Wednesday, July 29, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 116

 



When I was hanging with Travis, Pedro and Joey in Phoenix back in May, we commented that the one regret we had on doing our baseball travels is that we sometimes don’t take or have the time to see some of the unique things there are too see or do in the cities that we are in. I took that discussion to heart this past weekend – my last as an Arizona resident – and listed the things I really wanted to see and do in Arizona. No list of things to see or do when visiting Arizona is complete without going to the Grand Canyon and Sedona.

The drive from Tucson to the Grand Canyon National Park is about 300 miles so I figured I would do about half on Friday afternoon and stay north of Phoenix in Glendale. I was on Stub Hub looking for a ticket to the Pirate – Dback game when I saw a banner for the Chicago – Earth, Wind and Fire concert on Friday night in guess where – Glendale, AZ. Fate strikes again. Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s Chicago and EWF were my favorite bands both with world class horn sections. If you ever get to Phoenix check out the area around the Giant Toaster (University of Phoenix Stadium) and the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale. They have this outdoor entertainment area with great places to eat and even better places to drink. My favorite is the Yard House – over 125 beers on tap. The concert was beyond great with EWF going first, then Chicago, then both bands on stage playing the top hits of each band. Great show and the last 45 minutes were worth the price of the ticket alone.

I couldn’t sleep at all Friday night after the concert – the anticipation of going to the Canyon had me feeling again like a kid on Christmas morning. Shawn and I had been to the western rim of the Canyon on March 3rd, 2008 and that day will always rank as a top 10 day. After paying the $25 entrance fee at the main entrance of the park – I started feeling sad and a bit lonely. It was the same feeling I had on July 4th at Wrigley Field. I was missing my best friend again on a day she would have truly loved. Since this is zero radio reception area I had my iPhone hooked thru the car radio. I had it on shuffle and have over 1,000 songs. Right as I was coming up to the Canyon my wedding song came on and the sadness and lonely feeling went away.

Words cannot describe the Canyon so I won’t even try. I was very fortunate to get a room at one of the lodges right on the rim of the Canyon. The rooms aren’t the best, they have no internet, very basic cable and the places to eat are more cafeteria style – but you are at the Grand Canyon so who needs all that stuff. There is a walkway along the edge of the Canyon that is about 10 miles long with various lookout points. At one point I took a seat on a ledge with my feet dangling over the edge of the Canyon which at that point was 4,000 feet down. All day long I would hear parents yelling at their kids to stay away from the edge.

The highlight to the day was sunset. I was going to head to an obscure point to watch the sunset but off in the distance I could hear the rumblings of a storm. Just my luck – a storm was going to ruin the sunset. Well the storm actually enhanced the sunset as it missed us to the east and set up an awesome backdrop for the sun setting to the west. What the storm also did was provide a rainbow. It was a perfect rainbow that had a perfect full arch. The end of it reached into the Canyon. A perfect end to a perfect day. One that even though I was by myself – I never felt alone.

I got up early again on Sunday to watch the sunrise over the Canyon. I got to a point that a park ranger told me was the best place to watch the sunrise. Well he must have told a bunch of other people as the point was packed. And I found that I was the one of only a few Americans there. That was one of the things that stood out to me – the amount of folks from other countries at the Canyon. I meet a nice family from Wales, had a beer or 3 with 2 girls from Denmark and a bloke (Australian for guy as Rod has taught me) from Sydney. The sunrise was nice – but after the sunset the night before the sunrise had a huge task to beat that.

After the sunrise it was time to move on to Sedona. All the people here in Tucson have told me “You have to see Sedona” said of course like Elaine from Seinfeld. Well for all those people who said that – thank you!!! Sedona is set in the Red Rock National Park. The mountains and rock formations around Sedona are various colors of red and orange. The town itself is very small – only about 4 or 5 stop lights in the center of town. There are neat cafés and places to eat. The pace was very relaxing. Also I felt drawn to Sedona – and didn’t want to leave. Rod’s wife Kerrie sent me a very nice email the other day sharing with me her same feelings toward Sedona. She put it perfectly saying that she an emotional feeling of “coming home”. After reading her email I can say my feeling was the same way.

One of the cool things with Sedona is the rock formations that are in the middle of nowhere. My dog Jordan used to have the “walking poops” just dropping one here and then one there. That’s what the rock formations reminded me – Jordan’s walking poops. A little hint if you ever go to Sedona – come into the town from the south. Take I-17 north from Phoenix and exit onto route 179. The views leading into town are amazing.

After Sedona I popped into Phoenix and caught the Dbacks – Pirate game. Nothing to report from there other than I got to say hi to my friend Tony at Sliders. Driving back to Tucson it hit me that this will be my final drive from Phoenix to Tucson. 10 months I have been living in Arizona – have made the Tucson – Phoenix roundtrip over 10 times for things such as seeing the Hawks play the Coyotes and going to Mesa to see the Cubs in spring training.

I guess that’s it for today. Check back Friday for my good bye to Tucson blog. So for now this is so long and good bye from Tucson where I still have that vision of the rainbow in my head. As Kathy told me the other day – Shawn sure has a way of showing off!!!!

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Monday, July 27, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Special Guest Blogger

 



I am going to do something new today and have a guest blogger. I am still recovering from the weekend that had me at the Chicago and Earth, Wind and Fire concert on Friday, Grand Canyon on Saturday, up for the sunrise on Sunday and then Sedona before heading to Phoenix for the Pirate – Diamondbacks game and then back to Tucson.

When I came up with this website I figured it would be a good way for all 12 of my friends to follow the Quest as well as for me to note the journey. What I didn’t count on was that the site would have over 2,100 hits and I would become really great friends with people that I have never met such as Ken Lee from Seattle and today’s guest blogger Rod from Australia. I try not to think about the fact that people from literally all over the world are reading these blogs. I still blog as though I am typing to those same 12 people. It is also very heartwarming to know that Shawn’s memory is kept alive through here and I am able to share some really cool moments from our time together.

So without further ado – let me introduce you to Rod Wearing.

My name is Rod Wearing, I’m 44 years old, married to Kerrie with two children Nathan & Jessica & live in Harrington Park a suburb in Sydney Australia. I first became interested in baseball when Kerrie & I went on a holiday to America in 1992. Whilst at Disneyland one day we walked past a shop selling tickets to California Angels Baseball games. It took me a while there as I had to remember what they were calling themselves at the time. Personally I still prefer Anaheim Angels. As you can see from my photo, 17 years later I am still a fan. Although honestly I am a true baseball fan as I also have hats, shirts etc from a total of 11 teams.

Anyway back to how somebody from 12,000 kilometres away came to follow your national pastime. Kerrie & I went to the game which was against the Baltimore Orioles. Pretty lucky, our first Baseball game & you get to see Cal Ripken play. At the time I did realize the significance of seeing such a true legend. I do remember that the game went extra innings & that Gary Di Sarcina a future all star shortstop hit his first ever major league home run in the game. What were my other thoughts ? The athletic ability of the players, the accuracy of the throws & the way that you get to see all the action in around three hours. The entertainment between innings also helped.

Now 17 years later I’ve been back to the states on another 4 occasions and have become what you could call a baseball tragic. My son Nathan took the sport up & played for nearly 10 years. Whilst I also played, coached & served on the committee of our local club. On all my trips to the States I’ve enjoyed watching the expression on peoples’ faces when you start talking in an Australian accent about baseball. Hopefully if Bob allows me the opportunity on future blogs I’ll write about baseball in Australia & some observations by a foreigner on the greatest game on the planet.

Yours in Baseball Rod Wearing.

Thanks Rod. That was great – we all look forward to hearing more. Andy is now reading this shaking his head and saying “sure pawn off the blogging just like you do at work with stuff”. It’s all about delegation my friend.

I should be posting a blog from this past weekend tomorrow or Wednesday. On Thursday I have prepared a special blog about my time here in Tucson because as of Thursday I am no longer an Arizona resident.

I would like to thank Rod again for taking the time to type up a blog. This internet thing is really cool. I guess that’s it for today so for now it’s so long and good bye from Tucson, AZ and to my friend Jill – your mom called me and told me to put in here, you need to eat!!!

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 109

 



Welcome to part 2 of the blog from this past weekend in DC. Sunday was a beautiful day for baseball, the Cubs had won the first 3 games of the series and I was meeting James, Cameron and James Sr. for the game. What could go wrong?

Well on Saturday night I had mentioned to James that I had 3 extra tickets for the Sunday game in the club section and would love if they could come down and go to the game with me. This was kind of spontaneous and since Amy had to work, they needed a ride. James Sr. is one of my and Shawn’s best friends and I told James – you have to bring your dad. Well things didn’t quite go as planned and the boys were not going to be able to make the game. Cam called me at 11 all bummed out. I told him not to be mad at anyone – it’s just that he wasn’t supposed to be in DC on this day. We don’t know why – may never know why – but he wasn’t to be in DC. This was a lesson I was reminded of by my friend Jill on Monday when I ran into major flight delays getting back to Tucson.

I was bummed that the boys were not going to make the game. I had a great time the night before and was looking forward to helping Cam get an autograph from Alfonso Soriano. So now what to do with the 3 extra tickets? I left early for the game and took the Metro. At Nationals Park when you get out of the Metro there are ticket hawks all over the place. Guys looking to buy low and sell high. Well not to bore you with the details but I was able to parlay my 4 tickets into one ticket which was first row behind home just to the 3rd base side. Also these seats allow access to the Lexus President’s Club directly under the stands behind home plate. They have this pregame buffet with seafood and prime rib and other really tasty stuff. I know this is a ballgame and eating surf and turf is not really my style – but the Quest is a once in a lifetime thing so I might as well enjoy when opportunities like this present themselves.

As my friend Ken pointed out I have been fortunate to have some really great seats during the Quest and none were as cool as Sunday. It really is a different game down there. I would focus on the pitcher and see if I could pick up which pitch he was going to throw. It’s amazing how major league hitters can adjust to a 93 mph fastball followed by a 73 mph curve ball. You also get a sense of being in the game. Hard to explain – but it really was a cool experience. Problem is when the Quest is over and I have to go back to my normal upper deck seats. Kind of like flying first class – hard to go back to coach.

The Cubs ended up clobbering the Nationals 11 to 3. Alfonso Soriano hit another big home run which opened the flood gates for a 7 run inning. It was great to see the Cubs get off to a great start for the second half of the season – yes it was beating the Nationals but good teams need to beat bad teams. After the game ended it was really cool seeing all the Cub fans standing behind the Cub dugout giving the team a standing ovation. It has to be great for a team on the road to get support like the Cubs did this past weekend in DC.

I really liked the new Nationals Park. It has a nice homey feel to it. The seats all have great sightlines and there truly is not bad seat in the house. The Cherry Blossoms in left field are a nice touch and must be amazing in April when they are in bloom. The Nats do their best to make the games fun. They have a group called the Natspack that roam the ballpark during the games, shoot t-shirts into the crowd and generally try to make the games fun. The Presidents’ race is fun and a nice take off of the sausage race in Milwaukee – I wonder if Teddy Roosevelt will ever win. Teddy has never won a race – kind of a running joke in DC. The seats though are a bit on the pricey side for a team that right now is a glorified Triple A team. Parking is not the best and very expensive and the Metro is well the Metro. I found the staff to be friendly for the most part – especially the staff in the President’s lounge and I have to give a shout out to Willie who was very friendly and makes a mean ham.

Next up for me is my final weekend of being an Arizona resident. I was planning on being in Toronto this upcoming weekend but I can get there later in the season. There are still a few things I want to do in Arizona and the most important for me is going to the south rim of the Grand Canyon on Saturday (more on that in a bit). On Friday I will stop in Phoenix and catch the Pirate – Dback game and visit with some of my friends at Sliders – hopefully Tony is working the door - and at Chase Field, always good to get a dose of FAWTSY. Saturday I will be on the road early to get to the Canyon, I was lucky to get a room at a lodge in the National Park. I flew over the Canyon on my way to Seattle back in April during sunset. The Canyon at sunset is amazing. On Sunday I will stop in Sedona because everyone has told me “You have to see Sedona” kind of like on Seinfeld when they had to see the baby. If time allows I might even pop back into Chase for Sunday’s Dback game as I pass thru Phoenix for my final trip back to Tucson.

One of Shawn’s dearest friends is a regular reader of my blogs and recently told me the baseball stuff bores her but she loves the Shawn stories – so Kathy here is a Shawn story just for you. For Shawn’s 35th birthday in March of 2008 I wanted to do something really special. We both love Vegas and had been 3 times. We don’t gamble at all but love the life of the city. Each trip we try to do something out of Vegas and one of the things we had always wanted to do was go to the Grand Canyon. We saw on a travel show the new glass walkway that goes out over the edge of the Canyon at the west rim. It is only a 2.5 hour drive from Vegas to the west rim so we had to do it. We got to the Indian Reservation right as it opened and were the first ones out on the walkway. What a strange feeling walking out 70 feet from the edge, 4,000 feet above the Canyon floor. We were the only visitors on the walkway for over an hour. There were a few native Indians from the tribe as tour guides on the walkway. Shawn was wearing a Yankee hoodie and all the Indians wanted to talk to her about the Yanks and Derek Jeter. I was wearing a Patriot hoodie and to my Chicago friends – I haven’t changed teams, just needed something warm to wear and that’s all I had. The tribe members were the most friendly, genuine people we had ever met. We spent the rest of the day touring the Canyon, had lunch on a picnic table on the edge of the Canyon and just enjoyed the surroundings. We were talking about what an amazing sight the Canyon was. Someone over heard us and said “you think this is amazing, you need to see the south rim”.

For the balance of the week some of the highlights were we had dinner at the Mon Abi Gabi which is strip side across from the Bellegio fountains, saw Mystere at Treasure Island and had dinner at Maggiano’s with a good friend of ours from Boston who happened to be in Vegas at the same time we were. Shawn also got to get on stage as a volunteer at the Mac King Comedy Magic Show – but I will save that story for another blog. We always end our Vegas trips on the last night hanging out watching the fountains at the Bellegio – while we were there Shawn grabbed my hand and said thanks for the best birthday ever…..

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 107

 



Sometimes the actual event never lives up to the anticipation of the event. That was not the case this past weekend in DC. The weekend actually blew away the anticipation of what I thought the weekend would be like. Not only did I get to see the Cubs win all 3 games in DC, but I hung out with some special friends and even made a few others along the way. I will make this a two part blog – so much to cover in just one blog.

Believe it or not I had an uneventful flight from Tucson to DC on Friday – landed in time to check into my hotel and then drive to the ballpark. This was mistake number one as parking at the new Nationals Park is very scarce and overly expensive as in $30 to $40 to park near the ballpark. I am sure I could have found less expensive parking but wasn’t really in the mood to drive around. I could have taken the Metro but that too has its issues as I will document a bit later. The ballpark’s main entrance is in Center Field as that entrance is the one closest to the Metro. The outfield area of the ballpark has a street fair feel to it with food stands and of course beer stands. As you walk around the concourse of the park – it is all open to the field and has great food choices and picnic table areas. All nice touches. My friend Ken had sent me a text on Friday saying I had to try Ben’s Chili and a Half Smokey with the works. Ken is a wise man and I had to follow his suggestion – and what a great suggestion it was. I also found a beer stand that had Gordon Biersch beer – the same beer I had in Arizona with Travis, Joey and Pedro at Sliders – so I had to get one and toast my 30/30 friends. After dinner I walked around the ballpark and just took in the atmosphere which was helped by the 30,000 Cub fans in attendance.

My seat for the Friday game was about 20 rows from 3rd base behind the Cub dugout. I had an extra ticket for the game and decided not to sell it, but leave it “open” as I have done at a few other ballparks along the way. As fate would have it leaving that seat “open” allowed me to meet Ron and his wife who were in from the Chicago area to visit their daughter and attend the game. What a wonderful family and I had a great time talking with them during the game. Ron has led a very interesting life and had great stories to share. For me this game was very sentimental and had me really missing Shawn. I know she would have loved the ballpark and its atmosphere and would have especially loved meeting Ron and his family. Special thanks go out to them for making this night another very special one for me along the Quest. Oh and thanks again for the beer!!!

I was especially excited for Saturday’s game as the commissioner of the Quest Mikey and his wife Jo were meeting me as well as one of our best friends Amy, James and their 9 year old son Cameron - who is a huge Alfonso Soriano fan - were driving down from WV. We met in Crystal City at Bailey’s – Shawn’s favorite bar in the DC area – and took the Metro to the game or let’s call it mistake number two. The Metro was running on a weekend schedule and was not prepared for the 36,000 people who were making their way to the ballpark. We had to squeeze into the train when it arrived in Crystal City, change trains in DC and squeeze into that train as well. A funny side note – at one of the stops the door to the train wouldn’t close as people were blocking it from shutting. After the 3rd attempt to shut the door – this little voice came out of nowhere – it was Cameron yelling out to James “suck it in dad”. The whole car broke out laughing. Leave to a 9 year old to break the tension. I also noticed that Cam was not wearing his Cub stuff and as we were walking past a souvenir stand I told Cam to follow me and we got him a Cub hat. I know it’s just a hat, but for me that was a big moment and I thank James for allowing me the honor of getting Cam his first Cub hat.

Our seats for this game were in the upper deck behind home plate. The architects for National’s Park were the same for Citizen’s Bank in Philly. The upper deck is all open and has great areas to stand and watch the game while socializing with friends. A very cool moment – one that I will remember forever – was when I was hanging with Mikey and Jo talking in the open area when Alfonso Soriano hit a 3 run homer to give the Cubs a 5 to 4 lead. I had wanted to see Cam since his hero had just hit a big home run. He was standing and cheering and then looking around for me. When he saw me he just pointed with this big smile – what a moment, one that I cannot put into words.

Earlier in the week Amy and I had been emailing. She said that said forgot to get tickets for Cam to go to see the Cubs. Circumstances were such that I had 3 extra tickets for the game and I asked Amy to join me. During the game I realized that 10 months ago to the day I had dinner with James, Amy, Mike and Jo. It was during the afternoon and evening break of Shawn’s wake. Funny how fate had it that the 5 of us were together, at a ballgame with one of the coolest 9 year olds I have ever met. And we got to see his hero hit his first home run in over 30 games. I think it had to do with a little more than fate.

A few cool things have also happened over the past few weeks. The first is one of my pictures from Chase Field have made it onto the website for the Phoenix Schmap travel guides. I will post the link on here somewhere if you would like to take a look. The second cool thing is I received recently an email from Rod Wearing of Australia who sent me a nice email saying he has been following the Quest and told me that he has been to the states 4 times over the past 8 years and each of his trips are planned around baseball. Rod has been to 7 ballparks including the old Yankee Stadium and hopes to make it to the states next summer and hopefully get to Wrigley or Fenway or both. Rod I hope you make it out this way next summer and if you do please keep in touch – I know a few people who would love to attend a game with you, myself included.

Well I think that’s it for today. I will blog in the next day or two about Sunday’s Cubs game and my reflections on the weekend after I have a day or two to let them sink in. So for now this is so long and good bye from Tucson where on the way home today I think I am going to stop and get a few Fosters oil cans, some shrimp and a steak and toast to my new friends down under as well as “fate” who helped make Friday and Saturday the most memorable moments of the Quest so far….

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 102

 



After a 1 weekend layoff – the Quest kicks into the final stages with ballpark 25 this weekend in DC. This will be a very special weekend as I am heading home to the DC area and will be able to enjoy this weekend hanging with some really special friends. Also a couple of milestones are upon us – the Quest is now over 100 days old and we are nearing 2,000 hits on this website. Both very cool milestones.

I had been to see Nationals games at old RFK about 20 times. Even though RFK was a run-down ballpark I really enjoyed going there. We saw the Yankees play there a few years back in 2 very memorable games. The Saturday game was won by the Nats on a walk off home run by Ryan Zimmerman off of Mariano Riveria and on Sunday the Nats won again on a walk off. I saw the Cubs play there many times and RFK was where Shawn “caught” her foul ball (more on that later). Since I have been to RFK so many times I feel I have earned the right to go to the new Nationals ballpark.

On Saturday I am very fortunate to be going to the game with one of the truly great couples – Mike and Jo Schramm. I met Mike many years ago at work. Mike is one of the few IT geeks that really understand operations. We made a great team at work as he is one of the few people who can keep up with all my crazy ideas as well as adding some of his own. Mike and I have never met a box that could contain our ideas. In his office he had this really uncomfortable steel chair – it became our “thinking man’s chair”. When our boss Gerry would walk by and seeing me sitting in the chair – he knew all was right in the world as Mike and I were off on our next scheme to save our company money. Because of Mike and Jo I have been able to survive the past 10 months. At Shawn’s wake and funeral Mike was with me the whole time. When my water bottle would be near empty a full one would find its way into my hand. He made sure I ate to keep up my strength and when I was having a moment, a light pat on the back of reassurance was there. He even reminded me to take a pee every now and then, but he joked that his friendship duties ended at the bathroom door. On the Mount Rushmore of truly special friends, Mike and Jo Schramm are right there along with Margaret and Ted (more on them in a few weeks when I blog about Fenway).

Over this weekend I also will get to meet one of the newest members of the Red Sox Nation – Quentin Leach - the 12 week old son of my good friends Tracey and Jenny. Shawn and I met Tray and Jenny a few years ago on Halloween night. We were attending a party at our favorite WV pub – the Brass Ring. Shawn and I always loved to dress up for Halloween and tried to find really cool couples costumes. That night we were dressed as Fred Flintstone and Betty Rubble – the cheating Flintstones. We thought it was a funny idea but in WV satire and sarcasm isn’t always understood. During the course of the night I noticed a guy wearing a Walter Payton Bears shirt. I immediately walked over to him and told him he had the best costume of the night. Sitting with him was Jenny and Tracey. Funny how fate works – my hero is Walter Payton and because of him we met one of our best friends. We had a good friendship with Tray and Jenny but didn’t get to hang out with them as much as would have liked. Life and other things to do always seemed to get in the way. Shawn and Jenny actually became better friends after we moved to Boston. Jenny told me that she would call Shawn every morning on her way to work and the two of them helped each other cope with their crazy husbands and life’s other issues. I know this weekend when I meet the “Q” there will be happiness but also some sadness as well as nobody was more happy for Jenny when Shawn found out she was pregnant. I know Shawn is there watching over the “Q” – I just hope she can forgive me for the gift I sent to Q after he was born. It was a stuff animal dressed in Red Sox stuff and I named him ‘Lil Papi’. Shawn being a Yankee fan – said I was never ever allowed to spend one dime on any Red Sox stuff. I have a feeling she approves.

I will end this with the story of Shawn’s foul ball. It was the Nat’s first season at RFK and the grounds crew hadn’t quite figured out how to put a tarp on the field. The radar showed a huge storm about an hour away so the Nat’s decided to delay the game until after the storm left. The game finally started at about 9:30, by 11:30 we were in the 6th inning. Shawn had fallen asleep on my shoulder. I told her we would leave after the Cubs batted in the 6th. Our seats were first row in the upper deck just to the 3rd base side of home – perfect foul ball territory for any lefty hitter. Jeremy Burnitz was up and he hit a foul that was coming right at me – I stood up waking up Shawn in the process. The guy next to me bumped me and the ball fell to the floor. A big scramble ensued and my wife – the Jersey girl – came up with the ball. It was funny hearing her tell the story days later – instead of her winning the scramble for the ball, she told everyone it was a screaming liner that she caught one handed all while not spilling her beer.

Check back over the weekend and next week for the stories of the big weekend in DC. So for now it’s so long and good bye where all caught foul ball stories shall remain - screaming liners, caught one handed, all while not spilling a drop of beer.

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Sunday, July 12, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - All-Star Break

 



The all-star break is upon us. The Cubs are hovering at .500 and seem to can’t get out of their own way. Actually they are lucky to be at .500 since no one is hitting over .300. The Bears report to training camp in a few weeks with a shiny new quarterback – let’s hope that it’s the QB that makes the receiver, not the receiver that makes the QB. At least the days of the chuck and duck offense led by Rex are over. The Hawks have added Marian Hossa and John Madden (the hockey player) and look to be ready to compete for the Cup next season. The Bulls are well the Bulls. They take a few steps forward and one giant leap back. As for the White Sox – who cares I am a Cub fan. And hopefully Charlie has figured out college football and will return the Irish to glory. If not, oh well there is always next season.

So why bring all that up – because that paragraph sums up the dog days of summer for a Chicago sports fan. We are eternally optimistic and when things don’t go our way we don’t get on the ledge like Boston fans do or fire off 4 letter words like New York fans do – we just head to our local pub, order a Goose Island (it was Old Style growing up but I can afford better now) and hang out with the friendliest people in the world. We relive the Jordan years and in every conversation the ’85 Bears team will come up. We still love Sammy – but won’t admit it and at least one story of attending a game at the old Madhouse on Madison we be told. And we were all at game 6 of the 1992 NBA finals when the Bulls stormed back from 15 down to start the 4th quarter to win their 2nd of 6 championships. We all know the words to “Bear Down Chicago Bears” and will always end the night with a toast to Walter – not only the greatest Bear of all time – but the greatest football player of all time. And if you don’t agree – then step out back buddy and we will allow you to change your mind.

As I have traveled around the country attending the games – I have met at least one person who was from Chicago at each game. There is no other city – New York included – where people will say, I am originally from Chicago. And they say it with pride. The old line – you can take the boy out of Chicago but you can’t take Chicago out of the boy definitely applies. And in no other city are our sports heroes so beloved. I was talking with my sister Kim last night and she told me that my nephew Aaron is still all about Michael Jordan. She even blames me for him spending $180 on Air Jordans. That’s ok Kim – I just spent $500 on a Walter Payton autographed wall photo collage. I also used to have 3 dogs – my 2 were named Payton and Jordan, Shawn being a Yankee fan her dog was named Jeter (at least the real Jeter wears Air Jordan stuff is what I told her). Someday I would love to have an Akita and name him Mikita after of course Stan the Man. Oh and I do need a dog named Ernie. Mr. Cub needs to be represented.

Next week I head to DC and the Nationals Ballpark – ballpark 25. I actually am really looking forward to this trip and not only because I am seeing the Cubs for 3 games but will get to attend these games with some of my best friends. The commissioner of the Quest Mikey and his wife Jo will be with me on Saturday. This could be dangerous as we will start at Bailey’s in Crystal City and pub crawl our way to the ballpark. I have been fortunate to have many wonderful people in my life and Mikey and Jo are at the top of the list. I also will never forget everything they have done for me and it will take lifetimes to repay them.

Well I guess this is it for the all-star break blog. Check back next week for many blogs from DC – it is going to be a blast. So for now this is so long and good bye from Tucson, AZ where it is T minus 18 days and counting until my run in Tucson is over and I will be cueing up the Dropkick Murphy’s because I will be Shipping up to Boston. But I will miss the views – just check out the view from my condo in the pic attached to the blog.

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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 94

 



AC0063100. That is one of the “signs” on one of the buildings on Sheffield Avenue overlooking right field at Wrigley. What is AC0063100 you ask? That one little sign sums up the Cubs franchise. The AC means “and counting”. The 00 is the number of years it has been since the Cubs have won a division title, the 63 is number of years since the Cubs have won a National League Championship and by now everyone knows what the 100 is.

As you saw in the blog prior to this one – I was overly excited to be going to Wrigley Field on Saturday. I got there about 4 hours before game time which allowed me to park for free on the streets near Wrigley. This is huge as it saves about $30 in parking costs. As I was walking around the outside of Wrigley you can just sense the energy of the place. It is hard to describe. There are street vendors everywhere selling souvenirs. There are tourists taking pictures of everything. There are the ball hawks out on Sheffield and Waveland waiting for batting practice so they can catch a home run. People are starting to line up for entrance in the bleachers since seating there is still first come, first serve. The bars were starting to open with people waiting for that first pregame beer. There is just an energy like only one other place and that is Fenway.

I had to follow tradition and have my first beer at Murphy’s Bleachers. Murphy’s opened at 9 and I was the 3rd person in. I met, of all things, a few people from Boston at Murphy’s. We talked about the similarities of Wrigley and Fenway and said that the big difference between the 2 is the people. People in Chicago are just friendlier – it’s a Midwestern thing really, said the guy from Boston (not me). After my first beer it was time to walk over to the Cubby Bear. So up Waveland I went – took some pictures along the way, stopped to talk to a few firemen at the official firehouse of Wrigley, made my over to McDonald’s for that official pregame pee and then to the Cubby Bear.

The Cubby Bear was always a big part of any trip to Chicago for Shawn and I. We hung out there before and after Shawn’s first Wrigley game, we flew to Chicago to watch the Colts-Bears Super Bowl at the Cubby Bear. When visiting Chicago we would stay in Lincolnshire and we would always hang out at the Cubby Bear North in Lincolnshire. With all that said I knew going to the Cubby Bear would be somewhat emotional for me – what I didn’t expect how much. I wake up each morning missing Shawn and go to sleep missing her. The Quest has been my way to learn to live again, reinvent my life. This may come out wrong but at each of the games I have never missed Shawn. On Saturday at the Cubby Bear I missed Shawn – I missed taking my best friend to my most favorite place.

After leaving the Cubby Bear my emotions were a bit subdued. There were still 2 more traditions that I had to do. The first was to enter Wrigley from behind home plate. I feel like a ballplayer must when coming out of the tunnel and first seeing the field. There is that excitement the first time you see the field. I have had that at each ballpark along the way – just not as much as at Wrigley. The 2nd tradition is to get a Smokey Link. A Smokey Link is a sausage type hotdog that can only be found at Wrigley – so I had to have 2, because that is tradition. My seat for this game was great – 5 rows off the field even with 3rd base. The forecast called for rain most of the day, but other than a few sprinkles the rain held off until just after the final pitch to the game. Also the seat next to me was “empty” all game as the person who had the ticket didn’t show up. It was the only empty seat in Section 10 – trust me, I checked.

As for the game – there really wasn’t one. The Brewers smacked around Cub started Rich Harden for 5 runs in the 1st and scored in every inning but 2. The Cubbies loaded up the bases in the first and second but didn’t score. This game will be known as the game Alfonso Soriano didn’t lead off but was dropped to 6th in the order – big news in these parts.

Over the 2 days back in Chicago – I was able to see the Cubs win a game in the 10th, got to sing “Go Cubs Go” when they won on Friday, got to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” twice with 40,000 fellow Cub fans. Had 3 Smokey Links, 4 Old Styles and shared a Bill’s Pub double-decker pizza on Saturday with some friends. All in all a great weekend. As I was leaving Wrigley on Saturday I made a promise to myself to get back to Wrigley at least 4 weekends each season. That would be 12 games or ¼ of their home schedule – about the same amount of games I went to each season when I was growing up.

I now only have 6 more ballparks to go and each is special. That is why they are at the tail end of the Quest. The ballparks are:

Nationals Park – July 17 – 19. This is a homecoming of sorts as I will be able to get to Charles Town, WV where Shawn and I lived for 6 years and I still have many great friends there. I will get to see the Cubs for 3 games but most importantly I will get to meet Quentin Fenway Leach – the newborn son of our great friends Jenny and Tracey.

Toronto – July 25. This game is special only because I was supposed have been there on May 17th but I stayed in Detroit to see the Hawks – Wings playoff game and it was because of that game that I met Sarah and Jeff who have become great friends and will be going to Ford Field with on Jan. 3rd to see the Bears – Lions game.

Florida – August 1 & 2. Get to see the Cubs in Miami but more importantly I get to meet up with one of my best friends and fraternity brother from college – Angel who I haven’t seen since college. That is the coolest thing with Facebook – reconnecting with old friends.

Yankee Stadium August 8. Red Sox vs. Yankees – enough said.

Fenway Park – August 21st. Yankees vs. Red Sox – again enough said.

Citi Field – September 6. The final game of the Quest - Cubs vs. Mets. So far over 25 friends have confirmed that they will be at Citi Field that day. We are going to tailgate before the game as well as after. If you would like to be there with us and you haven’t confirmed – please send me an email or comment on this blog. The more the merrier!!!! Plus WGN might be filming part of the Lead-off Man from our tailgate.

I think that about does it for today. So for now this is so long and good bye and I wish I knew who the person was that didn’t show for the game on Saturday. I would like to thank them and let them know my best friend enjoyed the game.

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Saturday, July 4, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 90

 



Happy 4th of July everyone from Lincolnshire, IL where it is 4:19 am and I am blogging. Why am I up so early? Because I am going to Wrigley Field today and I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. The weather for today calls for showers - yes – a potential rain delay which means more time at Wrigley Field. Always looking for that silver lining.

I did get to the Cub game yesterday – a glorious Cub victory in 10 innings. But let us back track 24 hours or so and detail the trials and tribulations of getting from Tucson to Wrigley by way of Phoenix, Boston and Philly.

Remember that Seinfeld episode with Denise Richards playing the daughter of an NBC exec. You remember – the episode about cleavage. All 7 of my readers are now shaking their heads with a smile. Back about 10 months ago my buddy Randy and I were talking that we never get a babe (Randy’s word) sitting next to us on a plane. We always get – well me sitting next to me on a plane. Andy F. McRae is now shaking his head with that “been there – done that” look. When I got on the plane from Tucson to Phoenix the other night as I came upon my seat – 16A – low and behold sitting in seat 16C was a babe. Not any babe, but a 21 year old or so babe with Denise Richards’ like cleavage. As I sat down I introduced myself and she said her name was – go ahead and take a guess – Denise. I’m sorry but you can’t make this stuff up. As I sit down I notice this guy sitting across the aisle giving me that look of death. Turns out that guy was her dad. We talk a bit with me trying very hard to focus on everything but looking down or at her dad who hadn’t taken his eyes off of me. Then WWRD pops into my head. What Would Randy Do? For those who know Randy – you are now shaking your heads saying “yup”. Well I figure why not have some fun on this flight – so I talk to her the whole flight. All while “trying” not to look down. During the flight I told her all about the Quest and like any 21 year old was enthralled by it. BTW - Enthralled is a great word – I implore (another great word) you all to use enthralled 5 times today. At the end of the flight I gave her my Quest business card – I had these business cards made up with the info for my website so I can give to people that I meet along the way. What a sneaky way to get her my info. Randy is now shaking his head with that “I taught him well” look on his face.

So why was I in Boston and Philly to go to Chicago? That’s what Margaret asked in about 10 emails yesterday. As for Gini who helps with my travel at times – I know I had her head spinning. Here is why – I try to book business and personal travel as far out as possible to get the best price. So a month or so ago I booked a flight from Tucson to Boston for July 2nd. I actually do work – I know hard to believe, right Andy – and the whole reason I have been in Tucson for the last 9 months is to move 2 distribution centers from Tucson to Irvine (pronounced Irvin) PA. We are in the process of the moves as I type and everything is going smoothly – knock on wood – so I am able to get away for a long weekend. Now I have flights booked round trip from Tucson to Boston – it is cheaper to fly to Boston and hop on a flight from Boston to Chicago via Philly then it is to cancel the Tucson to Boston and fly direct from Tucson to Chicago. Are you with me – or did you move to another blog by now? Gini and Margaret are still shaking their heads in that “bobble head” way.

I have a red eye flight from Phoenix to Boston and I sleep like a baby with visions of sugar plums bouncing in my head – not really, but this is a PG-13 site so let’s just say sugar plums and notice I said bouncing not dancing. I can see some day I will be walking with Cousin Jim and seeing a really good looking girl and saying – how about them sugar plums!!! To Cousin Jim and Bob – I dare you on Monday in the morning manager meeting to say sugar plums once during the meeting. The flight to Boston is on time as is the flight from Boston to Philly. All is well and then US Airways and the mechanics union decided I didn’t want to see the first pitch of the game on Friday. The flight from Philly to O’Hare was to land at 10:55 am which would allow me 2.5 hours to get from O’Hare to Wrigley. Being a holiday I knew the Kennedy wouldn’t have too much traffic, I might hit traffic at the junction but I could always exit at Montrose and work my way over to Irving Park. WOW – I love typing Chicago speak. If you live in Chicago you are now shaking your head saying good plan Bobby D – if you don’t then you have moved to the next paragraph.

We board the plane 10 minutes early – the nice gate attendant said the flight was booked solid and they wanted to make sure we left on time - great plan. We all board and are ready to go – 10 minutes early no less. Since I have a pretty good seat – well first class but I don’t want to name drop – I see 3 mechanics come onto the plane. It is never a good thing to ever see a mechanic on a full plane – no less 3. I overhear something about a burster engine. Captain Kirk comes over the intercom and says we have an issue with an engine and it will take some time to correct it. Damn it Scotty – we need more power. He says it will be about 30 minutes – which is 2 hours in airline time. Well the engine was fixed in 30 minutes and all we need is the paperwork to be completed but the mechanics went on a 30 minute break as stated in their union contract which is the exact words the flight attendant told me. 160 people are waiting to get to Chicago and we have to wait for a union mandated beak before we could leave. Let’s just say this did not make us all feel warm and fuzzy about unions at this point. I will really leave it at that or this could go on for another 7,500 words.

We land at O’Hare at 12:50 and my plan works to perfection and I am in my seat at Wrigley at 2:05. That is 1 hour and 15 minutes to get off the plane – walk quickly to the car rental bus area – get on the Thrifty bus – get my car – get on the Kennedy – pay the toll (never an easy thing on an Illinois Tollway) – get thru the junction – work my way the 4 miles on Irving Park to Clark then find parking since I was late and parking with the nuns was out of question as they were sold out – walk to Wrigley – get to the upper deck (not easy since the game was standing room only and the only place to stand is on the ramps to the upper deck) – find my seat and enjoy the game. Luckily I didn’t miss much as the game was in the 3rd inning and the score still knotted at zero. Wow – that sounded like I am a real journalist or something. The Cubbies won in the 10th on a walk off walk of all things. When going to Wrigley you always check the wind – if it is blowing in then it will be cooler since the wind is coming off the lake and the score will be low since it will take a bazooka or a guy on ‘roids (no that wasn’t a Sammy Sosa joke – that was) to hit a homer. And yes the wind was blowing in for this game.

I will save all my impressions of being back at Wrigley for the next blog. I hope that you found this blog enjoyable and somewhat funny - ANDY. Andy signed the guestbook the other day saying the stories in the last 2 blogs were all nice but he wanted some JOKES. I am finally feeling better – a few blogs ago I mentioned I was under the weather. Well under the weather turned out to be walking pneumonia. The drugs the good doctor gave me had codeine in them that made me feel more loopy than normal. Since I am better – thanks for asking BTW – I am off the drugs and back to being normal loopy. Hence blogging at 4:19 am.

I guess that’s it – time to suit up for today’s Wrigley Field adventure. So for now this is so long and good bye from Lincolnshire, IL where I just realized Denise has the info for this site and will read that paragraph about her sugar plums. Randy is now shaking his head with that “I still have more to teach the boy” look on his face. Who cares – I’m going to Wrigley Field today!!!!!!!

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Wrigley Memories

 



During the interview process for a job I had at Ecolab many moons ago – I had to “interview” with a psychologist. Her first question to me was “what is your first detailed memory”? This was my answer:

For my 8th birthday my dad promised to take me to my first ever baseball game. We were supposed to go for my birthday on May 18th but his work got in the way and we went on the 19th instead. This was the first of many times I skipped school – or work for that matter – to go to Wrigley. I remember the first thing we did when we got to Wrigley was go to the souvenir store across from Wrigley to get my first ever Cubs hat. To this day every time I go to Wrigley I go to those shops and more times than not I get a Cubs hat. I remember my dad saying he knew the bartender (like father, like son) at Ray’s Bleachers across from the bleacher entrance to Wrigley. Ray’s is now known as Murphy’s. I remember sitting at the bar having a soda feeling all grown up when the bartender said “happy birthday” to me and handed us 2 tickets to the game. The bartender reached under the bar and said here you go – this is the ball Santo hit on Sunday. Who knows if it was the ball – all I know is it was a real MLB ball with a scuff mark where it hit Waveland.

It was time for the gates to open and get some autographs. Back in ’71 all the players signed autographs before the game and here are just a few I got that day: Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Bobby Bonds, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ron Santo, Lou Boudreau, Ken Holtzman, Jim Hickman, Milt Pappas and my all time favorite player – Ernie Banks. Over the years we took that ball to every game and got more autographs – I laugh every time I look at the ball and see Skip Dillards name next to Willie Mays. A funny side note – when my brother Jeff was 9 he got the game winning hit in his Little League game – the next morning when I came downstairs there was the ball on the kitchen table with “JEFF” in big block letters on the ball over Fergie’s autograph. He said his name belonged on the ball with all those other guys and it’s what makes that ball even more special today.

The tickets that the bartender gave us turned out to be amazing – first row behind the Giants dugout. I haven’t had such great seats to a game until recently in Cincinnati and Cleveland. After warm-ups between innings Willie McCovey would throw the infield warm-up ball into the dugout and my dad would tell me to stand up with my glove for Willie to throw it to me. All game he would tease me as the ball would barely go into the dugout. In the 8th though – the ball came right to me and I caught it (of course I did, even if I dropped it I would say I caught it).

I don’t remember too much of the game – I do remember Fergie pitching. My dad told me all about Fergie and how someday he would be in the Hall of Fame. I also remember Billy Williams hitting 2 home runs. Billy Williams was my next favorite Cub behind Ernie. I do remember it was sunny and I remember the ivy and the scoreboard and I remember the Cubs won.

Over the years I have been to Wrigley over 100 times. Growing up in the north suburbs of Chicago we could take the Milwaukee Road commuter train into Chicago – we would get off at the Addison St. stop and take a bus the remaining 4.5 miles to Wrigley. Bleacher tickets at the time were under $5.00 and if we wanted to splurge we would get box seats – back then the Cubs were not exactly the hottest ticket in town often drawing less than 10,000 fans for a day game in April or September. Every winter when the schedule would come out we would focus on the scheduled doubleheaders. Yes back then they used to schedule doubleheaders usually one against the Cardinals and one against the Astros. My buddy Dave Kahan would drive us to Wrigley in mid February when the single game tickets would go on sale. There was no internet back then and no virtual wait room – we had to virtually wait in line next to the ticket windows at Wrigley on a cold February Saturday morning. We would get all the doubleheader games and shoot for opening day tickets.

The rest of the games we went to we would sit in the bleachers. If we were lucky one of our dads would drive us to Wrigley early in the morning so we could get in line for the bleachers. Our goal was to be first row in right center just above the 368 foot marker on the outfield wall. While waiting in line we would draw straws to see who would have to walk to the other side of Wrigley to get us our Yum Yum donuts. It’s funny how a hot dog tastes better at a game as well as a Yum Yum donut tastes better while waiting in line for the bleachers. Yum Yum is now closed and the building stands empty. If I ever hit the lottery I will buy that building and open Yum Yum up again.

It really is strange how things happen in life. One of my best friends in high school and beyond is Mark Clement. Mark and I coached senior league baseball together – worked as day camp counselors for our summer jobs, tried to help Nancy Pence the day she fell asleep with the bath water running (that story in itself is an entire blog) and we went to the most memorable games together at Wrigley. Not the game itself but the things that happened during the trip. I typed most of this blog on Sunday and wondered where Mark is now. On Monday I got a friend request on Facebook from Mark. I have had many of these “coincidences” happen over the past 10 months. When they happen I don’t ask how or why – I just go with it. The following paragraph was typed on Sunday.

Mark and I went to a doubleheader to see the Cubs – Cards back in the early 80’s. We did our usually routine of taking the train and then the bus. We had made Kool-Aid in a jug for the day (important part to the story). After the games we made our way back to the train stop. We had a lot of time to kill so we walked the few miles up the tracks to the next stop to go to the greatest Italian Beef place in the world – Roma’s on Irving Park. We had our sandwiches and headed back to the stop. We were bored so we started throwing rocks at an old factory. I guess we broke some windows and the neighbors called the cops. We had stopped throwing by the time the cop showed up. In the meantime some kid had come along to wait for the train. Well the cop asked who was throwing rocks – I quickly said some kids who left about 5 minutes ago up the tracks. The cop bought it. Next he asked what was in the jug. We said Kool-Aid. He didn’t believe us and decided to check for himself. Well during the day we had dropped the jug and the spout broke causing it to leak when you poured from it. Well the cop went to take a swig and well…some of the orange Kool-Aid made its way onto his shirt. Now he was pissed. He next went to the kid and asked what was in his backpack. Turned out he had a bunch of drugs and got busted. That kid had to be the unluckiest kid in the world all because of us.

Growing up in Libertyville we were all Cub fans. Since the Cubs played all day games at home we would sneak our transistor radio into school to keep track of the score. After school we would hurry home to catch the 8th and 9th inning on WGN. I took going to Wrigley for granted back then. I moved out of the Chicago area in ’87 and have been back to Wrigley only 4 times since. I see the Cubs on the road every season – just never seemed to get back to Chicago.

I guess I have rambled on enough for today. If all works out tomorrow (July 3rd) I will get to Wrigley by about 1:00 pm for the 1:20 game against the Brewers. Saturday though will be my day to really relive all those memories. The game is at noon, but I will be at Wrigley by 8 am – why so early? Because growing up we always got to Wrigley 4 to 5 hours before game time – it’s just what you do when going to Wrigley plus I need to stop at McDonald’s for that pregame pee and the souvenir shop to get a Cub hat and head to Murphy’s for a “soda”.

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