Royalty w/o 6/17 in review

Opening Night at Richmond County Ballpark

Monday after work I took the Staten Island Ferry from Lower Manhattan to Richmond County Ballpark at St. George, the home of the Staten Island Yankees. They're the single A affiliate of the New York Yankees in the NY-Penn League which is a very low level league. A lot of players who just got drafted go to play in this league and/or similar ones across the country.

It was Opening night as the Baby Yankees were hosting their interborough rivals, the Brooklyn Cyclones who are the Mets' single A farm team.

Before I went over to the ballpark, I stopped off at Subway in the Ferry Terminal. I had my pre game meal there. When I finished I met up with my pal Vincent Ascanio who got me a $10 ticket for the game. We then we went inside to see the game. We were joined by a few familiar faces as Michael Abrams and Rich Wolber were also in attendance.

As for the game we saw, the Staten Island Yankees took advantage of a throwing error by Cyclones' third baseman Anthony Chavez which allowed two runs to score. They managed to make them stand up as they held off the Cyclones, 2-1. James Roche of the Cyclones hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to slice the lead in half. It should be noted that we saw L.J. Mazzilli, son of former Met & Yankee Lee Mazzilli play his first professional game. He was drafted by the Mets out of UCONN. He also got his first professional hit, a single to left center field in the 4th inning.

Tuesday night after work I went up to the Bronx in hopes of seeing the Yankees play the Los Angeles Dodgers for the first time in the Bronx since the 1981 World Series. In addition, it marked the return of Don Mattingly to the Bronx. The former Yankee player is now the manager of the Dodgers. Unfortunately mother nature dampened those plans as she decided to rain at the wrong time. I wound up meeting up with Vincent Ascanio again. We went to Burger King to have dinner. While we were eating we found out the game was called off.

After we ate, we headed home. I wound up watching the sixth game of the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat on TV.

Wednesday I was working so I couldn't make it to the make up game that afternoon between the Yankees and the Dodgers. The Yankees beat them, 6-4. However after work I did go back up to the Bronx for the regularly scheduled game. Before I went into Yankee Stadium, I stopped off at the Court Deli Restaurant and I picked up sandwiches for the King & I. He had roast beef and I had corned beef.

Me & Megabus Matt at Yankee Stadium

When I finally went into the Stadium, I went up to my seat in section 420B row 7 where I was greeted by the King, Vincent Ascanio and a special guest. I'm referring to Matthew Weil aka Megabus Matt who was back in town after taking some exhausting bus rides down south to Atlanta, Tampa & Miami. It was great to see him again as he continued his 25 games in 25 days tour on Megabus. A few days later he finished his journey and he had some spare change left from his $700 budget. Thanks to modern technology, he was able to keep a running account of his expenses. I was happy to see that he achieved his goal. I told him I hope to see him again in August when the King & I go out to the West Coast.

As for the game we saw, the Dodgers came out hitting. They got straight singles of Yankee starter Phil Hughes. They wound up scoring two runs. They added some more as the game went on. Yasiel Puig, the sensational rookie hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to close out the scoring as the Dodgers beat the Yankees, 6-0. Former Met Chris Capuano threw six shutout innings to pick up the victory.

Thursday night after work I returned to Yankee Stadium as the Yankees opened up a four game weekend series with their division rival, the Tampa Bay Rays. Before I went inside, I stopped off at the New Sunflower Chinese restaurant for my pre game meal. I had fried scallops and fries.

As for the game we saw, the Rays smacked around Yankee starter Andy Pettitte. They wound up getting five runs off of him in his six and two thirds innings of work. Evan Longoria was the difference as he hit a sacrifice fly and two home runs. Yunel Escobar also went deep for the Rays as they went on to beat the Yankees, 8-3. on the bright side for the Yankees, rookie Zoilo Amonte who pinch hit for Vernon Wells got his first major league hit. He hit the third base bag with the ball and it caromed into left field.

Friday night after work I went back for game two of the series between the Yankees and the Rays.

As for the game we saw, Zoilo Amonte picked up where he left off Thursday night. He got three more hits which included his first major league home run in the sixth inning. He also came out for a curtain call per the fan's request. Joe Girardi told him to go ahead out of the dugout. The Yankees went on to beat the Rays, 6-2.

After the game, our pal Bryan Gilligan drove the King & I to Donovan's Pub where we had a post game meal. I wound up having roast turkey since they were out of pork chops.

Saturday morning I got up early and I did my laundry before I went back to Yankee Stadium for game three of the four game series between the Yankees and the Rays. We were joined by Bryan Gilligan, Vincent Ascanio, Rich Wolber and Pat Gorman this time.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees built a 3-1 lead with their ace CC Sabathia on the mound. Then in the sixth inning, CC got hit around. The Rays took the lead, 5-3 thanks to rookie Wil Myers who hit his first major league home run, a grand slam no less. The Yankees responded in the bottom of the seventh inning as they got a bases loaded walk to David Adams to cut the lead to 5-4. Then Vernon Wells pinch hit and hit a three run double to give the Yankees the lead for good as they went on to beat the Rays, 7-5. In the process, CC Sabathia picked up his 199th career win despite allowing five runs in seven innings of work.

After we left the Bronx, Bryan Gilligan drove the King, Vincent Ascanio and I to MCU Park in Coney Island, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones. They were hosting the Aberdeen Ironbirds, the Baltimore Orioles farm club.

We were joined by David Sack, Al Linderman, Michael Abrams & William Frank Guthrie.

As for the game we saw, the Ironbirds got eight shutout innings of three hit ball from their starter Sebastian Vader. He left the game winning, 4-0. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the bullpen imploded and they cost him a victory as the Cyclones rallied to tie the game at four. The game went extra innings but the Ironbirds wound up getting a game winning single from their third baseman Kristopher Richards in the tenth inning to beat the Cyclones, 5-4.

After the game, Bryan wanted to go back to Donovan's Pub for another post game meal. So the King & I decided to join him. This time I ordered chicken parm and spaghetti. It was delicious.

Sunday the King and I back to Yankee Stadium to see the finale of the four game series between the Yankees and the Rays. In addition, it was their 67th annual Oldtimer's Day as they welcomed back Yankee legends from years past.

The King and I got there close to game time so we missed the pre game festivities.

We had our pals Larry Peim and Al Linderman there with us.

As for the game we saw, Ivan Nova made a rare start and he pitched well for the Yankees. He allowed three runs over six and two thirds innings. The Yankee offense only managed to score one run as the Rays beat the Yankees, 3-1. James Loney hit a two run single in the seventh inning that broke a 1-1 tie to give the Rays the victory. As a result, they split the four game series.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman