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

Royalty w/o 12/19 in review

After work Monday night I went to Brooklyn to see some local college basketball. I saw the Terriers of St. Francis take on the Great Danes of the University of Albany. I wasn't alone. I was joined by the King and our court. On this night, the royal court consisted of our friends Phil Butleman, Doc Lombardi and Michael Longo who was with his parents. Michael was rooting on the Great Danes since he just started going to school at Albany in September.

As for the game we saw, the Great Danes raced out to a big lead in the first half. In the second half, the Terriers came roaring back as they took a brief lead with five minutes left in the game. They apparently ran out of gas as the Great Danes turned it back on as they beat the Terriers, 76-64 in front of a packed house on Opening Night.

Tuesday night after work I wound up going bowling with my co-workers as our boss took us out for our Christmas party at Lucky Strike. I hadn't bowled in a very long time. Quite amazingly, the first two balls I threw were strikes then the rust finally showed as I struggled to maintain a consistency the rest of the night. My co-workers were impressed with my form however. Regardless of the results, I had a nice time.

After work I went home Wednesday and Thursday night. I was able to rest up and recharge the batteries.
Friday after work I met up with my friend Peter Agnew from Baltimore who was in NYC visiting. We went to the Prudential Center out in Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Washington Capitals, who happen to be Peter's team. He has season tickets for the them. It was Peter's first visit to the "Rock". It worked out well that the Capitals were playing that night. I arranged to get Peter a ticket for the game. It was nice to return the favor since Peter also gives the King and I and our friends the royal treatment whenever we go to visit him.

As for the game we saw, the Devils dominated the first two periods of the game as they took a 3-0 lead. The Capitals looked awful. But in the third period they finally woke up. They came back to tie the game at three. The game went into overtime but neither team scored in the extra session. The game was decided by a shootout as the Devils outlasted the Capitals in the skills competition as they emerged victorious, 4-3.

Stay tuned for the special posts I'm going to do about the Battle of NY on Christmas Eve and the return of NBA basketball on Christmas Day.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 6/27 in review

"Bay Day" at Citi Field

After going home Monday night after work, I was well rested to head up to the Bronx after work Tuesday night to see the Milwaukee Brewers visit the Yankees for the first time since 1997.

If you remember the Brewers used to be an American League team. In 1998, they switched over to the National League.

The Brewers were in first place when they arrived in the Bronx. With that being said, I expected to see a good game. It turned out I was wrong. The Yankees went on to destroy the Brewers, 12-2.

They looked more like a Little League team as my boy Vincent Ascanio who was in the house along with his pal and big fan of royalty, Michael Longo in the "royal box" said.

We go to games hoping to see well played ones. From the Brewer standpoint, this was a disgraceful performance.

At least the company was good and that's all that really matters to me in the end.

Wednesday night I back to the Bronx to see if the Brewers could resemble a major league team. They were slightly improved. This time they lost 5-2 to the Yankees.

The highlight of this night was once again not on the playing field.

I managed to meet up with a few of the Ballpark Boys who were visiting Yankee Stadium. The King and I met Jack Wilson and Kellan Larsen. When they saw the King's notebook of games attended this year and his lifetime totals, they were in stunned disbelief.

They're in the midst of a dream trip seeing a game in every major league ballpark this summer.

These four 18 year old boys are from Seattle, Washington. They just graduated high school and they're driving all over the country. They started on June 11th and they plan to finish the excursion on August 4th at Safeco Field.

They have a website, http://boysofsummer2011.com/ and you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter @BallparkBoys_11. Check out their schedule and hopefully you meet up with them if they come to a ballpark near you.

Thursday night I went home after work since the Yankees wrapped up their series with the Brewers that afternoon. In case you were wondering the Brewers got swept away.

I felt bad for my Brewer fan club out in Milwaukee. They were there in spirit though. Unlike others, royalty remembers.

Friday night after work I went to Citi Field for part two of this year's Subway Series as the Yankees came to Queens to visit the Mets.

As for the game, the Mets lost to the Yankees, 5-1 in front of a record crowd of 42,020 which included standing room. This was the first time I remember the Mets selling standing room for a game.

Royalty had company as Vincent Ascanio was present and accounted for. So was Martin Caamano. Last but definitely not least an old friend, Mark Kozminsky who I grew up with stopped by seat in section 516 row 3 to say hello before the game. It was great to see him again after all these years.

Saturday afternoon I went back to Citi Field for more. This time the Mets scored two runs and they lost again, 5-2 in front of a new record as 22 more people showed up at the ballyard. This time they announced a crowd of 42,042.

At least we had additional company there with us. Besides Vincent Ascanio and Martin Caamano who were back too, we had our good friend Manny Morales as well as Manny Bonilla and Arjun Lal too.

Sunday afternoon I went back to Citi Field hoping the Mets could find a way to salvage a game and avoid being swept.

It was a long day thanks to mother nature and stupid decision making by the Mets and/or the umpires. This game should have started earlier since it barely rained and it had stopped raining. They decided to wait longer because of the threat of more scattered showers in the area.

The game finally got started at 2:39PM. The Mets did everything they could to torture us some more.
Luckily they managed to breakthrough on Yankee closer Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth inning. They got the tying run across the plate to tied the game at 2.

The game went into extra innings as the Mets finally found a way to win thanks to a game winning single by Jason Bay in the 10th inning at 6:04PM. Jason Bay finally decided to earn a micro fraction of his pay. It's about time.

As Mets radio announcer Howie Rose says after a Met win and I quote, "put it in the books."

Well another week in the life of royalty is also in the books.

If you want to take part in the "royal" experience in the future, please contact me so we can make it happen. It doesn't hurt to ask. I don't make promises I can't keep. If I say I'm going to do something consider it a done deal. I'm upfront and honest.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 6/13 in review

Monday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees wrap their four game series with the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees were looking for the sweep but they couldn't even score a run as they lost, 1-0 to the Tribe who managed to salvage a game after losing the first three over the weekend.

The Yankees lost more than a game on this night though. Their Captain, Derek Jeter who lead off the game with a hit, wound up injuring his calf after he batted in the fifth inning. Our friend Bryan Gilligan noticed Jeter coming up lame.

As a result, the road to 3K has been temporary derailed for a few weeks as Jeter was placed on the 15 day disabled list.

During the game, newcomer and big fan of royalty, Michael Longo stopped by the "royal" box as he calls it to say hello. It was great to see him again.

Tuesday night I was back at Yankee Stadium to see the return of the Texas Rangers to the Bronx which was delayed by rain at the start.

On paper it looked like a great pitching matchup with CC Sabathia going against rookie sensation Alexi Ogando who had a record of 7-0 coming in.

Back on April 17th, the Yankees roughed up Ogando for five runs in six and a third innings but he didn't get a decision in that game.

This time the Yankees lit him up for six in one and two thirds innings as they handed him his first major league loss. They went on to beat up the Rangers, 12-4. It should be noted the Yankees hit three homers after going a few games without hitting any.

Our friend Steve Tepperman was in the house as he stopped by to say hello. We also had my friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich with us as well.

Wednesday night I went back more for batting practice as it turned out in the Bronx. The Yankees used the long ball to fuel the fire again on this night. They hit five more home runs. Mark Teixeira hit two of the them. Eduardo Nunez celebrated his birthday by hitting one in the absence of the Captain. Ramiro Pena who was recalled from the minors added his first of the season and Robbie Cano finished the barrage with a three run blast as the Yankees cruised to another 12-4 victory.

Thursday night after work I went home after work to rest up and to recharge the batteries.

Friday night I went out to Citi Field after work as interleague play returned as the Angels came to Citi Field for the first time to play the Mets. The game was delayed at the outset thanks to mother nature again.

As for the game, the Angels had a 4-2 lead after they broke a 2-2 tie late in this one. The Mets chipped away to cut the lead to 4-3 as they headed to the bottom of the ninth inning when the Halos called on their closer Jordan Walden to come in to seal the deal. He allowed the first two batters he faced to get on base by giving up a walk and a hit. He proceeded to strike out the next three batters he faced using his nasty slider as the Angels came away with the win.

As a result, he preserved the victory for starter Joel Pineiro who picked up his 100th win of his major league career.

Royalty had company as our pal, Vincent Ascanio was present and accounted for.

After the game, we went to Donovan's Pub to indulge in a post game meal.

Saturday night I went back for more Mets torchure. Thanks to Mike Pelfrey it turned out to be rare treat. He went the distance as the Mets cruised to an easy victory, 6-1.

More importantly, royalty had plenty of love in the stands as Vincent Ascanio also came back for more, his friend Rich Warnock and his father were in the house too. We also had our boys Manny Bonilla and Arjun Lal there with us. Last but definitely not least, our pal Manny Morales stopped by to say hello.

It wound up being a great night out. After the Met win, we went back to Donovan's Pub to celebrate this time.

Sunday afternoon I spent Father's Day at the old ballyard. Unfortunately my Dad couldn't make the game but we went out for dinner afterwards instead.

As for the game, the Mets reverted back to their losing ways. They fell behind 7-0 and they woke up too little too late as they added three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lose to the Angels, 7-3 in the rubber match of the three game set.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 6/6 in review

After a night off after work Monday night I braced myself for the return of the Red Sox to Yankee Stadium.
In addition, we had company from the West Coast as our friend Steve Fekete aka The Padre Punk came to NYC to see the new Yankee Stadium for the first time.

Apparently he packed his broom as the Red Sox proceeded to sweep the Yankees. He happens to like the Red Sox too so he definitely picked the right time to visit.

The Red Sox built big leads early to beat the Yankees Tuesday and Wednesday night.

On Wednesday night, we had another royal treat as our friend Vincent Ascanio got shown the royal way of entry into Yankee Stadium. He met his Michael Longo inside and he introduced to him. He told me that Michael was a big fan of my blog. It was a pleasure to meet this young man who refers to where we sit as the "royal box".

As for Thursday night, the game didn't start until 10:32PM thanks to mother nature. I was forced to leave after 5 innings at 12:11AM. I needed to get home to get some sleep so I could function for work in the morning. The Yankees were winning, 2-0 when I left. The Red Sox woke up and whipped the Yankees, 8-3.

Steve left town as he continued his baseball road trip by going to Chicago for the weekend to see the White Sox play.

The surprising Cleveland Indians came to visit the Yankees for a wraparound weekend series.

Steve left NYC and our friend Don Steiger and his daughter Angie came to visit from St. Louis. Stay tuned as I'm going to do a special post on them.

Friday night the Yankees woke up as the Tribe came to town for the first time this season. They looked like the same old Indians as the Yankees tossed them a drawn out beating, 11-7.

The highlight of the night was after the game when we went to Donovan's Pub for a post game meal.

Saturday afternoon I went back to the Bronx for more. Surprisingly the weather was miserable. Luckily they managed to get the game in. The Yankees won again, 4-0.

Royalty entertained more company as we had our friends Phil Butleman and Steve Tepperman in the house. In addition, our pal Vincent Ascanio was back this time he brought another friend with him, Rich Warnock who was looking forward to meeting me.

He's another young man who's looking to fulfill his dream. He said he's going to Chicago next month with his aunt to see Wrigley Field. I told him that the Twins are home in Minnesota too that weekend. I'm hoping to arrange for them to take a ride to the Twin Cities so they can pick up another ballpark.

Sunday I was originally planning to go back to Yankee Stadium but I had to take care of things at home so I decided to pass it up. I'm sorry if I let my fan club down but I have bigger fish to fry down the road.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman