gary's great american pastime trips thread

so i'm trying to finish out the season, it was a very good year indeed for me to see new parks, and a couple of returns, pnc in pittsburgh is my favorite park so far, great amenities, great sight lines, and an absolutely outstanding way to get there, river boat, that's right, for $10 round trip you can ride a riverboat from station square, return trips from 7th inning until half hour after last out, and it's only about a 20 minute ride, with absolutely no traffic jam out of the square and onto the interstate.











anybody remember "we are family"
honoring a great player



at least their mascot makes some sense in relation to the team name

 

Willie Stargell is one of the first baseball superstars I knew due to the Pirates winning the 79 World Series. ; Great shots Gary and thanks for "bringing us along."

 

pittsburgh's newest star, andrew mccutchen, he deserves it, great work ethic and a 5 tool star

 

well it's almost time for those magic words, you know them, the last 2 words of the national anthem, "PLAY BALL"
that's right, baseball season will soon be here, and gary's great american pastime bucket list will be picking right back up with a trip to san diego/phoenix. jfk to san diego 4/10/13, with a day at the zoo, some coronado island, and a night game 4/12 vs colorado at petco park, a saturday mid day flight to phoenix, followed by a 5:10 game at chase field vs the los angeles dodgers. sunday morning a flight home to jfk

 

BALL GAME TONIGHT!!!!!!

colorado rockies vs san diego padres tonight, 7:10 pacific time, took this last night from the pedestrian bridge near petco, over the railroad tracks and harbor drive to the bayfront hilton, i am staying in the omni, right next to petco and to the left of this photo, spent most of yesterday at the zoo, followed by a trip to the ocean beach pier to watch some surfing and have a burger at hodad's.
ballgame photos to follow when ready, on to phoenix tomorrow midday for a twilight dodgers vs diamondbacks

 

I was wondering when we might see some of Gary's baseball stadium visits, hope you have great weather, sucks here in NJ

 

game photos on slight delay. room broken into last night during game and laptop and kindle stolen. this is why you have multiple cards. no photos lost for good. 5-0 said several rooms lost laptops. left behind portable drive and 2 M4/3 lenses. on to phoenix today

 

Sucks!! ; Not sure what else to say.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

At least it was only things that can be replaced. ; Glad they didnt try and break in while you were there...


Sent by using Tapatalk...

 

apparently hackers have made available to bad guys electronic lock code breaker boxes. already replaced kindle at airport. could not face 5hr flight tomorrow without reading

 

That sucks! ; Glad you didn't loose anything irreplaceable

 

well all right, let's watch some ball games. great ballgames, lot's of action at both ballparks, although homies lost both games. leading off with the traditional first view of the field at petco park. colorado rockies vs san diego padres, the initial lighting was kind of odd, gave the field a washed out look, but got better at gametime





i guess the pig is everywhere





san diego scores first, but alas, not often enough





and the scoreboard





quentin has recieved an 8 game suspension which is on appeal for his part in a benches clearing brawl the night before i went in a game vs the dodgers. he was hit by a pitch, charged the mound after a little thought, and in the ensuing collision zach greinke, star LA dodger pitcher, receives a broken collarbone that may sideline him for most of the season. apparently some bad blood between them from past hit by pitches. it didn't look really purposeful on tv news that night, and quentin concedes he leans in a lot and gets hit a lot, would have liked to have seen him try that crowding the plate against bob gibson. he'd have been down in the dirt long before this, with probably a larger bruise to show off

 

Nice stuff Gary! ; I think they should suspend him more. ; He charges the mound on a 3-2 pitch, in a tied game in the 6th inning? ;

 

well the folks in san diego were certainly buzzed about the whole incident


a little at bat action








high fly ball, and the walk of shame back to the dougout



old warehouse built right into left field, where you can throw a private party

this one almost got away, there was a wild pitch later






todd helton puts one away at first, he's lost a step in his range, but it's been a real good career he's had, a premier first baseman for quite awhile






and i always try to get a shot of the hometown announcer team

 

and you have to get the mascot, in this case THE san diego padre himself





real nice piece of off balance fielding by helton to get the runner

 

let's uncork a wild pitch, makes the managers night a little more interesting









and he's getting ready



off with the pitch





it's going to be close















whatta ya mean i'm out, that's just wrong ump

 

rosario walking it off, i'm pretty sure he took one to the edge of the cup here





time called by the ump





trainer comes out to check, not as bad a hit as i saw the braves catcher take last year against the nationals, that one toppled him right over in his tracks



almost caught leaning the wrong way








bad throw gets away from helton, but not far enough for the runner to advance



late in the game, my concentration was less. i should never have missed the force at 2nd, it's always the smart play to get the lead runner if possible

 

and a mighty swing sequence









tie game, but the rockies are about to put it away








and the dejected hometown fans walk away





next up, chase field, la dodgers vs arizona diamondbacks