Never Forget

Thirteen years ago, everything changed, and we will never be the same.  On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers in New York City were hit with two hijacked planes, along with a plane that crashed into the Pentagon, and a plane that crashed in a town outside of Pittsburgh , killing almost 3,000 people.

We all remember where we were when we heard the news.  Even all these years later, it’s hard to look at pictures from that day without getting a little teary eyed.  Luckily, a distant family member who worked in one of the towers, happened to be going into the office late that day.  For countless others, they weren’t as lucky.

Baseball, for me, has been a therapy.  Whenever things are going wrong, I know I can always count on baseball to make things better.  Baseball was put on hold because there are things more important than baseball.  When it returned, it was amazing.  The first game to be played in New York after the attacks, was on September 21st, with the Mets beating the Atlanta Braves, 2-1 on a 2 run home run by Mike Piazza.  2001 had so many great baseball stories to it.   The Seattle Mariners tied an MLB regular season record by winning 116 games, Barry Bonds passing Mark McGwire’s single season home run record, and the New York Yankees going for their fourth straight World Series title.

Over Labor Day weekend, my boyfriend and I went to Arizona for the weekend to visit my mom.  While we were there, we went to the Arizona Diamondbacks game.  Wes and I got to talking to the guy sitting in front of us, and this guy is my new hero.  From 1998-2013, he served as police officer at Yankee Stadium, as well as being a first responder on 9/11.  He told us that he lost six buddies, including three that he served in the Marines with, one being his Sergeant.  The words “holy shit” just came out.  Wes asked him which was harder: losing the 2001 World Series, or losing in the 2004 ALCS to the Boston Red Sox after being up 3-0.  “2001.  No question.”  He explained that after everything that had happened, to lose the World Series was heartbreaking.

The 2001 World Series opened in Arizona, the next time it would open in a National League ballpark would be 2010, before returning to New York for Game 3 on October 30.  President George W. Bush threw out the Ceremonial First Pitch, being the first current President since Eisenhower in 1956 to do so in a World Series, while wearing a FDNY sweatshirt.  Chants of U-S-A filled the stadium.  I remember watching the game at home with my mom getting chills and crying.  The saying at the time “United We Stand” was exactly what that moment was.  Despite the fact that the Yankees had knocked my A’s out of the playoffs with the infamous Derek Jeter flip just weeks before, and that the Yankees were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks, my National League team, I had to cheer for the Yankees.  I wanted them to win, for the same reason as the guy from the game said.  That city deserved something great in that moment.  Baseball makes everything better, and winning the World Series would have been the biggest lift for that city.

My biggest regret in my two trips to New York in 2012, was that I didn’t get to see the 9/11 memorial.  I didn’t have much time, and the thought of rushing through it all didn’t seem right.  When I do make it out to New York again, I plan on setting several hours aside to soak it all in.

On The Road Again

As the Oakland Athletics prepared for their two game series in New York against the Mets, I was preparing for a baseball road trip. It’s all very exciting.

Since starting at my current job last April, my road trips have been all weekend trips. It’s a lot of fun going to see the stadiums, but those weekend trips are horrible. Horrible, I say. Working 8-5, Monday through Friday helps to pay the bills and trip costs, however, it takes a toll. I usually spend my Saturdays sleeping until at least noon, and have been known to go past 2pm. The weekend is my chance to recharge and get much needed sleep. Weekend road trips kill that, especially if it’s to the Midwest or east coast. Nothing like a 6am flight on a Saturday morning!

This trip, however, involved some time off work to pull off. I still had a 6am flight out, and it sucked even more on a Wednesday. I do not fly during the week, and have been grossly underprepared for the swarm of people. 6am flights on Saturdays are not too popular, and security is usually 10 minutes at the most. Wednesday was about 40. Thursday, I had a 7am flight out of New York, you know, cause I’m stupid, and for some reason thought the security line at LaGuardia wouldn’t be horrible. I was horribly wrong, and that’s an understatement. Luckily I got there a little earlier, because the almost 50 minutes to go through security was bad. On the plus side, I have gotten some great training for my upcoming 5K in while running through the various airports trying to catch my flights.

I’m currently sitting in the Raleigh airport waiting for my flight to Miami, the final stop on my trip. I admit, I’m starting to feel old, simply because I can’t wait to get back home. 3 years ago when I started all this, I was so excited to be out on the road, leaving for a week plus at a time. I am excited about tonight though. My Oakland Athletics are taking on the Miami Marlins, and it’s going to be a great game. While the A’s left for Miami Wednesday after the game in New York, the Marlins played extra innings last night in Philadelphia before flying back to Miami. Fingers crossed they are as jet lagged and tired as me!

Last night might have been the best part of any trip thus far. I went to a Durham Bulls game, the Tampa Bay Rays Triple-A team, and it was awesome! Highly recommend that you go if you ever get a chance. The Bulls hit a grand slam, and the bull went off, just like in the movie. I felt like a tourist for getting all excited and taking pictures, but whatever, it was cool!

New Year, New Goals

It’s that lovely time of the year where we all pretend we are going to do things that will most likely not happen.  That was mean, I apologize.  I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions.  Nobody ever keeps them and yet every year, everybody says “this is the year”.  I resolved to do something different a few years back and found it was easier to stick with a realistic goal.  Don’t be afraid to try new things and see new places.  That was in 2011, the first year of my baseball trips.

I set a goal to see all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums before I turned 30 and that New Year’s Resolution was the starting point.  I had never traveled on my own, especially not halfway across the country for a week.  It turned out to be the smartest thing I have done with my life.

Not many 27 year olds can say they have traveled the country on their own going to baseball games.  I am proud to say I have.  Depression started to settle in this off-season with the realization that I had just three stadiums left to see.  What to do with myself?

As we enter into 2014, I have made a new goal, one that will take me a few years to complete.  I want to see the A’s play a game at all 30 stadiums.  Right now, of the 27 stadiums, I have seen the A’s at 10 stadiums.  Not too shabby.  I spent my night combing through the A’s 2014 schedule last night and part of the morning planning my next move.  The plan is to see the A’s play the Rangers in Arlington for stadium #30.  The newest plan includes seeing the A’s at 5 other stadiums this season.  The joys of inter-league play is seeing other teams and their stadiums.  I was so excited that the A’s played in Milwaukee last season because I really wanted to go there.  This season, I will be going to Cleveland, New York, Miami, Atlanta, and Houston.  The Houston trip is a birthday present to myself.

I am most looking forward to the New York Mets and Miami Marlins trip.  With the A’s having an off day between cities, I have an off day to travel down the coast myself.  I will be making a pit stop in North Carolina to see some friends and to visit Durham, NC to see the Bulls play a game.  I am super excited.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and may 2014 be fabulous!

My Night in the Press Box

I spent my Saturday night at the O.co Coliseum watching the Oakland A’s lose to the Cleveland Indians 7-1. I should be horribly depressed, and I admit, a part of me is, but it was a very exciting night for me. You see, I got to watch the game from one of the A’s press boxes.

Let me take you back to May last year to explain how I ended up here. My then boyfriend’s future brother-in-law is a radio DJ for a radio station in Grass Valley, Star 94FM and KNCO NewsTalk 830. While on my road trip back East checking out the stadiums, Greg asked if I would be willing to talk on air about my trip and baseball. I nervously agreed and did my first ever radio interview on the Greyhound bus going from Boston to New York City. I did two more the following week when I was back in NYC to check on some more stadiums. I had a blast! I got to talk to Greg on the FM side, which if you live in the Grass Valley area you should give him and Deana a listen in the mornings, and then Tom on the AM side. I was giving Tom some grief that the Mets don’t have any fans, and he’d be the second one I had ever met. The funny part of that is that the night I went to the Mets game, the Rangers were playing in the playoffs at home, so nobody was at the game. I was laughed and said see, there are no Mets fans.

Flash forward to the post season. Game 4 of the ALDS. Insanity. One of the best games I’ve ever been to, that and game 162 last year. After the game, Greg sent me a text if I would come on the show in the morning to talk about the A’s and the game. I was so excited. I didn’t sleep, the excitement of the game and the radio was too much for me. I did both sides again, and it was so much fun. I promise to one day load the radio clips! My best moment was when Tom asked me what I did for a living. When I told him what I did, he told me I should be doing play-by-play or sports reports. I wish! Well as luck would have it, later in the day, I got a phone call from Greg that if I was interested, the station would get me press passes to cover the A’s for them for the 2013 season. If I was interested. Ha! I was doing my best to not jump up and down at my desk from excitement.

Which brings us back to today. My first day in the press box with a press pass. It was amazing and different. I’m so used to being in the stands cheering on the guys, screaming, Doolittling and sporting my Rally Specs. I was quietly cheering to myself, trying not to draw attention to myself, especially since I was wearing my lucky jersey. One of the guys asked if I was going to be playing later in the game. I said only if they need me to pinch hit. Clearly not the place to wear my jersey, noted. It was great though, being able to see everything. The highlight of the evening though, came from the gang in 149 and the bleachers there. The wave started. I sent out my #BanTheWave tweet and watched it circle around below. I watched to see what happened when it got to 149. Nothing. I think 2 people in the right field bleachers stood up. I smiled and felt all warm inside. The guys sitting just down from me laughed and said “And nobody in 149 moved. HAHA” Nice job guys!!

As we waited for the elevator, Glen and Ray wrapped their post game and then were right there. I really wanted to say I was the one in Milwaukee with the sign they liked so much, but instead stood there quietly as to not draw attention to myself. It was a great night, I just wish the A’s had won. Tomorrow!

My view for the evening.
A night at the ballpark is always a good night

Extra! Extra!

We are just into our third month of the baseball season and we’ve already had some long extra innings games. I love free baseball, but these games have been something else.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oakland Athletics:
April 29 , 2013. 19 innings

Monday, April 29 was Josh Hamilton Appreciation Night at the Coliseum as Hamilton was making his first appearance since his dropped fly ball in Game 162 last season leading to the A’s winning the AL West. The Angels got on the board early and often, taking a 7-2 lead into the bottom of the 8th inning. Now, the A’s were the comeback kids last season and are looking like that again this season. The Angels major issue this season is pitching, especially their bullpen. The A’s dropped a 4 spot in the bottom of the 8th to pull to within one run before scoring one to tie the game in the 9th inning, sending the game into extras. The teams were locked at 7-7 until the 15th inning when both teams scored a run in the inning. Here we go again. Now the issue for the A’s was injuries. Coco Crisp had to come out of the game, and then his replacement had to come out of the game. We lost the DH spot, so in the 18th inning, A’s relief pitcher, Jerry Blevins, made his first and most likely last, plate appearance. He foul tipped a pitched, but in the end, he struck out. Also in the game, starting pitcher, Brett Anderson came in to pitch 5 1/3 innings in relief. What else can you say but weird baseball. The A’s Brandon Moss, who had already hit a home run earlier in the game was the walk off hero for the night, or morning, as he hit a walk-off home run in the 19th inning to win the game 10-8. It was the longest game, time wise in Oakland A’s history, lasting 6 hours and 32 minutes. I did my best to watch the whole game, but only made it to the 18th inning. 18 of 19 is still pretty impressive!

Chicago White Sox at Seattle Mariners:
June 5, 2013. 16 innings

I love a pitchers duel, but this game in Seattle on Wednesday took that to a whole new level. Of the 16 innings played in Seattle, there was no score for the first 13 innings. That’s right, the game was 0-0 going into the 14th inning. There was a lot ERA’s and BA’s dropping. Then in the 14th inning, things changed. The White Sox plated five runs and looked like they were well on their way to the win. Nice try. The Mariners rallied back to score five runs of their one, with four of those coming on a Grand Slam by Kyle Seager. What are the chances? More free baseball! Luckily, the game didn’t last much longer as the White Sox went on to score two runs in the top of the 16th inning and were able to shut down the Mariners on three strike outs to end the game. Pretty impressive for a game to go with a 13 innings without a run and end up being 7-5 game in 16.

Miami Marlins at New York Mets:
June 8, 2013. 20 innings

That’s right. 20 INNINGS! I thought I misread it, three times. That would have been fun to watch. I love free baseball, so the more the merrier. This was another pitcher duel, to the extreme. The Mets scored one run in the 2nd inning and the Marlins scored one run in the 4th inning. Another run would not be scored until the 20th inning. That’s 16 innings of shutout ball. I love it. For as much smack as people talk about the Marlins and the Astros this season, they have been playing really well lately. You can’t say too much about the Marlins being a bad team after they were able to allow just one run in 20 innings for a win. That’s impressive, I don’t care what you say. Any loss is hard, but to lose a 20 inning game, now that’s brutal and heartbreaking. Marlins were able to scratch a run across in the top of the 20th for the win

Texas Rangers at Toronto Blue Jays:
June 8, 2013. 18 innings.

If it wasn’t for the fact that I hate the Texas Rangers, I would feel bad for them. The Texas Rangers, the team HEAVILY favored to reclaim the AL West this year, have been struggling. The A’s have come back from 9+ games back to move .5 a game ahead of the slumping Rangers. Toronto got on the board first, scoring three runs in the 3rd inning, their only runs of the day. The Rangers scored a run in the 7th inning and then dealt up the blown save in the 9th, scoring twice to tie the game at 3. With the Blue Jays unable to score a run in the 9th, the folks in Toronto got treated to free baseball. Lots of free baseball. Both teams were throwing goose eggs for nine innings. The bottom of the 18th you knew the Blue Jays were going to win. With one out, Emilio Bonifacio got a single. With former Athletic, Rajai Davis batting, the Rangers tried to pick off Bonifacio at first, but the throw got past the first baseman, way past. Bonifacio ended up at third base and Davis was able to single him home for the wine. The Rangers troubles continue as the lose again, 4-3.

Now, while I love free baseball, I don’t enjoy these super long games for one reason. Pitchers. These games were so long, they were long enough to be considered a second game. That’s a lot of pitches being thrown and a lot of pitchers being used for a lot of innings. Other than that, I love extra innings! Hope you all enjoyed those games too!

No More USA in the WBC

Last night, despite putting together late inning rallies, Team USA lost 4-3 to Team Puerto Rico and was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic.

It sucks, but it was a great game, and I really enjoyed watching the games.  While Team USA was made up of All-Stars, it wasn’t enough to edge out the competition.  We will get back to my thoughts on that later.  Watching these guys work as one, despite the fact they all play on different teams, and in different leagues, they came together and did their best.

David Wright.  Holy cow.  I am not a Mets fan, and I often joke that they have no fans.  It didn’t help either when I went to Citi Field last year and it happened to be the same night as a New York Rangers home playoff game so nobody was at the game, proving even more so that the Mets have no fans, but when David Wright comes to the plate, it’s amazing.  The fans cheer and get excited unlike they do with all the other players on the team.  He’s their guy, and he was Team USA’s guy too.  I think we can all honestly say that without David Wright, Team USA would have never made it out of the first round, and that if he had been healthy enough to play, we wouldn’t have been eliminated.  It sucks that he was injured, but at the same time, you don’t want to really hurt a player so that he’s unable to rejoin his MLB team once the WBC ended.  He earned the nickname Captain America with his grand slam to lift Team USA over Team Italy, his hit with the bases loaded against Team Canada and having 10 RBI in the WBC.  I joked on Twitter last night (@_kimms_) that TeamPR must be so excited that David Wright was out when the bases were loaded.

Ryan Braun.  I am not a fan of Ryan Braun at all.  I used to be OK with him, didn’t really care too much, but after the whole did he or didn’t he black cloud over him the past year and change, I have very little respect for the guy.  Do I think he used banned substances? Yes.  Do I think MLB covered the stuff up to avoid the embarrassment of having to take away an MVP Award? Yes.  All that aside though, up until last night, Braun was struggling at the plate.  You almost didn’t want him to come up to the plate with a rally going because he was struggling so much.  He was striking out way too much, and just not making good contact.  I get it, it’s technically spring training for our guys, but still.  He did have a RBI in the game last night, so I guess I can’t hate on him too much.  Either way, I’m looking forward to see how he does this season, it seems like he’ll have a lot to prove on and off the diamond.

Things that annoyed me, and there were many.  Vernon Wells and Mike Trout at the game, but couldn’t play in it was bs.  That would be like me turning down a job offer and then going to the place to watch the other people work.  It makes no sense.  I like that they wanted to show their support, but suiting up and playing works a lot better.  The announcer making a comment about how this team should win with all the All-Star Game appearances the players have.  I’m sorry, but that’s not really a good measure of how good a player is, but how many fans will vote for their players even if they suck.  All-Stars are fan favorites, not the best, and we all know it.  But the thing that annoyed me most was that you didn’t really see too many fans for Team USA.  When Team USA played Team Mexico, there was A LOT of green and A LOT of cheering for Mexico.  Same with the past few nights.  This is our country and our team and we couldn’t get fans to go to the games?  Maybe it was just MLB Network not showing them, but it seemed like the fans were tipped in the wrong way.

Anywho, it was a blast to watch Team USA, and I’m bummed they were eliminated-  I was looking forward to catching a game in San Francisco.  I guess I still can, but it just won’t be the same.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  Cheers!

All-Star Games

Tomorrow, Major League Baseball will officially announce that the 2015 All-Star Game will be played in (drum roll please) Cincinnati.

This will be the first All-Star Game to be played in the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio.  The last time an All-Star Game was played in Cincy was in 1988, when the Reds were still playing at Riverfront Stadium.  The stadium opened on March 21, 2003 in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  After the 2008 season, the Reds replaced all the scoreboards for new high-def video displays.  The first playoff game was Game 3 of the NLDS on October 10, 2010 in which the stadium recorded its highest attendance ever with 44,599 people at the game.

I loved the ballpark when I was there in the summer of 2011, but I spent roughly 45 minutes of the game in my seat and downed two bottles of water.  It was a 4:10 start in mid-July and horrible.  My shirt was soaked from sweat, just like everybody else in the stadium that day.  Sure there was a major heat wave going through the mid-west, but it was still July.  The stadium is pretty amazing though, and I’m sure a lot of fans will enjoy both the game and stadium.

This year the All-Star Game will be in Queens, NY at Citi Field.  Citi Field is another nice stadium, not at all my favorite, but it’s nice.  It’s kind of far out-of-the-way with not too much around it.  I had to fight to keep my eyes open on the subway ride out to the game.  Plus, LaGuardia Airport is just across the Flushing Bay so you hear the planes, and see them taking off during the game, which was slightly distracting.  It is New York though, so there is plenty of other things to see and do.

The 2014 All-Star Game will be in Minneapolis, MN at Target Field.  I loved Target Field when I was there, but again, it’s the mid-west in July.  The good thing is that there was free water stations setup all over the stadium to make sure everybody was well hydrated.  Still it is a beautiful stadium that will not disappoint.

So Long New York

There are two theories on hitting the knuckleball.  Unfortunately, neither of them work.  ~Charlie Lau, 1982

Today the New York Mets finished up their trade of Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays.  Finally.

In the trade, the Blue Jays get R.A. Dickey, catchers Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas while the Mets receive catchers Travis d’Arnaud and John Buck, plus pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard (ranked 3 of Blue Jays Top 20 Prospects) and minor leaguer Wuilmer Becerra.

With this trade, Dickey is now the seventh player in MLB history to win a Cy Young and open the following season with another team (three of the seven left via free agency).  Dickey also negotiated a two year contract extension worth $25 million with a team option for the 2016 season for $12 million.

I admit, going into this season, I could have cared less about R.A. Dickey, but like everybody else, he caught my attention this season.  I think he had an amazing year, and the fact that he’s a knuckleballer and was able to have the kind of season he had is incredible   I wish him the best of luck with the Blue Jays (just not against the A’s).

Second Chance

Second chances don’t come along too often, so for Adam Greenberg, his second chance took over seven years, but it’s finally here.

I remember seeing and hearing about Adam Greenberg’s major league debut on July 7, 2005.  That was quite possibly the worst debut that you could have, and you feel bad for the kid.  Greenberg was hit in the head by the first pitch, in his first at-bat of his career.  He never took the field.  That was his only time in a game, and many thought it would be his last.  Getting hit in the head with a baseball is never a good sign, but hitters are somewhat more protected than pitchers (case in point, Brandon McCarthy), however, a helmet isn’t going to do much against a 92 mph fastball.  I have seen players take a fastball to the helmet and have the helmet break, one A’s player got cut when the helmet broke.  Many hoped that Greenberg would be able to come back after a stint on the disabled list, but he suffered concussion symptoms and was sidelined for the remained of the season.  He never return to the Cubs, or the majors.

Today, however, Greenberg gets his second chance.  The Miami Marlins signed Greenberg to a one day contract after a petition was started online to get him his first official at bat.  As of yesterday, Marlins manager, Ozzie Guillen, had said that Greenberg would most likely put him in the game midway through, and was still up in the air about if he would be allowed to run the bases.  Originally, Guillen had said he was considering letting him bad lead off and start in left field before changing his mind.  The only thing standing Greenberg’s way of getting his first hit, the New York Mets are sending R.A. Dickey to the mound.  Dickey is going for win number 21 on the season, and has been another feel good story this year.

I wish Adam Greenberg luck, and I hope that he gets his first hit, and maybe play a little out in the field too.  Also, good luck to R.A. Dickey on his quest for win number 21.  This should be an exciting game to watch.

Home of the Brave(s)

I had a great time in Atlanta tonight at the Braves game.  The Braves beat the New York Mets 2-0, and with that win prevented the Nationals from clinching the NL East.  The Nationals, who beat the Cardinals in extra innings, have a magic number one and the Braves are trying to make them work for that.

The Braves are having fan appreciation weekend, as well as a farewell to Chipper Jones weekend.  This series is the final regular season home stand, and this weekend is drawing record crowds (Friday’s game was the second most in attendance in Turner Field history).  I met a few people who also traveled to come see Chipper Jones final home stand, and with good reason.  It’s the end of an era in a sense.

Well I’m off to bed, early flight back home after flying all day.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!