Royalty meets up with the Ultimate Sports Family at Citi Field before going to Yankee Stadium for more baseball over weekend in NYC!

Thanks again to the quirky schedule makers, the Mets and Yankees played at home on Saturday, April 27th. The Mets were playing the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05PM on Fox and the Yankees were scheduled to start at 4:05PM against the Toronto Blue Jays. With that being said, barring a miracle there was no way humanly possible for anybody to see both games start to finish.

Since the King & I and our friend Bryan Gilligan have season tickets for both teams we wanted to see as much as we could of both games that day.

Here's how things turned out for us. We met up at Citi Field and we sat in section 515 on this day. We had a number of people we knew that showed up. I'm referring to our pal Manny Morales who was there with his buddy Marc Beck in section 516 which is where their Saturday plan seats are located. In addition, we had our friends Phil Butleman, David Sack, Al Linderman, Pat Gorman, Bill Graven and a guy we know from going to Islander games named Donovan who made a rare appearance.

Last but definitely not least we got a visit from the Ultimate Sports family, the Van Cleves. Our good friend and fellow roadtripper Andrew brought both of his sons to the game. They are known as the Ultimate Sports Brothers, Dylan & Micah. Thanks to Andrew, these lucky little boys have seen a number of live sporting events already at such a young age. Dylan is almost three years old and Micah is a year and a half. This game was Dylan's 11th MLB park and it was Micah's 2nd. As always, it was great to see them all again.

Andrew, Micah, me, Dylan and the King

As for the game we saw at Citi Field, the Mets took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Phillies came back with three runs in the third inning as rookie pitcher Jonathan Pettibone got his first major league hit to ignite the comeback. The Mets cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth inning. The Phillies responded with five more runs in the top of the fifth inning as they hit a few homers, one from Domonic Brown, a three run shot and John Mayberry Jr. added a solo blast after Ryan Howard delivered a run scoring single to break open the game as the Phillies took a 8-2 lead. The Mets got one back in their half of the fifth inning. The Phillies tacked on another run in the top of the seventh inning. After the Phillies batted, the King, Bryan & I decided it was time to leave so we could get to Yankee Stadium. We departed at 3:28PM with the Phillies up , 9-3. The Mets went on to lose, 9-4 as John Buck hit a solo homer in the ninth. It should be noted that Phillies' starter Jonathan Pettibone pitched the first five innings to earn his first major league win.

As for the Yankee game we saw, we arrived there at Yankee Stadium at 4:16PM. We got great service from the MTA which enabled us to get there so fast. As a result, we missed just the top of the first inning as CC Sabathia got the Blue Jays out 1,2,3. We went upstairs to our seats in section 420B and we watched the rest of the game. The Blue Jays went up 3-0 with a run in third and two more in the fourth inning. The Yankees took advantage of a few walks from J.A. Happ to lead off their half of the fourth inning. Travis Hafner made Happ pay by hitting a homer which tied the game at three. In the sixth inning, Brett Lawrie of the Blue Jays hit a solo homer to make it 4-3. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Yankees tied the game again on a run scoring single by former Blue Jay Vernon Wells. Two batters later, Travis Hafner delivered the game winning blow as he hit a two hit triple to give the Yankees the lead for good, 5-4. Apparently Mariano Rivera was overworked so I was surprised he didn't come in to pitch the ninth inning after CC Sabathia went the first eight innings. Instead Joba Chamberlain gave up a few hits but he worked himself out of trouble as the Yankees held on for the 5-4 victory.

After the game, the King and I went home and we had dinner.

Sunday afternoon we returned to Citi Field for the finale of the Mets and Phillies series. We were hoping to see the Mets salvage a game. We were joined by our pals Frank Anichiarico, Al Linderman, Alan Gimpel, David Sack & Michael Carson who were present & accounted for as well.

As for the game we saw, the Mets took an early 1-0 lead with a run in the first inning. The Phillies tied the game at one in top of the fifth inning when left fielder Freddy Galvis hit a solo homer. In the top of the seventh inning, the Mets got the first two Phillies out. Then catcher John Buck failed to catch a foul pop up which proved to be very costly as it extended the inning. The Phillies capitalized as they got four straight hits that led to three runs to make it 4-1. They tacked on another run in the eighth as they went on to sweep the Mets, 5-1.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees a local NBA doubleheader after Nemo!

Prince at Madison Square Garden

Sunday morning I got up and I went to Madison Square Garden where the Knicks were playing an afternoon game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Unlike Saturday I counted on public transportation to get to and from the Garden in Midtown Manhattan. The MTA was running with minimal delays which made it really easy to get where I wanted to go without a hassle.

As for the game I saw, the Knicks got off to a slow start. They trailed the Clippers, 22-17 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, they continued to fall further behind as they went into the locker room down by eight, 52-44. In the third quarter, the Knicks looked more energized as they got within one, 71-70 after three quarters.

Since the game was televised on ABC the commercial time outs are longer than normal. With that being said, the crowd was treated to a fast edition of an act called "Quick Change." Even when you see it, you can't believe it. These people change outfits within the blink of an eye. It was an unexpected surprise. Normally when they perform it's during halftime.

Quick Change

In the fourth quarter, apparently the Knicks decided their quick change was over too. They took a very brief one point lead at the beginning of the quarter then they disappeared down the stretch as the Clippers emerged victorious, 102-88. The Clippers pulled away as former Knick Jamal Crawford scored 11 of his team high 27 points. Teammate Chris Paul added 7 of his 25 points down the stretch to help seal the deal. As for the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony lead all scorers with 42 points but he had only 4 points in the fourth quarter as the Knicks let this one slip away.

Prince at Barclays Center

After the game, I was able to go home and I made dinner before I went back out to downtown Brooklyn where I saw the Nets take on the San Antonio Spurs at the Barclays Center in the night cap of my NBA doubleheader.

I was joined by the King who wound up going to St. Peter's in the afternoon for a college basketball game in Jersey City. In addition, our pal Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich and Dennis Barbera were at the Net game too.

As for the game we saw, the Spurs were playing without superstars Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. I was disappointed when I heard that. I was looking forward to seeing them play.

In the first quarter, the Nets took advantage as they out scored the Spurs, 35-25. In the second quarter, the Spurs closed the gap to six as they trailed the Nets, 57-51 at halftime.

During the intermission, I got to meet up with a fellow tweep, Jon Presser, who's twitter handle is @metsjetsnets88. He was visiting the Barclays Center for the first time with his friend Adam. We all thought the Nets had a good chance to beat the Spurs.

In the third quarter, the Spurs despite playing shorthanded, they still out scored the Nets 30-14 to take a 81-71 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Spurs continued to pull further away as they blew away the Nets, 111-86. It was an incredible display of basketball by the Spurs in the second half. Tony Parker led the way as he scored 29 points and he handed 11 assists.

With that being said, we were all proven wrong as the Spurs came away with an easy win. They're an amazing team with a Hall of Fame coach in Gregg Popovich.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,


Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 10/29 in review

After I got home from MetLife Stadium Sunday night after the Jet game, I wound up staying home for two days thanks to Hurricane Sandy who was on her way up to NYC. While in the house I kept hearing howling sounds as the wind was whipping against the windows. It was very scary to say the least.

As a result, I couldn't go to work for two days. I would have gladly preferred to be at work. It wasn't easy having to stay home. I did get to catch up on things in the house so it wasn't a total waste of time.

Sandy finally calmed down but when she was done, she did plenty of damage. She destroyed lots of property and she inconvenienced many people in the process.

As for the King and I, we were extremely lucky. We didn't have any problems in the aftermath of this horrific storm.

I wish everybody could say the same. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Many people lost power, some lost property and the City of New York was shut down. The subway which was suspended Sunday night as a precautionary measure at 7PM by the MTA and it didn't start running again until Thursday morning. When it finally did, it had limited service. The King and I were able to get from home to Midtown Manhattan without too much difficulty. For those who live and/or needed to get to Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn it was a nightmare. Those areas were hit very hard by Sandy. There was an incredible amount of flooding in those areas that made matters worse. Tunnels for the subway and the Path train that runs into New Jersey were clogged which is going to take lots of time to be repaired.

Wednesday I finally went back to work but I couldn't take the train to get there. I was forced to take a few buses to get into Manhattan. Then I had to walk the rest of the way. It took me two hours from when I left the house. Normally when I take the subway to work it takes me a half hour from the time I leave the house.
After seeing and hearing what many people went through and are still going through, I count my blessings. Besides the flooding, there was a fire that demolished people's property. This has been a very rough time for those of us who live in the Northeast. There seems to be no end in sight. Some people are still without power. This will take lots of time until things return to normal. In the meantime, we all have to help each other out so we can pull through and get back to living the way we're accustomed to.

With that being said, Thursday night after work I was originally planning to go to the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn but the basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy. Instead I came home after work and I relaxed and got ready for the busy weekend I had planned.

Friday I went to work. After I got back from lunch, I decided to call Avis to see if they would have a car for me to rent on Saturday morning. They told me they didn't have power and at that time they had no cars to rent. I was caught off guard. I didn't realize that this storm was going to affect me as far as going away was concerned. They told me to call them back early Saturday morning.

Stay tuned for the special posts that I'm going to do that will recap the adventurous weekend I had.

More importantly, if you were affected by Hurricane Sandy, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your families. I hope I can make a difference for you in your healing process. If so, let me know. I'll do my best to lift up your spirits.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty officially starts our 2012 baseball season at Citi Field on Opening Day!

Prince at Opening Day at Citi Field

As much as the King and I would loved to have been at the new Marlins Park to officially open the season, it wasn't meant to be. The King and I had personal streaks to keep intact. Since the Mets were opening the season at home, we didn't want to risk missing it by flying down to Miami and not getting back in time. Instead we're planning to go there in the middle of July.

As for me, I've seen every Met home opener since 1982 which includes the one in Tokyo, Japan back in 2000. As for the King, his streak dates back into the late '70's. In addition, he has a streak of over 220+ straight games at Citi Field since it opened in 2009. In matter of fact, he has missed only one game there in that time. In addition, he plans to see all 81 again this year he said.

Since I had to work a half a day, I barely got to the game on time. The MTA did their best to cost me some precious time on my way there on the 7 train. Luckily everything worked out for me.

Upon arrival, I got to say hello to my favorite security guard and big fan of royalty, Sam Citron. I hadn't seen him since the end of September but I know he's been following my whereabouts here on my blog. It was an absolute pleasure to see him again. Seeing his friendly and familiar face put me in the comfort zone before I headed inside to see the game.

Once I got in the building, I went up to my familiar surroundings in section 516 row 3 where the King and I have had our full season tickets since the ballpark opened. Our seating area is affectionately known as the "royal box" thanks to my pal Michael Longo who gave it that name.

In addition, we got to see many familiar faces where we sit. Despite low expectations, other people who sit by us still decided to renew their season tickets like we did. With that being said, there's always something to look forward to every game. We can't control what happens on the field but at least we know we'll be seeing some good people in the stands on a daily and nightly basis all spring and summer long.

Amongst them were our friends Ralph and Vincent Ascanio, who are back for another season of Mets baseball as the team celebrates their 50th Anniversary of playing here in New York.

In addition, I got to meet some new people. First of all, our buddy Eddie Pelle who I met thanks to my blog in December 2010 was on hand with his friend and co-worker Fredy Sanchez who he introduced to the King and I to. It was great to have them join us in the "royal box" for this Opening Day. We enjoyed their company immensely throughout the game.

Furthermore, I got to meet and greet another person I met online recently. Her name is Lori Martini. She's a lifelong Met fan who lives in Brooklyn. She happens to be a screenwriter and songwriter. She wrote the song, "Believe" that the Mets' Justin Turner came up to when he batted last summer. She recently wrote a short film called "Caught" as well. I look forward to seeing her more often at Citi Field this season.

As for the game we saw, Johan Santana who missed all of last season, started and he pitched five shutout innings. After struggling with his control in the fifth inning, manager Terry Collins decided to take him out in a scoreless game against division rival, the Atlanta Braves. The Mets proceeded to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when David Wright delivered a run scoring single. That proved to be the difference in the game as the new look Met bullpen shut down the Braves the rest of the afternoon. The Mets won the game, 1-0.

After the game, our friend Bryan Gilligan who also renewed his Met season ticket was present and accounted for as well, took the King, Vincent Ascanio and I down to Trenton, NJ to see the Trenton Thunder, the Double A affiliate of the Yankees play the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Toronto Blue Jays' farm team on Opening night in the Eastern League.

As for that game we saw, the Thunder took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning but that lead disappeared as the Fisher Cats scored a pair of runs in the third and fourth innings to take the lead for good. They went on to win the game, 5-3.

It was a perfect way to start the new baseball season with a doubleheader. Thankfully mother nature cooperated with us.

Stay tuned as I will be writing some more special posts regarding my memorable weekend where I entertained some other very special people I just met for the very first time. It will show why the royal way is the way to go if and when you want to attend a live sporting event regardless of the sport.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman