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. :-)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
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!
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...
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.
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?)
Saturday, February 20, 2010
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...
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...
Welcome
I know this is incredibly self-indulgent, but what the hell? We've been doing these trips for so long and there are a lot of pics and stories we could tell. The whole idea started back in the spring of 1999 when a bunch of us were talking about how cool it would be to go see Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. Simple as that, right? Just drive 10 hours to New York and buy a ticket. Sure. Simple!
Well, to tell you the truth, back in those days it wasn't really that difficult. It certainly was easier to get a ticket at Fenway than it is now. I called both parks several months after tickets had gone on sale, got right through, and ordered our tickets with no problems. This year, however, we wanted to go to Fenway and not only could you not get through on the phone or internet, but demand for tickets is so outrageous that even if you went through Stubhub.com the prices are through the roof. So we bagged that idea for another year...maybe.
Anyway, the original idea was just to see those two parks and that was it. Well, we had such a good time on our fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants trip to New York and Boston, that we decided to do it every year.
To date, we've been to 14 different stadiums. We've even seen a few twice (Yankee, PNC, Kauffman) and we've been to the same city (New York for Mets and Yankees, St. Louis for both Busch Stadiums, and Milwaukee for County Stadium and Miller Park) a few different times.
The purpose of the trip started out to see a bunch of Major League parks. And we've definitely done so. However, it has evolved into much more than just that. It's a weekend to get away and hang out with some of our closest friends and have a great time as well as see some of the country and some great parks.
It's been a great time so far, and I have no doubt it will continue. Over the course of time, I will post as many pictures as I can get my hands on. There are a bunch of good ones. And, I/we will try to share some of the cooler stories as well...including why it's called the "Dan Lipscomb Baseball Tour". Come to think of it, you might think we're weird if you hear the story behind that.
Enjoy! And PLAY BALL!!!
Well, to tell you the truth, back in those days it wasn't really that difficult. It certainly was easier to get a ticket at Fenway than it is now. I called both parks several months after tickets had gone on sale, got right through, and ordered our tickets with no problems. This year, however, we wanted to go to Fenway and not only could you not get through on the phone or internet, but demand for tickets is so outrageous that even if you went through Stubhub.com the prices are through the roof. So we bagged that idea for another year...maybe.
Anyway, the original idea was just to see those two parks and that was it. Well, we had such a good time on our fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants trip to New York and Boston, that we decided to do it every year.
To date, we've been to 14 different stadiums. We've even seen a few twice (Yankee, PNC, Kauffman) and we've been to the same city (New York for Mets and Yankees, St. Louis for both Busch Stadiums, and Milwaukee for County Stadium and Miller Park) a few different times.
The purpose of the trip started out to see a bunch of Major League parks. And we've definitely done so. However, it has evolved into much more than just that. It's a weekend to get away and hang out with some of our closest friends and have a great time as well as see some of the country and some great parks.
It's been a great time so far, and I have no doubt it will continue. Over the course of time, I will post as many pictures as I can get my hands on. There are a bunch of good ones. And, I/we will try to share some of the cooler stories as well...including why it's called the "Dan Lipscomb Baseball Tour". Come to think of it, you might think we're weird if you hear the story behind that.
Enjoy! And PLAY BALL!!!
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