2011 Trip Confirmed

Well, it is official, the 2011 Ball Trip will be to Baltimore. We will be seeing the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Orioles at Camden Yards during the weekend of August 4-7. Four of us have been there before. But none of us has done so in about 15 years and it has never been an official "Ball Trip" park. Now it will be.

On the early agenda: golf, baseball, Inner Harbor, good times.

And remember...

Chicago 2010

As we get older these trips get more and more about hanging with the fellas than actual baseball. This year was no different. Mind you the baseball is still the reason we go. If the trip ever evolved into just a guys weekend, I think we'd be encouraged to find divorce lawyers. But since we mix in one game in the four days we're gone, we can still call it the "Ball Trip".

This year, we returned to Comiskey/US Cellular Field on the South Side of Chicago. If you've read any of these posts before you'd know Jason, Matt, Keith, and I (Jeff) have already been to Comiskey in its former state (before the renovations in 2001). We even got a mini tour and pics taken in the White Sox dugout. We had never actually seen a game there until this year. As for the park, well, I'll get to that in a few...

Chicago...if not for the awful traffic, I think I would love to live there. I've been there four times in my life and had an absolute blast every single time. There's just so much to do and see and the experiences there were second to none. This time was no different.

Our trip began with a new kickoff...a scramble golf outing at Hickory Woods. We had six guys so we split into two three-man teams (picked out of a hat for fairness). The grounds were a little soggy due to the prior night's thunderstorm but for the most part, the course was in good shape. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about my team (Jason-Paul-Jeff). We just never got it going and were soundly beaten by Keith-Matt-Shane. As part of the deal, the losing team had to buy the winning team lunch (Chipotle...yum!). In addition, we had four closest-to-the-pin contests...Shane and Jason took one each, I got the other two, including a near hole-in-one on #11.

Golf was such a rousing success that we're going to try to incorporate it into every trip from now on...provided we have enough space in the car(s). Bravo to Shane for the suggestion.

Here are a few golf pics taken by our photographer Keith...

























After golf, back to my house, pack the car and jet for Chicago around 1:00. Not bad except for one thing...rush hour traffic. Took us about 90 minutes to get through Chicago traffic and to our hotel near O'Hare. Still not a bad trip...and made much more enjoyable by some interesting music and Gay Robot (Adam Sandler) which would pretty much be on everyone's mind the entire trip.

Thursday night...Chili's for dinner (a ball trip staple) and back to the hotel to unwind after a long day with some Corona's, Bud Lights, and cigars. Not a bad day...and we're only getting started.

Friday, quickie breakfast, then off to see downtown Chicago as you can see in these pics...












Then, I think I'm speaking for the entire group, we had the best meal ever on a ball trip (Tilted Kilt).



It was phenomenal! Afterward we head to Comiskey/US Cellular Field for the White Sox-A's. OK game...nothing too exciting. Some baseball was played to a less than packed house which is odd considering the Sox are in first in the A.L. Central and there are over 3 million people in Chicago.

Anyway...batting practice was cool. Always nice to see the big boys rocket baseballs off unsuspecting people's domes. Point of note: if you do get to a game early, remember batting practice is ongoing and you should LOOK OUT!!! To the lady in right field, I'm sorry for making an example out of you, but seriously, it's not NERF baseball.

The Sox won 6-1 and there was a 10 minute fireworks display afterward. Pretty much as exciting as me typing it.

Proof that we went...



Saturday...breakfast was good. Service not so much, but hey it's Chicago. Not gonna get the small town service everywhere you go. From there we went back downtown to walk around a bit. Saw Michigan Ave...exciting if you like crowds. Then we made the best decision of the weekend (well, aside from the Tilted Kilt of course)...Wrigleyville to try to watch the Reds-Braves game.

There are a plethora of bars to choose from in Wrigleyville if you've ever been there before. We chose the Cubby Bear...or as we were saying the "Chubby Cub". Not a bad place. Nothing to it really. Some tables, TV's, and bars. Unfortunately no Reds game. For some reason, Chicago was carrying the Red Sox-Tigers game. UGH!!!

After lunch at the Chubby Cub, a few of us (Paul, Shane, me) decided to take a tour of Wrigley Field. Best $25 spent on the trip...aside from the Tilted Kilt of course. Some great stories (the basket is a "people catcher" not for catching home runs), and very cool scenery that you can see here...



About this time is when the moonshine kicked in...



And spectacular pictures of some of the lesser celebrated things at Wrigley...

Just outside the Cubs' dugout...

Some beautiful crushed brick...

Needs no explanation...

A camera covered by a bag...

Jeff's shoe...

Following the tour, we caught up with the rest of the boys at the beautiful Sports Corner Bar on the corner of Sheffield and Addison.



(If I'm correct, this is when Keith said he started to lose his vision. Good thing Matt was there to guide him around.) Not only is it a cool bar across the street from Wrigley, but it has an open roof bar and we may have picked the perfect day to be up there. Low 80's, no humidity, bright blue skies and you can see here...

Isn't it lovely?

So not only is it just a cool area to be in, but Cub fan was NOT out and about, which makes life much easier to stand. After that, we strolled around looking for fun places to go. Went to Harry Caray's which was really cool. Then it got interesting...

Suffice to say...bachelorette parties, guys with gashes in their heads, fake ID's, Keith lost his sight, and Shane, Paul, Keith, and Jason are still waiting for the pizza guy.

Sunday morning, as predicted, we drove back in a fog. Not much talking on the way back. Just a nice drive back while listening to our beloved Redlegs on the radio.

Chicago was great as usual! Can't wait to go back. But for now, the clubhouse leader for the 2011 Ball Trip is.......

Baltimore and Camden Yards! When Fish returns, we'll have: seven guys, two cars, golf clubs, baseball, and "Good Times! Good Times!"

10 Days!

10 days until the 2010 Ball Trip!!

Itinerary:

Thursday July 29:

• 7:50/7:58 two three-man team scramble. Loser buys lunch.
• 2:00 depart for Chicago!
  
• Approximately 7:00 arrive in Chicago.
• 7:30-go nuts!!

Friday July 30:

• Do whatever the hell we want all day and night.
  

Saturday July 31:

• Do whatever the hell we want all day.
• 7:10 White Sox-A's at US Cellular aka Comiskey Park
• 7:11 get bored with the game and start thinking of post-game plans

Sunday August 1:

• Drive back in a fog
  

2004, A trip that will live in infamy...

A new park and a revisit to a great ballpark. We tried something different this year and decided to stay downtown Philly instead of the outskirts. Overall, I think it worked out. Most of the sightseeing we wanted to do was downtown. The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc... Much easier to walk from the hotel. It was pretty awesome to see so much history in one spot. Its definitely something worth seeing in your lifetime.

After walking all over Philly, we made it back to the hotel to grab, what else, the cornhole boards and the cooler for some tailgating at the ballpark. In Philly, they have all the sports arena's in one area. Plenty of parking and space to play. You can always tell when no one has seen cornhole, because they stop and stare for a bit and then ask, "What are you playing?" You have to tell them and then explain to them, don't google the name because you will get something different.

Got in the ballpark and it was pretty nice. Like I said, it is similar to Turner and new Busch stadiums. They have a HUGE neon Liberty Bell in center field that "appears" to swing when a home run is hit by the Phillies. Of course, you have to have the sound to go with it. Food wasn't bad either at the ballpark. But can you really go wrong with ballpark food?? Unless it is sushi... bad idea! After the game, we played cornhole while the traffic cleared out and played for quite awhile. Got some interested people to play with us and tried explaining the concept of the game. Kind of hard to do when the person has been drinking all night at a baseball game.

Off to New York again the next day to revisit Yankee Stadium. Now as you have read, we have driven through New York, so you think we have an idea of where we are going, right? Well you would be wrong. This was the days before GPS, Blackberry's, and IPhones. Trying to read an atlas map of New York City is near impossible while trying to navigate through NYC. Next thing you know we are heading to the Washington Bridge and back to NJ... But we made it back over to the Bronx. We checked out the shops and a bar across the street from Yankee Stadium. Lots of neat stuff, but what we did find out on a later trip, these places aren't open during the day when the Yankees aren't playing. We also made a trip to the 9/11 site. Very somber site. To this day, I still remember seeing parts of the tower still standing, the fire house across the street, and the damage to all the buildings around the site like it had happened the week prior. Definitely something I will remember forever.

And now, the day of infamy... As we were enjoying the game in about the 7th inning or so, someone in our group went to the bathroom. This person at the time lived on their phone. Not going to say who, but if you read the earlier posts, I think you can figure it out. While in the bathroom, he left his phone on the sink when he washed his hands. After he came back and was sitting for a bit, he suddenly realized his phone was not on him. He realized he left it in the bathroom. He dashed back to get it and guess what, gone! From that point, he used our phones to call his and find out who had it. The game ended and he still had no luck in finding his phone. We walked back to our car, broke out the cornhole boards and played while he tried to locate his phone. Our amusement was turning into frustration. Finally, he got an answer on his phone. A lady said she heard the phone. Her son had it and she knew it wasn't his. She told him where she lived and if he wanted it, he could come and get it. We asked a NYC officer where these streets were and he told us how to get there. A trip into the mean streets of the Bronx for a cell phone. We found the place somehow, and made him run to the apartment to get it. We were in and out as fast as we could. He will never live this one down, but a great story to tell.

pics...

We finally got it right...

So after the previous year of driving all over the Buckeye State. We decided on Atlanta. The good thing about this trip, no ballparks for hundreds of miles. So one city, one ballpark, and a couple games.

Its a staple of almost every ball trip to date, cornhole. We took our boards to play some while we tailgated... or got bored. (no pun intended) After sitting in Atlanta traffic, we made it to the hotel. We checked in and attended the Manager's reception, see a pattern? We decided to hang out in the area and have dinner and come back to play some cornhole Thursday night. Had a few beers played and played all night. Nothing exciting. The exciting part comes later.

Friday was a crappy day as far as the weather went. It was raining most of the day if I recall correctly. But we proceeded to the ballpark anyways. Got down there early to check out the ball park. I have to say it was pretty nice. This was the new Turner Field, and it is the same as Citizens and the new Busch in my opinion. But what made this park different was the Louisville Slugger store. You could buy an authentic bat and even have your autograph put on the bat. Very cool idea I must say. At any rate, the game ended up getting cancelled because of rain. No big deal, we had another game to get to enjoy the ballpark. We did get to see the portion of wall that still stands in a parking lot where Aaron hit his record breaking home run. That's right a 5 foot wide and 8 foot tall section of wall in the middle of the parking lot where old Turner Field once stood. But that was cool as well.

The second night was a little better. The game was played and I have no idea who they were playing, but all I remember is the stupid Indian cheer they do and dancing Coke bottles down the left field line when a home run was hit. Gets annoying after awhile. But it was a nice park and a lot of neat things to see.

This is where the exciting part comes in. We were playing cornhole the second night in the back parking lot of our hotel. No one around and no cars to worry about while throwing the bags. After oh I don't know, a couple hours of playing, we were asked by hotel staff to stop playing. They said we were making too much noise. And the HUGE hvac unit near us didn't keep people up?? Ok, no problem. We were in the middle of a crucial game, so we needed to finish. Behind the hotel was a large strip mall. The stores were closed as it was pretty late, so we decided to finish our game there, behind some stores. This was about a 30 foot walk from where we were in our hotel parking lot. Did I mention we had a few beers with us? Well after playing for a short time, 2 police cars come flying into the strip mall as if they were catching some burglars in the act. So we were forced to quit and pour our beverages out, at least those that were daring enough to have them.

All in all, a good trip. Good ballpark. Its not one of my favorites, but definitely not a bad place to see a game either.

Note: Rawlings not Louisville Slugger as you can see...

The Busiest Trip Ever

When you're younger, you can take on more. This is how you can see two ball parks, two cities, and drive hours on end in just 60 or so hours. That's what we did for NYC and Boston on the very first trip. Now, we're all in our 30s and tired, so we do ONE park, one city, and as little driving as possible.

Well, the 2002 ball trip, we got a little crazy. The cities of Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Cleveland are pretty close together. So, why not see all three in the same weekend, right? One game Friday, one game Saturday, one game Sunday. Sure we'd get back around 8:00 Sunday night but hey we're young, we can do it without batting an eye.

If seeing three parks in three days wasn't enough, how about we tack on this: our alma mater (Milford) was in the state baseball championship final four in Columbus the same weekend. Naturally, we want to go see them play...but there is no way we can possibly do this and still see three ball parks. Or is there???

Thursday was a pretty calm day (except for the weather). Drive to Cleveland. Check into our hotel (typically an Embassy Suites..."manager's reception" here we come!!). Dinner. Cornhole and drinking all night.

Well, it almost went like that. The first two parts were simple enough. Dinner, on the other hand, was not. Seeing that Keith went to college at Akron, he spent a lot of time in the "lovely" city of Cleveland so he knew some of the local hangouts and restaurants. He suggested we have dinner at a local sports bar known to him as "The Alligator". So we go driving around Cleveland looking for "The Alligator". Can't find it. "Where the hell is it????"

After an hour or so of driving aimlessly, someone just happens to spot a restaurant called "The Winking Lizard"...to which Keith screams "that's it!!" And to this day "The Winking Lizard" is forever known as "The Alligator".

After dinner, back to the hotel to "try" to play cornhole. Only problem: tornado-like gusts of wind that make playing the game VERY difficult...especially for Keith who couldn't find the boards with a map. The screamed phrase "make an adjustment" was popular that night.

Friday...we wake to find out the baseball game in Columbus (Milford state semi-finals) has been rained out and moved to Saturday. Someone says "let's try to go tomorrow"...and it's dropped, for a while. Drive to Pittsburgh. See PNC Park. Beautiful place. Awesome backdrop. Great stadium. Couldn't tell you who the Pirates played or who won. Back to the hotel following the game. On the drive..."let's go to Columbus in the morning." rebuttal: "how are we going to make it to Detroit in time for the Tigers' game?" "who cares...it's our alma mater".

Saturday...depart at 8:00am (give or take) to drive back down I-71 to Columbus. Sure enough we watch our school win the semis to make it to Sunday's Championship game (we're coming back, for sure!!). Immediately, following the game in Columbus, we pack up and drive straight to Detroit. Make batting practice. Watch the Tigers play someone. Back to the hotel well after midnight.

Sunday...Jacobs (Progressive now...Jacobs then). Great park. Good food. Lovely batting practice. Left before the game started. We saw the park, right?? Back to Columbus we trek. Gotta see our school try to win State. Game started around 3:00. Lost by one run after a furious comeback thwarted in the bottom of the 7th (damn you, 8-foot-tall shortstop). Home around 8:00 like we expected.

That will forever stand as the single busiest ball trip ever. It will never be topped simply because we are all too damn old to try and top it. And there's no reason to because it was perfect. 3 MLB parks (2 official games), 2 high school games, dozens of cornhole games, one great weekend.

St. Louis-Kansas City (First trip)

The first time we went to St. Louis, there were only three of us - Jason, Fish, and myself. So, it stands today as the least-attended ball trip. But, that doesn't mean there weren't some classic moments. In fact, the reason for the name of this blog came from this trip. (I'll spare everyone the insane story).

St. Louis, Missouri in the middle of July. How should I describe it? In a word or five: hot, muggy, humid, oppressive, heat. It was ridiculously hot if you can't tell from that.

Our first park was in Kansas City - Kauffman Stadium. Now, what is usually a three hour drive turned into I believe a five hour drive due to a wreck on I-70. We still made the game in plenty of time, though. The park itself was, and is, beautiful. It's just a great setup and a wonderful place to watch a game. The Royals played the A's who at that time was very good. All I remember is watching Eric Chavez bomb ball after ball into the fountains. It was ridiculous.

To be honest I have no clue who won the game. I just remember batting practice, the heat (again), and the park. It was so nice, we've been back. But, that story comes in another post.

The next night we went to (Old) Busch to watch the Cardinals play the Pirates. But, before that, we decided to take in some of the St. Louis sights - namely the arch. Due to the ridiculous demand for tours, we didn't have enough time to go up in the arch, get back to our hotel to get our game tickets, which was in East St. Louis (not really, but it would be difficult to convince any of us that), and back to the park. So...we sent Jason running back to the hotel...in the St. Louis heat. 45 minutes later, Jason returns to us, as we're sitting in the air conditioning inside the arch, dripping with sweat and none too happy. He took one for the team. LOL

So, we got to go up in the arch and it was pretty cool. It was my second time up. First time I was in high school, and it was during a thunder storm. NOT COOL!! This time thankfully was clear.

After the arch, we headed to the stadium to watch batting practice. We hoped to get in soon enough to watch Mark McGwire hit. Wellllllllll...it was Fuji Picture Day at the park. NO BATTING PRACTICE!!! CRAP!!

The game itself was ok. Cardinals beat the Pirates, but why wouldn't they? Everyone does (except the Reds on ball trip 2009...again, a later post). The one thing I remember is the Cardinals' fans. They are widely regarded as the best around. And it's pretty accurate. I remember the roar when they took the lead late in the game on what I think was a double. It was deafening.

Oh, and McGwire? Tossed during his first at bat for arguing balls and strikes. I have that on video, too, but you know the story behind that. Anyone know someone who can dub HI 8 to DVD???

There is one more inside joke from this trip. The Listerine bottle. When we checked into our hotel, we parked in front where the registration is. After we checked in, we headed to our car to unload. The car next to us decided not to wait for us to clear. So, they backed out over my bag. While they narrowly missed the camcorder, they did run over my bottle of Listerine. Of course, when a car backs over a plastic bottle of Listerine, it SOUNDS like something is being broken. I was petrified they had run over the camera. Thankfully, just the bottle of Listerine. And every year it seems, Fish has decided to dent/alter my bottle for a good laugh. Yeah, you probably had to be there. But you weren't. :-)

Chicago and the Good Land

The year 2000 was the year that we have had the most people attend. Which we thought was awesome because our idea of traveling to ball parks was catching on. We learned from our mistakes and made some planning this time.

We drove the 5 hours to Chicago in 2 vehicles and got to Chicago just in time to experience rush hour. We drove to north Chicago where are our hotel was located. We checked in and played cards and drank, heavily I might add, all night. The next day we attended the Cubs/Reds game in the afternoon, because you don't go to a Cubs game at night. That's just wrong. But I will say this, the ushers at Wrigley were by far, the most friendly I had seen. This was a time when you still had to sneak down at Riverfront, yes it is Riverfront and always will be, to get to the blue seats. The ushers at Wrigley let you go anywhere you liked, and would even offer a story about the ballpark.

The game was awesome. The Reds were trailing for the first few innings, but after an offensive explosion consisting of multiple home runs, the Reds took the lead and held on to win. We were lucky enough to sit near a large group of Reds fans that had made the trip and celebrated right along with them.

After the game we decided to try and visit the United Center and maybe Comiskey. We drove from the the north side to the south side. We traveled through every section of ethnicity that makes up Chicago. Finally we arrived at the United Center. We attempted to make it inside, just catch a glimpse of the very court that the greatest player to ever play basketball played upon. To our disappointment, we were informed by a security person that we could not get inside. But he had told us that we wouldn't have been able to see anything because the court was being worked on. So we admired the Jordan statue that sits outside and took some pictures. When I find the picture, you will notice one glaring thing. One of our traveller's could not remove the phone that was permanently attached to his ear for the ENTIRE trip. I digress. One of the security guards noticed some of our Reds attire that we were sporting and came and asked us if we were Reds fans. Nope, just liked the shirt, here's your sign. He asked if went to the game and who had won. We told him that the Reds prevailed and he was happy because we was not a Cubs fan. I guess when you work for Jerry Reinsdorf, you better not be a Cubs fan. He asked us if we had seen Comiskey yet and we said no, but were hoping to get over there. He told us to wait for a minute and he would be right back.

This is where the coolest thing happened on any ball trip to date, by far. He came back over to us and told us to go to Comiskey and go in the offices and ask for a particular gentleman. So we did, wouldn't you? So there we are in the offices of the Chicago White Sox waiting for this person. I noticed on the computer behind the front desk a screen saver playing with several different players being shown and what not. I mentioned something to the person at the desk and told him that I liked it. He turned around picked up a disk and said "Here, take a copy." He had given me a disk containing the aforementioned screen saver. I was ecstatic just at that. Little did I know this adventure was going to get a whole lot better.

The person finally arrived and he told us to follow him. We walked through the doors and down a hallway containing picture frames of players jersey's from past and present. We continued down the hallway and through another set of doors. At this point we were in a service area and really had no idea where we were. Then we turned and went through another set of doors and found ourselves directly behind home plate on the playing surface. We were in awe. Our only instructions, stay off the grass. So, as any person would in their right mind, we took full advantage. We walked around the warning track only to have some run and make it look like they were making a home run robbing catch. I looked up at the seats, only for it to seem like they went forever. After completing our victory lap, we had the security guard take some pictures of us in the dugout so that we may relive that day for the rest of our lives.

I think for those of us that went on this trip, it was one of the greatest things experienced.

Jeff's update: here are some pics...



Hey, look who's on the phone!

A Big Old "FU"

Wanted to share a quickie. While in NYC for what I know was my first time - not sure about anyone else to be honest - we were navigating our way through Manhattan. If you've ever driven through Manhattan you know driving is an adventure to say the least. Well, we made our way through it without incident, except for one minor one.

While driving in New York City, Matt apparently felt the need to do a "when in Rome" and after someone cut us off, he screamed out the window as loud as he could "F*** YOU!!!". Now, as drivers of the polite city of Cincinnati, you NEVER hear such talk. In New York, it's probably commonplace. Still, it was pretty funny to hear that come from the back and out of nowhere.

But I'm sure you had to be there...

Fenway Park 8-28-99

After the game at Yankee Stadium, we had to make the three hour trek to Boston. Getting out of NYC on a Friday night, especially since we really had no clue where we were going, was fun. And when I say "fun" I mean like root canal fun.

Anyway, so somehow we find our car and get out of the city and head to Boston. Somewhere along the way, I have no idea what state, we find another hotel in the middle of the night for six hours of sleep. They gave us this enormous suite...don't ask me why. The only other thing I remember about this night/morning is..."are you gonna get that, Sasquatch???"

"Sasquatch" would be Matt. And the thing he was supposed to get would be the alarm that was blaring at top volume. Everyone heard it, but Matt was closest to it...and was dead asleep. So, to jar him, and everyone out of their slumber, Keith yells at the top of his lungs "are you gonna get that, Sasquatch???"

At 7-feet tall, or somewhere close to it, Matt does sort of resemble a sasquatch. So, we all got a pretty nice chuckle out of that. And we still remember it to this day. Classic moment in ball trip history.

So, we get up and drive the rest of the way to Fenway. Somehow we found it. For Jason and I it was our second trip there. The first time was unreal. This time was no different except our seats were in the bleachers in the outfield so we got a whole new look at the field. First time we were on the first base side and looking right at the Green Monster. The bleachers don't allow access to the rest of the park, so we couldn't get a good look at the monster. But, the whole experience was still awesome. Fenway, like Wrigley, is MUCH smaller in person and much smaller than it looks on T.V.

Unfortunately, like the Yankee Stadium pics, the Fenway pics are in a box in the house somewhere. I will find them, someday, and scan them in and post.

Now, the fun part of our longer trips - the over night drive. UGH!! Instead of staying in Boston or even getting another hotel on the way back to Cincinnati, we decided to make the drive straight back. No problem, right? Well, first of all, traffic getting out of the Fenway Park area is BRUTAL. Once we wound our way around the city for two hours, we finally found our route. This was about 8:00 p.m. and we had a 13 hour drive ahead. We did it. No idea how. But, it was awful. The worst part about it was seeing the sun directly in our faces from about Columbus down to Cincinnati. Talk about a wake-up call. YUCK!!

Anyway, that is basically the breakdown of our very first ball trip to Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. Again, hopefully pics are coming...one of these years.

St. Louis - Which One?

I have enjoyed all trips! Each one has their own flavor! However, my favorite moment I do not remember because we were playing mega touch.

Can anyone enlighten me as to which one pissed my best buddy off and we had to leave? (I think it was the one on the right?)

Yankee Stadium 8-27-99

Our trips have evolved into 4-day extravaganzas for the most part. We try and stretch it out into as many days as we can afford to be away from home. When we first started this, no one was married, and no one had kids, so we basically did everything on a whim.

First trip: idea was to drive straight to Yankee Stadium, watch a game, then immediately move on to Boston and see a game at Fenway. We saw our first game at Yankee Stadium on a Friday night. So, we left after work on Thursday from Cincinnati. We drove about four hours, found a hotel, slept, got up and drove to New York. Didn't make any hotel reservations. Had no idea where we were. Had no idea how to get there. We just drove.

Nowadays, we plan these trips out in early January, sometimes sooner. We plan everything out. Where we're going. What are the exact dates? What hotel? You get the picture.

So, leaving on a Thursday night after work, with a 10-hour drive ahead of us, was slightly ambitious. But, like I said, we didn't have anyone to answer to nor any rhyme or reason to what we were doing. So we took off.

I don't even remember where we stopped the first night. Somewhere in West Virginia I'm betting. Got a roach-infested room for the night and slept about 4 hours after a night of "circle of death".

Got up the next morning and drove straight through to New York City. Traffic wasn't bad, but wasn't great. As we crossed over into NYC, we spotted Yankee Stadium immediately. To this day I haven't the slightest clue how we found it. We just did. Instead of going straight to the park, we decided to drive into the city. Yeah, we just decided to drive into the biggest city on the planet and have a look around. Sure. Go right ahead. Good luck finding your way back.

Again, I have no idea how we drove through Times Square and eventually parked, and walked through Central Park. Nor do I have any idea how we found our car, and somehow got back to Yankee Stadium in time to get in for batting practice.

Now, at this time, Ken Griffey Jr was playing for the Mariners and while I can't speak for everyone on this trip, he was far and away my favorite player. It was so cool to get to see him in person. I have video (not HD, nor on the computer) of Junior taking B.P. It was awesome. Unfortunately, Roger Clemens shut the M's out 8-0 so Junior didn't do anything in the game. Well, he hit a double in the 8th inning but that was about it.

Still, seeing a game in Yankee Stadium was awesome, especially since Matt, Jason, and I have been Yankees fans for a long time. Sure, we're bigger Reds fans, but we also like the Yanks, too. But, seeing the history and aura of Yankee Stadium was really what the trip was all about.

On this trip were: Jason, Keith, Matt, and myself.

Here is a pic of Keith and me (several pounds ago!!)



Now due to the fact that when we started these trips, camera technology wasn't as good or as fast as it is today, so all of my pics are in a box somewhere in my house. I have a bunch of others, but for now, this is all you get. There will be more, and if anyone has some of their own, feel free to post.

I do have video of the game and our experience, but I need to get them onto a disc as well. It's interesting, especially the footage of the guy barreling down about 20 rows in the upper deck after getting into a fight. Gotta love NYC!!

More later...