, the birth of a grandchild
and the onset of COVID-19. The coronavirus event means little to no chance of Major
League Baseball for us this season – whatever season there is.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our
plan in 2019 had been to hit Denver and the two New Yorks, which would
have put us at 25 MLB stadiums visited. Alas, we didn't make it to New York..</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Aside
from the Yankees and Mets, we have Arizona, Los Angeles (twice), San
Francisco and Seattle to go. Oddly, on other travels we have driven right by the San
Francisco and Seattle stadiums, but neither team was home. Since we started
this whole journey in Oakland, with the Giants not in town, it seems only fitting that we should return to the Bay Area and make San
Francisco the final stop. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Whereas
life often blocks happiness, sometimes it gives you an assist. I had
a business trip planned for Denver during the first week of August.
Tah-dah. The Rockies were hosting the Giants on Saturday night before
my conference started. Penny joined me for the first couple of days.</div>
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We had been to Denver before. Last time we experienced a bunch of Colorado-tourist experiences. We visited Pike's Peak, the Air Force Academy, the State Capitol, Colorado Springs, the Garden of the Gods, Boulder and Buffalo Bill's burial place. We hit downtown on our last trip and even drove by Coors Field, in a similar way to what we did in San Francisco and Seattle.</div>
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This trip we stayed in downtown, just a couple of blocks off the extraordinarily trendy and cool 16th Street, better known as the Pedestrian Mall. The street is filled with high-end and some medium-end shops, plus a million bars and restaurants.<br />
And, yes, the pot shops are somewhere close by. I asked a friend what one should expect if he were to venture into one. He said: "Expect more security getting in than you'll get at Coors Field.</div>
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Coors Field, by the way, is also close by, five blocks or so north of 16th. It's an entertaining walk.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And Coors Field was a nice, clean, comfortable venue for a good game. On a side note, it's somehow satisfying that there is a stadium in the Major Leagues that has the same name it had (in 1995) when it opened. Not iconic in the Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field sense, but still, Coors Field definitely says baseball in Colorado.</div>
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Bottom line: Terrific area, pleasant stadium, reasonably good atmosphere, full house, even though neither team was playoff bound.</div>
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<br /></div>
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An
added bonus for me was that one of the best pitchers of this era,
Madison Bumgarner, was on the mound for the Giants.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It
only diminished the evening a little for me that Bumgarner got
shelled in the third and fifth innings. He lasted five innings,
giving up five earned runs. Still, the dude was humming it.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghEPJpwuvdRxHgvKv05XWHhy8qqlw3bsTPY7yIkV9Vuub8soPQUGtVjBvoaKn5qlFoaacLBNA_1GxnpnSxzLqs9v6rvTQIkUvO4qO84dmd999RR2HjmrZCiBq_Pd6nET7_7knQoRRvU2GP/s1600/20190803_183238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghEPJpwuvdRxHgvKv05XWHhy8qqlw3bsTPY7yIkV9Vuub8soPQUGtVjBvoaKn5qlFoaacLBNA_1GxnpnSxzLqs9v6rvTQIkUvO4qO84dmd999RR2HjmrZCiBq_Pd6nET7_7knQoRRvU2GP/s400/20190803_183238.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good tickets, behind third base, therefore, screen in the photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another
extremely cool part of the evening for me was that the winning run
came off the bat of Buster Posey, who was pinch hitting in the
eighth. With the Giants trailing 5-4, Posey’s single to right drove
in the tying and winning runs.</div>
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I
remembered watching Posey’s clutch play in the 2010, 2012 and 2014
World Series. I am a fan.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
wondered if Bumgarner’s less-than-stellar outing had anything to do
with Coors Field’s reputation – backed by a wealth of stats, I
will add – as a hitter’s paradise. You know, these baseball trips
always dredge memories for me, and I recall when the Rockies first entered
the league, I would hear Skip Carey and </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdZl5iU7q4Uq0W7DFjjEnEjLeXNKp5AhyBXtWJdU_PRA6JL-m5iVZXhlaENHcCclPj_8Vdirdf4_NH1N9WSRMKfiaomGKgC-8JFxz-uNtfSJj2PLyQ28SJTULzHZfpN4bub8KogMVWzzK/s1600/20190803_205535+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdZl5iU7q4Uq0W7DFjjEnEjLeXNKp5AhyBXtWJdU_PRA6JL-m5iVZXhlaENHcCclPj_8Vdirdf4_NH1N9WSRMKfiaomGKgC-8JFxz-uNtfSJj2PLyQ28SJTULzHZfpN4bub8KogMVWzzK/s200/20190803_205535+%25282%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buster Posey, game-winner coming</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ernie Johnson, the Braves
announcers on Superstation WTBS, discussing the fact that hitting a
baseball in Denver was sometime like teeing up a golf ball and
slamming it with a driver.<br />
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
We
saw three homers, none of them cheap. Gennett homered for the Giants,
Story and Blackmon for the Rockies. Ian Desmond almost added another
Rockies’ homer, but Steven Duggar made one of those leaping
reach-over-the-fence grabs to rob Desmond.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
It was a fine night at the park.</div>
</div>
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<br />Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-2580407611498590772018-08-19T16:03:00.000-04:002018-08-19T16:03:00.979-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDy3gTMfqE73DsBxNBxODS6EdIyhkLSqL_Ipy5tUVeZM-wSQthfO-cDT3wayqhP_LrbFWhwnc1Qwh6UlC2Vuds8A1qLUQi7rPy3lcDivBYMMjEoUoaSac7pPImkt5X9AQltxoTlB0v1RF/s1600/KC-Penny-WW1MemorialShot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDy3gTMfqE73DsBxNBxODS6EdIyhkLSqL_Ipy5tUVeZM-wSQthfO-cDT3wayqhP_LrbFWhwnc1Qwh6UlC2Vuds8A1qLUQi7rPy3lcDivBYMMjEoUoaSac7pPImkt5X9AQltxoTlB0v1RF/s640/KC-Penny-WW1MemorialShot.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h2>
KC: City of Fountains AND a team on a down cycle</h2>
<h3>
<i>Kauffman Stadium (and other places)<br />Kansas City, Missouri<br />July 23, 2018</i></h3>
<h4>
Detroit Tigers 5, Kansas City Royals 4</h4>
I spent my seventh wedding anniversary in Kansas City enjoying the company of my beautiful bride, Penny. That accounts for the picture at the top of this page, which ordinarily would be a baseball stadium photo - or something along that line. This photo, however, is a shot of Penny standing near the base of the World War I Memorial and Museum, located on a beautifully landscaped hill that offers an impressive view of downtown Kansas City.<br />
<br />
The trip to Kansas City was prompted by a visit to Stadium No. 22 in our multi-year quest to see - wait, make that "see a game in" - all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums. We could claim 24 if if all we had to was ride by an empty park. (We did that in Denver and Seattle.) We've also thrown in a few minor league games, by the way.<br />
<br />
I should point out - as Penny often reminds me - that this baseball journey was her idea. Men across America are jealous, she adds. That is, no doubt, true.<br />
<br />
As has been the case with some destinations, we didn't know what to expect on our trip to Kansas City. Oh, you can read all about the stadiums and follow the standings, which can give you a heads up on some aspects of what to expect at the park. But every park looks different in person than what you've imagined or what you've seen on television and via photos.<br />
<br />
The same holds for the cities themselves. You can read all about a city, but until you get there and nose around a little, you don't have a clue what kind of vibe you're going to get. Our trips are short in duration, but certainly long enough to form a seemingly reasonable first impression.<br />
<br />
Trivia: Did you know that Kansas City is the City of Fountains? If no, I’m right there with you.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Funny the things you
learn, even after you've hit your sixties. You’d think I’d have actually wondered<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzGCCULjkNjb1QDiRqWAxeCAHWSX_3l3nR44bOT7JDqmX2ctqk8s80Fio0JNWsMPqehpu0WkXOk4j3wJ3qZJrOitGu5ZEPTgxPDVRQV9icO-CmZvNTa_S5WlKISWw0Ssiou4tSx3KGpgM/s1600/KC-OutfieldShot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzGCCULjkNjb1QDiRqWAxeCAHWSX_3l3nR44bOT7JDqmX2ctqk8s80Fio0JNWsMPqehpu0WkXOk4j3wJ3qZJrOitGu5ZEPTgxPDVRQV9icO-CmZvNTa_S5WlKISWw0Ssiou4tSx3KGpgM/s640/KC-OutfieldShot.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
why, during those Kansas City Royals games I’ve seen on television
since the seventies, that the stadium has a bunch of fountains in the outfield.
But no. Never questioned it. Not enough intellectual curiosity, I
suppose.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now I’ve seen a
Royals game live. We had enviable tickets right behind the third-base
dugout, with a nice view of the Kauffman Stadium fountains and
waterfalls and the enormous king-crown thing at the top of the
enormous scoreboard.</div>
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<br /></div>
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KC is the City of
Fountains. Got it now.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Just one evening
before, Penny and I had taken a walk through section of the city known as the Country Club Plaza, which is essentially a modern shopping district that evolved from a historic section Kansas City. There are many, many, many fountains and statues in the plaza. It was not bad at all.<br />
<br />
We also visited the downtown City Market, which also was not bad. It offered an eclectic group of shops and restaurants, including an Ethiopian diner, where we ate in what made for a first-time dining experience for me - Ethiopian food, I mean. I should add that I'm aware that Kansas City is considered barbecue Mecca. But we missed the barbecue, primarily because Penny is a long-long-time vegetarian, which - in the words of Pulp Fiction's Jules - pretty much makes me a vegetarian. I might have been tempted to cheat for some Kansas City barbecue, but we all make our choices.<br />
<br />
I also know that Kansas City is famous for jazz. Aside from a couple of street musicians, one in town and one outside Kauffman Stadium, we missed the music scene - sad to say.<br />
<br />
We also intended to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, but it was closed during our time window of opportunity. We took that time to cross state line into Kansas, where we checked out the Kansas City T-Bones stadium. The T-Bones play in the independent American Association, and their <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home of the Kansas City T-Bones</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
park if phenomenal. The T-Bones, by the way, average more than 4,000 fans a game, which is near the top of all the ranks in minor league attendance.<br />
<br />
Kansas City had hills. I had expected mostly flatness.<br />
<br />
Regarding expectations generally, I had figured we'd try to find something interesting to do in our off-time, but we would be mesmerized by Kauffman Stadium and seeing the Royals. After all, this is another place that I had seen a million times on television. Watching the World Series games from Kansas City three years ago had seemed nothing short of amazing. And the stadium is located in the suburbs - far out in the suburbs, in fact - on a plot of land that also holds Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs and, allegedly, some of the loudest and tail-gating-est fans in the NLF.<br />
<br />
In short, I had no special expectations for Kansas City, but plenty for the Royals. </div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Well, the Royals experience was ... ok. Nothing special, unfortunately. In fact, on our trip Penny and I concluded separately that we truly enjoyed the city of Kansas City, but Kauffman Stadium did not rank high on our we-d really-like-to-go-back-there list.<br />
<br />
I can't seem to pinpoint exactly what the issues were. Whereas a small-town feel, compared to other venues, might not be such a bad thing, our experience was that it was a little too small-time - even with the scoreboard with the crown thing on top, which is roughly the size of Delaware. Ushers and other stadium officials were friendly, kind of in the manner that a Walmart greeter is friendly. By that I mean we generally got smiles; but when we asked a few questions about the stadium, we got a "can't really help you with that one" response. Easy questions, I might add.<br />
<br />
A group of fans wanted to enter the Royals Hall of Fame museum, which is opened every game an hour prior to the first pitch. It was closed. No one knew why. Not even stadium officials, who eventually informed us that they weren't aware of this, but apparently it had been rented for the evening by a private company. It should be open sometime after the first inning, but, sorry, it will be closed at the end of the seventh inning.<br />
<br />
Penny told a stadium manager, "We came halfway across the country to see a game here. We came to the park when the gates opened, so we could see your Hall of Fame AND not miss any of the game."<br />
<br />
We received an Amos Otis bobble-head doll as an appeasement gift. Ah, the joys of the small-town feel.<br />
<br />
Baseball, however, almost always delivers. The game was interesting, as baseball often is, even when played by two teams with sub-.500 records. The Royals are actually dreadful this year, but they entered the game with the Tigers on a three-game winning streak, having just swept the Twins.<br />
<br />
And life looked good again for the Royals. Rookie Heath Fillmyer was dazzling for seven innings. The Royals held a 4-2 lead going into the ninth when veteran Brandon Mauer gave up three straight hits without recording an out. Four-to-three, just like that. Two men on. Mauer gave way to Jason Hammel, who gave up a rocket-shot double that scored two runs. Five-four Tigers.<br />
<br />
Game over.<br />
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***<br />
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<br />Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-15751121128728593782018-08-08T20:50:00.000-04:002018-08-08T20:50:41.664-04:00KC Royals<br />
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Welcome to the City of Fountains! There are more than 40 public fountains in the city. It was so hot when we got there Sunday, we decided to skip the Sunday afternoon game and do some sight seeing.<br />
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We stayed at the Hilton by the Country Club Plaza. The Plaza is an outdoor shopping mall that opened in 1923 and is supposed to mimic the architecture of Seville, Spain. It is full of luxury shops, along with regular retail and unique shops. There are more than 30 Statues, murals and tile mosaics, as well as many fountains. Someone told us it was built to accommodate car parking, which was forward thinking in 1923. </div>
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We took the streetcar from Union Station to the City Market. Just a word of advice: A lot of the places at the market are closed on Monday. The streetcar is free, and it is an easy way to get from one area to the next. We ended up eating at a great Ethiopian place at The City Market. </div>
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We also visited the Toy and Miniature Museum. I'm not sure how I feel seeing my childhood toys in a museum! The miniature exhibits are amazing. It is well worth the $5 fee.<br />
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Another must-see is the WWII monument and museum. The view at the top is stunning!<br />
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Since we were close, we drove over to Kansas and went to the minor league stadium of the Kansas T-Bones. It was a really nice stadium and, although we didn't see a game there, we enjoyed walking around the park.<br />
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We really enjoyed the city, and I guess it is a good thing we did. The stadium was a disappointment. At least, to me it was.<br />
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You must drive to the stadium. Like Philly and Milwaukee, the stadium is out of town. Randy and I have both decided we like in-town stadiums. It is a lot more fun to walk to the stadium or take a metro than to drive. Whatever you do, do not make a wrong turn. The parking lot attendant will severely reprimand you!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD4DBSNtvsos_3UFiSWCzVVKcWg46hvu7Drc6frTCdhi1UxEapvLWZRSbQacqRqv_mieix4cRIfaD6eDbNBYymEChUVAg3EqVF5V75vbMxaD7u5PARECnSsorQVLr9CJ20MLx_zt_JPSrx/s1600/park+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD4DBSNtvsos_3UFiSWCzVVKcWg46hvu7Drc6frTCdhi1UxEapvLWZRSbQacqRqv_mieix4cRIfaD6eDbNBYymEChUVAg3EqVF5V75vbMxaD7u5PARECnSsorQVLr9CJ20MLx_zt_JPSrx/s1600/park+2.png" /></a>The stadium is known for it's outfield fountain Water Spectacular. The water fall flows constantly and the fountains display before and after the game and between innings. There are several statues at the stadium. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGe0eluqi3H_V2f3bpzy8OyxrSFGB2NIIaUuPwOim44nyU3jWvriB2pxi6S7Fkrosm3QyYAmRc03SaMzrQNhT0b-k3s9FuoTro8em3EKEmS_GFCH9bsETCz6NtNgw62YcqRYstirc7UJEj/s1600/park+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGe0eluqi3H_V2f3bpzy8OyxrSFGB2NIIaUuPwOim44nyU3jWvriB2pxi6S7Fkrosm3QyYAmRc03SaMzrQNhT0b-k3s9FuoTro8em3EKEmS_GFCH9bsETCz6NtNgw62YcqRYstirc7UJEj/s1600/park+1.png" /></a><br />
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The Kaufmanns, founders and first owners of the Royals </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5CbZHDL4Jh3nTrLxtZPnrUg-mQxSELV8iplBI11rCq1GXg0KCZB8AIVpzlvVGHvEPChePTodBAI4cDz5XqomlyuUMWwpQD6p73Bg_jf2WGM5QMEMmqvsLwZ-nbMqGdOoJtZ919-e4V5l/s1600/park+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5CbZHDL4Jh3nTrLxtZPnrUg-mQxSELV8iplBI11rCq1GXg0KCZB8AIVpzlvVGHvEPChePTodBAI4cDz5XqomlyuUMWwpQD6p73Bg_jf2WGM5QMEMmqvsLwZ-nbMqGdOoJtZ919-e4V5l/s1600/park+3.png" /></a>Dick Howser, Royals Hall of Fame, Manager 1981-1987</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSoaPJx4i9c8jSCvoiPFefXXEM4JCJn0u1V7dmARhWYjrQJZSG8YOJq0FB9V5Am-7mneRRwliSglggQa6AA4akWR4Qey__VXlewgFu4dWCZGxQ-9J-ZcnDrEqqN-g1LcWdItjvo0-beLlu/s1600/park+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSoaPJx4i9c8jSCvoiPFefXXEM4JCJn0u1V7dmARhWYjrQJZSG8YOJq0FB9V5Am-7mneRRwliSglggQa6AA4akWR4Qey__VXlewgFu4dWCZGxQ-9J-ZcnDrEqqN-g1LcWdItjvo0-beLlu/s1600/park+4.png" /></a>Frank White, Jr. Eight career Golden Gloves</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpPX09Q64l3sljopeBPYYwTt2qyIgT3kaDwa4CVUn8bZY0neXj0RYE2uCQseWZI6NFil_N3iSu8NPGQg-LiCuKp0F9_s4VCGWlLO08LeHGBlPOnzyXbpO4pJD2neaCQYH-DQW-LEA-MQe/s1600/park+5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpPX09Q64l3sljopeBPYYwTt2qyIgT3kaDwa4CVUn8bZY0neXj0RYE2uCQseWZI6NFil_N3iSu8NPGQg-LiCuKp0F9_s4VCGWlLO08LeHGBlPOnzyXbpO4pJD2neaCQYH-DQW-LEA-MQe/s1600/park+5.png" /></a>George Brett, Royals Hall of Famer</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7r5hLfT4TEmAIQ19deO39H1Zyj2u-HyUBtboXu47nj_hJ5xWGY4md518hUFakOGxlroN319e1Zy-oGmJgYXEPN3dVVq3-dsLR9U1iBEo-5pD6F97DMXnFSoQm7QnbvbHVhQ2WWQ6VqgYC/s1600/park+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7r5hLfT4TEmAIQ19deO39H1Zyj2u-HyUBtboXu47nj_hJ5xWGY4md518hUFakOGxlroN319e1Zy-oGmJgYXEPN3dVVq3-dsLR9U1iBEo-5pD6F97DMXnFSoQm7QnbvbHVhQ2WWQ6VqgYC/s1600/park+6.png" /></a>The Hall of Fame was closed for a private event. Believe me, we tried everything, but getting into the HOF did not happen for us. No one we questioned seemed to know what was going on. Customer services didn't even know it wasn't open. The text for help number assured me it was open - until I emailed the picture to them. I was pretty disappointed, but not enough to leave the game after it started in order to go inside. I hate to say, it but no one seemed to care that we traveled across the county and did't get to go in. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytIxIn3fTH8elmO1wjCnKvuUmHrFUFIkQOZymYCE2mbIKpkG9szxesvsy4qByZqqB3SOMIxSfX_xRltSvg_609BwLFgRbX2HX-FU958c0Wf1oUlE50127eG0ulaoz04u5dhETotbwjPzs/s1600/park+7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytIxIn3fTH8elmO1wjCnKvuUmHrFUFIkQOZymYCE2mbIKpkG9szxesvsy4qByZqqB3SOMIxSfX_xRltSvg_609BwLFgRbX2HX-FU958c0Wf1oUlE50127eG0ulaoz04u5dhETotbwjPzs/s1600/park+7.png" /></a>The red seat in honor of Buck O'Neil. Each game someone who represents the O'Neil spirit sits in the seat. O'Neil played for the Monarchs of the Negro League from 1937-1955.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXSd-CDG1gcny0kMzrYQ99C1jOpnxSc-n-4gyI5GeCmA0n2gngRWc0-z2kYEC5BlZNsWj8FH2aaSV6-7qtKfGXbjZFp6G4C3lf7GHwY_4HwBephJRUnu5apGrHkworPF4mLX4WmyJIPog/s1600/park+8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXSd-CDG1gcny0kMzrYQ99C1jOpnxSc-n-4gyI5GeCmA0n2gngRWc0-z2kYEC5BlZNsWj8FH2aaSV6-7qtKfGXbjZFp6G4C3lf7GHwY_4HwBephJRUnu5apGrHkworPF4mLX4WmyJIPog/s1600/park+8.png" /></a>I don't think there is a bigger jumbo-tron anywhere. This thing is huge!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEKw3LSywgwBluV7uJw_K1Re1OA3SXAu13SeO2f1S3v6e9NM1q5MYKplkLVRsxboHuX6iViubXrv1pLkuzq_a_1nG4IFvbJQzrcc1DPZMpf7Dh7czU-cdoCJo9u6TazIt6IMM2hmPfPYHB/s1600/park+9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEKw3LSywgwBluV7uJw_K1Re1OA3SXAu13SeO2f1S3v6e9NM1q5MYKplkLVRsxboHuX6iViubXrv1pLkuzq_a_1nG4IFvbJQzrcc1DPZMpf7Dh7czU-cdoCJo9u6TazIt6IMM2hmPfPYHB/s1600/park+9.png" /></a>Sluggerrrrr and Little Sluggerrrr. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgj3QjuJOifS4kYL2WzJ6PxRMJFtsX0PcdlTtcm1_qDW5vSNeYg-CS3_NstM1wpR6FznhTfytx-Kh79aiy0SoJmQ_sTbw99eTR-xdJS-GtdUlOm-dzX62blgFjp05ChC_cKq4m_gs1W8W2/s1600/park+10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgj3QjuJOifS4kYL2WzJ6PxRMJFtsX0PcdlTtcm1_qDW5vSNeYg-CS3_NstM1wpR6FznhTfytx-Kh79aiy0SoJmQ_sTbw99eTR-xdJS-GtdUlOm-dzX62blgFjp05ChC_cKq4m_gs1W8W2/s1600/park+10.png" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqoeZgQ2MpnSdGJUB3V6_iBkcboq7-dK6pQIFiCO1irxAsyFuQzldNTQUTp7zMjzJFY0HGJdSw7KdWaMpscUrET7ns-km3M1MmRvtC7r6MZfwdnF3wxYNaLOX3JTiaQGoi48JBfbco1ky/s1600/park+11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqoeZgQ2MpnSdGJUB3V6_iBkcboq7-dK6pQIFiCO1irxAsyFuQzldNTQUTp7zMjzJFY0HGJdSw7KdWaMpscUrET7ns-km3M1MmRvtC7r6MZfwdnF3wxYNaLOX3JTiaQGoi48JBfbco1ky/s1600/park+11.png" /></a>Almost every park has one. Don't think we've seen a condiment race before though. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5cNVBD9VQgnbqr8QrO1oM88qfve7zej8ubp62XLmM4INGQ2B7J3s3NS4nZAB9WFrWLIkicebC8MCSHdDqfDwMMNo5nCkKaO_3vO7YM8PgYMMTBVAP2-wF6w-R6Aw8TJGvG3DbYCXAwnn/s1600/prk+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5cNVBD9VQgnbqr8QrO1oM88qfve7zej8ubp62XLmM4INGQ2B7J3s3NS4nZAB9WFrWLIkicebC8MCSHdDqfDwMMNo5nCkKaO_3vO7YM8PgYMMTBVAP2-wF6w-R6Aw8TJGvG3DbYCXAwnn/s1600/prk+6.png" /></a>Great seats as always. Thanks Randy!</div>
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<b>Thumbs up:</b></div>
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Interaction with fans, enough without being annoying.</div>
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Vendors didn't get in our line of sight.</div>
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The scoreboard has a lot of stats, and I really like that. </div>
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<b>Thumbs down:</b></div>
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Closing Hall of Fame until the game starts.</div>
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Lack of knowledge/concern of staff.</div>
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Ushers did not stop people from going up and down the aisles during play.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrn_vw27acTj91OeMPXDPTvaiHJ0MGtI6zrfrv0IfVMqrn7UTwMZeEiQ8Q74Tc1r4jWEpQD0GBo-H6XDl5yvOeZ8eJcZ9A5YvdLNPR0bWVx669TJ4w5Mms4LHA2Wf-pGNM4tE_Q7iskSB/s1600/prydes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrn_vw27acTj91OeMPXDPTvaiHJ0MGtI6zrfrv0IfVMqrn7UTwMZeEiQ8Q74Tc1r4jWEpQD0GBo-H6XDl5yvOeZ8eJcZ9A5YvdLNPR0bWVx669TJ4w5Mms4LHA2Wf-pGNM4tE_Q7iskSB/s1600/prydes.png" /></a>Other things to do in the area.</div>
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Prydes Kitchen Store- this is a fabulous store with a lot of unique items. As a collector of Fiestaware, it was heaven!</div>
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The Negro League Museum- take note, it is not open on Monday!</div>
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The Nelson Atkins Museum for Fine Art</div>
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Kemper Museum for Modern Art</div>
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Despite the lackluster excitement at the stadium, we really enjoyed Kansas City. </div>
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<br />scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-32638740192219195912017-08-28T19:15:00.001-04:002017-08-28T19:15:47.343-04:00Tampa Bay Rays: Two good games, a laid-back St. Pete, and a record-spinning kitty <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7oqi7CaukNWe_008RwH6Gy9-dG5kM4FTiaQKGr6JrsZFK5mDGotmUHg9RXEpKwz4se5cDXfBIWXSUJKsKM3elSBZmVcWaM9HJ0iG3WWwuvvG_atK4ITAj8wR2-ibEiB5pMNpqW62_5st/s1600/TB-Pic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7oqi7CaukNWe_008RwH6Gy9-dG5kM4FTiaQKGr6JrsZFK5mDGotmUHg9RXEpKwz4se5cDXfBIWXSUJKsKM3elSBZmVcWaM9HJ0iG3WWwuvvG_atK4ITAj8wR2-ibEiB5pMNpqW62_5st/s640/TB-Pic1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<i>August 22, 2017</i><br />
<b>Tampa Bay Rays 6, Toronto Blue Jays 5</b><br />
<i>August 23, 2017</i><br />
<b>Toronto Blue Jays 7 Tampa Bay Rays 6</b><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>(Randy's Perspective)</i><br />
We'd been warned about Major League baseball in Tampa Bay. We'd read about it. We'd seen pictures of Tropicana Field. And I talked to a couple of people who had been to St. Petersburg to see the Rays, who are the newest team in the big leagues playing in one of the worst pro parks in America.<br />
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These stories and pictures and what-nots on this blog site are documentation of my wife Penny's and my journeys to Major League ballparks across the country. Tampa Bay was trip No. 21 out of a potential 30 - even though Penny says we have to go back to Atlanta, because the Braves have left Turner Field. So does Atlanta count? I vote yes.<br />
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Sadly, with life and work getting in the way, we haven't had much time to travel during the past year. We caught three parks last year; one this year. Our odyssey is now in year six (I think), and we still have nine more stops to make. They've all been good; some better than others.<br />
<br />
One of the rewarding things for me has been the connection to baseball that Penny is making - I mean, she's the one with the scorebook every game, even tallying the balls and strikes - as well as the re-connection that I - a sportswriter in a past life- am experiencing. <br />
<br />
Tampa Bay is one trip we've talked about. It almost felt as if we were getting this one out of the way before we hit more traditional, historic and/or just plain well-known places that remain to be seen: Dodger Stadium, for example, or the New York parks. ... But to get to 30 you've got to check Tampa Bay off the list. So off we went.<br />
<br />
I have a work friend from the Sebring, Florida, area, an hour and a half from St. Pete. He offered a curious, but accurate, analysis of going to a Tampa Bay Rays game.<br />
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He said, "Well, it's ... it's ... actually kind of interesting. It's not as bad as some people say. One of the good things is that the Rays don't draw big crowds. You can always get good seats. And it's inside, so you don't have to worry about the heat."<br />
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<b>All of those things</b> were true. In fact, in retrospect, it was kind of quirky and fun. ... What's not to<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEXRrFo2bd6gxKOaYlhQdFPtzVZt9LyksvJgBJ3dyI3HxilhbmacfDPcjg0rD5ZfQLWikIyI9tuv4MAis9hSmTQrJiDLsyUwyzHO78Zksyzh4dXZHS6i-anDKPtUk8z83llwTkynRosqT/s1600/TB-Roof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEXRrFo2bd6gxKOaYlhQdFPtzVZt9LyksvJgBJ3dyI3HxilhbmacfDPcjg0rD5ZfQLWikIyI9tuv4MAis9hSmTQrJiDLsyUwyzHO78Zksyzh4dXZHS6i-anDKPtUk8z83llwTkynRosqT/s320/TB-Roof.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not an optical illusion. The roof is slanted, apparently<br />in deference to preserving cool air.</td></tr>
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like about a stadium named after orange juice that features: an intentionally lopsided dome roof; catwalks that have been pelted by fly balls; a fan base that includes Dick Vitale as a regular; and a rally video that stars a record-spinning feline named D.J. Kitty? <br />
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Seriously, D.J. Kitty spins tunes. His first video went viral. Almost a million people saw it within a week. ... The Rays drew 11,000 a night during the two games we attended. Interesting doing the math on that.<br />
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Check out the kitty: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICDGkVbSWUo">D.J. Kitty on the scene</a><br />
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In fact, we saw two close, event-filled, one-run-victory games between the Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays - and the loudest crowd-noise moments during our evenings at Tropicana Field happened when: (a) the Blue Jays scored, prompting rowdiness from the 300 or so (apparent) Canadians that dotted third base-line seats; or (b) D.J. Kitty made his sixth-inning nightly appearance.<br />
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Speaking of quirky, allow me to mention an oddity about Tropicana Field. Penny talks about this in her entry, too, but there is a museum behind centerfield that has some interesting, but unusual exhibits. Since there's not enough Tampa Bay Rays history to house a museum, the Rays have broadened the scope. The bell cow of the Tampa Bay museum is the Ted Williams "wing."<br />
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If you're a baseball historian, your first thought is: Ted Williams - considered by many the greatest pure hitter of all time - was born in San Diego and spent his entire career in Boston. The connection to Tampa and St. Pete, we found, is that he liked Florida and once caught a big fish in the Gulf of Mexico near the St. Petersburg-to-Clearwater coastline.<br />
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The museum's historian told Penny: "Ted Williams really, really liked Florida." To the historian's credit, Williams was living in Inverness, Florida, in 2002 when he passed away.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPM-1ZU5icszQHLCvRxzMJqNVjIAu8cRKNfX5ITLwKJ9tLmuKT83uu5sduLF5Ace_TxMCWfYGzWPNKCFAq-wC_Z-rqxjTLy8tdM6fXctZoDmUMkECyiS7Kq1ZM-G4w9URAkXR90Yby0FI9/s1600/TB-MuseumJimEd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPM-1ZU5icszQHLCvRxzMJqNVjIAu8cRKNfX5ITLwKJ9tLmuKT83uu5sduLF5Ace_TxMCWfYGzWPNKCFAq-wC_Z-rqxjTLy8tdM6fXctZoDmUMkECyiS7Kq1ZM-G4w9URAkXR90Yby0FI9/s200/TB-MuseumJimEd.jpg" width="112" /></a></div>
One other thing. I found a personal connection in the baseball museum. They had a great hitters' collection. It contained a picture of <b>Jim Rice, the Red Sox slugger,</b> who happened to be four years ahead of me at our mutual high school alma mater, T.L. Hanna (Anderson, S.C.)<br />
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Two members of T.L. Hanna's athletic hall of fame are Jim Ed Rice (as we knew him then) and Radio, of Hollywood movie fame. <br />
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*<br />
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<b>Before quickly discussing the two games Penny and I saw,</b> let me offer a two-day visitors' version of St. Petersburg.<br />
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St. Pete had a downtown thoroughfare – Central
Avenue – that seemed trendy and chic. It had coffee bars, regular bars, ice cream shops, local –
not chain – retail stores, vegan-friendly restaurants, a reflexology parlor,
and a few artsy places of varying stripes. By golly, St. Petersburg had everything but people.</div>
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If fact, my first thought was that Central Avenue in St. Petersburg wasn't all that different than Capital Street in Charleston, West Virginia, the state in which we reside. Only Capital Street has more bars, seems busier and has more people meandering about. St. Pete had a smaller-city feel, in other words. Not that that's a bad thing.<br />
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Of course, Charleston, West Virginia, doesn't have beaches, theme parks and a major city, Tampa, right up the road. So there's that. But St. Pete and the beaches we cruised were pleasantly not overcrowded. That was kind of cool.<br />
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It being August in Florida, however, the weather was scorching, which might account for the lack of bustle. Perhaps Gulf Coast Floridians are smart enough to stay indoors.</div>
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That theme – something to do, no one doing it - even carried to its Major League Baseball venue: Tropicana Field. We saw two outstanding baseball games played by two slightly-under-.500 baseball teams. As I mentioned, the crowds were around the 11,000 number, and I think that total was generous.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8Wkdfuk4gyvVtXLlqXebJh81WT_FOzKLHTw_Pz_ubqRTVmz7q_Ys4GVAx0WChY3LDgpA_gUdO9OTsbEnMAEIi-eCqVcORaV4gzot2ot3uenIByMj7e9sP6XJt8CNCv63-SZNda3rRYAN/s1600/TB-PennyRandy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8Wkdfuk4gyvVtXLlqXebJh81WT_FOzKLHTw_Pz_ubqRTVmz7q_Ys4GVAx0WChY3LDgpA_gUdO9OTsbEnMAEIi-eCqVcORaV4gzot2ot3uenIByMj7e9sP6XJt8CNCv63-SZNda3rRYAN/s320/TB-PennyRandy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penny and I pose, 10 minutes prior to the first pitch ...<br />Did I mention that the announced crowd of 11,000 seemed <br />a rather generous assessment?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The notoriously small crowds, I would only guess, would be larger were the park more up-to-date and in Tampa. Then again, what do I know? It was odd, though, seeing such sparse, quiet crowds because the Rays seem to be a pretty solid club. They're not likely to make the playoffs, but they're technically still in the race. A nice winning streak could make things interesting. Perhaps it would get the crowds up to 15,000 to 20,000. They tell me that when the Yankees or the Red Sox are in town, the Rays can draw 30,000 - but the majority are Yankees and Red Sox fans.<br />
<br />
The first night we were in St. Pete, the Rays won 6-5. The second night the Blue Jays won 7-6. Two excellent games that came down to the final at-bat.<br />
<br />
Our Game 2 was an odd affair that included nine home runs, six by the Blue Jays. And they weren't exactly the just-over-the-fence variety. These were titanic shots.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This makes me proud.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Penny, who is fast becoming a scorekeeping wizard - an astonishing development considering that she probably had never fully paid attention to a baseball game until a couple of years ago - turned to me sometime around the fifth inning of the second game and asked, "Is this stadium known for giving up a lot of homers? It looks like the fence is pretty close in."<br />
<br />
Penny's observation, I had to admit, was astute. I, who have seen lots of baseball games (and played in a few) in stadiums with playing fields ranging in size from the 180-foot fences at Embler Field little league field in Anderson, South Carolina, to the 420-foot centerfield fences at Fenway and Comerica parks. (By the way, I never played at Fenway or Comerica - just Embler.) When Penny said the outfield fences look short, I said, "You're right, these home runs are making the place look small."<br />
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So I jumped on the Worldwide Interweb and checked the stats, only to discover that Tropicana Field is not considered a hitter's paradise. In fact, it's not ranked in the Top 10 in terms of homers given up.<br />
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But I swear, from our seats behind the third-base dugout, when Kevin Pillar hit a solo shot in the eighth inning to give the Blue Jays the 7-6 win, the ball looked like it was shot from a howitzer.<br />
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Excellent game.<br />
<br />
Oh, one other thing. During much of the 7-6 game, a torrential downpour with a lot of thunder and lightening were hammering St. Pete. We were indoors, and the temperature was 72 degrees.<br />
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*<br />
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Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-49789297026458377982017-08-27T20:17:00.001-04:002017-08-27T20:17:07.078-04:00The Trop<br />
<i>August 22 and 23</i><br />
<i>(Penny's Perspective)</i><br />
<br />
We weren't expecting a lot from the Trop since it is at the bottom of most rankings of MLB parks. I was particularly dreading it, because I was afraid I would feel the need to bring a "Free the Stingrays" sign. Yes, the tank was as small as I dreaded and they actually allow people to reach in and touch them. We avoided this area but did take a picture from above. And yes, it smells! <br />
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We had great seats! We sat in the same ones both nights we were there.<br />
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The gold seat signifies Wade Bogg's 3,000th hit in 1999. Although he was known as a singles and doubles hitter, his 3,000th hit was homer. He also earlier had hit the Devil Rays' first home run in franchise history. .<br />
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You can't see the #98 on this shirt but it signifies the first year the team joined the league. This big plastic guy is coming out of the wall above the first level concourse.<br />
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I really enjoyed the Ted Williams Museum, but not because of Ted Williams. The exhibits were really interesting! I especially enjoyed the League of their Own display and the entire section devoted to the Negro leagues. Oddly enough, Ted Williams did not play in Tampa Bay. He did retire there but apparently was a local hero. Of course, I had to take a picture of Cal Ripkin's display in the Hitters Hall of Fame, since I am an Orioles fan.<br />
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A rarity in ballparks, salad! This one was especially good at Ducky's. The guy behind the counter told me there are only four ballparks that sell salad.<br />
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Al Lang Field, a staple in the Florida training camp world, is about a mile or so from the stadium. It is now the home of soccer's Tampa Bay Rowdies.</div>
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We couldn't visit Florida without a trip to the beach! This beautiful shot is at Treasure Island.</div>
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You can find Raymond at the entry before every game if you get there around 5:30. </div>
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I have found that I have to ask Randy less questions about scoring. I love having my score book as a record of the games we have seen. The man sitting beside me even asked how I scored a play and then replied that was he thought that was the appropriate way to score the play, too. Now, if I could just figure out to recognize and correctly score a fielder's choice, I'd feel I was making even more progress. I always mess that one up!<br />
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We also enjoyed staying at the Cordova Inn. It is the oldest hotel in St. Pete and more like a bed and breakfast. The rooms are super small and I think the bathroom was a closet but I liked the atmosphere, the staff and the big porch to sit on.<br />
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<b>Thumbs Up:</b><br />
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<ul>
<li>The Dome and AC!</li>
<li>Easy to get to location and parking.</li>
<li>Free programs.</li>
<li>Salad!</li>
<li>Vendors were around frequently but didn't really get in the way.</li>
<li>Plenty of help and very friendly staff. Well, except for one security guy the second night. Evidently, he hates his job. </li>
<li>We were overloaded with canned noise, but there was just the right amount of information on the scoreboard. We also weren't bombarded with people in the audience playing games.</li>
<li>I liked that the mascot was visible before and during the game. </li>
<li>I wouldn't really give the scoreboard a thumbs up, but it wasn't a thumbs down either. It was adequate. </li>
<li>I was amazed by the D.J. that was a cat. Randy will explain that in his blog.</li>
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<b>Thumbs Down:</b><br />
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<li>The stadium is hard to get around. The layout is just plain difficult. You cannot walk around the entire stadium on any concourse. You have to maneuver steps and walk in the seating area to get to parts. I suspect this is part of the reason it falls at the bottom of almost every ranking.</li>
<li>The crowd is very quiet and sparse.</li>
<li>That stupid stingray tank. Free the stingrays!!!</li>
<li>The catwalks above the playing field were somewhat of a distraction and I'm not sure what purpose they served.</li>
<li>There is no outside entertainment at all. </li>
<li>I enjoyed the museum, but if we hadn't know it was there we would have missed it. If you go, it is up the stairs across from the stingray tank. </li>
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We enjoyed two really good games - with a lot of home runs - at the Trop!</div>
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<br />scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-4985450754187969902016-07-03T20:17:00.001-04:002016-07-03T20:17:21.893-04:00A trip to our local Minor League park to see the West Virginia Power(<i>Randy's and Penny's Perspective</i>)<br />
We took a hurried trip on Friday night to Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, W.Va., to see the West Virginia Power. It was one of those evenings where baseball served as a getaway.<br />
For starters, some areas of West Virginia have been hit by horrible flooding, including a community called Elkview, which is roughly 15 miles north of Charleston. We are fortunate to not live in a flooded region, but in a state with a population of less than 2 million, there is always the chance that you'll know people who ARE dealing with flood issues. We do, and our thoughts and best wishes (and donations) are with those who were not as fortunate as we were.<br />
There are some tough stories and circumstances, and we are thankful that we also live in a state that reacts fast when its folks are in trouble.<br />
We stayed overnight in Charleston. It was difficult finding a room, because almost every hotel from Charleston to Huntington was full. FEMA and other disaster-relief workers seemed to comprise about half of the Charleston Marriott, where we stayed.<br />
With life going on, however, most of the rest of the hotel included players, coaches and family members of players involved in the U.S. Youth Soccer Region 1 championship, which was being held in nearby Barboursville and Huntington.<br />
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On a personal level, we had a few layers of stress during the week. Our excellent cat, Dave Matthews, the world's finest cat (in our humble opinion), died on Tuesday.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The great Dave Matthews</td></tr>
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Two days later, Penny let our dogs outside first thing in the morning. The dogs charged out the door and met head-on with a raccoon. Not good, a raging raccoon running around the neighborhood on a sunlit morning.<br />
Jumping to the end of that story, with help from a local animal control specialist, the raccoon is no longer in the neighborhood.<br />
Also during the week, Penny traveled to her hometown of Fayetteville, West Virginia, to attend the funeral of an uncle.<br />
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So Friday night, we decided to try and get our minds on something different and better. Baseball to the rescue.<br />
Thanks to a friend at the Cipriani and Werner law firm, we had an invitation to use a suite and a couple of box seats above the first base line.<br />
The evening was pleasant. The game was nothing special. We chatted with nice people throughout the blase 2-0 win by the Columbia Fireflies over the home team, the Power.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCt5zZ2RW4-aAkwiH9SQBbYLyVuapwiJMfW5ajarMi55gXxyioM7BZberFwXohWO4TKnW_m5ZLxacNq0ciSEVC_sJ6PCgZ3k-W_dyuyeMN1iLXPGX5jX5EOYa9pNXY1D7mG2yTy0qcnpAL/s1600/IMG_5420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCt5zZ2RW4-aAkwiH9SQBbYLyVuapwiJMfW5ajarMi55gXxyioM7BZberFwXohWO4TKnW_m5ZLxacNq0ciSEVC_sJ6PCgZ3k-W_dyuyeMN1iLXPGX5jX5EOYa9pNXY1D7mG2yTy0qcnpAL/s320/IMG_5420.JPG" width="320" /></a>Much of the conversation revolved around our Major League ballpark tour. A gentleman sitting with us had been to 10 parks. He wanted to know our favorites, which listed as Orioles Park at Camden Yard, Turner Field, Wrigley Field, PNC Park and Comerica Park - all for differing reasons. His favorite has been PNC.<br />
Penny has discovered that when she's not keeping a scorebook, she has trouble paying attention to the game.<br />
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When the last out happened, Penny was in the middle of a conversation, with her back to the field. She turned toward the field in time to see the Columbia players congratulating each other.</div>
She asked, "Is it over?"<br />
"Yep. A 2-0 loss for the home team."<br />
"Oh, well. That was fun, though."<br />
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(Penny adds: In my defense, I also spent much of the night talking with a really sweet lady that I met in the box. Turns out I worked with her mom. Also, her nieces and nephews were students at my school. She is a teacher, I am a retired teacher and principal. We talked a lot about school.)<br />
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The racing pancakes must be a new addition.scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-82450003219011718622016-06-22T20:59:00.000-04:002016-06-22T20:59:36.351-04:00San Diego - A city that's easy to love ... With a team that can blow a big lead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>June 2, 2016</i><br />
<b>Mariners 16, Padres 13</b><br />
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(<i>Randy's Perspective</i>)<br />
I've fallen in love with places before. New Orleans, for example. I love New Orleans. The Mississippi River. Cafe de Monde. Jazz on the streets and in the clubs. Rice and beans and jambalaya. Pat O'Briens and Hurricanes. Streetcar rides through the Garden District. Preservation Hall. Jackson Square. Bourbon Street barkers. And those are just the touristy things.<br />
Did you know you can buy a drink in one French Quarter establishment, carry it into a second establishment, and actually not piss off the proprietors of the second joint?<br />
Yes, New Orleans is a grab bag of different.<br />
Here's a second example - another place I kind of love, not as well known: It's Hartwell Lake, a terrific body of water on the Northeast Georgia-South Carolina border. I probably fell in love with Hartwell Lake when I was 10 or 11 years old.<br />
I grew up near this lake, learned to ski on it, spent a million hours on it as a teenager and young adult. More than 20 years ago, I even owned two small houses on its shoreline. I loved the lake life.<br />
But no place is perfect, I surmise. New Orleans can be hotter than the hinges to hell's door in the summer and early fall. And there are a lotta, lotta drunks in the French Quarter, which can be fun sometimes and a little aggravating others.<br />
Hartwell Lake rises and falls and gets really crowded on spring, summer and fall weekends. Also, those little houses I sold at a 20 percent profit are now worth - I kid you you not - between three and four times what I sold them for. Now that's disheartening.<br />
The point, again, is that no place is perfect. That's what I thought.<br />
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<b>Then came San Diego.</b><br />
Penny and I traveled to San Diego, for the second time in the past month combining a visit with one of our kids and a Major League Baseball game.<br />
Let me just say up front, we had a great time at Petco Park and saw a historic game - the largest comeback in Seattle Mariners history.<br />
But, first, about San Diego.<br />
With Penny's son (my witty, observant stepson) Derek as our full-time guide (and his friend, Karen, and his fabulously well-trained pit bull, Sheba, as part-time guides), here's what we discovered in San Diego.<br />
<ul>
<li>The weather was, and apparently almost always is, spectacular.</li>
<li>The views from every place we visited - including Coronado, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, La <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Star Bar, in the Gas Lamp District, found Derek and Penny</td></tr>
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Jolla, Soledad Mountain, just to name a few - were also spectacular.</li>
<li>North Park and Normal Heights are cool neighborhoods and a great place for one of your kids on a budget to live. The neighborhoods have no shortage of high-quality, affordable restaurants, interesting shops and a lot of brew pubs. We spent eight hours on Sunday walking these neighborhoods, stopping occasionally for food or beer or to listen to some live music.</li>
<li>The Gas Lamp District downtown is comprised of block after block of (once again) high-quality, affordable restaurants, interesting shops and great bars - and the district offers a lot of energy after dark.</li>
<li>There are a lot of outstanding Mexican restaurants in San Diego.</li>
<li>Dogs are almost as welcome as humans.</li>
<li>There are lots of places to walk, run and ride a skateboard, if any of that attracts you. We rented kayaks and paddled the waters of an enormous marina in Point Loma. We got great views of downtown San Diego from the harbor. </li>
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<b>San Diego is hilly and breezy, and the breeze is always pleasant,</b> unlike - as Penny pointed out - the 25-mph gales accompanying 55-degree temperatures that scream: We are San Francisco.<br />
We even got to chill on the beach at La Jolla and watch Derek surf.<br />
When not watching Derek and the other surfers, we could look to our right and see some of those fabulous Pacific cliffs that I had only seen on television and in movies.<br />
Penny and I are at home in the mountains of West Virginia.<br />
But... I have to agree with my fabulous wife, who said sometime mid-day on our third day in San Diego: "I could move here."<br />
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Before we saw the beaches and experienced most of the bars and the Mexican restaurants, we hit the ballpark. Petco Park. This is park No. 20 for us. Two-thirds of the way home to seeing every Major League stadium in America.<br />
One of the problems with assessing ballparks is that every park in America is really special and good in its own way. Even Oakland, though some might debate.<br />
So when you get to No. 20, you know there is some sameness in the branding of all stadiums. You're usually going to get:<br />
<ul>
<li>A park with character, one that looks like a baseball stadium, not like the cookie-cutter, multi-purpose houses that were Veterans, Three Rivers, Riverfront, Atlanta-Fulton County, (old) Busch stadiums and the Astrodome.</li>
<li>A park that tries to tie in a local theme.</li>
<li>A park that has decent sight lines, with no massive beams to obstruct views.</li>
<li>A park that seeks to have decent, eclectic concessions.</li>
<li>A park that brings fans closer to the action.</li>
</ul>
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<b>You get all those things </b>at Petco. There is also the extremely odd presence of a building in the left-field-line corner of the park, right by the foul pole. It is the Western Metal Supply Company building. The short story is that building was declared a national landmark in 1978, and -try as they might - the Padres couldn't tear it down.<br />
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So they build around it.<br />
In the perfect baseball architectural world, the Western Metal Supply Company building would give Petco a Camden Yards feel, where the warehouses are as much a part of the ballpark as hecklers behind the visitors' dugout.<br />
It doesn't quite work. Almost. Not quite.<br />
Penny seemed to think the building looks totally out of place (and she loooves Camden Yard). I stared and stared at the Supply Company's three-story building. I wanted to make it work but couldn't quite get there.<br />
Speaking of hecklers, San Diego has a famous one: Harry the Heckler, who's been sitting on the third-base side for decades. He's considered the most obnoxious heckler in baseball.<br />
<br />
<b>Before getting to the game itself,</b> I have to mention that for the second time in our past three road trips, I don't have a long history of memories with a team. Eighteen of 20 places we've visited, I have vivid memories of the teams we saw: things I learned or saw on TV or admired about a team.<br />
The Texas Rangers were the first to bring me little to no nostalgia. The Padres are the second.<br />
That lack of history seems a little odd, even to me, because the player in my lifetime that I admired almost above all others was a Padre. He was Tony Gwynn, Mr. Padre.<br />
Gwynn was the Ted Williams of the late 20th century. The guy was a hitting machine. He had a lifetime average better than .330, could hit to all field, won a bunch of gold gloves and was a genuine and nice guy, according to all things I have heard and read.<br />
Gwynn loved San Diego so much he spent his entire career there. He refused better money just to stay in San Diego.<br />
Although loyal to San Diego, the Padres didn't reward Gwynn with great teams to play with. The Padres have been far more mediocre than good. Occasionally, they made pennant runs. The Padres have competed in two World Series: 1984 and 1998. They lost both.<br />
<br />
<b>So with that kind of franchise history, what happened against the Mariners shouldn't have been a surprise.</b><br />
The Padres led by 10 runs after five innings. Yes, 10 runs. 12-2. There was a four-run first inning and a seven-run fifth inning. This deal was over. We even discussed the almost unthinkable - leaving after the eighth inning.<br />
I was trying to remember if I'd ever witnessed live a seven-run inning. I remember that yes, Penny and I saw the Blue Jays drop seven on the Red Sox in Fenway. But still, seven in an inning is amazing. Padres centerfielder Jon Jay was 5 for 6 on the night. Sweet.<br />
So.... we actually HAD seen a seven-run inning.<br />
We had not, however, witnessed a nine-run inning, which the Mariners posted in the seventh. The nine-run seventh followed a five-run sixth inning. So if you're scoring at home, as they say, the Seattle Mariners went from a 12-2 deficit to a 16-12 lead.<br />
Although it seemed meaningless at the time, Mariners rightfielder Nelson Cruz hit a gargantuan home run in the fourth inning. <br />
In the end, the Mariners won 16-13. Even friendly, laid-back San Diego booed its bullpen.<br />
Other than booing the bullpen, the home crowd was pretty quiet. An oddly large contingent of Mariners fans was anything but quiet as run after run after run kept crossing the plate.<br />
It appeared from our first-base-line vantage point that even Harry the Heckler went quiet.<br />
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<br />Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-2567523409058603702016-06-18T09:21:00.002-04:002016-06-18T09:21:28.584-04:00Dog Days of San Diego<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>(Penny's Perspective)</i></div>
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What could be better for a dog lover than being interviewed petting a comfort dog at the Denver airport, spending four days with my grand-doggies, AND having a ticket on Bark in the Park night at Petco Park? That was so awesome, and add to that I've found a new favorite city: San Diego. That was a great trip. </div>
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It was so much fun to see all these fabulous dogs at our first visit to Petco Park. </div>
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Petting the comfort dog in the Denver airport.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2rr5ZKsWSw_syZcYyQDkvV_SBUvFtDl0Tx3utC1XeE2FhVIQqmQS82qRO4kIKlcHqVvlBo13lbStPdDVVZdEQG0BewvfeT9Q4GWeJoI8kEuwRLMAGBRO0tPgLYtgZCpbdazKysPDobYdx/s1600/download+%252818%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2rr5ZKsWSw_syZcYyQDkvV_SBUvFtDl0Tx3utC1XeE2FhVIQqmQS82qRO4kIKlcHqVvlBo13lbStPdDVVZdEQG0BewvfeT9Q4GWeJoI8kEuwRLMAGBRO0tPgLYtgZCpbdazKysPDobYdx/s320/download+%252818%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjket5r_LRVfh-YVfqmHd_DCuATKCKOOYc21kr6Z6NSnnwkG406s4woy-X3NR9IcL_uD_WV8kHm8KuEsuxNCFJR6CRjk4ROLwbg_JfhcRxBi4PtIhmmXv4aAJu1IwPwd512ABcehc49PQNX/s1600/download+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">Mr. Padre<img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjket5r_LRVfh-YVfqmHd_DCuATKCKOOYc21kr6Z6NSnnwkG406s4woy-X3NR9IcL_uD_WV8kHm8KuEsuxNCFJR6CRjk4ROLwbg_JfhcRxBi4PtIhmmXv4aAJu1IwPwd512ABcehc49PQNX/s320/download+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpRK54n9PrZD9FN_w55_PMVE1SnxNv3KZN4pRyUWw8NwN-NO2dgucpNt9D-T-ZbGBk1M8ap5Z1XSy3Aa1I_IOySNOGSPaZ0sNFt4hzMets56EoBxx_npHPUTEaAZHzMY9xWV4VPBjsVsL/s1600/download+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpRK54n9PrZD9FN_w55_PMVE1SnxNv3KZN4pRyUWw8NwN-NO2dgucpNt9D-T-ZbGBk1M8ap5Z1XSy3Aa1I_IOySNOGSPaZ0sNFt4hzMets56EoBxx_npHPUTEaAZHzMY9xWV4VPBjsVsL/s320/download+%25284%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>I've loved almost all of our baseball trips. This one I especially loved. I hadn't seen my son, Derek, since I was out there in January so it was great to spend time with him. I love, love, love San Diego, so I was happy to share that city with Randy. The food in San Diego is a dream for a vegetarian (me) and a vegan (Derek). Even Randy found some food he liked, although he still draws the line at anything made with tofu. We had some Mexian food to die for. I see more potato tacos in my future!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoLlLI8UZQ0N_cd3zNSeV7lgaLYQXpv7A0oUDiENrKfIE91xICEX5M7AzJ0capHsYz6PqkGec8GZrJZu-55ID2WMyRmZJeHWeOmMwQcGVAMMzuuTJmOpHgro6j0fuAHOYu9H22trMLEYX/s1600/download+%25285%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoLlLI8UZQ0N_cd3zNSeV7lgaLYQXpv7A0oUDiENrKfIE91xICEX5M7AzJ0capHsYz6PqkGec8GZrJZu-55ID2WMyRmZJeHWeOmMwQcGVAMMzuuTJmOpHgro6j0fuAHOYu9H22trMLEYX/s320/download+%25285%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>A very California feel inside the park.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIs1FKosdXoeEuj4Om7MEoPMHK06FTuHZ5Qe5NgZjPI3S-_X0PkLc9oGDCzriaNIYDuXsGPO0CaVojtpOIZ7KLZ0XmhAz6Kyp95LTDF7dGoY31FnvCsBl_zIv7rUGLKfgWMNy6AnpFDZr/s1600/download+%25286%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIs1FKosdXoeEuj4Om7MEoPMHK06FTuHZ5Qe5NgZjPI3S-_X0PkLc9oGDCzriaNIYDuXsGPO0CaVojtpOIZ7KLZ0XmhAz6Kyp95LTDF7dGoY31FnvCsBl_zIv7rUGLKfgWMNy6AnpFDZr/s320/download+%25286%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>Beautiful views from all around. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-FRSFUxpvF8dra8K3PGFaVBv00DlkH069OXOzDE7jnw8Y5NRuFiiK-xqaEPC3G1KETkqKRGD9JajfIlU09Yx0v7UU_PhmaMzuWj2uYHqJycgoNfzERORZgF3UJ1aRSyvt0-Nn8mjJYfO/s1600/download+%25287%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-FRSFUxpvF8dra8K3PGFaVBv00DlkH069OXOzDE7jnw8Y5NRuFiiK-xqaEPC3G1KETkqKRGD9JajfIlU09Yx0v7UU_PhmaMzuWj2uYHqJycgoNfzERORZgF3UJ1aRSyvt0-Nn8mjJYfO/s320/download+%25287%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOPFIGBssgZaZr0yRulW-gQgOVv2DFigRpDHGzG0mFU_MEfBsmh5BJ86TVBjTHhc9GdfOQoeSRPmkoB2xs-huMzumFPp2t036emJZJi_o8KPafnOuwO5jLJ_Uno1ODcPwUMKyOdbiCG09/s1600/download+%25288%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOPFIGBssgZaZr0yRulW-gQgOVv2DFigRpDHGzG0mFU_MEfBsmh5BJ86TVBjTHhc9GdfOQoeSRPmkoB2xs-huMzumFPp2t036emJZJi_o8KPafnOuwO5jLJ_Uno1ODcPwUMKyOdbiCG09/s320/download+%25288%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>It was a beautiful night, if you go, take a sweater, it gets really cool after dark. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFJYPLVqNd7vLau3WspeZ2bWPmZgKp1_XqjD1aXQrrTHLCcpnea96Tskk-AmgmVOIjxV7FzM6JWRDLLP3CyOiYK9TTcLBA7LncICSzN6BkI54ARGzo89ZvBueHFqP_M4JWdo1dLtR0KmU/s1600/download+%25289%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFJYPLVqNd7vLau3WspeZ2bWPmZgKp1_XqjD1aXQrrTHLCcpnea96Tskk-AmgmVOIjxV7FzM6JWRDLLP3CyOiYK9TTcLBA7LncICSzN6BkI54ARGzo89ZvBueHFqP_M4JWdo1dLtR0KmU/s320/download+%25289%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgpYaRbeJEnHbjCXH3Vg3fYD_3utRjMcjlKMnJob3Xvrq2V0_QVPngcRCnKB4RmOO2skKtpiTJc5F0ipl5_g3tsLvYAUFDj-MD8Yeyfm_tmY6hrp8wsXF4ATPJpASh7uh3LLiRJ-pux1MG/s1600/download+%252810%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgpYaRbeJEnHbjCXH3Vg3fYD_3utRjMcjlKMnJob3Xvrq2V0_QVPngcRCnKB4RmOO2skKtpiTJc5F0ipl5_g3tsLvYAUFDj-MD8Yeyfm_tmY6hrp8wsXF4ATPJpASh7uh3LLiRJ-pux1MG/s320/download+%252810%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>The scoreboard was huge. Once I figured out where everything was, I really liked it. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYHPHlsgLNRlqiSdI6hv3h4TOLQum2Ns59VKc8kPo6wfCmOifwEny6jXzUT67JDXrcwKuSMz18ejWm3Y8jF7ffE3JNCpv17Zi-n5xcB00SL0qqzk-XtXEo-NCnWbCfe_TdzZRfCeVuGZr/s1600/download+%252812%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYHPHlsgLNRlqiSdI6hv3h4TOLQum2Ns59VKc8kPo6wfCmOifwEny6jXzUT67JDXrcwKuSMz18ejWm3Y8jF7ffE3JNCpv17Zi-n5xcB00SL0qqzk-XtXEo-NCnWbCfe_TdzZRfCeVuGZr/s320/download+%252812%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVfD8xdpMywyMf0KHWfK44SgNSkfy3x4ezpFR4fNt9t9L5tJ0iaB4Vom2SFtzXJ-jqdmHlBJwim9kZJmaJhZjcbIVlt3KdBCg68eTu401GJRCKmxT_J5O-AD387wFv2C5-SByEqDSgYoZs/s1600/download+%252811%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVfD8xdpMywyMf0KHWfK44SgNSkfy3x4ezpFR4fNt9t9L5tJ0iaB4Vom2SFtzXJ-jqdmHlBJwim9kZJmaJhZjcbIVlt3KdBCg68eTu401GJRCKmxT_J5O-AD387wFv2C5-SByEqDSgYoZs/s320/download+%252811%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>Our host for the San Diego trip. My son, Derek.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7mGIo3jRGfmxamJ8LAaqi-0enhuijg18BZPjsobHMBZ_4S1dvUVcZfeylC2V6qMl6vZ47tALa5EoE44_jVT1snsk0zorfLifm-LsRJh7tBwur3JS1sq9yaT8wIwfTVHj7U3LdVz8g8VI/s1600/download+%252813%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7mGIo3jRGfmxamJ8LAaqi-0enhuijg18BZPjsobHMBZ_4S1dvUVcZfeylC2V6qMl6vZ47tALa5EoE44_jVT1snsk0zorfLifm-LsRJh7tBwur3JS1sq9yaT8wIwfTVHj7U3LdVz8g8VI/s320/download+%252813%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>Yes, we have on jackets and it is summer!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1YtjZpRkt7db8CA__4K1-EK1V3tFvMNKfBoTRTLUgrBpZSJ4yMyl4tV-hJcxzEAxe_WrenmhDmamuk4lmzQ-02JNif7dHNjCF1LP2GEEJ3hp02ibvBmQaMyJf_aVawVs8296PKzBGNYYT/s1600/download+%252814%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1YtjZpRkt7db8CA__4K1-EK1V3tFvMNKfBoTRTLUgrBpZSJ4yMyl4tV-hJcxzEAxe_WrenmhDmamuk4lmzQ-02JNif7dHNjCF1LP2GEEJ3hp02ibvBmQaMyJf_aVawVs8296PKzBGNYYT/s320/download+%252814%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>Retired numbers.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhiLay0e6a5GNzCO5dQTazwxg2KcP1yqZ1laXKu4GeG4h5mVwsTubncow8yqWfjVm_16IkhyI3qW7LP44PyrQ-En9ogC1K-7iHqspacM8Zh2tIdHC1VPe7I2uz20Wweua_b4SULARBKAi/s1600/download+%252815%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhiLay0e6a5GNzCO5dQTazwxg2KcP1yqZ1laXKu4GeG4h5mVwsTubncow8yqWfjVm_16IkhyI3qW7LP44PyrQ-En9ogC1K-7iHqspacM8Zh2tIdHC1VPe7I2uz20Wweua_b4SULARBKAi/s320/download+%252815%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>A replica of the USS Nimitz. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPye_jFVkfCClH77wjV1x_m7Cqbjc9yQlfLr1YgsiJOKWSso7O0FsDs1wRsbZDgjz-OGlc_ldUL8a9jCu3jAPupR8fELjbCAWxEuH2MNjktionjYrj5-NM0wGuRJx3P0tBiE3NcvF29E1/s1600/download+%252816%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPye_jFVkfCClH77wjV1x_m7Cqbjc9yQlfLr1YgsiJOKWSso7O0FsDs1wRsbZDgjz-OGlc_ldUL8a9jCu3jAPupR8fELjbCAWxEuH2MNjktionjYrj5-NM0wGuRJx3P0tBiE3NcvF29E1/s320/download+%252816%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>I love this wall of all MLB players who have served our country.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJ2EmTt7GhKhhL4oShuxUVyBaOJlmyp_92c7Wk-l_8gcrxnbNo5Y-0uQkUQE3270cINSQOidR3c2cFeTqlMYSYNWL3EZW3bjyq4du5-W3szAuWB8ua5UUWedEXrChsx2ae7sjSbZCNPUF/s1600/download+%252817%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJ2EmTt7GhKhhL4oShuxUVyBaOJlmyp_92c7Wk-l_8gcrxnbNo5Y-0uQkUQE3270cINSQOidR3c2cFeTqlMYSYNWL3EZW3bjyq4du5-W3szAuWB8ua5UUWedEXrChsx2ae7sjSbZCNPUF/s320/download+%252817%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>There is no shortage of things to do in San Diego. A visit to the Gaslamp District is a must. There are places to eat and bars everywhere!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj882StPplgu6fvm4-whRGkkrjUADxUmlmI2A0rThi-sfxWZiL0FlLnXb3OdzerbC7PyLHv8DtQbcEI51PEmBkFxL9XCyxcdB4v2A4UvhgEc5fOeQ-pwR6cBX-hL36jWQKcOwcHu94rqlg3/s1600/download+%252819%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj882StPplgu6fvm4-whRGkkrjUADxUmlmI2A0rThi-sfxWZiL0FlLnXb3OdzerbC7PyLHv8DtQbcEI51PEmBkFxL9XCyxcdB4v2A4UvhgEc5fOeQ-pwR6cBX-hL36jWQKcOwcHu94rqlg3/s320/download+%252819%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>Kayaking at Point Loma harbor. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQxITm6FBdnAk39ZeqiL5hRPaWQIR8rm6kKm5lMdWO4YAKw3FL3qQUIyFnXZQHg-IImYwje7eGDO3-DHGiu7IoMb33Z8YgNuePWoaxz0SVbjUB8iq647n15hZYTTz-voC7qDRVU0mZ8HY/s1600/download+%252820%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQxITm6FBdnAk39ZeqiL5hRPaWQIR8rm6kKm5lMdWO4YAKw3FL3qQUIyFnXZQHg-IImYwje7eGDO3-DHGiu7IoMb33Z8YgNuePWoaxz0SVbjUB8iq647n15hZYTTz-voC7qDRVU0mZ8HY/s320/download+%252820%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>San Diego is a vegetarian/vegan heaven. This raw walnut taco was so good!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwb-NT2EYiBUPkZugzIspcEHsrP_vnnmDY4E_Mk5aGt1hNMr-Q8Iw2-9er8sWCXm1FDKLbBnnLIL9-YiSUtDOlHTn40ZzUERWyRiAAdkXCbR7LvwCqNyiADJFeoqTuKMFzy9woq1bJC9ND/s1600/download+%252822%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwb-NT2EYiBUPkZugzIspcEHsrP_vnnmDY4E_Mk5aGt1hNMr-Q8Iw2-9er8sWCXm1FDKLbBnnLIL9-YiSUtDOlHTn40ZzUERWyRiAAdkXCbR7LvwCqNyiADJFeoqTuKMFzy9woq1bJC9ND/s320/download+%252822%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>Derek and his friend, Karen.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3QuZOy03vVqTdaFx-NOAjMqgrBW0Z_x1dYhDsx2Nsqk2ndLanEYfaTR441LDrRFQ7fIfliqiL85cIL7ZLDRPTPe6Zg4YhNOXktzpbg4qy5mLlqd3BgDCKv6KnRz15J7N7ddNIxhb33ED/s1600/download+%252824%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3QuZOy03vVqTdaFx-NOAjMqgrBW0Z_x1dYhDsx2Nsqk2ndLanEYfaTR441LDrRFQ7fIfliqiL85cIL7ZLDRPTPe6Zg4YhNOXktzpbg4qy5mLlqd3BgDCKv6KnRz15J7N7ddNIxhb33ED/s320/download+%252824%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>We love dive bars, and this one didn't disappoint. The Star Bar was named one of the country's top 20 dive bars and is within walking distance of the park. </div>
<br />scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-32435972327245120502016-04-26T22:23:00.000-04:002016-04-29T08:53:36.437-04:00UPDATE: Traffic, a pitcher's duel, Astrodome memories ... and some cool music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvweYpqdUkxT5q57DjPNamwtakj3rQtvxJgcFgsBbJ2cM4pV9lAfuuThOfzVPIhKZ030fBYLW6LKsxW7aEstdrODCEXgkuZoO-tuMrA3Rjg1lItiGd2i7-_ErAfuuqVWmlT_B_fpHQCvtZ/s1600/MLB-Houston-Scoreboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvweYpqdUkxT5q57DjPNamwtakj3rQtvxJgcFgsBbJ2cM4pV9lAfuuThOfzVPIhKZ030fBYLW6LKsxW7aEstdrODCEXgkuZoO-tuMrA3Rjg1lItiGd2i7-_ErAfuuqVWmlT_B_fpHQCvtZ/s640/MLB-Houston-Scoreboard.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<strong>Houston 1, Detroit 0</strong><br />
April 15, 2016<br />
(Randy's Perspective)<br />
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<b>I'd never thought about what an oxymoron this is: Don't drive during rush hour.</b><br />
I'll add this: Especially in Houston.<br />
Every city has heavy traffic, so Houston is not unique in that regard. But I've driven in a lot of cities - in fact, I think I've driven in every city east of the Mississippi with a metropolitan population of more than a million people. I've learned a few things. D.C. is rats in a maze; Suburban Chicago can be a parking lot - with toll booths; Atlanta is hell - on a bad day.<br />
Granted, my opinion is anecdotal, reflecting a combination of what I experienced with stories I've heard. But, but, but... I have never, ever, ever seen so much traffic eat up so much time as I experienced in Houston, Texas. Rush hour is perpetual.<br />
Our ambitious crew of three - Penny, Kelli and I - left Dallas shortly after 11 a.m. on Friday. We had plenty of time to drive the three and a half hours to Houston, check in at the downtown Residence Inn, chill for a while, then walk about nine blocks to the stadium for a 7:05 p.m. game.<br />
HA!<br />
We hit the first Interstate 45 jam - no fault of Houston traffic - about 30 miles south of the Palestine, Texas, exit. On a side note, Palestine is home of a good friend named Kelly Jordon, who happens to be a terrific professional angler.<br />
Anyway, we creepy crawled for large sections of the trip to Houston. Again, no fault of Houston.<br />
We even enjoyed a cool stop at a Texas-sized, Texas-themed convenience store call Buccees. If you ever want to stop at Buccess, you can't miss it. Just look for a huge beaver-head logo. Lots of stuff in a Buccees travel stop. I mention Buccees because Kelli told us they have interesting billboards. I looked this up. Here are some Buccees billboard slogans:<br />
<ul>
<li>Restrooms so clean we live mints on the urinals</li>
<li>Ice, beer, jerky: the three food groups</li>
<li>The top two reasons to stop at Buccees: #1 and #2</li>
<li>Don't worry, P happy</li>
</ul>
You've got to love a place with a sense of humor. And a lot of specialty foods. And plenty of coffee.<br />
After Buccees, we hit the road again. <br />
The true, heavy Houston traffic started more than 70 miles outside the city. Ouch.<br />
Fortunately, although it was slow, we never went into a full-scale stall. But, man, you have got to be paying attention. On another side note, as we killed time paying road games - such as 20 Questions and How Many cities and towns in Texas can you name? - passengers Penny and Kelli delicately suggested once or twice that I might be changing lanes more often than I should.<br />
Fast forward. We eventually made it to Minute Maid Park with 45 minutes to spare.<br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b>Once inside Minute Maid,</b> we
discovered (once again) that two guys I'd like to meet and shake hands with -
Josh Pahigian and Kevin O'Connell - had given us some sound advice. Pahigian and
O'Connell wrote a book called The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip, subtitled A
Fan's Guide to Major League Stadiums.<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">The day we decided we would
visit every ballpark in America, Penny found this book. She consults it for the
bars and restaurants and baseball-themed attractions inside and around the
stadiums. The book has been a wealth of information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">While Penny looks for the baseball history and travel guide stuff, I consult Pahigian and
O'Connell on finding the good and the bad seats. They haven't yet
steered us wrong. They tell you when stadium sections have blind spots. They
tell you when the chairs aren't angled toward the field. They tell you many rows back you can sit before an overhang becomes obnoxious. For this trip, they
accurately suggested sitting in the lower deck in Arlington, because upper deck
seats are too far away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">In Houston, they cued us in
that lower deck rows rise at a low pitch, making it difficult for a short
person to see over even a reasonably sized individual sitting a row closer to
the field. As they say where I grew up: "Now that right there is some good
sh..., uh, information." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">We sat in the club level down
the right field line. The seats were terrific.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times";"><b>Our seats certainly had a
Houston feel.</b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;"> We were almost directly across from home run alley in left field.
Above a series of arches over the left field wall are high-dollar advertising
signs. They include: <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6wrYTPb-d5Ntdr6MpNQaA9NY7WSPRC2q8mb39sh5m7XHlBUBL0M6dHdT0l46PdoVt1CDaVK27-yuaBItVV-z1SNmJPIwf-Dtz1PhTGR882wG7jxxLrKqEo-ftKdDhz5O06KmAfpzj8yLN/s1600/MLB-Houston-Outfield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6wrYTPb-d5Ntdr6MpNQaA9NY7WSPRC2q8mb39sh5m7XHlBUBL0M6dHdT0l46PdoVt1CDaVK27-yuaBItVV-z1SNmJPIwf-Dtz1PhTGR882wG7jxxLrKqEo-ftKdDhz5O06KmAfpzj8yLN/s400/MLB-Houston-Outfield.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe too small to read, but Conoco Phillips, OXY, etc. define the corporate scene</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Conoco Phillips, National Oilwell Varco, Halliburton,
Schlumberger, Calpine, Occidental Petroleum Corp. (aka OXY), Champion Energy Services,
etc. Welcome to the world of oil and gas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">Well, back to baseball
itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">With all that energy on the
wall. There was no energy coming from anyone's bats during our evening in
Houston. We saw a bonified dinosaur of a game: a pitcher's duel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">Quite frankly, it was kind of
refreshing. Final score: Houston 1, Detroit 0.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">I knew early in the contest
that we could be in for a different kind of evening. Houston stranded eight
runners in the first three frames.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">Dallas Keuchel, the American
League's 2015 Cy Young winner, threw eight shutout innings. On the other side,
Mike Pelfrey of the Tigers gave up one run in six innings, even when it
appeared he didn't have great stuff. As I said, there a lot of Astros on the
bases with just a run to show for it.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">Relievers took care of the rest of the order.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times";"><b>As I sat watching the
pitcher's duel</b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">, I thought how many times as a kid I had listened to Braves
announcers, first Milo Hamilton then Ernie Johnson and Skip Carey all the
others, call games from the Astrodome - a structure once call the "Eighth
Wonder of the World." I always wanted to see it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">In reality, time gives
perspective. The Astrodome, I'm told from folks who actually have been there,
was actually just a big capsule that offered the unique perspective of being
the first-ever indoor Major League Baseball and NFL stadium.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">The Houston Astrodome was pretty famous for
low-scoring games. It was a pitcher's park, as Hamilton and Johnson and Carey would point out again and again.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">When it comes to Minute Maid, all I could think about as I stared at left field was the year the All-Star game was in Houston, and the balls kept pounding off the brick facing high above left field.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";">It looked like a great park to see some runs.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;">We got 1-0.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-weight: normal;"><b>Another fast forward, </b>after the game, we made our way to three downtown Houston bars, where we experienced, in order: </span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times";">A sports bar called Live; it featured a band of old rockers (which is always a treat)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times";">A rooftop bar with a deejay, which technically was a separate bar but still part of Live; the bar projects tv shots on the sides of nearby buildings</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times";">A trendy, craft beer bar called Flying Saucer; You'll have to look this one up; There are lots of club-member plates on the walls and ceilings, hence the flying saucer theme</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><b>We had a big-ole time</b>, but we made it back to the hotel shortly after midnight, because we needed to be back to Dallas in time to get musician Kelli to a 4 p.m. gig. Actually the gig was not in Dallas, but in the town of Granbury, which is roughly 30 miles southwest of Fort Worth.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-Xo3wcj4BxmDAMXhQDdRZKejCVjkyVPsGiDC7XEZGWgOxQur-qVLYOiObyKag6_aDq4W_nqLEZ3z5AfqTBwO5ZHjYzsJBuz4oT2Ux-4ImPhzuM0M_mI128LCCsteCsbVatn1HKoxP3_y/s1600/Kelli-CountryClubGig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-Xo3wcj4BxmDAMXhQDdRZKejCVjkyVPsGiDC7XEZGWgOxQur-qVLYOiObyKag6_aDq4W_nqLEZ3z5AfqTBwO5ZHjYzsJBuz4oT2Ux-4ImPhzuM0M_mI128LCCsteCsbVatn1HKoxP3_y/s400/Kelli-CountryClubGig.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Calamity Janes, three singing sisters, and their hip bassist, Kelli Coleman</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times";">The life of a local/regional musician - especially if you play with multiple other musicians - can be an odd mixture of venues and music styles. On this night, Kelli would be playing stand-up bass with a talented and popular local group of Texas/county singing sisters known as the Calamity Janes. These three singing sisters have a few local radio hits and seem on the cusp of bigger things. Some serious talent in those beautifully blended voices.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";">This Saturday gig was at a country club. The Janes were the entertainment for a club crawfish boil. The crowd was small but enthusiastic. We got to see some Texas two-stepping, which I enjoyed immensely. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";">I'd also like to mention that bass player was outstanding.</span><br />
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<br />Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-32071900022365344832016-04-22T20:57:00.001-04:002016-04-22T21:03:36.932-04:00Damn this Traffic Jam! Houston<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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(Penny's perspective)</div>
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Remember the James Taylor song Damn this Traffic Jam? How I hate to be late, It hurts my motor to go so slow. Well, that sums up Houston. We sat in traffic for hours. If you go, give yourself lots of time!</div>
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And give yourself even more time to get through security. Hands up going through metal detectors, pockets empty, serious stuff in Houston.</div>
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Shame on me for assuming there would be no vegetarian food options. Found something at both Texas stadiums.</div>
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I wanted to do this but Randy said it was for kids! </div>
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Home Run Alley</div>
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Need a haircut?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIm840i7AkM0ivDsCiGBWexKIKM7PqRviAbeycITA_kegl2ma6ukH4rISj_iEeJ0kTDDAlZM6yoSfpEHE1pQN68-Mu7en7FmnbUwIhWNnY727avIJ8PrICb0OUHRBUT0xaOsRbI_qDu4KK/s1600/IMG_4744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIm840i7AkM0ivDsCiGBWexKIKM7PqRviAbeycITA_kegl2ma6ukH4rISj_iEeJ0kTDDAlZM6yoSfpEHE1pQN68-Mu7en7FmnbUwIhWNnY727avIJ8PrICb0OUHRBUT0xaOsRbI_qDu4KK/s320/IMG_4744.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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How cool is this? Randy got us seats on the club level and this is the concourse. Pretty nice!</div>
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There has been talk of getting rid of Tal's Hill and the train for several years. I actually like the train (cheesy as it is) and hope it stays. It is a nice homage to the original Union Station which the park is built around. </div>
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Here it is in action:</div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLjViLZxNAI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLjViLZxNAI</a></div>
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After Take Me Out to the Ball Game, don't sit down! Sing along with the crowd to Deep in the Heart of Texas. </div>
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There is plenty of nightlife after the game to take advantage of. Several blocks from the stadium we found this fun little place with a rooftop bar and games projected onto the walls of nearby buildings. </div>
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<b>Thumbs up</b><br />
stadium<br />
crowd and overall atmosphere<br />
mascot- Orbit, a little alien looking creature who shoots out t-shirts to the crowd<br />
food options<br />
cleanliness<br />
security<br />
Texas-sized scoreboard<br />
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<b>Thumbs down</b><br />
Can't think of a thing!<br />
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Loved the park, loved Houston. Hated the traffic!<br />
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<br />scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-30249513368004773392016-04-20T22:24:00.000-04:002016-04-21T22:45:59.654-04:00The Texas Tour: Part 1, Arlington, the Orioles and the Rangers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDGJA7pywiF1XeyLa3fGd4m9_EZaItrFYyDfMEG-1-UZiEOldaFS0YrOgKZ6Fq9A95HlBWRCnRVoJNods2XVbeViPItewaxk6n0GaiEbA4j3_F_AFu93CkYUC2s0vvK8kv0uTCknkDBoFM/s1600/MLB-Arlington-3ofUs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDGJA7pywiF1XeyLa3fGd4m9_EZaItrFYyDfMEG-1-UZiEOldaFS0YrOgKZ6Fq9A95HlBWRCnRVoJNods2XVbeViPItewaxk6n0GaiEbA4j3_F_AFu93CkYUC2s0vvK8kv0uTCknkDBoFM/s640/MLB-Arlington-3ofUs.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Texas 6, Baltimore 3<br />
April 14, 2016<br />
(Randy's perspective)<br />
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<b>The last thing I heard</b> before we got on a plane for DFW airport came from my wife, Penny, a West Virginia lifer who loves almost everything about her home state but the winters. Her words: "I'm really looking forward to Texas because I'm ready for some sunshine and warm weather. I don't even care if it's hot. Eighty-five degrees would be fine."<br />
It had snowed on us the previous weekend, you see. Snow in April. Almost as bad as snow in May, which we have also experienced.<br />
We landed in Dallas. It was cloudy, with a chilly breeze and a hint of rain. The temperature was 60.<br />
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<b>My daughter, Kelli,</b> left West Virginia a few months after her 18th birthday. She was bound at that time for the University of North Texas, in Denton. I was with her when she checked in to her dorm. This is no exaggeration; as we unpacked the car and lugged boxes inside her dorm on that August 2005 day, it was 109 degrees. If only it had been a dry heat.<br />
In spite of the heat, Texas grabbed and kept her. After graduation from UNT, she moved to Dallas and has been back to the Mountain State of West Virginia only to visit. She's in Year 11 in North Texas and Year 7 in sprawling, big-monied Big D.<br />
I mention all that because we three - Penny, Kelli and I - have changed during the past decade. Grown ... that's what I hope we've done. Now I understand the basic tenet that seeking new experiences as you tick off birthday after birthday usually means you're going to change, but the point of this story is that baseball has been a growth catalyst for Penny and me. Maybe even Kelli, after now spending a couple of baseball experiences with us. (Probably not, but I can hope.)<br />
Penny has learned to love the game. Her interest level has evolved from boredom to apathy to low-level interest to keen interest - maybe even devotion. She keeps a scorebook, for heaven's sake. Still, even more than enjoying the artistry and competition of the games, she loves how the senses kick in <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKglNB0yy-7LWgWCZfpweQp04AJ3g_AdmlG7Rvlh07g5vj4JJd1Djs8UzEzXtYAmpIBhCaVDQjQj8Ye69mxRiiHmrhyMxFOX2MagmmfERv2I8uyfkOMrRmRZJG4sFetQb_tL1fkXR9mDZu/s1600/MLB-Arlington-Penny%2527sScorebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKglNB0yy-7LWgWCZfpweQp04AJ3g_AdmlG7Rvlh07g5vj4JJd1Djs8UzEzXtYAmpIBhCaVDQjQj8Ye69mxRiiHmrhyMxFOX2MagmmfERv2I8uyfkOMrRmRZJG4sFetQb_tL1fkXR9mDZu/s320/MLB-Arlington-Penny%2527sScorebook.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penny's hands, Penny's scorebook</td></tr>
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we get to the ballpark: the three-ring circus of sights (which are endless), the smells, the sounds (such as the crack of the bat, the thud of ball reaching glove, the mood swings of the crowd, the music - all those cool things, even though they've become cliche-ish).<br />
I, on the other hand, after loving baseball as child and reading all the box scores in the morning paper, had become a boring, only-truly-interested-in-one-team (the Braves) casual fan. I have on this wonderful journey rediscovered all of the jewels that Penny is soaking in for the first time.<br />
Kelli knows little-to-nothing about the game. But she's a good sport, so she got in on the fun and attended two games in Texas with us. Night 1 was in Arlington, night 2 in Houston.<br />
Either she had a great time, or she's a clever and enthusiastic actor. ... Actually, she is a relatively talented actor and a nice person - but I still think she had fun.<br />
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<b>We arrived in Dallas</b> on Thursday afternoon, kicked back for roughly an hour, then headed to the suburban cluster that is Arlington, Texas. The stadium is right off Interstate 30, essentially next door to both AT&T Stadium, aka Jerry's World, and Six Flags.<br />
We later had a discussion about the merits of urban vs. suburban parks. Penny and I vote for urban. I voted a second time for urban parks as I plunked down $20 to park in a big-ass, blacktop parking lot outside the Ballpark at Arlington.<br />
Once we reached the park itself, though, we had a "big ole time."<br />
There are a few quirky and fun features outside and inside the stadium. You can go to a big spell-Texas display outside the stadium, only it's a T-E-(blank)-A-S. You can step up between the E and the A and improvise the X. It was a popular spot.<br />
I know Penny's wrapup will talk about the perimeter aspects of the park, so I'll leave that to her because she's good at it.<br />
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I found going to Arlington a tad different. Often when I write about the baseball journey, I offer comments about my expectations for this park or that team, all based on childhood or earlier-life games I've seen on television. For example, last season Penny and I traveled to Minneapolis for a Twins game. The Twins now play at Target Field, but I shared what I knew of Minnesota, which included thoughts about the late Metropolitan Stadium and the Metrodome and Harmon Kellibrew and Kirby Puckett, who once broke my heart with a home run dagger he delivered in the 1991 World Series to vanquish my team, the Braves.<br />
In fact, every city we've visited and every team we've witnessed brought back some thought or two that made seeing that team or place a kind of bucket-list experience.<br />
The Texas Rangers? I got nothing.<br />
Texas is a fine franchise, and the BallPark at Arlington was dandy. I just don't have Texas Rangers memories.<br />
The closest I could come to symbiosis was thinking about Nolan Ryan, the fabulous, flame-thrower who pitched for five years for the Rangers and later worked for the team. Ryan, who threw six no-hitters in his career, is a Rangers legend. Has his own stadium statue.<br />
Funny thing, he's also got a statue in Houston, where he's also a legend. We saw the Ryan statue in Houston the next night.<br />
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The Rangers beat the Orioles on this night. The Orioles had been hot. They were 7-1 coming into this game. But five Rangers runs in the sixth inning put them toward a 6-3 win.<br />
Mark Trumbo homered for the Orioles. His homer was one of only five extra base hits in the game.<br />
It was early-season baseball.<br />
Nice crowd for a Thursday night.<br />
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<br />Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-81542452681842183782016-04-20T21:15:00.000-04:002016-04-20T21:15:13.820-04:00Texas Rangers and the Cotton Eyed Joe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhenYyRCgN0_yT7dT7FvMKxdoOGmLUY06_43AGXb5Kc5zV0wF2guK3takoj6Mpgul3Jq7HDZsS6WamWMplNDJmtDCp95xlVTmh6uAvvgjjOOtT1Y80L5_wasZA56mHwAdYxQTJwBdjI6C/s1600/MLB-Arlington-PennyPic5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhenYyRCgN0_yT7dT7FvMKxdoOGmLUY06_43AGXb5Kc5zV0wF2guK3takoj6Mpgul3Jq7HDZsS6WamWMplNDJmtDCp95xlVTmh6uAvvgjjOOtT1Y80L5_wasZA56mHwAdYxQTJwBdjI6C/s320/MLB-Arlington-PennyPic5.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPlrNLf8xou9cG6l55Net1-X5yCEeFEaydCzO0V9IqgwJMdce1dt5CjOgr-_l3Evt9LY95y7VSuLsRSmZZTYgBogacsjHyQ5IIXvvLoRaAalJ-fGUX8mwBHdwzuJdwH9DjYuRQRnW_bHBy/s1600/MLB-Arlington-PennyPic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPlrNLf8xou9cG6l55Net1-X5yCEeFEaydCzO0V9IqgwJMdce1dt5CjOgr-_l3Evt9LY95y7VSuLsRSmZZTYgBogacsjHyQ5IIXvvLoRaAalJ-fGUX8mwBHdwzuJdwH9DjYuRQRnW_bHBy/s320/MLB-Arlington-PennyPic1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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April 19, 2016<br />
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Rangers Ballpark in Arlington<br />
(Penny's perspective)</div>
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Randy and I, accompanied on this trip by Texas musician (and my stepdaughter) Kelli Coleman, headed to Arlington to see the Rangers and my favorite team, the Orioles.<br />
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We got to Arlington with enough time to grab a bite to eat. Kelli suggested Mariano's, home to the first frozen Margarita. It is close to the park, the service was quick and the food was good.</div>
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There was a lot to like in this park. If you are a fan of amusement parks, you'll be happy to know Six Flags over Texas is just next door. You can also see AT&T Stadium, home of the Cowboys, to the west.</div>
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You might be able to tell from this picture that the park is below street level due to wind. </div>
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The Nolan Ryan statue on Vandergriff Plaza. He is the only player to have his number retired by three different teams (Angels #30, Rangers #34 , and Astros #34) <a href="http://baseballhall.org/hof/ryan-nolan">http://baseballhall.org/hof/ryan-nolan</a><br />
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Can you tell it is our first time here?<br />
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And I thought I'd go hungry in Texas!</div>
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Shannon Stone died when he lost his balance catching a ball for his son. He fell headfirst 20 feet. He was a firefighter and loved the game of baseball. More on his story can be found here:</div>
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Most parks now have a race and this one is no exception. In the middle of the sixth inning there is a dot race. I have no idea why dots, but there they were. I understand sometimes there is a legends race with prominent Texans. </div>
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I'm going out on a limb here and saying the Rangers have the creepiest mascot I've seen. He walked down our aisle and I'm sure I got a better picture but can't find it. </div>
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Before we started on this baseball journey, I never realized that the seventh-inning stretch was going to be such a big deal everywhere. In Arlington, after Take Me Out to the Ballgame, I loved dancing to the Cotton Eyed Joe. I actually sang, even though it was the traditional version. The crowd loved it, and so did we!<br />
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One thing I especially liked was that we weren't constantly bombarded with games and announcements between plays. (Hello Pittsburgh!)<br />
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I was happy to see the Orioles play outside Camden Yards. I had to sing "J-J-Hardy" all by myself - to the chagrin of the little girl siting in front of me. We also got to see former Nat Ian Desmond, a player I like who is now playing for the Rangers. Unfortunately, the O's couldn't pull off a win, with a final score of 6-3, Rangers.<br />
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<b>Thumbs up</b><br />
Park atmosphere<br />
food selection<br />
Scoreboard<br />
easy access in and out<br />
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<b>Thumbs down </b><br />
Ushers allowed fans and vendors in aisles during play<br />
creepy mascot<br />
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Overall, this was a great experience and a fun park!<br />
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<span id="goog_1267534459"></span><span id="goog_1267534460"></span><br />scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-78632635955078424932016-04-10T20:50:00.001-04:002016-04-15T10:37:32.939-04:00The Texas Two-Stop; Ready to see one daughter and two Texas MLB teamsApril 10, 2016<br />
(Randy's perspective)<br />
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When Penny and I married, we each had two children - all kids were in their twenties. For the record, we are plenty proud of all four. They're all on the early stretches of what we hope will be long, happy and adventurous lives.<br />
In their young adulthood, they have fanned out across the country. This is in chronological birth order: Kati lives in Pittsburgh; Rachel is in Davenport, Iowa; Kelli is in Dallas; Derek resides in San Diego.<br />
This being a baseball blog and all - and with Penny and I on a journey to visit all Major League stadiums - I will point out the obvious: Three of our four kids have had been deferential enough to live in Major League cities. Rachel lives in a Minor League city, which is also good. Davenport is home of the Quad Cities River Bandits.<br />
We have been to several games with our kids. We have been to two Pirates games with Kati, a Cardinals game with Rachel, and Derek went with us on a jaunt to Baltimore to see the Orioles.<br />
We've also attended Minor League games with the kids. Until recently, Rachel and her fiance, Marc, lived in Evansville, Indiana. When Penny and I visited them, we also took in an Evansville Otters game, which was played in the third-oldest active baseball stadium in the country. That stadium in Evansville is where "A League of Their Own" was filmed.<br />
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That information about kids was a platter-setter for this coming weekend. The only child that hasn't yet joined us on a baseball adventure is Kelli, and we're going to see her in Dallas this week. We're looking forward to Kelli joining us for games in Arlington and Houston. We've got the Orioles and Rangers on Thursday and the Astros hosting the Twins on Friday.<br />
These games will be numbers 18 and 19 on our quest to visit all 30 MLB venues.<br />
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It should be a great weekend. In addition to baseball, we're looking forward to seeing and hearing Kelli - who for a living plays stand-up bass, electric bass, guitar, trombone and/or whatever others she'd playing with need - during a gig on Saturday afternoon.<br />
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I don't have a great deal of preconceived notions about this Texas adventure. Here, however, are a few random pre-game thoughts I have:<br />
<ul>
<li>The Texas Rangers were once the Washington Senators. I'm old enough to remember the Washington Senators, who in 1971 became the Texas Rangers.</li>
<li>That's not to be confused with a previous team named the Washington Senators. That team became the Minnesota Twins.</li>
<li>We'll be visiting the favorite teams of the Presidents Bush. George W. owned the Rangers and George H.W.'s favorite team is the Astros.</li>
<li>Daughter Kelli first went to Texas 11 years ago. She was a music performance graduate of the University of North Texas in Denton, which is not far from Dallas. Shortly after she got there, she said, "Dad, don't be surprised if you go somewhere and hear Deep In The Heart of Texas. Texans seem to love that song." ... Sure enough, it's a regular 7th-inning stretch feature in Houston.</li>
<li>I've been to Texas enough times to know Penny and I won't take a vegetarian meal for granted. </li>
<li>A 7th-inning stretch feature for the Rangers is Cotton Eyed Joe, which is tamer traditional, country folk song that was later turned into Cotton Eye Joe by the Swedish folk group Rednex. I've heard the Swedish version in Pittsburgh at a Penguins game, at West Virginia University's Mountaineer Field and (from a telecast) at Yankee Stadium. Truth be told, the deejay at Penny's and my wedding reception party played it.</li>
<li>Although the place hasn't been the Astros' home for a long time, every time I think of baseball in Houston, I still think of the Astrodome, which is still standing. I understand that only maintenance crews and certain certified people are allowed inside. In fact, it is still standing only because demolition would likely create serious environmental issues. But ... I'd kind of like to go by and see it.</li>
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Time to quit. Looking forward to the Lone Star State.</div>
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<br />Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-69550629696615291332016-04-10T19:52:00.004-04:002016-04-10T19:52:38.317-04:00Two for TexasWe are starting our 2016 ballpark tour with the two stadiums in Texas. We love taking family members with us on our baseball trips, and in Texas we will meet up with Randy's daughter, Kelli, who lives in Dallas. Our plan is to fly to Dallas, drive to Arlington and see the Rangers play my Orioles. The next day we will drive to Houston and see a game. After the two Texas games, we will have gone to games with all four of our children and my sister- and brother-in-law.<br />
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<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/1c/e2/2a/1ce22ad3795a682af7b6c85535890268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/1c/e2/2a/1ce22ad3795a682af7b6c85535890268.jpg" /></a>I have never been to Texas, so I don't know what to expect. As a vegetarian I somewhat expect to go hungry! I've researched ballpark food, and it seems there is a lot of BBQ and Tex-Mex. I will let you know if I find any vegetarian options. I did hear that they have a three-pound pretzel (repeat of the one in Detroit?) at Arlington, and I totally expect to try it, even though it has a reportedly 3,700 calories! Yikes!<br />
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We missed Opening Day due to work commitments, so this will be our first games of the season. We chose Texas before it gets too hot and because we don't want to freeze like we did at the beginning of the season two years ago in Cleveland.<br />
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In Arlington, I'm looking forward to the Cotton Eyed Joe at the end of the 7th-inning stretch and seeing what the heck the claw-and-antler actually is. We will also visit the Hall of Fame at the park, look for the Nolan Ryan statue and, of course, find superfan Cowboy Wayne. I'm rusty on my scorekeeping skills and will spend a night or two refreshing my memory on that.<br />
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Randy, practice these moves!<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32TUDaJAYTg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32TUDaJAYTg</a><br />
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Arlington is also home to the Bowling Hall of Fame. Should we fit that in the schedule?<br />
<a href="http://www.bowlingmuseum.com/">http://www.bowlingmuseum.com/</a><br />
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In Houston, we will look for the statues of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio. Since I love those big screens, I'm excited to see one of the largest ones in an MLB park. Food looks iffy at this park, too, but you never know until you get there.<br />
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<img src="http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/slides/photos/002/404/367/train-minute-maid-park-1a_crop_north.jpg?w=600&h=400&q=75" /><br />
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<br />scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-72741655724839247892015-10-20T21:30:00.001-04:002015-10-20T21:30:46.865-04:00Toronto-Chicago on a night when the Blue Jays and the Cubs are hosting playoff games(PC)<br />
Randy and I are more than halfway down the road on our journey to visit all 30 Major League Baseball parks, but we're still much closer to halfway than we are to the finish. So it seems logical that out of four teams left in the playoffs, we've been to two of the parks: the Rogers Centre in Toronto and Wrigley Field in Chicago. (No trips yet to see the homes of the Mets or the Royals.)<br />
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Since Randy and I have visited both parks that are hosting playoff games tonight, we thought it was an appropriate time to do a little review of our trips to Toronto and Chicago.<br />
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Here is the Rogers Centre. <i>(And, just for the record, "RC" is Randy and "PC" is Penny.)</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBiDowjSEnkfD8qqYuSCwo4KSKUoak8qiolfbJEe2VMCXh6ZpE-TmG0QLUxCUwOFyxYPD5LiQ53mt2dKL99jAnOWQSwOk7oY6DRin6aG8atu6UVvnqXZSRKH_XfSBMyZxZGRK71b-2zbTO/s1600/IMG_0300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBiDowjSEnkfD8qqYuSCwo4KSKUoak8qiolfbJEe2VMCXh6ZpE-TmG0QLUxCUwOFyxYPD5LiQ53mt2dKL99jAnOWQSwOk7oY6DRin6aG8atu6UVvnqXZSRKH_XfSBMyZxZGRK71b-2zbTO/s320/IMG_0300.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguF4MW6eVGBbjg5GXA1lSL6HpvC3gSdsg4JtsS82eHY4UCHcxZVXwYNYGAuoJ6Ky250TaLUP25klrKsSwswRACk2DGJ1-gHpjRZwH_dAD8IJO6hLGhMkQoDBugYuy9fccBlfKGU-Y3MjXO/s1600/IMG_0238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguF4MW6eVGBbjg5GXA1lSL6HpvC3gSdsg4JtsS82eHY4UCHcxZVXwYNYGAuoJ6Ky250TaLUP25klrKsSwswRACk2DGJ1-gHpjRZwH_dAD8IJO6hLGhMkQoDBugYuy9fccBlfKGU-Y3MjXO/s320/IMG_0238.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
And the view from our hotel room. BTW, this room was one of our favorite Ballpark Chaser experiences.<br />
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(RC)<br />
Penny and I were on a walk today, and we discussed how it's cool to actually see places (sports venues, especially) on television AFTER you've been there live. You have a feel for the place.<br />
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So I thought it was interesting that two of our trips, to the Rogers Centre in Toronto and to Wrigley Field, were two of my favorites. Totally different, but excellent in both cases.<br />
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It's probably a good thing we're doing this blog tonight. Right now the Blue Jays are getting hammered by the Royals, and the series is going to be 3-1 in favor of Kansas City. Maybe there will only be one more game in this series. I hope not.<br />
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The Rogers Centre looks kind of dead. I'll bet those outstanding Blue Jays cheerleaders can't even get this crowd going tonight.<br />
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(PC)<br />
I went back and looked at our previous entry for Toronto. I had forgotten how dead the crowd was when we were there. The atmosphere around the stadium was nothing compared to Wrigley.<br />
Randy failed to mention it wasn't really the cheerleaders he liked but the skimpy outfits!<br />
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(RC)<br />
Now, now Penny. I liked the dancing. And those young ladies are called the J Force, thank you very much.<br />
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Penny is right about the atmosphere around the Rogers Centre. There was none to speak of. The CN Tower is next door. But nothing screams "baseball hotbed."<br />
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Still, I liked the vibe inside the Rogers Centre. I thought they were decent and relatively lively crowds for midyear Friday night, Saturday afternoon games.<br />
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The highlight of theToronto trip, though, was watching the Friday night game from the right-centerfield window of the Renaissance Hotel.<br />
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(PC)<br />
Don't forget the little old ladies who ignored me while I was waiting for you to get food. I left you alone with them for a few minutes and you guys were best friends when I came back.<br />
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We did have great seats on Saturday, and I'm really glad we went, but it is not on my list of places I want to revisit.<br />
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The Cubs game is coming on TV right now. Now that was one place we said should be a yearly trip. If you want to revisit our Wrigley trip, it is on our old blog, :So, Is the Scoreboard Big Enough?"<br />
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Here are some pics to remind you.<br />
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I loved the excitement around the stadium. The music, crowd, history! I hate to even mention the things I didn't like.<br />
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(RC)<br />
It makes me happy to read what I just read from Penny. I notice she mentioned history and Wrigley Field in the same concept. ... Now I wouldn't ever want to give her grief about anything, but I think for the sake of accuracy I should mention that she has her own "history" with Wrigley Field.<br />
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It's a piece of recent history - a story about an elementary school principal (named Penny) that visited Wrigley Field in 2011 and called me FROM THE PARK to say the following: "I can't believe you think this place is so great. This is a DUMP! It's the worst place I've ever seen. Why do you like this place? We can't get out of here fast enough."<br />
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Ok, I'm done. Couldn't resist.<br />
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But here's part 2. She had lousy seats four years, she sat on the top row far down the rightfield line, and her view was obstructed by a post. We actually walked up to where she sat in 2011 before we took our seats about 20 rows up from the first-base dugout.<br />
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Her second trip to Wrigley was far more enchanting, she said.<br />
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(<i>By the way, the guy at home plate in the picture above is the late Ernie Banks, who was honored that night by the organization.</i>)<br />
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(PC)<br />
More enchanting the second time mainly because you were there :)<br />
Really. One of the things I really didn't like was the scoreboard. On tv it looks like the new ones are much better and not so creepy! I also enjoyed actually seeing the game the second time. Seriously, here is where my seats were the first time.<br />
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As you know, for me, the atmosphere is the deciding factor in whether I like a park or not, and Wrigley was a win for me on that one.<br />
I'm surprised Randy didn't mention that there were no cheerleaders!<br />
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The food is another story. Nothing here for us vegetarians! (Unlike across town at U.S. Cellular; the White Sox do the food thing right!)<br />
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(RC)<br />
Regarding our trips, there were two versions of baseball "Mecca" for me, and they are obvious: Wrigley and Fenway. We've seen both.<br />
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Fenway was a mixed bag. Terrible seats, a fading and bad Red Sox team and claustrophobic conditions in and around Fenway made it merely an 8. 5 on a 10 scale for me. Wrigley was a strong 10 out of 10.<br />
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The more familiar Penny gets with the game, the more she seems to appreciate what we found at Wrigley, which was the following:<br />
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<li>A true neighborhood stadium, with fantastic bars and restaurants all around</li>
<li>History and more history inside and outside</li>
<li>Ivy walls that were just as impressive in person as they were to me almost a half-century ago, the first time I saw them on television</li>
<li>One of the best traditions in baseball, the seventh-inning singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"</li>
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When we visited Chicago, Penny really got into the history of the Cubs. All that losing. The "billy goat" curse. The across-the-street, rooftop seats. Etc., etc.<br />
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This is fun tonight watching the Cubs and the Mets. People are standing and stomping and yelling because they have a terrific team to watch. This - playing for a spot in the World Series - is a scenario Cubs fans could only dream about on the 2013 night we saw the Cubs and the Reds playing on a chilly, windy night. That night, the last-place Cubs lost in 11 innings to the playoff-hopeful Reds.<br />
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This year, the last-place-in-the-division Reds are sitting home watching the Cubs try to secure a spot in the World Series.<br />
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Go Cubbies!<br />
<br />scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-17909771371643278062015-09-30T20:42:00.000-04:002015-09-30T20:46:15.497-04:00Miami: A fun time and an entertaining baseball series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXLWmupK_Nh3Y3ta5P8_WLKWXjP6iAamkHWFr3eHWN4rdh7UXxt4NFSJUjRS2B9mTlmX21bSiislnSHWSYzeEyqAWs3tzQu_JWHZhc4tcbQaqaMTt5NT2YQAMVVmeAkN7n9N4FIw1VjKt/s1600/Miami2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXLWmupK_Nh3Y3ta5P8_WLKWXjP6iAamkHWFr3eHWN4rdh7UXxt4NFSJUjRS2B9mTlmX21bSiislnSHWSYzeEyqAWs3tzQu_JWHZhc4tcbQaqaMTt5NT2YQAMVVmeAkN7n9N4FIw1VjKt/s640/Miami2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Miami 12, Atlanta 11</b><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">September 25</span></i><br />
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<b>Miami 6, Atlanta 2</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>September 26</i></span><br />
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(<i>Randy's Perspective</i>)<br />
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It was nice to experience a couple of days of actual vacation. Those are hard to come by (for me at least, not so much for the recently retired Penny), but we had set aside September 24 through 27 for just that: leave West Virginia behind and head for a "beach and baseball" vacation. Our destination(s): Miami and Miami Beach.<br />
South Beach (the daylight and after-dark versions), Little Havana, Lincoln Road, Adventura (the country's second-largest) Mall ... we took in what we could during the hours that we weren't hanging out at Marlins Park.<br />
About the baseball games, Penny and I had an interesting discussion about the significance of watching a late September series between the fourth-place-in-the-division Marlins and the fifth-place and worst-version-of-a-Braves team in two-and-a-half decades. With two teams holding no chance of advancement, there was a distinct possibility that they could be mailing in the last few games.<br />
Penny, as I have mentioned in this blog, has always enjoyed the "experience" of going to baseball games. But, as she would be the first to tell you, until two seasons ago she knew little to nothing about the game itself. She enjoyed going to the park - just didn't care about the fine details of baseball.<br />
Times and situations change, though. Now, she sees the big picture ... she asks questions ... she keeps a scorebook, for heaven's sake ... she's mastered the differences between a sacrifice and a fielder's choice and she almost understands how a wild pitch differs from a passed ball. Bottom line, she now appreciates and gets into the game itself. And as she has suggested to me on many occasions, I am a lucky man because of that. (Each time she offers this suggestion, I respond in this manner: Penny, you are soooooo right.)<br />
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With that as background, here are the nuts and bolts of the discussion we had.<br />
She asked if I had enjoyed the first of the two games we saw. I told her that I had, indeed, enjoyed the game, which so happened to be a 12-11 Marlins victory that featured 36 hits and a Braves comeback from a 12-6 deficit to an eighth-inning, bases-loaded-with-one-out rally (with the tying run on third, the go-ahead on second). Of course, the 2015 Braves being who they are, they failed to get even the tying run home, much less the potential winning run.<br />
I told Penny that I was surprised by a few things, such as the enthusiasm and energy of the fans in the park, as well as the intensity the teams brought to a late-season game that meant little to either team.<br />
She asked what I meant by that?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgnHzGiLs1QDpzzpR3_iHbYz_PZNndzBS9fLId4U21kx4dzY69GCayogrolVc233EP15fwRQZn9s7shNjorScjSYfWxOcLZOdO5xCk8BSBubPFoVt8lb6e-am1elkfneQm775RgugqXbK/s1600/Miami4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgnHzGiLs1QDpzzpR3_iHbYz_PZNndzBS9fLId4U21kx4dzY69GCayogrolVc233EP15fwRQZn9s7shNjorScjSYfWxOcLZOdO5xCk8BSBubPFoVt8lb6e-am1elkfneQm775RgugqXbK/s320/Miami4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a bad crowd for a late-season game in Miami</td></tr>
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For starters, I told her that I had expected about 3,000 fans. There were probably closer to 11,000 or 12,000. The upper decks were closed, but the lower tiers were maybe half full.<br />
I added that I would have been more intrigued had either the Marlins or the Braves been involved in a pennant race. I said "baseball is great, no matter when or where" - but teams in playoff contention create more drama.<br />
Penny thought about this and said, "Hmmm. I'm surprised to hear you say that."<br />
Her assessment is this: She doesn't care if there's a pennant race or not. We're in a Major League Baseball park watching professional players play a game that we love. My enthusiasm, she figured, was not what it should be. Third, she couldn't understand why I didn't seem to care whether my favorite team won or lost.<br />
"If it's my favorite team, I don't care whether they are in first place or not, I'm happy to see them and hope they win," she said.<br />
My turn to say, "Hmmm." Because I immediately thought about what she said and determined that she's right about everything she said.<br />
To make a long story short, "Go Braves!"<br />
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Yes, well, we lost the second game, too. It was 2-1 in the eighth, when the unimpressive Braves bullpen gave up four runs. The story of a season.<br />
Early in the season, right after the Braves had traded Craig Kimbrell to the Padres, I flew in from a out-of-town trip. I arrived at the Columbus, Ohio airport shortly after 10 p.m. and got to my car in time to tune in (via Sirius/XM) the end of a game between the Padres and the Diamondbacks. I heard (recently traded Brave) Justin Upton homer and (recently traded Brave) Kimbrell save the 2-1 game for the Padres.<br />
I figured it would be a long season for the Braves.<br />
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Back to Miami for a moment.<br />
As usual, Penny has produced a fun blog with a lot of pictures. She captured a lot of the nuances of the park<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcdnlYnpGWAQZJaGGKboLazxZfbL0BS9STr7T0EPq9q72M2PMYHDoU9UGqetnydigjFvgKbGyoF_VhqbHPjwjWNCrJVACQJoD4DcszCSbmlScrCifeSxnJLVhwXKvcxvbXfquJV-GU4vK4/s1600/Miami-Penny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcdnlYnpGWAQZJaGGKboLazxZfbL0BS9STr7T0EPq9q72M2PMYHDoU9UGqetnydigjFvgKbGyoF_VhqbHPjwjWNCrJVACQJoD4DcszCSbmlScrCifeSxnJLVhwXKvcxvbXfquJV-GU4vK4/s320/Miami-Penny.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's Penny following a tradition: home team apparel</td></tr>
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As I mentioned, I hadn't "read up" enough on the Marlins still-kind-of-new park. My expectations were low, but it was a fun place to watch a game. I would go back.<br />
I didn't realize before going to Miami that the park was built on the site of the old Orange Bowl stadium. As I watched the baseball game, I tried to conjure images from some of the thousand or so great games I have watched on tv from the Orange Bowl.<br />
But the images wouldn't come. It just looked a hip 2015 baseball stadium.<br />
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<br />Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-68130889879984326392015-09-29T19:51:00.002-04:002015-09-29T19:51:30.329-04:00A Fish Tank and a Pool are Part of an Interesting Stadium<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our latest stadium adventure took us to Miami.</div>
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We had a little trouble with the parking garages at Marlins Park, and apparently so did the cars in front of us. Attendants wearing red are working pre-paid garage parking only. It was a little confusing since you were already in the turning lane and would discover you couldn't park in that garage. We accidentally discovered a great parking area on the east side of the stadium. By chance, we turned up a street directly across from the stadium to find the residents making great use of their front yards. For $10 you can park and not be blocked in. We liked it so much that we did it the second night we were there. </div>
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Walking in this entrance you will see these orange letters, a tribute to the Orange Bowl, which used to be on the plot of land where the Marlins' stadium is now. They are actually pretty cool. I'm glad I did a little research before I went to this park or I would be wondering, "what the heck...?"</div>
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For more on the Orange Bowl tribute check out this link.</div>
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<a href="http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669549/a-new-welcome-sign-memorializes-the-famed-demolished-orange-bowl">http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669549/a-new-welcome-sign-memorializes-the-famed-demolished-orange-bowl</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRT6dvafprkMI7pVzNmFzlHpgCc_O98mvU1ck3G2Y77xBzMlnOskq1L-b65paai3W7dMGjvhNxb6F4r9FgBcu0JGp1_ceeeI9LmcGXiwj72vRpNhmmlxKeqn8U2xdVpTv7FH50uNuHSxyi/s1600/IMG_3415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRT6dvafprkMI7pVzNmFzlHpgCc_O98mvU1ck3G2Y77xBzMlnOskq1L-b65paai3W7dMGjvhNxb6F4r9FgBcu0JGp1_ceeeI9LmcGXiwj72vRpNhmmlxKeqn8U2xdVpTv7FH50uNuHSxyi/s320/IMG_3415.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
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There is a lot to like in this park. Because it is relatively new, it has all the modern amenities such as this charging station. </div>
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The area called "Taste of Miami" has a nice selection of local foods. If you don't speak Spanish, wait a second, the signs will change to English. </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Not much of the food was vegetarian friendly, but these plantain chips met my food requirements for this trip. Vegetarian and deep fried!</span><br />
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Sushi anyone?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh13zFYMBGQlD8pav8TkHXN87s3uncz2AFMYDScbtfe2Y-3rlmi47AkkSWHe5wRRDAcR-tlMbPuz3APg6LgipNlfBw0UWlTcvzNs7eahrgCFlo8jChauoga3cW4QoqrG7CvI_TJtYWqp1DQ/s1600/IMG_3426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh13zFYMBGQlD8pav8TkHXN87s3uncz2AFMYDScbtfe2Y-3rlmi47AkkSWHe5wRRDAcR-tlMbPuz3APg6LgipNlfBw0UWlTcvzNs7eahrgCFlo8jChauoga3cW4QoqrG7CvI_TJtYWqp1DQ/s320/IMG_3426.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Marlins Park is a great place to go for those on a budget. We got great seats behind the visitor's dugout (row 1) for $35 each. Happy Hour beer for $4 and for those who eat hot dogs, I think a $1 dog is a pretty good deal. </div>
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Randy ran into a long lost "twin."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We loved the bobblehead museum!</td></tr>
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The roof was open Saturday night.</div>
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A dome can be a wonderful thing to have, and an air-conditioned dome is even better. The Friday game we attended the dome was closed due to rain and Saturday night it was open. I'm sure there are those who do not like a covered stadium, but it is a relief to me when traveling that I do not have to constantly watch the weather to be sure we can get a game in. The dome was opened for fireworks after Friday's game. There is a beautiful skyline visible from the park. When the dome is closed the glass doors are closed. This picture shows the doors closed.<br />
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I liked the announcement of the starting lineup on these pillars.</div>
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Who wants to work out at the game?</div>
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Randy's team. Unfortunately, we did not a see a win for the Braves either night.</div>
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I usually wear the home team's shirt unless they are playing the Braves or Orioles. I realized on the plane that I forgot my Braves shirt. Red would just have to do.</div>
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In my humble opinion, this is the best scoreboard we've seen. It was huge! I love the addition of the scoring for each player. It gave me a chance to check my score book. It was clear, big enough to read, and I couldn't think of anything else you would need to know that wasn't on there!</div>
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Running presidents, pierogies, sausages - so why not some racing sea life? Speaking of sea life, there are fish tanks behind home plate. This was one of the few things I didn't like about the park. I'm not sure what the logic was, and since I do not believe in using animals for entertainment, I had trouble with this. You can't really see the tanks unless you are looking for them. I'm sure the sounds and lights in the stadium cannot be a healthy living environment. I couldn't get close enough to get a decent picture but here is information and a nice shot.</div>
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<a href="http://www.livescience.com/19083-baseball-stadium-fish-aquarium.html">http://www.livescience.com/19083-baseball-stadium-fish-aquarium.html</a></div>
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The cheerleaders and music added a lot of energy to the evening. However, someone should tell them that during the National Anthem is not the time to catch up on the days events. Please be respectful!</div>
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Anyone want to take a dip? This is just a weird quirk of the stadium. Who wants to swim during a game? I'm not sure, but to each his own. </div>
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We had a wonderful time in Miami. It is a beautiful, fun and energetic city. We found the people friendly and we will definitely return.</div>
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<b>Thumbs up</b></div>
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Scoreboard!</div>
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Stadium</div>
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Air Conditioning</div>
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Dome</div>
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Free programs</div>
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Easy access in and out of the stadium area</div>
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Budget friendly</div>
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Energy in the stadium</div>
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<b>Thumbs down</b></div>
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Disrespectful cheerleaders</div>
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Lackadaisical mascot</div>
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Fish tank</div>
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Vegetarian options- there is a glutten free food stand</div>
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Ushers weren't particularly helpful or knowledgeable. We did not see one person designated as guest relations. I will say the guest services desk was available and the people here were helpful</div>
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<br />scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-36900311056270391632015-09-11T09:38:00.002-04:002015-09-11T09:46:10.855-04:00An important late-season game ... in a cool ballpark ... and, uh, we missed some of it <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>(Randy's Perspective)</i><br />
Twins 3, Astros 0<br />
August 28, 2015<br />
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Growing up in Anderson, South Carolina, I watched a thousand televised baseball and football games from Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis. It was the Twins and the great Harmon Kellibrew and the Vikings with their Purple People Eaters defense and Fran Tarkenton, a Georgia boy, playing quarterback. I watched them all from The Met.<br />
Yes, I know that's spiffy Target Field in the picture at the top of the page, which is two stadiums removed from Metropolitan. But I just want to say that I finally stepped foot on the site where I saw all those Twins victories and those great Vikings teams playing in minus 30 degree temperatures. (Yes, I know, it probably wasn't really -30, but it might as well have been.)<br />
My point is that some of these far northern destinations are trips into a sports memory bank for a boy from the Deep South.<br />
But here's the kicker. Metropolitan Stadium, which the Twins and Vikings abandoned in 1981, is now the Mall of America. Sad in a way. There's a replica of home plate at The Met. It's imbedded in the floor of the Sponge Bob section of the amusement park in the center of the mall. There's also an odd-looking red seat stuck into a wall above the water ride. The seat signifies where Harmon Kellibrew hit a 520-foot home run, the farthest home run in the stadium's history.<br />
I suppose I should be happy that at least someone remembered. Sponge Bob, indeed.<br />
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Before describing Target Field, I should also mention that I have a jaded memory of the stadium between Metropolitan and Target. It was the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. And of all the memories that place offered to Twins and Vikings fans, it was the famous (infamous in my mind) 1991 home run by Krby Puckett that I - lifelong Braves fan - will never get over.<br />
Puckett pounded Charlie Liebrandt's slow pitch in the 11th inning over the left-center field wall to extend the Braves-Twins World Series to a seventh game. The next night - and it should come as no surprise to a Braves fan - Jack Morris pitched a 10-inning shutout, and the Twins beat the Braves 1-0.<br />
The Morris game was probably the greatest pitching performance I can remember. It overshadowed the fact that John Smoltz shut out the Twins for nine innings.<br />
Two one-run extra inning games. Twins win, Braves lose. Now that was some stress.<br />
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Anyway, I was sitting next to a Twins season-ticket holder during our game at Target Field. He could recite the action from the final two games of that World Series almost pitch-for-pitch.<br />
But when I asked him if he was a season ticket holder back in the 90's, he said, "Hell no. I wouldn't go to the Metrodome. The place was a disgrace."<br />
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So, about the "now" ballpark: Target Field. It's a gem of a ballpark. Penny and I walked around the stadium, upper and lower tiers, and the sight lines are great. According to Penny, they're not so fine in the upper decks, but she's become a snob about bad (too high) seats. "What's the point of sitting in the stratosphere?" That's her question. (And I'm with her on that.)<br />
In the lower levels, however, there are great seats everywhere.<br />
The atmosphere was good, too. It's Friday night, the kids are back in school, but there were close to 30,000 fans on hand to see the Twins try to hang in there in the wild card race.<br />
And the Twins won 3-0. Two RBI by Nunez, one by Hunter, Gibson pitched into the eighth, and the Twins dreams of a Wild Card berth are alive.<br />
The first-place-in-the-West Astros loaded the based with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to make it interesting, but they couldn't score.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qA4wCbfvjTYWhzNPsRWFzgDp3rpfZctlA-LqEEdoknjT2PMqQFYENbDsm34meM7zjz1ST2qoXLyM7znd1xAx8n-DIYtM5_kaXiX6kelN5Vo7T2k4oLcyqcfrdJeFrtoh8LuHOqtanENj/s1600/Twins2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qA4wCbfvjTYWhzNPsRWFzgDp3rpfZctlA-LqEEdoknjT2PMqQFYENbDsm34meM7zjz1ST2qoXLyM7znd1xAx8n-DIYtM5_kaXiX6kelN5Vo7T2k4oLcyqcfrdJeFrtoh8LuHOqtanENj/s400/Twins2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was our view all night long. Nice park, we just couldn't see home plate.</td></tr>
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Now, soap box time.<br />
Penny touched on this in her blog, and she showed great restraint to not say more. The soap box is about stadium vendors. I'll risk sounding like a "whiner" as I write this.<br />
Let me set the table by saying we purchased excellent tickets, 12 rows behind the Twins dugout. Fabulous seats. This is our vacation, I should add.<br />
So, from our excellent seats, all night long we had vendors standing in the aisles directly in our seats-to-home-plate line of vision. I counted more than 20 people in our section that had the same sight line as Penny and me.<br />
Now, let me interject that I know vendors are part of the ballpark experience. They yell, they crack lame jokes, they hawk their stuff. ... And they don't block everyone's view. ... But there is also etiquette - or, if there no longer is, there should be. A vendor should have the decency to understand that when the game is on, he (or she) should crouch his or her ass down - at least some of the time. We tried leaning forward, left, right ... nothing helped. And the vendors came in waves.<br />
In the third inning, I took a trip to the Customer Service booth to ask what the vendor etiquette policy is. A manager was summoned. His answer: "Our vendors are supposed to be conscious of fans and not interrupt their enjoyment of the game." I said ok - then added that that scenario ain't happening.<br />
He gave me his card and asked if I would call him on his cell the next time a vendor got in the way.<br />
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I went back to my seat, and the dialog between manager and fan(s) got going. Penny and I - really, I promise, we weren't trying to be jerks - started snapping picture after picture of vendors standing in the way. And we texted them to our manager/friend.<br />
He responded several times with apologies, and they actually did a little better for an inning or two. Then the circus started again.<br />
I didn't get a picture of this, but on one occasion Eduardo Escobar slammed a double into the gap, and all I saw from my expensive seat was a pitch disappearing behind a vendor. Then I heard "Crack!" - and the next thing I saw was Escobar running to first from behind the vendor's uniform. It was as if Escobar was running on stage from behind the stage-right curtain. ... And the vendor never turned his head at any time toward the playing field. (I would call that a safety issue in this day of flying foul balls and bats and no protective screens.)<br />
Ok, enough of the curmudgeon stuff.<br />
On to the next park.<br />
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<br />Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-52457695255445915682015-09-07T14:09:00.000-04:002015-09-07T14:09:28.582-04:00Oh, Say Can You See Twins? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There was a lot to like in Minneapolis, and a lot to like about Target Field. Unfortunately, although we had really good seats - they were 12 rows behind the Twins dugout - we can't tell you we really enjoyed the game. That's because we missed so much of it because of vendors who refused get out of fans' way.</div>
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We started our Minneapolis tour at the Mall of America. According to some locals we talked to, they avoid the mall at all cost. However, we wanted to see the red chair and the site of the former stadium, Metropolitan Stadium, which stood on the site the mall now stands on. The red chair marks the sport of Killebrew's home 520 foot home run at the original park in 1967.</div>
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If you go over near the Sponge Bob area you, will find a commemorative home plate plaque. I'm sure thousands of shoppers walk right over it not realizing what it is. <br />
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We walked a lot in Minneapolis. I would almost swear it was 15 miles, but my Fitbit insists it was around six. It is a beautiful city with many outdoor restaurants. Be sure to check out the Skywalk if you visit. We had some suggestions for places to eat but decided on Ike's, which was on our walk to the park. We have some Wisconsin friends that insisted we needed to try cheese curds. We asked if they would be the same in Minnesota. They said they doubted it, but we ordered some at Ike's. The food was pretty good, even the cheese curds. We sat outside and watched the crowd heading to the stadium. </div>
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Harmon Killebrew</div>
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The kinetic wall is pretty awesome. </div>
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Kirby Puckett</div>
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I think there are also statues for Carew and Olivia, but I forgot to look for them!</div>
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This huge glove is in honor of Jim Kaat, who won eleven Gold Gloves while playing for the Twins. It isn't a coincidence that it sits 520 feet from home plate. </div>
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This is a nice tribute to all players. Pendants list the entire rosters for each year. </div>
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Watch this board representing the Twin Cities. A home run results in flashing lights around the board. </div>
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Batting practice.<br />
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This is one of my favorite scoreboards. It is huge! It is so clear you would think you are watching your tv at home.<br />
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We like to walk to the top of the stadium for a picture and I am so glad we did. The skyline is beautiful, and we would not have seen it from our seats.</div>
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Full moon over Minneapolis.</div>
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You know I like a great mascot, and sadly I did not see one here.</div>
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One thing I will not post pictures of (and I must have at least 25 of them), and the one thing that would keep me from returning to Target Field, is the vendors. They were literally in front of us constantly. They had no park etiquette at all. They came down to the front and held up their wares during play, blocking our view for most of the first five innings. As a result, fans would stand up to pay, creating an even worse blocked view for us. After hearing me complain nonstop, Randy sought out help at customer relations. Let's just say, we are now on first name basis with the manager of customer service. </div>
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I understand that there are vendors in all ballparks. And I also know that the vendors at Target Field didn't block everybody's view, but they blocked Randy's and mine. And I counted at least 20 people in our small section that were in the same sight line we were in. And they were all over the stadium doing the same thing. It was ridiculous. </div>
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<b>Thumbs up</b></div>
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Scoreboard</div>
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Stadium</div>
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Friendliness of the locals</div>
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Scorecards were $2</div>
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Fan interaction was just enough</div>
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<b>Thumbs Down</b></div>
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Vendors and fans blocking view during play</div>
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Food was basic stadium fare-they did have a refrigerated section labeled vegetarian</div>
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Mascot</div>
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Atmosphere outside the stadium</div>
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We had a great time in Minneapolis, but I won't be returning to the stadium anytime soon. For my money, I will go to a park where I can see the game!</div>
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<br />scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-70612168749552599302015-08-03T21:37:00.000-04:002015-08-03T21:37:06.698-04:00Finally, back to some baseball<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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(Randy's perspective)<br />
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During the summer of 2015, life has gotten in the way. I know that phrase has become cliche'-ish, but it describes the past few months.<br />
Penny and I had planned to continue our multi-year journey to visit every Major League Baseball park. We simply haven't been able to travel. An opening-day trip to Tampa Bay fell through when an outstanding dog named Stella - an abandoned, hungry, abused dog Penny rescued almost a decade ago from a Fairmont, West Virginia Cracker Barrel parking lot - fell terminally ill. We chose to hang with Stella during her last days.<br />
After that, it was one obligation after another. Work overload. Work travel. Pre-scheduled stuff. All the usual distractions. And, let's be honest, this baseball adventure takes a lot of planning.<br />
There's good news, however. Penny, after 35 years in the education business - as a teacher, an academic coach, an assistant principal, then a principal - retired. She worked until the end of June. Now she's adjusting to the next phase of her life. She has a little more time.<br />
I am also looking forward to retirement. I hope to achieve retirement sometime around 2035.<br />
Ok, enough of that. Everyone is busy.<br />
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<b>As far as baseball goes, we didn't quit.</b> We've taken in one Minor League and one Major League game. The Major League game was to a regular haunt, however: Orioles Park at Camden Yard.<br />
Last month, we took in a South Atlantic League game in Charleston, West Virginia. Actually, it was Charleston visiting Charleston. The River Dogs from South Carolina vs. the West Virginia Power.<br />
A couple of things about that experience.<br />
The game itself was unremarkable. West Virginia, which actually is leading the division now (in the second half), was struggling in the first half. The Power got hammered.<br />
The crowd was small and mellow. To cut the home team a break, it was a Sunday afternoon game, the temperature was in the mid 90's, and there were other attractions around town.<br />
That, of course, never bothers one of the true "characters" in Minor League baseball: Rod "the Toastman" Blackstone, who attempts to always keep his section of the stadium lively.<br />
Blackstone bellows all game long from his front-row seat along the third base line near the on-deck circle. He is a section leader, all game long holding signs that prompt cheers. No matter how bad the home team plays, Blackstone's cheers are insanely positive for the Power - and derisive toward the opponents. (My personal favorite: A foul ball by the Power, even if it's a tiny dribbler off the end of the bat is met with "STRONG MANLY FOUL! STRONG MANLY FOUL!" ... A foul ball by an opposing player, including screamers that fall just outside the line, receive the refrain "WEAK PIDDLY FOUL!")<br />
Blackstone's signature move involves toast. When an opposing batter strikes out, the cheer is, "YOU ... ARE ... TOAST!" Replete with the Toastman tossing freshly made toast to the crowd.<br />
I should add that the Power installed an outlet next to Blackstone's seats, allowing him to plug in his toaster. His loaf of bread and toaster rest on a cart. I meant to ask if the cart is also supplied by the home team.<br />
I suggested to Penny that, with a slim crowd that Sunday, we should go hang out with the Toastman for a few innings.<br />
I know Rod Blackstone from our "other" lives. I moved to Charleston, West Virginia in January 1998. I was a reporter for the Associated Press and spent many days covering the West Virginia governor's office. Blackstone in '98 was the press secretary for Gov. Cecil Underwood.<br />
I should add that Blackstone is a Republican, as was the governor. Previously, however, he had worked many years for Democratic Congressman Bob Wise. In a weird twist of fate, Wise defeated Underwood in the 2000 gubernatorial race, a race in which Blackstone worked full-time on the Underwood re-election campaign. Wise was not amused<br />
Now, Blackstone is now the Deputy Mayor of the City of Charleston.<br />
And he is a good man.<br />
I have read several web site comment sections where people say they tire of The Toastman's antics. Penny commented one day, unrelated to any story about The Toastman, that baseball people on the Internet can be mean.<br />
True 'dat.<br />
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<b>Regarding the Major League trip, </b>last week we went to see Penny's favorite team and favorite park: the Orioles playing at Camden Yard. Penny's sister, Peggy, joined us. Peggy has been with us in Baltimore (four times), Washington and Philadelphia.<br />
They've influenced me. The Orioles have become my second favorite team. The opponent on our evening in Baltimore was the team I have followed and cheered for all my life: the Atlanta Braves.<br />
On this site, I have written about my history with and loyalty toward the Braves. I have also vented my frustrations about the various moves that have created a chasm between the Braves and us loyal fans. The end of national cable tv contracts, no more baseball on clear-channel WSB radio (which allowed me, in West Virginia, to hear every game if I chose), the trading of way too many fan favorite players, and the dismal erosion of what in the 90's and early 2000's was arguably the most solid, consistent organization in baseball.<br />
No more, my friends. The Braves are a shell, apparently rebuilding - aiming at building success in two years when the move from Turner Field in south Atlanta to the white flight, suburban super-money of Marietta, Georgia. (Yes, yes, I know, it's a business. I get it.)<br />
What I don't get though, is why the Braves recently traded one of the best closers in baseball (Craig Kimbrell), one of the most athletic players in the game (Jason Heyward), a fine clutch hitter and extremely popular player (Evan Gattis), a terrific young pitcher (Alex Wood) ... and that's just for starters. It's a fire sale. We're the damned Marlins.<br />
This from a team that flirted with the playoffs last year and earned a Wild Card the year before.<br />
All I can say is: I hope the trades work in the long run. I suppose all will be forgiven.<br />
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On our night in Baltimore, the Braves jumped out early. Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Braves a quick 2-0 lead. At that point, the highlights were over.<br />
After Freeman's blast, the Braves stranded three runners in the first and only scored one meaningless other late-inning run during a 7-3 loss.<br />
Penny and Peggy, the rabid Orioles fans, had a big 'ole time.<br />
One other thing. The Orioles swept the series.<br />
Ho-hum.<br />
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<br />Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-69112290646048909052015-08-02T21:56:00.001-04:002015-08-02T21:56:09.127-04:00Back in the swing of thingsOur baseball travels this year have been pretty much nonexistent. We had planned to go to Opening Day in Tampa, had our tickets and flight, and our Stella became ill. We would not leave our furbaby while she was sick, so we cancelled our Tampa trip. Unfortunately, after a few weeks, we lost her to liver disease. If you've ever loved a pet, then you know that I just wasn't up to planning fun getaways.<br />
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Then my retirement festivities got in the way of travel time.<br />
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Randy said we would do anything I wanted to do on Mother's Day, so we made a quick trip down to Charleston to a really cool little Minor League park to see the West Virginia Power. The day was hot and the crowd was small, especially early. But it was a nice time.<br />
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The Toast Man is the Power's Super Fan. He actually makes toast and throws it to the crowd when the opposing team strikes out. Actually, his name is Rod Blackstone. He is the Deputy Mayor of Charleston and attends all home games. We are planning to head back down there one night this week.<br />
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We have a trip to Minneapolis (#16) planned for the end of August and a Miami (#17) trip in September. We are also thinking we may be able to fit in San Diego or Dallas and Houston if we can get around to planning it. No surprises there, we have kids living in San Diego and Dallas.<br />
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Speaking of my retirement, the staff planned a baseball-themed party. Here are a few shots.<br />
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My staff did a fabulous job with these decorations, and the party was a blast! And yes, we wore shirts from our favorite teams. The guestbook was a Louisville Slugger.<br />
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Since I am retired now I have nothing but time. I attended the Homer Laughlin China (Fiestaware) Collectors Association annual conference. The theme of the first night social was The Seasons of Fiesta, dress as your favorite seasonal activity. It was pretty awesome to run into Santa at a dish conference. I mention the conference, because on "Theme Night" my sister, Peggy, my daughter, Rachel, and I wore Baltimore Orioles gear.<br />
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We've done several entries on Baltimore. The reasons for this are that the Orioles are my favorite team, and we try to see a couple of Orioles games each year.</div>
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Since we'd been without Major League baseball all summer, we headed to Baltimore last week to see an inter-league game between the Orioles and the Braves. </div>
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After a quick stop at Pickles, the bar/restaurant we like across the street from Orioles Park, we went to the stadium and discovered Randy had scored these awesome seats! Of course we invited #1 O's fan, my sister Peggy.</div>
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Peggy had given me as a retirement present a huge gift basket with Orioles goodies. Shoes, wallets, you name it, it was in there. My favorite item was my very own scorebook. I've struggled with some of the nuances of scoring, but I'm hanging in there. Luckily, Randy is a pro, so I have my own personal tutor with me.<br />
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Scoring a game forces me to pay attention. I've actually enjoyed looking back at my scoring and remembering what happened in the game. I see very few people keeping score, though. Why do you think that is? </div>
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The highlight of the evening for me was seeing Chris Davis hit home runs in the first and second innings. The Orioles won 7-3. Peggy and I were merciful toward Randy, a lifelong Braves fan. </div>
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And enjoying the hardest working bird in the MLB.scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-10735225787019060872015-04-05T16:35:00.003-04:002015-04-05T16:35:46.004-04:00Tampa Bay, not this timeWe decided sometime this winter that Tampa Bay would be the first stop on our baseball tour this year. I figured it would never be as cold and wet in Florida as we were last year on Opening Day in Cleveland. Plus, the Rays were scheduled to pay the Orioles. So warm weather, a dome, and my favorite team - the O's - should make for a perfect day.<br />
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I didn't really get excited reading about Tampa. It seems like the fan base is lacking. I kept reminding Randy to get tickets, and he kept saying he would be able to get seats. After studying up on the Tampa Bay Rays, I understand one reason he wasn't in a hurry to get seats. It seems the area doesn't support their team. Even when they are playing well, they failed to averaged more than 23,000 fans a game. Maybe location is a factor, maybe it is the dome itself - or maybe snowbirds have their own loyalties somewhere else.<br />
I usually take pages of notes of things to look at and for. I was going to look for the Golden Seat where Wade Boggs's 3,000th hit landed in 1999 and look for the murals depicting old-time ballparks. I was not, however, looking forward to seeing the Rays Touch-Tank. My feeling that all living creatures belong in their own environment, not in a tank for us to look at.<br />
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Just say no to this one, Tampa Bay!<br />
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Anyway, our flights were booked and tickets purchased. My Orioles shirt was packed, and I had scheduled days taken off from work. And then...<br />
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Our dear, sweet Stella had to be rushed to MedVet in Columbus, Ohio. She spent four days in ICU for acute hepatopathy. We still don't know the cause, and her prognosis is grim. She was given a 30 percent chance of recovery.<br />
So, baseball will wait. Flights cancelled and tickets put on Stub Hub. We will stay with her as long as we have her with us - or until she heads toward recovery.<br />
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Scoreboard Sweep will return, and our baseball journeys will continue when our family is through this crisis. In the meantime, we will love her and care of her and have some peanuts and Cracker Jack while watching games on TV!scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-19216684480307632552014-08-16T19:46:00.001-04:002014-08-16T19:46:34.396-04:00West Virginia Power(From Penny)<br />
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We have been meaning to get to Charleston, West Virginia (it's only 70 miles from us) to see a MiLB game for so long, I didn't think we were going to get to it. I looked at the schedule and realized that if we were going to get there, we only had two dates to choose from. So on a recent Thursday night we took off for a short road trip.<br />
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West Virginia Power is Class A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Appalachian Power Park opened in 2005 and seats 4,500 people. If you are interested, a brief history can be found at <a href="http://www.milb.com/content/page.jsp?ymd=20090206&content_id=40993740&sid=t525&vkey=team1">http://www.milb.com/content/page.jsp?ymd=20090206&content_id=40993740&sid=t525&vkey=team1</a><br />
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It reminded me of a mini Camden Yards. Can't you see Eutaw, the walking street beyond the right field wall, when you see this shot? There are also warehouses around the stadium that add to that feel. I know it is a stretch, but I was surprised the park was as nice as it was. As is the case with many Class A teams, it is pretty tiny.<br />
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We ate at the stadium, because we didn't have time to get there after work and eat out, too. I was pleasantly surprised to find a stand selling fresh veggies and veggie burgers. Go Charleston! It was Thirsty Thursday and beer was a buck, which was a nice treat.<br />
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Randy and my son, Derek, enjoying the game. It doesn't look crowded, but the stadium did fill up closer to game time.<br />
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This is the hardest working mascot I have seen in a while. He was busy the entire game - and it was HOT!<br />
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I didn't practice scoring this game since Derek was only in town for a couple of hours. But I plan to get right back at it next game!<br />
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<br />scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-82880893889015904982014-08-06T22:06:00.000-04:002014-08-08T09:34:55.316-04:00Fenway Park: A great night for me; a really bad night for the Red Sox<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h3>
Blue Jays 14, Red Sox 1</h3>
<b>July 29, 2014</b><br />
<b><i>(Randy's Perspective)</i></b><br />
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<b>Fenway Park. Mark it off the the bucket list.</b><br />
When I write these travel/baseball stories, I usually don't know where they're going when I start writing. Inevitably, I end up reminiscing about the ballpark and the city - which is kind of silly, since I've never been to most of these places. But still, I have memories and thoughts based on television, radio, newspapers, magazines and first-hand stories from friends.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penny and our friend, Kathy Hinkley, who joined us at the park</td></tr>
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Anyway, with that as background, there is no place in the country I felt that I knew better than Fenway Park. I've seen a hundred thousand games on television from Fenway. I had the dimensions in my head. I could describe the layout. I felt that I knew the history, the players, the city.<br />
On a separate note, I even have a hometown connection to the Red Sox. Hall of Famer Jim (Ed) Rice graduated from my high school: T.L. Hanna in Anderson, S.C. Rice was five years ahead of me in school, but there was one day when I was on a team with him. I ran varsity track as an eighth grader, and our coaches recruited Rice one time for a weekend meet. He didn't have a baseball game that day, so he went with us and ran the 100.<br />
The guy was a legend even then. We expected he would win the 100 and get us some points. He didn't win, but I think he ran on a 440-relay team that did. ... I should mention, though, that Rice was a hellacious wide receiver and likely could have played college football anywhere he chose. But since he could hit a baseball about 425 feet every second or third time he came to bat, he chose baseball - as you or I likely would have done.<br />
(While on the subject of famous people from my high school, here are two more: Chadwick Boseman, who plays Jackie Robinson in "42," and Radio. ... just Radio - made famous by the movie "Radio." Radio attended Hanna with our class, which graduated in 1975. He is still a senior at Hanna.)<br />
But back to Boston.<br />
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<b>I had actually seen Fenway Park </b>(live) twice, once outside and once inside. But neither of those days counted, because there were no home games on those two days.<br />
In fact, it was a football game led me to Fenway the first time. So... interruption for a football story.<br />
Slightly more than three decades ago (wow, that sounds like a long time), when I was a sportswriter for the Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail, I covered a rather fascinating college football game between Clemson (which two seasons before had won a national championship) and Boston College. It was 1983.<br />
The setting was this. Clemson was tough; I mean "kick ass, take names" tough in the eighties. In fact, from 1981 through 1983, Clemson's record was 30-2-1. The tie, however, came during a 1982 home game with none other than Boston College.<br />
The following season, Clemson visited BC, and that's where one of those two Clemson losses came. I was there at Alumni Stadium, when Clemson's demise came at the hands (and feet) of none other than Doug Flutie, who rallied BC from a 16-3 deficit early in the second half to a 31-16 win. Flutie was a wonder. He had been good the year before when he played at Clemson's "Death Valley," but he was Johnny Manziel at his best on that night in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.<br />
Funny follow-up to that story.<br />
Later that year, during one of his regular weekly press conferences, Clemson coach Danny Ford was taking general questions. David Davidson, a writer from the Atlanta Constitution, started pelting Danny with questions about schedules, including the future of the Clemson-Georgia football series.<br />
At one point Davidson asked, "Why do you want to play an out-of-conference game against a team as good as Georgia? Surely, there are easier teams to play."<br />
Ford, in his most pronounced Alabama drawl, said, "Well, I don't really know about that. We're oh-and-two against Boston College. I don't want to play those bastards again."<br />
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<b>Sorry, enough football.</b> Except to say that on the trip to Boston for the BC-Clemson game, I stayed in the Back Bay Hilton, which was just a little less than a mile from Fenway Park. I had carried my running shoes and shorts, so after I checked in I embarked on a run toward Fenway. After a few lefts and rights, I hit the park. I circled it twice, running on Landsdowne and Van Ness and Yawkey Way. I <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not crazy about the ads, but the Green Monster is still incredible</td></tr>
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kept trying to find some gate or door that might be open. No luck that time.<br />
Twenty-one years later, I happened to be in Boston again, this time for a conference. Again, it was in the fall, and this time the Red Sox had just completed an epic comeback against the Yankees in the ALCS, coming back from an 0-3 deficit (trailing in the bottom of the ninth of Game 4, even) to win the American League Pennant.<br />
The club held an open house party at Fenway to celebrate the championship. So that night I got inside. I had about 15 minutes inside the park - but that was enough to breathe it in. I stood there and just stared at the Green Monster for at least five minutes.<br />
While I was in my mesmerized funk, some guy looked at me and said, "I guess you've never seen it before, huh?"<br />
I said, "No. Maiden Voyage inside Fenway."<br />
He said, "Well, too bad there's no game. You should this place on game night."<br />
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Which leads me to Penny's and my trip to Fenway to see the Red Sox host the Blue Jays.<br />
Holding a slim, slim chance at moving back into the wild card race, the Red Sox clearly needed to sweep the Jays in this series.<br />
Well ...that plan went awry. Early and often. The Blue Jays had two runs on the board before they recorded an out. And it never got better. In fact, it got really ugly in the top of the sixth inning, which featured 14 Toronto batters and nine runs.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penny and I enjoying our cramped centerfield bleacher seats</td></tr>
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Penny, who was just beginning to get the hang of keeping a scorebook, said "What, what ... wait, what do I here?" when the 10th batter of inning stepped to the plate with only one out gone.<br />
Ok, coincidence or irony? Two weeks earlier, the Red Sox had breathed new life into their season when they went to the Rogers Center in Toronto and hammered the then-struggling Blue Jays, 14-1.<br />
On the night in Boston, Toronto, three games out of first place in the AL East, probably nailed the coffin shut on Boston's season by beating the Red Sox - yup, 14-1.<br />
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I'd say Fenway was everything I had dreamed - even expected. And in a sense, that's true. Before the game, the feel was great. Energy everywhere. History at every turn.<br />
I could visualize Carlton Fisk waving that home run fair in the 12th inning of the 1975 World Series: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agkJ5WFNL4k">Famous Fisk home run</a>. In my mind, I could see Carl Yastrzemski roaming the outfield, and then Fred Lynn and hometown guy, Jim Rice. I could hear the fans in righfield shouting "Daaarryyylll" as they taunted Darryl Strawberry. And, more recently, I understood how Fenway could have felt in 2004 when the Red Sox were coming back to win that first World Series in almost a century.<br />
But on our night in Fenway, reality didn't help. The bad baseball interrupted the memories.<br />
The Red Sox got smacked around and booed by their loyal fans. We had tickets to see the defending champs, hopefully in an important <br />
game in a pennant race. What we got was a lackluster effort from a struggling team.<br />
Except for the boos, the fans were uninvolved. Unless you want to count the thousand or so Blue Jays fans, who were pretty noisy. It's nice to follow a contender.<br />
You have to hand one thing to the Boston fans, though. They hung around until the middle of the eighth, where the stadium mood changed as soon as Neil Diamond and "Sweet Caroline" came through the PA system.<br />
It's only a decade old, but what a cool tradition. We all sang.<br />
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One last thing.<br />
Penny was appalled at seeing the Green Monster covered with ads. I agree.<br />
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<br />Randy Colemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15440393724721979672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310272671264191125.post-43416763830202484192014-08-04T22:36:00.001-04:002014-08-04T22:36:10.802-04:00Cheers to Boston<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
(From Penny)</div>
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Boston is a great city! This is the view from my room at the Sheraton. I highly recommend it for your Boston trip. It is close to the park and walking distance to many restaurants, bars, and the most famous (arguably) bar of all: Cheers.</div>
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The walk up Beacon Hill is beautiful!<br />
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And, of course, you should take a walk along the Freedom Trail.<br />
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Randy found this great little bar/restaurant, McGreevey's, (named after "Nuf Ced" McGreevy) close to the Sheraton that has a Boston baseball museum. There are tons of pictures and memorabilia to look at. (They also have vegetarian entrees to choose from.) We liked it so much we went back the second day for lunch. It was started by the Dropkick Murphys' (Tessie) lead singer, Ken Casey. If you aren't familiar with the song, check out <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR4tTQVjHUI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR4tTQVjHUI</a><br />
I'm pretty sure it didn't sound like this in 1903 when the Boston Rooters went to Pittsburgh.<br />
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If you are going to Fenway, go really early. I can't stress this enough! The crowds two hours before the game are unbelievable. There is such a small space to pack everyone in, the bars and restaurants fill up early. It probably doesn't help that they don't open the gates until 90 minutes before the game. We absolutely couldn't get in anywhere, and we were there two hours early.<br />
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Yawkey Way is a carnival atmosphere. Don't worry if you hadn't picked up your souvenirs, there are shops everywhere!<br />
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You may remember, I wasn't a huge fan of Wrigley. I had a great time there, but to me the park was just old! Of course it is old, the oldest active park in the country. So, my thoughts before heading to Fenway were to expect about the same. Yes, Fenway was old. Yes, there is a lot of history, and I enjoyed that aspect. As far as a park I would want to return to, not so much. The seats are tiny and our seats in the bleachers did not allow me to see the scoreboard, which was behind us. There is plenty of food. which is a good thing since you would have to go to the restaurants three or four hours before the game to get in. I recommend the kettle corn. My friend, Kathy, who went with us enjoyed the fried dough.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.600000381469727px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15.600000381469727px;">The retired Red Sox numbers are attached to the wall right of the scoreboard. They are Ted Williams (#9), Joe Cronin (#4), Bobby Doerr (#1), Carlton Fisk (#27), Johnny Pesky (#6), Jim Rice (#14) and the universally retired Jackie Robinson (#42).</span><br />
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I didn't take a picture, because we were not at a good angle to get a decent shot and it was just too tight and cramped to really move around to get one.<br />
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You know I've been keeping score, and I had a good scoring lesson at Fenway. The Blue Jays scored nine runs in one inning, so I learned what to do when there are 14 batters in one inning!<br />
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This statue is outside the ballpark. This is a terrible picture because I was using my phone to take pics. There are several statues outside including one honoring Cy Young.<br />
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Kathy and I (Randy flew back a day before us) decided we really wanted to go to the Cask and Flagon, so the next night we walked back to the park, figuring everyone would be inside the game. We were right. We sat at this table where we could see the park and hear the noises from inside. They had good food, and we enjoyed sitting outside and taking in the atmosphere. I actually enjoyed the area much better without the huge crowds.<br />
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<b>Thumbs up</b><br />
Atmosphere outside the park<br />
History of the park<br />
Help inside the park<br />
Randy's excitement at being at Fenway! He was like a kid in a candy store!<br />
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<b>Thumbs down</b><br />
The Monster- why in the world did they put all those ads on it???<br />
Mascot - I don't even remember seeing one<br />
Crowd enthusiasm - a 14-1 loss to the Blue Jays had to be a factor here, but they did enthusiastically sing Take me out to the Ballgame and Sweet Caroline, after which most of the crowd left.<br />
Tight space for a lot of people<br />
Music/entertainment- we did see a proposal which everyone seemed to enjoy, though I guess that really doesn't count as entertainment!<br />
Still waiting for a free program :)<br />
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We couldn't leave Boston without trying Boston Cream Pie. It was a sweet ending to a great trip!scoreboard sweephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02636416648361992347noreply@blogger.com0