Royalty sees another MLB doubleheader and meets another ballpark chaser over Cinco De Mayo weekend!

Saturday morning I got up after I got a good night sleep and I made myself breakfast. When I got done I got ready for another busy day. The King went out to have breakfast with at his mother's house. He told me he'll meet at Yankee Stadium.

The Hermans meet - Gary & Rebecca

I wound up getting to the Stadium a little earlier than I normally would have because during the week I arranged to meet up with another ballpark chaser who was planning to be at the game too. Ironically she has the same last name as me. Her name is Rebecca Herman. She was visiting NYC with her son Trevor. They live in San Diego. I got wind of her excursion on Facebook through the Ballpark Chaser group that I belong to. She said she had seats in section 320B in the Jim Beam Suite. That was perfect because the King and I sit in section 420B which is right above where they were sitting. When I arrived at the Great Hall, I sent her a text message so I could see where she was. They were in the Jim Beam Lounge eating at the time. With that being said, I headed upstairs. When I got nearby, I called her and she came out to meet me. We got to speak briefly because she left her son alone and she didn't want him to think she got lost. She told me she's in the process of writing a baseball book. She said her friend is doing it with her. They have interviewed 18 different managers so far. It sounds like it's going to be a great read. I look forward to staying in touch with her. We follow each on Twitter. Her handle is @TheBaseballPHD. Feel free to follow her too especially if you like baseball. She's a very intelligent person who can teach you a thing or two about baseball and life. Please feel free to read her blog for all the details and pictures about their visit to the Bronx.

After I said goodbye to her, I went to my seat. I got to see our pals Phil Butleman, Vincent Ascanio, Bryan Gilligan and Rich Wolber who were in attendance among the announced crowd of 41,349.

Jessica, Luis Nunez & I at Yankee Stadium

In addition, we met up with a few people who came from California to visit. They were Luis and Jessica Nunez. They were Oakland A's fans. Luis is from LA and his wife Jessica is from Oakland. They wound up sitting a few rows behind us. During the game, we started talking to each other. Luis had some time off so they took a vacation to come East for 10 days. They said they were planning to go to Boston and possibly Niagara Falls while they were here. They didn't have a set game plan though. We did exchange contact information so if and when I do get back to the West Coast which should be in the near future, we can hopefully meet up again.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees got a great pitching performance from their starter, Phil Hughes who pitched eight shutout innings. In the process, he struck out nine Athletics. The Yankees gave up a few runs in the ninth inning but they held off the A's to take game two of the series by a score of 4-2.

After the game, Bryan drove the King and I as well as Vincent Ascanio down to Philadelphia for game two of the day. We got to Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies with plenty of time to spare. It helped that the Yankee game was nice and crisp. We wound up sitting up in section 419 which is just to the right of home plate. They announced a crowd of 40,091 which was short of a sellout so we had just enough room to sit and relax.

View from Section 419 at Citizens Bank Park 

As for the game we saw, the Phillies were hosting division rival, the Miami Marlins, who are off to a terrible start after they dismantled their team again in the off season. On this night, they sent rookie Jose Fernandez to the mound to pitch against Cole Hamels of the Phillies. It was a great pitchers' duel as Jose Fernandez allowed just one hit and a walk both to Freddy Galvis. He threw seven shutout innings while he struck out nine as he earned his first major league win. He got run support from rookie right fielder Marcell Ozuna who hit his first major league home run to lead off the second inning to make it 1-0. In the third inning, second baseman Chris Valaika added a solo shot to make it 2-0. The Marlins made those runs stand up as they beat the Phillies, 2-0. Cole Hamels went eight strong innings but he was the hard luck loser.

Sunday was Cinco De Mayo, the King and I spent it at Yankee Stadium. We saw the rubber match of the three game set with the Athletics. We were joined by our pals Pat Gorman, Rich Wolber, Larry Peim and Phil Butleman.

As for the game we saw, Andy Pettitte started for the Yankees. He pitched better than he did his last time out against the Astros but he wasn't great. He allowed four runs, three earned in five innings of work. He left the game with the Yankees losing 4-1. The Yankees rallied to tie the game at four as they scored three runs in the sixth inning to get Pettitte off the hook for the loss. The Athletics got a solo homer with one out in the eighth inning as Josh Donaldson hit a ball into the left field stands which turned out to be the game winner as the Athletics won, 5-4. As a result, they left the Bronx taking two out of three.

Stay tuned for my w/o 5/6 in review.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 5/7 in review

Andy Pettiitte's Back 

Monday night after work I went home made dinner and I did my laundry. I relaxed briefly after I was done.

Tuesday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees open a three game series with the first place Tampa Bay Rays.

I went to the 7 Fish Market for dinner with the King. I also went next door to see my pal Jin Kim at the KJY Fruit Market which is always a must since I can get a cold bottle of water for a dollar plus they have plenty of other snacks to choose from.

After we finished eating, the King and I made our royal entry into the Stadium. There's nothing like seeing familiar faces along the way. While everybody's lined up somewhere else to go in, we get to go in nice and quick because we know all the tricks of the trade. Being a friendly person has its advantages when you see other friendly people who are willing to listen.

We continued through the Great Hall and up the elevator as we went to our seats in the royal box if you will in section 420B row 7 which is right behind home plate. We were greeted by our pal Vincent Ascanio who was there.

We got settled in and we observed the game. With James Shields pitching for the Rays, we had high expectations. He came into the game with a 5-0 record. He was facing Ivan Nova who had a 3-1 record for the Yankees.

James Shields didn't pitch his best like he did in Boston on Patriot's Day when he worked into the ninth inning and shut down the Red Sox as the Rays won that day, 1-0. This time he was ordinary allowing three runs in six innings which still qualifies as a quality start which is a big deal these days. He left the game trailing, 3-1. The Rays chipped away at the Yankees lead but they fell short as they left the bases loaded against David Robertson who picked up his first save filling in for Mariano Rivera. Despite pitching awful he managed to prevent the Rays from scoring as the Yankees held on to win, 5-3.

Wednesday night I returned to the Bronx. This time I met up with the King and Vincent Ascanio at Burger King for dinner.

After we ate, we entered the Stadium in our usual way. We proceeded to go to the royal box and we saw game two of the three game set between the Yankees and the Rays.

This time the Rays beat the Yankees, 4-1. The Yankees scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a run scoring single by Robinson Cano.

The Rays didn't score until the ninth inning when the Yankees put David Robertson back in to get another save. This time he loaded the bases and the Rays unloaded them as B.J. Upton hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at one and Matt Joyce hit a three run homer to lift the Rays to a 4-1 victory as the Yankees' failed to score in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Thursday night I went to the Court Deli Restaurant for dinner. I had a Corned Beef sandwich and the King asked me to get him a Roast Beef sandwich. So I took it out and I proceeded to see Jin Kim at the KJY Fruit Market for some refreshments and snacks.

After I rounded up all the food, I went into the Stadium for the rubber match of the series. With CC Sabathia starting against David Price of the Rays', I hoped to see a pretty good game.

With that being said, I didn't get what I hoped for. Well CC held up his end of the bargain as he pitched eight solid innings allowing two unearned runs while striking out ten Rays. David Price on the other hand, got lit up for five runs and eleven hits over seven innings.

With David Robertson pitching the last two nights, the Yankees decided to give former Ray closer Rafael Soriano the ball in the ninth inning to seal the deal this time. He gave up an infield hit then he slammed the door shut to preserve the victory for CC as the Yankees won, 5-3.

Friday night after work I went back up to the Bronx to see the Yankees take on the Seattle Mariners. Ironically, the Mariners were the only team I didn't see play in person in 2011. When they came to Yankee Stadium last year I was on a road trip with Paul Derrick from Houston.

Before the game I stopped off at Subway for dinner. After I ate, I proceeded to go into Yankee Stadium. I went up to the royal box and I watched the game.

As for the game I saw, the Yankees fell behind 1-0 as Dustin Ackley lead off the game with a home run off of starter Hiroki Kuroda. The Yankees responded with a run scoring double by Robinson Cano to tie the game at one off of Felix Hernandez, the Mariners' ace. Former Yankee Jesus Montero broke the tie in the top of the sixth when he hit a solo home run. The Yankees came back again thanks to Raul Ibanez who hit a three run home run to make it 4-2 in the bottom half of the sixth. Andruw Jones added a pinch hit two run blast to round out the scoring in the eighth as the Yankees beat the Mariners, 6-2.

Saturday afternoon the King and I took a Chinese bus from Chinatown to Philadelphia.

Stay tuned for the special posts I'm going to do about how we spent our memorable Saturday.

Sunday I went back to the Bronx to see the Yankees play the Mariners again. It was a special day indeed not only because it was Mother's Day, it also marked the return of Andy Pettitte to the Major Leagues. After retiring after the 2010 season, Andy decided to return to baseball.

He shined bright early on but he got roughed up for a few two run home runs, one by Justin Smoak and the other by Casper Wells who hit the ball halfway up the right field foul pole to spoil Andy's return. He did pitch into the seventh inning getting an out before departing to a nice ovation from the Yankee faithful.
The Yankees wound up losing the game, 6-2.

After the game I met up with my family as we all got together to have dinner to celebrate Mother's Day. It was great to see them again.

With that another week is in the books.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Elevators at Yankee Stadium

As far as I'm concerned, this is the best part of the new Yankee Stadium.

These freight size elevators are located right in the Great Hall on the ground level.

If you don't have a seat on the field level (100 sections) , this is the best way to get to the Main level (200 sections) and for the Terrace (300 sections) and the Grandstand (400 sections).

The elevator is gigantic and it goes up and down in no time.

If you haven't been to the new Stadium, go there and take the elevator up and I'll see exactly what I mean.

Just another tidbit of sound advice from royalty.

Check back for more tidbits that will only enhance your Yankee Stadium experience.

The Great Hall at Yankee Stadium

Great Hall at Yankee Stadium

Here is a view of the spacious Great Hall when you enter Yankee Stadium by Gate 6.

It's conveniently located near the subway station which is up the block from the Stadium.

In the Great Hall, they have a variety of pictures of a number of legendary players who have worn the pinstripes past and present.

In addition, they have a stand set up where you can get your picture taken that looks like you're part of the particular celebration.

It makes for a great souvenir and memory from your visit to the home of champions.

If and when you make your first or next visit to the Stadium, stop by and see it for yourself.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman