Royalty Tours USA

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Royalty w/o 4/25 in review

Yankee Stadium
Monday after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees play the Chicago White Sox who were making their only visit to the Stadium.

More importantly, I was able to show my co-worker Lauren DiGirolamo and her friend Caitlin the way to the Stadium. They went with me so needless to say they got to experience the royal way of doing things.
They got to the Stadium with relative ease. They were meeting people who had their tickets for them. I made sure they got where they needed to go then we parted ways.

As for me, it was great to be back in the Bronx where I was able to see familiar faces as I entered the ballpark as well as the ones on my way to my seat.

Nothing beats the feeling when you're in your own backyard and people treat you like you're really at home even though you're really at the ballyard.

That's why going to Yankee Stadium is such a pleasure for me. I know how fortunate and lucky I am when I go there.

When you want to go to the Stadium you should consult me so I can show you the right way to enjoy the experience, the royal way.

As for the game I saw, the White Sox got a dominant performance out of former Met farmhand Philip Humber who held the Yankees hitless for six and a third innings when A-Rod singled up the middle to break it up. Humber allowed the lone hit in seven innings of work.

The White Sox got a run off A.J. Burnett who pitched well for 8 innings but he suffered the loss as the White Sox went on to win, 2-0.

Tuesday night after work I went back to the Stadium for more royal treatment from the Stadium staff. In addition, I was treated to a pleasant surprise when I got to my seat because I got to see Vincent Ascanio who was there to see the game too. We got to catch up since we last saw each other at Citi Field when his father was the Mets season ticket holder of the game.

As for the game, this time the White Sox won again behind their starter Gavin Floyd who struck out 10 Yankees over 8 innings.Paul Konerko delivered a big blow when he hit a two run homer in the top of the eighth inning to gave the White Sox the lead. It should be noted that pinch runner Brent Lillibridge who played in the Atlanta Brave farm system, saved the game in rightfield. He went into the game and he made two great catches in the ninth inning to preserve the victory for the pale hose, 3-2. What a way to end the game as he caught a sinking line drive off the bat of Robinson Cano as he got his glove barely off the blades of grass to seal the deal.

That's an example of why it's always better to be there live. If you listen on the radio and/or watch on TV then you have to listen to the announcer describe to you what they saw. Most of the time, they over embellish it. If you're there live, you can draw your own conclusion and savor the moment for a lifetime. If and when somebody asks you about that particular game, you can say "I was there."

Wednesday night you know the drill. This time the outcome was different though. The Yankees won, 3-1.
This was another great game which lasted only a mere 2 hours and 11 minutes as Yankee starter Bartolo Colon rediscovered the fountain of youth as he pitched 8 brilliant innings. He pitched like the Bartolo Colon in his younger day.

Speaking of the past, back on March 31, 2002 the King and I saw him start the season in Anaheim when the Angels played Opening night against the Cleveland Indians, his former team. That night he threw a complete game shutout as the Tribe beat the Halos, 6-0.

Thursday night I decided to take the night off which is very rare considering the Yankees and White Sox were wrapping up their four game series in the Bronx.

In retrospect, it turned out to be a wise decision. The Yankees blew out the White Sox, 12-3 and I needed to recharge my batteries.

Friday night I returned to one of my many second homes for more baseball. The Toronto Blue Jays were visiting the Yankees for the first of their three trips to NYC this season.

Too bad our good friend Sean MacDonald who lives in Japan was out on the West Coast in California and Nevada wrapping up a three week excursion to the States following different sports. He's originally from Ottawa, Canada and his favourite team is the Blue Jays. Needless to say, he was with us in spirit. His Blue Jays on this night make him proud as they beat the Yankees, 5-3.

Jose Bautista, the 2010 Major League home run champion, had a single, a home run and he walked twice, one was intentional in the victory.

Stay tuned as I will write a special post about the royal getaway that the King and I took over the past weekend. As usual, it lived up to billing and then some.

As always, thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

2 comments:

Sean said...

Gary,

Thanks as always for the mention. Interesting coincidence: last year when we were all in Minnesota, I visited the hotel the White Sox were staying at and shared a short elevator ride with Lillibridge. Of course, I had no idea who he was at the time, but now that he's a SportsCenter stud, I'll be able to talk about it forever.

Sean

Gary Herman said...

Sean, no problem. You always deserve a mention on my blog. After all, you gave me the final push I needed to it started. As for Brent Lillibridge, ironically the King and I and company saw him play for the Richmond Braves in Norfolk,Virginia back on April 24, 2008. He's really a middle infielder by trade but he became an instant star in right field thanks to those catches. When you to a game, you never know what you're going to see.