Toronto-Chicago on a night when the Blue Jays and the Cubs are hosting playoff games

(PC)
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.)

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.

Here is the Rogers Centre. (And, just for the record, "RC" is Randy and "PC" is Penny.)

And the view from our hotel room. BTW, this room was one of our favorite Ballpark Chaser experiences.

(RC)
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.

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.

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.

The Rogers Centre looks kind of dead. I'll bet those outstanding Blue Jays cheerleaders can't even get this crowd going tonight.


(PC)
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.
Randy failed to mention it wasn't really the cheerleaders he liked but the skimpy outfits!


(RC)
Now, now Penny. I liked the dancing. And those young ladies are called the J Force, thank you very much.

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."

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.

The highlight of theToronto trip, though, was watching the Friday night game from the right-centerfield window of the Renaissance Hotel.


(PC)
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.

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.

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?"

Here are some pics to remind you.

I loved the excitement around the stadium. The music, crowd, history! I hate to even mention the things I didn't like.

(RC)
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.

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."

Ok, I'm done. Couldn't resist.

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.

Her second trip to Wrigley was far more enchanting, she said.

(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.)

(PC)
More enchanting the second time mainly because you were there :)
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.

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.
I'm surprised Randy didn't mention that there were no cheerleaders!

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!)

(RC)
Regarding our trips, there were two versions of baseball "Mecca" for me, and they are obvious: Wrigley and Fenway. We've seen both.

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.

The more familiar Penny gets with the game, the more she seems to appreciate what we found at Wrigley, which was the following:

• A true neighborhood stadium, with fantastic bars and restaurants all around
• History and more history inside and outside
• 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
• One of the best traditions in baseball, the seventh-inning singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

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.

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.

This year, the last-place-in-the-division Reds are sitting home watching the Cubs try to secure a spot in the World Series.

Go Cubbies!

Miami: A fun time and an entertaining baseball series

Miami 12, Atlanta 11
September 25

Miami 6, Atlanta 2
September 26

(Randy's Perspective)

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)

With that as background, here are the nuts and bolts of the discussion we had.
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.
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.
She asked what I meant by that?

Not a bad crowd for a late-season game in Miami

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.
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.
Penny thought about this and said, "Hmmm. I'm surprised to hear you say that."
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.
"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.
My turn to say, "Hmmm." Because I immediately thought about what she said and determined that she's right about everything she said.
To make a long story short, "Go Braves!"

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.
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.
I figured it would be a long season for the Braves.

Back to Miami for a moment.
As usual, Penny has produced a fun blog with a lot of pictures. She captured a lot of the nuances of the park

Here's Penny following a tradition: home team apparel

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.
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.
But the images wouldn't come. It just looked a hip 2015 baseball stadium.

A Fish Tank and a Pool are Part of an Interesting Stadium

Our latest stadium adventure took us to Miami.

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. 

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...?"

For more on the Orange Bowl tribute check out this link.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669549/a-new-welcome-sign-memorializes-the-famed-demolished-orange-bowl

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. 

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. 

Not much of the food was vegetarian friendly, but these plantain chips met my food requirements for this trip. Vegetarian and deep fried!

Sushi anyone?

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. 

Randy ran into a long lost "twin."

We loved the bobblehead museum!

The roof was open Saturday night.

 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.

I liked the announcement of the starting lineup on these pillars.

Who wants to work out at the game?

Randy's team. Unfortunately, we did not a see a win for the Braves either night.

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.

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!

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.

http://www.livescience.com/19083-baseball-stadium-fish-aquarium.html

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!

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. 

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.

Thumbs up

Scoreboard!

Stadium

Air Conditioning

Dome

Free programs

Easy access in and out of the stadium area

Budget friendly

Energy in the stadium

Thumbs down

Disrespectful cheerleaders

Lackadaisical mascot

Fish tank

Vegetarian options- there is a glutten free food stand

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

An important late-season game ... in a cool ballpark ... and, uh, we missed some of it

(Randy's Perspective)
Twins 3, Astros 0
August 28, 2015

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.
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.)
My point is that some of these far northern destinations are trips into a sports memory bank for a boy from the Deep South.
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.
I suppose I should be happy that at least someone remembered. Sponge Bob, indeed.

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.
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.
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.
Two one-run extra inning games. Twins win, Braves lose. Now that was some stress.

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.
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."

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.)
In the lower levels, however, there are great seats everywhere.
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.
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.
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.

This was our view all night long. Nice park, we just couldn't see home plate.

Now, soap box time.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
He gave me his card and asked if I would call him on his cell the next time a vendor got in the way.

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.
He responded several times with apologies, and they actually did a little better for an inning or two. Then the circus started again.
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.)
Ok, enough of the curmudgeon stuff.
On to the next park.

Oh, Say Can You See Twins?

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.

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.

 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.

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. 

Harmon Killebrew

The kinetic wall is pretty awesome. 

Kirby Puckett

I think there are also statues for Carew and Olivia, but I forgot to look for them!

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. 

This is a nice tribute to all players. Pendants list the entire rosters for each year. 

Watch this board representing the Twin Cities. A home run results in flashing lights around the board. 

 Batting practice.

 This is one of my favorite scoreboards. It is huge! It is so clear you would think you are watching your tv at home.

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.

Full moon over Minneapolis.

You know I like a great mascot, and sadly I did not see one here.

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. 

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. 

Thumbs up

Scoreboard

Stadium

Friendliness of the locals

Scorecards were $2

Fan interaction was just enough

Thumbs Down

Vendors and fans blocking view during play

Food was basic stadium fare-they did have a refrigerated section labeled vegetarian

Mascot

Atmosphere outside the stadium

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!

Finally, back to some baseball

(Randy's perspective)

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.
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.
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.
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.
I am also looking forward to retirement. I hope to achieve retirement sometime around 2035.
Ok, enough of that. Everyone is busy.

As far as baseball goes, we didn't quit. 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.
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.
A couple of things about that experience.
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.
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.
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.
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!")
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.
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.
I suggested to Penny that, with a slim crowd that Sunday, we should go hang out with the Toastman for a few innings.
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.
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
Now, Blackstone is now the Deputy Mayor of the City of Charleston.
And he is a good man.
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.
True 'dat.

Regarding the Major League trip, 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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
This from a team that flirted with the playoffs last year and earned a Wild Card the year before.
All I can say is: I hope the trades work in the long run. I suppose all will be forgiven.

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.
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.
Penny and Peggy, the rabid Orioles fans, had a big 'ole time.
One other thing. The Orioles swept the series.
Ho-hum.

Back in the swing of things

Our 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.

 Then my retirement festivities got in the way of travel time.

 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.

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.

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.

Speaking of my retirement, the staff planned a baseball-themed party. Here are a few shots.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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?                                                  

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. 

And enjoying the hardest working bird in the MLB.