Friday, June 26, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Shawn's Wrigley Game

 



The Quest takes a 2 weekend break now and I think I will need it to rest up for the Wrigley Field July 4th weekend and my first time back in Wrigley since September 29, 2006. The original plan only had me in Chicago for one day and then on to Cincy and Cleveland – but business travel and opportunity took care of Cincy and Cleveland. So now I get 3 whole days to be “home” and truly enjoy Chicago.

So does that mean no blogs for 2 weeks? Heck no – we need to hype the Wrigley Field trip with a 3 blog series leading up to the game on July 4th. Part one will be this blog of a day that was truly special -part 2 will be my memories of my first game at Wrigley on May 19th, 1971 – part 3 will be my high school and college years at Wrigley and what it means to be a die-hard Cub fan.

Shawn’s Wrigley Game – Sept. 29, 2006

My 25th high school reunion was on September 30, 2006 so Shawn and I took a road trip from West Virginia to Chicago. I hadn’t been to Wrigley since July 5th, 1996 when I took my nephew Aaron to his first Cub game for his 7th birthday. Hard to believe 11 years had passed since my last trip to Wrigley. The original plan was to do a Chicago doubleheader on Sunday – Cubs at 1:20 and then the Bears that night at 8:00 pm. The long range forecast called for rain on Sunday and I didn’t want to miss going to Wrigley so we decided the Cub game would be on Friday against the Rockies and as for the Bear game we got tattoos instead. The Cubs were finishing one of their worst seasons and would only win 67 games but the game was a sellout. I got tickets on eBay in the upper deck infield box area. I had wanted bleacher seats for the game – but told Shawn next time we are back at Wrigley we will do the bleachers – little did I know.

Shawn told me she wanted to experience what a Wrigley trip was like for me growing up – so we drove from Libertyville to Skokie and took the Skokie Swift to the Howard St. ‘L’ to Wrigley. There is this feeling of excitement and anticipation when you get to the Sheridan Station as you can see Wrigley in the distance and know that the next stop is Addison St. Once off the ‘L’ we went straight to Murphy’s Bleachers at the corner of Sheffield and Waveland for our first beer of the day. I told Shawn the story of my first time at Murphy’s – actually was Ray’s Bleachers back then – on May 19th, 1971 (more on this in part 2). After our beer we walked up Waveland past the ball hawks that were out in force for batting practice and then past the official fire station of Wrigley Field. We walked past the Cubs’ players’ parking lot and the building that used to be Yum Yum Donuts and headed across Clark St. to the McDonalds for our official pregame pee. Ever since I was in high school I stop and take a pee at the McDonalds. It was tradition – pee at McDonalds and then pick up donuts at Yum Yum (more on this in part 3).

On the corner of Clark and Addison – well the other corner - is the Cubby Bear Lounge. We got 2 seats at the bar and quickly made friends with the bartender – that had always been our M.O. – making friends with bartenders. We ordered our Italian beef sandwiches – mine extra juicy with sweet peppers and Shawn got hers with mozzarella and sweet peppers. This was Shawn’s first ever Italian beef – on Saturday I took her to Roma’s on Irving Park for a real Italian beef. When the folks sitting around us found out it was Shawn’s first Wrigley game they shared with us their first Wrigley game memories – as one guy said “everyone remembers their first Wrigley game”. I could tell Shawn was having a great time at the Cubby Bear so much so that I got her a blue Cubby Bear hoody as a souvenir. As we were leaving the Cubby Bear the nice doorman offered to take a few pictures of us with the Wrigley marquee in the background.

When I didn’t have a bleacher ticket for a game I always enter Wrigley Field thru the main entrance behind home plate and then proceed up the steps right behind home. You can see the center field scoreboard and then the bleachers then the ivy. I imagine the feeling is the same for Red Sox fans entering Fenway from behind home plate when the Green Monster comes into view. We walked around the field boxes and headed to the Bartman seat. I needed to see if Moises Alou had a shot at that foul ball and if indeed Bartman was the evil person we have made him out to be. I will be honest with you – if I was sitting there then I would have replaced Bartman as the evil person. There is no way I wouldn’t have gone for that foul and Alou had very little chance at it. Alou admitted as much though years later after Bartman had to move out of Chicago – rumor has it he lives in Miami where he is a hero to all Marlin fans.

I took Shawn around and told her stories of Cub games I had been to. Showed her where Aaron and I sat when I took him to his first Cub game, where I sat for my first Cub game and where we sat on Senior Ditch Day when “we ditched our studies to watch the Cubbies”. We made our way up the ramp to the upper deck – took a bunch of pictures and then watched the Cubs lose. I can’t remember too much of the game, but I can remember everything else about the day. After the game we headed back to the Cubby Bear for a few post game beers, met up with the same bartender and guys we hung out with before the game and all they wanted to hear was about Shawn’s first Wrigley game. She was center stage and you could see how happy she was reliving the day’s events. One of the guys left for a few minutes and came back with a Wrigley Field pin for Shawn – he said it was his honor to give it to her as a remembrance of her first Wrigley game. I found the pin a few days before the Quest started as I was packing up my home to move. This pin gave me the idea to get a pin from each ballpark on the Quest.

The balance of the weekend we went to my high school reunion and Shawn got to tell all my buddies about her first Wrigley game. On Sunday we got tattoos – Shawn had wanted a tat ever since we met and we finally broke down and got them. We watched the Bears crush the Seahawks from the Cubby Bear North in Lincolnshire on Sunday night. As we were driving back to West Virginia on Monday - Shawn thanked me for a great weekend and especially thanked me for taking her to her first Wrigley game. She said it would be a day she will always remember - as will I sweetheart, as will I.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 79

 



I have to apologize for the delayed write up for my game in Cleveland. I have been under the weather lately and now I am finally feeling over the weather. I hope all of you are over the weather as well. It was strange this past weekend – no baseball or travel for the first weekend since the end of March. This all started on April 3rd at Yankee Stadium and every weekend since I have been at a ballpark or 2 or 5 in the case of California. I finally get a weekend to work on my golf game here in Tucson and I get sick. Go figure – oh well, trust me I need more than a few weekends of work on my golf game.

Along the Quest there have been ballparks that I really have looked forward to visiting and the ballpark formerly known as the Jake was one of them. To get to Cleveland for the Sunday night game I had to hop on a flight from Tampa (home of the defending AL Champs) to Charlotte then connect to Pittsburgh then wait an hour for my luggage then drive the 110 miles to Cleveland. If all worked perfect I should get to Cleveland by 5 pm and guess what – I got to Cleveland at 4:50 because it only took 50 minutes to get my luggage in Pittsburgh.


The Indians do a real good job of making the games family friendly. They have games and other kid stuff set up in the area near Quicken Loans Arena – that is one of the dumber names for an arena but at least the nickname for the arena is The Q. The ballpark formerly known as the Jake is now known as Progressive Field. I understand that there is big money to be had for naming rights of a ballpark - $57 million over 16 years is what Progressive paid – but it is getting hard to keep up with all the ballpark and stadium name changes without a scorecard. Plus the Jake was a cool nickname for the ballpark. Now are we to call it the Prog or the Pro because Progressive is too long to say after a few beers. Maybe just call it the P (kind of fits after a few beers) which is right next to the Q. Too bad you couldn’t take the L or the T to the game.

As I was waiting for the gates to open I noticed a young man in a Dustin Pedroia jersey. So I stopped and asked him how many people have commented that he was at the wrong game. Jeff laughed and said a lot. I told him that I get that all the time wearing my Cub shirt. People say – made a wrong turn did you or the Cubs aren’t here today. One guy in Tampa went so far as saying I shouldn’t be allowed in the Trop wearing my Cub stuff. Jeff was there with his friend Cody who was wearing his Cardinal jersey. They are on their own baseball trip seeing games in 7 ballparks in 7 days. They also are from my neck of the woods – Portland, ME. We hung out and talked for 20 minutes – a Cub fan, Red Sox fan and Cardinal fan all we needed was a Yankee fan. Cody mentioned why not wear your baseball stuff when going to a game – it shows pride in your team. I couldn’t agree more.

I had gotten my tickets for this game off of Stubhub. I knew the seats were behind the Indian dugout but what I didn’t know was that the Indians had added a new row of seats called the Mercedes Benz front row seats and that is what I had a ticket for. Anytime ESPN showed the batter from the first base camera I was on TV. Margaret sent me emails during the game like: stop squinting or don’t pick your nose. I met some nice folks at the game – sitting next to me was Nls and his son Grant. Imagine being an 8 year old and sitting first row behind the dugout for a game. This will be a memory he will have for the rest of his life. And he almost had another memory…
I played golf instead of going to Yankee Stadium the day Boomer pitched his perfecto, I had tickets at will call the day Coney pitched his perfect game at The Stadium but hung out with Shawn’s family instead. On Sunday night Cliff Lee took a no-hitter into the 8th. I had mentioned in previous blogs that my friends Joey, Ken and myself always say there goes the no-hitter once there is a hit. When Lee got out of the 7th after facing Pujols and Ludwig and still no hits I started feeling it. It was this nervous excited feeling in the pit of my stomach. Being a Cub fan I was rooting for the Indians to beat the Cards to help out the Cubs. But now we are going to the 8th with a no hitter. Funny thing is that nobody around me said anything about it. It was this understood thing that something special was happening but nobody wanted to be a jinx. A few weeks back Josh Beckett took a no hitter into the 7th. I had sent a text to see if Mikey was watching the game. He was not and I had to use code to let him know to turn on the game. I said “Beckett is really looking like Lester tonight”. So Lee starts the 8th and 3rd pitch in Molina smacks a double off the right field wall - clean hit and there goes the no hitter and all the nervous excitement left the ballpark. The Indians ended up winning 3 to 0 in a game that only took 1 hour and 58 minutes. Sure I have great seats and I see the shortest game I have ever been to in my life.

As for the ballpark formerly known as the Jake – it is a great ballpark with lots to see and do. There are a lot of pubs around the park for stuff to do before and after the game. The Indians are having a tough season and it is starting to affect their attendance. When the Jake first opened the Indians sold out 455 straight games. Now they struggle to get 25,000 to a game. The Jake is a must see for any baseball fan. The games are fun and they shoot off fireworks between every inning – well that is to scare the seagulls away. Only issue with that is when they get scared they tend to leave droppings behind. So don’t look up when the fireworks are shot off or else you might shoot your eye out kid.

Next up is Wrigley Field on the 4th of July - just typing that I get all excited. Cubs – Brewers day game on a Saturday - 4 rows behind 3rd base at Wrigley Field. To build up the excitement for this game I will be posting a few blogs over the next week about my memories of Wrigley over the years. So for now this is so long and good bye from Tucson, AZ where I can finally take the patch off my left eye – yes I looked up as the guy dressed as a wiener is pointing out.

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Monday, June 15, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 71

 



It is kind of confusing here in the west central part of Florida – we have Tampa over here and St. Pete over there separated by a big ass body of water or otherwise known as the Tampa Bay. Most teams represent a city, some represent a state but here in Florida their teams represent a body of water. It would be like calling the baseball team from the Bronx – the Harlem River Yankees. Or we could have the Lake Michigan Bears or the Chicago River Blackhawks – kind of has a ring to it.

The nice people at Alamo had run out of convertibles which is the car I had booked thru Priceline for $25 a day. The only car they had that was a convertible was a Volvo C70, which after a little discussion (more like I talked and the agent listened) is the car that Alamo gave me. Now I have a cool convertible and about 9 hours to kill before the game so it’s time to drive. One of the things I wanted to see in Tampa was Raymond James Stadium – home of the Bucs. Turns out Saturday was Bucs Fan Fest day and free admission to the stadium and free parking which was about 1/2 of a mile from the stadium. That is an important fact as well as it was 92 degrees and about a million percent humidity. So I trudge to the stadium and encounter stupidest stadium rule number 2 only topped by the whole beer issues at the Ballpark in Arlington. Women were allowed to bring purses into the stadium, kids could bring in backpacks but under no terms were camera bags allowed in Raymond James Stadium. Since I was wearing gym shorts with no pockets I had taken my camera out of the bag and used the bag for my wallet, keys and cell phone – kind of like a woman would do with her purse which was my argument to the security personal. I told them it was a “murse” – a man’s purse. They didn’t buy the story and told me that if I didn’t stop arguing they would call security said the woman in a security uniform. I said “but you are security – who you going to call? Double secret security headed up by Dean Wormer”. It was time for me to shut up and walk the 1/2 mile back to the car. I figure I hate the Bucs anyway, I just wanted to see the Pirate ship in the stadium and I have a cool convertible – why waste time on the Bucs, time to hit the highways.

The home of the defending AL Champion Rays is the Tropicana Field over in St. Pete. The Trop is a big white dome that you can see from over 10 miles away. I was able to come up with 4 cool things about the Trop. The 1st is its nickname – the Trop. A sports fan will know which sporting venue you are talking about from one simple word – The Yankees used to play in the “stadium”, The Giants used to play at the “stick” or the Padres at the “Murph”. The defending AL Champion Rays play at the Trop – score one for the defending AL Champs. The 2nd cool thing with the Trop was the Cuesta Rey Cigar Bar in the Trop. The only other cigar bar in a ballpark was at Comerica but the one in Comerica was only open to folks who had seats in a premium seating area. The Trop was open to all. The 3rd cool thing with the Trop is it is a dome. I never ever would have thought I would be ok with indoor baseball. But after being out in the 92 degree – 1 million percent humidity – 72 degree indoor baseball was quite appealing.

The 4th cool thing with the Trop was the party deck out in left field and this is where I decided to watch the game and also where I met Evan and Brett. They are young men who are about to graduate from college. We talked sports most of the game and I got my first inkling of how important college football is in the south. I have heard about it – but talking to them I could sense it. In the north we watch college football on Saturday to warm up for the NFL on Sunday. In the south there is college football on Saturday and on Sunday they prepare for the next game. I heard in detail of the injustice that was heaped on the Gators in the 2003 game against rival FSU. Play by play detail of the injustice as if the game was played yesterday. I had a great time talking with them – they are quality young men who have a very bright future.

As for the game and other impressions of the Trop. I will be positive and say that the Trop is the 27th best ballpark in baseball – sounds better than 3rd worst. The defending AL Champs have a nice young team with a fan base that was very enthusiastic. I still don’t understand the whole cow bell thing though. Most fans have a cow bell and there was a whole 10 minute video before the game going over proper cow bell etiquette. The Rays won the game 8 to 2, but that should be expected against the Nats. To assist with attendance the defending AL Champs have post game concerts on Saturday and this past Saturday was Ludacris. This was great for me – for one because of the concert the defending AL Champs drew 31,000 in a game against the Nats. This helped my overall average attendance stat. The 2nd great thing is that I had zero desire to see Ludacris so the traffic after the game was minimal. Actually people were still coming into the ballpark as I leaving.

I had very low expectations for this game and ballpark. I even thought how in the world am I going to make it for all 9 innings? Then a few beers, a really good Fuente Hemmingway cigar and meeting Brett and Evan made the night enjoyable and left me with a very good impression on the ballpark and the defending AL Champs. The guys were telling me that the defending AL Champs are looking to build a new ballpark – I hope they do because this is a franchise on the rise with a great fan base.

Before I leave for today I need to let you in on a joke. At each ballpark I take a photo and email Mikey and Margaret saying “Greetings from…”. Well from Tampa I sent Mikey and Margaret the photo of the 2008 AL Champs Banner with the titled email “Greetings from the home of the defending AL Champs”. Mikey who is a proud member of the Red Sox Nation emailed back – I guess that takes you off my Christmas card list. Since I hate making out cards – this blog should take care of about 15 years worth of Christmas cards.

Looks like the sun is setting on ballpark 22 here in Tampa – well actually St. Pete – now I get it, it is easier to say Tampa Bay since it encompasses the whole region. Check back in a few days for my blog from Cleveland and my debut on ESPN. So for now this is so long and good bye from the home of the defending AL Champs – oops sorry Mikey, that one slipped.

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 66

 



So where did we leave off? Oh that’s right the Cubs had just blown the game in extra innings on Saturday night in Cincy and it was time for the 110 mile drive back to Columbus. How could I forget?

I get back to the hotel in Columbus at 12:45 am and grab a quick 3 hour nap as I had a 5:20 am flight back to Atlanta connecting thru Charlotte. The flight from Charlotte to Atlanta had some minor mechanical issues which was a God send as it gave me about 2 hours of additional sleep. I land in Atlanta and blah…blah…blah I get to the TED at 10:15. I didn’t know this when I picked the parking lot to park in but the Green Lot is where Fulton County Stadium was and they left the section of the outfield wall where Hank Aaron’s 715 home run landed. They also did this cool thing with bricks in the parking lot to mark the original infield so you can get a perspective of the playing field and where Hank’s HR landed. Very cool – kudos to the designers of the ballpark.

I park under a tree with a grassy knoll area – no this is not a repeat of last week in Arlington – and I see people tailgating, with an open flame no less – Georgia 1 – Texas 0. I picked the wrong week to tailgate. I am meeting my buddy – the Mightiest of Quinns - for the game and he tells me of a pub called the Bullpen near the TED. Well the Bullpen is on the opposite side of the TED and I forgot to mention that it is already 80 degrees with 75% humidity. To say the least – I may have sweated a drop or 2 on the walk. The Bullpen is a cool place that specializes in BBQ – this is the south and we need BBQ. Only issue is that you can’t buy beer in Georgia before 12:30 pm on a Sunday and good BBQ requires a beer. Georgia 1 – Texas 1. Dave also got to experience the effects of my “All 30 Parks” shirt as we met a mother and son from Jersey of all places – exit 131 to be exact. I used to live at exit 158. I have to apologize as I forgot their names and I am usually better than that. They were in Georgia for a wedding and came to Atlanta to catch the game. Dave did some CT bonding as well as she said she has a sister who lives in Fairfield, CT which is where Dave is originally from. Small world for sure.

One of the strange things of the TED is that normally a ballpark has its main entrance at home plate but the TED has its main entrance in the outfield – actually there are no entrances at home plate as Dave and I found out on our walk all the way around the ballpark. Texas 2 – Georgia 1. Also the temp was up to 85 now with who knows how much humidity – my sweat was sweating during the walk to any entrance we could find. Last week in Texas it was 98 at game time but no humidity – I sat directly in the sun and never felt like I was sweating – Texas 3 – Georgia 1.

The TED was the first of the retro ballparks to have an open concourse at the field level – they also have counters on the concourse where if you want to stand you can put your food and drinks on while watching the game. Last week in Texas I got yelled at for putting my soda on the ground as I stood to watch the game. Texas 3 – Georgia 2. Our seats for this game were in the club section which like most club sections is enclosed and air conditioned. And get this – we could have bought a beer on the first level and brought it into the club section – Texas 3 – Georgia 3. The other cool thing about the TED is that the outfield area is somewhat open to the Atlanta skyline and you can see the Olympic cauldron and the Olympic village from the seats around home plate. Georgia back in the lead over Texas 4 – 3.

Over the course of the Quest I have met some nice people – especially workers at the various ballparks and the TED was no exception. The fan attendant in section 307 was Chris who was a very nice young man who is faced with some challenges in life but that doesn’t stop him from coming to work each day at the TED and greeting with a smile and handshake all the guests at the TED. We could hear Chris from behind us rooting on the Braves and trying to get the fans involved in the game. If you ever happen to get to a game at the TED try to find Chris and say hi to him – also join him for a between innings dance as he has some moves – that’s for sure. Maybe he and Dave can go on the road as a singing and dancing act – Dave can sure bust out the tunes as I learned in Memphis last year. Maybe someday I will blog about the 2 mile – 40 minute drive from Beale St. to our hotel last year in Memphis and Dave’s singing in the back of the minivan.

As for the game I think we saw a good game – it is all fuzzy as I was seeing red all day. Actually it was a great game with the Braves scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th to win 8 to 7 in a game that saw Ryan Braun and Chipper Jones hit 2 HRS’s each. As for seeing red all day – our seats were in the first row of the club section overlooking the lower level of the ballpark. Dave and I took turns pointing out “sights” in the ballpark. Dave won as his “sight” was in a red short summer dress. For 3 innings we were captivated by her. That’s all I have to say about that (Dave is married and I am not sure his wife reads these blogs) and with that Georgia wins 5 to 3 over Texas.

I would like to thank Dave for joining me for this game. Dave is a huge Met fan and like me loves baseball. We had a great time and even done did (ut oh, I have been in the south too long) our pay it forward good deed of the day. It was Brian McCann bat day and we each got our bat. We met George who was sitting behind us with his 2 sons. George has been a Braves season ticket holder for years. They got to the game a bit too late to get their bats. Dave and I gave ours to George’s sons. It’s a small gesture but sometimes small gestures are the best kind.

I would like to finish this 2 part blog from the past weekend with the story of someone I met at the start of the weekend. I met Jeff at the Sushi bar in Tucson Airport. Yes a Sushi bar in Tucson at the airport and it is really good. He was sitting next to me and we started talking. I noticed a really cool picture on his laptop (the wallpaper one Jeff – not the email one). Jeff had been in an accident way back when he was 19 and broke his back. Through the years he has regained the ability to walk. The picture was of him skiing in the Rockies – sitting in the bucket chair. I could tell Jeff was proud of the picture and what he has been able to accomplish in life just as I am proud to have met Jeff.

Next up is another opportunity weekend. I will be in Tampa this Saturday to see the game of the year – the Rays hosting the Nationals. Then on Sunday I will be in Cleveland at the ESPN Sunday Night game of the week as the Indians host the Cardinals. Oh and my seat for the game Sunday night is first row behind the Indians dugout towards the home plate side. Don’t ask how I get these types of tickets – I know I don’t ask. So for now this is so long and goodbye from Wilmington, NC where I am having an extremely difficult time containing my excitement over seeing the Rays and the Nats this weekend as well as fixin to done did have dinner soon (wow – I have been in the south way too long).

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Monday, June 8, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 64

 



Wow – what a weekend or would that be what o weekend. Well whatever let’s see how many words I can get in the first paragraph that start with a “W” – no not you George.

The weekend starts with a flight from Tucson into Atlanta and I had this whole joke of if you ever wanted to learn how the South lost the Civil War fly into Atlanta’s airport and you will not so quickly learn how. But since I am typing this from the South and I don’t have a Cousin named Vinnie I better not go into how the Atlanta airport is the slowest most discombobulated airport I have ever been in – yes Pittsburgh you are now off the hook. To make matters worse I will be visiting this airport 3 times in 3 days well 4 if you count me picking up my buddy Van Sunday afternoon at the slowest airport in the universe.

This was one of those Quest weekends that was all about opportunity. Last Monday I found out I had to be in the Atlanta area this Monday for work. I knew the Braves were home but what I didn’t know was that the Reds were home against the Cubs. My flight to Atlanta was already booked for Friday evening so I couldn’t change the arrangements and fly into Cincy instead. Well I could have but there is that little airline surcharge of $150 for changing a flight. I need to change a flight and I have to pay $150 but if my flight is delayed due to the airline I get nothing – something isn’t right with that. So I land in Atlanta at 10:30 pm on Friday and have a 7:15 am flight to Columbus, OH Saturday morning. Why not fly into Cincy you ask? Again great question and the answer is because it costs a gazillion dollars to fly from Atlanta to Cincy but only $80 round trip to fly from Atlanta to Columbus and then drive the 110 miles to Cincy. I could have driven the 467.5 miles from Atlanta to Cincy but getting back in time for Sunday’s 1:30 Braves game would be tough. I am no Travis, Joey and Pedro you know. So off to Columbus I go with Hail to the Victors as my ringtone.

Upon arriving in Cincy the first thing I do is go over some bridge into Kentucky – see Kentucky was one of the states I have never been in. So now I am down to 6 states to go – the Dakotas, Montana, Utah, Idaho and Alaska. I guess my next quest will be to find a reason to go to those 6 states – other than the Jazz those states have no professional sports, I am not much for camping or skiing or hiking. Alaska I could cruise to – that would be fun. Utah I could connect thru Salt Lake on the way to Seattle for the Alaskan cruise. As for the other 4 – could be another 46 years to get to “visit’”those.

Call it fate, opportunity, luck or some type of intervention but my seat for the game Saturday night in Cincy was the best ever seat for any event I have ever had. I was in the first row behind the camera well on the home plate side of the Cub dugout. All game I could just stand up and peer right into the Cub dugout. I felt like I was a peeping Tom all night – well I don’t know what it feels like to be a peeping Tom but I would think it feel something like I did on Saturday night. No Andy that’s not why I was on TV. The Cub on deck circle was right there in front of me and stairs leading out of the dugout were right there – I mean right there. During the 7th inning stretch Cub outfielder Kosuke Fukudome and I had a riveting chat about I don’t know what since he speaks only Japanese and I don’t – but it was riveting. You can see in the picture I attached to this blog he is riveted. The game seemed all surreal in those seats. It is such a different view from there – at times I felt like I was watching a movie because only in a movie have I seen those type of shots. The other thing that got to me was the heckling the Cub players – especially Lou Pinella got during the game. It is amazing to me that more players don’t go after fans or flip the birdie more often. I also now know why players so often walk with their heads down when going to the dugout.

I did see some really cool things though. The coolest was when the 9th inning ended on a strikeout and as Cub catcher Geovany Soto was entering the dugout he flipped me the ball and pointed to a kid sitting 3 rows behind me who was wearing a Soto Cub shirt. I handed the ball to the kid and said “Geo wanted you to have this”. The look on the kid’s face was priceless and I think the kid’s father was even more excited. The not so coolest was in the bottom of the 11th. One of the cameras for the WGN feed was right in front of us. As WGN was coming out of a commercial break the camera guy turned his camera around right on me and the people around me. He told us to wave to the folks back in Chicago. On Sunday morning I got a text from my friend Jeff who said “we saw you on TV last night”. My reply was “was I waving like a doofus at the camera” and he said “A yes”. He was in total agreement on my doofus status as probably millions more watching the game.

The game itself was great. The Cubs fell behind 3 to 0 then eventually tied it up to force extra innings. The Reds won in the bottom of the 11th on a botched play by our 3rd baseman and I will not go into why in the hell is Mike Fontenot playing 3rd base for the Cubs and not Bobby Scales or why in the hell did we trade Mark DeRosa in the off season. I also will not go into how Jim Hendry – the Cub GM – is like that guy in your fantasy league that makes trades all the time and leads your league in free agent pickups. Yet with each move his team gets worse. Well that is Jim Hendry – we trade a quality guy like Mark DeRosa for I don’t know what. We had the choice to sign as a free agent Bobby Abreu (currently hitting over .300 and a rocket for an arm) or Raul Ibanez (currently hitting .329 and 19 HRs) or Milton (what exactly is the Mendoza Line) Bradley. Guess who we sign? Yep – Mendoza JR.

The Great American Ballpark was pretty cool. They just added a new scoreboard in the off season which really adds to the park. The outfield pavilion that is to look like a riverboat is neat. There is not much to do before a game or after as the pub scene was very limited. They have parking garages so that pretty much kills any tailgating. They have a Reds Hall of Fame at the ballpark and costs $10 to get in. I didn’t have the time to take the tour but wish I would have. If they had statues for Johnny Bench or some of the other Reds’ greats – I didn’t see them. They did name the street that the park is on after Pete Rose and that street does lead to a riverboat casino. Just kidding – bad Pete Rose gambling joke. Overall a good park and worth seeing – maybe tag team a game and a trip to Kings Island 20 miles away.

I guess that’s it for today. I will upload the pictures from Cincy in the next day or 2 to add to the collection. Check back in a few days for the blog update from part 2 of this past weekend and my trip to the TED with my buddy the Mighty Quinn. So for now it’s so long and good bye from Hotlanta where it’s not only the weather that’s hot – but all them sweet southern girls as the Mighty Quinn kept pointing out at the game yesterday – more on them in the next blog. Actually the whole blog may be about them…

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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 58

 



Welcome to Arlington, TX home of Ranger Ballpark or as I now call it – the “Just Say No” Ballpark. Arlington is also home to the new Cowboy Stadium. This thing is so big you can see it from 15 miles away and as Mikey and Margaret put it – looks like the mother ship from Independence Day.

I started Sunday off with a visit to the JFK memorial in Dallas. The memorial itself is very understated which I guess is how it should be. The problem I had being there is that I kept thinking of that Seinfeld episode about the second spitter. And the guy next to me said to his friends as he was leaving “that was one magic lougie”. True story – I kid you not.

After the trip into Dallas it was time to tailgate. All week long I had been wanting to tailgate before the game. I headed to a Wally World to get my tailgate stuff – beer, burgers, chips and one of those disposable grills with charcoal. The first of many issues to the tailgate was when the nice checkout clerk told me that you can’t buy alcohol in Texas before noon on Sunday. I said but I am not buying alcohol – I am buying Bud Light Lime, colored water really. Nice try. So off to the ballpark I go with my burgers, chips and Vitamin Water and get the perfect spot to tailgate – parked under a tree with a grassy knoll area. I know – bad grassy knoll reference here. I set up the little grill and light that sucker. Out of nowhere come 3 security guys on Mopeds with little flashy lights and those thumb ringers we had as kids on our bikes. They say there is no cooking on an open flame in the parking lot. First I ask “before noon on Sunday”? I chuckle – Paul Blart and crew don’t even crack a smile. Next I say it’s not an open flame – its charcoal. They also tell me I am parked in a season ticket area which is NOT marked at all but I was somehow supposed to know this. They escort me to the “correct” parking area - again not marked. So now it’s down to Sun Chips and Vitamin Water with no shade – what a killer tailgate this turned out to be.

Luckily for me the ballpark opens at 11 am and to my surprise it’s Ranger Photo Day. This is the 2nd time during the Quest I have been to a photo day. The Rangers let the first 5,000 people onto the warning track and all the Rangers walked around talking to the fans and having their photos taken. The best of all the players was Josh Hamilton. He stopped and posed for pictures with everyone – making little comments to folks. You could tell he was genuinely having a good time talking to the fans. I have a new player to root for and it’s Josh Hamilton, I even ordered a Josh Hamilton Texas Ranger shirt. I must have jinxed him as he just went on the D/L. Sorry Josh – I blame the billy goat – all us Cub fans do when anything bad happens.

Ranger Ballpark like most of the newer ballparks has 3 decks – field, club and upper deck. My seat for this game was in the club section. The club sections are my favorite and if the ticket price is reasonable I will usually sit there. So I get a beer on the first level and proceed to the escalator to go to the club level. The attendant tells me I am not allowed to bring my first level beer into the club section. I can go to the 3rd level – but my beer is banned in the club section. Only beers bought in the club section are allowed. They say it has to do with liquor license bull poopie. This is the stupidest rule I have ever ever ever heard of and then I remember – former President Bush used to own the Rangers – enough said. To make matters worse they don’t offer in the club section the same really good beers they had on the first level – they only had Bud and Bud products. I asked the beer vendor where can I get a Shiner (this is Texas and in Texas you have to have Shiner) and he says downstairs or upstairs – level one or three. Urghhhh.

As for the ballpark – it was ok. The field level concourse is closed to the field – you have to go to a mid level (between the field and club level) to stand and watch the game. The mid level has no concessions and I don’t know what the beer laws were on that level. But I was yelled at for putting my soda on the ground as I sneezed - true story. As the game was proceeding I started calling this the “Just Say No” ballpark. Everything I asked was greeted with a no. All the girls I dated in college must be supervisors here. I did like the outfield area with games for kids to play as well as the right field bleacher area that has support beams – gives the ballpark that old time feel. They could use a new scoreboard – the one they have is tiny and makes the one in Oakland of all places look big. I wish they wouldn’t have closed in the ballpark with the center field office complex. One of the things I love with PNC, Petco, Comerica and especially AT & T is the view from the ballpark. It totally enhances the ballpark.

I have been asked a lot about how much of the Quest was planned vs. taking advantage of opportunity. I had a basic plan when this all started but have to take advantage of opportunity which is what these upcoming 2 weekends will be. I have to be in the Atlanta area next week so I took a peek at the schedule and lo and behold the Braves are home this weekend. Next is what ballpark is close to Atlanta – well Cincy is only 467.5 miles from Atlanta and get this – the Cubs are playing the Reds in Cincy this weekend. So this Saturday I will be in Cincy and then get to Atlanta in time for the Braves game on Sunday. After working on the east coast all week I get to pop into Tampa for the following weekend and catch the Rays – Nats game (you know this is opportunity not planned) before heading back to Tucson on Sunday. When opportunity is knocking on the door and you have to open the door and let them in – that would be a great lyric for a song – just add some do, doots and we have hit.

This just in – literally - I just scored my ticket for the Cub – Reds game Saturday night – if you have WGN, I will be the guy sitting first row behind the Cub on deck circle. That opportunity thing is really cool.

Hard to believe 19 ballparks are now in the books which includes all the ballparks west of the Mississippi. After the next 2 weekends there will be 8 to go and time to savor this experience a bit. 4 of those games will involve the Cubs, 2 will be Yanks vs. Red Sox, 1 I will have to leave the country for and 1 is Cleveland. Well savor 7 plus Cleveland. So for now this is so long and good bye and from Tucson, AZ where I am trying to figure out what Kevin Gregg has on Lou Pinella that keeps Gregg as the Cub closer. Our closer has a 5.24 ERA – yo Lou wake up before the Big Z takes you for the Gatorade machine.

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