Royalty starts June by seeing three different teams play at Yankee Stadium in consecutive days!‏

Thanks to a rain out on April 30th, the Yankees wound up hosting three different teams in consecutive days at Yankee Stadium. They were scheduled to play Sunday, June 1st against the Twins & Tuesday June 3rd against the Athletics. Since Monday  June 2nd was scheduled as an open date for both the Yankees & Mariners they decided to make the game that night. As a result, it set up a rare occurrence. 

View from Section 420B

‎With that being said, here's how it played out.

On Sunday afternoon, I arranged to get my pal & fellow road tripper Blair Long a ticket for the game in the row right in front of the King & I in section 420B. Since there were a few empty seats by us he got to sit with us for the duration of the afternoon. It worked well. That way we were able to enjoy the game together. It was nice to see him again.  

As for the game we saw, former Yankee Phil Hughes pitched eight strong innings just allowing two runs. ‎The Twins trailed, 2-1 after eight innings. In the ninth inning, Josh Willingham lead off with a solo homer which tied the game & got Phil Hughes off the hook for the hard luck loss. The Twins wound up batting around as Josh Willingham flew out to center field to end the inning. In between the Twins added five more runs as they made a winner out of Phil Hughes who got the last laugh on this day as his new team, the Twins beat the Yankees, 7-2.

‎Monday night marked the return to the Bronx again for Robinson Cano. He & his new team, the Seattle Mariners came back to the Bronx to play the make up game. Not only did the Yankees see their former teammate but they wound up facing Felix Hernandez who's one of the best pitchers in baseball. 

As for the game we saw, the Mariners lead off hitter James Jones played college baseball at LIU in Brooklyn. My pal David Sack has seen him play there. It was a homecoming for him. He had a rough night though. He went hit less in five at bats which included a sacrifice bunt which was part of the decisive four run seventh inning which gave the Mariners' the lead for good. Robinson Cano once again heard the boos as he walked a few times, got picked off first base & he singled in his last at bat ‎to finish the game one for three. Felix Hernandez  pitched well. He gave up two runs in seven innings to earn the victory as the Mariners broke open a 2-2 tie as they went on to whip the Yankees, 10-2.

Tuesday night after work I returned to the Bronx hoping to make it three days in a row seeing three different teams play. Mother nature did her best to put a damper on that but thankfully she cooperated after an hour & twelve minute ‎delay. With that being said, first pitch wound up being at 8:17PM. As they say, better late than never. 

As for the game we saw, the starting pitchers pitched well. Scott Kazmir, a former Met, went six & a third innings. He allowed two runs while he striking out ten. Hiroki Kuroda who started for the Yankees gave up just one run in six & two thirds innings. The Athletics tied the game at two in the top of the eighth inning so neither starter got a decision. The game went into extra innings. The Yankees bullpen sprung a leak as Adam Warren got tagged for three runs in the top of the tenth inning which proved costly as the Yankees fell again, 5-2. 

Wednesday night when I got to Yankee Stadium I went to get my 25 game MLB Pass-Port book stamped at the Guest services booth by gate 6. While I was doing so, I saw a familiar face. It was my buddy Steve Cirvello who works as a business partner with my pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge. Steve told me he bought a bleacher ticket off of Stub Hub. I told him to come upstairs with me instead. It worked out well as there were some empty seats near the King & I. As a result, we got to enjoy each others company for the rest of the night. Steve can be found on Twitter. His handle is @FDHNYB. Please feel free to follow him & show him some royal love. 

As for the game we saw, the Athletics overcame a 4-0 deficit as they went on to cruise past the Yankees again, 7-4. 

Stay tuned for some special posts that will go into detail about our weekend getaway to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Reading & Baltimore.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty witnesses the return of Robinson Cano to the Bronx!‏

In the off season, business decisions are made. This past winter the Yankees had to make some moves that forced them to part with one of their home grown players. The Yankees decided that paying Robinson Cano a ridiculous amount of money wasn't worth it for them in the long run. As a result, they let him go. Cano wound up getting 240 million dollars on the open market from the Seattle Mariners. He & his representatives initially told the Yankees he wanted 305 million dollars. Apparently that starting point turned them off. They decided to go in a different direction. As a result, they wound up getting Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann & Masahiro Tanaka instead. I personally thought they did the right thing. I would have liked Cano to have stayed with the Yankees because he came up through their farm system starting out in Staten Island. Unfortunately in this day & age, players rarely play their whole career with one team. He could have been an exception to that rule. However, last summer he hired Roc Nation who's lead by Jay Z to represent him as his new agent. That was the first step towards his ultimate departure. For his sake, I hope he's enjoying life in the Northwest. 

On Tuesday night April 29th, Robinson Cano returned to the Bronx as a member of the Seattle Mariners. After work that night I met the King at Yankee Stadium. I didn't know what to expect when he came up to bat for the first time. I figured it would be a mixed reaction. I was a bit surprised how the fans reacted. They for the most part serenaded him with a chorus of boos. That's New York fans for you. They're known for their fickleness & front running not their knowledge & class. When the Yankees make a splash & over pay for a top free agent on the market it's fine & dandy. Now that the Yankees let Cano go, the fans revolted against him. ‎He did what any other proud American would have done, he capitalized on his opportunity  on the open market. In fairness to the Yankees, they can't keep everyone. They made a business decision & they have to live with it. 

Robinson Cano

As for the game we saw, Robinson Cano wound up going one for five in his return. On the positive side, he did drive in a run with a ground out & he got an infield single. On the other hand, he grounded out another time & he struck out twice. He heard the boos all night long. The Yankees lead 2-0 early but the Mariners wound up getting to Yankee starter CC Sabathia who gave up four runs in five innings of work. ‎The Mariners got a two run double from Corey Hart & a run scoring single from Justin Smoak as they knocked out CC by scoring the four runs in the fifth inning. In addition, catcher Mike Zunino got four hits before he struck out his last time at bat as Robinson Cano & the Mariners got the last laugh on this night as they went on to beat the Yankees, 6-3. 

Wednesday night the game was rained out. With a horrible forecast that called for rain all day & night, they wisely decided to call the game off shortly after 1PM in the afternoon. They didn't reschedule the game the next day. They waited until both teams had a compatible open day which turned out to be June 2nd to make up the game. 

Thursday night May 1st they played ‎game two of their abbreviated series. Since the Baltimore Orioles also got rained out & they decided to play a straight single admission doubleheader the King decided to take a Greyhound bus down there instead. As a result, he skipped the Yankee game. Our friend Frank Anichiarico aka Duck took his place. 

As for me, I went there after work. When I got to me seat in section 420B row 7 I was greeted by my pal Greg Venuto who came down from Connecticut with a friend of his to see the game. While he was waiting for his friend to arrive, he stopped by to say hello to me. As always, it was nice to see him again. 

Greg Venuto & I at Yankee Stadium

Shortly thereafter, I got a visit from a fellow ballpark chaser named Roy Spierer who's a big Yankee fan as well. He came up special to meet & greet me. He was all dressed up in his Yankee gear that included quite a collection of pins which he likes to collect. He lives in New Jersey & has a half season ticket package for the Trenton Thunder which is the Yankees Double A affiliate in the Eastern League he said. He mentioned to me that he may take a road trip to Chicago ‎& Milwaukee in late July. I told him to let me know if he needs any advice. I want to personally thank him for coming by. I hope to see him again in the future. 

Roy Spierer & I at Yankee Stadium

As for the game we saw, the Mariners jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a double by Robinson Cano who once again heard it from the Yankee faithful who were on hand. The Yankees got even fast as Jacoby Ellsbury lead off the bottom of the first inning with a home run to tie the game at one. The Mariners regained the lead, 2-1 in the top of the third inning when Robinson Cano hit into a fielder's choice. In the fourth inning, the Mariners extended their lead to 4-1 on a pair of two out clutch run scoring singles by shortstop Brad Miller & center fielder Michael Saunders. The Yankees got a run in the sixth inning when Brian McCann delivered a run scoring single to make it a 4-2 game but that's the way it ended as Robinson Cano who finished one for four at the plate got the last laugh as the Mariners won again. The Yankees wasted a quality start by Hiroki Kuroda who gave up all four runs but one was unearned. As for the Mariners, they got a better performance from their starter Roenis Elias who went seven strong innings allowing two runs while walking two & striking out ten. 

Stay tuned for another special post that will recap a special day I had at Yankee Stadium on the first Saturday in May.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees the Home Run Derby at Citi Field!

After I left the Fan Fest Monday afternoon July 14th at the Jacobs Javits Center, I walked over to a bar across from Penn Station called Local West where I met up with my pal and fellow roadtripper, Andrew Van Cleve who took Amtrak up from Philadelphia to see the Home Run Derby with me. I met him inside the bar. I sat down and I had a beer with him. When we got done we went around the block and we ate dinner at Wendy's. After we ate, we took the subway out to Citi Field for the Home Run Derby.

Home Run Derby at Citi Field

This was the first time I witnessed this unique event. It was strange going to a ballpark to watch different players just swing for the fences. It turned out to be a very entertaining event. Before the players took their swings in the batter's box, there was a musical performance by Pitbull.

As for the participants of the Home Run Derby, they consisted of eight players, four from the American League and four from the National League.

They were as follows:

Prince Fielder (last year's champion) Tigers
Michael Cuddyer Rockies
Yoenis Cespedes Athletics
Pedro Alvarez Pirates
Chris Davis Orioles
Bryce Harper Nationals
Robinson Cano Yankees
David Wright Mets

The format was as follows:

The players took turns by alternating leagues starting with the American League going first. There was two rounds which was followed by a Championship round.

The four players with the highest number of home runs in the first round advanced to the second round.
In the second round, the home runs carried over from the first round to the second round.

The Championship round consisted of the two players who hit the most cumulative number of home runs in the first two rounds. The player with the most home runs in the Championship round was declared the Home Run Derby Champion.

The rules were as follows:

Each player was allowed ten outs in each round. An out was registered when a player swung at a pitch and didn't hit a home run.

Each team had a captain. For the American League, it was Robinson Cano of the Yankees and for the National League, it was David Wright of the Mets.

Here's how the Derby played out:

Round one the winners were Yoenis Cespedes who lead the way with 17 long balls. Chris Davis & Bryce Harper each had 8 and Michael Cuddyer made the final cut with 7 roundtrippers.

In the second round, Yoenis Cespedes added 6 more homers to finish the two rounds with 23. Bryce Harper added 8 more to finish with 16 which qualified him for the Championship round.

In the Championship round, Yoenis Cespedes beat out Bryce Harper, 9 homers to 8.

As a result, he was declared the 2013 Home Run Derby Champion. Ironically he was the first winner of the Derby not to play in the actual All-Star Game.

Speaking of the All-Star Game, stay tuned for a special post that I'm going to do about that experience.

It should be noted that after I left Citi Field after the Home Run Derby, I was stranded outside the entrance to the 7 train. There was a fire at the 103rd street station at 10:40PM which suspended service for almost an hour. Thankfully I wasn't working the next day. With that being said, I tried my best to stay calm. Once the subway service resumed, I went home like I normally do. I finally got home at 12:30AM. What a way to end a fun night.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 8/27 in review

The King and I with Dylan Van Cleve 

Monday night after work I went up to the Bronx on the D train. When I got up there I went to Burger King where I met the King and Vincent Ascanio. I wound up getting a few Whoppers for dinner. Nothing beats flame broiled burgers and more importantly I had them my way with just lettuce. They were made to order and they tasted really good.

After we got done eating we made our way over to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees host the Toronto Blue Jays. I was thinking of our pal Sean MacDonald who's originally from Ottawa, Canada then he moved to Japan for quite some time until he recently relocated to Singapore. Regardless he still loves watching baseball and he always roots for the Blue Jays. With that being said, he was with us in spirit.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees scored first as Robinson Cano hit a solo homer to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. The Blue Jays answered right back as Adam Lind tied the game at one with a solo homer of his own in the top of the second. In the fourth inning, Robinson Cano homered again and the Yankees tacked on a few more runs to take the lead again, 4-1. The Blue Jays got within one as Yorvit Torrealba hit a two run shot to make the score 4-3 in the fifth. The Yankees responded as Nick Swisher did the same. The Blue Jays inched closer again with a run in the seventh to make it 6-4. In the top of the ninth, the Blue Jays were down to their last out with two men on when Colby Rasmus who previously played for the St. Louis Cardinals crushed the ball into the second deck in right field to give the Blue Jays a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Derek Jeter aka Captain Clutch lived up to his nickname as he tied the game at seven with a solo homer to right center. The game went into extra innings. The Blue Jays went on to win, 8-7 in 11 innings thanks to a throwing error on a pick off attempt by Derek Lowe which put pinch runner Mike McCoy on third base with nobody out after Yorvit Torrealba got a single to start the inning. After a strikeout, Mike McCoy scored the eventual winning run after a ball was grounded to third by Adeiny Hechavarria. McCoy raced home and he beat the throw to make Sean a happy camper on this night.

Tuesday after work I did the same drill except I met the King for dinner at the 7 Fish Market where we had some seafood.

This time we saw a much faster game with a different end result. The Yankees scored a run in the third and fourth innings to take a 2-0 lead off starter Ricky Romero who's had a rough year on the mound. Third baseman Adeiny Hechavarria sliced the lead in half in the fifth inning with a solo homer to make the score 2-1. That's the way it stayed as the Yankees won much to Sean's chagrin. Yankees' starter Phil Hughes pitched 7 strong innings to earn his 13th victory of the season.

Wednesday night after work I went home since the Blue Jays and Yankees wrapped up their series in the afternoon. The Blue Jays wound up winning the game and the series.

As for me, I came home and I made dinner then I went out and I did my laundry. When I came back I packed up my bags in preparation for our weekend getaway.

Thursday I took off from work so I could pick up the King as he worked at the Post Office for the last time. He decided to take a buyout that they offered him to retire. I went to Dollar Rent A Car to get a car for the day by LaGuardia Airport. I proceeded to pick up the King and off to Philadelphia we went to see the Mets play the Phillies in a matinee.

We were joined by our pal Andrew Van Cleve who recently became a father for the second and last time. On August 22nd, his wife Nicole gave birth to their second son, Micah. With that being said, the letters USB have taken on a new meaning. It used to stand for the Ultimate Sports Baby who is Dylan who was with Andrew at the game. Now it stands for Ultimate Sports Brothers aka Dylan and Micah.

As always, it was great to see Andrew and Dylan. They made the Met loss as it turned out much more bearable. I want to thank them for keeping us company.

As for the game we saw, the Mets were looking to sweep the Phillies. Mike Baxter lead off the game with a home run. Scott Hairston hit one of his own in the second inning with one out. After that, it was all Phillies as they scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to take a 3-2 lead. That's how it ended as the Phillies avoided getting swept by the Mets.

Since the game went so fast, the King and I decided to change our game plan from going to Trenton, NJ to getting closer to home since we had to return the car rental early Friday morning before we caught our flight to Milwaukee for our Labor Day weekend getaway.

With that being said, we wound up in Coney Island where we met up with Vincent Ascanio. We all went to MCU Park to see the Brooklyn Cyclones host the Hudson Valley Renegades.
 
As for the game we saw, both teams were battling to make the playoffs. In the second inning, the Cyclones scored first on a fielder's choice by Brandon Nimmo to take a 1-0 lead. The Renegades tied the game in the fourth inning on a single by Justin O'Connor. The game remained tied until the ninth inning when the Renegades' shortstop Leonardo Reginatto delivered the big blow, a two run homer which was the difference as the Renegades clinched a playoff spot with a 3-1 victory.

Stay tuned as I'll be doing some special posts that will go into detail about our latest annual traditional journey to the Midwest. It was a blast that doesn't get played out. In fact, I can't wait until next year to go back for more. Please bear with me as I try to find time to recap it for you.

Thank you for reading and following.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees the entire Subway Series at Citi Field!

View from Section 516 Row 3

If you an avid reader and/or follower of mine, you know the King and I were in Pittsburgh at PNC Park when the Mets and Yankees played the first installment of this year's Subway Series earlier this month.
This time we stayed home and we went to all three games in Queens at Citi Field.

Friday night after work I went to Taste of Dolly's for a few slices of pizza. After I ate, I got back on the 7 train for one stop to Citi Field.

Upon arrival, I saw our pal Sam Citron who works as a security guard at Citi Field checking bags. He said and I quote "it's always a pleasure". In addition, he told me how much he enjoys reading my blog. I was so elated to hear him say that. I work so hard to keep it up and maintain it. It's nice to know that people like him really appreciate it. It makes me feel so good. I can't thank him enough for giving me such praise and I know he truly means it from the bottom of his heart.

I really lucked out because I got into the ballpark just before the sky opened up and the rain came pouring down. A minute or two later I would have gotten soaked even though I had an umbrella. It was that bad.
Once I made it up to the Promenade level where our seats are located, I saw our buddy Martin Caamano who was there for the game too. We got to say hello and talk for a little while we waited out the rain delay.
After waiting almost an hour, the game started. The Mets came out with their hitting shoes on as they jumped on Yankee starter Andy Pettitte for five runs in the first inning. Ike Davis delivered the big blow as he hit a ball that glanced off of Yankees' right fielder Nick Swisher's glove and went over the fence for a three run home run.

The Yankees broke the shutout later in the game when Alex Rodriguez hit a home run to straight away center field and it landed in the home run apple that pops up when a Met hits a homer. It was quite a blast. The Yankees chipped away but the Mets' bullpen managed to hang on again as the Mets finally beat the Yankees for the first this year after getting swept in the Bronx, 6-4.

After the game, we went to Donovan's Pub to celebrate the victory. I wound up having a pair of pork chops. They were really good.

Saturday during the day I was able to catch up on sleep and I was able to do other things around the house.
Once I got done, I headed to Citi Field for game two of the Subway Series.

I arrived just before game time at our seats in section 516 row 3. Upon arrival, I heard my name mentioned so I looked up and it was Manny Morales and Marc Beck who are big fans of royalty. They were in their usual Saturday plan seats three rows behind us. It was great to see them.

As for the game we saw, the Mets built a 3-0 lead early on. Once the sixth inning started the roof caved in for them. It started with a lead off walk to Mark Teixeira. I said to myself here comes the beginning of the end. Nick Swisher came up next. He appeared to hit a routine fly ball to right field that should have been the first out of the inning. Lucas Duda who was playing right field, misjudged the ball as he broke back at first. By doing so, he wasn't able to catch the ball. To make it worse, he let the ball get by him so Nick Swisher wound up getting a double. That's not an "error" on my part. The official scorer made an error by scoring it that way but I guess he wanted to reward Nick Swisher for getting his 1,000th major league hit sooner than later. With runners now on second and third and nobody out as a result, Raul Ibanez came up to the plate and he proceeded to line a ball over the fence in the right field corner to tie the game at three. Just like that, the Evil Empire as Yankee haters call them struck back. A few batters later, Eric Chavez pinch hit and he delivered what proved to be the game winning run as he hit a home run to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. That's the way it ended thanks to the Mets failure to get a big hit in the clutch with runners on base in the late innings. It was a very frustrating and heart breaking loss for us Met fans.

Sunday night thanks to ESPN was the rubber match of this three game set. The Mets had R.A. Dickey pitching against the Yankees' CC Sabathia. The way Dickey's been pitching lately we were hoping for a similar performance. That wasn't meant to be though. The Yankees were able to get to Dickey early as they built a 5-1 lead which included a three run homer by Nick Swisher. By the way, that his 1,001st major league hit. The Mets showed their resiliency to come back as they were able to fight back against Sabathia who wound up getting a no decision as the Mets managed to tie the game at five. In the top of the eighth inning, Robinson Cano lead off for the Yankees and he hit a bomb of a home run to center field that landed in the batter's eye just past the home run apple. That turned out to be the difference again as the Mets fell short, 6-5.


The only bright spot for the King and I was that our pal Manny Bonilla came by our seats to visit us late in the game. It's always nice to see him.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 9/5 in review

View from Section 319

After I returned from the Heartland Sunday night, I continued my adventurous holiday weekend by renting a car at Avis on Monday Labor Day morning.

I drove back to Astoria to pick up the King and off to Yankee Stadium we went to see the Yankees play the Baltimore Orioles at 1:05PM.

We wound up seeing a wild game that resembled batting practice as the Yankees held a 8-7 lead after just three innings. Robinson Cano hit a grand slam to help fuel the Yankee offense.

The scoring calmed down a bit as the game wore on as the Yankees prevailed, 11-10.

In the top of the ninth inning we positioned ourselves by the elevators so we could make a fast getaway. Upon doing so, we saw a familiar face. It was none other than Joe Neubauer who we know from going to Yankee games as well as other local area sporting events.

Joe has a unique distinction of attending every Yankee home game since June 1975 so he says. In addition, he's gone to every Major League All-Star Game since 1982 plus the one at old Yankee Stadium in 1977.
Needless to say, Joe said he'll be going to Kansas City next July for the All-Star Game. I told him I just got back from there. I told him what to expect since he said he's never been there before.

While we were talking he asked where we were going after the game. We said we're going to Philadelphia to see the Phillies play the Braves. He asked if he could join us, I responded sure we have room, the back seat is empty. He said let me call me my wife and check with her. His wife gave him the okay to go. With that being said, the King and I had unexpected company. We proceeded to walk to the car and off to Philadelphia we went.
Cliff Lee,
Joe said he went to Citizens Bank Park one time back in 2007. It was nice to be able to take there so he could see what I think is arguably one of the best new modern ballparks.

As for the game we saw there, it was quite the contrast of the game we witnessed at Yankee Stadium. In this game, we saw one of the game's best pitchers pitch in Cliff Lee who started and finished the game for the Phillies. He pitched masterfully as he shut down the Atlanta Braves, 9-0 allowing just five hits as lived up to his nickname "Completlee".

As a baseball fan, it was a joy to watch him pitch. He dodged the rain drops that fell on and off during the game to continue his recent domination after getting off to a slow start early in the season.

After the game, I drove the King back to work in Manhattan. He works at the Post Office at Grand Central Station. Just before I dropped him off we let Joe out at a bus stop so he could catch a bus to the Upper East side where he lives. Joe couldn't thank us enough for taking him. He said he would love to do it again sometime. It was a pleasure to have him with us.

I proceeded to take myself home and I returned the car Tuesday morning before I went back to work.
After work Tuesday I was planning to go to Yankee Stadium but it was raining so I went home first to have dinner. I met up with the King and we waited to see if indeed they were going to eventually play. They did but with the game not starting until 11:08PM I decided I'll just stay home. The King went since he starts work at 2AM so it's somewhat on the way so it made sense for him to go. As for me, I was exhausted from all the traveling I did over the weekend. In retrospect, it was a blessing in disguise.

Wednesday night after work I had another night off which allowed me to catch up on things at home.
Thursday I wound up getting out of work early so I could attend the doubleheader between the Mets and Braves at Citi Field.

Despite the sparse gathering at the ballpark, I got to see many familiar faces which included Charlie O'Reilly who's another road tripper. In addition, Vincent Ascanio and his father Ralph were present and accounted for.
As for the games we saw, the Mets wound up falling behind 3-0 in top of the first inning. They came right back to take the lead in the bottom half of the first as Jason Bay hit a grand slam to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. The Braves eventually regained the lead and they held on to win game one, 6-5.

In the night cap, the Braves completed the sweep as they beat the Mets, 5-1 to take both games of the twin bill.

Stay tuned as I'm going to do some special posts that will capture the events that transpired over the 9/11 weekend here in the New York City area. It was memorable and unforgettable in more ways than one.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman