Baseball trip photos

Narrowed down to the essential 70.

Game 4: Mets v. Cardinals

Whew, it's a scorcher! The weather report says 82 but in the direct sun and all that walking, it was really something. Mets win 9-0. Not much to say about the game.

Highlights:

• Seats were 3 throws from left field wall, which gave us a good view of Matt Holliday (Cardinals) and Gary Sheffield (Mets). During a break in the 2nd, a kid in our row yelled "hey Gary!" and he turned and waved. Very nice.
  
• Bottom 1st: David Wright home run, up comes the apple!
• Bottom 2nd: Cardinals center fielder Ankiel drops two in a row. crowd goes nuts!
• Between innings trivia question on the jumbtron was to guess the longest mets game in history. Just yesterday, Poppy told the story of how he took Granny to a game once that went 22 innings! Turns out it was 25.
• Top 4th through middle of 6th: can't handle the sun anymore, went for a nice long stroll around the stadium. Citi Field is nice. Still has that new park smell.
  
• Mid 8th: Sing-a-long to "Meet the Mets." Nate made a funny face at Granny when she sang it this morning. After the song, he turned to me and said "That was a really weird song."
• Bottom 8th: Mets Pitcher Bobby Parnells gets a very solid hit on his first career at-bat. They gave him the ball - very nice.
• Fans were eerily polite. Not what I expected.
• I think I will always remember the feeling of the stale air at the top of the ramp at Willets Station thinking I wasn't sure if i had any moisture left to sweat while trying to be patient while the guy in front of us keept running his fare card through the slot too slowly to be read.

Game 3: Phills v Rockies

oy.  Lousy game. Phils lose 8-3. Hot, humid, stale night. Got a ball during batting practice, that was good. And of course going with granny!  On to NYC for the mets game tomorrow.

Game 2: Baltimore v. Boston

Red Sox shut out Baltimore 4-0.

Game highlights:

• Going to game early to catch the end of batting practice, which was a cool experience. We started on the concourse behind the right field wall, where we realized very quickly when everyone started yelling "woooaahhhhh!" that it was not safe to have nate on my shoulders. Soon after that, we went down the first baseline against the wall where nate could see - and move out of the way - on his own feet.
  
• A full stadium, which we don't get often. Remarkably, it was 60-70% Red Sox fans. Apparently this is pretty common, as tickets in Boston are so hard to get. Fans were enthusiastic, with Sox chants starting in the first inning and going through the game. Right around the Youkilis home run in the 5th, a red and white beach ball shows up in the section next to us.
  
• Seeing Jason Bay play again. He left early with a minor injury, hopefully he'll be back thursday in new york where I think we have seats in left field.
  
• Yelling "Yooouuuuuuukkkkkkk"
• V-mart Victor Martinez makes his Sox debut. He got a nice welcome from the fans, which was nice.
  
• Josh Beckett - amazing!
• As I complain about hot, humid, stale air, Nate suggests mantra "I am an ice cube."
  
• Nice stadium, overall experience. Doesn't quite have the comfort or amenities of PNC, but noticeably more subdued between-innings entertainment.After all, it's about the baseball.

Off for a stroll around the inner harbor and to ESPN SportsZone for lunch and to watch the Buccos beat the Nationals!

On our way to Baltimore

We stopped in Breezewood for lunch and gas.  Pizza Hut!  While we waited for our pizza, we came up with some rules for the trip.

Rule 1: Pick your nose every day at least once.
Rule 2: No salads.
Rule 3: Must start a chant at every game.
Rule 4: Must call each other by our trip nickname "Slugger."  (Seemed like a good idea, but Nate got tired of this after 5 minutes and wants to just use our regular names.)
Rule 5: Take mints from every restaurant we go to, if they have them.

As we were leaving, we realized we missed Solomon and Mommy.  We decided to put our leftover pizza in the car seat. It didn't really help.



We are now checked in to the hotel.  There are a LOT of Boston fans here!  With three hours until game time, time to go for a walk around the harbor.