Royalty meets up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge in Cleveland, Ohio in the middle of May!‏

On Saturday, May 17th I woke up early so I could go to Avis to pick up a car rental for the weekend. I wound up getting a Ford Focus since that's all they had left. I drove it back home so I could pick up the King as we drove all day to go to Cleveland, Ohio. We stopped off at the rest area in Pennsylvania just past the Delaware Water Gap just before 1PM. Luckily we got there at the right time. When we came out of the rest room, the line was a mile long. A few buses pulled in for a pit stop on their way to Yankee Stadium. The Yankees were playing the Pirates that day at 4:05PM. There was a mixture of Yankee & Pirate fans. As I say, timing is everything. I was beside myself but I was all smiles when I got there. 

Reason to smile

We got back in the car ‎& I drove to Brookville, PA where we got gas & made to order food at Sheetz around 3:45PM. I wound up eating my chicken fingers & mozzarella sticks in the car as we continued on to Cleveland. We arrived there shortly after 6PM. I arranged to meet up with our pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge outside Progressive Field, home of the Indians by the Bob Feller statue. I called him when I was 20 miles from downtown. He told me he was there already. He said he was going to stop off at a local bar so he could watch the Preakness. I told him I'll see him by the statue when he got done. We wound up meeting up around 6:30PM. We had bought some cheap tickets in advance so we were able to head right inside once we met up. We wound up meeting the King who was inside already in section 554 upstairs behind home plate. 

Me by Bob Feller statue

View from section 554

As for the game we saw, the Indians were hosting the Oakland Athletics on this night. Former Met & Indian Scott Kazmir was starting for the A's. Thanks to home plate umpire Jerry Layne he wasn't long for the night. He wound up getting ejected for complaining about the strikeout zone or the lack thereof. He lasted just one ‎& a third innings. He gave up a run on a wild pitch while walking three & striking out one. However he got off the hook for the loss thanks to his teammate, third baseman Josh Donaldson who tied the game at one with a run scoring single in the top of the third inning which was followed by a two run homer by first baseman Brandon Moss which gave the A's a 3-1 lead. The Tribe got a run back in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly by shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to make it a 3-2 game. The Athletics wound up putting the game away with three more runs in the top of the seventh inning when Josh Donaldson & Brandon Moss struck again. This time Donaldson delivered a two run triple & Moss added a run scoring double to give the A's a 6-2 victory. Relief pitcher Dan Otero threw three & two thirds of shutout relief to earn the win. Josh Tomlin who started for the Indians suffered the loss despite getting a quality start as he went six innings allowing three earned runs. The bullpen let it slip away once he came out. 

Regardless of the outcome, it was great to spend some quality time with our pal Rick Morris who's a big fan of the King & I. I want to thank him for always making time to join us when we come to visit. 

After we said our goodbyes to him, we walked back to the car ‎& we drove 200 miles to Somerset, PA where we spent the night at Days Inn.

Stay tuned for another special post that will recap how we spent that Sunday.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty goes to Baltimore to see the Oakland Athletics play the Orioles!

Vincent Ascanio, Me, The King, Peter  Agnew & Frank Anichiarico

Saturday morning I went to Avis to rent a car for the weekend. I called them on my way so I could see if I could get a bigger car than I reserved.

I wound up having them hold a Crown Victoria for me. It worked out well since I had four other people come for the ride.

I got the car and I drove back home to get the King. We arranged to have our friends Al Linderman and Frank Anichiarico meet us there. We told our pal Vincent Ascanio to meet us by the 21st Street subway station in Queensbridge. He called that he was early so I went out and picked him up while we waited for Frank to come by.

It worked out well as Frank showed up at Noon and away we went.

On the way down South we ran into a big thunderstorm just North of Philadelphia on I-95. I thought I was back in Florida it was that bad.

After weathering the storm, we arrived in the Baltimore area around 4:30PM. We arranged to meet up with our friends Peter & Carmen Agnew for dinner at Looney's Pub in Canton/Fell's Point where they live. Since Carmen was going to Church at 5PM she didn't have time to eat with us. She wanted to say hello to us at least. It was great to see her again. She's such a wonderful person. Peter wound up ordering food for her to take out after we were all done eating.

As usual, the food was delicious. We ordered chicken wings which were made to order and they were damn good I must say. I had a piece of broiled orange roughy for dinner. The other guys went with burgers. They were very satisfied customers I might add. I asked them how their food was and I got plenty of positive responses.

Peter introduced us to John who's the manager at that location. I told him we love coming here. Why go somewhere else when you know what you're getting here. After trying plenty of other places, I know Looney's suits our eating and drinking needs best.

After we ate, we drove over to Oriole Park at Camden Yards to see the Orioles play the Oakland Athletics. Peter arranged to get us tickets for the game right behind home plate up near the top in the shade in section 336. He knows that's where we love to sit. Since he has season tickets for the Orioles he was able to exchange some unused tickets so he could accommodate us. That was very kind of him. For that, we were very grateful.

Peter decided to go home and wait for Carmen so she could have her dinner.

As for the game we saw, the Athletics beat up on the Orioles, 6-1.

The star of the game was rookie Yoenis Cespedes, the star from Cuba that the Athletics signed in the off season. I've seen him play briefly on TV a few times. This was the first time I saw him play live. What a thrill he was to watch. He can do it all for the young up and coming Athletics. On this night, he lead the way with his bat hitting a home run. He also hit a stand up triple as he raced around the bases like it was nothing. In addition, he made a great backhanded catch in center field after playing most of the game in left field.

I hope to see him play again but that may not be until next year. The main reason we went to Baltimore this time was because they were playing the Athletics. They come to Yankee Stadium for their only visit in September and the Mets are home at the same time. Since the King has a streak going to every home game at Citi Field except for one that he missed in 2009, he won't be able to see the Athletics play in New York. For that matter, he can't be in two places at the same time. As for me, I plan to be at Citi Field too. If not, I may go to a football game that weekend. We try to see every team play at least one game home or away if possible every year.

In retrospect, it turned out to be a wise decision to go to Baltimore. We got to see Yoenis Cespedes put on a show and we saw the original of the retro ballparks. Camden Yards is still the best of the new ones. It's a modern day Wrigley Field in comparison to the others. Quite amazingly, Oriole Park opened up way back in 1992. Time has literally flown by. I remember going there for the first time. They played the Mets in an exhibition game. This was my 85th game there over the years. I've seen at least one every year. As for the King, he's seen 150+ there including the first official game that opened the ballpark on April 6,1992 when the Orioles hosted the Cleveland Indians.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Marlins Park along with a special guest, my Uncle Bob!

Prince outside Marlins Park

Three years ago, my Uncle Bob moved from Petaluma, California which is 40 miles north of San Francisco to Delray Beach, Florida.

Back in January 1992, the King and I went to the West Coast on a monster basketball and hockey trip. While we were there we visited my Uncle Bob. On that trip, we took him with us to the Cow Palace where the San Jose Sharks played their first few seasons while their new arena was being built.

We went back to visit him during baseball season on numerous occasions over the years when he lived there. We got to take him to Candlestick Park in 1993 and Pac Bell Park as it was known when it first opened back in 2000 to see the Giants and he also joined us when we went to Oakland to see the Athletics in 1997.

This time we got to visit him in Florida for the first time since he moved there. I arranged to meet him at his condo in Delray Beach which was on the way from Jupiter to Miami. Since we got a fast game that afternoon, we got to his place early enough so he could show us around his residence which overlooks a lake and a golf course.

He hadn't been to the new Marlins Park yet so I told him we'll take him there. It was a honor and privilege to do so.

As for the game we saw, the Miami Marlins fell behind the Washington Nationals, 2-0 early as Jesus Flores drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Ryan Zimmerman added a solo homer. In the bottom of the third inning, newcomer Carlos Lee hit a two run single to tie the game at two. A few batters later, now former Marlin Hanley Ramirez launched a two run homer to break the tie. By doing so, we got to see the sculpture in left center field light up as a Marlin started to fly around and water shot up in the air like it was coming out of a fountain. It was a cool sight to see. Since the ballpark has long dimensions, home runs don't fly out of there like they do at Yankee Stadium so we got to see a rare treat.

The Nationals inched closer as they scored another run in the sixth inning to make it 4-3. The Marlins wound up adding an insurance run in the seventh inning as they went on to win, 5-3 to gain a split of the four series.
After the game, we drove back towards my Uncle's place. Before we got there we stopped off at Steak N Shake and we had a shake. What a great way to wrap up this midsummer's night dream.

After enjoying the shakes we had, we spent the night at my Uncle's place.

We had breakfast Tuesday morning then we headed to the West Palm Beach airport to catch our flight home.

I want to personally thank my Uncle Bob for giving us some royal treatment while we were there.
Stay tuned as I continue by doing my week in review upon our return home to the Big Apple.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Gio Gonzalez is playing in the All-Star Game for the second year in row!

Last year while pitching for the Oakland Athletics, Gio Gonzalez was named to the American League All-Star team. He only faced one batter in the game at Chase Field in Arizona but he got the Cincinnati Reds' Jay Bruce to strike out in his cameo appearance.

In the off season, the Athletics decided not to sign Gio long term. As a result, they traded him to the Washington Nationals for four prospects. The Nationals thought so highly of Gio that they gave him a long term contract with options to keep him in our Nation's Capitol for many years to come.

Gio has responded by showing the Nationals' upper management that they've made a very sound business decision.

Based on the first half of his first season with the first place Nationals, he's shown that he's more than worth the prospects they gave up for him.

After winning 31 games over the last two seasons he played in Oakland, he has 12 wins against 3 losses for the Nationals in a half a season so far.

If he keeps pitching well during the second half of the season, he could finish with at least 20 wins which is a rarity these days.

Yesterday Gio made his last start before the All-Star break. He threw six quality innings as he earned his 12th win. That tied him for the major league lead with R.A. Dickey of the Mets who's having a career year.
With the victory, Gio now has 50 wins at the major league level.

Back in May 2009, I saw Gio at an autograph table while he was spending time in the minor leagues at Sacramento the Athletics' Triple A affiliate after he had a brief stint in the majors. Shortly after that, Gio was recalled by the Athletics and now he's in the major leagues to stay.

He's come along way since then and with that being said, I'm so proud of all his hard work and the positive attitude that he brings to the table. As a result, he's now a rising star at the major league level.

Gio has had bouts with his control in his time at the major league level from time to time. Being a southpaw, it's not surprising. He has cut down the number of walks he's allowed the last few years. This season he continues to minimize the free passes he issues. His strikeout to walk ratio is almost 3 to 1 which is excellent. I hope he continues to built on his success.

Gio has a good track record of staying healthy which is key to his long term success. Over the last two and a half years, he's made all his starts.

This year he's thrown 101 and two thirds innings so far. He ha allowed only 71 hits including just 4 home runs which is impressive to say the least. He has struck out 118 batters which is more than one per inning and he's walked only 42. So if you do the math he has a 2.8 strikeouts to walks ratio. His earned run average is 2.92. That proves his future is very bright.

Time will tell. One thing is for sure Tuesday night he will be representing the National League and the Washington Nationals proudly in the Major League All Star Game Tuesday night in Kansas City. I plan to tune to watch him shine again.

I want to wish Gio only the best of luck in the second half.

Regardless of what happens I'm always behind him. He's such a great guy on and off the field, it's hard not to root for him. If and when you get to meet him sometime, you'll see what I mean.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Gio Gonzalez has a new home in our Nation's Capitol, the Washington Nationals capitalized on the opportunity to get him!

Gio Gonzalez is heading to Washington DC which means I have a chance to see him pitch more often. For all the details, click below.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111222&content_id=26227592&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb 

The A's loss is the Nationals' gain.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Gio Gonzalez has an emerged as a solid starter for the Oakland Athletics!

Gio and I at Citi Field

When I first saw Gio pitch for the Reading Phillies in Norwich, Connecticut back in April 2006, I knew he had major league potential.

In May 2009, I saw him signing autographs on the concourse at a table in Sacramento, California before a River Cat game we were at. I got to speak to him for the first time. He had a great attitude. I knew it was only a matter of time before Gio got his chance to prove he's a major leaguer.

After making his debut with the Oakland Athletics in August 2008, he wound up going back down to Sacramento in 2009. As a result, that turned out to be a blessing because I had the privilege of meeting him in person.

Since then, I've kept close tabs on him. He finally got back to the major leagues later in 2009.

In 2010, he proved that he deserved to stay by having a breakout season. He finished his first full season in the majors with a 15-9 record and a 3.23 ERA.

This year Gio built on his 2010 campaign. He started off the season very well.

On June 21st, I got to see him before the game at Citi Field when the Athletics came to play the Mets in an interleague matchup during batting practice. The next night I got to see him pitch in person at the major league level for the first time. After always missing him by a day in Yankee Stadium, Cleveland and Kansas City, my opportunity finally presented itself. Like Gio, I'm a preserver. Gio pitched well for 7 innings but he left the game with the score tied at one. The Mets eventually won in extra innings. Gio didn't disappoint me.
With his performances improving as the season went on, he was selected to be a member of the American League All-Star team. He got to appear late in the game and he recorded a strikeout in his cameo appearance. I was so happy for Gio. He has worked so hard to get where he is today.

After the All-Star break, Gio did hit a bad stretch where he didn't pitch well. That's part of the maturation process. Gio proved it was a fluke because down the stretch, he pitched lights out to finish the season strong.

In matter of fact, the last game of the season he was on the mound in Safeco Field while the Red Sox and Braves were choking their seasons away. My eyes were focused on Gio who was busy dominating the Mariners. Gio continues to fly under the radar screen. It's only a matter of time before he becomes the center of attention.

With that being said, that could happen at the end March 2012 when the Oakland Athletics go to Japan to play the Seattle Mariners to open the season.

Gio compiled an impressive 16-12 record with a 3.12 ERA in 2011. He threw 200 innings and he struck out 202 batters.

The King and I saw the Mets and the Cubs open the season in Tokyo back in March 2000.

I would welcome the opportunity to go back to Japan. I would not only get to see Gio pitch more than likely but we could also see our friend Sean MacDonald who lives there. We didn't meet him until 2003.

I don't know what's going to happen for us in 2012 just yet but I expect Gio to continue to climb the ladder to stardom in the major leagues.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Gio Gonzalez of the Oakland A's is an All-Star!

All-Star Pitcher Gio Gonzalez 

As many of my readers and followers know, I'm a big fan of Gio Gonzalez.

He is in the midst of another fine season pitching for the Oakland Athletics.

Today he pitched another gem. He went seven innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Oakland. He allowed one run, five hits, he walked three and struck seven and he got run support from teammates to improve to record to 8-5 this season. It was his 30th career major league win. In the process he lowered his earned run average to a mere 2.31 in 109 innings with 106 strikeouts.

I was so happy for him but then I heard even better news that he was selected to go the All-Star Game in Phoenix.

Now that's a well deserved honor and privilege. Gio has come a long way on the major league level the last few years. He's been an All-Star in the minor leagues in the past but now this is the first time he's been selected in the major leagues.

The future looks very bright for Gio. I hope he keeps up the great work.

Most players these days are hard to root for. Gio is the exception to the rule. I've had the honor and privilege of seeing him a number of times during batting practice over the past few years. The more success he has, the nicer he is. I wish there were more legitimate class acts in the game like him. That's my personal opinion. Try to get his attention and you'll see exactly what I mean.

Congratulations, Gio! Hope to see you again at Yankee Stadium soon.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty hooks up with A's pitcher Gio Gonzalez at Citi Field!

Gio Gonzalez and I

On Tuesday, June 21st the Oakland Athletics made their first appearance at Citi Field as they played the Mets in the return of interleague play.

I raced out of work at 5:30PM so I could go right to Citi Field to catch the end of batting practice.
More importantly, my goal was to see A's pitcher Gio Gonzalez. He didn't make it easy but I still found a way to make it happen.

When I got into the ballpark I went down the left field line thinking that Gio would probably be near there.
I looked around and I didn't see him in that area. I proceeded to scan the rest of the outfield. I noticed a lefty way out in right field. I said to myself that's Gio.

I went up the to the concourse and I made my way over to where he was.

I yelled out to him and I got his attention. He instantly saw me and said hello. I told him I looking for him out in left field. He told me and I quote "I like to switch it up." He threw me a curve ball. After speaking to him from a short distance he told me to go near their dugout which was by the third base side. After batting practice, he said he would come over.

I listened to his instructions and I got as close to their dugout area as I could right by where they keep the tarp rolled up.

Gio true to his word came over once I got his attention. We shook hands and shot the breeze if you will. Honestly speaking, Gio is one of the nicest baseball players you'll ever meet. In my eyes, he's a class act. He signed autographs for all the youngsters that were around me. One of them said and I quote "he's been here for 20 minutes."

I had an Athletics pocket schedule that had a picture of him on it that he signed for me. In addition, he also signed my scorebook.

I've gotten his autograph a number of times over the last few years but I never realized that he writes with his right hand. He's a lefty pitcher and he bats righty which is rather odd. I happen to be a straight up lefty myself. I write, throw and bat lefty.

In my conversation with him, I told him the best pitch he threw this year was when he hit Derek Jeter. He said and I quote "I really didn't want to do that." He's a true professional. Gio has had his bouts with wildness on the mound so it's understandable that the pitch got away from him.

Speaking of his pitching, I finally got to see his pitch live in the major leagues for the very first time on Wednesday. I've always had the misfortune in the past of missing him pitch by a day. Lucky for me that didn't happen this time around.

Gio knew I was in the building so he wanted to really impress me. Well did he ever. I told him on Tuesday night when I saw him he needed to cut down on his walks. Apparently, I got my message across.

Wednesday night, Gio was amazing. He pitched great. He threw a seven pitch 1,2,3 first inning. In the second inning, he was a little shaky after he made a tremendous athletic play at first base catching a horrible throw from teammate Conor Jackson who tried to get Gio killed as the King said. Gio caught the ball and still managed to touch the bag for the first out of the inning. He then ran into some trouble but he was able to minimize the damage only allowing the Mets to score just one run. The score stayed that way until catcher Kurt Suzuki hit a solo home run to tie the game for the Athletics in the fifth inning at one. Gio pitched seven beautiful innings but since he left with the game tied he didn't get a decision for effort.

As for his overall performance, I gave him an "A". He was brilliant. He throw 102 pitches and 69 of them for strikes. If you take into account, how wild he's been at times this season, this performance was a stellar one for him. He walked none and he struck out eight. I just hope he can repeat this every time out going forward. If so, he will be a great pitcher for many years to come. Time will tell.

I hope to see Gio again when the A's come to Yankee Stadium in July and/or August.

I want to personally thank Gio for taking the time to see me and his other fans.

I hope he gets a nice contract extension real soon. He's one of the few I hope gets a well deserved payday. He's worked very hard to be where he is and he should be rewarded properly.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Stay tuned for the rest of my week of 6/20 in review.

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

Royalty sees Gio Gonzalez at Yankee Stadium!

Gio Gonzalez

The Oakland Athletics are in the Bronx playing the Yankees for 4 games.

I'm attending 3 of them before I go away to Seattle on Thursday morning.

I was wondering if I'll finally see Gio Gonzalez pitch in the major leagues in person.

I missed him here last year when he pitched on July 25, 2009 because I went to Fenway Park instead.

This year on July 3rd I was in Cleveland Gio pitched the night before.

On July 17th, I saw him in Kansas City Gio pitched the night before.

So you should know the answer.

Quite amazingly Gio pitched yesterday afternoon against the Rangers so he misses the Yankees altogether this time.

I did see him again in batting practice tonight but it wasn't an easy task.

I had to sneak by the ridiculous Yankee Stadium security guards who told me they were "doing their job" by giving me a hard time.

I still managed to get Gio to come over and sign a picture for me during BP even though he wasn't supposed to before I was forced to leave by the supervisor.

After I got chased away from the bullpen area on the lower level, I went by the foul pole and I found my way past security again and he signed my scorebook.

Gio is a class act. Everytime I've seen him he always comes over after batting practice to sign autographs for the kids.

I continue to follow his progress each start.

It should be noted every time I've missed him by a day he's pitched great the day or night before.

I probably won't see him again until next year so I expect the streak to continue then.

Gio is now 12-8 with a 3.23 ERA this season.

Keep up the great work, Gio!

You're the man in my book.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Salute to the Old KC Athletics!

Salute to the KC Athletics

While we were in Kansas City, we saw the Athletics play the Royals.

In honor of their past, they did a salute to the Athletics who played in KC back in the day.

It was a nice touch.

As for the game, the Royals fell short losing to the Athletics, 6-5!

The Gio Gonzalez watch continued in KC!



Gio Gonzalez







In a previous post, I wrote a piece on Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez.

When I was writing that post I somehow forgot that I was going to see the Athletics in Kansas City.

After I posted it I realized that it had slipped my mind.

Luckily I caught myself and I made sure upon entering Kauffman Stadium when the gates opened that I went down to see Gio.

Despite the sun beaming down, I still was able to get his attention.

We started talking and a few moments later a ball came his way.

He proceeded to toss it up to me. It was a pleasant surprise and a nice gesture by Gio.

He said after batting practice, he would come back and sign it.

True to his word, he did.

In addition, I had him sign my scorebook again as well. I wished him well.

Ironically we were in St. Louis the night before. I looked at the out of town scoreboard and I was beside myself. Gio was pitching.

He threw 7 innings giving up just one run and he picked up the victory.

Quite amazingly like in the past and most recently when we were in Cleveland just 2 weeks ago, Gio pitched the night before as well. He pitched great that night too. I can't get to see him pitch in the major leagues live.

In a way it was a blessing because he told me like most pitchers they don't sign autographs on the day they pitch. So in that regard it was a blessing in disguise.

I will continue to follow Gio's progress.

The other day he beat the Red Sox despite giving up four runs in 6 innings. He improved his record this season to 9-6 with a 3.75 earned run average.

Keep up the good work, Gio.

The way things are going he's in the major leagues to stay. He will turn 25 on September 19th so his future should be very bright.

I look forward to seeing him again somewhere down the road.