Royalty starts June by seeing three different teams play at Yankee Stadium in consecutive days!‏

Thanks to a rain out on April 30th, the Yankees wound up hosting three different teams in consecutive days at Yankee Stadium. They were scheduled to play Sunday, June 1st against the Twins & Tuesday June 3rd against the Athletics. Since Monday  June 2nd was scheduled as an open date for both the Yankees & Mariners they decided to make the game that night. As a result, it set up a rare occurrence. 

View from Section 420B

‎With that being said, here's how it played out.

On Sunday afternoon, I arranged to get my pal & fellow road tripper Blair Long a ticket for the game in the row right in front of the King & I in section 420B. Since there were a few empty seats by us he got to sit with us for the duration of the afternoon. It worked well. That way we were able to enjoy the game together. It was nice to see him again.  

As for the game we saw, former Yankee Phil Hughes pitched eight strong innings just allowing two runs. ‎The Twins trailed, 2-1 after eight innings. In the ninth inning, Josh Willingham lead off with a solo homer which tied the game & got Phil Hughes off the hook for the hard luck loss. The Twins wound up batting around as Josh Willingham flew out to center field to end the inning. In between the Twins added five more runs as they made a winner out of Phil Hughes who got the last laugh on this day as his new team, the Twins beat the Yankees, 7-2.

‎Monday night marked the return to the Bronx again for Robinson Cano. He & his new team, the Seattle Mariners came back to the Bronx to play the make up game. Not only did the Yankees see their former teammate but they wound up facing Felix Hernandez who's one of the best pitchers in baseball. 

As for the game we saw, the Mariners lead off hitter James Jones played college baseball at LIU in Brooklyn. My pal David Sack has seen him play there. It was a homecoming for him. He had a rough night though. He went hit less in five at bats which included a sacrifice bunt which was part of the decisive four run seventh inning which gave the Mariners' the lead for good. Robinson Cano once again heard the boos as he walked a few times, got picked off first base & he singled in his last at bat ‎to finish the game one for three. Felix Hernandez  pitched well. He gave up two runs in seven innings to earn the victory as the Mariners broke open a 2-2 tie as they went on to whip the Yankees, 10-2.

Tuesday night after work I returned to the Bronx hoping to make it three days in a row seeing three different teams play. Mother nature did her best to put a damper on that but thankfully she cooperated after an hour & twelve minute ‎delay. With that being said, first pitch wound up being at 8:17PM. As they say, better late than never. 

As for the game we saw, the starting pitchers pitched well. Scott Kazmir, a former Met, went six & a third innings. He allowed two runs while he striking out ten. Hiroki Kuroda who started for the Yankees gave up just one run in six & two thirds innings. The Athletics tied the game at two in the top of the eighth inning so neither starter got a decision. The game went into extra innings. The Yankees bullpen sprung a leak as Adam Warren got tagged for three runs in the top of the tenth inning which proved costly as the Yankees fell again, 5-2. 

Wednesday night when I got to Yankee Stadium I went to get my 25 game MLB Pass-Port book stamped at the Guest services booth by gate 6. While I was doing so, I saw a familiar face. It was my buddy Steve Cirvello who works as a business partner with my pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge. Steve told me he bought a bleacher ticket off of Stub Hub. I told him to come upstairs with me instead. It worked out well as there were some empty seats near the King & I. As a result, we got to enjoy each others company for the rest of the night. Steve can be found on Twitter. His handle is @FDHNYB. Please feel free to follow him & show him some royal love. 

As for the game we saw, the Athletics overcame a 4-0 deficit as they went on to cruise past the Yankees again, 7-4. 

Stay tuned for some special posts that will go into detail about our weekend getaway to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Reading & Baltimore.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees a gem by Felix Hernandez at Yankee Stadium then goes to Citizens Bank Park for more baseball!

Saturday turned out to be a great day to be a baseball fan.

The King and I as well as Bryan Gilligan and Vincent Ascanio enjoyed that luxury.

In the afternoon, we were at Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees play the Seattle Mariners. It was a real treat because we got to see one of the best young pitchers in the game. I'm referring to Felix Hernandez aka King Felix. He was opposed by Hiroki Kuroda who started for the Yankees.

Kuroda pitched well as he allowed a run in six and a third innings. Felix Hernandez was a little better as he dominated the Yankees from start to finish as he made that one run stand up as he beat the Yankees, 1-0. He pitched a gem. He gave up just two hits as he shut the Yankees down to earn his tenth win of the season.

The game went nice and fast. It took only 2 hours and 32 minutes which gave us plenty of time to get to Philadelphia for the second game of our major league doubleheader. I want to personally thank our pal Bryan Gilligan for driving us down there.

It was my first game in Citizens Bank Park since May 12th when we went there to celebrate Dylan Van Cleve's 2nd birthday.

We didn't get to see Dylan this time but we met his Daddy Andrew. It was nice to see him again.

In addition, our friend Manny Morales was there too. He decided at the last minute to make the trip down he said.

As for the game we saw there, Roy Halladay started for the Phillies as they played the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Halladay who had been setback by an injury earlier in the season, pitched seven shutout innings as he picked up the victory. The Phillies beat the Diamondbacks, 3-0.

It was great to see another game in one of my favorite modern ballparks.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Joey Kraft joins me again at Safeco Field for the weekend finale!

Me & Joey Kraft

Sunday morning, I checked out of Super 8 in Wilsonville, Oregon and I drove back up I-205 to I-5 North to Seattle to go back to Safeco Field to see the Mariners play the Indians at 1:10PM.

I called my buddy Joey Kraft a few times to give him a progress report.

He told me he scored some free tickets for us.

He decided to exchange the four tickets he got so we could upgrade ourselves to some great lower level seats behind home plate.

We wound up 21 rows up from the field.

A similar view at Yankee Stadium would have cost a fortune not the case in Seattle though.

It worked out beautifully especially since Mariners' ace Felix Hernandez was pitching.

I saw him pitch twice against the Yankees this year at Yankee Stadium. He shut them out both times. One was a complete game and the other was 8 shutout innings of domination.

With that being said, I had high hopes that Felix would pitch well again.

Unlike most good pitchers I see pitch, Felix lived up to the hype again.

This time he shutout the Indians for 8 innings allowing just 4 hits and striking out 9.

The Mariners cruised to a 3-0 victory.

During the game, a young man in front of us got a foul ball that caromed over from the next section. I just missed it.

After the game, Joey went down to the tunnel where the umpires go to the clubhouse and he saw home plate umpire Jerry Layne and he wound up getting the game ball which he decided to give to me.

That was a very nice gesture on his part.

In addition, during the game we met a few guys from the Anaheim, California area. They were Kevin Gallagher Senior & Junior.

This father & son combo said they go to a new ballpark every year. This year happened to be Safeco Field.

They made a great choice.

Kevin Senior told me he has season tickets for the Angels just 5 rows from the on deck circle.

When I mentioned I was from NYC he said his wife is from Brooklyn. It's a small world he said.

He told me he's originally from Chicago on the South Side.

He grew up a big White Sox fan.

We enjoyed each other's company during the game.

Afterwards, we exchanged contact information.

Hopefully our paths we'll cross again in the future.

As for Joey & I, we went to the waterfront area again near Puget Sound to have a farewell dinner at Cutter's Bayhouse.

After that, Joey went home and I headed back to the airport to make it home temporarily.

I returned the car to Alamo and I proceeded to catch my US Airways flight to Philadelphia then to NY LaGuardia airport.

I drove 731 miles over the 4 days.

My time in the Great Northwest was well spent.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Safeco Field for the first time in 11 years!

After visiting Pike's Place Public Market, it was finally time to see Safeco Field again.

The only games I saw there was back in September 1999 when the Red Sox played the Mariners shortly after the ballpark opened in the middle of July.

I saw two games on that trip. One of them Pedro Martinez pitched a gem. What a game we saw that day.

As for the ballpark in general, I remember it being a nice place to see a game.

My memory rarely fails me. Once again it didn't let me down.

Once I walked inside the building and saw the lower level seating area, I was impressed.

When I go to Citi Field, I always walk into a nightmare. Everything there is so restricted and blocked off.

On the other hand, I walked into Safeco Field, it was like a dream come true.

Yes, it's another park that has all dark green seats. But in this case it makes a lot more logical sense.

The State of Washington is known as the Evergreen State.

There's lush green everywhere so it's fitting there too.

I'll be back for a second visit on Sunday as I wrap up this excursion to the Great Northwest.

Joey Kraft will be meeting me again.

I'm very grateful that he's willing to watch the Mariners play despite the horrible season they've been having.

He knew I was coming months ago so like me he's willing to stay true to his word by keeping me company. He's good people in my eyes.

We're suppose to be treated because King Felix Hernandez is scheduled to start that game.

I just hope it lives up to billing. I've seen King Felix beat the Yankees twice at Yankee Stadium this season already. He's a joy to watch pitch. I hope they give him enough run support.

As for the game on Thursday night, the retractable roof was open.

We wound up sitting right behind home plate in the upper level in the first few rows. What a great view we had.

As for the game, the Mariners got off to a fast start as they took a 3-0 lead through the first 5 innings.
In the sixth inning, Doug Fister, the Mariners starting pitcher who was cruising along giving up just one hit all of a sudden lost it. He gave up 4 runs on 6 hits with Shin-Soo Choo delivering the big blow, a 3 run double that tied the game at 3. He also hit a 2 run home run in the ninth inning to give the Indians the insurance they needed as they went on to win, 6-3!

The dreadful Mariner season can't end fast enough for their suffering fans.

Being a Met fan, I know how they feel.

The ballpark itself is worth the time and effort.

If you haven't been there yet, I strongly suggest that you plan to get there next year.

If so, please feel free to contact me so I can make sure it's a memorable experience.

Stay tuned as my journey continues through the Great Northwest.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman