Royalty meets up with a few ballpark chasers at Citi Field for the White Sox!

Me with Jen Obirek  & Jim Wood at Citi Field

I was wandering around Citi Field before the game on Tuesday night May 7th when the White Sox made their first ever visit to Queens to play the Mets. As I was, I found out someone I follow on Twitter was also at the game thanks to my pal and fellow ballpark chaser Tike Narry who lives in the Bay area. His Twitter handle is @eddiesofficials. Please feel free to follow him on Twitter. He tweeted me with the heads up. I'm referring to Jen Obirek. Her Twitter handle is @keribo1. Please feel free to follow her. She lives in Chicago on the South Side. She likes the White Sox and the Blackhawks. She was at the game which was her first "road" game for the White Sox she said. Ironically she wound up sitting in section 516 row 3 which happens to be where the King & I have our season tickets. We usually don't sit in our seats though. We prefer to sit up near the top of the section so we can have more space. In addition, people we know can sit there with us without a hassle.

On this night, Matt Harvey was pitching a perfect game until there were two outs in the seventh inning. As a result, I decided to stay in the seat I sat in for the whole game. When the game ended, I went down to row 3 and I introduced myself to Jen. She was there with a guy named Jim Wood, who I've seen on the ballpark chasers website. Jim said he was originally from the South Side of Chicago but he now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. He's been to 44 major league ballparks as well as an impressive number of minor league ones too. Jen introduced us. Jim's twitter handle is @BWB2013. Please feel free to follow him too.

I wound up walking out of the ballpark with them. They were taking the 7 train back to Manhattan where they were staying. We got to talk to one another. I gave them my contact information. I couldn't get theirs because my phone died on me. I told them to contact me if they needed any assistance getting around while I was at work.

They said they were coming back for the game Wednesday night May 8th. I told them to come up to section 516 near the top which they did. I was glad to see them because I didn't hear from them all day. I made sure I took down their contact information so we can stay in touch in the future. We got to enjoy the game together. Unlike Tuesday night, this time the White Sox beat the Mets. It worked out well for all of us that both teams won a game. They went home early Thursday morning. We enjoyed each others company. We said our goodbyes and we hope to meet up again down the road.

Stay tuned for another special post that we recap another visit by a special guest as the Pirates came to town for the weekend to play the Mets at Citi Field.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees another doubleheader in Chicagoland on Labor Day!

View from Upper Deck at the "Cell"  

The King and I slept in St. Charles, Illinois at Super 8 which is located right near Geneva where the Kane County Cougars play. We did so because we had an afternoon game at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark Monday afternoon. It was last game of the season for the Cougars who were closing out their season with the Peoria Chiefs, the Cubs farm team.

Before we arrived at the ballpark for the 1PM start, we stopped off in downtown Geneva if you will. We wound up having breakfast at the Geneva Diner. It turned out to be a wise choice. We both decided to have something different. With that being said, the King and I had gyro and eggs. It was really good. I'm glad we can't across this place which first opened in 1921 as a lunch car.

After we got done eating we drove over to the ballpark to spend the afternoon watching the first of two baseball games we had planned. I was walking towards the box office and a person handed me a scratch off card that was good for two free tickets to a Kane County Cougar game. So I went up to the box office and I got us two tickets. I waited for the King who was lagging behind.

He finally caught up and we walked inside. We had plenty of time to spare so we could relax and get ready for more baseball. It was Fan Appreciation Day as season ticket holders were able to go on the field and get pictures and autographs of their favorite Cougars. It was a nice way to thank their fans who have backed them all year long.

As for the game we saw, the Cougars didn't perform well on the field. The game was scoreless after three innings. Then the Chiefs broke through. They scored a run in the fourth and they added four more in the fifth as catcher Yaniel Cabezas hit a three run homer. The next batter left fielder Oliver Zapata got hit by Cougars' starter Mike Giovenco who got ejected for doing so. Zapata proceeded to steal second and he went to third on a wild pitch. He then scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Chiefs a 5-0 lead. In the sixth inning, the Cougars' catcher Kenny Swab responded with a two run homer of his own to get the Cougars within three at 5-2. The Chiefs added another run in the ninth to extend their lead as they beat the Cougars in the season finale, 6-2.

After the game, the King and went back to the car and drove to U.S. Cellular Field which is on the South Side of Chicago. This was the first time we saw a game at the "Cell" since we were there for Game One of the 2005 World Series when the White Sox played the Houston Astros.

It should be noted we tried to go there on May 11, 2006 but we got rained out that night. We tried to get back but the schedule never worked out right for us. It used to be an annual tradition to go there. Thankfully we finally got to go back. This was the first time we were there since they completed their latest renovation of the ballpark which now has all dark green seats instead of the royal blue it had in years past.

It's not quite the same as going to the North Side but it will suffice for who are loyal to South Siders. Back in the day, we saw some games at Old Comiskey Park which gave Wrigley Field a run for the money.

Before we arrived at the ballpark, we went to a McDonald's for dinner. We then found a free parking spot in the neighborhood where there was no residential parking signs posted saying you can't park on 31st Street which worked out well for us. We walked over to the ballpark and we even got tickets right at the box office. The King noticed they had special Monday night pricing in effect. They wanted only $7 for seats in the upper deck. So we decided we'll get those. Unfortunately we couldn't go down to the lower level because you need to have a lower level ticket to do so. It was no big deal. We saw the game fine right behind home plate and nobody bothered us. It was nice and relaxing.

Before the game, the White Sox honored former player and coach, the late Kevin Hickey who passed away back on May 16th after fighting for his life before he succumbed to a diabetic coma. It was a sad and touching ceremony.

As for the game we saw, the White Sox jumped on the visiting Minnesota Twins early as Gordon Beckham hit a two run homer to give the Pale Hose a 2-0 lead. It stayed that way until the fifth when the Twins' Jamey Carroll hit a solo homer to pull the Twins within one at 2-1. In the seventh inning, Paul Konerko delivered a run scoring single to extend the White Sox lead to 3-1. It proved to be a big run as the Twins' Justin Morneau answered with a run scoring single to pull the Twins back to within a run at 3-2 in the top of the eighth. In the bottom half, Gordon Beckham added a run scoring single to round out the scoring as the White Sox held on to win, 4-2.

After the game, the King and I drove back to Milwaukee where we spent the night at Days Inn right by the airport because we had to catch an early flight home Tuesday morning.

Stay tuned for the rest of the week in review as the King and I continued to roll on.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman