Royalty Tours USA

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Marlins to open new Stadium on April 4th against the St. Louis Cardinals!

For more details:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/30/marlins-to-open-new-stadium-on-april-4-against-cardinals/

For all your planning and travel needs, I'm here if and when you need me.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, June 27, 2011

Royalty w/o 6/20 in review

After having a night off Monday night after work, I went to Citi Field Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Tuesday night I got to say hello to Gio Gonzalez before the game and Wednesday night I got to see him pitch for the first time in person live at the major league level.

On Tuesday, the Athletics took total advantage of Mets pitcher Dillon Gee who suffered his first loss of the season. He couldn't find the strike zone as he walked 6 batters in four innings of work.

As a result, the Mets fell behind and they couldn't catch up. They went on to lose to the A's, 7-3.

On the bright side, our friends Phil Butleman, Manny Morales and Vincent Ascanio were in the house so by having them there it made for a fun and enjoyable evening despite the walk-a-thon the Mets pitching staff provided for us on the field.

Wednesday night after going to Taste of Dolly's for a pre game dinner, I went back to Citi Field. With mother nature threatening to spoil my evening, the Mets covered the field with the tarp because they heard there was rain in the area. It turned out to be a wise decision because shortly after I sat down under the overhang, the sky opened up.

Luckily the rain cleared out and the game got delayed by only an hour and three minutes.

It was worth the wait for the start being that Gio Gonzalez was starting the game. He was opposed by the Mets' R.A. Dickey.

Both pitchers pitched great in this pitchers' duel. As it turned out, neither got a decision.

The Mets did take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning but K-Rod blew it in the ninth.

As a result, the game went into extra innings which made for a very long night. Fortunately the first nine innings went fast after the rain delay.

The Mets outlasted the Athletics in 13 innings, 2-1 thanks to Justin Turner getting hit by a pitch. What a way to end a terrific well played ballgame.

The game itself took 4 hours exactly.

Thankfully I was going home after work Thursday night since the Mets and A's were wrapping up their three game series in the afternoon.

Friday night after work I went up to Yankee Stadium to see the Colorado Rockies return to the Big Apple. This time they played the Yankees.

As I was getting ready to go into the ballpark some people asked me to take their picture so I gladly did so. They happened to be Rockie fans from Denver.

After I took their picture, I saw how mobbed it was to get into the Stadium so I told them to follow me in. That way little did they know they were getting royal treatment. They were so grateful. It was a family of four. Husband, wife, son and daughter. They thanked me and we shook hands and parted ways. The son did say and I quote "Thank you, sir". It was a pleasure to make their visit more memorable. After all, that's what royalty is all about.

As for the game, the Rockies wound up beating the Yankees for the first time on the road, 4-2.

The fans gave former Yankee Jason Giambi a nice warm ovation when he came up to bat for the first time. He proceeded to hit a bomb into the right field bleachers. He finished the game 3 for 4 and a walk.

Saturday morning I rented a car from Avis for the day so I could go to Yankee Stadium then we had a carload as we went to Philadelphia too to see a modern day two ballpark doubleheader. We've been doing these for many years.

Besides the King and I, our friends Bryan Gilligan, Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich and Phil Butleman took a royal ride to the City of Brotherly Love. Unlike most out of towners, royalty always feels the Philly love.

As for the games we saw, the Yankees bounced back from their "rockie" road and they beat the Rockies, 8-3 behind a solid 8 inning performance from their ace pitcher CC Sabathia.

It should be noted we were joined by our friend Larry Peim who happened to be in attendance.

In Philadelphia, we saw another good one. This time the Athletics returned to Philadelphia and they beat the Phillies, 4-1. Their starter Trevor Cahill pitched into the eighth inning to put the A's in position to win.

Sunday morning I returned the car and I wound up staying home because I had things to take care of at home unfortunately.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty hooks up with A's pitcher Gio Gonzalez at Citi Field!

Gio Gonzalez and I
On Tuesday, June 21st the Oakland Athletics made their first appearance at Citi Field as they played the Mets in the return of interleague play.

I raced out of work at 5:30PM so I could go right to Citi Field to catch the end of batting practice.
More importantly, my goal was to see A's pitcher Gio Gonzalez. He didn't make it easy but I still found a way to make it happen.

When I got into the ballpark I went down the left field line thinking that Gio would probably be near there.
I looked around and I didn't see him in that area. I proceeded to scan the rest of the outfield. I noticed a lefty way out in right field. I said to myself that's Gio.

I went up the to the concourse and I made my way over to where he was.

I yelled out to him and I got his attention. He instantly saw me and said hello. I told him I looking for him out in left field. He told me and I quote "I like to switch it up." He threw me a curve ball. After speaking to him from a short distance he told me to go near their dugout which was by the third base side. After batting practice, he said he would come over.

I listened to his instructions and I got as close to their dugout area as I could right by where they keep the tarp rolled up.

Gio true to his word came over once I got his attention. We shook hands and shot the breeze if you will. Honestly speaking, Gio is one of the nicest baseball players you'll ever meet. In my eyes, he's a class act. He signed autographs for all the youngsters that were around me. One of them said and I quote "he's been here for 20 minutes."

I had an Athletics pocket schedule that had a picture of him on it that he signed for me. In addition, he also signed my scorebook.

I've gotten his autograph a number of times over the last few years but I never realized that he writes with his right hand. He's a lefty pitcher and he bats righty which is rather odd. I happen to be a straight up lefty myself. I write, throw and bat lefty.

In my conversation with him, I told him the best pitch he threw this year was when he hit Derek Jeter. He said and I quote "I really didn't want to do that." He's a true professional. Gio has had his bouts with wildness on the mound so it's understandable that the pitch got away from him.

Speaking of his pitching, I finally got to see his pitch live in the major leagues for the very first time on Wednesday. I've always had the misfortune in the past of missing him pitch by a day. Lucky for me that didn't happen this time around.

Gio knew I was in the building so he wanted to really impress me. Well did he ever. I told him on Tuesday night when I saw him he needed to cut down on his walks. Apparently, I got my message across.

Wednesday night, Gio was amazing. He pitched great. He threw a seven pitch 1,2,3 first inning. In the second inning, he was a little shaky after he made a tremendous athletic play at first base catching a horrible throw from teammate Conor Jackson who tried to get Gio killed as the King said. Gio caught the ball and still managed to touch the bag for the first out of the inning. He then ran into some trouble but he was able to minimize the damage only allowing the Mets to score just one run. The score stayed that way until catcher Kurt Suzuki hit a solo home run to tie the game for the Athletics in the fifth inning at one. Gio pitched seven beautiful innings but since he left with the game tied he didn't get a decision for effort.

As for his overall performance, I gave him an "A". He was brilliant. He throw 102 pitches and 69 of them for strikes. If you take into account, how wild he's been at times this season, this performance was a stellar one for him. He walked none and he struck out eight. I just hope he can repeat this every time out going forward. If so, he will be a great pitcher for many years to come. Time will tell.

I hope to see Gio again when the A's come to Yankee Stadium in July and/or August.

I want to personally thank Gio for taking the time to see me and his other fans.

I hope he gets a nice contract extension real soon. He's one of the few I hope gets a well deserved payday. He's worked very hard to be where he is and he should be rewarded properly.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Stay tuned for the rest of my week of 6/20 in review.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 6/27

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday June 28th Brewers at Yankees 7:05PM

Wednesday June 29th Brewers at Yankees 7:05PM

Friday July 1st Yankees at Mets 7:10PM

Saturday July 2nd Yankees at Mets 4:10PM

Sunday July 3rd Yankees at Mets 1:10PM

Check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned for my w/o 6/20 in review.

In addition, I'll be doing another special post on Gio Gonzalez of the Oakland Athletics.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should be always be in touch. Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, June 23, 2011

2011-2012 NHL Schedule

To all my readers and followers,

The 2011-2012 NHL schedule has been released.

Please see the link below for all the details:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=69865&navid=mod-rr-headlines

Just click on your favorite team's logo.

Here's the day by version too.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2011-06-23-day-by-day-nhl-schedule_n.htm

**Please note times are listed as EASTERN TIME so if you live in a different time zone please take that into account**

If you need any assistance don't hesitate to ask or consult me that's why this blog is here.

If I can make a difference in your life I will, all I ask for is a fair opportunity to do so.

Stay tuned for my upcoming hockey road trips as well as other creative ones that others may be interested in taking.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, June 20, 2011

Royalty w/o 6/13 in review

Monday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees wrap their four game series with the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees were looking for the sweep but they couldn't even score a run as they lost, 1-0 to the Tribe who managed to salvage a game after losing the first three over the weekend.

The Yankees lost more than a game on this night though. Their Captain, Derek Jeter who lead off the game with a hit, wound up injuring his calf after he batted in the fifth inning. Our friend Bryan Gilligan noticed Jeter coming up lame.

As a result, the road to 3K has been temporary derailed for a few weeks as Jeter was placed on the 15 day disabled list.

During the game, newcomer and big fan of royalty, Michael Longo stopped by the "royal" box as he calls it to say hello. It was great to see him again.

Tuesday night I was back at Yankee Stadium to see the return of the Texas Rangers to the Bronx which was delayed by rain at the start.

On paper it looked like a great pitching matchup with CC Sabathia going against rookie sensation Alexi Ogando who had a record of 7-0 coming in.

Back on April 17th, the Yankees roughed up Ogando for five runs in six and a third innings but he didn't get a decision in that game.

This time the Yankees lit him up for six in one and two thirds innings as they handed him his first major league loss. They went on to beat up the Rangers, 12-4. It should be noted the Yankees hit three homers after going a few games without hitting any.

Our friend Steve Tepperman was in the house as he stopped by to say hello. We also had my friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich with us as well.

Wednesday night I went back more for batting practice as it turned out in the Bronx. The Yankees used the long ball to fuel the fire again on this night. They hit five more home runs. Mark Teixeira hit two of the them. Eduardo Nunez celebrated his birthday by hitting one in the absence of the Captain. Ramiro Pena who was recalled from the minors added his first of the season and Robbie Cano finished the barrage with a three run blast as the Yankees cruised to another 12-4 victory.

Thursday night after work I went home after work to rest up and to recharge the batteries.

Friday night I went out to Citi Field after work as interleague play returned as the Angels came to Citi Field for the first time to play the Mets. The game was delayed at the outset thanks to mother nature again.

As for the game, the Angels had a 4-2 lead after they broke a 2-2 tie late in this one. The Mets chipped away to cut the lead to 4-3 as they headed to the bottom of the ninth inning when the Halos called on their closer Jordan Walden to come in to seal the deal. He allowed the first two batters he faced to get on base by giving up a walk and a hit. He proceeded to strike out the next three batters he faced using his nasty slider as the Angels came away with the win.

As a result, he preserved the victory for starter Joel Pineiro who picked up his 100th win of his major league career.

Royalty had company as our pal, Vincent Ascanio was present and accounted for.

After the game, we went to Donovan's Pub to indulge in a post game meal.

Saturday night I went back for more Mets torchure. Thanks to Mike Pelfrey it turned out to be rare treat. He went the distance as the Mets cruised to an easy victory, 6-1.

More importantly, royalty had plenty of love in the stands as Vincent Ascanio also came back for more, his friend Rich Warnock and his father were in the house too. We also had our boys Manny Bonilla and Arjun Lal there with us. Last but definitely not least, our pal Manny Morales stopped by to say hello.

It wound up being a great night out. After the Met win, we went back to Donovan's Pub to celebrate this time.

Sunday afternoon I spent Father's Day at the old ballyard. Unfortunately my Dad couldn't make the game but we went out for dinner afterwards instead.

As for the game, the Mets reverted back to their losing ways. They fell behind 7-0 and they woke up too little too late as they added three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lose to the Angels, 7-3 in the rubber match of the three game set.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 6/20

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday June 21st Athletics at Mets 7:10PM

Wednesday June 22nd Athletics at Mets 7:10PM

Friday June 24th Rockies at Yankees 7:05PM

Saturday June 25th Rockies at Yankees 1:05PM

                              Athletics at Phillies 7:05PM

Check back to see how it played out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned for my w/o 6/13 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

In addition, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should be always be in touch. Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Royalty discovers a new way to travel thanks to road tripper, Darren O'Donnell!

Over the years, I've seen many live sporting events home and away. I've taken different modes of transportation such as buses, trains, planes and automobiles.

Earlier today I came across a story on tampabay.com about a person who's doing it a little differently. He's in the midst of going to all 30 major league baseball stadiums over 170 days this season. He's doing it by riding a bike. Yes, you read right.

His name is Darren O'Donnell. He's from Bellingham, Washington which is about 100 miles north of Seattle and just before the Canadian border that goes into British Columbia.

He can be found on Twitter @Baseball_Biking. I'm following him. I suggest that you do too.

In addition, there's a link on his facebook page where he has his planned schedule of games he's attending. Go to facebook.com and search for Baseball Biking Tour.

Due to the nature of his transportation mode, he has the games spaced out so he can have enough time to logistically get from one place to another.

I did get in contact with him and I offered my assistance if and when he needs it. Being a road warrior myself, I can tell what to expect along the way.

I plan to meet and greet him at Citi Field on August 10th when the Mets play the Padres at 7:10PM.

He did his research and he found out that this has been done before. Someone did it in back in 2004 and somebody else did it last year in 2010 he said.

He's a huge baseball fan and he hopes to get into the front office of a major league team someday. He's planning to use this adventure to get his foot in the door.

This is the first time I've ever heard of anybody doing it that way.

He's giving me inspiration to someday give it a try.

His "royal" ride started back on April 8th in Seattle and he's planning to finish it in St. Louis on September 25th.

If he happens to be in your area, I strongly suggest that you try to meet him. I personally can't wait.

He glanced at my blog and he said and I quote "I'm living the dream".

I think he's living a dream. That's quite a way to get around North America.

In life, we all have different needs and wants. The key is to enjoy the ride. The more people you can meet who share a similar interest the better life becomes.

Today, I can honestly say my life got better.

As time goes on, I hope that trend continues.

I love when people think I'm crazy. They make be right but at least I'm having the time of my life.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Royalty gets a visit from people we know from St. Louis, Missouri!

Angie and Don Steiger with the Prince 
A few years ago thanks to our friend Phil Butleman, who got to meet a gentleman named Don Steiger who was visiting the old Yankee Stadium. It turned out that Don was visiting NYC from St. Louis.

He told Phil that he was looking to bring his son with him the next time. His son Donnie was getting married. So as a farewell to total freedom he decided to take Donnie to NYC in the summer of 2009 to see their  St. Louis Cardinals play the Mets at Citi Field. Phil told them to get in contact with me.

They did and I arranged to get them tickets for the Met games against the Cardinals that they wanted. They were so grateful.

Last year we got to visit them in St. Louis as they arranged to get us tickets for a Cardinal game.

It was great to see them again. Over the winter, Don wrote me and said he was planning to bring his daughter Angie to NYC for the very first time.

Don said he was looking to come in June and he wanted to see the New Yankee Stadium.

I once again arranged to accomodate his needs and wants. I made sure they got tickets for a few Yankee games against the Cleveland Indians.

They took my advice and they went to the Carnegie Deli and they had themselves a hearty meal while they were here.

I guess next year it will be our turn to go back to the Gateway to the West to see them again.

We'll wait and see about that.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 6/6 in review

After a night off after work Monday night I braced myself for the return of the Red Sox to Yankee Stadium.
In addition, we had company from the West Coast as our friend Steve Fekete aka The Padre Punk came to NYC to see the new Yankee Stadium for the first time.

Apparently he packed his broom as the Red Sox proceeded to sweep the Yankees. He happens to like the Red Sox too so he definitely picked the right time to visit.

The Red Sox built big leads early to beat the Yankees Tuesday and Wednesday night.

On Wednesday night, we had another royal treat as our friend Vincent Ascanio got shown the royal way of entry into Yankee Stadium. He met his Michael Longo inside and he introduced to him. He told me that Michael was a big fan of my blog. It was a pleasure to meet this young man who refers to where we sit as the "royal box".

As for Thursday night, the game didn't start until 10:32PM thanks to mother nature. I was forced to leave after 5 innings at 12:11AM. I needed to get home to get some sleep so I could function for work in the morning. The Yankees were winning, 2-0 when I left. The Red Sox woke up and whipped the Yankees, 8-3.

Steve left town as he continued his baseball road trip by going to Chicago for the weekend to see the White Sox play.

The surprising Cleveland Indians came to visit the Yankees for a wraparound weekend series.

Steve left NYC and our friend Don Steiger and his daughter Angie came to visit from St. Louis. Stay tuned as I'm going to do a special post on them.

Friday night the Yankees woke up as the Tribe came to town for the first time this season. They looked like the same old Indians as the Yankees tossed them a drawn out beating, 11-7.

The highlight of the night was after the game when we went to Donovan's Pub for a post game meal.

Saturday afternoon I went back to the Bronx for more. Surprisingly the weather was miserable. Luckily they managed to get the game in. The Yankees won again, 4-0.

Royalty entertained more company as we had our friends Phil Butleman and Steve Tepperman in the house. In addition, our pal Vincent Ascanio was back this time he brought another friend with him, Rich Warnock who was looking forward to meeting me.

He's another young man who's looking to fulfill his dream. He said he's going to Chicago next month with his aunt to see Wrigley Field. I told him that the Twins are home in Minnesota too that weekend. I'm hoping to arrange for them to take a ride to the Twin Cities so they can pick up another ballpark.

Sunday I was originally planning to go back to Yankee Stadium but I had to take care of things at home so I decided to pass it up. I'm sorry if I let my fan club down but I have bigger fish to fry down the road.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 6/13

Here's the game plan:

Monday June 13th Indians at Yankees 7:05PM

Tuesday June 14th Rangers at Yankees 7:05PM

Wednesday June 15th Rangers at Yankees 7:05PM

Friday June 17th Angels at Mets 7:10PM

Saturday June 18th Angels at Mets 7:10PM

Sunday June 19th Angels at Mets 1:10PM

Happy Father's Day to all of the Dads who follow and read along.
Check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned for my w/o 6/6 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should be always be in touch. Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Prince of Royalty Tours USA saying "Play Ball" at Citi Field on June 4, 2011!

Royalty w/o 5/30 in review

Mets Season Ticket Holder of the Game
I lived at Citi Field for the whole week except for Thursday afternoon because I was doing something called work.

Monday night the Mets had a nice military salute and tribute for all the brave men and women who have and continue to protect our country day in and day out. We're always proud to be Americans everyday but Memorial Day is one of those days that patriotism takes on more meaning.

On this night, the Mets built a lead against the Pittsburgh Pirates only to have the score tied up at the seventh inning stretch.

Apparently the Mets were inspired by the special rendition of God Bless America in honor of Memorial Day. They stormed back to retake the lead by scoring two in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth and they held on to beat the Pirates, 7-3 sending the crowd home happy.

It should be noted the Hooligan's were in attendance as well. They provided their usual added entertainment as they sang their songs as the Mets batted.

Tuesday night the Mets scored a run in the first inning. Unfortunately they didn't score anymore. They wound up giving up three runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth as they fell to the improving Pirates, 5-1.

It should be noted that Pirate rookie Josh Harrison made his major league debut and he got his first major league hit.

Wednesday night I was back for more punishment as it turned out. The Mets had a 2-0 lead going into the seventh inning when the Pirates broke through on the Mets again. They scored five runs in the inning. They added four more in the eighth to put the game away. The Mets added one more as they lost this one, 9-3.

We did have a special surprise guest on this night so it wasn't a total loss or waste of time. The King's half brother Charlie Casiano stopped by to say hello. It was a pleasure to see him again. Hopefully he'll join us for a road trip in the near future.

Thursday night I got a break from watching Mets baseball. After those last two games, it couldn't have come at a better time.

Friday night I went back to see if they could win again in front of me. This time their division rival, the Atlanta Braves who were visiting Citi Field for the first time this season.

The Mets once again had a lead until the late innings. This time they were up 3-1. Their starter Jonathon Niese pitched well before he was taken out of the game with two outs in the eighth inning. The bullpen allowed the Braves to tie the game after Niese departed. Jason Isringhausen was victimized this time. In the ninth inning, they brought in Francisco Rodriguez aka K-Rod in to keep the game tied. He failed to do so. He got hit hard this time as the Braves chopped him up as they scored three more runs to take game one of the series, 6-3.

Saturday night was different in more ways than one. The week before my ticket representative for the Mets, Michael Parton arranged for me to be selected as the Mets Season Ticket of the Game. I got to say the two words baseball fans long to hear before the game starts. That being "Play Ball." It was a thrill and an honor to do so.

I must have inspired the Mets who wound up scoring five runs in the seventh inning to break open a scoreless game. They amazingly hung on to win, 5-0. Dillon Gee pitched seven shutout innings to improve his record to 6-0.

It should be noted our fan club in section 516 was in the house supporting me. I also had Vincent Ascanio who took the great picture of me on the scoreboard as you can see and his father Ralph was with him for this special occasion.

Sunday the Mets and Braves wrapped up their three game series at night thanks to ESPN which decided to take the game. As a result, Citi Field looked a lot less crowded than it would have been for a day game.
Those of us including our pals Manny Bonilla and Arjun Lal who decided to show up got treated by the Mets as they had early 6-0 lead. Despite that they still tried their best to blow the game. Thankfully they held on again to win, 6-4.

In the future, if you plan to come to Citi Field let me know so we can arrange to hook up.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Royalty schedule w/o 6/6

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday June 7th Red Sox at Yankees 7:05PM

Wednesday June 8th Red Sox at Yankees 7:05PM

Thursday June 9th Red Sox at Yankees 7:05PM

Friday June 10th Indians at Yankees 7:05PM

Saturday June 11th Indians at Yankees 1:05PM

Sunday June 12th Indians at Yankees 1:05PM

Check back to see how it played out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned for my w/o 5/30 in review.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should be always be in touch. Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Royalty meets up with Jason Grilli, the baseball player and businessman!

Jason Grilli
Back in March, a friend of ours, Jean Ann Harrison, was on Twitter. She was tweeting about the Syracuse basketball team. She noticed a baseball player was cheering for her team. She decided to reach out to him and it started a dialogue on how they became 'Cuse fans. Ironically she found out that he grew up a few towns away from where she grew up. One thing lead to another and now their business partners.

Jean Ann was working crazy hours and she needed a change in her life. She's happens to be a technology guru.

By joining forces with Jason Grilli, who has pitched in the major leagues in the past for the Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers and the Colorado Rockies she's planning on her enjoying life more than ever before.

Jason injured his knee and missed the 2010 season and he's on the road to return to the major leagues. With that being said, he signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies before spring training started. By doing so, he was assigned to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the Phillies Triple A affiliate in the International League.

He has pitched great so far this season. He has a nasty sinker that's been clocked at 98 MPH. His earned run average is a mere one run per nine innings. With that being said, it only a matter of time before he gets his call up back to the Major Leagues.

Fortunately for us, he hasn't gotten that call just yet, but he did get a call from his partner Jean Ann and she told him that her friends we're going to be in Allentown, PA. He told her I'll leave them tickets for the game. All they have to do is go to the will call window to pick them up. Upon our arrival at the ballpark, four tickets were waiting for us.

What a nice gesture that was by Jason. Once we got inside the park, we went out to the bullpen to find him so we could personally thank him and we wished him good luck on his return.

In the meantime, off the field Jason decided to start his own business called Perfect Pitch Marketing.

Their focus is to "strike out the competition" by offering to help local business owners who want to have a strong presence in online searches by utilizing mobile techniques.

They plan to make money by servicing their clients through mobile websites. They monitor web presence and keep track of the statistics so when they meet up with their clients once a month they can tell them how they can optimize their business further.

If you're interested in this great opportunity, let me know and I'll get you in contact with Jean Ann so she can get you all the details so you can pursue it at your convenience.

With all the technological breakthroughs these days, going mobile is the way to succeed going forward. Your cell phone is just as important as your keys and your wallet when you leave home to take on the world everyday.

This is a new trend that's in the beginning stages. When it takes off, you'll be right in the middle of it. The future is bright. Wait and see.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 5/23 in review

View from section 336 at Camden Yards
Monday after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees host the Toronto Blue Jays.

Outside the ballpark, the King and I met up with our friend Manny Morales who was going to the game as well. Manny doesn't go to Yankee Stadium too often so we showed him how royalty enters the ballpark.
He was impressed with how easy it was to get in. He said he usually waits on a long line when he's on his own.

Now he knows how to do it for his next visit.

It was a pleasure to educate him on how it's done. When you live the life of royalty, you earn privileges from plenty of years of practice. It has become routine for us to learn the tricks of the trade. It's our way of beating out the competition.

As for the game we saw that night, the Blue Jays roughed up Yankee starter Bartolo Colon as they went on to beat the Yankees, 7-3.

Tuesday night I was back in the Bronx for game two of the series. The Blue Jays appeared to have a handle on this game. They lead 4-1 after seven innings thanks to great pitching from their starter Ricky Romero.
In the eighth inning, they decided to turn the game over to their bullpen. That proved to be a mistake as they gave up a pair of runs in the eighth and ninth innings to give the Yankees the 5-4 victory.

Mark Teixeira delivered the game winning hit after Curtis Granderson tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. Yankee starter CC Sabathia wound up going the distance and he earned the win as a result.

Wednesday night after work I went home to rest up since the Yankees played an afternoon game.

Thursday I wound up taking off from work and I rented a car from Avis for the day.

The King and I and our friends Phil Butleman and Al Linderman decided to take in a baseball doubleheader.
First we drove to Baltimore, Maryland to see the Orioles play the Kansas City Royals at Camden Yards in the afternoon.

Camden Yards is the Wrigley Field of the new retro ballparks that started the trend back in 1992. If you haven't had the luxury of seeing a game there I strongly suggest that someday you do.

This was my 79th game there. In addition, I've seen at least one there every year since it opened back in 1992.

Over the years, they've upgraded the scoreboards to stay up with the latest in technology. In addition, this time I noticed they fixed up many of their concession stands too. It's nice to see a great place get better over the years.

If the Orioles can get back to their winning ways from when this ballpark opened back in the 90's, Camden Yards can and will become the destination again for baseball in the Baltimore area on a regular basis. Unlike many of the newer ballparks, Camden Yards can hold up to 49,000 people.

As for the game we saw, the Orioles and Royals supplied plenty of offense early as the game was tied at 5 in the fourth inning. It remained that way as the game wound up going into extra innings. The Orioles blew a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the eleventh inning. They eventually won it in the twelfth inning when Vladimir Guerrero delivered the game winning single up the middle to give the Orioles a 6-5 decision.

Since the game went so long we had to hustle to get to our next game which was in Allentown, Pennsylvania, home of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.

We had to drive 170 miles through rush hour traffic to make a 7:05PM first pitch. That was asking the impossible.

I did my best to get us there as soon as I could. We wound up arriving at 7:35PM. We were fortunate that our friend Jean Ann Harrison was able to arrange to have tickets left for us by her friend, business partner and Iron Pigs pitcher Jason Grilli. I had to go to will call and pick them up. We were very grateful.

Stay tuned for the special post that I'm going to do regarding the business they just started up together.

As for the game, since we arrived late we missed the Iron Pigs three run first inning when former major leaguers Pete Orr and Brandon Moss each homered to give the Iron Pigs all the offense they needed on this night as they hung on to beat the Rochester Red Wings, 3-2.

Friday I went back to work and afterwards I went out to Citi Field to see the Mets take on their division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Mets had a 3-2 lead after 7 innings. In the eighth inning, the Phillies tied the game thanks to a double by shortstop Jimmy Rollins. In the ninth inning, with the game tied the Mets called on their closer Francisco Rodriguez aka K-Rod to keep it that way. Unfortunately, the Phillies broke through and they scored three runs to beat the Mets who added a run in the bottom of the ninth inning, 6-4.

In fairness to K-Rod, the Phillies didn't hit him hard but they found the holes and they found a way to capitalize on their opportunity.

Saturday night I went to back to Citi Field. It turned out to be a replay if you will. The Mets lead this time, 2-1 after 7 innings as Mike Pelfrey pitched well. Once again the Mets bullpen failed as the Phillies got a tying hit from second baseman Chase Utley and then their clean up hitter Ryan Howard delivered a two run single to give the Phillies the lead in the eighth inning. They added another run as they beat the Mets, 5-2.

Sunday afternoon I went back for more. Luckily this time the Mets build a 8-0 lead after two innings and they managed to hold on and they salvaged a game from the Phillies, 9-5.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman