Royalty sees the Mets down in the City of Brotherly Love!

Phillie Phanatic

Saturday morning I went to Avis and I rented a car for the weekend. I picked up the King and off we went to another one of our many second homes, this time we went to Philadelphia to see the Mets play the Phillies in an early afternoon affair.

We got to see the best pitcher in the major leagues pitch. I'm talking about the "Doc" aka Roy Halladay. He didn't let us or the fans in jammed packed Citizens Bank Park down either.

Doc pitched a gem of a game as he went the distance in beating division rival, the New York Mets. He struck out eight batters as the Phillies backed his great pitching with just enough run support to beat the Mets, 2-1.

Thankfully the game took only 2 hours and 25 minutes to play. My rule of thumb is to allow 3 hours on average. As I like to say, a baseball game can go two hours or five hours. I just hope that it goes fast when I want it to. Unfortunately for the King and I that doesn't seem to be the case that often. This time we got a break.

Since the game went so fast we had plenty of time to get to our next game which was in Trenton, New Jersey, 40 miles away. In addition, we were able to sit down and enjoy a quality meal at a rock bottom price. We wound up going to the Golden Corral for dinner. Stay tuned as I'm going to write a special post about that unique experience.

After we ate, we continued on our way to Trenton to see a minor league baseball game between the Trenton Thunder who are the Yankees double A affiliate and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the farm club of the Toronto Blue Jays who we saw play a few weeks ago in New Britain, Connecticut.

The last time we saw the Fisher Cats win. This time they lost to the Thunder, 4-1. We even got to see former major leaguer Kei Igawa pitch and he picked up the win in relief because starting pitcher Manny Banuelos didn't get the last out in the fifth inning to qualify for the victory. He pitched effectively for the two and a third innings he threw.

He pitched in Japan before the Yankees brought him to the States back in November 2006. Since he signed a huge long term contract, the Yankees are stuck with him. He didn't cut it in the big leagues, now he's pitching in the lower minor leagues after spending time in Triple A. He turned out to be a total bust.

Sunday afternoon the King and I went back to the Bronx to see the Yankees play the Blue Jays. This time the Yankees beat the Jays, 5-2.

After the game, we went back down to Philadelphia to see if the Mets could savage a game in their three game series with the Phillies. After facing the best pitcher in baseball, the Phillies followed up by sending their next best pitcher to the mound, that being Cliff Lee.

Fortunately for the Mets, Cliff Lee didn't have his best stuff on this night. The Mets managed to take a 1-0 lead but the Phillies fought back to tie the game after Lee departed for the night.

The game remained tied when we were forced to leave the ballpark after watching the game for four hours after the Mets batted in the top of the 12th inning. The King had to get to work. He works overnight at the Post Office. He starts at 2AM.

The Mets wound up winning the game in the 14th inning when catcher Ronny Paulino doubled in the go ahead run to give the Mets a 2-1 win. Paulino finished the game with 5 hits.

We hated to leave but we had no choice. We got back to the car at 12:23AM. I had to drive 100 miles to get him back to work on time. I got him there at 1:56AM. He said and I quote "I'm impressed." It should be noted we had to stop for gas too.

I proceeded to drive myself home and I got home at 2:27AM.

Monday morning I woke up and I returned the car back to Avis and then I went to work.

Another adventurous weekend was in the memory bank.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is live at Yankee Stadium - Baseball's back!

View from Section 420B row 7

It's feels like we're at the Pinstripe Bowl again.

However the Yankees are getting ready to take on the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day.

First pitch from CC Sabathia was 1:11PM Eastern Time as the picture shows you from my seat in section 420B row 7, my season tickets. If you're in the building, come on up and say hello.

Royalty is here to set the scene for you today and throughout the season.

If you want to be part of the experience let me know. If can't make it to the game and you want live pictures let me know and I'll e-mail and/or text them to you.

All my readers and followers are always with me in spirit.

Whoever you root for I hope they have a successful season.

Hope to meet and greet some of you during the season at a ballpark.

If not, my blog is the next best thing.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 10/18 in review

Monday after work I went to Yankee Stadium to see Game 3 of the ALCS between the Yankees and the Texas Rangers.

With the series all even at a game a piece, the Rangers came into Yankee Stadium behind Cliff Lee he "completelee" dominated them again, 8-0!

Lee was brilliant in this performance as he went 8 innings allowing only 2 hits while striking out 13 Yanks.
He left with a 2-0 lead. The Rangers tacked on 6 more runs in the ninth inning to make the score look more lopsided.

Tuesday night after work I went back to the Bronx for Game 4 of the ALCS.

The Rangers won again. This time by a 10-3 score. A.J. Burnett started this one for the Yankees but he couldn't finish the sixth inning thanks to Bengie Molina who delivered a clutch three run home run to give the Rangers the lead for good at 5-3. I blurted out "I love all Molinas". Josh Hamilton added two homers and Nelson Cruz also went deep to bury the Yankees on this night and it give the Rangers a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the series.

Ironically, this day 10/19 marked the four year anniversary of the other Molina blast that killed the Mets in Game 7 of the NLCS against the Cardinals off Aaron Heilman who I hated. As a result, the saying "I love all Molinas" was created when I blurted that out after Yadier did the damage that night.

It should be noted that the Molina brothers (Bengie, Yadier & Jose) have all played a major role in the postseason in the past.

Wednesday afternoon I was able to leave work early so I could attend Game 5 of the ALCS. I went there hoping to see the Rangers win their first pennant but thanks to CC Sabathia it wasn't meant to be on this day. CC and the Yankees staved off elimination by beating the Rangers, 7-2 and forcing a Game 6 in Arlington Friday night.

Thursday night I went home after work to rest up for another busy weekend.

Friday morning before I went to work I went to Avis to rent a car for the weekend.

After work I went back into Queens to pick up the car by the subway and off to Virginia I went.
I drove 380 miles to Verona, Virginia which was about 20 miles passed Harrisonburg where I spent the night. During my drive, I listened to the Yankees lose to the Rangers who advanced to the World Series for the first time.

I got to my hotel just before 1AM.

I woke up in the morning and finished the last 120 miles to Blacksburg, Virginia home of the Virginia Tech Hokies.

I wound up parking for free in the neighborhood just over a mile from the campus where the football stadium was located. I'll go into more detail in a separate post regarding the game experience.

After the game, I decided to take a shot at seeing another college football game in Charlottesville, Virginia which was 148 miles away.

Stay tuned as I recap that adventure along with the Virginia Tech experience.

Sunday I went to Baltimore to see the Ravens play the winless Buffalo Bills.

It was another amazing weekend in the eyes of Royalty.

Please check back for all the details of this great journey.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Deja Broom in the Bronx as the Yankees advance to the ALCS!



The Yankees Win!

Just like mother nature it was back to baseball royalty style in the Bronx Saturday night. It was a rare drive to Yankee Stadium for me but because I was heading down South right after the game I needed to be within walking distance from a car in order to get where I planned to go over the weekend. I wound up parking in the neighborhood for free. No need to overpay for parking this time of year or anytime in the Bronx for that matter. That's how royalty rolls along cost effectively.

Thanks to the Yankees winning, the King was able to join me for the journey down South. My bags were packed so was his just in case. I was smart to bring a broom anticipating that some "Twinkies" needed to be swept away like a bump in the road. I saw a sign make room, royalty is coming through.

Based on past history, I was right. For the second straight postseason, the Yankees put the Minnesota Twins out of the playoff picture without allowing them to win a game. After taking the first two games at Target Field, the Yankees came home to finish business.

They did so to a ho hum crowd who when it was all said and done quietly exited the ballpark after a relatively stress free 6-1 Yankee win. Starting pitcher Phil Hughes pitch seven strong shutout innings to lead the way. Jorge Posada and Mark Teixeira delivered run scoring singles, Marcus Thames hit a big two run home run and Brett Gardner add a sacrifice fly to spark the offense. Kerry Wood allowed a run in his shaky relief stint in the 8th inning. As usual, Mariano Rivera shut the door in the ninth inning. See you next April 4-7 in the Bronx.

The Yankees now advance to play the Texas Rangers in the ALCS which starts in Arlington, Texas on Friday night.

The winner goes to the World Series to play the winner of the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants who meet in the  NLCS.

Will it be a repeat of the 2009 World Series? Will wait and see.

If the Yankees get back there, Royalty will be there.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman             

Royalty w/o 9/20 in review

For the second week in a row I had no nights off between work and play. This past week I spend most of my free time after work in the Bronx in the House that George built.

Speaking of George, the late great owner of the Yankees, George Steinbrenner was honored with a larger than life size plaque in Monument Park in a special ceremony before the Yankees/Rays game on Monday night.

It was a typical Yankee first class production. They had the current team as well as many former players who had the privilege of wearing pinstripes during the George Steinbrenner era which was from 1973 until he passed away on July 13th on hand as well as family members to honor the "Boss". Those included former manager Joe Torre, Don Mattingly, Reggie Jackson, Roy White, Gene Michael, David Cone, David Wells and Tino Martinez to name a few.

George was always remembered for charity work and his relentlessness to have to win at all cost. George symbolized capitalism. He was referred to as the greatest owner in professional team sports. It's hard to dispute that fact.

After the touching ceremony, the Yankees in a George like fashion went on to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays, 8-6!

The Yankees roughed up Rays starter Matt Garza in the process. Curtis Granderson led the way by hitting two home runs including a three run blast that hit high off the foul pole in rightfield that give the Yankees a 8-4 lead at the time.

Tuesday night it was game 2 of this crucial series for first place. The Yankees stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. They went on to cruise to an easy 8-3 victory as they opened a 2 and a half lead over the Rays for first place.

Wednesday night the game started and the Rays lead 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning when the sky opened up and the game was delayed for 2 hours and 11 minutes due to rain. they finally resumed playing at 10:11PM. The Rays tacked on a few runs to take a 3-1 lead going to the bottom of the sixth inning. It was 11:15PM and I needed to get home at a somewhat reasonable hour so I decided to leave. It was a case of deseperate times since I very rarely leave a game early unless it's a special situation like this.

The Rays hit back to back solo home runs courtesy of Carl Crawford & Evan Longoria in the seventh inning to extend their lead and they eventually won the game, 7-2! It should be noted the game ended at 12:34AM. I got home a minute earlier so if I would have stayed until the end I wouldn't have gotten home until around 2AM assuming I made the necessary train connections.

In retospect, I made the right decision. Thankfully I did. I was tired at work Thursday.

Thursday night after work as tired as I was it was time to go back to the Bronx for more punishment. Actually the Yankees were the ones who got beat up. This was suppose to be a marquee pitching matchup on paper between two Cy Young award candidates in the Rays' David Price and the Yankees' CC Sabathia. Neddless to say, it didn't live up to the hype. In matter of fact, CC took a bath if you will in this one on the mound. He got lit up for 10 hits and he gave up 7 runs as the Rays pulled back within a half game of first place with a 10-3 win!

Friday night the hated Boston Red Sox came back to the Bronx to see if they could keep their slim playoff hopes alive. They got to Yankee starter Andy Pettitte in the second and fourth inning and they knocked him out of the game after they touched him up for 7 runs to take a 7-1 lead after 4 innings. They added 3 more in the fifth inning to go up 10-1. The Yankees thanks to Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez who both hit two home runs got within 2 runs but they couldn't finish the comeback as they fell short, 10-8! Please note that A-Rod hit his 609th and 610th career home runs.

Saturday afternoon it was game 2 of the series against the Red Sox. The Red Sox behind 7 strong innings by starter and  Cy Young award candidate Jon Lester shut down the Yankee offense as they won again, this time by a score of 7-3! A-Rod hit his 611th home run in the loss.

Sunday afternoon I went to see the Giants play the Tennessee Titans at the New Meadowlands Stadium. The Titans took total of a Giants team that couldn't help themselves from self-destructing time and time again.

For all the details of this Giant debacle, please stay tuned for my special posts regarding the game and more importantly the Royalty experience. Trust me it will be worth the wait.

After the Giant game, it was time for me to attend Sunday night baseball in the Bronx as the Yankees were looking to salvage a game in this three series and put a dagger towards the Red Sox slim playoff hopes.

This was a well pitched game for 7 innings between starters Daisuke Matsusaka aka "Dice-K" and Phil Hughes. Then as usual the bullpens took over and they prolonged the agony.

A-Rod hit his 612th career home run to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. The Red Sox rallied against Mariano Rivera of all people to tie the game again.The game wound up going into extra innings and the Yankees eventually won in the 10th inning  after Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon blew the game and relief pitcher Hideki Okajima walked Juan Miranda with the bases loaded with one out to give them the victory.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman                   

Yankees open New Stadium for first time in 2011!

The Yankees finally open their season at the New Stadium at home in 2011 on Thursday, March 31st against the Detroit Tigers.

For more details, please click on this link:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100914&content_id=14659260&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

If you need to Yankee games in 2011, royalty should be able to accomodate you directly and/or indirectly.

We'll do our very best to make it happen that's for sure.

Thank you for reading.

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 8/30 in review

10his week was a busy one home and away.

Monday night after work I went to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees take on the Oakland Athletics.

More importantly before the game my goal was to get downstairs before batting practice ended.

Luckily I walked into the stadium just in time.

I went to the leftfield bullpen area because I wanted to try and see Gio Gonzalez who pitches for the Athletics.

Afterwards, I went upstairs to my seat in section 420B row 7 to eat the corned beef sandwich I bought at the Court Deli Restaurant on the way in to the Stadium.

After I ate, I was ready for game action.

With Trevor Cahill, the A's ace on the mound, I expected to see a good game.

The A's got him 3 runs before he even threw a pitch.

I got my hopes up only to have them dampened in the bottom of the first inning when the Yankees came right back with 3 runs to tie the score after the first inning.

Dustin Moseley who started the game for the Yankees, settled down and pitched well.

Trevor Cahill, much to my surprise got rocked again in the third and fifth innings.

He gave up back to back home runs to Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano. Marcus Thames added a three run shot to finally send Cahill to the showers after he gave up 8 earned runs.

He came in with a 2.43 ERA before that game.

I guess he was due to get bombed and he did.

The Yankees went on to win, 11-5!

Tuesday night it looked like a replay in the Bronx as the A's got hammered again by the Yankees, 9-3!

The Yankees scored all 9 runs in the first four innings.

Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson led the assault of Vin Mazzaro, the Athletics starter by hitting home runs.

Wednesday night I left work knowing I had 5 days off until I returned to work.

I went back to Yankee Stadium hoping to see the Athletics win a game before I left town.

This time they came back from a 4-0 deficit after 2 innings thanks to poor defense by their starting pitcher Brett Anderson who couldn't catch a ball at first base that lead to 3 unearned runs.

His teammates fought back to get within one but they couldn't take the lead and they wound up losing, 4-3!

Thursday morning I went to Seattle to spend the Labor Day weekend in the Great Northwest!

For the rest of those details, please stay tuned.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Colorado Rockies visit Yankee Stadium and Safeco Field in 2011!

According to the Denver post, the Rockies interleague schedule has them going coast to coast in 2011.

The 2011 baseball season is shaping up to be a "rockie" one. 

Stay tuned as more schedule leaks come out.

Thank you.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 8/16 in review

Monday night, I went to see the first football game played at the New Meadowlands Stadium between the Jets and the Giants. The Jets were the home team.

As for the game, here are the details.

Tuesday night, I was at Yankee Stadium watching the Yankees behind CC Sabathia tame the Tigers, 6-2!

Wednesday night, I was back in the Bronx as the Yankees beat the Tigers again, 9-5!

Thursday with the Yankees playing in the afternoon, I was at work. After work, I came home to recharge the batteries and to prepare for my weekend getaway.

Friday night after work I was back in the Bronx to see the Seattle Mariners and their ace pitcher Felix Hernandez shut down the Yankees for 8 innings. He struck out 11 Yankees in the process. The Mariners cruised to a 6-0 victory.

Saturday morning I went to Avis to pick up my car rental. I wound up getting a Chevy Impala. I went to pick up the King and our friend Frank who went to the Yankee/Mariner game with us. We parked the car in the neighorhood for free.

We then walked over to the Stadium to see the game.

Before the game, I got to see people I had met last year who needed tickets to see Citi Field for the first time. I arranged to get them the tickets for Father's Day. They were Chris Miller from Stoughton, Massachusetts and his two step daughters. It was great to see them again.

The Yankees went on to beat the Mariners, 9-5!


Eduardo Nunez who was just called up by the Yankees the other day got his first major hit and run batted in.

After the game, Frank decided he'll go to Philadelphia with us to see the Phillies play the Nationals.

Since the Yankee game ended shortly after 4 o'clock, we had plenty of time to get down to Philadelphia so I decided to cut the cost of the trip down by avoiding some tolls on the NJ Turnpike as well as the Walt Whitman Bridge. We drove down the NJ Turnpike to Exit 9 and we picked up US 1 which takes you to I-95 that goes right into Philadelphia.

We parked the car on the street near the ballpark for free around 6:30PM, then we walked over to the ballpark.

We entered through the right field gate where we were greeted in royal fashion by Brenda the security guard and Lisa the supervisor. They always roll out the carpet when we come down. It's always a pleasure to see them and to say hello before we head into the park.

We proceeded to walk around towards the first base side to the elevator area where we saw our friend Jim Lowry who runs the left elevator. We exchanged pleasantries and we made our way up to section 319 where we stood to watch the game.

It was the first time we were seeing Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg pitch. He was dominating the Phillies with 6 strikeouts until there was one out in the fifth inning. All of a sudden, he threw a pitch and he winced and he held his wrist. He wound up departing the game with an injury.

The Nationals were leading 5-1 at the time. They went on to beat the Phillies, 8-1!

After the game, Frank decided he wanted to go home so we dropped him off at the bus terminal in Center City Philadelphia.

The King and I continued on our way towards Baltimore. We spent the night in Harve de Grace which is around 35 miles from Baltimore at  a Super 8.

Sunday morning we got up and we went to Baltimore to see the Orioles play the Texas Rangers at Camden Yards. Before the game, we met up with our friends from Baltimore, Peter & Carmen Agnew.

They joined us for breakfast at the Eichenkranz Restaurant.

After we ate, the King and I made our way to Camden Yards to see the game.  We parked the car for free on the street in the neighborhood. Then we took a short walk over to the ballpark.

During the game, we got a visit from another ballpark chaser. For further details, check back for a special post that I'm going to do.

As for the game we saw, the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-4! The Rangers used the long ball not once but twice. In the first inning, Josh Hamilton, the Rangers third batter hit a 3 run home run to give the Rangers an early 3-0 lead. In the fifth inning, Vladimir Guerrero of the Rangers launched another 3 run home run to give the Rangers a 6-1 lead and they hung on for the victory.

After the game, the King and I took a 35 mile ride south to Bowie, Maryland to see a minor baseball game between the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the San Francisco Giants Double A affiliate and the Bowie Baysox, the Baltimore Orioles farm team. We arrived at 5:50PM for a 6:05PM start. I even stopped off at Wendy's to take out a quick meal.

The Flying Squirrels were victorious in this uprising if you will by a score of 4-0!

After the game, I drove us home. I dropped the the King off in Astoria, Queens at 1:30AM and then I took myself home and I arrived safely at 1:53AM.

I got a few hours sleep and then I returned the car rental to Avis and picked up my car and headed to work fresh as a daisy I might add. I drove 537 miles in the 2 days.

Another Royalty exclusive was in the books.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Stay tuned.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

      

Royalty w/o 8/2 in review

Monday night after work I went to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees play the Toronto Blue Jays. Early in the game between innings they did a  special video tribute in honor of their late Captain Thurman Munson who died tragically 31 years to the day. To show respect, I did a special post. Please feel free to take a look if you haven't already done so.

As for the game that night, A.J. Burnett who started  for the Yankees got lit up for 8 earned runs as the Blue Jays held on to beat the Yankees, 8-6!

Brendan Morrow pitched for the Blue Jays and he won the game despite giving up 5 runs himself. He did strikeout 9 batters in the process.

Speaking of Brendan Morrow yesterday he came within one out of pitching a no-hitter. He wound up giving one hit as the Blue Jays beat the Rays, 1-0 in Toronto. He struck out 17 Rays. What a performance that was.

Tuesday night after work I went back to Yankee Stadium. Ricky Romero, the Blue Jays starting pitcher gave me a rare treat by going the distance.

He gave up a two run home run to Mark Teixeira in the first inning after he walked a batter then he proceeded to shut the Yankees down the rest of the night. He gave one other hit which was an infield single to Marcus Thames in the 5th inning.

The Blue Jays cruised to an easy victory, 8-2!

Wednesday I was working when the Yankees played an afternoon game. A-Rod  was still looking for 600th home run. He didn't waste any more time. In his first at bat in the bottom of the first inning, he finally did it. To find all the details, please read the special post I wrote if you haven't already done so.

That night after work I took a long train ride to Coney Island to see the Brooklyn Cyclones play the Batavia Muckdogs. I stopped off at Nathan's to have a few hot dogs and fries before I went into the ballpark.

As for the game, it was nice and fast for a change, it took only 2 hours and 3 minutes to play. Mind you it took just as long just to get home afterwards.

The Cyclones won the game, 4-0!

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

Friday night I went to the Bronx to see the Red Sox play the Yankees.

It turned out to be a great night for me and for some special people who I met we're visiting NYC for the very first time. Stay tuned because I'm going to do a special detailed post regarding that. It was a prime example of what royal treatment is all about.

As for the game itself, Clay Buchholz of the Red Sox pitched very well to lead the Red Sox to a 6-3 victory.

Ryan Kalish, a Red Sox rookie, hit his first major league home run, a two run blast which was big because it gave the Red Sox a three run cushion at the time. It wasn't the first time this season that royalty saw him play. Back on April 24th and April 25th we saw him play for the Red Sox Double A affiliate, the Portland Sea Dogs when they played those days against the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees farm team. He wound up getting a single and a sacrifice fly on the 24th and a run scoring double on the 25th.

Saturday afternoon we went back to the Bronx for the second game of  the series. The Yankees went on to win this one, 5-2! CC Sabathia their ace was dominant. He pitched great for 8 innings until it was time for Mariano Rivera to come in to pick up a cheap save as the King likes to call it. Believe me, CC could have and should have finished the game. Thanks to manager Joe Girardi he wasn't allowed to.

After the game, we went to Donavan's Pub for a nice post game dinner. For more details, please see my newly created restaurant review link on my home page.

Sunday afternoon we wound up in Staten Island watching the "other " Yankees in town play. The "baby" Yankees beat the Williamsport Crosscutters, 6-3!

While I was at the game, I stopped off at the Group Sales table to say hello to my buddy John DeLuca, the Group Sales Coordinator for the Staten Island Yankees. He told me he read my review of the ballpark and he told me how well written it was. With that being said, he made me feel real good. I told him to keep up the great marketing job.

If you want to attend a Staten Island Yankee game I suggest you round up at least 10 people and either call John at (718) 313-1336 and/or e-mail him at jdeluca@siyanks.com. Tell him Royalty Tours USA referred you. In my absence, he'll give you royal treatment.   

For further details regarding the Staten Island Yankee experience see the special post I wrote that has the official review of the ballpark which I did for my fellow roadtripper and founder of the website, Stadium Journey, Paul Swaney. 

That post is also conveniently located on my home page right under the about me segment. Just click on it and it will pop right up for your viewing pleasure..

In addition, if you want to have a better idea of what to expect from all the different ballparks around the country I strongly suggest you take a good look at Stadium Journey when you have some spare time. Paul and his partners as well as other sports enthusiasts have done a tremendous job scouting out for these places to give people tips and a real feel before they go so they know what they should expect. In this day and age, the last thing you want to do is waste your precious time.

Here's the link:

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/

I'm a big believer in the "5P's" that being "prior planning prevents poor performance".

Please feel free to take my advice and wait and see how it works wonders for you. I know for a fact it does for me.

After we left Staten Island, it was time to return to the Bronx for the Sunday night ESPN game between the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Upon arrival, we found out that scheduled starting pitcher A.J. Burnett was scratched due to an injury. Dustin Moseley took his place. He pitched well for 6 and a third innings before giving way to the bullpen which culminated with Mariano Rivera throwing one pitch to secure the last out as the Yankees won again, 7-2!

In the second inning, Derek Jeter got a run scoring single. More importantly, it was the 2,874th hit of his major league career which allowed him to pass the legendary Babe Ruth on the all time hits list.

With all that said, another week of my life is in the books.

Don't forget to check back for that special post I'm going to write.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman








      

                              

Philadelphia-Baltimore-Bowie Weekend Getaway

Here's the game plan:

Saturday August 21st Mariners at Yankees 1:05PM

                                 Nationals at Phillies 7:05PM

Sunday August 22nd Rangers at Orioles 1:35PM

                                Richmond Flying Squirrels at Bowie Baysox 6:05PM

If you're interested in joining us please let me know.

You want to meet us at a ballpark while we're there please feel free to contact me so we can make happen.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royal treatment for visitors from Burns, Oregon

Me & Kevin Feist

On Friday, August 6th, I was at Yankee Stadium watching the Red Sox play the Yankees.

During the game, I noticed a guy coming up in our section wearing an Oregon Ducks shirt.

I decided to ask him if he knew what time the Ducks were playing on September 4th against New Mexico.
He said he didn't know. I told him that the New Mexico website had the game starting at 12:30PM Pacific Time. The Ducks website said it was TBA.

He said 12:30 sounded like it should be right.

We continued to talk during the game. I told him I'm planning to go to that game when I'm out in the Northwest that weekend. He said his son Caleb will be going too. I plan to meet him there.

He wound sitting right in the row behind me. We exchanged contact information.

He said and I quote "it's a small world".

He told me that he and his family were visiting New York for the very first time.

He said they were from Burns, Oregon which is a small town of around 4,000 people in the Southeast corner.

His name was Kevin Feist. He was with his wife Toni, and their 3 children, 2 boys Caleb and Austin and a girl, Carli. In addition, they were accompanied by his brother-in-law Bob and his wife Linda who were from Carson City, Nevada.

Kevin told me that his son Caleb is going to be a freshman this fall. He's going to school at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon.

Ironically, his son plays baseball and his college coach is going to be former Yankee Scott Brosius.

Kevin said that his sister is good friends with Scott Brosius.

Kevin also mentioned he's a baseball coach too. In addition, he said he knew Kellen Clemens since he coached him in high school in Burns who also went to school at the University of Oregon and is the backup quarterback for the Jets.

When I saw the Jets play the other night, Kellen Clemens came in and I instantly thought of Kevin.

We spoke until the end of the game. I said to myself I'll going to take these people back to their hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

It was a rare night where I actually had time on my hands.

So after the game, I took pictures of the whole family. Then I escorted them to the subway.

Normally I take the 4 train to go home but since they needed the D train, I decided I'll go that way instead.

Fortunately I did for their sake, we walked towards the entrance of the stairway to the D train and it was wall to wall people.

I told them to follow me, we went upstairs towards the 4 train. I know there's a way to get back downstairs to get the D train.

It seemed like a longer way around until we got back downstairs inside the subway station and we saw the mob of people still trying to get to the turnstiles.

If we stayed where we were who knows how long we would have had to wait just to get into the subway station.

These people were amazed how I knew exactly how to out maneuver the crowd.

We proceeded to get right on the D train and off to Midtown we went.

We got off the train by Rockefeller Center. I decided to walk with them to their hotel so they wouldn't get lost.

I took them all right to the lobby of the Hilton Garden hotel where they were staying.

That's how royalty gives perfect strangers the royal treatment.

As a result, they were all very grateful for my kindness.

I had some rare spare time so I wanted to make good use of it and I did.

I did a good deed and I'm very proud of it.

These people contacted me before they left to go back home and they told me what a great time they had here and they look forward to coming back someday.

I hope they do, it will be an absolute pleasure to accomodate these people again.

I want to thank them for giving me that opportunity to do so.

Royalty w/o 7/19 in review

Upon returning to the Big Apple late Sunday night it was back to work Monday morning.

After work I went home to recharge the batteries for the week ahead.

Tuesday night I went to Yankee Stadium to watch the Angels play the Yankees.

Sean O'Sullivan started this game for the Angels.

He pitched well for 6 innings which earned him a quality start, which is considered a starting pitcher's dream these days. He wound up giving up just 2 hits and 2 runs in this outing. He left the game with a 6-2 lead. The Angels added to their lead and their bullpen kept the Yankees at bay as they went on to win the game, 10-2.

Wednesday I was able to get another night of rest since the Yankees played in the afternoon and I was working.

I still needed to catch up on lost sleep so it came in handy.

Thursday night I went back to the Bronx to see the KC Royals open a four game series with the Yankees.

With their ace, CC Sabathia pitching the Yankees were able to roll to victory despite the fact that CC didn't pitch a great game. He still was able to improve his record to 13-3.

There were some highlights of note in this one.

In the third inning, Derek Jeter led off by hitting a ball to the wall in right centerfield that appeared to have been caught by Royals centerfielder David DeJesus who was born in Brooklyn and he played college ball at Rutgers, but when he crashed into the wall the ball fell out of his glove and Jeter circled the bases for an inside the park home run.

You can see Jeter after he rounded the bases on the scoreboard in the picture above.

The last time Jeter hit an inside the park home run was ironically against the Royals but he did it in Kansas City on August 2, 1996.

In the seventh inning, A-Rod hit a solo home run which was the 599th of his career.

Friday night I went back to see game two of this four game set.

Just like when you see a game you never know what you're going to get.

The same can be said for the people you sit around especially these days because there's usually a different crowd at each game.

Fortunately for me I was blessed on this particular night.

I'm going to write a separate post regarding these special people.

As for the game, it wound up being a long night thanks to mother nature.

We had an hour and 25 minute rain delay during the game.

The Yankees were able to cruise to an easy victory again, 7-1.

Milestone of note, Jorge Posada picked up his 1,000th rbi of his career.

On the other hand, A-Rod was unable to hit his 600th home run.

Saturday I had to deal with the brutal heat not for one game but for two.

In the afternoon, I returned to the Bronx to see game three between the Royals and the Yankees.

This time the Royals built an early lead and they were able to hang on to beat the Yankees, 7-4.

Mark Teixeira hit 2 home runs but he grounded to shortstop on a very close play representing the tying run to end the game.

A-Rod was left waiting on deck.

He failed to homer so the wait continued for at least another day.

The King & I bolted out of the Stadium so we could take the 4 train downtown to get the Staten Island Ferry for our second game of the day.

The King found a bunch of rain checks from a game he got rained out of a few weeks ago so we were able to not only get a ticket for free but we also we're able to take advantage of their all you can eat ticket deal as well.

We saw the Staten Island Yankees hold on to beat the Brooklyn Cyclones, 3-2.

As for the all you can eat deal, they let you have hamburgers, hot dogs & chicken.

In addition, you can have a small bags of Herr's popcorn.

To wash it all down, you can choose from a variety of pepsi products.

I had a countless number of 12 ounce bottles of water to help offset the extreme weather.

It turned out to be an absolute blast.

I plan to do a profile on the Staten Island ballpark when I get a chance for a guy named Paul Swaney, who is a co-founder of the website, Stadium Journey.

Here's the link:

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/

His site is designed to give people tips on sports travel.

He values my expertise so I'm more than happy to help the cause.

His website is also on my blog roll.

I strongly suggest that you add it to your favorites.

Sunday I was back in the Bronx to see the Yankees play the Royals as well to see if A-Rod could hit number 600.

Well thanks to mother nature I unfortunately was forced to depart early before the game resumed in the sixth inning after a 2 and a half hour rain delay.

I had a family dinner to attend at my sister's house out on Long Island.

It turned out to be a wise move on my part.

The Yankees were up 5-3 when I left and they went on to win the game, 12-6.

Ironically Sean O'Sullivan who we saw pitch Tuesday night with Angels was traded on Thursday to the Royals.

With that being said, the King & I had the unique opportunity of seeing him pitch back to back starts with two different teams.

Unfortunately for him, the results were different.

This time the Yankees were able to hit him hard.

In my absence, A-Rod wound up batting twice.

He singled and he got hit by a pitch in his last at bat.

So his chase for 600 continues on the road.

Thank you for reading.

Stay tuned for that separate post I'm going to write.

You never know when it could be you.

Yours truly,

Prince Charming

Yankee Doubleheader on Memorial Day!

PNC Field in Scranton-Wilkes Barre

After spenting the weekend in New England, the King & I spent Memorial Day watching Yankee baseball day & night.

We were in the Bronx in the afternoon where we saw the Yankees beat up the Cleveland Indians, 11-2! A-Rod hit a Grand Slam that broke open a 2-1 game in the 7th inning as the Yankees proceeded to cruise to an easy victory.

After the game, we drove 128 miles to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania to see the Triple A Yankees play.

They wound up losing 9-1 to the Durham Bulls who are the Tampa Bay Rays farm team
at PNC Field formerly Lackawanna County Stadium
.
More importantly, we got to meet up with Alvin Pachter and his father, Howard. In addition, they were joined by Philip Cutler who we've met a few times in the recent past.

As for Alvin and his father, we met them a number of years ago from going to see the Red Barons who played there when they were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Alvin and his father do road trips as well on a smaller scale.

They normally take a long car ride around the country during the summer.

They usually come to NYC a few times a year as well to pay us a visit.

They made the trip today worth our while.

It's always fun to see people that we've met on road trips so we can catch up and share our unique adventures.