Royalty officially starts our 2012 baseball season at Citi Field on Opening Day!

Prince at Opening Day at Citi Field

As much as the King and I would loved to have been at the new Marlins Park to officially open the season, it wasn't meant to be. The King and I had personal streaks to keep intact. Since the Mets were opening the season at home, we didn't want to risk missing it by flying down to Miami and not getting back in time. Instead we're planning to go there in the middle of July.

As for me, I've seen every Met home opener since 1982 which includes the one in Tokyo, Japan back in 2000. As for the King, his streak dates back into the late '70's. In addition, he has a streak of over 220+ straight games at Citi Field since it opened in 2009. In matter of fact, he has missed only one game there in that time. In addition, he plans to see all 81 again this year he said.

Since I had to work a half a day, I barely got to the game on time. The MTA did their best to cost me some precious time on my way there on the 7 train. Luckily everything worked out for me.

Upon arrival, I got to say hello to my favorite security guard and big fan of royalty, Sam Citron. I hadn't seen him since the end of September but I know he's been following my whereabouts here on my blog. It was an absolute pleasure to see him again. Seeing his friendly and familiar face put me in the comfort zone before I headed inside to see the game.

Once I got in the building, I went up to my familiar surroundings in section 516 row 3 where the King and I have had our full season tickets since the ballpark opened. Our seating area is affectionately known as the "royal box" thanks to my pal Michael Longo who gave it that name.

In addition, we got to see many familiar faces where we sit. Despite low expectations, other people who sit by us still decided to renew their season tickets like we did. With that being said, there's always something to look forward to every game. We can't control what happens on the field but at least we know we'll be seeing some good people in the stands on a daily and nightly basis all spring and summer long.

Amongst them were our friends Ralph and Vincent Ascanio, who are back for another season of Mets baseball as the team celebrates their 50th Anniversary of playing here in New York.

In addition, I got to meet some new people. First of all, our buddy Eddie Pelle who I met thanks to my blog in December 2010 was on hand with his friend and co-worker Fredy Sanchez who he introduced to the King and I to. It was great to have them join us in the "royal box" for this Opening Day. We enjoyed their company immensely throughout the game.

Furthermore, I got to meet and greet another person I met online recently. Her name is Lori Martini. She's a lifelong Met fan who lives in Brooklyn. She happens to be a screenwriter and songwriter. She wrote the song, "Believe" that the Mets' Justin Turner came up to when he batted last summer. She recently wrote a short film called "Caught" as well. I look forward to seeing her more often at Citi Field this season.

As for the game we saw, Johan Santana who missed all of last season, started and he pitched five shutout innings. After struggling with his control in the fifth inning, manager Terry Collins decided to take him out in a scoreless game against division rival, the Atlanta Braves. The Mets proceeded to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when David Wright delivered a run scoring single. That proved to be the difference in the game as the new look Met bullpen shut down the Braves the rest of the afternoon. The Mets won the game, 1-0.

After the game, our friend Bryan Gilligan who also renewed his Met season ticket was present and accounted for as well, took the King, Vincent Ascanio and I down to Trenton, NJ to see the Trenton Thunder, the Double A affiliate of the Yankees play the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Toronto Blue Jays' farm team on Opening night in the Eastern League.

As for that game we saw, the Thunder took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning but that lead disappeared as the Fisher Cats scored a pair of runs in the third and fourth innings to take the lead for good. They went on to win the game, 5-3.

It was a perfect way to start the new baseball season with a doubleheader. Thankfully mother nature cooperated with us.

Stay tuned as I will be writing some more special posts regarding my memorable weekend where I entertained some other very special people I just met for the very first time. It will show why the royal way is the way to go if and when you want to attend a live sporting event regardless of the sport.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

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

Phillie Phanatic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another adventurous weekend was in the memory bank.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty celebrates Patriot's Day at Fenway Park!

Dice-K delivers first pitch at 11:06AM at Fenway Park

In case you didn't know the third Monday in April in the state of Massachusetts and Maine is known as Patriot's Day. It's a legal holiday that commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord back in 1775.
To celebrate the holiday in Boston they have an annual race called the Boston Marathon. In addition, the Boston Red Sox always play a morning baseball game at 11:05AM too.

As for the Red Sox, the King and I have now gone to six different Patriot Day games together at Fenway Park, America's Most Beloved Ballpark which is now 99 years old.

We were there in 1993, 1994, 2003, 2004 and 2006.

In matter of fact, Monday morning was my 92nd game I saw there. I've now seen at least one game there every year since 1986.

As for the King, that game was his 6,700th baseball game that he's seen in person live.

I'm closing in on my 4,000th baseball game which should take place this weekend at Citi Field.

Ironically back on April 18, 1994, the King and I saw the Red Sox play the Chicago White Sox on Patriot's Day. The Red Sox lost that day, 12-1. After the game, we decided on the spur of the moment to drive to Philadelphia for the Phillie game at 7:35PM that night. We drove 310 miles and we parked the car in Philadelphia at 7:45PM. We ran into some traffic when we got to the Bronx. If not, we would have gotten to Philadelphia on time that night. What a day of adventure that was for us.

17 years later to the day, we were in Fenway Park for another Patriot's Day game. This time the Red Sox played the Toronto Blue Jays and this time they won, 9-1. Daisuke Matsuzaka aka "Dice-K" pitched a gem for 7 innings. He struggled for the first few innings giving his only hit and walk of the game then he went on to retire the last 16 Blue Jays he faced. He left with a shutout but the Blue Jays got a run in the ninth inning when Yunel Escobar took knuckleballer Tim Wakefield deep for a solo home run to break the shutout.

It should be noted before and after the game, the King and I visited our favorite vendor outside the left field gate right by the Monster seats, the Sausage Connection. Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do about these special people.

After the game, we took a quick peak of the marathon that runs right near Fenway Park, we got to the car and drove towards New Britain, Connecticut for another game before we headed home. We saw the New Britain Rock Cats, the Minnesota Twins affiliate of the Eastern League play the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Blue Jays farm team. The Fisher Cats won this one, 7-3.

Before the game we made a special stop in nearby Bristol, Connecticut which happens to be the home of ESPN.

We didn't go to ESPN but we did past one of its buildings. We did go to a place called the Clam Digger to have dinner though.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to write about this place and how we find out about it. Trust me it's going to be a great story to read.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is going to Philadelphia and Boston next weekend 4/16-4/18!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car from Avis for the weekend.

I'm going to pick up The King and we'll be going to Philadelphia not once but twice next weekend. I'll be driving back and forth both days. In addition, we'll be going to Boston for the traditional Patriot's Day morning game at Fenway Park then we'll be going to to New Britain, Connecticut for a minor league game that night before we return home after that game.

Saturday, April16th Texas Rangers at Yankees 1:05PM

                               Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies 7:05PM

Sunday, April 17th  Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies 1:35PM

                              Texas Rangers at Yankees 8:05PM

Monday, April 18th  Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox 11:05AM

                                New Hamphire Fisher Cats at New Britain Rock Cats 6:35PM

If you're interested in going on this getaway royalty style let me know so I can arrange to have you join us.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride. You can witness firsthand how royalty rolls and makes things happen.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Fisher Cats beat the Rock Cats, 5-3!

After the matinee at Citi Field, Royalty decided to hit the road to head to the farm Saturday night.

We took a 100 mile ride to New Britain, Connecticut which is about 10 miles south of Hartford.

We saw an Eastern League Double A minor league baseball game between the New Hampshire Fisher Cats who are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays and the New Britain Rock Cats are the Minnesota Twins farm club.

It should be noted that New Britain has been a stepping stone for many major leaguers who have played and still play for the Twins.

Most notably catcher Joe Mauer who just signed an 8 year extension worth $184 million dollars with the Twins.

Other players of note who also played there are former Twin and current Red Sox David Ortiz aka "Big Papi" and current Twin centerfielder Denard Span who recently inked a 5 year extension as well.

The Twins have been known over the last decade or two for having a tremendous farm system.

Over the years from going to New Britain, we've seen many rising stars perform.

As for the 2010 edition, last night was just the second game of the season since they were rained out Friday afternoon when the King who rented a car for the week drove himself there to see the tarp and game wasn't played.

After dropping the home opener Thursday night to the Fisher Cats, the Rock Cats as they are called were looking for their first win of the season.

As for the game, it didn't start well for the Rock Cats who fell behind early allowing three first inning runs.
Mike McCardell who was the starting pitcher for the Rock Cats dug an early grave for himself.

He walked the first two batters he faced. His shortstop made an error behind him which plated the first run of the game. Regardless the run would have scored but an out wasn't recorded that helped prolong the inning.
To add insult to injury, he proceeded to throw a wild pitch that was followed by a 2 run scoring double by left fielder Eric Thames.

Designated hitter Adam Calderone delivered a single to center but Eric Thames was thrown out at the plate for the second out.

He retired the next batter to end the inning.

In the second inning, leadoff hitter first baseman Chris Parmalee of the Rock Cats hit a long home run to right field to get them on the scoreboard, 3-1.

The Rock Cats added a run in the 6th inning to slice the deficit to one at 3-2.

The Fisher Cats answered right back in the top of the seventh when they got a few more walks and an error but a runner was once again thrown out trying to score.

However third baseman Brad Emaus came through with a 2 run home run to left center that provided the insurance that the Fisher Cats needed to win the game.

The Rock Cats received a bases loaded walk in their half of the seventh inning to add another run to make it 5-3 but that's the way it remained.

The Rock Cats are now O-2.