Tropicana Field, 2014

#27

Although it isn't much to look at, I still have to post a pic of the outside of the park. They tried to give it some baseball flare by putting some bats and balls deco around the sides, but they just blend in with the building. 

The front entry of the main gate has a little bit of flair, but it is just mainly pics of players. Of course with the name of the park, there had to be some Tropicana signs. 

If your reading this, you have probably already heard that this park is pretty bad. It isn't terrible. but has plenty of issues. For one, the "grass" looks like it is dying. This is a huge problem because it is fake!! Maybe they want to make it look real so the make it look like it is dying? IDK, but it looked pretty bad. Also from the lower level, you cannot see the bottom of the score board or the video board, which show in game stats, which if you actually follow the game, you want to see. It would probably be a lot nicer if it were a retractable dome. It was a nice night and would have had a better feel if it were opened up. 

On to the game. Well nothing happened in this game that was memorable, unless you count the Yanks getting spanked 16-1. There were 2 players that hit 2 HR each for the Rays, Will Myers and Ryan Hannigan, I was hoping for a third from each, but no such luck. Dean Anna, who has been filling in for Jeter on his off days, did pitch one inning and gave up 2 runs, but he was better than most the other Yankees pitchers. Speaking of Jeter, the reason we mainly went down at this time was to see him, and of course he has been nursing a pulled quad muscle they picked this game out of the 4 game set to rest him. 

Turner Field, 2014

So this will be my one post on all games that I attend at Turner this year. Now that it has been announced that the Braves are building a new park, I guess I only have a few years left to enjoy this one before going to see the new one. I am hoping that the new one will bring an opportunity to go see the All-Star game.

A's 8/16

I was supposed to go to this game with my cousin, but he unfortunately couldn't make it so I asked Terry if he was free, and he was. We got there and were able to tailgate a bit, smoke a cigar and drink a couple of cold ones. I was hoping to see Samardzija or Lester pitch, but no luck there. It was a competitive game and went down to the wire with Kimbrel walking the lead off hitter in the 9th, but then he shut them down hitting 99 several times on the gun. The Braves won the game 4-3.

Cubs 5/11

This was game 3 of the 3 game set, and the Cubs went down again, 5-2. We were once again in the game, 3-2, until our bullpen came in and gave up 2 more runs. I have been hoping to be at a "milestone" game, you know, 500 HR, 2000 hits etc. Well this was kind of a milestone game. The Cubs lost their 10,000 game in the history of the franchise. Not exactly the type of milestone I was looking for, but still a milestone, I guess. They were the 3rd team in MLB history to reach this mark. The Braves and Phillies have both been there for a few years. By the way, the Cubs hit 10,000 wins back in 2008 so its not like all they do is lose! They are actually 2nd to the Giants in all time wins, although the Dodgers might catch them if they don't start playing better pretty quick.

Cubs 5/10

This was game 2 of the 3 game set. Jeff Samardzija was on the mound and didn't disappoint. Unfortunately, our offense did. Once again we couldn't push a run across and our bullpen gave up just enough to lose the game 2-0. I just got Gen Admission tix last night and moved around the park a bit. I started up top in RF, and was alone up there for the most part, until the rain hit and it became the best seats in the house. I moved away from there after play resumed, and cruised around between innings.
We will try again on Sunday, with Mickey.

Nationals 4/12

So here was the view from my seat. This was the RF corner and front row. Of course no home run's came our way tonite, although there were 3 hit in the game. The Braves won the game 6-3 and it was a pretty entertaining game. Rendon led off the game with a solo HR, and it was not what was too come. The Nats only managed to squeeze a couple more runs in in the late innings but couldn't overcome the 4 run 1st by the Bravos. BJ Upton hit a HR in the 1st, and got a mixed reaction from the crowd, he still has a lot to prove before he will get full support from the fans. Freddie however hit a shot to CF, because I was in right, and the crowd went absolutely crazy, including myself. I don't typically root for the Braves, but I really like Freddie Freeman. The fans booed Bryce Harper as usual, but the fans in my corner were really tough on Nate McClouth. They rode him for the whole game and I guess they think he was the reason they didn't win while he was in Atlanta. I never liked him as a player, but he was not the reason the Braves didn't win. 

It was a crazy busy afternoon as far as tailgating goes. The first Saturday of the season and the weather was awesome. 75, sunny, with a slight breeze. They were doing some serious partying out there today. I brought my cousin Mickey to the game, I told him ahead of time that it would be like that, but he didn't believe it until he saw it. I am curious what the tailgating will be like when the new park comes along, since there are gonna be a lot of bars and places to eat right by the park.