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 celebrates the Ultimate Sports Baby's 2nd Birthday with Roadtrippers in Philadelphia!

King and I with Andrew & Dylan Van Cleve, Corey Menotti, Kurt Smith & Steve Fekete

Back in the off season, Andrew Van Cleve told me he was planning to celebrate his son Dylan's second birthday on Saturday, May 12th. I had to adjust my game plan accordingly. I was originally planning to be at PNC Park in Pittsburgh that night.

Out of the goodness of my heart, I decided to change my trip plan to go in June instead.

It worked out well because the San Diego Padres were playing the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. With that being said, Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk told me he was coming in for that series. I told him we had the Ultimate Sports Baby's birthday party to go to. When Steve came in to the Northeast in January, he met Andrew Van Cleve for the first time. Andrew told him he was welcome to join us for the party. In addition, Steve had his friend Corey Menotti aka the Dancing Friar with him as well. The King and I never met him before but apparently he heard plenty of good things about us from Steve. He was very gracious to meet us. He was a pleasure to meet him too.

Furthermore, Kurt Smith, author of Ballpark E-Guides, was able to get away from his wife and new born baby to take part in the festivities also. Andrew told me he wasn't sure if Kurt was going to make it. When he said he was, I was so elated.

Moreover, Andrew also invited a co-worker of his named Jason who came with his wife Trish and their two little boys, Tristan and Quinn.

Needless to say, the Ultimate Sports Wife, Nicole was there.

It was quite a gathering to celebrate Dylan's birthday. Last year they were still in Chicago and the King and I got to celebrate his first birthday with the rest of Nicole and Andrew's family.

This may become an annual tradition for many years to come.

We wound up eating dinner at a restaurant called Chickie & Pete's. Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do about that place.

After we ate, we said goodbye to Nicole, Dylan, Kurt, Trish and her boys since they had to go home to take care of their other needs while the rest of the bunch headed over to Citizens Bank Park for the Phillies game against the Padres.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do about the game and the experience.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman