2003: A Baseball Odyssey

Fenway Park

Thu, 21 Aug 2003 13:06:15 GMT

This is my new favorite ballpark. Remove the lights and scoreboards and it's the 19th century w/ no upper deck, tiny seats, and green bleeding off the Monster into everything. It's gorgeous, the fans are great and we had a blast sitting behind the pen. Unfortunately the As won 3-2 on a Ramon Hernandez bomb that almost made it to the bar-lined street beyond the Monster.

Postgame we wandered by the players lot as they drove off in Porsches, Escalades, Hummers, Mercedes (all w/ chromies), but the best were Todd Jones' Vespa, Todd Walker's Harley, John Burkett's bicycle, and Gabe Kapler's moped. Gotta love that.

Quick Cuts --> Jose Guillen is on his sixth team b/c he's the most lax player on the field The Wave is for dorks Eminems Lose Yourself is perfect for a team down in the bottom of the 9th We saw Lori from my favorite show, the Real World (New York), wearing an EverythingLori.com tee.

PNC Park

Sat, 16 Aug 2003 23:19:51 GMT

The park's amazing and sits riverfront w/ views of the city skyline from left to right. The concourse is open air and there aren't lines for anything (Beers of the 'Burgh and kielbasies recommended). Seats were great - 10th row just past 1st - but the match-up wasn't. Doesn't get worse than Pirates-Brewers, despite the Jack Wilson Bobble Head giveaway. Don't worry, my dad and bros said "Who?" also.

We played the Dollar Game. Rules: Switch turns every at-bat, throw 1$ in if your guy gets out, take 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple, and the pot for a homer (walks, HBP and sacrifices push). Makes any boring ballgame better. Scott Podsednik won it for Milwaukee in the 9th w/ a 3-run bomb (on my turn!). Dude in the bleachers caught it, turned around, and threw the ball in the river. Classic.

Quick Cuts --> Personal favorite Jeff Reboulet grew out his trademark 'stache for a more fashionable goatee Richie Sexson - 6'8" and goofy w/ long hair, hemp necklace, and 30+ HRs - is the budding Bill Walton of baseball Pirates first base coach is named Rusty Kuntz Pittsburgh has its own beer: Iron City. Tastes ruff but has a nice ring to itIf this weren't the Year of Dontrelle, Podsednik would be ROY reminiscent of Pat Listach in '92.

Yankee Stadium

Tue, 19 Aug 2003 19:58:16 GMT

Despite being Yankee haters, even we can't hate on the most storied stadium in sports. To bear witness we had the God seats: 3rd base box 10 rows back. Remember the Seinfeld when Elaine was bounced for wearing an O's cap? Well, I wore my O's fitted and was waiting for the tap on the shoulder that never came. The game was disappointing as the Pinstripes beat KC easy, and I missed a Jeter triple, Posada homer, and bang-bang play at the plate while in the beer line.

Quick Cuts --> Walking to our car an S500 Mercedes stopped right in front of us w/ Jeter driving. I tried to pull the paparazzi photo but all I got was a shiny chrome rim The best (or worst) beggar sign of all-time is "Why lie? I need a beer" It should be law that all stadiums have sports bars, memorabilia shops, and food stands outside The ratio of guys w/ their girlfriends goes way up when you're in the box seats.

The Vet

Mon, 18 Aug 2003 05:07:51 GMT

The Vet has outdoor-patio turf, horrible concessions, and straight up angry fans. What a hole. I don't know why the fans are pissed, b/c the team's on pace to make the playoffs for the first time since the mullet-filled squad of '93. Dykstra, Daulton, Mulholland, Schilling, 'Wild Thing' Williams, Morandini, Kruk all sported the horribly hilarious hairstyle.

This Cards-Phils matchup was ESPN's Game of the Week, but Pujols sat it out, illustrating reason #313 why Ripken is king: He never let anybody down. At least we got to see Edmunds, the smoothest player ever, and Rolen, who got an earful every time he did anything. Dad said it best, "Tough crowd." The star of the show was Thome, who lasered one into the upper deck; possibly the hardest hit ball of all-time.

Quick Cuts --> Burrell looks like Ray Liotta, and Thome is the lost twin of my buddy Jeffers... A Flag Man carrying Old Glory circles the stadium w/ followers rivaling Forrest Gump's jogging club This was the 17th-to-last game at the Vet and our tix are going straight to eBay (along w/ my Jack Wilson Bobblehead) A 'Yankees Suck' chant started up late in the game. Maybe Philly fans are cool after all When in Philly, go to Pat's for the original cheesesteak. Mmmm, Cheez Whiz.