tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88627499228884256922024-03-13T00:18:36.282-07:00Tripping BaseballsBaseball in all it's forms, focused on the Cubs and AngelsThe World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-1985779172537877232014-02-12T22:41:00.000-08:002014-02-13T00:01:10.646-08:00Padres and Toreros and Cubs, Oh My!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been spoiled with the offseason offerings of my favorite baseball team. For as long as I've been aware, the Cubs have held the Cubs Convention in the middle of January in the frozen tundra of Chicago, providing a jolt of baseball excitement for the longest suffering fans in sports. The convention has always sold out, but I have been able to attend three times and the reminder that spring training is right around the corner is always welcome.<br />
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Within the past few years I have heard about several other teams hosting pre-season fan get-togethers, including the Padres. Reports the past few years have been that the FanFest was a professionally run and much enjoyed event, so I made a point to keep my eyes out for any information about the 2014 event.<br />
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Fortunately it fell on a weekend that I was able to get away and, after acquiring "early entry" passes from a friend of a friend, my brother, Chris, and I were standing in line outside of Petco Park far too early on a Saturday morning.<br />
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Having never been before, I wasn't sure how the autograph sessions worked. All I knew was that there were vouchers for the various sessions and that you needed a voucher to get the autograph. I misunderstood what I was told by a Padres employee and thought that the earliest sessions would be available to the early entry guests and tickets for the others would be staggered throughout the day.<br />
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Chris and I grabbed our vouchers for the Yonder Alonso/Robbie Erlin session and headed over to the Padres Garage Sale. The sale is where the Padres sell all sorts of things left over from the previous season(s), including jerseys, bats, caps, and banners that hung around the ballpark.<br />
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There was a sizable crowd when we got there, but it wasn't unmanageable and we managed to peruse all of the items without any issues. While flipping through the jerseys I happened across a 1984 Padres "throwback" jersey that had been worn and signed by Anthony Rizzo and I was sold immediately. The funny thing is that I had thought just that morning that had I gone to the FanFest the year prior, I could maybe have grabbed a Rizzo jersey since he had been with the club sporadically throughout the 2011 season.<br />
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I wound up spending a little more than I had planned to acquire the jersey, but it is now one of the prize pieces of my baseball memorabilia collection, and well worth the expense in my mind.<br />
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After finally checking out, which took a very long time due to Wi-Fi issues with the credit card readers, Chris and I looked at the time and saw that we still had over an hour before we could even start queueing up for our autograph session, so we decided to enjoy a walking tour of the Padres clubhouse and facilities.<br />
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I had already seen the clubhouse on my tour of Petco nearly a year before, but it was a good way to kill time and there were various areas open that had not been accessible on our tour. Plus, it's always fun to see the "behind the scenes" areas of the ballpark.<br />
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After the clubhouse, we popped out into the Padres dugout and relaxed for a few minutes as we decided what to do next.<br />
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There were several tents set up in the outfield grass, so we decided to see what was happening out there. Sidenote:One of the benefits to going to a fan event for a team that plays in a warm climate is the ability to walk on the field, a perk that is not offered on any ballpark tour that I have experienced, or even read about.<br />
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While on our way out to left field, we ran into the Friar and had to get a photo with him. The tents seemed to be for local radio stations and all of the lines to reach them were quite prohibitive, so I leapt at the outfield walls a few times, like I was robbing a home run, completely disregarding the fact that I have no jumping skills whatsoever, and decided to head up to the Alonso/Erlin signing.<br />
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The best part about having the voucher for the session was that the queue was basically just sitting in the nice shaded seats and waiting for the players to show up. They arrived on time and were fairly quick with the signings, even though they were both very good about talking with the fans who came up.<br />
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I had Alonso sign a ball for me, but unfortunately I wasn't paying close enough attention and he signed in blue sharpie before I could ask him to use my own pen. I told him that I thought this could definitely be an All Star year for him and he thanked me and said that he was feeling really good this offseason.<br />
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I had decided not to get Erlin on a baseball, so I didn't have him sign anything, which I regret in retrospect.<br />
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At this point Chris and I headed back to where the vouchers had been distributed to try and get some for a later autograph session. As it happened, the vouchers were not staggered throughout the day, they were given out as soon as the previous session had run out of vouchers. So, rather than waiting until 10:00am to give our the 11:30am vouchers, they were given as soon as the 11:00am session had "booked out."<br />
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The system makes sense and I don't have a real issue with it, though I wish that there had been better communication with the fans and more of a premium given to the early entry (read:season ticket holders) attendees. For example, two of the more desired autograph sessions were Jedd Gyorko and Andrew Cashner, both of whom only had one autograph session in the late afternoon. I would have hoped that the Padres would have had them available early, as a premium for the early entry folks.<br />
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While bummed, Chris and I weren't devastated, as we were trying to make it to USD for the USD alumni game featuring Cubs top prospect, Kris Bryant, and after getting out and throwing a few pitches in the Padres bullpen, that was just where we went.<br />
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After finally finding parking on campus, we made our way to Fowler Park, the brand new USD baseball facility. To say that it is a gem is to sell it short. This tiny, college ballpark is nicer than some major league spring training facilities that I have visited. (Maryvale, I'm looking at you!) and if I were a student, I think I would be wiling away far too many hours not studying, sitting in the grandstand.<br />
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When we arrived, Bryant had already been officially presented with his Golden Spikes Award, for the best college baseball player, and the game was in the bottom of the first inning. After sitting down I noticed a crowd of people in the stands by the third base bullpen not watching the game.<br />
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I made my way over, and sure enough, there was Kris Bryant, signing autographs for anybody who wanted one. I had him sign a ball for me and inscribe it "Go Cubs!" which he did with no hesitation. Bryant didn't play in the game, presumably as part of the contract he signed with the Cubs, but there were a lot of other alumni who did, including Orioles starter, Brian Matusz.<br />
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One of the highlights for me was hearing the guys on both the current USD team and the alumni giving each other a hard time and I found myself cracking up after several exchanges.<br />
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As the game drew to a close, we made out way to the first base dugout where the alumni team was situated. In addition to Bryant, another Cubs prospect, Corey Black was there throwing a bullpen session and I was hoping to have him sign a ball for me as well, a goal which sadly ended in failure.<br />
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After the game I stood by the dugout with several other fans, hoping to grab a few more autographs. As Matusz walked into the dugout, two kids next to me asked him if he'd sign. He said, sure, with a big smile. The kids then asked him for a ball since they "didn't have anything for [him]." Matusz then said he didn't have one and disappeared into the dugout, ruining it for the rest of us.<br />
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While standing there, I heard rumblings about going to wait for Bryant by the clubhouse door after the game and thanks to my patient brothers, we were able to meet him again and get a photo. My brother, Jonathan, also had him sign a ball with a "Team USA" inscription.<br />
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All in all it was a fantastic weekend to welcome back baseball and a great boon to my Cub collection, despite both events being held in San Diego. Not long now and spring training games will start and then the regular season will be upon us. I can't wait, as I have big plans this year!<br />
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Thanks for reading, and keep tripping baseballs!<br />
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The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-44175672935362603382013-10-13T21:27:00.001-07:002013-10-13T21:44:29.005-07:00All Good Things Come To An End<span style="font-family: inherit;">To start off, let me address the obvious. There are no pictures in this recap. Despite bringing my camera to all 17 previous games that I attended in 2013, never having any issues, it was the Dodgers in my final game to declare that I could not bring my lens in with me. I was told that despite it being available at many consumer retailers, to bring the lens with me I would need a press pass. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was forced to return to the car and deposit the only companion who had joined me for every single game this year. Yes, I could have put on a different lens, but I was angry and the shorter lens would have essentially done me no good, since we were--quite literally--stranded in right field. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since I was still battling the bit of illness that had kept me out of the finale of the San Diego series, Lauren and I decided that skipping the first game of the Dodger series might be in my best interest. I was determined to go to the second game, since the Dodgers were giving away a bobblehead of Rick Monday saving the American flag. In a Cubs jersey. If you don't know the story behind that, click <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Monday#American_flag_incident" target="_blank">here</a>. That being my primary goal, we decided to treat ourselves to the "All You Can Eat" Pavilion in right field.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The pros of sitting in the pavilion include all the hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn and soda that you can eat and drink up through the 7th inning. The major con was that once you enter the gates to right, you are stuck there. It makes sense, not wanting people wandering in and out or taking food to people in the cheap seats, but it makes it significantly inconvenient for wandering the stadium, though being camera-free, that was less of a concern for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We loaded up on snacks and found our seats next to the Cubs bullpen. Actually, we found someone else's seats next to the Cubs bullpen. Our assigned seats were taken by a group who decided to lounge across the whole bench. Not feeling like making a fuss we sat a row down and right next to the fence separating us from the pen. We got to watch Travis Wood warm up and then we were forced to retreat to our seats, when the real owners showed up. Unlike the people at the Padres game we had the common courtesy to look ashamed at being caught.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With a little grumbling the people in our original seats moved over and we set ourselves to watch a game we expected the Cubs to lose. After all, Clayton "Cy Young" Kershaw was opposing the Cubs who were playing at essentially their lowest point of the year. The Cubs were able to get to <strike>Koufax</strike>, I mean Kershaw, with some unexpectedly clutch hitting and managed to hang on to a 3-2 victory, despite ex-Dodger, Kevin Gregg, causing some heart-attacks in the 9th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The most exciting part of the game was the fact that Bob Newhart was in attendance, and rooting for the Cubs along with us. Except in a luxury box. Far away from us. He was with us in spirit! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I guess that was the point that we were at in the season, where Bob Newhart was more exciting that what occurred on the field, but when you are basically playing to stay out of the cellar, these things happen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Camera incident notwithstanding, I find Dodger Stadium to be the worst place that I saw a ballgame this year. The facilities are very dated and there is little to no charm to redeem that fact. It is a concrete monster stadium, built in an era of concrete monster stadia and is largely unremarkable. Add to that a largely unfriendly and clueless fan base with aggression issues and you have an unpleasant place to experience a game. I say this not only as a visiting fan, but even as a neutral observer, having come to Dodger games with random opponents. This all doesn't even address the hell that is parking and entering/exiting Chavez Ravine. I'm sure I'll be back next season when the Cubs come to town, but I probably won't try to catch any more random games. It's too much of a hassle and there is little payoff reciprocated for the effort required to visit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With that, my season comes to a close. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This season was by far my most ambitious and I was very pleased with how it turned out for the most part. Obviously I'd love to have seen better results on the field with both the Cubs and the Angels, but I had fun nonetheless.</span></div>
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<span class="userContent" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">This year I attended 18 games in 5 stadia, saw the Cubs in 3 different states as well as all 5 of the previously mentioned stadia. I got one baseball and one autograph at<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"> a game. I saw Mike Trout's cycle and the most impressive comebacks that I have ever seen, one good and one awful. The teams I was rooting for went 12-6 for a winning percentage of .667 and I am 20% complete with seeing every major league ballpark.</span></span></div>
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<span class="userContent" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">Onward to next season and trips to Wrigley Field for the 100th anniversary, US Cellular Field and Miller Field, with a possible side trip to Fort Wayne to see the minor league Tin Caps. Overall a successful year, I'd say. I got to spend a lot of time watching the game I love with a lot of great people and that's the best part. Aside from the rare Cub win.</span></span></div>
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The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-41902222932364342462013-10-05T21:11:00.001-07:002013-10-05T21:11:12.171-07:00The Cubs Come South to San Diego<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Extended road trips notwithstanding, I always do a small trip from my home in Orange County to see the Cubs when they visit my home town of San Diego (and usually add in a Dodger Stadium trip too, but that will come later). This year was no exception.<br />
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With one of my brothers having partial season tickets to the Padres, and another having connections to a full season ticket package, attending the 3 Cub games in late August was not an issue in the slightest.<br />
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Game one was a Friday night affair and my date for the night was my brother, Chris. We had seats on the third base side in the second level, which were great. We also got hot/cold grocery bags styled after one of the Padres uniforms, and wound up with Trevor Hoffman. I was more than ok with that. Thus ends my satisfaction with the evening.<br />
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All started well. We got a great parking spot and were early enough to do a loop of the ballpark, seeking out food. I wound up getting a pulled pork sandwich from Randy Jones' Barbecue, which was pretty tasty, if a little messy. The Cubs were in a bit of a slump, but I had full faith that they would turn it around against the Padres, despite their historically abysmal performance against the National League West. It ended up being firework night at the park, but the only fireworks I saw were the ones that took place on the field.<br />
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The game started and the Cubs were off like gangbusters. They scored 6 runs in the top of the first and drove Padres starter Edinson Volquez from the game after only 2/3 of an inning. This was great. This was exciting. This was...not to last.<br />
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Edwin Jackson was the starter for the Cubs and he started strong as well, only giving up 1 hit in the first 3 innings. Then the Cubs remembered that they were the Cubs and Edwin Jackson succumbed to the sub-mediocrity that was the hallmark of his first season with the Cubs. He allowed a 3-run home run to Jedd Gyorko in the 4th, a 2-run triple to Will Venable in the 5th and an RBI triple to Logan Forsythe in the 6th and any advantage the Cubs had from crushing Volquez was gone. It didn't help that they had been unable to solve the parade of relievers that followed, literally being shut out for the entire game following the first 2/3 of an inning.<br />
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The bullpen was it's usual reliable self as James Russell gave up a home run to Venable and Blake Parker allowed Gyorko to hit his 2nd of the night.<br />
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And that, as they say, was all she wrote.<br />
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The next day, my other brother, Matt had tickets so he, Chris and I went and sat on the first base side, on the field level. After we sat down, the seats in front of us were taken by some individuals that not only looked like they didn't belong there, but acted like it as well. Therefore I was not surprised when the seats real owners came and claimed their rightful seats. What was funny was the reaction. The family never looked at the people, didn't say a word and just shuffled off.<br />
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I've been known to poach my share of seats in my time, but on the occasions where I get caught, I apologize and try to make up some excuse so I look like a decent person. Nope. Not these folks. It was just such a bold move. I was disgusted, but at the same time, somewhat impressed.<br />
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The Cubs fared far better in this game than the one prior, and Jeff Samardzija pitched 8 strong innings and Darwin Barney had a home run and a double accounting for 2 of the Cubs 3 runs. In addition, we were treated to a beautiful San Diego sunset. Somehow the sunsets are always prettier and the hot dogs always taste better when your team is winning.<br />
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I was supposed to go to the Sunday matinee finale game, but wasn't feeling great, so I stayed home and let 2 of my other siblings go, which was probably a good decision, as the game was a long extra innings affair and I had to return north to the OC and there is nothing I like less than leaving a game early, especially when it is close like that.<br />
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The Cubs ended up losing in extras, and continuing their NL West curse, only going 1-2 at Petco Park.<br />
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Would the trend continue as the Cubs headed up the I-5 to Dodger Stadium? (Hint: yes, it absolutely would)<br />
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Until next time,<br />
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<br />The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-37772169664862736542013-09-12T20:52:00.000-07:002013-09-12T20:52:29.281-07:00Our Inaugural Baseball Adventure: Day 5. Chase Field<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today was the last day of our inaugural baseball adventure and we figured that we would go out with a bang. We were going to tour Chase Field, have lunch at Alice Cooper's restaurant and following our schedule from the rest of the trip, get to the ballpark for batting practice and enjoy the game. Of course, as Robert Burns once wrote, "The best laid plans of mice and men..."</div>
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We woke up in plenty of time for the noon tour, and after grabbing food at the continental breakfast offerings at the hotel, we headed out. </div>
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We had not been outside during the middle of the day during the previous few days and Phoenix and now we knew why that was such a brilliant idea on our part. The temperature was registering at 105 degrees and it was so humid that you could almost chew the air. While uncomfortable, we figured this was good for us and our tour plans. After all, who would want to tour the ballpark when it was so hot and miserable? The roof would be open, which meant no air-conditioning. We figured we would probably have the tour to ourselves. We figured wrong.</div>
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As we approached the box office we noticed a sign in the windows indicating that the tour was sold out for the day. My guess is that when you live in a furnace like Phoenix eventually the heat stops bothering you and you just surrender to the discomfort and go about with daily activities like normal. This put a major kink in our plans, as we now had 5 hours to kill until the gates were to open for the game. </div>
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Despite having just eaten breakfast at the hotel we decided that moving on to our lunch plans was the best idea, since it was sure to be air-conditioned and we could sit and relax for a little bit. It was only a few blocks from the stadium, so we arrived fairly quickly. The <a href="http://www.alicecooperstown.com/menus/menus.html" target="_blank">menu</a> was huge and offered a lot of good looking options, but one stood out to me. The Big Unit hot dog. Named after former DBacks pitcher, Randy Johnson, it was a full pound, 22 inch long dog that was once featured on Man v. Food. I knew I had to try it. </div>
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I was actually able to finish the dog, as well as eat a majority of my fries and still get up and walk myself out of the restaurant afterward. I was pretty proud of myself. </div>
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The meal took us about 2 hours, at a fairly leisurely pace, but we still had 3 hours to kill. Researching it on our phones, there was supposedly a mall nearby, and consumers that we are, we figured that would be a good way to use our time and, once again, hopefully be in glorious air-conditioning. Unfortunately, after walking several blocks in the area that the mall was supposedly located, we called it quits and wound up spending a bit more time in a Starbucks with cold drinks and browsing in a few smaller shops until it was time to get to the ballpark.</div>
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Once again, I made my way down to the Cub dugout, hoping to get at least one autograph before the whole trip--and season-- were a bust in the autograph regard. Thankfully, Junior Lake came over and started signing and I was actually able to get him to autograph the ball that I had gotten the day prior. Next to Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo, Lake was the Cub I most wanted to get on this trip, so I was thrilled. </div>
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While waiting by the dugout I started talking to another guy who looked about my age. It turned out that he was a DBacks employee in their guest relations department who had interned with the Cubs in the minors and was taking a few days off to come and see the Cubs play. He was a really nice guy and told me about the baseball job fair that gets held every year at the Winter Meetings. I forgot to grab his name, so DBacks employee/Cubs fan, here's to you!</div>
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Our seats were right next to the Cub bullpen and I figured I had a good chance to get another ball, but my efforts were in vain. We were seated next to a Cub fan and his 2 DBack "fan" friends. They were the type who were so invested in the game and telling you how much they loved the team...yet didn't know any of the players names or anything abut the team. They got sloshed pretty quick and we had lots of wanderings to do during our last night at Chase Field, so we were spared a lot of annoyance. </div>
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After a few innings we got up to check out the outer concourse of the stadium that featured many of their All Star Game statues, as well as a display for their 2001 World Championship. The DBacks did the best job displaying the statues that I have seen yet, having them all together and in an area that was easily accessible to fans. I think we did well visiting during the game, since any other time we were in the immediate area, before or after the game, the area was packed.</div>
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We took our photos and then went into the team store. I have decided that I am going to collect a commemorative baseball for each of the ballparks I visit, and I still needed to grab a Chase Field ball. I also wanted to get a t-shirt that the DBacks had created to raise money for the 19 firefighters who lost their lives in the Yarnell fires. As I was buying these, a fan came up to me and started teasing me that I was switching sides. I told him that no, I was just donating to the Yarnell fire relief fund. He walked away fairly sheepishly after that.</div>
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After that we grabbed some food and returned to our seats. </div>
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Jeff Samardzija was good, allowing 3 runs over 5 1/3 innings and Ian Kennedy, in his final start for the DBacks, was not, but the Cubs bullpen was it's usual self and we found ourselves looking at extra innings, after Kevin Gregg blew the save and allowed the DBacks to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. Luckily, our "friends" in our row had to leave, since they worked the next day, and we found ourselves alone. Aw shucks.</div>
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Nate "The Great" Schierholtz lived up to his nickname by driving in the winning run in the top of the 12th, adding to the 4 RBI that he already had in the game, Hector Rondon nailed down the victory for the Cubs and just like that, the baseball portion of our adventure was over. We loitered around for a bit taking photos, which was nice, as we are used to being thrown out of the stadium the second that the game finishes, and slowly walked back to the hotel, where we were able to sleep in until our mid-day flight the next day. </div>
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As always, the full set of photos from this day are available <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldfamousandrew/sets/72157634844012774/" target="_blank">here!</a></div>
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<br />The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-7141337909915717932013-08-28T21:31:00.000-07:002013-08-28T21:31:18.154-07:00Our Inaugural Baseball Adventure: Day 4 . Chase Field<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Phoenix is many things to many people. Actually, Phoenix is one thing to everyone and that is hot. Somehow mid-July is no exception. How strange. Lauren and I had consciously made the decision that there was nothing we needed to see so much that we needed to leave the comfort of our hotel room during the heat of mid-day, and so, our second day in the desert was spent relaxing, recouperating and generally trying to do as little as possible. I edited some photos from Denver and Lauren played games on her phone as we basked in the glorious air-conditioning.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Thankfully, the hotel offered a free continental breakfast, which we treated with relatively light fingers and were able to stretch into a brunch-type situation, which saved us from having to go out for lunch. We planned to eat lightly at Chase Field and then grab some food after the game at the British pub that we had noticed the night prior.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwAoKsGJmepAhJW2X3gb7oyOChqbq62-HXAT4QcrbfU_msxE8eqWZcUsqty18sdh-n5qFZ3Gue3q5l58Ea2RkS6Zc5xIxCjzYYKHlR78-AU3c73iy4Z6wLZwptk08TXmqJnv8eEEQ9L_C/s1600/cubsdbacks72360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwAoKsGJmepAhJW2X3gb7oyOChqbq62-HXAT4QcrbfU_msxE8eqWZcUsqty18sdh-n5qFZ3Gue3q5l58Ea2RkS6Zc5xIxCjzYYKHlR78-AU3c73iy4Z6wLZwptk08TXmqJnv8eEEQ9L_C/s400/cubsdbacks72360.jpg" width="361" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Feeling refreshed and relaxed we made our way to the ballpark a while before the gates opened to stand in the entry line and bake ourselves.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There is nothing quite so welcome as the entry to an indoor venue that is just eminating air-conditioning. A literal oasis in the desert. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNe2sZsEonyhrjli4DivaDYHaL_CpIPkWUFZ6JcvQmY2LsHOLtADSXZq3nNc6H8uZS49IHVAANQW4LRGL2l7wbYJhEFsbudnG9MAtZi9dIt4PRRCrb8-xnVMYZIAJFJYsvdD2kx0L_BKlB/s1600/cubsdbacks7231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNe2sZsEonyhrjli4DivaDYHaL_CpIPkWUFZ6JcvQmY2LsHOLtADSXZq3nNc6H8uZS49IHVAANQW4LRGL2l7wbYJhEFsbudnG9MAtZi9dIt4PRRCrb8-xnVMYZIAJFJYsvdD2kx0L_BKlB/s400/cubsdbacks7231.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I dashed down toward the Cub pitchers on the warning track and got Michael Bowden to throw up a baseball to me, which I gracefully bobbled, but was able to pull in at the last minute. I quickly documented it for the internet to gaze upon and then tucked it away in my pocket as I headed toward the end of the dugout.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Once again, the Cubs were somewhat stingy in the autograph department and my new ball remained free of signatures for one more game.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Our seats were right next to the DBacks bullpen, which are traditionally my favorite seats in any ballpark, and we had a great spot to watch Patrick Corbin warm-up. I asked coach Glen Sherlock for the warm-up ball, and I thought I had a good chance, until he noticed the little kids sitting behind me wearing DBacks gear. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHaECG5zemqAt4g7QJprr-L3x7uuEdq3zr3f-ARlSLrlqy-kaj9iMzEo7IzhXs-Acab2jPo454YxcjOQ-NP_1x9-bZWK88lHRUp6b3mM3akvd6ecO2t7ZpwLkAXyjZ7DpZVklXLZ9yo1A8/s1600/cubsdbacks72322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHaECG5zemqAt4g7QJprr-L3x7uuEdq3zr3f-ARlSLrlqy-kaj9iMzEo7IzhXs-Acab2jPo454YxcjOQ-NP_1x9-bZWK88lHRUp6b3mM3akvd6ecO2t7ZpwLkAXyjZ7DpZVklXLZ9yo1A8/s400/cubsdbacks72322.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Against that kind of adversity I was dead before I started. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We wound up sitting next to an awkward “first date/old friend reunion” couple, who were perfectly pleasant enough and engaged us a number of times throughout the game. The girl got drunk pretty quickly and kept “whispering” to me that even though he companion insisted she root for the DBacks, she was secretly rooting for my Cubs because she was from Iowa, where the Cubs AAA team was located.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As previously stated, perfectly nice enough, but by the tie the later innings rolled around, I was just hoping for a little bit of peace and quiet.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5CCeHrVfMpQpn4I1b9JfBKYFSgpGQkR-P3p9xeVoXJF1KbjehrHfBMMTG5JH9I7jvMa49AlkFlSEpW9ROUm4J1KjqqHqrRYcl2IjQpj8THgHI7w59mmIeHo-3rcL3eEBTBlcvlCx7wOX/s1600/cubsdbacks72345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5CCeHrVfMpQpn4I1b9JfBKYFSgpGQkR-P3p9xeVoXJF1KbjehrHfBMMTG5JH9I7jvMa49AlkFlSEpW9ROUm4J1KjqqHqrRYcl2IjQpj8THgHI7w59mmIeHo-3rcL3eEBTBlcvlCx7wOX/s400/cubsdbacks72345.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">During one of our wandering adventures, we discovered the DBacks offered a “Value Menu” where hot dogs were less than 2 dollars and there was a fairly wide selection of cheap eats. This helps cement the DBacks in their self-proclaimed role as “The Friendliest Team in Sports.” </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As for the game itself, the battle of the NL All-Stars went fairly handily to Mr. Corbin as Cubs starter, Travis Wood had one of his worst starts of the season, allowing 4 runs and giving way to a catastrophe of a bullpen that gave up a combined 6 runs in 2 innings. I think the less said about that, the better.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5jT7JUb7alL1KyqnLlyejpq-nVd5NnNDew1aaGHm41qDYKl1pxmUh3OVQ0FiZwXET_9gMONArfmCTGtGavXeKKZcM83yYhAxrTxnkP5PCJexjS4B2QCK0YjI_6FBZVEYGqIy0aIzL6Q3G/s1600/cubsdbacks72373.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5jT7JUb7alL1KyqnLlyejpq-nVd5NnNDew1aaGHm41qDYKl1pxmUh3OVQ0FiZwXET_9gMONArfmCTGtGavXeKKZcM83yYhAxrTxnkP5PCJexjS4B2QCK0YjI_6FBZVEYGqIy0aIzL6Q3G/s400/cubsdbacks72373.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">After leaving the park, we slowly made our way to the British pub, where we expected to enjoy all kinds of British pub food, but we learned that the kitchen had closed 15 minutes prior to our arrival. While a good value, the value hot dogs weren’t enough to fill our bellies and after a drink each, we headed back to the hotel, by way of Circle K, where we both grabbed some sort of frozen creation to be our dinner.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Upon reaching the hotel, we decided to do a bit of exploring, since we were told there were laundry facilities available, and we could have done with having a bit done. The hotel was in the midst of a big remodel and when we reached the floor that allegedly had the laundry we were met with flickering light bulbs, bits of construction equipment littering the floor and a feeling that the twins from “The Shining” would be standing right behind us.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We were troopers and explored each room, in hopes that maybe, just maybe we would find the mythical laundry room. We did not. However, on the other hand, we weren’t brutally murdered by ghosts, so, really, it was a wash.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We headed to our actual room and enjoyed our Circle K feast before going to bed in anticipation of our big adventuring day in Phoenix set for the following day.</span></div>
The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-28315250862941567512013-08-12T21:09:00.000-07:002013-08-12T21:09:12.208-07:00Our Inaugural Baseball Adventure: Day 3. Chase Field<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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4 o'clock comes far too early in the morning for my liking, but, as we had an early flight to Phoenix, that was the time my alarm went off on our last morning in Denver. We got ready, packed any last minute things we needed for the morning and made our way downstairs to the hotel lobby to wait for the airport shuttle.<br />
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Being so early, I completely expected it to only be Lauren and I waiting. I was wrong. There were a good 10-15 people loitering around the lobby, so when the shuttle pulled up, we hopped first in line to grab our seats. Except the shuttle was already full, for the most part. Lauren was able to grab a seat and I wound up standing next to her for the duration of the drive. With no handrails or hanging straps or anything. It was an interesting adventure, but we survived and hopped into the obscenely long line at security.<br />
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Seriously, it wasn't even 5:30 in the morning yet, why were all these people awake? We eventually made it through and rode the subway train to our gate. We were sitting, waiting for the plane as the sunrise began and if nothing else, Denver sure knows how to do a nice sunrise.<br />
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The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Phoenix on time, if not a bit early, so we called and the hotel shuttle came and picked us up. Fortunately, this time it was just us so we got to sit. We chatted with the driver on the brief ride to the hotel and he told us that Chase Field would be around "7 long blocks" from the hotel. This threw a bit of a wrench in our plans since we were planning to walk each day, but 7 long blocks in 100+ degree heat made us question things a bit. The driver was nice enough to suggest that at game time we get in touch with the front desk and if the shuttles weren't in use, they could drop us off, which I thought was nice.<br />
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It was still very early in the morning when we reached the hotel, so we expected the room wouldn't be ready and we would drop off the bags and go and grab breakfast somewhere. We lucked out and were able to check in immediately. We debated still going to breakfast but nothing struck us as particularly excited so we opted to nap instead. It was a good option.<br />
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After we awoke, we realized the day was getting away from us, and if we wanted to get to Chase for batting practice, we should probably scope out the area and get a bite to eat. Both of our smartphones suggested that the stadium was a lot closer than we had been lead to believe and as we left the hotel, we could see it immediately. It wound up being, at most, a 10 minute walk.<br />
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Knowing that made a detour for food a lot more relaxing, since we didn't have to worry about how to make a long trek from wherever we ate back to the hotel to try and convince them to let us use a shuttle, which might not have even been possible.<br />
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We decided to eat at a Mexican-Native American restaurant called the Canyon Cafe. When we first approached it, we were somewhat concerned due to the lack of customers and mixed reviews on Yelp!, but it was hot and we were hungry, so in we went. I was immediately greeted by a couple of Cub fans and we chatted a bit as we waited for our table to be ready.<br />
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When we were seated, we were given a basket of the best tortilla chips that I have ever eaten. They were dusted with some sort of spice blend and they were incredible. I think we went through at least 2.5 baskets full.<br />
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The entrees were amazing as well, and I had my first taste of green chile. Not as scary as I had previously assumed. Lauren loved her entree as well, and our bunuelo/ice cream dessert had us essentially licking the plate. In addition, with the bill, they brought out 2 white chocolate tamales, compliments of the chef. It was a very good thing.<br />
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After we paid, we rolled ourselves a few blocks and wound up at Chase Field. From the outside, there's not a whole lot to see. Not a lot of unique character or charm. It just looks like a big concrete slab, so I felt a bit disappointed as we joined the long line of Cub fans waiting to get in.<br />
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As we were passing through bag check, the usher looked in my bag and saw that it was all camera equipment. He looked at it, looked up at me and said, "Make sure you record lots of memories, and get in a few yourself!" It was the most charming response I have ever gotten to my photography.<br />
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Once we got in, and were hit with that glorious air-conditioning, I rushed us down near the Cub dugout to seek out baseballs and autographs. Sadly, I came up empty again. When I came to our seats in the left field bleachers, Lauren was staring up behind home plate and told me that she wanted to go up there. I said sure, as we wanted to explore the whole park, but put it out of my mind as the game started.<br />
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We were positioned right behind Alfonso Soriano and the fans were just being moronic towards him. They would shout until he turned around and then mocked him for looking. He still made every defensive play that came to him and was never caught flatfooted, but the fans would laugh like drunken hyenas every time he turned around. It got pretty old by the end of the game.<br />
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That being said, I enjoyed the bleachers. Again, I felt a lot closer to the action than in Anaheim or San Diego, even more than in Colorado.<br />
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Around 3 innings in or so Lauren decided that she was going on her trek to the uppermost part of the stadium. I opted to stay behind and watch the game. Chris Rusin was pitching a great game and the offense was not quite as anemic as it had been going into the game.<br />
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I should also note that the reason that the reason that Rusin was starting the game was because one of my favorite Cubs, Matt Garza had finally been traded earlier in the day to the Texas Rangers. I knew it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Garza would be gone before the trade deadline, but it was still upsetting. I was following all the drama earlier in the day back at the hotel and I wonder what the neighboring rooms thought as there was a fit of yelling and profanity in the middle of the afternoon as the trade was announced.<br />
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Lauren made her way back to me, and I learned that it was a good thing that I didn't attempt the trek. While she enjoyed it, it was unlikely I would have made the trip without a tank of oxygen and a sherpa. It's ok--that's why we have cellphone photos.<br />
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After another inning or so, I decided that I wanted to wander a bit too, so we made our way around the concourse checking out various standing room only areas to watch the game. That's another thing that both Colorado and Phoenix had in abundance but I had not ever noticed in any of the California parks, the standing room only sections. I don't know if it had to do with earthquake laws or building codes or what, but I liked them.<br />
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Lauren grabbed a Jack Daniels lemonade beverage and we were mere feet away from Junior Lake's first home run. Just a slight difference in velocity or location and I might have been able to get on the field for batting practice and a meet and greet the next day!<br />
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We eventually found our way back to the seats after a few mishaps in misjudging their location. We found our way back eventually and watched Kevin Gregg finish up the first Cub win of the trip. Once again, we had an usher try to take some photos of us with the field. Not quite as bad as the poor man at Coors, but you'd think these guys were never asked to take photos!<br />
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We slowly made our way out toward our hotel in the stifling heat, passing a British pub along the way that we vowed to visit the following evening, and in just a few minutes we were in the blessed air conditioning, relaxing and getting ready for the next day.<br />
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The full set of photos for today can be seen <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldfamousandrew/sets/72157634805932637/" target="_blank">here</a>The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-64571852347180086192013-08-07T22:02:00.000-07:002013-08-07T23:20:46.027-07:00Our Inaugural Baseball Adventure: Day 2. Coors Field.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After an exciting and suspenseful evening (Would we find a taxi? Would we ever make it back to the hotel? Did Lauren ruin Christmas by eating Rudolph?) we were up bright and early and raring to go. Not only was it a Sunday matinee game, but we wanted to grab breakfast before the game and the food challenge that awaited us.<br />
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My sister lived in Denver, actually right next to Coors Field, for a few years and always spoke highly of a breakfast place called Snooze. We were excited to try breakfast there and had our taxi drop us off in front. We saw people milling around the door, which should have been a sign, but walked in to put our name in anyway. The hostess told us that the wait would be approximately an hour and a half. We gave her my cell phone number to text when the table was ready, but we knew we wouldn't be back.<br />
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After searching Yelp! for some more local recommendations we decided on The 20th Street Cafe, which had mixed reviews but was cheap and we were able to be seated immediately. I had biscuits and gravy with a side of bacon and Lauren had the typical breakfast platter.<br />
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As I was eating my breakfast, lost in my own world, all of a sudden I felt a nudge next to me and I looked up to see Can older lady sliding in next to me and asking for some of my food as a joke. I was immediately taken aback, but she was wearing a Ron Santo t-shirt and so I told her that any friend of Ronnie was a friend of mine.<br />
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She was there with two younger members of her family and they sat at a table adjacent to us and we exchanged comments throughout the meal. I love meeting other Cub fans, it's an immediate bond as you know that you have both shared the years of pain and heartache. That sounds awful, but it's really quite nice.<br />
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We paid our bill and were at Coors just as the gates opened. We picked up our tickets and stopped for lots of photos outside the stadium, but eventually made our way inside. After the pint glass fiasco of the night prior I was afraid that there might be an issue getting the day's giveaway of a Troy Tulowitzki bobblehead, but it went flawlessly and we were soon on our way down to the field.<br />
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There were no ushers hassling us as we walked down to the Cub dugout, unlike ushers at every other ballpark I've been to, so I thought we'd be in great shape. I was wrong. Lauren was stopped after following me down, but she told the usher that I was just coming down to take pictures for a few minutes. The usher was very understanding and even offered to take some photos for us. I wasn't going say no and blow our cover, so we got several more nice photos of us with the field in the background. No complaints here.<br />
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As the Rockies celebrated their 20th year, they had a special 20th anniversary baseballs that they used when they played in Denver and I wanted one. Pretty badly. So I settled in to beg the players, unfortunately to no avail. While I was panhandling for a ball I saw that Junior Lake (call-up at the start of the series and surprise offensive stud) was signing at the end of the dugout. I knew I had no chance to fight my way down to the mob, so I stood pat and was rewarded with a big goose egg on both baseballs and autographs, however as I was making my way to our seats I did get the text that our table was ready at Snooze.<br />
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By this point it had gotten hot. Really hot. So I decided it was time to make my way to the seats where Lauren had retreated earlier with a bottle of water. Once I got there I saw that there was a Cub signing autographs right where I had been, in addition to the fact that Lauren told me that one of the Cubs shagging fly balls right in front of her had not tossed up a ball because there was nobody in the "right jersey." Timing, folks. It's all timing.<br />
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We watched the pre-game festivities and the first inning but the heat was absolutely killing us and we had wanted to explore the ballpark a bit anyway. So we vacated our seats and went to see what Coors Field had to offer.<br />
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We made our way to the Team Store, where we ventured in search of air conditioning and something to commemorate our trip. I decided that since I didn't get a 20th anniversary ball from the players, I would just go ahead and buy one. So now for every stadium I visit, I will be purchasing some sort of commemorative ball. Relatively cheap, compact and easy to display. I think it was a good choice.<br />
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We wandered the concourse for a bit when Lauren mentioned that she had seen a sign for shandies and she wanted to try one. For those unaware, a shandy is a combination beer and lemonade. It sounded nasty to me too but it was quite refreshing and I actually enjoyed it.<br />
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With the slight courage boost provided by the shandy, I knew it was time to do the thing that I was the least excited to try at Coors Field, and yet knew I needed to try. I speak, of course, of Rocky Mountain Oysters. Seafood this ain't. I walked boldly up to the concession stand and told the woman behind the counter that I'd like an order.<br />
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She looked at me in disbelief.<br />
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I said that I felt like since I was in Colorado, I needed to try them.<br />
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She proceeded to laugh and said, "I'm glad I'm not you."<br />
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With that vote of confidence, I returned to the table where Lauren was waiting and set them down. After we properly documented them I took the bull by the...well, you know...and took my first bite. It was chewy. Not much flavor. Honestly, they were boring, outside of the fact that I knew they what they were. I eventually had to take some French fries in with each bite just so there was some textural variety and flavor.<br />
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I didn't finish the order and now I never need to try those again.<br />
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Moving on, we continued our wandering and saw Todd Helton's burger joint, and several remembrances of the Rockies National League Championship year when Lauren decided that we should go and see the "mile high seats."<br />
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These seats are literally a mile above sea level and are designated as such by being the only row of purple seats in a stadium of green. It was a bit of a hike up, as there were no escalators running, but getting to see something so unique was worth it.<br />
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The view wasn't too shabby either.<br />
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After our trek, it had cooled down a bit and we returned to our seats, sno-cone in hand to watch the end of the game. Sadly, the annoying fan behind us was still there. In full voice.<br />
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"Hey! There's 2 strikes! Only 1 to go!"<br />
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"That's what you want! To get a hit!"<br />
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"All right! Score the most runs and you'll win!"<br />
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It was a real treat to get the deep commentary and analysis from a real expert like this idiot. It got to the point where we were openly mocking him.<br />
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"OK! Oxygen! That's the stuff you wanna be breathing!"<br />
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"Do the hokey-pokey! Turn yourself around! Now THAT'S what it's all about!"<br />
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Thankfully, there was a sweet older lady sitting next to us who we spoke with throughout our time in the seats. We told her of our adventure and she seemed excited and genuinely told us 'thanks' for visiting Denver.<br />
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In one of the more bizarre things we saw on the entire trip was the dental hygiene race, in which a tooth raced toothpaste and a giant toothbrush. These mascot races are becoming more popular, with the sausages in Milwaukee, the presidents in DC and, as we were soon to see, the "legends" in Arizona, but the oral care race was truly something else. And that's the "tooth"!<br />
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The Cubs fell again to the Rockies despite a fairly decent pitching performance from Edwin Jackson, going 7 innings and earning a quality start.<br />
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0-2 to start the trip was not exactly how we wanted to leave Colorado.<br />
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We picked ourselves up and after trying to choose a place to eat for close to a half hour, finally decided that room service and packing for our 4 am hotel shuttle was probably the best plan for our last evening in Denver.<br />
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Yes, readers. We really do live the high life! The Mile-High life, for at least 2 days.<br />
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The complete set of photos for this game can be found <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldfamousandrew/sets/72157634790248596/" target="_blank">here</a><br />
<br />The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-60995721968639310302013-08-07T00:34:00.001-07:002013-08-07T00:34:24.876-07:00Our Inaugural Baseball Adventure: Day 1. Coors Field.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It has long been a dream of mine to visit all 30 Major League Baseball Stadiums, ideally in one summer, but, more realistically, over the course of several years. Living in Southern California, I have easy access to 3 parks within a few hours of my home. Petco Park, Angel Stadium and Dodger Stadium are all "been there, done that" and I have seen several games at PacBell/SBC/3Com/AT&T Park as well. In fact, I have seen the Cubs at all of these venues.<br />
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This year I decided I was going to add to my ballpark resume, and picked Coors Field in Denver and Chase Field in Phoenix, due to their relative proximity to both me and each other. Soon flights and hotels were booked and immediately following the All Star break, Lauren and I were about to take place in our first baseball road trip, and our first stop was 2 games at beautiful Coors Field.<br />
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Fortunately we were able to book our vacation so that we were not only visiting the ballparks, but that we were able to see the Cubs in both venues. We would be attending 2 games in Denver and 3 games in Phoenix.<br />
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Hotels were reserved. Plane tickets were ready. Vacation was approved at work and we were ready to go. As our vacations are usually to destinations that require several hours travel flying out on the dawn flights for this adventure had us nonplussed...until we realized that we would be arriving in Denver at 10 in the morning...leaving us essentially homeless until the official check-in time of 3pm.<br />
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Thankfully the hotel was able to accommodate us early and we were able to take a nap before heading out to the game. We had conscientiously decided to not book a car and trust public transportation for this vacation. That was a bad idea for Denver. Our hotel was out in the boonies of town and the only option was a bus ride that took approximately 30 minutes and picked us up by an abandoned auto parts store near the hotel and dropped us off about a half mile from Coors Field, walking through a bit of a shantytown. Needless to say, this was the first and last bus ride we took in Denver--and actually for the remainder of the trip.<br />
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When we were within view of the ballpark I was already chomping at the bit to get inside, but Lauren realized that we hand't eaten aside from the McDonalds breakfast before leaving San Diego so food became priority number 1. We wandered for a bit until we saw a sign for the Blake Street Tavern, which I had actually heard of.<br />
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This was one of the most fantastic decisions we made on the whole trip and if I lived within any reasonable distance from Denver, I would have quickly become a regular. My French dip sandwich was quite possibly the finest that I have ever tasted and I consider myself a French dip connoisseur. Lauren's flat iron steak sandwich was fantastic as well.<br />
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After filling ourselves on delicious pub food we made our way to Coors Field. We were still a little bit before first pitch and the lines to get in weren't bad. After we had my camera bag checked out we approached the gate staff to get our "Rockies 20th Anniversary" pint glass. The staff was discussing how they only had a few undamaged glasses left and then, in plain view, stashed several under a table while telling us that they had run out. I was upset. Not because I necessarily needed a Rockies pint glass, but on principle.<br />
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We found another gate after entering the stadium and explained our situation to the gate staff there. Before I had even finished my tale of woe the Rockies staffer was handing us 2 glasses and telling us to have a good time at the game, which cancelled out the bad vibes that I was holding toward the Rockies for the incident at the first gate.<br />
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Now it was time to find our seats out in right field and check out the field. We were about a dozen rows above the right fielder and much lower to the field than the seats that we were used to at Angel Stadium. I loved them.<br />
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What I didn't love was the couple that was sitting next to us. Not only did they bring, seemingly, the entire produce section from Costco with them (a haul which included several boxes of strawberries and an entire container of mini cinnamon rolls) but they were the type of people who have the most rudimentary information about baseball, which clearly means they were experts who were able to speak intelligently on the subject with absolute authority. We would encounter many of these fans in our travels.<br />
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Eventually they ended up getting up later in the game and thankfully found seats a few rows down from us. I think my pro-Cub leanings somehow upset them.<br />
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Speaking of the Cubs, this was not their finest hour. They lost fairly handily 9-3 and Carlos Villanueva got roughed up for the second time that I have seen him...in the two Cub games I had attended at this point in the season.<br />
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Before we left we asked the usher to take some photos of us with the field and scoreboard behind us. He had the hardest time figuring out how my camera worked, despite my explanation, but eventually got some shots in, albeit not exactly what we wanted, but close enough and he was pleasant enough and seemed pleased when we told him we were from out of town and would be attending the next day.<br />
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After leaving the stadium we expected to find some food fairly easily and then take a taxi home. This didn't exactly happen. Despite downtown Denver being packed with bars, college kids and--as of a few months--weed, there was not a suitable restaurant to find not to mention any taxis. On a Friday night. At 11 pm.<br />
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We eventually used the Yelp! app on my phone and found a place that we had heard of, called Biker Jim's, to grab a bite to eat and call for a taxi. Except none of the cab companies in Denver answered their phones. Or the texts that the automated voices on their hold messages. Even the staff at Biker Jim's didn't have any advice for us to find a cab. Neither did our hotel concierge.<br />
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We got our food to go, planning to eat it in the room, and wandered the streets of Denver in search of any sort of vehicle for hire, possibly as we got closer back to Coors Field.<br />
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Eventually we found a cab that had just dropped off a fare and I ran at it like a crazy man, hoping he wouldn't speed away. Luckily he was able to take us to the hotel, despite the fact that his meter broke and he charged us a reasonable flat rate.<br />
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Back at the hotel we unwrapped our vittles and attacked them vigorously. Biker Jim's specializes in exotic hot dogs and sausages and despite the somewhat limited late night menu, we were able to find some delicious and interesting selections; Lauren ruined Christmas by getting a reindeer sausage, while I remained respectful to all major holidays by choosing boar meat. The boar meat was very sweet, which is right up my alley, while the reindeer was a bit gamey (reindeer games?) and we were both pleased with our individual selections.<br />
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At this point it was late and since we were planning to head out early for a breakfast before the day game on the following morning, we decided to head to bed after a fun and successful day 1 of the inaugural baseball adventure.<br />
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The complete collection of photos from this game can be found <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldfamousandrew/sets/72157634755198151/" target="_blank">here</a><br />
<br />The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-76477153792148470852013-07-02T16:25:00.001-07:002013-07-02T16:25:29.483-07:00The Cubs Visit Me and Break My Heart...AgainThe day that I had been waiting for was finally here and the Cubs were descending upon Anaheim. Yes, I had seen them in Los Angeles and San Diego, but having them here in my current town was very exciting and surreal for me. So was the desire to root for someone other than the Angels-- the only time I'll do that is when they play my Cubs.<br />
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I decided to be a decent person and not drag Lauren to the game at the crack of dawn to wait for the Cubs to come to the stadium and try to get autographs. We did, however, get there before the gates opened to wait for the guys to take batting practice and, hopefully, interact.<br />
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I waited down the right field line with two fellow Cub fans, a dad and young son. This would prove to be a good strategic move, as baseball players are more likely to respond to a small kid than to an unshaven 30-year old guy. This would prove true as the afternoon went on.<br />
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I wasn't feeling well to begin with, and standing directly in the unrelenting Southern California sun was not doing me any favors, so I alternated standing at the wall and sitting in the seats. The first Cub that we saw was Jeff Samardzija who was coming out to run and do a bit of long toss. The kid next to me asked him if he'd sign and he said that he would after he worked out.<br />
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Jeff proved true to his word and signed down the line and got to us. I told him that I was really hoping that we would sign him to a contract extension and that I wanted to see him as a Cub for a long time. I'm sure he gets that a lot, but he seemed genuinely appreciative as he signed a baseball on the sweet spot for me.</div>
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Next out was Matt Garza who was to be the starting pitcher the following day. The kid again yelled out to him and he said he'd be over after he finished his work too. He did some throwing right in front of us, and as he finished I asked him for the ball and he nodded, but his throw was a bit off and the ball went to the kid next to me. While I could have grabbed it, I wasn't going to be a jerk and take the ball from a kid. Gaza proceeded to the outfield for some running drills and the kid next to me just kept yelling to him. I tried to impress upon the kid that he was doing his job now and that he said he'd be back, so just relax and he'd be over when he was done. </div>
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Garza finished running and signed all the way from beyond the foul pole all the way down to us right near the dugout. He signed for me, again on the sweet spot, and I told him that I tweeted to him a lot and that I hoped he got the win the next day. He said that he needed to start throwing the ball well to get wins, and I assured him that I thought he was. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and I hope he doesn't get traded and we give him a contract extension.</div>
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By this time, it was about time to return to my seat. When I got there, Lauren had a hot dog and a bottle of water waiting for me, which was great because by this point I was physically not doing well at all.</div>
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Reinvigorated by my snack, I was ready for some baseball, though I had an aura of foreboding in my stomach. After all, the game was Jered Weaver versus (now ex-Cub) Scott Feldman. Feldman had been pitching well, but going against a (presumably) high-octane offense like the Angels with Weaver on the mound didn't bode well.</div>
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Surprisingly, the Cubs scored early against Weaver, with a 3-1 lead after three innings. Feldman did a great job of holding the Angels down, going a strong 7 innings and only allowing 2 runs. The Cub offense, as so often happens, started strong but died after three innings, not scoring again. being handcuffed by former Cubs, Scott Downs and Robert Coello and closer Ernesto Frieri.</div>
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Unfortunately, again, the Cub bullpen was not up to the task, as Carlos Villanueva entered in the 8th inning and gave up a base hit to Erik Aybar and the big blow, Albert Pujols' 54th career home run against the Cubs. There was no coming back from that as the Cubs were only able to scrape together a base hit from Darwin Barney in the top of the 9th and went home losers, as the excitement of the Cubs fans that had been evident since the early scoring bonanza evaporated into the ether of Angel Stadium. </div>
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This was the one time this season that I regretted the Angels lighting the Halo. I was excited to see the Cubs come back the following day and add to my autograph/baseball collection, but as the previous entry will attest, that was not in the cards for me.</div>
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On a personal note, I'd like to know if these entries are basically just me screaming into the void that is the internet, so if you read this, and enjoy it, even just a little bit, please leave a comment and let me know! </div>
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Thanks!</div>
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The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-57963595652009086682013-06-18T11:12:00.000-07:002013-06-18T11:12:29.942-07:00That Time The Cubs Tried to Kill Me<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So...I was only able to attend the first of the Cubs-Angels games, and while I had a fairly successful evening, and I will be writing it up shortly, but here is a letter that I wrote to the Cubs regarding missing that second game.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello-</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My name is Andrew and I am 31 years old. My mother’s family hails from Chicago and I grew up watching Harry and Steve and Ryno and Mark and Andre on WGN. I have never wavered in my love of Cubdom, despite baring the slings and arrows of my friends, who were friends of more traditionally successful franchises. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heck, even the Padres went to the World Series in 1998! Don’t even get me started on the upstart Devil Rays, Diamondbacks, Rockies and Marlins....or Astros or Mets or...well, you probably know the list as well as I. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Through all of that, I have prevailed. That is, until the Cubs tried to do me in! When I was 11, I diagnosed type-1 diabetes, or, as I call it, Ron Santo’s disease. While I certainly do not blame the Cubs for this malady, it is the first in a series of escalating medical bouts, many of which have Cub-related associations. These include such things as selective Tourettes syndrome, occurring during the playoffs of both 2004 and 2008 and the ever increasing Marmol-ian headaches which have persisted through much of the past two seasons. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again, all of this has been taken in stride, until the most recent occasion. I live in Southern California and rarely get the chance (or risk) to see my Cubs in person, but this year, my fiancee was able to procure excellent tickets to see the Cubs play the Angels in Anaheim on both Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. We very much enjoyed the game until the 8th inning, when Albert Pujols won the game on a late-inning home run, his 54th against the Cubs. I returned home dejected, but looking forward the seeing the game the following day. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is, until about 2 in the morning, when I awoke throwing up blood with what was later diagnosed as a severely bleeding ulcer. This is the first time that such an illness has been associated with my love of the Cubs. I understand that you are doing the best that you can, trying to put a championship caliber team on the field but I beg you to please try to do so sooner rather than later. I am using my vacation this year to follow my beloved Cubs to both Phoenix and Denver this summer, and I am not relishing spending my time laid up in a hospital wing...or worse!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you and yours in Cub-dom,</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrew</span></span></div>
The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-25192253108479574092013-05-31T22:42:00.002-07:002013-05-31T22:53:48.897-07:00See-ya Se-attle: The Angels Resume the Sinking of the Mariners<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After the insanity of the previous night's game, where Mike Trout hit for the cycle, Lauren told me that even as she was up in Simi Valley, her brother sprung it on her that he wanted to go to the Angels game. Sadly, they had left the DeLorean back at the hotel, so he was unable to time travel in order to make it to the Big A on time for the game.<br />
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When I heard about this, I felt bad and suggested that we try to get tickets to the next afternoon's game against the Mariners. We were able to get good seats in the Field Level for less than ten dollars a ticket, so back to the old ballgame I went.<br />
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Lauren's brother is a Giants fan, pretty much one of the worst kinds of people. As we were planning the details for the baseball game I made sure to tell him that he could not wear his new Giants cap. I hate it when fans wear the attire of teams that are not participating in the game. All baseball teams are not created equal and just because something is baseball related, does not mean it is appropriate for every game.<br />
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He showed up not only wearing his Giants cap, but also a Houston Astros shirt. Neither of whom were playing. This essentially sums up my relationship with Lauren's brother.<br />
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I was excited to finally see CJ Wilson take the mound at Angel Stadium. This would be my first time to see him in person since his big signing as a free agent the year before. I have always liked CJ, even when he was a hated Texas Ranger. He has been entertaining on Twitter and was one of the first big ballplayers to embrace the new media. Plus, he has always been a heck of a pitcher.<br />
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The Angels picked up right where they had left off the night before, including Mike Trout hitting a single and a triple in his first two at-bats. Alas, the dual cycle was not to happen, but the Angels put a hurt on Brandon Maurer, a local boy from the nearby city of Orange, and he was credited with giving up all seven runs. He lasted all of three innings, and the Mariner bullpen slammed the door on the Angels, shutting them out from the fourth inning onward.<br />
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The seven runs, though, were more than enough for CJ Wilson, who went eight strong innings and only allowed one run. Mike Scioscia inexplicably brought in Dane De La Rosa for the ninth inning, and even with that six run cushion, I was uneasy. Surprisingly, De La Rosa did his job, despite some two out dramatics, and the Angels lit up the Halo.<br />
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Continuing my luck from the Royals game, we were once again treated to visiting fans who don't understand how to behave in another team's ballpark. As the game was winding down, they weren't rooting on their team, they were trying to incite the home team fans, in a game that they were losing quite handily. I don't understand how standing in the front of the entire section and basically baiting thousands of the opposing team's fans makes sense, especially when you are being soundly destroyed by that opposing team.<br />
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I will be attending both of the Cubs-Angels games fully festooned in my Cubbie regalia, but I won't be inciting the Angels fans. There is a way to conduct yourself with a sense of dignity while cheering on your visiting team. I will be cheering every home run and great play, but I will also not be mocking the local fans.<br />
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It's just common decency as well as respect.<br />
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Until Next Time, Keep Trippin' Baseballs!The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-75501547348423332272013-05-28T19:04:00.000-07:002013-05-28T19:05:40.687-07:00The Greatest Game I've Witnessed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For the second consecutive game I was dateless. Lauren's mom and brother were coming in to town and she was planning to join them on their visit to the Reagan Library. I already had tickets for the Angel game, so I opted out and called my brother, Matt, to see if he wanted to join me for the game and the free Mike Trout pint glass. He agreed to leave work early and drive the hour and a half from San Diego to Anaheim.<br />
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Due to traffic, we didn't get to the Big A until after 6 pm, with the game scheduled to start at 7. I had completely written off the idea of getting in for batting practice, which was fine, but I was paranoid that we wouldn't get one of the pint glasses. We finally reached our seats in center field a few minutes before the pre-game festivities began.<br />
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We were actually sitting in a pretty neat spot as we were right next to the batters eye/national park in center field and kind of cornered in our own little box. It was cozy. We got our food before sitting down and basically didn't need to move for the entire game. This fact would prove to be a very, very good thing.<br />
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I had been watching the Cubs game on TV, waiting for Matt to get into town, and they mentioned off-handedly that Aaron Harang was one of the biggest Cub killers of all time. Harang was the Mariners starter and I figured that it was just my luck that he would destroy the Angels as well. That isn't exactly what happened.<br />
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After hitting a home run and a triple his first 2 at-bats, it seemed like Josh Hamilton was going to be the hero of the night on his birthday, and a candidate to hit for the cycle, having gotten the hardest part out of the way to start the night. While the Angels were smacking the ball all over the yard against the weak Mariner pitching, Mike Trout was quietly putting together a pretty remarkable night of his own. After he hit a 3 RBI double in the 6th, I turned to Matt and said, "If he got credit for a base hit in his second AB, he is a home run away from the cycle..." We whipped out our phones and checked, and it was indeed an infield hit in the third.<br />
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I'm not sure how many in the crowd realized what was happening because as the Angels' lead grew bigger and bigger, the crowd in the ballpark got smaller and smaller, but I have been to enough games in my life to realize that a baseball game is not over until that 27th out is recorded, let alone to not leave when there is an assault on history.<br />
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Innings came and innings went, and the Angels continued scoring while the Mariners did not, but that was, for all intents and purposes, meaningless. We were waiting for one more time at the plate for Mr. Trout. He came to bat in the eighth, with no one on base.<br />
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The count against Lucas Luetge was 2-0 when Trout connected on the pitch. It was a long drive right off the bat and it was undeniable that he had hit a home run to complete the cycle. The stadium erupted and after Trout had made his way around the bases, was forced out of the dugout for a curtain call. It was an incredible moment.<br />
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As I mentioned, I have been to a lot of baseball games over my lifetime, but I have never been to a game with the historical significance as this. Previously, the closest I had come to was at the second game of a double-header in old Jack Murphy Stadium one afternoon when Kevin Brown took a no-hitter into the late innings, but, as the Padres still lack a no-hitter, we know how that turned out in the end. It was absolutely exhilarating to witness a moment of this caliber in person.<br />
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As Trout returned to the field for the top of the 9th, he was very reluctant to make his way out to center field, opting to stand near second base and chat with Josh Hamilton. It was like he knew that we were going to lavish him with love and he didn't want it, being a bit of a quiet guy, but he eventually had to make his way out, and got loved on whether he wanted it or not.<br />
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The only issue I had with the game was the removal of Jerome Williams in the 9th after he had spent the previous 8 innings completely dealing. Albeit he had thrown 107 pitches, but given the weakness of the Angels bullpen and the strength of Williams through the 8th inning, I feel like he could have finished the game and earned his first complete game shutout of the year, but overall, this is the most minor of quibbles.<br />
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The funny thing about this whole deal was the fact that earlier in the day, Matt had been trying to see if he could pass his ticket off to one of my other brothers, since he had been relatively missing a lot of work and didn't look forward to telling his boss that he was leaving early again to attend the game. I think, when all was said and done, he was reasonably happy with his decision to come up to see Mike Trout become the youngest American League player to hit for the cycle since Mel Ott and the first Angel since Chone Figgins.<br />
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In the years to come, as Trout continues his rise to elite superstardom, I'm sure that the number of people who will claim to have been at this game will double or even triple the actual number, but to have actually been there was truly an amazing experience, and one that I will treasure for the rest of my life.<br />
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Until next time, Keep Trippin' Baseballs!The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-13469993926712229712013-05-23T16:53:00.000-07:002013-05-23T16:53:55.302-07:00Well This Sox: In Which, I Attend the White Sox-Angel Game Solo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I hate the White Sox. I have hated them as long as I can remember, being a rational Cub fan. The two factors that most fueled my vitriol during the most recent years, Ozzie Guillen and AJ Pierzynski, are no longer with the team, and with that I am not blinded by the hatred that I once was for the boys from the South Side. I still canNOT stand Hawk Harrelson, but if an obnoxious broadcaster is the pinnacle of my dislike, things have calmed down considerably.<br />
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All that being said, I really wanted to go to the May 16th game against the Sox. Not so much for the game, per se, but for the Mark Trumbo bobble head that was the giveaway that night. I had found cheap tickets after some negotiation with ScoreBig.com and both Lauren and I would be off work in barely enough time to head over to the Big A for the game. Then, reality hit. Lauren was sick and had been invited to see an opening day showing of the new Star Trek movie, which interested her much more than the Angels game. I was now at an impasse.<br />
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I really wanted that bobble head, but I had never been to a baseball game solo before. I am actually very loathe to be solo in public, as I irrationally assume that everyone is staring at me and wondering, "Who is the weird guy with no friends?" My desire for the knick-knack that I have no need nor space for outweighed my social anxiety and I decided I was going to go it alone.<br />
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Lauren picked me up from work and brought my change of clothes so I wouldn't have to drag a bag full of smelly work clothes into the ballpark and dropped me off, en route to her theater for the movie. Since I had paid for 2 tickets, I was certainly going to get both the bobble heads that I had paid for. I initially thought that to get both bobble heads I would need to engage in all sorts of trickery and enter initially through Gate A, exit Gate B, hide the swag and enter Gate C, all while changing shirts and using a fake mustache to avoid being recognized.<br />
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In reality, I walked up to the ticket scanner, told the woman that I had 2 tickets, that Lauren would not be joining me but that I did want her bobble head. She looked at me, asked if I was sure Lauren wasn't coming and upon my assent, yelled for the distribution elves to give me 2. Painless, but not nearly as exciting as my imagined spy mission.<br />
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I made my way out to right field and found my seat in an empty row and sat down to begin my solo adventure. I had the row to myself for awhile, until the sorority girls came by. They added quite an interesting element to the game with all of their insightful comments, which included the statement that they weren't going to boo at all, because "...that would be, like, really bad sportsmanship" and the need to share details about exactly how they wanted their future weddings and boyfriends to be. And, of course they were ignorant Disneyland passholders. With no other human being to talk to, I got to listen to this banter for the entire duration of the game. Yay, lucky me.<br />
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Meanwhile, on the field there was a baseball game. The Angels actually held the lead for a vast majority of the game supporting a fairly solid outing from Jerome Williams until the fantastic bullpen duo of Dane De La Rosa and Michael Kohn made an appearance in the 8th. De La Rosa gave up the tying run and Kohn decided that Jeff Keppinger, he of the .188 batting average, should get his first walk of the season. With the bases loaded. With a tie score.<br />
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This, sorority girls, is why you boo.<br />
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The Angels failed to mount a comeback against Jesse Crain and Addison Reed and, despite having Reed on my fantasy league team, I felt no joy.<br />
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My first solo game was a success and I had lots of friends ask me if I would do it again. Absolutely, I would. The only change is that I think I'd bring a small FM radio to listen to the game. I had my iPhone with the MLB AtBat app, where I could listen to the game, but there tends to be a bit of a delay there and I didn't want to be listening to a game on a 30 second to 2 minute delay that was happening live in front of me. That's how accidental time travel occurs and nobody wants that.<br />
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Until Next Time, Keep Tripping Baseballs.<br />
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<br />The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-84362264968423399822013-05-23T04:45:00.000-07:002013-05-23T04:45:21.048-07:00In Which I Snap My Losing Streak and the Angels Beat the RoyalsI recently found a great site online that operates like Expedia or Priceline, but for event tickets, where you tell it roughly where you want to sit, submit a bid and see if you can score a major discount on tickets. I discovered it the other day on Twitter when I randomly saw an ad for it, offering tickets that were valued at 35 dollars selling for bids of 5. I rolled the dice and once again, Lauren and I found ourselves at Angel Stadium on a Tuesday evening. And, of course, I once again found myself being shut out from any baseballs or autographs.<br />
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Not that I didn't have my chance though. We got to the game early and the Royals were on the field. I trotted down from our seats to the field barrier and waited with a fairly large group of fans trying to get a batting practice ball. Greg Holland was warming up near us and any time a ball came to him, all the fans were just screaming "HOLLAND!" having read it on the back of his jersey. I tried a different approach, since I actually knew his name and yelled "Greg!" He finally got a ball, turned and threw it. It was coming right for me. And then, a ginger guy stepped right over to me, stuck his glove in my face and snagged my ball. He walked away for a moment, which was a wise plan on his part because I was steaming, but then had the audacity to come back a few minutes later. Needless to say, there were no more baseball tossed in my vicinity.<br />
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Following that, I went over and hung out by the Royals dugout for a little bit, but none of the players were around signing.<br />
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I read a lot of MLBlogs and just independent autograph/ballhawking blogs in general and am always astounded as the bloggers recount 5, 10 or even 20 baseball days and I have yet to get one this season? It seems very strange to me. I know I'm not the fresh faced little kid or a hot blonde chick, but then again neither are these other bloggers. What am I doing wrong?<br />
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But I digress. The Angels threw Jason Vargas on the mound versus Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie was sporting a shiny 5-0 record and the Angels were floundering, so I was somewhat wary of the matchup, but I need not be worried. The big boys--Trout, Pujols, Hamilton and even lil' Howie Kendrick homered and the Angels cruised to a 6-2 victory.<br />
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There was however a dark spot on this victory. That was the Royals fans who were sitting near us. The woman was probably no more than 30, was sitting in the front row and sporting a Royals t-shirt. That is all well and good. I can certainly understand wearing your team's gear into an opposing stadium. Heck, I have only ever seen the Cubs as a visiting team. However, you do not then try to heckle the home team's fans and get angry when your drunken actions get thrown back in your face.<br />
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She spent the first half of the game screeching at right fielders, Jeff Francoeur and Mark Trumbo, proclaiming her screechy love for Frenchy and vitrol at Trumbo. That was annoying, but it's her right to do so. After a few beers, the second half of the game was mostly spent turned around shouting at the section of Angels fans behind her, her defense being that the Royals had a better record and had won the night before. I have never seen an entire section of fans turn on a single person like section F132 did on that woman. The entire section started booing her and as she and her partner left (before the game was over, mind you) she tried to start at least 2 fights. It was spectacular.<br />
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Like I said, it put a slightly bad taste in my mouth because even the Angels fans we had sitting around us were on the obnoxious side, but if that's the price I have to pay to see them light up that Halo every game I attend, I will gladly bare that burden for the cause.<br />
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Until Next Time, Keep Tripping Baseballs!<br />
The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-86724203877380197662013-05-07T13:04:00.002-07:002013-05-07T13:04:18.696-07:00"O" No! Another Halo Loss<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was "Little League Day" at the stadium. That pretty much sums up everything you need to know about our fan experience. Lots of kids and my seat ended up being kicked for a vast majority of the game. Despite that--and the final score-- it was a good time at the old ball yard.<br />
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For the second year Lauren gave me Angels ticket vouchers, which were then redeemed for 2 tickets to 5 Angel games throughout the season and today's game was to have been the first game of the season, but then other opportunities arose and it was, in actuality, my third of the young season.<br />
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Again, we arrived at the stadium early, even though we knew there was to be no batting practice, and again, we were shut out for autographs and baseballs. Rumor has it that Mike Trout was signing a few before the game, but we never saw him.<br />
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Today was a decent pitching matchup, Jerome Williams with a 1-0 record and no runs allowed versus Orioles #1 starter, Jason Hammel. I was hoping Williams would pitch well, and kick Joe Blanton out of the rotation, but that was not to be.<br />
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The Angels flexed their muscles in the bottom of the 1st inning, after Williams allowed a run in the top half of the inning. Trout stole a base and there were several "station-to-station" base hits and 3 runs scored as the team batted around.<br />
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This was a good thing. This was a throwback to the Angels division winning teams of the late 2000s, small ball being executed and opportunities that have lately fallen by the wayside were taken advantage of. This was not to last.<br />
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In the top of the 3rd inning, there was a delay of approximately 10 minutes, with no one on the field and no announcement made to the stadium, so of course, I took to my iPhone to see if anyone on the world wide interwebs had any idea what was going on.<br />
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As it turns out, home plate umpire Larry Vanover had gotten hit pretty hard by a Mark Trumbo foul ball earlier in the game, and was unable to continue, so the delay was for Manny Gonzalez to get on the home plate gear, as he moved from second base. It just would have been nice to let the fans know, since I spent most of the delay assuming the worst.<br />
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J.J. Hardy tied the game with a two-run home run in the top of the 4th and Mike Trout answered with a homer of his own in the bottom half of the inning, but, alas, that was the end of the Angels offense for the game.<br />
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Anemic offense notwithstanding, Dane De La Rosa's performance in the game was nothing short of dreadful. Williams allowed 5 runs, but he actually left the game only trailing by a run--a still very winnable game, and then the bullpen...or more correctly, Dane De La Rosa gave up 3 runs in only 2/3 of an inning and put the game beyond the realm of a reasonable comeback, particularly with the Oriole relievers putting in a sparkling performance.<br />
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As I said before, despite the final score and all of the kids surrounding us, the game was quite enjoyable. Baseball games are made for lazy Sunday afternoons and the weather--overcast with temperatures in the lows 70s--made it quite comfortable out in the outfield pavilion.<br />
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It never ceases to make me laugh, though, to see how many people left early after the top of the ninth, presumably to "beat traffic." First of all, with the masses that shared this idea, there isn't much of an advantage to leaving at the same time as thousands of fellow "time conscious" fans. Secondly, it's a late Sunday afternoon. Where do you have to go that you have to get out of the stadium immediately? Finally, I have been a baseball fan long enough to know that however improbable, you do not leave a game before the final out is recorded. You never know what can happen. That's the great thing about baseball. There's no clock to tell you when the game is over, it doesn't end until the last man has had his chance.<br />
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America!<br />
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That being said, the Angels went down in order after Josh Hamilton hit a leadoff double and we left the stadium with a much smaller crowd than if we had left the game early. This game leaves my record at 1-2 with both Angels games accounting for the 2 losses. If they don't win the next time out, I might have to start looking at myself as a potential jinx.<br />
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Our next scheduled game is on the 21st for Mike Trout pint glass night versus the Mariners, though I may try to squeeze in a game on the 16th for the Mark Trumbo bobble head and to boo the hated White Sox. Only time--and my work schedule--will tell.The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-90911438854190452232013-05-01T13:08:00.000-07:002013-05-01T13:13:55.996-07:00AJ: Texas RangerToday was another game that wasn't planned at the start of the season, but a good deal on Groupon and an itch to see baseball (again, before I knew I'd be attending Padres Opening Day) resulted in Lauren and I attending our first Angels game of the year, versus the dreaded Texas Rangers.<br />
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We arrived at the stadium as the gates were opening and after a painless pickup of the tickets from the friendly Groupon people in front of the park, we were set to go and experience our first batting practice of the year. The Angels were finishing hitting as we made our way down to the field, and made their way into the clubhouse. We were able to watch the entire Rangers bp and warmups, but despite spending two hours watching practice, no one came over to sign or even threw a ball our way. I did later find out that my friend, Steve, who was at the game, got his first bp ball ever from Jerome Williams, so at least I knew one adult who didn't get shut out. It was pretty neat seeing Yu Darvish stretch and throw near us, though thankfully he wasn't pitching that night.<br />
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Instead we got to see Derek Holland, with one of the top ERAs in the American league, versus Joe Blanton, who has virtually been the Angels staff punching bag this season. Surprisingly, the Angels managed to score six runs on Holland and Blanton pitched well enough to win, giving up four runs, but Scott Downs blew the save, and Ernesto Frieri lost the game.<br />
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Not only did Frieri lose the game, but he managed to lose it in quite possibly the worst way he could have, at least as far as my biased little head sees it. A little back story: AJ Pierzynski, the current Ranger starting catcher, is my least favorite player in baseball. He is half of the reason that I despised the White Sox, and why Michael Barrett who once punched him in the face, will always be one of my favorite Cubs. I once attended an Angels-White Sox game solely to boo him as loudly and vehemently as I could. AJ gets no love in Anaheim either, after an extremely questionable call in which he was involved, proceeded to lose a playoff game (and eventual series) to the White Sox.<br />
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Pierzynski proceeded to break the hearts of Angel fans as he lined a pitch from closer Frieri into right field to give the Rangers the win. Not exactly how I had scripted my first Angels game of the year. Joe Nathan came in for the save for the Rangers and my baseball record for the years stands at 1-1, a .500 winning percentage.<br />
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Our next game is a Sunday day game versus Baltimore and though I'm not holding out a lot of hope for baseballs or autographs before a day game, I've been surprised before, but I do, at least, hope to get back to a winning record on the season!The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-50525654339828671672013-04-22T01:04:00.000-07:002013-05-01T13:13:12.469-07:00"42"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Pretty much being the worst baseball fan ever, the fiancee and I finally had an opportunity to see "42" this evening. I went in to the film with very high expectations and am pleased to say that they were all either met or exceeded.<br />
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For most baseball fans, the story is familiar. Jackie Robinson was selected by Branch Rickey of the Dodgers to become the first African-American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era. Jackie spends a year in the International League in Montreal proving himself as a big league quality ballplayer and learning to handle what society, still firmly entrenched in Jim Crow, could throw at him. </div>
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Robinson excels and Rickey has him join the Brooklyn Dodgers the following year. Some teammates have issues with his color, as do many opponents who act in a truly evil way. Other teammates put themselves on the line to prove that Jackie was just as good as they, notably Pee Wee Reese. Robinson excels, brings the Dodgers to dynasty status as a team and eventually makes the Hall of Fame.</div>
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Where the film truly excels is getting people who couldn't care less about baseball to care about this man and his story.</div>
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Written by Brian Helgeland, writer of such films as "LA Confidential" and "Mystic River," the film treads the fine line when adapting a true story for the screen and does so with success. The characters are well-rounded and while a majority of the audience cares for Jackie before the film begins, as it progresses, finds itself caring just as much for Branch Rickey, Rachel Robinson, and Pee Wee Reese as they do for Jackie. The script manages to lighten what could be a very intense film with humor and manages to stay true to the story. </div>
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Yes, there were some choices that seemed a little too 'Hollywood,'and that is to be expected in a major studio release, but overall the film was amazingly accurate, even down to the smallest detail of the ballparks and uniforms. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. </div>
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"42" contained some tour de force performances that Oscar may well be looking at when awards season rolls around. Nicole Beharie turned in a powerful piece as Jackie's wife, Rachel. Often we forget that although Jackie was the face of integration, Rachel was behind the scenes, giving Jackie the support he needed to pursue his role in American history and Beharie embraced that. </div>
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In addition, Harrison Ford embraced his inner "angry old man" as Branch Rickey and delivered a phenomenal performance. One moment vehemently protective of Jackie, the next quietly contemplative about the wheels he had set in motion. Rickey had to wear many hats in his efforts to bring Jackie to the big leagues: drill sergeant, protector and counselor, amongst others and Ford steals the show regardless of what hat he was wearing.</div>
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Of course, who could forget Chadwick Boseman as Jackie? He had heart, a sense of humor, but above it all, a sense of humanity. Jackie wasn't a perfect man, but, as the quote goes, he had "the courage to not fight back." He showed the dignity of Jackie, getting back up after being spiked by Enos Slaughter and getting his revenge by winning the ballgame. It wasn't easy, but Boseman embraced this American hero and legend of baseball and comes away as absolutely believable.</div>
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This could not have been an easy film to make; the things that Alan Tudyk as the racist Phillies manager, Ben Chapman had to say would have been enough to make anyone feel awkward for hours and days on end. In fact, my fiancee wondered what it felt like to collect a paycheck for essentially shouting some of the most awful racial epithets. </div>
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I wonder how the villains in this tale felt. The most prominent are dead now, many for years, and in essence, can't defend their actions. Not that there is much to defend, I suppose. History is a cruel mistress and when dealing with a true story, the villains tend to be self-made. Perhaps, later in life they realized their evil ways and renounced them and I would like to believe that. But honestly, we just don't know, and now, be it good or bad, the images we left of them are those created in "42."</div>
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"42" was powerful. It reminds us of how fortunate we are that we happen to be on the right side of history, at least for this particular cause, and how one man can bring a change. There's a reason that Martin Luther King worked together with Jackie to bring about civil rights and helped enact a huge shift in society. The film offers us a heartfelt glimpse into what it took for one rock to cause and avalanche. It was obviously a labor of love for everyone involved, from actors to set designers to costume researchers and their efforts did not go unnoticed. "42" gets my highest approval and I cannot wait to add it to my personal film collection, to remind us of what one man can do.</div>
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The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-59235698610884555442013-04-17T00:23:00.001-07:002013-05-01T13:12:38.252-07:00One Nation...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My feelings towards New England sports teams tends toward the loathing end of the spectrum, but if the Yankees can suck it up and play "Sweet Caroline," then we are all Bostonians for now, and I too shall stand in support.<br />
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"B" Strong<br />
<br />The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-20530436431755513322013-04-11T21:50:00.000-07:002013-05-01T13:12:02.592-07:00Padres Opening DayI wasn't intending to attend my first baseball game until the 22nd of this month, to see the Angels take on the Rangers, but I got a call from my brother on Monday night offering me an extra ticket to the Padres home opener. After moving a few things around, I was able to take him up on his offer.<br />
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My fiancee, Lauren drove me from Orange County down to San Diego, picking up my brother from work as well, and dropping us at the ballpark. My parents were also attending the game so we had a ride after the game, and Lauren wouldn't get stuck downtown while we watched the game.<br />
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We arrived shortly before the Opening Day festivities and found our way to our seats in the Toyota Terrace. Matt had gotten the tickets from a mutual friend and I hope to use the tickets again this season, sooner rather than later. Our section even had runners who would take your food order and deliver the order back to you so there was never a need to leave your seat. Fancy stuff!</div>
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This year the Padres are celebrating their 1998 run to the World Series (just as long as we don't bring up the Padres OTHER World Series) and I was a regular attendee during that season. One of my favorite players from that team was slugger, Greg Vaughn, so I was thrilled to see him throw out the first pitch to the catcher from the 1998 team, Carlos Hernandez.</div>
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The Padres also do something cool as they introduce the team. As the starting lineup is introduced, they come down from the stands and down a temporary staircase onto the field. I understand that they have been doing this for the past few years and it's a really unique way to start the year. I'm a big fan of anything that gets the fans in a closer proximity to the activity, particularly with all of the pomp and circumstance of Opening Day.</div>
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The Padres also happen to be the official team of the US military and so, of course, there was some military presence at the game. A large group of Marines was welcomed pre-game and prior to the National Anthem, the midshipmen from 2 locally based carriers unfurled a huge United States flag. The Padres also invite the fans to sing along with the Anthem, which is uncommon, but a welcome touch.</div>
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The game pitted Clayton Richard against Josh Beckett. Neither pitcher looked particularly great in the early goings, but Richard made the big pitches when he needed to and got some lucky ground balls, while Beckett got touched up a bit, including giving up a home run to Will Venable. I actually was telling my brother that I liked Venable, but that he has yet to capitalize on his tools, when he launched his no doubt home run.</div>
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The game would essentially see-saw back and fourth until the bottom of the eighth inning when the wheels came off for the Dodgers and they saw five runs score. The game was essentially over at that point and Luke Gregerson was able to pick up a win by throwing a single pitch. </div>
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It was a great game, close for most of it, but ending up with a big win for the home team on Opening Day, which is always a big plus. In addition, I got the chance to see my new favorite Padre, Jedd Gyorko and Andrew Cashner, a favorite from his Cub days, both of whom did well.</div>
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It was a great way to kick off the 2013 season, and hopefully my other ballpark endeavors will be as exciting and satisfying! I've already decided that even outside of the Cubs series, I want to try to get to more games at Petco and maybe try to meet Jerry Coleman, one of the main baseball voices of my youth, and have him sign a baseball for me. </div>
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The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-53884729736546774552013-04-09T01:49:00.000-07:002013-05-01T13:11:07.270-07:00Petco Park TourWith the Padres hosting their home opener tomorrow, I just was offered the opportunity to attend and, naturally, leapt at the opportunity. In keeping with that theme, I decided to talk about how I spent my birthday this year.<br />
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You may recall me mentioning growing up in sunny San Diego, and most of my family is still in San Diego county, so that was where I spent my birthday weekend. The big day fell on a Monday and as most of the family had work or other commitments during the day, I had to find some way to occupy myself. Having enjoyed a tour of AT&T Park several years ago, I thought that a tour of Petco would be a fun experience as well.<br />
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The Padres offered two tours daily during the off-season and my fiancee, Lauren, and I opted for the later tour, to allow for sleeping in and any sort of hijinks on the approximately 30 minute drive from my parent's house to the ballpark.<br />
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Despite some shenanigans involving a questionable "public parking" garage we made it to the ticket window in front of the stadium just in time to buy our two tickets and officially join the tour. Our group consisted of Lauren, me and another young couple who were pleasant enough and, like us, photography nerds, so we didn't feel too bad "holding up" the tour for pictures.<br />
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We began by touring the always exciting stadium bowels, including a look at Padres jail for people who would have a date with the San Diego PD in their immediate future. Then we got to the meat of the tour and entered the visitor's clubhouse. Evidently the home clubhouse was only available to the public on one day a year during the team's annual Fanfest, which had occurred a few weeks prior. I guess the reason for this was because the players with longer-term contracts with the club would actually leave their personal things in their lockers and apparently rifling through Chase Headley's wallet was frowned upon. Party poopers.<br />
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The visiting clubhouse was very cool though. Our tour guide made a point of emphasizing how the Padre's home team facilities were so much nicer than those offered to the visitors, which I'm sure is true, but it was a bit odd to be focusing so much on that particular aspect of the home team dynamic.<br />
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From the visitor's clubhouse we walked out through the tunnel into the visitor's dugout, walking past where the grounds crew keeps their supplies just inside the tunnel (once again mentioned as a 'home field advantage') and got our first view of the field.</div>
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It really is quite a moment when you step out of a dark tunnel and are blinded by the sun, only to see a beautiful expanse of grass and base paths in front of you. We weren't allowed to step on the actual grass itself, but were allowed along the dirt perimeter on our way to the home dugout. It was cool getting to be that close to home plate and see essentially what the batter/catcher/umpire/ball boy get to see.<br />
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As the tour was going on, the guide was not only showing us various elements of the ballpark, but was also giving us the history of the Padres as well as baseball in San Diego. She was very knowledgeable, and it's nice to see the Padres either have an excellent training program or hire people who know their stuff, rather than just giving a disinterested teenager a binder of facts to lead the tour.<br />
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One aspect of the dugouts that I thought was kind of fun was the fact that the players essentially never sit on the lower part of the bench, as the many spike marks all over the seats bare witness. We grabbed our last few pictures of ourselves on the field and headed out the tunnel to the luxury seats.<br />
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The luxury seats are amazing. Not only are they right behind home plate and occasionally host luminaries such as Padres executive and Hall of Famer, Dave Winfield, but they feature a full service gourmet restaurant and bar, with exclusive views to the Padres batting cages and apparently has players coming in and out of it before game time doing meet and greets and autographs with the fans fortunate enough to have the requisite golden tickets.</div>
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After seeing how the Padres elite experience baseball we were taken to another domain inaccessible to the common fan, the press box. As I have always wanted to be a sportswriter, this was right up my alley. The box itself was fairly boilerplate, though we did learn that as a writer you are given free hotdogs and basic ballpark food, but for a nominal fee you could be eating the same food as the big shots down in the luxury seats. Not too bad of a deal, if you ask me!<br />
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Exiting the press box, we were treated to fantastic views of the Coronado Bay Bridge, Coronado Island, and the revitalized downtown San Diego en route to see one of the private suites. Available only as an annual rental, the suite can essentially become your home away from home for the year. Not only are you able to attend every home game, but you have access to any event held at the stadium and can use it for personal or business use, even when the stadium is closed. That's a pretty nice perk!</div>
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Next we went over to the historic Western Metal Supply building located in left field, which now houses more suites, a fancy restaurant and the Padres Hall of Fame. In the Hall of Fame there are replica lockers dedicated to Jerry Coleman, Tony Gwynn, Dick Williams, Dave Winfield and Jackie Robinson.</div>
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The tour was winding down at this time and we took our last few photos and, just like Disneyland, found ourselves exiting through the gift shop, in the form of the Padres team shop where we had started the tour.<br />
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Overall, I enjoyed the tour. It was well worth the $11 and approximately two hours that it took. Getting on the field and in the dugouts would have been worth it alone, but add the other out of the way areas that we were able to visit and the history lesson that was intermingled and it was a great way to spend my 31st birthday!<br />
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Tours of ballparks are a great way to get up close and personal either with a ballpark you've never previously visited or to reacquaint yourself with your home park that you have visited a hundred times before. Sadly, in my research I have yet to find the Angels offering a tour of the Big A, but I plan on taking advantage of the tours on the two brand-new parks that I will be visiting later this season, but more on that in the future.<br />
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Have you ever toured a ballpark? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-63087043486663192622013-04-04T21:01:00.000-07:002013-05-01T13:10:29.493-07:00My OriginYou may be asking yourself how I, born and raised in sunny southern California managed to find myself in amongst the Cub faithful. Fair question.<br />
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To begin with, I grew up going to at least a few Padres games every year, notably with my dad and my grandmother on his side when the Phillies were in town. He had grown up just outside of Philadelphia and my grandmother loved the Phightin' Phils, but I had no real allegiance until the summer of 1992, when I was ten years old.<br />
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For some reason, my brother and I decided to put aside some of our weekly allowance that was normally earmarked for Ninja Turtles and spend it on packs of 1992 Score from the local drug store. I remember opening a pack on one Sunday morning after church and finding a card that would change baseball for me.<br />
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I don't know what it was about this particular card, but I do remember thinking that it was just about the coolest thing that I had ever seen. I decided then and there that I now had a favorite baseball player. </div>
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So, I now had a favorite baseball player, but my loyalties were still tied loosely to the Padres. Later that summer, it would change for good. </div>
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My grandfather on my Mom's side passed away that June. On Father's Day, no less. He was a Scottish immigrant who had settled outside of Chicago, and displaying a keen acumen, decided that he would be a Cub fan. It was never a huge thing when I was growing up, but WGN was on at his house in the summers and perhaps I subconsciously absorbed the sounds of Harry Caray and Steve Stone and that provided a place for my new Sandberg fanhood to germinate. </div>
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Later that summer we were hiking on vacation in northern California in a small lake town that we had been visiting for years, when I decided to stop for a short water break. While sitting, I looked around me and lo and behold, right behind my rock was sitting a bright blue Cubs cap. I picked it up and looked around. Not a soul but our group. That sealed the deal. I decided that the cap was clearly a sign from my grandfather that I had made the right choice in choosing the Cubs. </div>
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Sentimental pap? Perhaps, but I still believe, to this day, that it was a sign, and I have proudly worn my Cub love on my sleeve ever since. Never wavering through the few good times and the more plentiful trying times. I have since traveled to Chicago in the dead of winter no less than three times to attend the annual Cub Convention and have attended countless Cub games here in California, versus the Padres, Giants and Dodgers. </div>
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So that's my story. What's yours?</div>
<br />The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8862749922888425692.post-44839924061134613212013-04-01T00:30:00.000-07:002013-05-01T13:09:41.120-07:00Opening Day<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today as baseball celebrates the opening day of the 2013 season, I celebrate an opening of my own. I have long wanted to do a baseball-related blog, but was never able to figure out what exactly I wanted to do with it. After a re-invigoration in my baseball passions earlier this year, I came to the conclusion that I would do a blog full of my baseball adventures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am a diehard Cub fan toiling in the orange groves of Southern California, and with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States playing baseball a mere 10 minutes away from my home, I have become a big-time Angel fan by osmosis. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thankfully there is enough distance between me and Dodger Stadium to prevent an accidental affinity there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I also have reawakened my passion for collecting cards and memorabilia, so there will probably be decent coverage of those topics here as well as my musings on anything baseball related that I deem worthy of a writeup. Hopefully you'll join me as I go "tripping baseballs!" </span>The World Famous Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678866253333390849noreply@blogger.com0