gary's great american pastime trips thread

[gary]

so it's sunday, 5/18/14 and we are walking out of the broad street subway stop, and there it is, up ahead, citizens bank park, a magnificent modern stadium for a day game, up to you the current reader to decide if these current day phillies deserve such a temple, OR NOT.
cincinnati reds vs phillies, game time 1:10 as you can see a grand day for the grand old pastime

how many of us remember this famous hockey team

now this , THIS, was a complete ball player, a bona fide 5 tool player

and it was this guys birthday, which as you'll see later led to some out of the norm ballpark occurences

"the ballparks are like cathedrals, you hit clean balls for batting practice"

 

[Tim]

Great ending to the Phillies/ Rockies game last night with the Phils coming back to win and taking full advantage of 2 Rockies errors in the bottom on the 9th. Ryan Howard with a walk-off BOMB to cap it off. Next up, the Mets for 5... maybe the Phils can start to get back into it at their expense (sorry, Gary and Jeff). Hard to believe that as bad as the Phillies have been they are ONLY 4 games back at this point. (23-27 and in last place currently)

 

[gary]

that's funny, i just saw the rockies in atlanta last sunday, photos to follow after phillies

 

[gary]

all teams occasionally have to suffer a rebuilding year, but you hate to see a team such as the phillies with their pretty proud baseball history sink so low. especially since they have their fair share of hall of famers

mascots everywhere, of all types and sizes

and a unique food, i give you "the schmitter" and of course another wheat beer, from brewerytown, craft beer and baseball just go together, i'm not sure where the fit started, but it's just right

another great seat from those fine scalper assistance folks known as stubhub

 

[gary]

lunch is over, not yet gametime, let's take a stroll around the ballpark and see some more sights
nice tile art on the wall

the kids fun zone

and now it's time to celebrate the phanatics birthday

there were all kinds of costumed characters on the field, roaming around, the whole game, and a buch on the field with some kids, watching this guy who paints at warp speed on a canvas in kind of a free form rock style, i've actually seen him before, he was the adult nightclub entertainment on one of our disney cruises. i was just never in position to get the shot of the finished painting of the phanatic

 

[gary]

gregg "the bull"luzinsky, another barbeque stand endorsed by a famous local heroe

the menu

let's get into todays starting lineups, the reds

phillies

reds scored 2 in the first inning, philadelphia answered right back with back to back leadoff homers

 

[gary]

cliff lee, stated for the phillies

he was getting some interesting long fly ball outs

right field to the warning track

and cingrani, the starter for the reds

and the liberty bell tower that sounds and has little sparkler thingies all over it whenever philly hits a home run

 

[Tim]

Ok. Phils and Mets tied 1 game a piece. Best of 5 continues today.

 

[gary]

7th inning, mets 4, phillies 0

 

[gary]

i had a fire dept meeting tonight so i haven't had a chance to check on the game, tim?? how are things tonight in philadelphia???

 

[gary]

ok lets finish out this game, still have atlanta and kansas in the pipeline
lee seems to have very smooth mechanics, looked very classic on his delivery

had the reds looking a few times

reds pitcher has a decent pickoff move

almost got him

 

[gary]

it's a hit

baserunner trying for 3rd

sweep tag

he's outta there

checking the phanatic for boogers

 

[mSummers]

One of Gary's comments about Camden Yards being the first of the retro designed ballparks inspired me to do a little research on its design. In case anyone is interested in a very brief summary of the events and key decisions that led to it becoming the template for every ballpark built since then, have a look at the blog I wrote for work this week: http://www.msbarchitects.com/architecture-camden-yards/

 

[gary]

nice blog on the yards, especially interesting to me as indeed it was camden that started me on the quest, a mission that has been most excellent because there are so many new ballparks that are so nice an experience during a game. one little nitpick, it's foul pole, not the bird spelling

 

[jbwolffiv]

Nice little blog Michael. I need to get back to Camden Yards, was there some 18 years ago, and walked out saying this is what the experience at Yankee Stadium should be. I remember the old Memorial Stadium too, was there in the summer of 1990 to see a game, got a free hat too!

 

[mSummers]

Thanks guys! I attended a couple of games at Memorial Stadium with my dad, uncle and grandfather but don't remember the inside of the stadium that well. I haven't been to a game in Camden in about 5 years. I couldn't stand watching the O's suck so much. Now that they're playing well, I need to make a return trip too.

 

[gary]

9 games up in the AL east as of this morning. they have a good team this year, wouldn't be surprised if they end up deep into the playoffs if not league champs

 

[gary]

ok so i'm a little behind here with the thread posts, i just realized i never posted up anything from last may's trip to atlanta or from the june trip to kaufman stadium, so without further delay i'll be adding to the thread, i'll just do a few from the parks for atlanta and kansas city, so i can get caught up and get last weekends two from texas up. leading off turner field, atlanta braves,park # 22 of 30, i flew down to atlanta saturday morning, and home on memorial day, nice easy trip, all marta transport, i stayed at the jw marriot, in buckhead area, right across the street from the lenox marta stop. took the free bus shuttle from 5 points station to turner field and watched the braves win 7-0, all on home runs, the visiting team was the colorado rockies.
these baseballs are all on display outside 5 points/underground atlanta, on the plaza where you catch the shuttle, they just bring in city bus after bus, load it up and send it over to turner, where it drops off the load and loops back around the stadium in a dedicated traffic lane right back to marta for more. i don't think i waited more than 15 minutes to get on my shuttle. something the new 2017 braves stadium will not have. given that it's 10 miles away from the nearest marta stop.

walking into turner field

plaza in the front of turner field

and the jackie robinson tribute

atlanta skyline from the plaza

turner field directory

my traditional first view of the field photo

and the 755 club, bonus points for anyone that knows what that's named after, and where i did something i usually do not do, i had a sit down table service meal at the start of the game, and went to my seat on the 3rd inning

and the view from my table, decent hamburger by the way

 

[jbwolffiv]

755? That the Bonds record? Hank Aaron the true HR Champ!! Nice series Gary!

 

[gary]

winner winner, chicken dinner, yes its the total home runs hit by hank aaron

beer and baseball, they just go together, especially a good craft beer

let's go to our seat, that thing in front is the tarp, i was in the front row not too far past first base, in fact the sun made it hot until about the 5th inning, and this was a 5:10 start, i would not want that seat in july

runner on first, followed by the steal