BALLPARK HISTORY

Ballparks are full of history. They each have thier own distinct features, The bricks and ivy in Wrigley, monument park and the mystique of Yankee stadium, the warehouse at Camden, the green monster at Fenway, and more, but when you go to a park its more than to see the game, its to take in the environment. As much as I dislike it, part of going to Turner is listening to the fans do that tommohawk chant. I also enjoy seeing the statues or plaques of players who have contributed to all that history.

Each ballpark also gives you a different perspective of the game. What might be a HR at one park is just a fly ball in another. The site lines, angles and views of a game vary from park to park, even if your sitting in the same general area. Also the in game extras , like the mascot races, or singing the stretch at Wrigley, Sweet Caroline at Fenway, or the 7th inning God Bless America at Yankee stadium.

Another great thing about parks is visiting the local bar near the stadium. Harry Carays and Murphy's in Chicago, Pickles in Baltimore, Hockeytown Cafe in Detroit, Hooters in Anaheim, Rock Bottom Brewery in Denver (and Cinci), Harpoon Brewery in Boston, and Billys sports bar in the Bronx.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Hot streak?

Well the Cubs were on a little hot streak for a bit, 14-5 in the last 19 games. We have lost the first two in St. Louis, with our #1 and #2 guys going and considering they might not be Cubs in a week, that could be a problem going forward. Even with those 2 losses, we are 14-7 in 21 games. We are not in the cellar anymore, and with the Astros just trading away whats left of their veterans, we should be able to stay out of there.


Rizzo started out hot, slowed down a bit, but has still been strong. Castro has struggled a bit, but is actually being more patient, which will make him better in the long run.

As far as the rest of MLB, well in the AL. the Yanks are running away from the pack in the East, the Rangers and Angels are battling it out in the West and the Tigers are finally playing up to expectations in the Central. There are 8 teams within 3 games for the 2 wild card spots with about a week left before the trade deadline. I'm interested to see what the next week brings.

In the NL, the Division races are all very tight, with Cinci, SF, and Washington leading, all by 2 games or less. There are only 4 teams within 4 games of the wildcard in the NL. The Mets and Dbacks are 5 & 6 out, but both have been struggling.

There is still a lot of baseball left and i just want to see the Cubs continue to develop and build for the future. I think we can compete better next year, and contend in 2013. Gotta have hope.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Summertime is here.

So the Cubs are pretty bad this year, which is what was expected. But, with Rizzo called up there is a little hope shining through. At the same time, with the deadline approaching, we might get worse this year, while building for the future.
Some Cubs fans think we are 4-5 years away from competing. I disagree. Call me an optimist, but other teams have turned it around pretty quick. I'm not saying we're gonna win the series next year, but I believe we will be competitive in 2013 and contend in 2014.  
But for now, I just have to enjoy baseball and see someone else enjoy their team win it all. I am used to that anyway, after all I am a Cubs fan.

I finally made it to Turner field this week. I will be going back again on July 3 for the Cubs game. I wanted to see Strasburg pitch on Saturday, but it was gonna be a record 105 degrees for a 4pm game. I watched some of it on tv and the park was empty. I guess heat stroke didn't appeal to a lot of folks. 

I was playing around on here a bit and thought about changing the background. I thought if I used one of my own pics it would be pretty cool. Obviously the one I chose is the one that is there, but here are a few others that I was considering for the background of the blog. I had some fun with photoshop on a few of my pics, and they came out pretty cool, but I think I chose the right one.