Royalty is returning to the Midwest for another Sports Travelers Reunion to start August!

Here's the game plan:

I'm flying to Detroit on Delta Airlines. I leave New York LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday, August 1st at 6AM Eastern Time, I arrive in Motown 7:50AM Eastern Time if all goes well. Upon arrival, I'm renting a car for five days from Payless Car Rental. I plan to start my visit off with a pit stop to Bob's Big Boy which is a few miles from the airport so I can have a hearty breakfast to start my day off right. When I'm done, I'm going to drive to downtown so I can get ready for baseball that afternoon. After the game, I'll be driving towards Chicago. I'll be stopping off in Lansing, Michigan where I plan to see a minor league baseball game that night. Afterwards, I'll be continuing on to Portage, Indiana where I hope to get a good night sleep. Thursday morning I'll finish driving to the South side of the Windy City where I plan to plan to meet up with some other sports travelers at Guaranteed Rate Field. After that game, I plan to drive over to North side to see another game at historic Wrigley Field that night with more sports travelers. Friday morning I plan to stop off at The Point Pancake House in Gurnee, Illinois so I can have a royal breakfast to start my Friday off right before I take a ride back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I have a meet up arranged that afternoon at a local pub & grill called Oscar's. After that social gathering, we're all going to head over to Miller Park to see a baseball game together that night. After the game, I'm driving 200 miles to Dyersville, Iowa to sleep so I can be ready to go for the main event of this getaway. That being going to the site of the famous movie, Field of Dreams which I still haven't seen believe it or not. That will change that night when we're there. Before that we have a day filled with festivities that were arranged by Tim Parks, the founder of the MLB Passport Book including a cookout & a softball game on the actual field of the movie site. It's going to an amazing time for those of us of all ages who can find a way to get there. If anyone in the Stampeder group needs a ride or a place to stay, please get in contact with me. I'm here to help make it happen for you. Sunday I plan to see more sports travelers hopefully for breakfast before I head over to Clinton, Iowa to see another minor league game that afternoon. After the game, I plan to drive back towards Detroit so I can be in position to catch my flight home to NYC on Monday at 12:04PM. If all goes well I plan to land at LaGuardia Airport at 1:59PM if I don't get delayed for any reason.     
 
Wednesday August 1st Reds at Tigers 1:10PM Eastern Time

                                        South Bend Cubs at Lansing Lugnuts 7:05PM

Thursday August 2nd Royals at White Sox 1:10PM Central Time

                                      Padres at Cubs 7:05PM Central Time 
                            
Friday August 3rd Rockies at Brewers 7:10PM Central Time 

Saturday August 4th Field of Dreams Movie Site

Sunday August 5th Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Clinton LumberKings 12 Noon Central Time Doubleheader
                                                                                     
If you're interested in going on this exclusive getaway royalty style just let me know so I can arrange to have you join me & many other people I plan to meet out there.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees the Red Sox clinch the American League Pennant at Fenway Park!

Back on Friday night October 18th, I came home from work & I made myself dinner. After I ate, I watched game 6 of the NLCS between the Dodgers & the Cardinals with the King on TV. Our weekend plans were contingent on the outcome of the game. I didn't want them to play a game 7. Since the Cardinals were up 3 games to 2, I had to pull for the Cardinals to win. Thankfully they did & they made it easy for us as they took such a big lead early in the game. As a result, the Red Sox played the Tigers in prime time as opposed to late in the afternoon. By doing so, I was able to rent a car from Dollar Rent a Car by LaGuardia airport for the day early Saturday morning. I wound up getting a Dodge Avenger. I went back home to pick up the King. We drove to Kingston, Rhode Island to see a college football game that afternoon on the way to Boston. The Rams of the University of Rhode Island played the Richmond Spiders. It was a battle of two bad teams. The Rams held on to win the game, 12-10. 

After the football game I drove us to Fenway Park for Game 6 of the ALCS between the Red Sox & the Tigers. The Red Sox were up in the series, three games to two. The winner was going to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. When we got outside Fenway Park, we met up with our pals Bryan Gilligan & Phil Butleman who drove up there too. I decided to go to Popeye's up the block to have dinner. Everybody else decided to go inside the park. When I finished eating, I went inside. Thanks to our friend Phil for getting us the tickets. When I came home from work the week before the King was talking to him on the phone. He asked me if I wanted a ticket for that game assuming the series went at least six games. Phil went on their website & quite amazingly some tickets popped up. He wound up getting the King & I tickets in the bleachers. I had no intention of sitting there. I did what I always do there, I gave myself an upgrade. Did I ever. I lucked out big time. I wound up sitting on the aisle in section 24 loge box 137 row MM seat 1. What a view I had. Since I wanted to see another pennant clincher in person, I was rooting very hard for the Red Sox to win. Thanks to a grand slam home run by Shane Victorino in the bottom of the seventh inning, the ballpark erupted. The ball landed just over the Green Monster in left field. The Red Sox went on to beat the Tigers, 5-2 as they did indeed win the American League Pennant. It was an amazing experience to be there live to witness the history that took place. After the game, they had the trophy celebration on the field.

We all met up after the game. Bryan drove himself home & I took the King as well as Phil Butleman back. We dropped Phil off at the subway in Astoria then I drove the King & I home. We got home at 5AM. I decided to return the car rental to Dollar after I dropped off the King. I wound up driving 465 miles safely. I took a bus to the subway & I finally got back home at 6:30AM. I went to sleep for a few hours before the King & I went to MetLife Stadium to see the Jets play the Patriots. 

Stay tuned for the details of that memorable day.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 8/5 in review

Monday after work I came home for a rare night of relaxation. After I made myself dinner, I took it easy because I was so tired from being out late the night before. I struggled through the day at work. It was tough for me. Old age is catching up to me.

Tuesday night after work I went to Taste of Dolly's on my way to Citi Field where I saw the Mets open a three game series with the Colorado Rockies who were making their only visit to the area. I saw my pal Sam Citron when I entered through the Rotunda gate. I proceed to go out to the center field area where I showed my Citi credit card and I got a $10 gift card since it was another Citi Tuesday. When I was done, I walked back around to go up to the Royal Court which was in session in section 515. We had Martin Caamano, David Sack, Phil Butleman, Manny Morales & Pat Gorman on hand that night. Later on in the game, I got a special visit from Bob Kelly who returned from a business trip he took to Montreal on Monday. He decided to see another Met game when he got back to NYC. He actually had a seat downstairs near the Met dugout he said. He came up to pay respect to the King & I. I want to personally thank him for doing so. That was very nice of him.

As for the game we saw, the Mets took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when center fielder Juan Lagares delivered a two out, two run triple to right center field. The Rockies got a run back in the top of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Nolan Arenado to make it a 2-1 game. In the sixth inning, the Rockies got even when Charlie Blackmon hit a pinch hit home run to tied the game at two.
Thankfully Eric Young Jr. hustled around the bases on an infield single to second base by Juan Lagares as he slide in safely which turned out to be the difference in the game in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Mets beat the Rockies, 3-2.

Wednesday night after work I went to Subway & Carvel for my pre game meal as I returned to Citi Field for more baseball. All-Star starter Matt Harvey was pitching so I knew I had a chance to see something special. When I got upstairs in section 515, I was joined by William Frank Guthrie, Michael Abrams, Steve Tepperman, Frank Anichiarico, Manny Bonilla & Rich Wolber. In addition, Phil Butleman, David Sack & Pat Gorman came back for more too. Furthermore, we had the Hooligan's who provided some added entertainment in section 513. It was a fun night to be at the ballpark.

As for the game we saw, Matt Harvey was as good as advertised on this night. He pitched his first complete game of his young career. He allowed four hits and he struck out six as he earned his ninth win of the season as the Mets beat the Rockies, 4-0 in a quick one for a change. The game lasted only two hours & twenty minutes. It should be noted that Mets' rookie Wilmer Flores got his first major league hit in the second inning. He also added a double in the eighth inning which cleared the bases to give Matt Harvey the insurance he needed to have an opportunity to finish what he started. It was a rare feeling indeed.

Thursday night after work I came home since the Mets & Rockies played an afternoon game to wrap up their three game set. It worked out well for me because I needed to do my laundry and I wanted to pack my bags in anticipation of my big week long trip to the West Coast. It turned out to be a very productive evening as I got everything done as I planned to.

Friday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees open a three game weekend series against the Detroit Tigers. Before I went inside Yankee Stadium, I decided to try a different place for dinner. I went to U.S. Fried Chicken where I had a few pieces of chicken and cole slaw. It was good. I'm glad I gave it a shot. As I like to say, it never hurts to try. You can't succeed if you don't. When I got done, I walked back over to the Stadium. It stopped raining after it started briefly when I got off the subway.

When I got upstairs to my seat in section 420B row 7, the tarp was on the field for no apparent reason. The Yankees notoriously like to hold their fans hostage even when it's not raining. By doing so, they delayed the start of the game by 47 minutes. Needless to say, the King & I weren't too happy especially since we had to catch an early flight in the morning.

Among us unhappy campers were our pals William Frank Guthrie & Steve Tepperman who can't understand it either.
 
As for the game we finally saw, the Yankees' starter Ivan Nova pitched well allowing just one run over seven innings. He left the game with a 3-1 lead. It stayed that way until the ninth inning when Mariano Rivera came on to try & close it out. Quite amazingly, he failed to do so. With two outs, and a man on second, Miguel Cabrera battled Mariano. He fought off a few foul balls that hit off his ankle. He could barely walk. He finally gathered himself & he proceeded to launch a ball over the center field fence that tied the game at three which stunned the crowd that was still left. After the Yankees failed to score in the bottom of the ninth inning, the game went into extra innings. I really wanted to leave since I needed to get some sleep. I decided to stick out an extra inning. Luckily with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning, Brett Gardner poked a ball through to left field which scored the winning run as the Yankees outlasted the Tigers, 4-3. He was the last batter I was going to see.

Stay tuned for the numerous special posts I plan to write that will recap the big West Coast trip that the King, our friend Frank Anichiarico & I took. Please bear with me as I try to find the time to go into detail about it.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 7/30 in review

Monday night after work, I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees host the Baltimore Orioles.

Before I went into the Stadium, I went to Burger King to have dinner. I wound up getting a Memphis pulled pork sandwich. After I ate, I picked up a frozen bottle of water from my pal Jin Kim who was hawking them outside his store, KJY Fruit Market on my way to Yankee Stadium. Since it was so hot I needed some relief. For a dollar, I couldn't go wrong.

After I got inside the Stadium, I went up to my seat in section 420B row 7. I got to see Vincent Ascanio who was up there already. We exchanged pleasantries and we got ready for the game.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees scored first as Eric Chavez delivered a run scoring single in the bottom of the second inning to give the Yankees an early 1-0 lead. The Orioles responded quickly as former Yankee Wilson Betemit lead off the top of the third with a solo homer to even the score at one. The Orioles tacked on a few more runs in the fifth inning as they hit a few sacrifice flies to take the lead for good at 3-1. The Yankees played catch up the rest of the night. Former Mariner Ichiro Suzuki followed a solo homer by Eric Chavez with one of his own in the eighth inning to get the Yankees within a run. It was his 100th major league home run since he came over from Japan back in 2001. Unfortunately for him and the Yankees, that's the way it stayed as the Orioles held on for a 5-4 victory.

Tuesday night after work I returned to the Bronx for game two of the series. This time I decided to go to the Court Deli Restaurant to get a sandwich for the King and I. Right after I walked in, I turned around and my pal Eddie Pelle was there. What timing that was. Eddie said this was his first time there. He said he read about it on my blog so he decided to try it out. He asked me what he should get. I told him they have great pastrami and corned beef. He decided to order a combo sandwich. After we got done ordering, we took the food out so we could eat it at the Stadium.

Eddie told me he had a seat in section 415. I told him to come with me so he could get an upgrade. We went up to section 420B and we ate our sandwiches. Shortly thereafter, I asked Eddie how his sandwich was. He said it was delicious. That was music to my ears. After we finished eating, we watched the game.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees got off to a fast start as they scored five runs in the first inning. In the second inning, the Orioles got a few hits then they struck out twice. They started a two out rally as they strung together five more hits and a walk before they made the third out. Chris Davis delivered the big blow as he hit a grand slam. When it was all said and done, they scored seven runs as they roughed up Yankees' starter Ivan Nova in the process. They added another run in the third inning to make it 8-5. They added on more runs later as they cruised to an easy 11-5 win.

Wednesday night after work I went home so I could do my laundry. I ate dinner and rested up briefly.
Thursday night after work I went out to Coney Island to see the Brooklyn Cyclones play the Connecticut Tigers at MCU Park.

As for the game I saw, the Tigers tossed the Cyclones a beating as they whipped them, 11-3.

Friday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees open a three game series with the Seattle Mariners.

Before the game, I met the King at the 7 Fish Market where we had a pre game meal.

After we ate, we went into the Stadium to see the game. We had a few veteran pitchers starting the game as the Mariners were throwing Kevin Millwood against Yankees' ace CC Sabathia.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees knocked Millwood around as they scored four runs off him in six innings. They added a few more runs against their bullpen. CC Sabathia on the other hand, pitched well and he even went the distance as the Yankees won the game, 6-3. He allowed just three hits and he struck out ten in the process.

During the game, I got a tweet from fellow roadtripper, Tike Narry, who was visiting the New Yankee Stadium for the first time with his wife and their seven year old son Patrick. I wound up meeting up with Tike and Patrick during the game on the concourse. He's from the Bay area. He told me he has season tickets for the San Francisco Giants and he goes to a lot of Oakland A's games too. It was nice to meet and greet them.
After the game, our friend Bryan Gilligan drove the King and I to Donovan's Pub in Queens for a post game meal.

Saturday the King and I went back to the Bronx to see game two of the series. We also got a ride to Philadelphia from Bryan Gilligan as we saw the Phillies game too that night.

Stay tuned for the special post that I'm going to do about our busy day.

Sunday the King and I went back to Yankee Stadium for the finale of the series.

As for the game we saw, the Mariners scored first to take an early 1-0 lead. The Yankees tied the game at one in their half of the first. They scored a run in the second and another in the fourth to go up, 3-1. Former Yankee Jesus Montero drove in his second run of the game to cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth. The Yankees answered with a run in the fifth and they got two more in the sixth to pull away as they beat the Mariners, 6-2.

With that, another week of baseball was in the books.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 10/3 in review

Hockey's Back!

Now that baseball regular season is over, my schedule has been changed dramatically for the time being.
I had high hopes for the Phillies and Yankees just because it would have meant a chance to see some more baseball games this year.

After going home after work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night it was finally time to see another game up in the Bronx Thursday night after work.

The Yankees managed to force a deciding game in their American League Division Series with the Detroit Tigers.

The winner moved on to play the Texas Rangers in the ALCS and the loser went home for the winter.
Well the Tigers got two solo home runs on back to back pitches in the first inning off Yankee starter Ivan Nova to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead. Don Kelly and Delmon Young did the honors.

The Tigers tacked on another run to make it 3-0 before the Yankees sliced the lead to 3-2. Unfortunately for the Yankees they were unable to get the big hit they needed to tie the game against the Tiger bullpen as they fell short as Alex Rodriguez strike out swinging to end their season and mine for that matter.

It was my 160th baseball game I attended in 2011. My lowest total since 2002 when I saw a mere 162. It was a tough year for me between the schedule and things at home which restricted me from seeing more. Given the circumstances, I did well all things considered.

After going home from work Friday night, I shifted gears on Saturday.

The King and I and our friends Frank Anichiarico and Bryan Gilligan went to see the Columbia Lions play the Sacred Heart Pioneers in Upper Manhattan at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence Wien Stadium.
The winless Lions stayed that way as the Pioneers beat them in a shootout, 34-25. The Lions' place kicker Luke Eddy missed two point after touchdowns and he had another one blocked.

After the game, the King and I said goodbye to Frank and Bryan then we headed out to Newark, NJ to go to the Prudential Center to see hockey as the New Jersey Devils play the Philadelphia Flyers on Opening Night.

The Devils inability to put the puck in the net reared its ugly head again. The Devils got shut out by the Flyers, 3-0.

It could be a long year for the Devils. I'm hoping it was just an aberration and hopefully they'll get their offense in gear sooner than later. Time will tell. Stay tuned to my blog to see if indeed the Devils can get it going since I plan to see a lot of Devil games in the winter months ahead.

Sunday the King and I and our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island took a bus ride from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to MetLife Stadium to see the Giants play the visiting Seattle Seahawks. The Giants came in to the game riding high with a 3-1 record. The Seahawks were the opposite at 1-3.

As for the game we saw, the Giants didn't look like they came to play. They let the Seahawks hang around throughout the game. The Giants had taken a lead at 22-19 in the fourth quarter as second year wide receiver Victor Cruz from UMASS who the King and I saw play in November 2009 made an acrobatic catch deflecting the ball in double coverage and catching it with one hand as he took it into the end zone for the go ahead score.

The Seahawks came back and tied the game at 22. The Giants we took the lead, 25-22. The Seahawks once again came back thanks largely in part to back up quarterback Charlie Whitehurst who we saw play in college at Clemson in 2005. Whitehurst replaced starter Tavaris Jackson who left early in the third quarter with an injury. The Seahawks regained the lead 29-25. The Giants appeared to be on the verge of scoring the winning touchdown but this time Victor Cruz couldn't hold on to the ball as it popped up in the air and was intercepted by Brandon Browner who returned it 94 yards for a touchdown that sealed the deal for the Seahawks as they came away with a 36-25 victory.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do about Gio Gonzalez who had a solid season for the Oakland Athletics.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty goes to Motown to see the Tigers play!

View from lower level at Comerica Park

After having a "Frickin" good time, we continued on our way to Detroit to see the Tigers play at Comerica Park.

Over the years, I've always had to drive quite a distance to see a Tiger home game. This time was no different. Back in the day, it was always worth going to the corner of Trumbull Street and Michigan Ave. where there once stood a baseball cathedral. It was known as Navin Field when it first opened in 1912 then it was referred to as Briggs Stadium in 1938 then in 1960 it was called Tiger Stadium. In the mortal words of the late great Tiger radio announcer Ernie Harwell, it's "long gone."

Nowadays going to a Tiger game is nothing like it used to be. Comerica Park in my eyes is the worst of the new modern ballparks that have been built.

They did a very nice job honoring the storied history of the Tiger franchise though. I always give credit where it's due.

But as far as watching the game goes, the intimacy here is totally lost in this cavernous ballpark. The seating area is so pushed back especially on the lower level and it's seems very far away which is typical of any of these modern buildings these days.

Don't get me wrong, Tiger Stadium had a lot of bad seats and obstructed views too but when you sat upstairs behind home plate, you felt like you could reach out and touch the batter you were that close to them especially in the last season of 1999 when they removed the screen from behind the plate which was right above the press box.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to go there know exactly what I'm talking about. For those who are too young or for whatever reason didn't get there, I feel for you. You missed out on an amazing experience.
As for the game we saw, the Tigers beat up the Angels, 12-2. No history on this night from the Halos just an old fashioned butt whipping.

Stay tuned as this journey heads towards its end but there are still some good stories still to be told.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 9/27 in Review

Monday night after a rough day at work thanks to a lack of sleep I got a blessing in disguise thanks to mother nature. I was on my way to Citi Field when the King called me to tell me the Met game was postponed and rescheduled for a 4:10PM doubleheader Wednesday.

With that being said, I went home to catch up on some much needed rest.

Tuesday night I went to Citi Field to see the Mets play the Brewers who were making their first visit to Citi Field since April 2009 when the ballpark opened.

The Brewers like the Mets were wrapping up a disappointing season.

As for the game I saw, the starting pitchers Randy Wolf of the Brewers threw 7 good innings giving up just 2 runs. For the Mets, Mike Pelfrey pitched well giving up 3 runs in 7 and a third innings of work.
Neither starter got a decision in this one though as the bullpens took over and they wound up deciding the outcome.

The Mets were trailing 3-2 going to the bottom of the ninth inning when they made a rare dramatic comeback at Citi Field. Ike Davis led off with a double, after Nick Evans struck out, Josh Thole singled hard to left field advancing Ike Davis to third base. Second baseman Ruben Tejada wound up being the hero when he delivered a game winning double to left center field as Davis and pinch runner Luis Castillo scored all the way from first base with the winning run.

The Mets won, 4-3!

Wednesday night I arrived at Citi Field in time for the second game of the doubleheader since I was working until 5:30PM.

After a wild and long first game which the Brewers won, 8-7, I had plenty of time to relax for a change and I had dinner before arriving at Citi Field for the 8:16PM first pitch.

In the nightcap, the Brewers wound up winning again. This time by a 3-1 score.

The Brewers starter Dave Bush pitched six shutout innings to earn the victory. For the Mets, R.A. Dickey pitched well allowing one run over seven innings when Mets moronic manager Jerry Manuel decided to pinch hit for him.

In the end, the all time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman, came in to get the last three outs in the ninth inning to notch his 601st career save. Royalty doesn't put much stock in saves.

Astute baseball observers like myself know that as long as you need a "closer" these days, the best in the business is Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees.

Thursday night with mother nature potentially causing havoc again, I went back to Citi Field hoping she would cooperate and this time she did.

The Mets continuing to play out the string of their disappointing season, they secured another losing season when as they lost to the Brewers, 9-2!

Friday night which marked the start of the final weekend at Citi Field was a memorable one as the Mets once again won in their final at bat.

This time catcher Josh Thole was the man in the spotlight as he hit a game winning home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Mets a thrilling 2-1 victory over the visiting Washington Nationals.

Saturday afternoon I was back at Citi Field for a short visit knowing that our friend Bryan Gilligan was going to drive the King and I 200 miles south to Baltimore, Maryland afterwards so we could see another baseball game at Camden Yards at 7:05PM.

With that being said, we wound up leaving Citi Field at 3:33PM after the Nationals batted in the top of the seventh inning. The game was tied at 2 when we left the building.

When we got into the car and started to make our way down south, the Mets took the lead 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning when David Wright hit a three run homer.

In the eighth inning, pinch hitter Chris Carter hit a two run home run to extend the lead to 7-2 and that's the way it ended.

Thanks to Bryan's great driving we arrived in Camden Yards just in time for the 7:06PM first pitch.

We decided to sit downstairs to get a "birds eye" view of this one. I've been to Camden Yards at least once every year since it opened back in 1992. It was the original retro ballpark model. It's like a modern day Wrigley Field. If you haven't had the privilege of going there yet to see a baseball game I strongly suggest that you do so in 2011. Needless to say, if you need any assistance in order to make it happen, Royalty is here for you when you're ready to do so. Just say the word.

As for the game, we saw a nice fast well pitched one between the visiting Detroit Tigers and the hometown Baltimore Orioles.

Both teams were playing out the string and we still saw a good crisp ballgame which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The Tigers took an early 1-0 lead when third baseman Brandon Inge hit a solo home run.
The Orioles tied it up when right fielder Nick Markakis blasted a solo shot of his own.
Catcher Matt Wieters added a long sacrifice fly to give the Orioles the lead which they didn't relinquish.
The Orioles won, 2-1! The game ended two hours after it started at 9:06PM.

On the other hand, we only saw 6 and a half innings in two hours and 22 minutes at Citi Field.

Sunday I went back to Citi Field for the last time in 2010 as the Mets and Nationals took 4 hours and 14 minutes before they decided enough was enough.

Mets manager Jerry Manuel who was managing his last game waited until the 14th inning to make his smartest decision of the day. He decided to get the game over with. He brought in seldom used and highly overpaid pitcher Oliver Perez who hopefully has seen his last game as a Met despite the fact they owe him 12 million dollars for next year.

With the game tied at 1, Ollie proceeded to hit a batter and walk three others to eventually force in the winning run to give the Nationals the 2-1 victory in 14 innings.

Thank you Ollie for all the fond memories!

After spending a long windy day at Citi Field, the King and I were finally off to the New Meadowlands Stadium to see the Giants smother the Bears, 17-3 in primetime!

For all the details of that game, please check back. I'll be doing a special post.

As always, thank you for reading and following along.

I hope in the future you'll be part of the story. If you want to be, you just need to let me know and I'll make it happen.

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 6/21 in review

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

The same can be said for our lives. Another week has come and gone.

Here's a recap of how things played out in the life of royalty.

Monday was a night off to recharge and refuel for the week at Citi Field watching the last installments of this year's interleague play.

Tuesday night the Detroit Tigers made their first visit to Citi Field.

Shortly before the game I found out Justin Verlander, the Tigers ace, was pitching against the Mets Jonathon Niese who has pitched great. So I said to myself I'm in for a good one tonight. In this case, I wish I was right. But it didn't take long to be proven wrong. Justin Verlander gave up 2 runs in the first inning. In addition, the game was moving at a snail's pace then we had a 58 minute rain delay to boot in the 3rd inning. So instead of being a good good night it become a long long night. When the game resumed the Mets bats came alive as they chased Verlander and a few relievers as they broke open the game. They lead 10-0 after the third. Jerry Manuel, the Mets manager, decided to let Niese pitch so he could have a chance to win the game by pitching 5 innings. Unfortunately Niese failed to do so even with the big lead. He left with 2 outs in the fifth inning as the Tigers got within 5 runs, 11-6. The Mets tacked on 3 more runs in the 6th. They wound up winning, 14-6!

Wednesday night R.A. Dickey pitched a gem.

 He tamed the Tigers for 8 innings. K-Rod was called on to pitch the ninth inning to a chorus of boos. The crowd wanted Dickey to finish what he started like they did back in the good old days. Jerry Manuel didn't give him that opportunity. K-Rod did close it out and the Mets won again, 5-0!

It should noted during the game our friend and royalty customer Manny Morales stopped by to say hello to the King & I. It's always a pleasure to see visitors especially good people like Manny who was at Citi as part of his "Saturday Plan".

It seems odd but the Mets don't give their weekend plan holders all the games on either Saturday and/or Sunday. Instead, they throw in some mid week games. A creative marketing plan on their part to sell less attractive games as part of the total package.

Thursday night the Mets were looking for the sweep. The Tigers were throwing Armando Galarraga who was robbed of a perfect game just a few weeks ago. The Tigers took a 6-1 lead midway through this one but the Mets stormed back to pull within 2 at 6-4 after 6 innings. They managed to add another run in the seventh to get within one but they couldn't claw their way all the way back. They lost 6-5!

As the rock group Meatloaf said in one of their songs 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

 Friday night the Minnesota Twins made their first visit to Citi Field as well.

 The Mets behind Mike Pelfrey who picked up his 10th win of the season. The Mets won, 5-2!

 Saturday was a double dip. It should be noted that my Cousin Andy met me at Citi Field and he did the doubleheader as well.

As always, he was grateful to have the privilege of our company. He always has a great time when he sees us. He left me a voice mail today thanking me for giving him the opportunity to enjoy himself even though it was just for one day.

When I heard it I was so happy.

 First up the Twins played the Mets again. This time the Twins evened the series at 1. The Twins were facing their former ace, Johan Santana who was traded to the Mets because he alleged turned down the Twins for greener pastures. For the Twins, it was payback time. They didn't waste any time getting to Santana who they roughed up for 4 runs in the first inning. Thanks to Carl Pavano who was given a nice cushion before he even threw a pitch, the Twins cruised to victory. Pavano wound up shutting down the Mets on a complete game 3 hit shutout. The Twins won, 6-0!

After the game, our friend Bryan Gilligan was kind enough to drive the King and I as well as my Cousin Andy to Staten Island where we were going to see the Staten Island Yankees play. The stadium is located right by the Ferry Terminal.

After the game, we boarded the Ferry to get back to Lower Manhattan.

As for the game, the Staten Island Yankees fell behind. 5-0 to the Hudson Valley Renegades who never looked back and they went on to win, 8-1!

Sunday we were back at Citi Field to see the rubber match between the Mets & the Twins. The Mets behind Jonathon Niese who pitched 6 shutout innings. The bullpen kept the Twins off the board as the Mets took 2 out of 3 again, 6-0 was the final score.

Jeff Francoeur, David Wright & Ike Davis supplied the power. They all hit home runs. Jason Bay, added a triple in this game which was his 1,000th major league hit.

In retrospect, it was a good week.

Stay tuned for the schedule for week ahead.

Thank you for following along.

Please feel free to voice your opinion.

Yours truly,

Prince Charming

Easter Sunday Night at Fenway Park

Winter is over and spring is upon us so is the official start of another baseball season.

Ironically 11 years ago to the day back on Easter Sunday April 4, 1999, Royalty opened the baseball season in similar fashion.

That was a historic night when Major League Baseball decided to open the season in another country.

Once Royalty got wind of it, we decided we'll be there as well.

The game was played in Monterrey, Mexico. The Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres were the teams involved. It was the first National game of the season.

The Padres were designated the home team. I went through the Padres to get tickets for this particular special event.

The late Darryl Kile pitched for the Rockies that night and he beat the Padres, 8-2!

The next day we flew back to Dallas in the morning so we could be at the Texas Rangers home opener against the Detroit Tigers at 1:05PM that afternoon in Arlington.

This was the first American game of the season as well.

The highlight was the very first pitch that Ranger's pitcher Rick Helling threw to Tiger's lead off hitter Juan Encarnacion who give it a long ride over the fence for a home run. It was an absolute "bomb" if you will.

With all that being said, the stage is now set for a similar scenario.

Royalty will be in the house this Sunday night when the defending World Champion New York Yankees play their arch rival, the Boston Red Sox in the first American League game of the season.

It will be a festive atomosphere. It always is when these two teams meet up.

The last time we were in Fenway Park was on New Year's Day for the Winter Classic hockey game.

Monday morning I'll be going to work for a half a day before I make my way out to Citi Field for the first National League game of the season.

The New York Mets open up against the Florida Marlins at 1:05PM.

Being a Met fan, I hope that the first pitch Johan Santana throws doesn't go over the fence.
But if it does, wow what a feeling that will be. Deja vu all over again as Yogi Berra would say.

Just another memorable few days in the making for Royalty.

I figured I would share this unique opportunity with you.

It's going to be a fun baseball season.

Check back often for updates on the whereabouts of royalty.

My goal is to give you reason to maximize your opportunities to
get the best out of life.

It works for me, why not make it work for you.

Nothing is better to tell somebody "I was there."

Happy Easter to all who celebrate.