Royalty w/o 7/22 in review

Monday night after work I went to Taste of Dolly's for a few slices of pizza on my way to Citi Field as the Mets opened a four game series with their division rival, the Atlanta Braves. When I arrived at the ballpark, I entered through the Rotunda gate and I was greeted by my pal Sam Citron. As always, it was a pleasure to see him.

When I got upstairs to section 516, I was joined by the King, Vincent Ascanio and Bryan Gilligan. In addition, we also had our pals Phil Butleman, Manny Morales, Pat Gorman, Alan Gimpel & Al Linderman on hand. Furthermore, in section 513 the Hooligan's were present and accounted for. It's always fun when they show up.

As for the game we saw, the Mets got a great start from starter Dillon Gee who threw seven shutout innings. He left the game with a 1-0 lead. The Met bullpen did its job in the eighth inning but in the ninth it sprung a leak as closer Bobby Parnell was unable to seal the deal. He allowed three hits and two runs to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. The Mets tried their best to tie or win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. With runners on first & second & two men out, Justin Turner pinch hit and he drove a ball to the gap that appeared to be good for at least one run if not two. Thanks to Jason Heyward of the Braves it was good for none. He made a great game saving catch to end the game as the Braves hung on to win, 2-1.

Tuesday night after work I went to Checker's for dinner before I returned to Citi Field for game two of the series with the Braves on Citi Tuesday. Every Tuesday night home game, the Mets offer their Citibank cardholders special discounts and a $10 gift card just for showing their card. Since the King & I have Citibank credit cards we get to take advantage of this unique perk.

After we went out to the booth near the Apple in center field, we went up to our perch in section 516 behind home plate to watch the game. This time we were joined by Manny Bonilla, David Sack, Phil Butleman & Frank Anichiarico.

As for the game we saw, it didn't start off well as Braves' shortstop Andrelton Simmons lead off the game with a home run to give the Braves a 1-0 lead off Mets' starter Carlos Torres. Luckily Torres settled in nicely as he proceeded to shutout the Braves for six innings. He even helped his own cause by getting a hit in the third inning that tied the game at one. The Mets added three more runs in the sixth inning which made a winner out of Torres as the Mets beat the Braves, 4-1 to even the series at a game a piece.

Wednesday night after work I stopped off at Subway & Carvel by Junction Blvd on my way back to Citi Field for game three. After I had a quality meal and a royal dessert, I got back on the 7 train and I went to the ballpark.

After saying hello to Sam again, I made my way up to the Promenade level in section 516 where I met up with the rest of the crew that were in attendance that night. I'm referring to David Sack, Manny Morales, Rich Wolber, Martin Caamano, Frank Anichiarico, Pat Gorman & Michael Abrams.

As for the game we saw, the Braves overpowered the Mets who were wearing orange jerseys with "Los Mets" on them in honor of Hispanic Heritage night. The Braves built a 6-0 thanks to the long ball. They got a solo homer from Evan Gattis in the second inning, a three run homer from Dan Uggla and a two run blast from Andrelton Simmons in the fifth inning which propelled them to an easy 8-2 victory over the Mets. Unfortunately for the Braves it turned out to be a painful night for them because they lost starting pitcher Tim Hudson who dominated the Mets for seven & two thirds innings. Hudson got spiked accidentally by the Mets' Eric Young Jr. on a play at first base.

Thursday night after work I went home to get a much needed night of relaxation. I made myself dinner and I watched some TV.

Friday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees play the red hot Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Before I went into the ballpark, I stopped off at the Court Deli Restaurant and I picked up a corned beef sandwich.

It should be noted that night marked the return to the Bronx for Alfonso Soriano who got traded back to the Yankees earlier in the day from the Chicago Cubs. He was in the starting line up.

When I got up to my seat in section 420B row 7, I was greeted by a fellow ballpark chaser, Ben Fallon who was there with his son Declan. Ben came up from the Washington DC area to visit his family who live on the Jersey Shore. It was nice of him to stop by to say hi. I met him last September for the first time when I went to Nationals Park. Speaking of Nats Town, stay tuned for a special post that I'm going to do that will recap the weekend I spent down there. It worked out well that I got to see Ben here because he wasn't going to be there.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees got beat up. CC Sabathia started and he got bombed. He gave up six runs in the second inning as the Rays batted around. He wound up giving up seven runs in five innings of work. The Yankees trailed, 10-1 after seven innings before they staged a late comeback attempt that fell short in the ninth inning as the Rays used four relief pitchers to finish off the Yankees, 10-6. The game took 3 hours and 44 minutes. It was painful to watch for any baseball fan. As for Alfonso Soriano, he was a non factor as he went hit less in five at bats.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Wrigley Field as roadtrippers reunite over Fourth of July weekend!

After the King, Dave Block & I got a much needed good night sleep, we drove towards Chicago. We made a pit stop at a royal restaurant first for breakfast. I'm talking about The Point Pancake House in Gurnee, Illinois. We weren't disappointed. I had my usual breakfast there which consisted of two charbroiled pork chops, eggs, fruit salad and pancakes. It was excellent. Dave & the King were also very satisfied as well.

Me & Dave Block Outside Wrigley Field

After we finished eating we drove to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs host the Pittsburgh Pirates that afternoon at 3:05PM local time. It worked out well. We got to the neighborhood early so we could park the car within walking distance for free at 1PM. We then proceeded to walk over to Wrigley Field. We went to the box office in hopes of getting some standing room tickets. They told us they weren't selling any. We asked what the cheapest tickets they had available were. They told us $51.52 in the upper deck with all the added taxes.
As a result, we decided to walk away and press our luck on the street instead. Luckily I ran into a guy who said he wanted $40 for a pair of tickets on the lower level in section 229. He said there were his season tickets. Without hesitation, I grabbed them for the King & I. We still needed one more for Dave. He wound up getting a single near us in the same section for $20 he said. Ironically I planned to meet some fellow roadtrippers at the game who had seats in section 130 which was right below where our seats were. I'm referring to Bob DeVries and his lovely wife Charlie. They were there with their friends Kristin & Dan who they introduced me to. It was great to see them again.

Me with Charlie & Bob DeVries

We also had another special treat on this day. Before the game started the 2013 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks brought the Stanley Cup to Wrigley Field. That was an added thrill. As part of the festivities, coach Joel Quenneville threw out the first pitch with the Cup resting by the pitcher's mound.

It was so cool to see the holy grail in baseball heaven. It was fitting indeed.

As for the game we saw, the Pirates scored first when third baseman Pedro Alvarez hit a solo homer to give the Buccos a 1-0 lead. The Cubs answered in the bottom of the fourth inning when Alfonso Soriano hit a two run homer to give the Cubs the lead, 2-1. In the fifth inning, Soriano did it again as he hit another two run blast to make it a 4-1 game. That's the way stayed as the Cubbies beat the red hot Pirates. By doing so, the natives got to sing the song Go Cubs Go as they made their way to exits.

After the game, on the way back to the car we stopped off at Artemio's Bakery and we got some cookies before we hit the road.

Dave along with the King and I  proceeded to drive to Indianapolis where we were spending the night before we continued on to Cincinnati to see the Reds play on Sunday afternoon.

Stay tuned for a special post that will go into further detail about that day.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman