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MLB ROAD TRIP 2001
2001.9.5 <VOL.30> Days 134-143
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*We are in Boston
Index
1. New York News
2. BBQ Break
3. Minor League Season Ends
4. Fenway Fluke
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New York News
We spent almost a week in New York, including 4 great nights in Manhattan, just a few blocks from Times Square. For me, it was my fifth time in NY, so I was more concerned with baseball than touring, but Aya was a NY neophyte and preferred to go to such things as the Statue of Liberty and Museum of Natural History rather than a ballgame (can you believe the nerve?!), leaving me to go to some of the games alone. Fortunately, a few friends of mine were visiting NY at the same time and one of them was more than happy to go to the Jays-Yankees game with me.
JC had never seen a game before but seemed to pick up the rules quickly enough. The Jays had a 3-0 lead and JC said "Maybe your team will win" - of course, I knew better and told her about the Yankees penchant for comebacks. Sure enough, 3 NY runs in the 7th inning, the last coming on a Toronto error, and the Yankees were in the lead 4-3. Toronto did tie it up, but the Yankees won in 11. Sorry, JC, that Toronto couldn't have won your first game, but hope that you enjoyed seeing the Yankees as they systematically work their way to another pennant.
The New York portion of the trip also brought my friend Sharpy down from Ottawa for a week. He joined us on Saturday for the Mets incredible 3-2 victory over Florida in 11, and has stayed with us through New Britain and now Boston. He is the only person brave enough to join our roadtrip, and we will let him add a guest editorial next time.
By the way, New York is now in our top cities list. This should be no surprise to anyone who has been here: the energy in Manhattan is unparalleled, and there is too much to do. Once regarded as a dangerous place to be at night, New York is now relatively safe at all times. The subway is cleaner than before, and more efficient; there are plenty of restaurants everywhere; and of course, 2 major league champions and 2 new minor league baseball teams. Having lived in Tokyo for a while, big cities are nothing new to us, but New York was still different - there is no city in the world like it.
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BBQ Break
The Labor Day weekend is traditionally a time of rest as summer draws to a close, and for us it was no different. Our good friend Dan and his family invited us out to Ridgewood, NJ for a Sunday barbecue. After a short tour of downtown Ridgewood with Dan's energetic children leading the way, we retired to the house and enjoyed a quiet evening with hamburgers, hot dogs, and other delicious barbecue creations. We have put up pictures on the website, check the September schedule and click on the September 2 link "Rest in Ridgewood".
This was the first day in a long time in which we did absolutely nothing, and a big thanks to Dan for allowing us to relax in comfort. Wish we could have stayed longer, but the duties of the roadtripper called us on to Boston.
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Minor League Season Ends
Between New York and Boston lies the state of Connecticut, home to the New Britain Rock Cats. As it was the last day of the minor league regular season, we decided to check out one last minor league game. It was a great game as the Rock Cat pitcher retired 25 batters in a row, a roadtrip record, as New Britain beat Akron 5-0. The stadium is very nice here, and although the Rock Cats season continues in the playoffs, for us, it was an ending of sorts. After 33 minor league games in 31 minor league cities, we have completed that portion of our schedule. Although the playoffs will take a couple of weeks, it doesn't look like we will be able to see any games. So from here on out its just the majors, and we are a bit sad at the prospect. Some of the minor league memories we have are the best on the trip - Timo Perez in Durham, Tim Redding in New Orleans, Carlos Hernandez in San Antonio, and Stubby Clapp in Salt Lake City are just some of the players who made lasting impressions on us. The fans in the towns of Burlington (Iowa), Louisville, and Harrisburg were some of the best of the trip. It was great to see Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, and St. Paul, among others.
For those of you who are planning a baseball roadtrip, try to include one or two minor league games if you can. Some of those players will be the ones you are watching in the majors a couple of years later, and the games are so much more affordable. Hey, you might just win a dozen donuts!
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Fenway Fluke
Hideo Nomo was scheduled to pitch for Boston on Wednesday against Cleveland. As Aya had never seen him pitching live, we planned to attend that game. But on the 4th, we were wandering around downtown, and ended up only a few minutes from Fenway Park around game time. We thought it would be fun to walk there and take in the atmosphere outside the stadium and see if a Manny Ramirez homer would head our way. As we walked along the street, a scalper approached us, trying to unload seats. I made an offer of $5/ticket but I wasn't too serious. Because the game had started, he wanted to negotiate, but I stopped him by saying that we couldn't go tonight because we were going to go the next night when Nomo pitched. The scalper told us "Nomo is pitching tonight"! Of course, we didn't believe him as scalpers are not known for their honesty, but he pleaded his case for a couple of minutes, eventually convincing us. Well, Aya really wanted to see Nomo, so we decided to offer him $10/ticket and he accepted! Suddenly we had some great seats at Fenway for a small fraction of their cost! Aya didn't know what was going on, so when she got in and saw Nomo pitching, she was very excited.
Unfortunately, Nomo was not on top of his game, and lasted just over 5 innings, taking the loss in an 8-5 Cleveland win. But for us, it was great luck to be around Fenway and to get good seats to see him pitch. Fenway is a great park and we will see another game there tomorrow, so check out the website in a few days for more on this venerable ballyard. By the way, the Boston fans are often labeled "Fenway Faithful", but it is a misnomer - thousands of fans left this game with the score 8-4 in the 7th inning. After a weekend sweep by the Yankees, I suppose that I would be disappointed, but at $55 a ticket, I would be sitting there right till the bitter end!
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After nearly 5 months in the U.S., we return to Canada this weekend to see the Expos and about 3,000 other fans. After a rest in my hometown of Ottawa, it is down to Toronto to see the Blue Jays once again. We will give you all the crucial details on Canada's teams next time.
Overall, we are down to the last 3 weeks of the trip, and with only 3 more parks to go, we are finally in the home stretch. The pennant races in the American League have fizzled, but there is still excitement in the NL. Bonds still has a chance at 70, while the Mariners quest for 116 victories is still alive. The September stories should be exciting and we will follow them closely and let you know what happens.
Talk to you later,
Sean and Aya
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