Royalty witnesses history again in the Bronx thanks to Derek Jeter!

Welcome to the 3,000 hit club DJ3K

As far as I'm concerned, Derek Jeter is the greatest modern Yankee to don the pinstripes here in the 21st century.

On Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, he once again put his name in the record books. This time he became the first Yankee to reach the 3,000 hit plateau and the 28th player to do so in Major League Baseball history.

He needed two hits to get there. In his first at bat of the game, he singled to left to lead off the game after he worked the count to 3 and 2 against Rays' starter David Price. In his second at bat with one out and nobody on base, he did it again but after fouling off a few pitches he delivered a historical blast that went 420 feet into the first row of the left centerfield bleachers. What a way to accomplish his latest milestone. He joined former Yankee teammate Wade Boggs as the only players to hit a home run for their 3,000th hit. Ironically, Boggs did it as a member of the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

For good measure, he added a double and two more singles including one in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie and it proved to be the game winning hit as the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-4.

He finished the game 5 for 5. By doing so, he joined former Houston Astro and Long Island native, Craig Biggio as the only players to get 5 hits in the same game that they got their 3,000th hit.

I'm known for writing up great scripts for traveling places but I couldn't have imagined a more perfect way to script this day.

To be perfectly honest, I was speechless. This was another incredible day to be a true baseball fan or observer if you will.

To top it off, it was my Cousin Andy's birthday. He told me a few months that he wanted to spend his special day with me. I told him I'm going to make that happen. I got him a ticket for the Yankee game and he saw history. He was so grateful and thankful that I made it possible for him to be there. That's what being treated like royalty is all about.

Speaking of royalty, one of my biggest fans and a Derek Jeter fan since he was only 4 years old, my pal Caleb Feist was there in spirit. He's always there for that matter. He lives out in Burns, Oregon with his family who I met last August at Yankee Stadium. That was their first visit to New York City.

I hope when Derek Jeter retires and they have his jersey retired I hope that Caleb is there in person right by my side. I plan to find a way to make that happen.

Stay tuned as I going more detail about the rest of this amazing weekend that I experienced.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Official Review of Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon

Here's my official review of Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.


http://stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/autzen-stadium-s384/

I've been helping out my buddy Paul Swaney by doing reviews for him when time allows me to which these days is very rare.

His website, Stadium Journey is on my blog list. Here's the link: www.stadiumjourney.com/

Please feel free to check out his amazing site which will educate you greatly if and when you decide to take a road trip to see a new venue or if you're just curious how life is in other parts of the country.

When it comes to sports travel knowledge I have plenty but I don't have the time to go in depth like his site does. Regardless you can always feel free to e-mail me and pick my brain.

I'm a team player so whenever I can help somebody else, I indirectly help myself too. I think if you follow my blog, you should do the same.

Life is short. Play hard. I do, I believe you should too.

I hope you enjoy my evaluation.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Volcanoes Stadium in Salem-Keizer, Oregon

Volcanoes Stadium

After watching the Ducks play in Eugene, I went to see the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, the San Francisco Giants affiliate play a minor league baseball game against the Eugene Emeralds, the San Diego Padres farm club.

The stadium is known as the "Crater" and it's located right off I-5 exit 260A which was on my way back to Wilsonville where I was staying for two nights at Super 8.

In addition, my friend Kevin Feist, who coaches high school baseball played at that field. His son Caleb played there and won back-to-back State Championships on that field as well.

It's quite ironic that the Feist family had such an impact on me on Saturday.

Kevin also told me to ask for Jerry Howard, who's a team executive.

After getting settled in, I walked around and I asked a gentleman with a staff shirt on if he knew where Jerry Howard was. He said I'm Jerry Howard so I introduced myself to him.

I told him I know Kevin Feist. Just like that I received royal treatment.

Jerry told me he's a 68 year Duck so he was very happy with the Duck game. I told him I was at the game.

He also introduced me to the owners of the team who were from NY as well.

I got to spend most of the game in the diamond club suite as a result.

As for the game itself, it was scoreless for 9 innings then in the 10th inning the Volcanoes erupted when their centerfielder Gary Brown delivered the game winning hit to give them a 1-0 victory.

I want to thank the owners and Jerry Howard for treating me so special.

I had a blast while I was there.

Furthermore, I plan to do a Stadium review for Stadium Journey on this ballpark too.

Stay tuned for my return to Seattle on Sunday.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty attracts a crowd at Autzen Stadium-Home of the Oregon Ducks!

Me, Caleb Feist, Casey Heinz, Kieran Colahan & Conor Colahan 

Upon leaving my hotel in Wilsonville, Oregon Saturday morning which was around 95 miles from Eugene, I didn't expect to have nearly as much traffic as I did.

Being an a very experienced driver, I found a way to minimize the delays along the way.

The traffic moved from time to time but there were pockets of traffic.

I needed to make time so I creatively saw opportunities to get off certain exits where I could just go across to the other side and get back on the highway.

I did that on a few occasions and I passed hundreds of cars in the process.

Royalty knows all the tricks of the trade.

I saw ways to get ahead and I made sure I took full advantage.

Finally I got close to the Autzen Stadium area.

Thankfully I was told by my new found friend and big Oregon Duck fan, Kevin Feist, where to park and pick up a shuttle bus to the game.

I wound up paying $5.00 to ride a school bus to and from the game.

That was the best $5.00 I spent on this trip.

By doing so, I avoided the hassle of dealing with the rest of the traffic that was going to the game.

It worked out perfectly for me.

Once I got to the stadium, I still needed to found a ticket. I wasn't alone others were holding fingers up too.
After looking for a short time, a gentleman approached me and he said he had an extra ticket. I asked him where it was. I looked at my seating chart and I saw it was towards the corner of the end zone right by the gate I was outside of. So I asked him what he wanted for it, he said $20 so I immediately decided not to haggle with him and I gave him a twenty dollar bill.

I proceeded to go inside the stadium.

I got a text from Kevin Feist's son Caleb who was attending the game with his friends.

Ironically, the ticket I bought outside was located in the same section. I was in section 36 row 56 seat 12 and Caleb and his friends were in section 36 row 68 seat 27.

I told him I'll look for him at halftime.

I said I like to keep the play by play of the game.

I proceeded to my seat and I watched and scored the game.

The Ducks got the ball first after the New Mexico Lobos won the toss and deferred the kickoff to the second half.

The Ducks were driving and the Lobos intercepted a pass. That turned out to be the highlight of the day for the Lobos who couldn't do anything else right all day.

The Ducks demolished them, 72-0!

Kenjon Barner who replaced LaMichael James who was suspended for this game, had a career high 147 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns then he caught a 60 yard pass for another touchdown. He did all that in the first half of the game. The Ducks lead at the half, 59-0!

In addition, Cliff Harris ran back two punts for touchdowns of 61 and 64 yards respectively. It was the first time ever a Duck has done that.

The Ducks set a team record for yards in a game with 720.

They also tied the Autzen Stadium record for points with the 72.

It was quite an assault.

The game was over long before the half but for me personally the fun was just about to begin.

I got to meet up with Caleb and his friends as you can see in the picture.

Caleb is wearing a hat and he's to my right. Next to him is Casey, then Kieran is also wearing a hat and Conor who's Kieran's brother is in the front of us.

It was a privilege and an honor to meet these young men who all are from Burns, Oregon which is comprised of 4,000 people.

Being able to meet them made my visit extra special and memorable.

They all seem like very nice kids. I look forward to staying in contact with them.

Royalty attracts people of all ages.

Please stay tuned as I plan to do a Stadium review for my buddy Paul Swaney of Stadium Journey.

In addition, stay tuned to see how the rest of the trip unfolded.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman