Royalty is hitting the road again to Baltimore, Dayton, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Reading & Washington DC over the first weekend in August!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car from Avis Rent A Car on Thursday August 3rd for five days to start the month of August off in royal fashion.

STAMPeders Meet & Greet Autographs

I'll be driving down to Baltimore, Maryland, Dayton & Cincinnati, Ohio, Pittsburgh & Reading, Pennsylvania & Washington DC to see some Major League & Minor League Baseball games before returning to NYC early Tuesday morning. The centerpiece of this journey will be in Dayton & Cincinnati. Thanks to a gentleman named Tim Parks, the creator & founder of these Baseball Passports, I'm privileged & honored to take part in a large gathering with other people I know & others who I'll finally get to meet & greet in person. This unique get together is referred to as a Stampede. It's where those of us who attend a baseball game prefer to leave our marks in the form of a stamp that validates that we were physically in a ballpark on a particular day when a baseball game was played. I look forward to sharing stories & teaching others how I've done my best to perfect the stamping process. As a result, I've been given the nickname "Stamp Champ". Every stamp has a story, good, bad or indifferent. All our stamps are unique to our own experiences. We all play by our own rules so regardless of what others may think, in our eyes it's done right. The memories we make can be shared with others as time goes on. Being a person who loves to document my whereabouts, I feel this a perfect way to remember all the great times I've had by going to a ballpark. You never know when you're going to see history made. I feel people who have families & young children benefit the most. These different Passport books create a bond for these people to share memories that they can pass on from generation to generation. The same can be said for friends. Anytime you spend at a ballpark always beats a great day at work.               
             
Thursday August 3rd Tigers at Orioles 7:05PM

Friday August 4th Great Lakes Loons at Dayton Dragons 7PM                                  

Saturday August 5th Cardinals at Reds 7:10PM

Sunday August 6th  Padres at Pirates 1:35PM

Monday August 7th Akron Rubber Ducks at Reading Fightin Phils 9:35AM

                                  Marlins at Nationals 7:05PM 
           
If you're interested in going on this exclusive getaway royalty style just let me know so I can arrange to have you join me as well as the rest of the very special people I'm planning to meet along the way.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is heading to out to the Midwest to see baseball over Fourth of July weekend!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car from Avis for the first week of July.

We'll be driving out to Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Reading, Pennsylvania & Washington DC to see some major league & minor league baseball over the weekend before returning to NYC late Monday night.

Thursday July 2nd Cubs at Mets 1:10PM

                               Rangers at Orioles 7:05PM

Friday July 3rd Marlins at Cubs 1:20PM Central Time

                          Orioles at White Sox 7:10PM Central Time

Saturday July 4th Orioles at White Sox 1:10PM Central Time

                             Marlins at Cubs 6:15PM Central Time

Sunday, July 5th Brewers at Reds 1:10PM

Monday, July 6th Trenton Thunder at Reading Fightin Phils 9:35AM

                             Reds at Nationals 7:05PM
                
If you're interested in going on this exclusive getaway royalty style just let me know so I can arrange to have you join the King & I.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is on the road again over the first weekend in June!

Here's the game plan:

The King is renting a car from Dollar Rent A Car for the first week of June.

We'll be driving us out to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Reading, Pennsylvania & Baltimore to see some major league & minor league baseball over the weekend before returning to NYC late Monday night.

Saturday June 7th Brewers at Pirates 4:05PM

Sunday, June 8th Phillies at Reds 1:10PM

Monday, June 9th Richmond Flying Squirrels at Reading Fightin Phils 9:35AM

                             Red Sox at Orioles 7:05PM
                
If you're interested in going on this exclusive getaway royalty style just let me know so I can arrange to have you join the King & I.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 7/23 in review

Gio Gonzalez up at Bat

After work Monday night I raced over to Citi Field hoping to catch up with Gio Gonzalez of the Washington Nationals since his team was in town to play the Mets who finally returned home after a miserable road trip after the All-Star break. Just like the Mets I had no such luck. Since it rained for a little while late in the afternoon I knew batting practice may have been cancelled. When I got inside Citi Field shortly after 6PM, the field was deserted except for some members of the grounds crew who were getting the field ready for the game.

When I got down to the railing, I heard a guy tell his son that the Yankees just traded for Ichiro Suzuki. I was surprised at first then I realized you can never have enough depth these days. With all the injuries, it makes sense to carry extra bodies. In my eyes, it would have been nice to see Ichiro stay with the Mariners but in this day and age, it's figures he waived his no trade clause so he could have a chance to win.
As for the Yankees, it was a good business decision even if he's old and washed up. He will help sell tickets and merchandise. It was a low risk move for them.

As for me, after I missed out on an opportunity to see Gio again, I went up towards my seat in section 516. Before I went to sit down, I decided to stop off and get something to eat at Blue Smoke where they have pulled pork sandwiches and ribs. I've had the pulled pork in the past which was excellent. This time I decided to try the ribs. They were amazing to say the least. I'm glad I decided to get them.

After I ate, I watched the Mets play the Nationals along with the King, Vincent Ascanio and David Sack who came back from a road trip out in the Midwest. It was nice to see him again.

As for the game we saw, the Nationals got a solid performance by starter Jordan Zimmermann who allowed just one run in six innings but he didn't weigh in the decision as the bullpen allowed the Mets to tie the game at two. The Nationals struck early in the first inning. Right after the King wanted to know why Bryce Harper was on the All-Star team, he hit the next pitch into the bullpen to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead. He showed him. After the game was tied late, the Nationals needed a tenth inning to overcome the Mets. They did so by scoring six runs to outlast them, 8-2 to keep them in their tail spin.

Tuesday night after work I went to Taste of Dolly's for dinner on my way to Citi Field.

I knew that Gio Gonzalez was starting so I knew I wouldn't be able to see him up close. I wound up going out to the outfield to see him as he was loosening up to get ready for his start. It was payback time for him. His last start was against the Mets in Washington and he got bombed. I expected him to bounce back and pitch well. This time he didn't disappoint me. He pitched seven strong innings allowing a run which was unearned. He retired the side in order in four of the seven innings. It was a Gio like performance that I've become accustomed to reading about.

The Nationals went on to beat the Mets again, 5-2. Gio picked up his 13th win of the season against just five losses. On this night, he out pitched Mets' ace R.A. Dickey who fell to 13-2.

It should be noted this was the first major league game I saw Gio win live in person. If you're an avid reader of my blog you know I always wound up missing him pitch by a day. That's happened numerous times the last three years. Thankfully it didn't happen again this time.

Wednesday night after I work I went home after work to rest up and catch up on things around the house.
Thursday night I got home in time for the release of the 2012-2013 NBA Schedule on NBA TV. I was anxious to see what's in store for my upcoming Fall and Winter. I spent some time laying in some potential local games as well as some possible road trips that I may take.

Friday night after work I went up to the Bronx for the first installment of the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry there this season. Before I went inside the Stadium, I met the King at the 7 Fish Market for dinner.

After we ate, we walked up the block to go to the game.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees tossed the Red Sox a beating as they won, 10-3. Phil Hughes pitched well for seven innings allowing three runs. The Yankee offense was powered by the long ball as usual. Raul Ibanez and Russell Martin both hit two run homers off starter Aaron Cook who is notorious for throwing ground balls. He got shelled for six runs in four innings. Later in the game, Curtis Granderson hit a grand slam to put the game out of reach for the Yankees.

Saturday I rented a car and I drove a car full to Baltimore to see the Orioles play. Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do that will recap that getaway.

Sunday the King and I went back to Yankee Stadium for the rubber match of the Yankees/ Red Sox series. When we were away Saturday the Red Sox beat the Yankees to even the series at a game a piece.

This time the Red Sox got off to a fast start as they built a 2-0 lead thanks to a hit by Ryan Sweeney. The game stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh inning when Russell Martin hit a solo home run to pull the Yankees within a run at 2-1. In the eighth inning, Martin delivered again. This time he got a run tying single.

The game stayed tied until the tenth inning when Pedro Ciriaco untied it with a hit to give the Red Sox a 3-2 win. As a result, they won the series over the weekend.

Another week has come and gone.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty enjoys Phillie game with Steve Fekete and Corey Menotti!

The King and I with the Dancing Friar and the Padre Punk  

After celebrating the Ultimate Sports Baby's 2nd birthday at Chickie & Pete's, we weren't finished.

We took the shuttle bus over to Citizens Bank Park with Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk and his friend Corey Menotti aka the Dancing Friar.

Since their Padres were in town, they decided to come to Philadelphia to see them. In addition, they were going to Washington DC and Baltimore to knock off a few more ballparks they needed to see.

It worked out well for the King and I because we got to go the party and we got to see them.

Steve introduced to his friend Corey and we all hit it off instantly. He couldn't stop praising us. He said he's gunning for the exclusive 122 club just like Steve is. Well I told him he's met the right people to speed up the process.

As for the game we saw, the Padres beat the Phillies, 2-1. Edinson Volquez pitched well and got a quality start and victory as the Padres scored the game winning run with a pinch hit sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning by Chris Denofria who batted for Edinson Volquez. As a result, they beat the Phillies' ace Roy Halladay in the process.

With that being said, the Padre Punk and the Dancing Friar were thrilled to be there.

It was great to have their company. Hope we get to meet and greet them again down the road.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 12/19 in review

After work Monday night I went to Brooklyn to see some local college basketball. I saw the Terriers of St. Francis take on the Great Danes of the University of Albany. I wasn't alone. I was joined by the King and our court. On this night, the royal court consisted of our friends Phil Butleman, Doc Lombardi and Michael Longo who was with his parents. Michael was rooting on the Great Danes since he just started going to school at Albany in September.

As for the game we saw, the Great Danes raced out to a big lead in the first half. In the second half, the Terriers came roaring back as they took a brief lead with five minutes left in the game. They apparently ran out of gas as the Great Danes turned it back on as they beat the Terriers, 76-64 in front of a packed house on Opening Night.

Tuesday night after work I wound up going bowling with my co-workers as our boss took us out for our Christmas party at Lucky Strike. I hadn't bowled in a very long time. Quite amazingly, the first two balls I threw were strikes then the rust finally showed as I struggled to maintain a consistency the rest of the night. My co-workers were impressed with my form however. Regardless of the results, I had a nice time.

After work I went home Wednesday and Thursday night. I was able to rest up and recharge the batteries.
Friday after work I met up with my friend Peter Agnew from Baltimore who was in NYC visiting. We went to the Prudential Center out in Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Washington Capitals, who happen to be Peter's team. He has season tickets for the them. It was Peter's first visit to the "Rock". It worked out well that the Capitals were playing that night. I arranged to get Peter a ticket for the game. It was nice to return the favor since Peter also gives the King and I and our friends the royal treatment whenever we go to visit him.

As for the game we saw, the Devils dominated the first two periods of the game as they took a 3-0 lead. The Capitals looked awful. But in the third period they finally woke up. They came back to tie the game at three. The game went into overtime but neither team scored in the extra session. The game was decided by a shootout as the Devils outlasted the Capitals in the skills competition as they emerged victorious, 4-3.

Stay tuned for the special posts I'm going to do about the Battle of NY on Christmas Eve and the return of NBA basketball on Christmas Day.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 8/22 in review

Cyclones win!

After work on Monday I took a subway ride back out to Coney Island to see the completion of the game that was suspended with one out in the top of the fourth inning Sunday night with the Tri City Valley Cats leading 6-2. I missed a few innings since I had to work. I arrived in the seventh inning. I met up with my friend Phil Butleman, William Frank Guthrie and his wife Beth who were also there. We enjoyed each other's company for the rest of the night.

The Valley Cats wound up winning the suspended game by a score of 7-4.

As for the second game, it was supposed to be a seven inning game but since the score was tied at 2 they needed to play extra innings. We were one strike away from going to the ninth inning when Cyclones catcher Amauris Valdez ended the game with one swing as he delivered an unexpected game winning home run to give the Cyclones a 3-2 victory in the bottom of the eighth inning to earn them a split of the two games.

Tuesday night I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees. On my way there on the subway, I wound up meeting a few people from Austrailia who were going to the game. Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do about them.

As for the game I saw, the Yankees fell behind to the visiting Oakland Athletics, 6-0. They scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and they added two more in the ninth thanks to a solo home run by Jorge Posada and a bases loaded walk to Robinson Cano but they couldn't get one more big hit as they left the bases loaded to end the game. They lost, 6-5 as the Athletics tried their best to give the game away.

Wednesday night I back to Yankee Stadium for more. I had my co-worker Stephen Orefice with me because he was meeting a friend up there and he wanted to go the royal way. It was a pleasure to have him along for the ride. Once we got up to the Stadium we parted ways.

As for the game I saw, it was a seesaw battle that was tied after nine innings at three. In the top of the tenth inning, the Athletics took the lead thanks to Coco Crisp who hit his second home run of the game. This one was a three run shot that gave the A's a 6-3 lead. In the bottom of the tenth inning, the Yankees scored a run on Nick Swisher's second home run of the game, a solo blast but they came up short as they lost, 6-4.

Thursday night I went home after work.

Friday night I went to Citi Field to see the Mets host the Braves that turned out to be a one game series since they decided to call off the games over the weekend with the threat of Hurricane Irene coming up the coast from the South.

The Mets went to beat up the Braves, 6-0. During the game, the King was trying to figure out his options of how he could avoid staying home since the subways were being shut down starting at Noon on Saturday.
After exhausting all his options, he told me to get him a car rental for the weekend. I went on my Blackberry and I went to work. Late in the game, I knew I could get him a car. Once I found the best deal I could get, I booked it. In addition, I booked a hotel for us to stay in Somerset, Pennsylvania.

He went to get the car Saturday morning and I did my wash. Once he came back, we left to head out to Cleveland, Ohio. Stay tuned for the special post that was written by Rick Morris in the FDH Lounge who met up with us while we were there.

After spending time at the game with Rick, we arranged to meet our friend Bessanne Hustosky who joined us for a quick meal at Steak N Shake. Even though the Indian game went very long, we decided to still make some time for her. It was great to see her again. It was short but it was definitely sweet. Thank you Bessanne for meeting up with the King and I.

After we said our goodbyes we drove to Somerset, PA where we got some sleep. We continued on in the morning as we decided to go to Baltimore, Maryland to the Orioles play the Yankees in a day/night doubleheader.

In the first game, the Orioles shutout the Yankees, 2-0 as Zach Britton threw seven scoreless innings to earn the victory.

Since the game went so fast we had plenty of time to have dinner between games.

Unfortunately our good friends Peter and Carmen Agnew were busy with family so they couldn't join us.
We decided to go to Looney's Pub, one of our local favorites for our between games meal. We saw Billy the chef who cooked us up some great chicken wings and burgers.

After we ate, we went back to Oriole Park at Camden Yards for game two of the twin bill.

We had some company thanks to Andrew Van Cleve from Chicago who was visiting the area as his wife Nicole is getting ready to start her new job at Temple University as a professor in Philadelphia.

As a result, they were visiting family and friends in Falls Church, Virginia which wasn't that far from Baltimore so Andrew knew the King and I were there so he decided to join us. He brought his cousins Timothy and Jonathan with him. It was their first game at Camden Yards.

It was a pleasure to have them with us.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees bats came alive as they overpowered the Orioles in this one, 8-3.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

The Journey Continues

The Journey Continues
 
The Journey continued as we headed from Somerset, PA to Baltimore for a another first visit for me, as we headed out for our first doubleheader on this journey. We would be visiting Camden Yards in Baltimore for the first part then visiting the Orioles AA affiliate, the Bowie Baysox in the evening.
 
We got a little bit of a late start heading to Baltimore so I was afraid I wouldn't get to enjoy the royal breakfast at the Eichenkranz Restaurant, but boy was I wrong. Royalty Tours has its perks. Breakfast at Eichenkranz usually ends at 11:30, we made them aware we were on the way and they extended their great breakfast another thirty minutes for us. If you are in Baltimore a meal at Eichenkranz is a must, it is great food at a very affordable price. When we stopped at Eichenkranz I got to meet up with some of Royaltys' fans, Peter and Carmen Agnew. Both Peter and Carmen are great people and made this breakfast even more worthwhile for me.
 
As for the game at Camden Yards it was unfortunately another blowout loss for the home team. The Orioles kept the game pretty close till the 8th inning when the Angels put 5 runs on the board. Three of those runs were attributed to MLB's number one prospect Mike Trout's first career major league homer. The final count was the Angels 9 and the Orioles 3. It was another interesting game in which Royalty met some new friends. During the first inning a gentleman two rows behind us asked if we kept our ticket stubs. At that time we got into conversation and introduced ourselves to the gentleman and went over some of the King and Prince's credentials. The man's name was Steve Porcelius and he was on a Winnebago baseball road trip with his two boys and his brother in law Mark and his son.
 
After that game we headed 30 miles south to Bowie for the second game of the doubleheader. After game one we stopped right by Bowie and had a light pre-game meal at McDonalds. Then we headed over to Prince George's Stadium to watch the Bowie Baysox play the Trenton Thunder. When we arrived Trenton's radio play by play announcer Hank Fuerst made sure to note to listeners that a special guest the Strikeout Man (Mike Casiano) was in the house. As for the game. it was close one that Trenton pulled off in the top of the 9th thanks to a wild pitch. The final in that one was Trenton 5 and Bowie 4. We then headed back into Baltimore and had some great burgers at Looney's Pub then headed into Aberdeen to get some sleep and refuel our bodies before heading out on another doubleheader Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

Royalty is hitting the road hard at the end of July with special guest and roadtripper, Paul Derrick!

Over the years, the King and I and numerous others have made some of the most memorable and unique sports road trips you can ever imagine.

Unfortunately we have the misfortune of holding down full time jobs which limits the time we get to go away.
With that being said, we always maximize the time off we have to the fullest. Like everybody else we play the cards we're dealt.

We've never seen all the parks and/or stadiums in the same year and we may never get to do it.

As an alternative, we do things differently than most people. We do it the royal way.

The King loves to maximize the number of games he sees each and every day of the year.

I prefer to see as much quality as possible. In other words, the more places we can see in a short period of time the better even if it means giving up a "number" if you will.

Well back in January, I got in contact with a young man named Paul Derrick who lives in Houston, Texas.
He saw my blog and he was totally amazed. He decided to pick my brain. I told him please feel free to do so. He told me and I quote "be careful what you wish for." He refers to me as his "sports travel idol."

On July 22nd, my wish and his dream will come true. He's flying in from Houston aka H-Town as people like to call it to the Big Apple aka New York City. For the record, he was here a few years ago in 2009 and he went to Citi Field and Yankee Stadium.

The initial seed will be planted upon his arrival. Time will tell how much it will grow.

Paul is an up and coming sports traveler. He did time in the Army and he has spent time in different parts of the world. Now he wants to pursue his love for sports to go along with his love for travel here in North America.

As far as I'm concerned, he couldn't have found a better pair of people in the King and I to show him the way on how it's done. With our experience and know how, Paul will be a pro in no time.

We're going to embark on a journey to parts of the country that he's never been to before. The King and I on the other hand are masters of this territory. He's going to be in for a real treat.

He's an overview of the game plan that I have set up for us:

We're going to see 13 baseball games in 9 days in 13 different ballparks. 8 major league games and 5 minor league games. We'll be driving and stopping off in 10 different states along the way.

Here's how it will go as long as mother nature cooperates:

Friday July 22nd Athletics at Yankees 7:05PM

Saturday July 23rd Cardinals at Pirates 7:05PM

Sunday July 24th Angels at Orioles 1:35PM

                           Trenton Thunder at Bowie Bay Sox 6:05PM

Monday July 25th Padres at Phillies 1:05PM 

                            Potomac Nationals at Wilmington Blue Rocks 7:05PM

Tuesday July 26th Mets at Reds 7:05PM

Wednesday July 27th Angels at Indians 12:05PM

                                 Aberdeen Ironbirds at Jamestown Jammers 7:05PM

Thursday July 28th SI Yankees at Batavia Muckdogs 11:05AM

                              Hudson Valley Renegades at Auburn Doubledays 7:05PM

Friday July 29th Angels at Tigers 7:05PM

Saturday July 30th Mets at Nationals 7:05PM

I'm renting a car for 9 days and I plan to drive around 3,400 miles give or take.

Stay tuned for the aftermath of this "royal experience on the road."

Since I can't text while I drive. Paul is going to be my guest blogger for this trip. He''s not just going for the ride, I'm putting him to work too. Since he loves to write like me it will be a thrill for him to document this special excursion.

As I like to say we give you royal treatment and an education too.

Wait and see what Paul has to say when this adventure is all said and done.

If you want to be a part of the story, let me know and I'll arrange to have you meet up with us along the way.

Paul and I have been in constant contact writing each other back and forth since January. Everything I told him will come true and then some. That's a promise. Wait and see. My talk is not cheap, it's priceless.

For more details about Paul, please feel free to check out his sports travel blog. It's on my blog list under his name and it's called Sporting Puma. He's still a rookie right now. When he returns home to H-Town, he's going to be like the King and I, a seasoned vet.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman