Royalty w/o 8/29 in review

Thanks to Hurricane Irene, I was affected by her aftermath. Since I work with people who live in Westchester, I wound up working the full day. They couldn't get to work because Metro-North, their commuter train suspended service due to Irene.

With that being said, I had to miss the whole first game of the doubleheader between the Mets and the Florida Marlins at Citi Field which the Mets wound up winning. I was going to get out of work early so I could see most of the first game but that didn't go as planned.

I wound up seeing the Mets play the second game as they completed the sweep of the twinbill as they squished the Fish, 5-1.

Off the field and in our section 516, I was planning to see the CitiFSHooligan's and Hooligals but it seemed like most of them came for the first game and they either left or went downstairs for the second game so I didn't get to really enjoy their added entertainment.

Tuesday night after work, I went back to Citi Field to see the Mets play game three of the five game series with the Marlins.

On this night, the Mets and Marlins matched zeroes for the first six innings as Mike Pelfrey of the Mets and Javier Vazquez of the Marlins both pitched well. That was true until the seventh inning when Mike Pelfrey unraveled as he got beat up as the Marlins put up a five spot in the top half. Four of those runs were given up by Big Pelf. The Marlins added another run in the ninth as they went on to shutout the Mets, 6-0.

Wednesday night on my way to Citi Field, I stopped off at Subway and Carvel which are located in the same place right off the Junction Blvd. stop on the 7 train which is one express stop from Citi Field. I indulged by having a royal meal at Subway and a hearty dessert at Carvel.

After I stuffed my face, I got back on the train and off to Citi Field I went.

When I arrived at Citi Field, I saw my pal Vincent Ascanio near my seat in section 516. He was supposed to join me for dinner but he had a big lunch so he decided to pass up the golden opportunity. He did ask me how it was. I couldn't come up with enough adjectives to describe it but I did tell him he definitely missed out. He said he'll join me the next time.

I had additional company at the game as I saw an old friend who I grew up with. That was Jonathan Karten who was at the game with his son Matt who was attending his very first baseball game. When I asked Matt what he thought he said he was having a good time. Hopefully his daddy will bring him back again some day.
As for the game we saw, the Mets beat the Marlins, 3-2. The Mets fell behind 2-0 in the first inning. They clawed their way back to tie the score at two in the sixth inning. In the seventh inning, Lucas Duda delivered what proved to be the winning run as he delivered the go ahead hit that secured the victory for the Mets.

Thursday night I went back to Citi Field once again for finale of the five game series.It was my 200th game that I've seen at Citi Field.

The Mets once again fell behind early 2-0 after two innings. They came back and put four runs up in their half of the third inning. They tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to build a 7-2 lead. Luckily they did because they tried their best to give this game away as they barely hung on to win, 7-5.
Friday morning I flew out to Kansas City for the Labor Day weekend.

Check back for the special posts that I'm going to do that will go into extensive detail of the great time I had out in the Heartland.

As always, thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 7/18 in review

Mets win, 6-5 in 10 thanks to Angel Pagan

Monday night I went out to Citi Field after work to see the Mets play the Florida Marlins in a make up game.

The Mets fell behind in this one as Marlins' right fielder Mike Stanton hit a bomb to give the Fish a 2-0 lead. That proved to be the difference as the Marlins won the game, 4-1.

Tuesday night after work I went back to Citi Field to see the St. Louis Cardinals who were making their one & only visit this season.

The King and I were joined by our friend Mike Klein who was there with his nephew Joe Klein. It was great to see them again. We enjoyed each other's company throughout the game.

As for the game we saw, the Mets tagged Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse for four runs as Angel Pagan and Daniel Murphy both hit two run doubles. The Mets went on to deck the Cards, 4-2.

Wednesday night I went back to Citi Field to see the Mets play the Cardinals again. My boy Vincent Ascanio was in the house as well.

The Mets fell behind 4-0 early. They chipped away to slice the lead in half. They wound up tying the game at 4. The Cardinals regained the lead in the top of the eighth inning, 5-4. The Mets came back again to tie the game at 5.

The game went into extra innings. Angel Pagan of the Mets sent the natives home happy when he delivered a game winning home run to give the Mets a dramatic hard fought 6-5 victory.

Thursday night I went home after work to rest up and pack for my big road trip with Paul Derrick who was coming in from Houston, Texas.

Stay tuned for daily updates from the road as Paul will be my guest blogger during our journey.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is going to Philadelphia and Boston next weekend 4/16-4/18!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car from Avis for the weekend.

I'm going to pick up The King and we'll be going to Philadelphia not once but twice next weekend. I'll be driving back and forth both days. In addition, we'll be going to Boston for the traditional Patriot's Day morning game at Fenway Park then we'll be going to to New Britain, Connecticut for a minor league game that night before we return home after that game.

Saturday, April16th Texas Rangers at Yankees 1:05PM

                               Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies 7:05PM

Sunday, April 17th  Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies 1:35PM

                              Texas Rangers at Yankees 8:05PM

Monday, April 18th  Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox 11:05AM

                                New Hamphire Fisher Cats at New Britain Rock Cats 6:35PM

If you're interested in going on this getaway royalty style let me know so I can arrange to have you join us.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride. You can witness firsthand how royalty rolls and makes things happen.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 9/6 in review

Sunday night/Monday morning I flew back from Seattle on the redeye flight which connected in Philadelphia on US Airways. I finally arrived back at New York LaGuardia airport at 8:06AM. I proceeded to walk across the highway to go to my car which I parked in the neighborhood.

My goal was to get home as soon as possible so I could go rent a car and pick up the King and drive back to Philadelphia to see the Phillies play the Marlins in a day/night doubleheader.

I wound up getting home at 8:35AM. I took a shower and I ate some breakfast and off to Avis I went to pick up my car for the day. I got a Nissan Sentra.

I drove to Astoria to pick up the King at 10:30AM and off to Philadelphia we went. I parked the car on the street for free like I always do when I go to Philadelphia. I parked the car at 12:40PM.

We had plenty of time because the first game started at 1:05PM.

As for the first game, the Florida Marlins held the Phillies to just 3 hits as they cruised to an easy 7-1 victory.

Between games, we decided to go the Oregon Diner to have a nice dinner before going back to Citizens Bank park for the night game that started at 7:05PM.

The second game of the doubleheader went to the Phillies as they won, 7-4 to earn the split of the two games.

Tuesday morning I returned the car rental before I returned to work.

After work, I went to the Bronx to see the Yankees play the Baltimore Orioles. I was hoping to see a good game since CC Sabathia was pitching and he was looking for his 20th win of the season.

In the first inning, CC got hit hard. He gave up 3 runs. The Yankees added one in the bottom half of the first. After throwing a 1-2-3 second inning, CC gave up two more runs in the third inning when Nolan Reimold, the Orioles designated hitter hit a two run homer. The Orioles sailed to a 6-2 victory spoiling CC first attempt to win his 20th game.

It was the first time this season that CC lost a game at Yankee Stadium. He was 11-0 coming in. I guess he was due to lose a game in the Bronx.

Wednesday & Thursday I came home after work to catch up on much needed rest after having such a busy stretch over the Labor Day weekend.

Friday night I went to Citi Field after work to see the Phillies play the Mets. More importantly, I was told earlier in the week that Bob DeVries, a fellow ballpark chaser was going to be in attendance to support his 30 parks and a dream campaign. I'm going to do a special post regarding Bob and his heroic run to make people aware of a deadly disease called SADS.

As for the game, the Phillies beat the Mets, 8-4 behind their ace pitcher Roy Halladay who won his 18th game  of the season as the Phillies continue to fight for the division title as the baseball season winds down.

Saturday I went back to Citi Field to see the Mets play the Phillies again. As we all remember the tragic events that occurred on this day 9 years ago. I'll be doing a special post to reflect on the tragedy.

As for the game I saw, the Mets did their best to try to give the Phillies this game. They wound up hanging on for a 4-3 victory. Mike Pelfrey pitched well again as he gave up 2 runs over 7 and a third innings. The Mets spoiled the day for the Phillies despite some horrible base running that led to 2 different double plays on line drive outs to the outfield.

Sunday I went to see the "First Game" at the New Meadowlands Stadium as the Giants opened the regular season hosting the Carolina Panthers. The Giants wound up beating up the Panthers, 31-18.

I'm going to do a special post describing the details about the game I saw and the game experience.

Thank you for reading and  following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman                 

Royalty w/o 8/23 in review

Monday night I came home after work to recharge the batteries and to catch up on my blog.

Tuesday night I was out at Citi Field to see the Florida Marlins play the Mets. Josh Johnson started for the Marlins and R.A. Dickey pitched for the Mets. With that being said, I expected to see a well pitched ballgame. Much to my chagrin, neither pitched well. Josh Johnson lasted only 5 innings and R.A. Dickey went 7 innings but he blew a 4-2 lead when he gave up a 3 run home run to Gaby Sanchez in the 7th inning. The Mets managed to bail out Dickey when they tied the game in the 8th inning when Carlos Beltran delivered a clutch 2 out hit. In the 9th inning, Luis Castillo came through with the game winning hit to give the Mets a dramatic 6-5 win.

Wednesday night I was back at Citi Field for the second game of the series between the Mets and the Marlins. This time the Mets fell short when Jose Reyes ended the game by grounding out with the bases loaded and the Mets down by a run. They lost, 5-4!

Thursday night was the rubber match between the two teams. The Mets took a 4-0 lead after 3 innings. The Marlins got 2 back in the 4th inning then they chased Mets starting pitcher Jonathon Niese in the 6th inning when they scored 7 more to break the game open. The Marlins went on to win the game, 11-4 and they won the series.

Friday night the Houston Astros came to Citi Field for the first time this season. They just sweep the Phillies 4 straight in Philadelphia. Mike Pelfrey pitched well again for the Mets throwing 8 shutout innings. Bobby Parnell gave up a run in the 9th inning but the Mets managed to hang on for the 2-1 victory despite getting only 3 hits. Former Met Nelson Figueroa walked in a run which proved to be the difference in this one.

Saturday night the Astros jumped on Mets ace Johan Santana as they scored 2 runs in the top of the first inning. They went on to beat the Mets, 4-1! The Mets had numerous chances to capitalize but they failed to deliver the clutch hit when they need it.

Sunday afternoon was the rubber match in this series. With R.A. Dickey back on the mound, the Mets were able to take the series this time. Dickey pitched well giving up just one run over 7 innings as the Mets cruised to a 5-1 decision.

Special guests this week included our new found friend Manny Bonilla. Manny attended all 6 games with us. His mother came along with him on Friday night. We told her he's a good kid and I mentioned to her he wants to go with us to Philadelphia on Labor Day for the Day/Night doubleheader. She said it's not a problem for him to go with us. After all, he's only 17. I told her he's in good hands with us.

Friday night we saw regulars Steve & Jon Work.

In addition, on Sunday my Cousin Andy joined us for the game. He finally saw the Mets win a game. He came a few times earlier in the season and they lost. He had a great time spending time with Royalty and company. More importantly, he got to spend quality time with his favorite relative. We went out for dinner after the game as well.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Stay tuned for the week ahead.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman