Results tagged ‘ Chicago ’
The most frustrating game of my life
I
went to the White Sox vs. A’s game on Wed, Sept. 22 – a 12:35pm game on a Wednesday, in
September, between 2 average teams, not in a race, in OAKLAND, where
you’re lucky to get 10,000 people in there. The place is EMPTY. So on
this day, I decided to sit near third base, about 20 rows back of the
field, to give me more area to cover in chasing a ball. 3 minutes before
game time, an usher comes over to ask for my ticket, and tell me I have
to move. There’s NO ONE in my row, maybe 5 people in my whole section.
The section next to me had like a group though, so it was kind of full,
and easily noticeable, as it was the only filled-up section. Anyway, so I
move, to just inside of 1st base (Section 113-114). FIRST PITCH OF THE
GAME: Juan Pierre fouls it off about 6 seats to the left in the row I
was sitting. NO ONE WAS THERE!!! 1st bad sign. Then, as I’m sitting, I
notice in the left field bleachers that no one is there, maybe 10 people
total. I think “this may be my best chance to get a home run.” But it
would take a well hit ball to reach the bleachers. Bottom 3- Chris
Carter hits his first career home run to these empty seats. UGH! Then in
the 5th, I get up and start to move toward the outfield, cause there
were a decent about of balls fouled into the seats in lower right field,
near where I got my ball the day before. As I get into the aisle, there
is a foul ball that drops 10 feet from me, but a really big guy had me
boxed out and I could get to the ball that was rolling in the aisle. So,
I move, to section 110-111. ANOTHER usher comes to harass me for my
ticket, with NO ONE around. I refuse to move this time. Bottom 6, a ball
was fouled to the row behind where I was sitting in between 110-111. So
after the 7th, I move back. Bottom 8, a ball is fouled about 2 rows
back, and 3 seats in from where I was sitting. Again, no one around. By
the end of this game, I was so depressed, I was happy to be heading back
to NY. And I also wished I lived in Oakland to chase foul balls around.
A full week in that park, if you play for foul balls to the dominant
side of the line-up, I would guarantee you should get one.
Back, and ready to go!
Well, I’m finally back in New York (sort of), after my 40 day long camp excursion. I am a summer camp counselor for a camp called Rein Teen Tours. Basically, I supervise a group of teenagers as we travel to many cool places, such as Mount Rushmore,Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Calgary, Seattle, and more. We did see a baseball game along the way, in San Francisco. It was a great game for multiple reasons. Tim Lincecum was pitching, and it was Jon Miller bobblehead night! I am a big collector of bobbleheads, so I can’t explain to you how much it physically pained me watching my group of kids take their bobbleheads out of the packages and mess around with them. Throwing them, playing with them and simply breaking them into many pieces for no good reason. There are many collectors out there that I know would be hurt with this scene as well. I guess that’s what you get from a group of 15 year olds from New York.
After camp ended, I took a little vacation up north to Alaska, to visit my friend Tom, who is stationed up there in the Coast Guard. Alaska, even in August, is not warm. And it rains. A lot. But this was of course not my only stop on my trip, because when I travel, I need to see sporting events.
So, after Alaska, before I returned to New York, I had a 4 day stop in Chicago to see the White Sox play at US Cellular Field. I had been here once before in 2002, but did not get the full stadium experience, so needed to return. It was great, a very nice stadium. I will give the full details of my trip in my next entry, I also had the pleasure of meeting a few different people that all us bloggers have come to know by now. It was fantastic, and really made my trip that much better. I will reveal their identities in my blog about the games.
Last night, I returned to New York, took an earlier flight home, just so I could see the Mets play, and of course lose, to Atlanta. I came away with no balls at this game, unfortunately. But that’s ok, because I already have a 2009 commemorative ball from the new stadium, who’s name I am choosing not to say. I passed up the chance to go to Boston today for the Red Sox vs. Yankees game, as I just need some time to be home, as I have not been for the better part of 3 months. I will following up with entries about the recent games I attended shortly.
The past month of my life
Well, anyone that knows me, and sees me on any sort of a regular basis, knows I have not been anywhere in sight lately, as I’ve spent most of my time out of New York. I spent the weekend of May 15th-18th in Chicago, for a friend’s birthday and a Cubs game, then flew to Kansas City, getting to the airport 21 minutes before my flight was scheduled to leave thanks to the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). DO NOT trust Chicago Public Transit system. It SUCKS! Wrigley Field, is wonderful though. It was May 16th, the Cubs had a 4-0 lead going into the top of the 9th on this beautiful Saturday. Kevin Gregg comes in to blow it. 4 run lead in the 9th. He gave it away. He got some help from….wait for it….Aaron Heilman! SHOCKING! The Cubs are good though, so they did ultimately win in the Bottom of the 9th.
Then, I went to Kansas City, and just walked into Kauffman Stadium (my 2nd to last MLB stadium, though I don’t actually count this game), in the Bottom of the 8th in a game vs. the Orioles on Saturday night. 2 stadiums in one day or 5 hours. Impressive, eh? Beautiful stadium. They did $250 million worth of renovations this past offseason. What a great ballpark. And the city of Kansas City was very nice as well. They have a downtown called the power and light district. It’s apparently a new area designed in KC. VERY nice, lots of fun. I was impressed by how much I really enjoyed Kansas City. If it wasn’t in the middle of nowhere, I could live there.
Next day, Sunday, I was scheduled to fly home, after the Royals 1pm game. Got to the ballpark early for batting practice, around 10:40am. It was a lot of fun hanging out on the Pepsi Porch, that is in left field in Kansas City. I wandered around the park, trying to chase down a ball, quite unsuccessfully. Ultimately, at the end of BP, just as two Orioles pitchers were finishing warming up, I screamed to them to ask for the ball, and they tossed it to me. The seats I got for the game were pretty damn sick. 1st row on the field, just to the outfield side of the 3rd base dugout. Around 3:20pm, I get an email and a phone call from delta telling me my flight was canceled and the next available flight was 6:55am TUESDAY!!!! WTF!?!?! So I of course make some calls, FLIP OUT,pagination:widow-orphan;
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I’m on the phone screaming, telling the guy to tell me every
available flight out of Kansas City. He’s both confused by what I’m saying, and
refusing. He says I need a destination
and I basically start naming every city in America
that comes to my head where I know someone.
Los Angeles, Atlanta,
Boston, Rochester,
Buffalo, Ft.
Lauderdale, Chicago,
etc. No joke. I named like 15 different cities before I
just got so frustrated I hung up without saying anything more. Apparently there was not a single available
delta flight leaving Kansas City
before Tuesday. UGH!! Ultimately, I made the most of my
Monday. I took a tour of the ballpark
and drove to Nebraska, just to go
there.
The following weekend was a trip upstate for Jared and Sonia’s
engagement party, which included a detour to Cleveland
for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Orlando Magic and the
Cleveland Cavaliers. For those who don’t
remember, this was the game in which LeBron hit a 3 to win the game at the buzzer. Cleveland
fans SUCK! Being surrounded by 20,000+
******** sucks. I hate Cleveland
fans. Browns fans I’ve always called the
worst fans in sports, but Cavs fans prove it is all Cleveland
fans. It must suck not having won
anything since 1964, and only appearing in 4 championship games since then.
The following weekend, May 29th, began my journey
to upstate New York, and California,
which was ultimately altered. It began
with a weekend in the poconos. Monday,
was a Coldplay concert at Darien Lake
(Buffalo area), and Tuesday, I flew
to San Diego. I was finally going to go to every single
Major League Baseball stadium. And on June 2nd, 2009, I completed
one of my first life’s goals.
Petco Park
is a gorgeous stadium. Very nice, yet
very simple. I really enjoyed it. I also attended the game on June 3rd,
with a whole group of people. Got a ball
in the 5th inning. The 3rd
out baseball, from LF Will Venable.
June 4th was a trip up to Los
Angeles for the Dodgers. Got a ball at this game from J.C. Romero
during batting practice. This also
happened to be Game 1 of the NBA Finals, between the Orlando Magic and the Los
Angeles Lakers. Now, I had planned my
trip to southern California in
April, and it never even crossed my mind that my favorite team, the Orlando
Magic, could be playing in the NBA Finals, and against the L.A. Lakers, giving
me the opportunity to go to a game! Unfortunately I could not obtain tickets to
Game 1, although the Magic lost by 25, so I guess it was for the better.
June 5th and 6th were spent in
Vegas. LOVE Vegas. June 7th was Game 2 of the NBA
Finals, and this game I went to. The
Magic lost, of course, because Courtney Lee missed a layup at the end of
regulation. June 9th was
another trip to Dodger Stadium, though I spent most of this game watching Game
3 of the NBA Finals on a tv in the stadium, surrounded by Lakers fans. The Magic won.
It was glorious. The only reason
I went to this game was because I got free tickets. And I did attend batting practice and got 2
balls. 1 from a random Dodgers coach and
1 from Padres closer Heath Bell , who I found, sitting on the left field wall
with the fans. He greeted me warmly with
a handshake, as I was wearing a Padres jersey.
He is one helluva great
athlete. Really loves and enjoys the
game. He hung out with the fans for a
good 15-20 minutes, until batting practice ended.
After some flight rearranging, I flew to Orlando
the next day, so I could go to game 4 of the Finals on June 11th. The Magic lost again in heartbreaking
fashion. I can’t go watch this team
play. 3 games, 3 heartbreaking
losses. UGH! June 12th, I made a trip to Tampa
Bay to see the Tampa Bay Rays play the Washington Nationals. It’s a nicer stadium than I first thought
when I made my only other trip to Tampa
last September. I really liked it. Got 2 balls at this game – 1 from Grant
Balfour, and a 3rd out ball, which basically fell in my lap and was
pure luck from Nationals catcher Josh Bard. I stopped at the hard rock casino
on the way home. Bad decision.
I returned to Tropicana Field the next day for a Ludacris
concert. VERY disappointing. He sang
everything, without cursing!!! It’s Ludacris, how is he not gonna
curse?!?!? He basically just said random
words without rhythm for 50 minutes.
This is the second piss poor ludacris concert I have seen now. The 2 worst concerts of my life, after the
first time I saw him was one of the best.
I will never ever pay to see him again.
I returned to upstate NY on Sunday, and went to Cleveland
on Monday, June 15th, for a
Cleveland Indians vs. Milwaukee Brewers game. It was Rick Vaughn bobblehead night!!!! I missed BP for the game unfortunately, as I
got to the stadium around 6:40pm. But I did get my Rick Vaughn bobble!!! For
those who don’t know, Rick “the wild thing” Vaughn is from the 1989 movie Major
League. One of the best movies ever, not
just baseball movies.
Well that is the quick summary of my past month, in the
sports world. I’ll be updating again
soon, maybe with an interesting story, maybe with something more in detail, who
knows what. I was just trying to get my
life caught up.
And for anyone that’s keeping track, basically me, I’ve been to 9 MLB stadiums so far this season: New York Mets (Citi Field), New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium), Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park), Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field), Kansas City Royals (Kauffman Stadium), San Diego Padres (Petco Park), Los Angeles Dodgers (Dodger Stadium), Tampa Bay Rays (Tropicana Field), and Cleveland Indians (Progressive Field)
Ben Weil
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