Comerica Park - A Diamond in the Rough

I'm going to defer writing anything about Toronto to one of the other guys -- don't get me wrong, I loved the town -- just don't feel there's anything that warrants a post, especially after the Reds lackluster blowout loss.

I have to admit that going into Detroit, I didn't have the highest expectations. The city itself, especially outside of downtown, is rather dilapidated and rundown, reflecting the hard times the area has fallen on in the past 20 years. Also, right as we rolled into town, the skies opened up for the third time on the trip. This time, however, the rain wasn't brief, and the threat of a rainout loomed each minute the downpour continued.

But then I was shown why first impressions are often misleading. Fortunately the rain finally stopped, the clouds disappeared, and the sun reappeared. Game on.
Scene: The two restaurants/bars that we waited the rain out in, Cheli's Chilli and Hockeytown, were lively and did a great job incorporating Tigers nostalgia and history. Nowhere near as crazy as Fenway, but still infinitely better than the stadium scenes in Philly and Pittsburgh.
Stadium: I was really impressed with the stadium itself. The Tiger motif can be found throughout the yard, mostly in the form of tiger statues in various pouncing poses all around the exterior facade. Aesthetically, I can't really find any major issue with Comerica. Brick, exposed iron, a fountain in center, and great views throughout the stadium.
Food: Each ticket comes with a voucher for a free soda and hot dog or pizza - what a deal! What other park does that these days? And best yet, they have Little Ceaser's pizza! I haven't had that pizza in like 10 years. That may be a strike against Comerica to some of you, but I always loved the stuff.
Crowd: Even though the Tigers are in the bottom of the AL Central, it was nearly a sellout. Granted, they have been playing really well lately, but the fact that they can pack the park against a terrible Rockies team is impressive. Friendly crowd, passionate fans -- there was some good-natured heckling between fans, but it was more amusing than anything else.

Overall, I would have to rate Comerica just behind PNC visually, but ahead of the rest of the newer parks in atmosphere and overall experience. Detroit can definitely can hang its collective hat on this great ballpark.

Cooperstown, NY - MLB Hall Of Fame

After Fenway, the three of us continued to a little town in the heart of the state of New York - Cooperstown to visit the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. But why would a tiny town like Cooperstown be home to the HoF?

In the early 1900s, a Congressional Committee decided to investigate the origins of baseball - who invented it? Where was the first game played? First and second-hand accounts and evidence ultimately traced America's Pastime to Abner Doubleday from Cooperstown, NY. It was here that MLB built the Hall and Doubleday Field, both home to the "spirit" of the greatest game the world has known.

As our footsteps echoed through this sacred shrine, whispers of names such as Ruth, DiMaggio, Gehrig, Cobb, Robinson, Aaron, Kaline, Bench and all of the greats haunted us. It was as if we had taken a step back in time from 2008, a journey back to the prime of the Bronx Bombers, the antics of the Gashouse Gang, the conspiracy of the Black Sox and the magic of the Big Red Machine.

The memories captured so sharply behind these glass encasements told a story not only of baseball, but of the struggles and triumphs of our nation. Baseball was a safe haven for fans who suffered through the Great Depression. It was a game that reminded Americans of home and what we were fighting for during the World Wars. It embodied freedom and hope during the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam. Even though we are not old enough to have experienced any of this, Cooperstown so perfectly captured the importance of baseball to American History.

Memories of past legends are resurrected. The greatest moments of the game are relived. This is Cooperstown. Welcome to Baseball.

Thoughts from Fenway Park

Tuesday night's Red Sox-Diamondbacks game at Fenway Park was a great baseball experience. The atmosphere inside Fenway was incredible, with every fan into each pitch. The park was old like Wrigley Field, but the atmosphere was much more baseball focused.

After surviving a torrential downpour and the aforementioned incident with the Sausage King cart, we made our way into the park just in time for the first pitch. After a 5 minute debacle of politely asking people to get up from our seats, we were firmly planted in section 3 of the Right Field grandstands, about 500 feet from home plate.

The game started poorly for the Sox, with Chad Tracey hitting a 3-run homer in the top of the 3rd to give the 'Backs a 4-1 lead. That lead lasted until the bottom of the 8th, when the Sox made an exciting comeback. A 4-run inning, highlighted by a game-tying 2-run double by Mike Lowell, gave the Sox a 5-4 lead. Papelbon came in and closed the door in the 9th to give the Sox the win. The atmosphere was electric, with the fans going home happy.

One of the highlights of the game for me was sitting next to a young Sox fan named Mikie, who was attending his first game at Fenway Park. Mikie was with his father Dougie, and they had to take 5 trains to get to the game. Mikie was a big Sox fan and started several "Lets go Sox" cheers that echoed throughout the park. He even learned to boo "the snakes" and tell them to "go back to Arizona." All his cheers were clean though, as that was how Dougie had taught him.

The (almost) Sausage-Massacre at Fenway

(Associated Press) - An otherwise tranquil night at Fenway Park in Boston was almost a present-day version of the Boston Massacre. A few fans were lucky to miss the violent crush of a poorly-secured sausage stand.

About an hour before the game, the skies opened up, with the fury of a jilted lover. As fans, heading to the game, scurried for cover from the downpour, a huge gust of wind blew down Landsdowne Road without concern for any fans of the ballgame.

"Good Lord," said John Kanney, a sausage-enthusiast and first time fan to Fenway, "I heard a loud crash and saw the Sausage King stand crashing down behind me. I was lucky to reach cover -- I just saw sausages flying in the air all around me."

"The baseball gods must be on our side," said Mike O'Leary, another near-victim. "As soon as we crossed the street, all we heard was a really loud noise. We must have missed the falling stand by a few seconds. We were just trying to get under the cover of the stadium."

The game was delayed by an hour, which is not unusual for a pre-game Boston downpour. What was unusual was the wind gusts, which at one point reached 50 miles-per-hour. The aftermath itself was something that locals had not seen for quite sometime.

"I've worked at Fenway for over 20 years," said Pedro Manuel, a concession stand worker. "I've never seen a storm blow through so quickly or violently. I'm just glad no one got hurt when the stand fell over."

"Just glad to be alive," said Kanney. "Our friend ducked into the bar across the street before the downpour. We were shut out, so we just tried to get out of the rain at the stadium. He owes us a beer for leaving us behind."

Fortunately for all, no one was hurt and the Sausage King stand was up and operational a half-hour before the game.

Single Season Baseball Records: Are they breakable?

We are on the road from New York to Boston, in anticipation of tonight's game at Fenway Park. Last night, we had an interesting conversation on the breakability of MLB's single season records. We decided that Bobby Thigpen's save record of 57 may be in jeopardy with LAA's K-rod already at 31 before the halfway point of the season. Other than that, we thought that the other records were pretty close to untouchable in the near future. Although chipper Jones is currently hitting near .400, sustaining that for an entire year is damn near impossible, yet alone breaking the current record of .426.

NYC Day 2 - Shea Stadium

The fourth game of this Road Trip took place @ Shea Stadium in Queens, NY - Monday Night Baseball between the Mets and the Seattle Mariners. We spent Monday morning and afternoon in Manhattan - took a good five mile walk from southern Manhattan to Midtown, which included stops at the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the NYSE on Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown and a few refreshments in Little Italy.

Most importantly, the four of us visited Ground Zero and the World Trade Center Memorial. It's hard to believe that not even eight years have passed since 9/11. Visiting Ground Zero proved to be an unforgettable memory. As Governor George Pataki said in 2002, "On that terrible day, a nation became a neighborhood, all Americans became New Yorkers." Quiet tears were shed in memory of the victims and survivors. Without question, this was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.

Having a chance to see the Mets play in their last season @ Shea was special, as well. Felix Hernandez, an American League pitcher, hit a grand slam home run off of Johan Santana in the top of the second; the Mariners did not look back, capping off a 5-2 victory over the Metropolitans by snuffing out a New York rally in the bottom of the ninth. A hint of the future for the New York Metropolitans was visible just over the left field wall - Citi Field (in the final stages of construction) will be the new home of the New York Metropolitans in 2009.

John Kanney
6/24/2008
1:30 am

"Don't Make A Misteak"

No, that's not a type-o in the title. Such words of wisdom are found at Pat's King of Steaks, where they are in hot competition with Geno's right across the street for the best cheesesteaks in Philly. You better make sure you order you steak right and quickly, or they'll throw you to the back of the line. They don't mess around, and there are hundreds of people waiting in line behind you for the cheesy goodness.

We were on a pretty tight schedule, so we didn't have time to blog about Philly until now. Which is a shame, because Philly is a great town. Man, what a cool city - the city of Brotherly Love, indeed. Lots of history everywhere you look. Seeing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Congressional Hall, and the Liberty Bell was something that everyone should do at some point. Visiting those landmarks, along with singing "America the Beautiful" at the Yankees game today, I really feel proud to be an American and grateful that I get to enjoy the freedoms that so many died for in the greatest nation in the world.

And if seeing those patriotic sites can't pump you up, then maybe running the streets with Philly's blue-collar hero will:

Rain Delay in the Bronx

Sunday, June 21 - Reds @ Yankees

First visit to NYC and Yankee Stadium. After today, only 42 games remain to be played in the House That Ruth Built. Approx. 2:55 pm, a downpour suspended play for over an hour. We took advantage of the delay to sneak down into some better seats next to the right field foul pole. Little did we know, we ended up one row in front of a drunken Cincinnati Reds fan that quite possibly may qualify as the most annoying fan in Yankee Stadium history. This guy had something to say about everything and everyone. With the Reds down 3 runs in the top of the 8th, catcalls such as "Hey, we only need one here. Shake 'em up, shake 'em up, shake 'em up!" continuously irked the home team fans. When Mariano Rivera entered, this fan exclaimed, "He's getting nervous! He's getting nervous!"

Needless to say, Rivera was not nervous and the Yankees handled business as expected. After the game, we visited a local pub in the heart of the Bronx for a couple of refreshments and took the subway back to Times Square. Had a delicious dinner at a pizzeria pub - NY style pizza washed down with a few more refreshments capped-off the evening. All in all, this day at the Mecca of Baseball lived up to our expectations, as we could not have asked for a more memorable experience.

John Kanney
6/22/2008
12:30 am

Free Baseball

The Primanti Bro's sandwiches and Iron City beer must have brought us good luck in the 'Burgh.

Free Baseball -- nothing better than getting an extra inning game. It was mostly a pitcher's-duel between Roy Halladay and Zach Duke, with quite a few spectacular defensive web-gems along the way. It was 0-0 heading into extras, when the Pirates loaded the bases in the bottom of the 12th with no outs. I'll tell you how it ended with a little ditty we came up with after the game (to the tune of "Old McDonald"):

John McDonald made an error
E-6 E-6 E
The Pirates win in extra frames
E-6 E-6 E
With an boot boot here
and whiff whiff there
Here a boot, there a boot, everywhere a boot boot
John McDonald lost the game
E-6 E-6 E.

Blue Jays shortstop John McDonald missed a bouncer from Jason Michaels that brought home the winning run.

Overall, PNC Park and the view of the city was gorgeous -- I would have to say it's one of the best newer, if not overall, MLB ballparks.


On a completely separate note, happy birthday Mom! I hope you have a wonderful day, sorry I'm not home to celebrate. I wouldn't be the person I am today without your influence, and for that I'm always thankful. Love you.

Mike

Bio of Road Trippers: Part 4: LJ

Bio of Road Trippers: Part 4
Name: John Feighery

Age: 25

Hometown: The Nati

Current Town: The Nati/Oakley

Favorite Team: Reds
Other Favorite Teams: None
Teams I Despise: Cubs
Favorite Player: Barry Larkin, Jose Rijo, Tom Browning
Most excited to see during the trip: Yankee Stadium, Yuengling
Favorite Baseball Memories:
1. Reds winning the World Series (1990)

2. Tom Browning's Perfect Game.

3. Tom Browning drinking on the roof on Sheffield Ave.

4. Tom Browning spray-painting "14" on the pitchers mound at the last game at Riverfront.

5. Joe Randa's walk-off HR on Opening-Day, 2005.

Best YouTube Video Ever: Rod Allen in Japan

Detroit Tigers colorman Rod Allen had a brief major league career. He also played in the Land of the Rising Sun for a few years, and apparently took the game very seriously while playing for the Hiroshima Carp.

Bio of Road Trippers: Part 3

Name: John Kanney
Age: 23
Hometown: Toledo
Current Town: Lakewood
Favorite Team: Tigers

Other Favorite Teams: Indians, Reds, Yankees, Braves

Teams I Despise: White Sox (b/c of Grrrrrrrrrrmak), Red Sox, Twins

Favorite Player: Cal Ripken Jr., Curtis Granderson, Tiger Woods, Jim Leyland

Most excited to see during the trip: Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, NYC, Cooperstown, Yuengling, Asphalt, Yuengling, Iron City, Peter, Bernie, Sam, ....robbin' Peter to pay Bernie

Favorite Baseball Memories:
1. Ned Skeldon Stadium

2. Toledo Mud Hens Baseball Camp

3. Old Tiger Stadium (I-Beam in Left Field)

4. Heckling Curtis Pride (He was deaf)

5. Last ball game @ Tiger Stadium

6. Being born 30 days before the Tigers won the Series in 1984... I have pictures of my Dad and I watching the series.