Kyle's Thoughts

Now that we’ve had time to reflect on the magnitude of our trip, it is really quite remarkable what we did. Just looking at some of the numbers amazes me: 6,000 miles driven, 4 groups of relatives visited, about 100 hours on the road, and lots of threatening rain. I can not believe we were crazy enough to dream up this trip and then actually go through with the plan. We as brothers got closer (even though we got on each other’s nerves) and it was just all a great time. I’ll take a closer look at some of our experiences, as I list my top 5 experiences.

5. Texas Rangers vs. Washington Nationals, Day 11 (June 21st)- I love Washington DC, so I had some good expectations for this experience, and I wasn’t disappointed. The brand new stadium was beautiful, as expected, and our seats were great because we were right next to the Rangers bullpen. We were around a bunch of Rangers fans so that made the game more fun. The famous President’s Race was hilarious, as Teddy Roosevelt, the loveable loser of the event, had an early lead but got last after getting distracted by a kangaroo. The Rangers winning the game was awesome, and the beautiful stadium and easy access to the Metro help this get in the top 5.

4. Baltimore Orioles vs. Chicago Cubs, Day 15 (June 25th)- We hoped we could get tickets to Wrigley Field, one of the most classic stadiums in the MLB, and our relatives delivered. We got to go to the game with our aunt, uncle, and cousins who live just outside Chicago, so that was fun. Also, the Cubs winning made this experience amazing, because when their team wins, Cub fans go insane. Everyone brought out their W towels, which was cool to see. We got to see Kerry Wood close out the game, which was fun because he has come back from countless injuries to finally make a name for himself in the league. Wrigley Field was cleaner and nicer than I thought it was going to be, too.

3. San Diego Padres vs. New York Yankees, Day 9 (June 19th)- Going to historic Yankee Stadium was the reason we started talking about the trip, so this has to go in my top 5. Also, Joba Chamberlain, the next big thing in baseball, was pitching for the Yankees, so the buzz around the stadium was electric. We had the pleasure of sitting in front of a lady with a classic New York accent, so that was fun to listen to the whole game. Also, someone from Seattle (I think) was sitting next to us. He said he brought his kid to see the stadium before it was gone. The game was an exciting pitcher’s duel, and, in the end, New York won and the fans went crazy. Going to Yankee Stadium in it’s final season alone would rank this in the top 5, but a Yankee win and a chance to see Joba live bump it up even higher. Plus, the rest of the day in the city was fun, too!

2. Texas Rangers vs. Kansas City Royals, Day 2 (June 12th)- This ranks up there for a multitude of reasons. One is, of course, because the Rangers were in the game. This made the game much more interesting for us because we actually cared who won the game. Also, the starting pitcher was Eric Hurley, a great prospect who was making his first major league start. He did a pretty awesome job for his first major league start, but the Rangers ended up losing which is why this is not higher up on the list. Being in Kansas City (one of my favorite cities) helps this rank higher than it would if it was in Cleveland or something.

1. Houston Astros vs. Baltimore Orioles, Day 7 (June 17th)- This is number one no doubt to me. The stadium was awesome, the fans were awesome, the game was awesome, and the city was way better than expected. Baltimore won the game in the 8th inning after fighting back and forth with Houston the entire night. Miguel Tejada was making his return to Baltimore after betraying them in the offseason by demanding a trade. He got a mix of boos and cheers from the fans that were crazy for their Orioles. I never knew Baltimore loved their team so much. We sat in our seats for a couple innings, but then we went down to the standing room only area in right field and had an amazing view for the rest of the game. This was the best stadium and experience by far.

So there you have it, my top 5 experiences in a trip I will never forget. The trip is something I will talk about for the rest of my life, and every time I watch Baseball Tonight and see a stadium I have been to, I can say, “Hey, I’ve been there!”

-Kyle

Day 19 - Arlington

Start: Jackson, TN
Stop: Arlington, TX – Rangers Ballpark in Arlington – Philadelphia Phillies at Texas Rangers
Finish: Cedar Hill, TX

We had to get up early to make it to the game on time. We also had to drive about 9 hours, so we drove in shifts. Jason got up last and drove the first 2.5 hrs. Then Kyle drove until lunch and I finished off the drive. We were glad to be back in Texas, and even happier to be back at The Ballpark in Arlington.

Once we got to the stadium, we parked and walked up and met up with Mom, Dad, Stephanie and Jake. We had to avoid the retail booths because Jason got scheduled to work today because of a miscommunication with his boss. Because of that, Mom went and bought Kyle and Jason’s souvenirs.

The game was good…the Rangers young starter (Eric Hurley) did very well, and a recent call-up (Chris Davis) hit his second Major League home run. We were glad to be back in a familiar stadium and enjoyed all the things about the Ballpark that make it unique, including the dot race, good nachos, and the best PA announcer in the game, Chuck Morgan. One thing we realized on the trip is that the scoreboard at RBIA is by far the smallest we saw. Hopefully it will be getting an upgrade soon, and the Ballpark should start ranking at least in the upper half of stadiums around the league.

We got home and gave our family and friends their gifts we had picked up along the way, and then went to bed. As you can see, it’s Tuesday and I’m just now posting this, and that’s because we’ve needed a couple of days to get back and get settled in. In a few days, we’ll post our reflections on the trip as a whole and our rating system for the 12 major league stadiums we visited.

Result: Rangers win 5-1
Final Record: 8-7 (0.533)

Day 18 - Louisville

Start: Rolla, MO
Stop: Louisville, KY
Finish: Jackson, TN

Today was pretty much a travel day. We traveled to Louisville, Kentucky so Eric could go to his friend Drew’s wedding. While Eric was attending the wedding, Kyle and I went to play putt-putt and go on the go-karts.

We first headed to Kart Kountry, the home of the largest go-kart track in the United States (1.5 miles). First, Kyle and I played a round of putt-putt. It was a tight match, but I ended up getting the victory. After that, we engaged in a tough battle of go-karting which I won as well. It was really fun to have some down time.

We liked putt-putting so much, we decided to head to a “Putt-Putt: Golf and Games” that had 3 different courses. Kyle won 2 of the courses, but I won the last one by strokes, giving me the overall win by one stroke. After that, we went to pick up Eric and head to our last hotel stop in Jackson.

Eric enjoyed the wedding and he also enjoyed his time with Rachel. In the car, however, we all decided it was just about time to go home. We are definitely ready to be back home and back in our real lives. We will be home tomorrow!!!

Record (still): 7-7

Day 17 - Springfield

Start: Galesburg, IL
Stop: Springfield, MO – Hammons Field – Frisco RoughRiders (Rangers AA minor league) at Springfield Cardinals (Cardinals AA minor league)
Finish: Rolla, MO

Today we woke up around 9 to leave Galesburg at 10. We had to drive 7 hours before the 7 o clock game in Springfield, MO. After stopping at a Wendy’s for lunch, we stopped at our hotel in Rolla on the way to drop off our stuff and check in. Then we drove the last 1 ½ hours to Hammons Field in lovely Springfield. We were there before the gates opened, so we got out our gloves and ball and started throwing the ball around in the empty part of the parking lot. A photographer from the local newspaper came over and asked if he could take pictures of us throwing the ball around. He said he likes taking pictures of the fans having fun before the game.

After we finished throwing it around, Grandpa B showed up, we got our tickets and headed inside. The stadium was really nice for a AA stadium. We were there to see the Rangers AA team play the Cardinals AA team. When we got in the stadium, we found out that Tommy Hunter was pitching for the Rangers farm team. Hunter is the best pitching prospect on the team, so we were very excited. The game started off really nicely for Hunter, as he struck out the side in the first inning. He ended up striking out 8 in 6 innings, which was great. The game was great for the Rangers team, as they won 5-1. We had a great time with Grandpa B, and seeing all the great Rangers prospects was great fun. We’re almost home, whoo hoo!

Result: RoughRiders win 5-1
Record: 7-7

Day 16 - Clinton

Start: Wheaton, IL
Stop: Clinton, IA – Alliant Energy Field – Beloit Snappers (Twins low-A minor league) at Clinton Lumberkings (Rangers low-A minor league)
Finish: Galesburg, IL

After getting back from the game last night, we got our things together and went to bed. We slept for a while and then woke up to go to brunch at the Egglectic Café. It was more like lunch time, but most of us had breakfast food. Actually, all of us had some sort of eggs or pancakes, except for Jason, who had the Barbeque Bacon Cheddar burger. We all enjoyed the food very much, so we decided we needed to work it off. We packed up the bats, gloves and balls and went off to the baseball field. Kyle, Jason, Duncan, Eean and I went to go play some baseball and Aunt Diane came along to watch. The McNaughtons had some wooden bats, and we had never used wooden bats before, so we all took a few hacks with the lumber. We all got a couple of good hits, and then around 2:30, we went back to their house to cool off before we had to leave.

We left town around 3:30 to make the drive to Clinton. We got there around 6, and we were one of the first people there. We got our tickets (2nd row behind home plate on the 3rd base side) and went in to the stadium. We walked over to where the team was warming up and tried to look out for a couple of the top prospects. We saw a catcher running some blocking drills (the coach was throwing the ball down a few feet in front of the catcher, and he had to block the ball), a few guys doing some laps, and a few guys playing a game of hot potato with a baseball. We were standing over the dugout, and there were some balls sitting on top, so when a coach walked by, he picked one up and threw it to Jason. Not exactly the way we envisioned getting a ball at a game, but it’s the best we’ve got so far.

Once the game started, we watched in our seats. At this stadium, there was netting running from one dugout to the other to keep foul balls out of the stands, so we had to watch the game through the net. This made it a little hard to take pictures, but we made the best of it. Nearly all of the Lumberkings starters are top prospects in the organization, and tonight’s starter, Kennil Gomez, isn’t quite at the top of the list, but he’s pretty good. He pitched 7 innings and only gave up 2 runs, which isn’t bad, but the best part of the evening was the top of the third inning, where Gomez struck out all three batters in order.

As you know from our first game, minor league games have various on field activities in between innings. Tonight Birdzerk, “the craziest show in sports”, entertained the crowd between innings with his crazy hijinks. At one point, he tricked the opposing team’s third baseman into taking off his glove, then he stole it, jumped in a go cart and drove to the outfield fence and threw his glove over the fence. He did some other crazy things, but that was the best. One other quick note from the game was that the opposing team’s third baseman was very short. I saw him warming up with the team and thought he was a batboy or something, but then I looked at their roster and saw a 5’3” infielder, and sure enough, that’s who it was. Really odd seeing someone that short.

After the game, we started driving south to Galesburg. The highway we were trying to take was closed for construction, so we had to go around, but since we were in the middle of nowhere in Iowa, we had to drive 4 miles west, a few miles south, then 4 miles back east to get around the roadblock. Now we’re at the hotel, getting ready to store up on sleep for the next few days.

Result: Lumberkings lose 2-0
Record: 6-7

Day 15 - Chicago

Start: Milan, OH
Stop: Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field – Baltimore Orioles at Chicago Cubs
Finish: Wheaton, IL
After examining the schedule for today, we had high hopes that it would be a pretty easy and fun day. We didn’t have to wake up too early and we didn’t have too much to drive. Plus, we would have the honor of seeing a Cubs game at Wrigley Field with our aunt, uncle and cousins. Now that the day is over, it is pretty easy to say that we were correct in our prediction.

We left Ohio around 10:15 Eastern Time so we could arrive at the McNaughton’s house at around 3 Central Time. On the way, we stopped at a Fazolis to eat lunch. It was mighty tasty! We then got back on the road and arrived in Wheaton only about 10 minutes late. When we got there, only Aunt Diane, Duncan and Eean were at home, so we just hung out for a bit waiting for Lesley and Uncle Scott to get home. When they did, we packed up our Gatorades and headed for downtown.

When we got to downtown, we parked in a parking garage, walked to a subway station and rode it to the famed Wrigley Field. When we got there, we went to the home plate gate with the famous “Welcome to Wrigley Field, Home of the Cubs” sign is located. After taking a few pictures, we walked to our seats down the right field line and in the upper deck.

Our view was pretty good and uninhibited. The Cubs have been playing good at home, so needless to say, we were expecting a win. They came out fast, scoring 6 runs in the first 3 innings. The game was pretty good and the Cubs won so it was a successful evening.

We then rode the train back to the car and drove home! Tomorrow we are planning to eat breakfast early and then just hang out until we need to leave for Clinton, IA. It should be another easy/fun day!

Result: Cubs win, 7-4
Record: 6-6

Day 14 - Cleveland

Start: Harmarville, PA
Stop: Cleveland, OH – Progressive Field – Cleveland Indians vs. San Francisco Giants
Finish: Milan, OH

Today we woke up at around 10 in the morning and made our way out of the hotel at around noon. It was a lazy morning, but after eating lunch at Subway we headed to the Duquesne Incline, the famous place to take photos of downtown Pittsburgh. The ride up the incline was quite enjoyable, as was the view and picture taking. The whole experience was a great time. After coming down the incline, we headed to a Pittsburgh sports store so Jason could buy some souvenirs. I went in and bought a Roberto Clemente shirt for myself. I wanted to buy one in PNC Park, but they ran out of mediums. Luckily they had them at the store!

After leaving the store, we found a park with the help of the GPS and brought out the gloves and ball to play some baseball. After playing for about 30 minutes, we packed back into the car and got on the way to Cleveland. When we got to the city, we found some pretty cheap and close parking and made our way to the stadium. We passed the building with the famous (at least to me) LeBron James “We are all witnesses” banner draped over it.

We arrived at the gate at 5:50, when we then found out that the gates did not open until an hour before gametime. We found this quite ridiculous and minor league-esque. Anyways, we got into the stadium at 6 and sat down in our bleacher seats in left field. After the pregame, we decided to move to the upper deck behind home plate so we could see the video board. This was a wise decision. The game was a bit of a snoozer, and it ended up as a 3-2 loss for Cleveland. Traffic wasn’t that bad getting out, and now we’re about ready to go to bed. Until tomorrow!

Game Result: Indians lose 3-2
Record: 5-6