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MLB ROAD TRIP 2001
2001.10.01 <VOL.33> Days 162-168
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*We are in Detroit
Index
1. Halls of Fame
2. Chilly in Cleveland
3. Awards Time
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Halls of Fame
A couple of weeks ago we managed to visit two of sports greatest shrines: the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown. To be entirely accurate, I should say 'I' rather than 'we' because hockey heathen Aya decided to go shopping rather than see the Hockey Hall of Fame. Well, she missed over two hours of hockey memorabilia that brought back memories of my childhood, teenage years, and even adulthood. Sadly, as a Toronto Maple Leaf fan most of those memories are painful, but nonetheless the entire museum is quite impressive. An exhibit dedicated to Wayne Gretzky, a room about the Olympics and International Hockey, and a replica of the Montreal Canadiens' locker room are among the attractions here, but the highlight of the experience is the Great Hall, where all the NHL's trophies are held. Even the Stanley Cup is there, although it is not the actual trophy that is given to the winning team, but a replica. Check the Toronto Attractions site for a picture of me with the Cup. A big thanks to Boyd for accompanying me on the tour.
Just three days later, we were in Cooperstown, and thankfully Aya had come to her senses and, having realized that shopping is no match for sports history, decided to join me at the Baseball Hall of Fame. We spent nearly an entire day looking at all of the baseball artifacts that constitute this great museum. It was neat to see some balls and uniforms from the All-Star Game in Seattle, which we had also seen, and the 1992-93 Blue Jays exhibit brought back some good memories for a change. Of course, it is the long history of baseball that is so fascinating; from Babe Ruth's 1927 60th home run ball and bat to Cy Young's glove to Jackie Robinson's warm-up jacket, all of the elements that make up baseball's rich history were on display. The first floor is where all of the inductees' plaques are located, and even this area can take a long time to see. This was one of the highlights of the trip, and we hope that all of you will visit there one day.
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Chilly in Cleveland
As we mentioned last time, we were fortunate to see a football game in Cleveland in perfect late-summer weather. If only we had known what was to come after that - this year, there was no fall in Cleveland. The next day we awoke to unseasonably cold weather with intermittent showers - it seemed like winter had come early this year. The weather confined us to the hotel room until game time, when we walked over to the Jake. This would be the 30th and final ballpark on the trip, but we were too cold to commemorate the occasion properly. Fortunately, our seats were covered by the overhang of the second deck, so we stayed dry as the rain came and went during the game. But it was the coldest game we had seen, and of course, extra innings were necessary to decide it. Fortunately, Toronto won the game on Raul Mondesi's 2-run blast in the 11th inning, and we finally got back to the hotel, much worse for wear.
The next night was more of the same. Another very interesting game, more rain and cold, and this game was only 9 innings, but still nearly 4 hours. Cleveland won 11-7 on an 8th-inning rally, but for me, it was too much. Having hung out in this weather for two games was enough, and even though we had tickets to the following night's game, we decided to move on. It was a good decision too, as the next game was rained out. By Friday, normal fall weather had arrived in Cleveland, but for us, we will remember it as the city with no autumn.
By the way, the Jake is another of the new ballparks and I quite enjoyed it - I would really like to see a game here when the place is sold out. Even with only 30,000 fans, it is loud and fun, and the people working there were all very friendly in spite of the weather. Definitely worth a look if you are ever in the area.
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Awards Time
As we are now at the end of the trip, it is time to present the MLB Road Trip 2001 Awards. Over the next few updates, I will include some of the more notable people and places that we saw on our trip, and the website will also have a more detailed collection of the best and worst of our 6 months on the road.
The first award is the Most Annoying Fan Award, given to the fan who sat close to us and bothered us the most. Now this prestigious award was hotly contested by a number of fans - those giving play-by-play to their friends via cell phones; those who got up to buy beer every inning or so; those who showed up late and left early, and countless others who were not well-versed in how to watch a ballgame the roadtrip way (which is to actually watch the game!).
So without further ado, the Most Annoying Fan Award is given to......the guy in Cleveland who spent the first half of the game smooching with his wife and the second half arguing! Congratulations nameless Tribe fan!
For those of you fortunate enough to have not been at the game, a quick recap of the amazing antics that netted this guy the award. During the first few innings, he and his wife were all happy - we could tell this because of the occasional kissy-kissy noises emanating from the seats to our right. When they weren't kissing, he was getting up to go buy beer for everyone. After a while, it became a bit annoying, but as it was cold that night, we could forgive them a little snuggling. The lovefest continued until the 7th inning, by which time Aya, who had heard enough, had left to go sit in the rain.
By now, however, the alcohol had taken effect, and the two lovebirds were no longer cooing. Instead, it was time to vent some long-held beliefs about each other. Yes, these two started quarrelling, in the most annoying way - trying to keep their voices down so no one would hear them. But as I mentioned they were slightly inebriated, so of course, I could hear everything. I will spare you the sordid details, but let's just say a lot of foul language was used. Finally, the guy, who had been cursing at his wife for about 30 minutes now, couldn't hold on to his beer and made a quick visit to the facilities. The woman, clearly upset that her party (oh, I forgot to mention, it was her birthday!) had not gone as planned, seized the opportunity and left. When hubby came back, her seat was empty, and you could see that his intoxicated brain was trying to make sense of the situation - should I stay or should I go. Well, thankfully he left too (in the 10th inning of a great 1-1 game, by the way!) and I enjoyed the rest of the game in peace. But I knew we had a winner for our first award.
Well, a long story but I hope you agree that the Most Annoying Fan Award was well-deserved. Tune in next time for more exciting awards as we wind down our trip.
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We are back in Detroit, and resting at our good friends Mike and Michiyo's house in the suburbs. We saw one more game at Comerica (Nomo lost to disappoint Aya yet again) and saw a couple of sights. There isn't much to Detroit, as you can see on our website, so we have taken it easy while I got over the cold I caught in Cleveland.
There is just one week left in the baseball season now. The American League races are decided, but each division in the National League is still up for grabs between two teams. We will see just one more regular season game, as we stop in Milwaukee tomorrow to see St. Louis, who are trying to overtake Houston in the NL Central. After that it's a 4 or 5 day drive to Seattle where the playoffs begin on October 9th. Unfortunately, the Mariners did not sell their playoff tickets on the Internet, instead electing to only sell them through TicketMaster outlets in Washington, Oregon, and B.C. What's a roadtripper to do? Well, now we have to hope for some good luck or nice scalpers (yeah, right!) when we get to Seattle. We'll let you know what happens next time, but for now the trip continues. Westward Ho!
Talk to you later,
Sean and Aya
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