Perfect Games!

We flew from Chicago to Boston and got in just before 10 pm last night. After waiting for an hour and a half, we took the last bus of the evening to Portland and got there around 1:30 am. So, by the time we picked up our car and got home, it was almost 3 in the morning. The odd symmetry of the time was not lost on us. At the beginning of our trip, we had to get up at 3 am to make our flight out of New England. And here we were, going to bed about the same time on the day we got back. Notwithstanding the limited sleep over the past few days, this was a truly memorable trip. We were at five different locations over a five-day span and every one of those stops was fun. Mother Nature was especially kind to us and except for a brief spell of light rain in the late innings at Fenway, we enjoyed a wonderful stretch of weather all the way through, with bright sunshine most of the time. We can’t wait to get back on our next trip.

And that should be coming up next weekend. We’ll see you then. Take care!

Field of Dreams, Dyersville, IA – Monday, May 27, 2013

Last Sunday (5/19), while watching the Indians play the Mariners on TV, the cameras showed movie star Kevin Costner in the stands. He was in Cleveland to film his new venture “Draft Day” and took some time-off to go see a game. Costner, of course, has been in several memorable movies, but none has impacted millions of people in quite the same way as the baseball classic “Field of Dreams” in which he plays the lead role. The movie was an Oscar nominee for Best Picture in 1989 and, nearly twenty-five years later, continues to enthrall new generations. We were especially thrilled to see Costner because we knew that a week later, the two of us would be in Dyersville, Iowa to visit the Field of Dreams movie site.

We arrived in Dyersville on Sunday evening (5/26) after driving for nearly four hours from Milwaukee. We checked into the hotel and after a quick pizza dinner, stayed up for a while to work on the blog before calling it a night. The next morning, we worked some more on the blog, had breakfast, checked out, and drove to the famous movie site that was less than ten minutes away. Boy, what a place! The house was still there, exactly as it appeared in the movie, and the baseball diamond in front of it looked surreal in the middle of the corn field. We can’t think of any other single movie site that gets this much attention from people and has such a deep emotional appeal. The best part of the trip was meeting complete strangers, talking baseball with them, and parting as friends, thanks to a common bond forged by a love of this extraordinary game. For instance, we met a family that let us borrow their softball, glove, and bat, while they took pictures of us playing on the field and running the bases. We also struck up a wonderful conversation with a retired couple, Mike and Jane, who took pictures for us and regaled us with awesome baseball stories and trivia. This was their sixth or seventh visit to this site!

After hanging out around the field for a while, we went in to buy the obligatory souvenirs. We knew that the Lansing family, which had owned the farm since 1906, went to great lengths to preserve this wonderful legacy before they sold the place in 2011. So we did not know quite how to react when the lady at the check out counter informed us that the new ownership had big plans for developing this place. As in $75 million big! That made us a bit nervous and sad because the Field of Dreams is just wonderful the way it is. Admission is still free, kids were playing with their families, and grown ups were walking around, as if in a trance, and enjoying the view. We just hope the new ownership doesn’t develop the charm right out of this magical place.

Finally, we drove to Chicago to drop off the car and make our way back to Waterville. We will check in with you after we get home. Bye for now!

Game 9: Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Milwaukee Brewers – Sunday, May 26, 2o13

We rented a car at O’Hare and drove up to Milwaukee in just under two hours. It was a beautiful day to be out on the road. We had an early lunch at Balistreri’s Italian restaurant (there is no Hard Rock Café in Milwaukee) and took their shuttle to the ballpark. We got to Miller Park well before the game and had plenty of time to walk around the outside taking pictures of statues and plaques. There is little doubt that this is Bob “Mr. Baseball” Uecker’s town.

This turned out to be yet another exciting ball game at yet another spectacular ballpark. This was our first time at a stadium with a retractable roof and the place is absolutely beautiful. We had seats by the third base line, just a few rows behind the visitor’s dugout, and it was a perfect day to be sitting outside. Lots of sunshine, but not too hot. No need for a roof today.

It was also the “Ryan Braun Bobblehead Day” at Miller. So we each got one. As it turned out, Braun, arguably the best hitter in the National League in the last couple of years, would come to bat at several critical junctures during the game, but with mixed results. It was the Pirates who commandeered the contest early by posting a run in the second. Brewer’s ace Yovani Gallardo issued a two-out walk to Michael “Fort” McKenry and the next hitter, Jordy Mercer, brought him home with a triple to center fielder Carlos “Go-Go” Gomez. The home team had a chance to respond at the bottom of the frame as Aramis Ramirez led off with a double. The Brewers then made two outs although the second out advanced Ramirez to third. That brought second baseman Rickie Weeks to the plate. A fan behind us pleaded loudly “Just hit a single, Rickie” and then added a most memorable line: “I guess you can’t spell Weeks without two E’s and a K.” Sure enough, Weeks, batting sub-Mendoza, struck out and stranded Ramirez at third. The Pirates would add three more in the third via a sac fly by Garrett Jones and a two-run double by Pedro “El Toro” Alvarez down the right field line that just stayed fair by inches. The Brewers again had a chance to respond in the same inning. Braun came to bat with men on first and third and two outs but the bobblehead honoree struck out swinging at a high fastball to snuff the rally. Braun, though, would make it up in the fifth. He came to the plate with the bases loaded and ripped a double to left field that cleared the bags and brought the home team within a run at 4-3. The Pirates edged further ahead in the top of the sixth, adding a run on Starling Marte’s sac fly to make it 5-3. The Brewers had another golden opportunity to score in the seventh with men at first and third, and Braun coming to bat with two outs. Unfortunately for them, Braun’s sharp grounder up the middle was right in the tracks of Pirate’s second baseman Neil Walker, who threw him out to end the inning. The home team, however, cut the lead to 5-4 in the eighth thanks to a sac fly by Gomez that brought home Jeff Bianchi who had tripled ahead of him. The Brewers made a desperate bid to come back in the bottom of the ninth, but made a couple of loud fly ball outs as Pittsburgh held on to win. What a game! Although we did not see any home runs, we saw a couple of exciting triples and five doubles. And we saw each team make an error and turn a double play. Marte also stole a base for the Pirates.

As usual we walked around the ballpark during the middle innings and took plenty of pictures. The history of the Brewers and the Milwaukee Braves was chronicled nicely in the concourses by way of statues, murals, giant banners, and other memorabilia. The atmosphere in the ballpark, too, was electric with nearly 45,000 fans at hand on this Memorial Day weekend. The stadium looked jam-packed. It was cool to see the fans come out and support the home team not withstanding the W-L record that has the Brewers down in the NL Central cellar.

After the game, we took the shuttle back to the restaurant, picked up our car, and got on the road again to our last destination on this leg. Bet you can’t guess our next stop (unless we already told you), but we will see you from there soon. So long!

Game 8: U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago, IL

Miami Marlins vs Chicago White Sox- Saturday, May 25, 2o13

We arrived in Chicago around 11 am after a short flight from Detroit. It was too early to check into our hotel so we worked on the blog for a while, checked in, worked some more on the blog, got a quick lunch at the hotel restaurant (we already did the Hard Rock Café here on our last trip), and headed to the Art Institute of Chicago. We got there just before they were about to close and spent about a half hour admiring their contemporary collections. We then walked to the station to take a subway to the ballpark.

As it turned out, we were a bit late arriving at U.S. Cellular Field. We got off at the wrong subway stop and by the time we realized that, turned around, and got to the game, the first inning was underway. We collected the free 1983 White Sox caps that were being given away at the game and slowly made our way to our seats, which were way up in the 500-level right behind home plate. This was our first time sitting that high up at a game. The weather was great and the view was fantastic! We could see the entire field, and accurately tell balls from strikes. We were also directly across from the giant scoreboard and could see all the cool messages and video clips that were posted on it.  We walked around during the middle innings to see the action from different angles and take pictures of the many beautiful murals depicting White Sox history that were all around the concourse.

This, too, was one heck of a ballgame! A really exciting pitcher’s duel that came down to the wire! Pitching for the White Sox was “Joliet Jake” Peavy, a four-time all-star who won a Cy Young Award in 2007 and a Golden Glove last year. Matching him pitch for pitch was Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco. The South Siders eked out a run in the third when Alejandro de Aza (he should have been an organic chemist!) singled and Alexei “The Cuban Missile” Ramirez brought him home with an RBI double to left. Peavy, tossing a beauty, made that 1-0 lead stand into the ninth inning. And then he made one costly mistake. At the top of the ninth inning, he sent a slider into the nitro zone of Marlins second baseman Derek Dietrich who promptly deposited it into the right field stands for a game-tying homer. Later in the same inning, Peavy walked the designated hitter Chris Coghlan on four pitches and incredibly balked him to second! How often do you see a balk in a major league game, especially by someone with Peavy’s credentials? Fortunately, he was able to work out of trouble without any further damage. In the bottom of the ninth, Peavy’s teammates came through for him. Dewayne Wise opened the frame with a double to left field. Next up was Conor Gillaspie’s who lined a walk-off single, also to left, that scored Wise and lifted Chicago! This was the first time that we have seen a walk-off win. And it was way more exciting that watching one on TV!

This Chicago team, despite some early season troubles, is now near the .500 mark and just four games off the pace. Along with Detroit and Cleveland, they look to turn the AL Central into a real dogfight this year.

After the game, we took the subway back to the hotel and turned in for the night. We are off to another game soon and will see you at the next stop!

Game 7: Comerica Park, Detroit, MI

Minnesota Twins vs Detroit Tigers- Friday, May 24, 2o13

Wow! What a ballgame!! This was, by far, the most memorable game that we have ever been to yet!!! We were just two outs away from witnessing a historic no-hitter. Detroit’s starter Anibal Sanchez, spinning a gem, held the Twins hitless for eight and a third innings before catcher Joe Mauer hit an off-speed pitch to right field to break up the bid. Sanchez was so close to becoming only the 28^th pitcher in history to throw multiple no-hitters (he had one starting for the Marlins back in 2006). As it turned out, Joe Mauer entered the history books for breaking up three no-hitters in the ninth inning in his career! In any case, that hit was all the Twins got in this one, as Sanchez ended up with a complete game, one-hit shutout to show for his 130-pitch effort. With Cleveland dropping it’s game in Boston. Detroit moved into first place in AL central by half a game.

And to think we almost didn’t make it into Detroit for this one!

Just in case you didn’t already know this, we strongly recommend not going to bed after midnight, if you need to get up at 3 in the morning. But with the Red Sox – Indians game ending late at night and our flight out of Boston leaving early in the morning, we had to make do with three hours of sleep. Somehow, we managed to get to the airport well in time for our flight, but our exciting day was just getting started. After we had already pulled back from the gate, the captain came on the PA system to inform us that the plane had some mechanical problems and he was going to stop the engines and restart them to see if the problem would go away. Not the kind of message you want to be hearing from a pilot and we were just grateful that they figured this out while we were still on the ground. Unfortunately, restarting the engines did not make the problem go away, so we were going to head back to the gate and de-plane. As it turned out, all the gates were occupied and we were told that it would be nearly an hour before a gate became available and we had to just wait it out on the tarmac. A short while later, the captain was back on the PA system, this time with some good news. While we were waiting for a gate, a maintenance crew was working on the aircraft and they fixed whatever the problem was. Shortly thereafter we took off for Newark, an hour or so late. It seemed almost certain that we would miss our connecting flight, but fortunately, the Newark-Detroit flight was delayed for a few minutes. Just enough time for us to sprint across our terminal, take a shuttle to another terminal,  and make it to the departure gate. We could have given Usain Bolt a run for his money (pun intended).

After arriving in Detroit and checking into our hotel, we rented a car and drove down to the Motown Historic Museum. What a wonderful place! We took an hour-long tour there, which included the famous Control Room and Studio A. We then had a late lunch at Detroit’s Hard Rock Café and took their shuttle to the ballpark. Professor Dan Cohen of the Colby philosophy department, who was at a conference nearby in Windsor, Canada, just across the river, came over to join us at the game. It was Polish-American Night at the ballpark and there were people dancing on the field with colorful costumes.

It was a beautiful evening, just cool enough to be refreshing, and the ballpark was absolutely gorgeous. It really is one on the more beautiful stadiums we have seen so far. We had seats in the Right Field Box and apparently Lance Armstrong was sitting just a few rows in front us although we didn’t get a good look. After the third inning, we walked around, exploring the place and snapping pictures. The Tigers sure have a rich history and we clicked away at the statues of Tiger greats like Willie “Wonder” Horton, Ty “Georgia Peach” Cobb, “Hammerin’ Hank” Greenberg, Charlie “Mechanical Man” Gehringer, “Prince Hal” Newhouser, and Al Kaline, near the centerfield. As we toured the ballpark, we would dart in frequently to see the action from different vantage points.  The more we saw, the more we liked Comerica Park. Detroit baseball fans are so lucky to have a place like this to call home!

The game, as we already noted above, was awesome. After a scoreless first inning, the Tigers leapt ahead 3-0, thanks to a bases-loaded walk that forced in the first run of the game followed by a 2-run single by Miguel Cabrera down the left field line. We also got a good look at Don Kelly’s third inning 2-run homer to right field that made it 5-0. The Tigers added their final run in the sixth inning when Omar Infante’s single to left brought home Avisail Garcia from third.

The Tigers have been to two World Series over the past six seasons, including an appearance last year, and they have quite the team. With Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Victor “V-Mart” Martinez, and Jhonny (no typo!) Peralta hitting in the heart of their order, and with a rotation of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Rick Porcello, and this game’s starter Sanchez, they should go far this year as well.

After the game, we stayed back for the fireworks, which were really awesome and went on for quite some time. We then dropped off the car and returned to our hotel, again just after midnight. Fortunately, we didn’t have to be up at 3 am.

The next game on this trip is coming up later today. We’ll see you soon!

Game 6: Fenway Park, Boston, MA

Cleveland Indians vs Boston Red Sox- Thursday, May 23, 2o13

We drove down to Portland and took the bus from there to Boston. Soon after checking into the hotel, we headed over to the home of John Goods ’10, a former member of the Thamattoor Lab, and his fiancé Brittany Thomas ’10, also a former Thamattoor student in organic chemistry. We were joined there for a delightful dinner by other alums of Team Thamattoor, Tom Sisto ’09 and Adelajda Zorba ’06. After catching up and reminiscing with everyone at the meal, we made our way to the ballpark.

We try to catch a game at Fenway at least once a year, usually when the Tribe is in town. So although coming here is not exactly a new experience, it is, as always, a real thrill. As the oldest stadium in the majors (it celebrated its centennial last year), Fenway has a special historic charm. It is also one of the smaller ballparks in the big leagues, so there is a cozy and intimate feel to the place as well.

With Cleveland making its only trip of the year to Boston this weekend, we decided to seize the opportunity to see the Indians play. To be sure, there was a lot of emotion in this game. For one, there was a moment of silence for the victims of the Oklahoma tornado. Then the first pitch was tossed by Peter DiMartino, a survivor of the recent Boston Marathon Bombings. Peter tore his Achilles tendon and suffered severe burns and shrapnel wounds from the blast while waiting for his mom at the finish line. He has spent a lot of time at the hospital lately but his defiant spirit came into full view when it was announced that he and his mom plan to run the marathon again next year! Boston Strong Indeed!!

There were some other emotions, too. Perhaps the most popular person at the game in all of Fenway was the manager of the Cleveland team. This marked Terry “Tito” Francona’s first trip back to Fenway as a manager of an opposing team since leaving as Boston’s manager in 2011. After eight years with the Red Sox, perennial appearances in the post-season, and two World Series Championships, Tito is an icon in Boston. There was a beautiful tribute to him during the game and the fans were up on their feet chanting Tito! Incidentally, the man managing Boston was John Farrell, a good friend of Tito, and his pitching coach during his Red Sox years. Beautiful!

Depending on your persuasion, the game itself could be described either as awesome, fantastic, incredible, wonderful, and amazingly fantabulous; or dreary, boring, depressing, horrible, terrible, and frustrating. As Tribe fans, we subscribed to the former description but the home faithfuls, no doubt, held a different view. As the adage goes, “it’s not who you play, but when you play ‘em that matters.” Earlier this season, when the Red Sox visited Cleveland, Farrell took it to his former boss as Boston swept the three-game set. The Indians were reeling then, but this is a very different team now. With potent offense, spectacular pitching, and sparkling defense, the Tribe rose from the cellar of the AL Central to first place in just a couple of weeks. It has stayed there for some time now. This is easily the most fun Indians team that we’ve seen in a number of years. They are firing on all cylinders right now.

The Tribe scratched out a run in the second frame on a weird play. Drew Stubbs hit a pop up behind first base that fell into no man’s land after deflecting off Dustin Pedroia’s glove to score Carlos Santana from second. The Indians then added three more in the third and were sitting pretty at 4 zip. As the lore goes, no lead is safe at Fenway and sure enough, David “Big Papi” Ortiz smacked a mammoth three-run homer to pull the Red Sox within a run at 4-3. This came just after Jacoby Ellsbury was cut down at the plate by center fielder Michael Bourn, who fired an accurate and strong throw to the catcher Yan Gomes. The Indians, however, were relentless. They scored a run in the fourth and another in the fifth. But the real onslaught came in the sixth. The first five hitters reached and by the end of the inning, The Tribe had put up a big, crooked six on the board to lead 12-3. That ended up being the final score. What a homecoming for Tito! Ironically, for a team that has shown surprising power this year, and is among the league leaders in home runs, Cleveland scored twelve runs without the benefit of any long balls! On the other side, all of Boston’s runs came from that Big Papi homer!!

Given the state of the game and a light rain that began to fall in the late innings, the fans headed toward the exits. They had very little to cheer about tonight. But not us. We enjoyed every moment of the game and also got to walk around and explore the ballpark. We even got to go atop the Green Monster and take pictures from there!

By the time we got back to our hotel, it was nearly midnight, so we turned in as we had to continue on our trip early in the morning.

See you in the next town!

With the long Memorial Day weekend upon us, we will be heading out tomorrow on another trip to catch a few more games. The Cubs-Rangers makeup contest was on May 6th but as it was a work/school day, we could not go to Chicago for that. We’ll see the Cubbies at Wrigley another time later this season.

For now, though, we are just excited to be on tour again to visit some more ballparks. Come join us!

Thus ended the first leg of our trip. We got home last evening, a bit exhausted after taking the train from Philly to Boston, the bus trip to Portland, and the car ride home. This jaunt took us through seven cities in ten days and we had a fantastic time all the way through. Even though the two rain-outs were a bit of a bummer, we still got to see five great ballparks. Fortunately, we had no misadventures that came even remotely close to those experienced by Steve Martin and John Candy in the movie.

Our next trip is scheduled for May 23rd. We are still waiting to hear about the makeup date for the Cubs-Rangers game, so it is possible that we might be on the road again sooner.

Take care. We’ll see you soon.

Game 5: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA

St. Louis Cardinals vs Philadelphia Phillies- Saturday, April 20, 2o13

We took a late morning train out of Baltimore and arrived in Philadelphia just before noon. After checking into the hotel, we headed downtown to see the Liberty Bell. There was a long queue, but it moved quickly and we really enjoyed the visit. That site is so well done! We then had lunch at the Hard Rock Café and later took a bus to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The museum was closing by the time we got there, but we were still able to walk around the impressive building and snap a lot of pictures, including the Rocky Steps, footprints, and statue. Finally, we headed to the ballpark and got there about 45 minutes before game time.

It was chilly in Philly. The game time temperature was in the mid-50’s, but it steadily went down later in the evening and the gusting winds made it seem really cold. People were walking around with blankets around them.

Notwithstanding the cold temperatures, this was a SPECIAL game. It was Autism Awareness Night at the ballpark and an autistic child threw the ceremonial first pitch. Really COOL! Many fans diagnosed with autism, and their families and friends, were at the game.

Another attraction of the game was Phillies starting pitcher Cliff Lee. Lee made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians in 2002 and pitched for them for a number of years. In 2008, he won 22 games for the Tribe, pitched two scoreless frames as a starter in the All Star Game, and won the American League Cy Young Award. The Indians, knowing full well they couldn’t afford to keep him, traded him mid-season in 2009 to the Phillies. A few months later, Lee started Game 1 for Philadelphia in their World Series against the Yankees and pitched a complete game victory allowing just one run. He also started and won Game 5 although the Phillies eventually lost the series. The following year, Lee pitched in the World Series again, this time for the Rangers, but lost both his starts to Tim Lincecum as the Giants won it all.

Cliff Lee is also one of the good guys in baseball. He has been very generous in giving back to the community. A few years ago, he and his wife Kristen set up a foundation to help raise funds for cancer research, especially focusing on pediatric oncology. They have been staunch supporters of kids diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma. Here’s a somewhat dated link to a story about the Lees.

It is really a pleasure to see Lee pitch. He is not overpowering (his fast ball tops out at 92 mph) but is a finesse pitcher who relies on pin-point control, speed variations, and movement. He was making his fourth start of the year and came into the game with a miniscule 1.52 ERA. Also, in his first three starts, and nearly 24 innings, he walked just one batter.

Lee, however, was uncharacteristically off in this game. For a guy who rarely walks anybody, he issued three free passes in the third inning to load the bases! All three came around to score and by the time the inning was over, Lee and the Phillies were down 4-0. It was especially frustrating because all four runs scored with two outs in the inning. The damage could have been limited, too, but for some unknown reason, Chase Utley left his position at second base and what might have been a routine grounder to end the inning, got through to right field to score the third run of the frame. The next batter, David Freese, promptly added another RBI. Lee also gave up a solo shot to Carlos Beltran in the 5^th and the Phillies were now in a 5-0 hole. He was done after 5 innings and 102 pitches, his shortest start of the year. Given the Phillies well chronicled offensive woes this season, the deficit seemed insurmountable and it was. The game ended with no additional scoring by either team.

We walked around the ballpark during the game and took plenty of pictures. Built in 2004, this stadium is quite modern and really pretty. There was also a near-full house crowd of more than 41,000 on hand.

After the game, we headed back to the hotel and started getting ready to go back home in the morning. We wish we could catch a few more games but school and work beckons. So we’ve got to go.

Bye now!

We got into Baltimore this afternoon and although the skies were overcast, thought all would be well. After working on the blog for a while, we had lunch at Baltimore’s Hard Rock Cafe and took in the Aquarium next door. We then walked over to the Oriole Park at Camden Yards and just as we were entering the ballpark, the rain began to fall. It never let up and the game was called off a couple of hours later. It has been rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon, but we will be on our way to the next town. So Camden Yards, like Wrigley Field, will go on the list of stadiums that we will need to come back to later this summer. Oh well!

There were positives, though, on what was otherwise a very disappointing evening. We got to catch up with Traci Speed ’03, a former member of the Thamattoor Lab, and Professor John Toscano of the chemistry department at Johns Hopkins University, who joined us at the ballpark. We decided to get together again on another day to get a game in. We’ll just have to wait and see when that will be.

In the morning, we’re off to the last stop on this leg of the trip. See you there.