Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Nick Swisher and Wife Plan "Honeymoon" to Afghanistan

Yup, you read that right - they're doing it to visit troops over there. All the more reason to love the fun-loving right-fielder for the New York Yankees.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Columbus (GA) Yankees featured in ESPN's Uni-Watch for Confederate Flags

ESPN runs a column called Uni Watch that looks at some interesting and notable uniforms throughout the decades of sports. This one I found to be particularly interesting as it details how the Columbus, GA Yankees, a AA affiliate of the New York Yankees from 1964-1966 and were often known as the Columbus Confederate Yankees (ironic, I know), wore a Confederate "Stars and Bars" Flag on their sleeves - including their black players. (You can see Yankee Roy White in the uniform, above.) Today, I think many people would be aghast at that, but Uni Watch did some thorough investigating as to the background of the patch and whether it was sinister racism at play, a marketing ploy, or an afterthought that is a bigger deal nowadays. You can read Paul Lukas' article here.

Indians Band Together to Help One of Their Own

A great story about how the Indians banded together to chip in $35,000 to rent a private jet so that journeyman infielder Jack Hannahan could rush back to Cleveland to see his wife give birth to their (very) premature baby. Read the story here, it's a good one of all you baseball cynics out there.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Mississippi Braves Surprise

A Major in the Army came back from 9 months in Afghanistan and surprised his wife by posing as the catcher for her ceremonial first pitch. Watch it on CNN here. As you may recall, we featured the Mississippi Braves in a post not too long ago.


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Charlie Manuel, one of Baseball's Good Guys

Read this article about a story that is just being told now, though it occurred back in 2008 when the Philadelphia Phillies won the NLCS. In short, Charlie Manuel, the manager of the Phillies gave a sick and dying fan a nice phone call after winning the series.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Frederick Keys (Mandi)

June 2011 - I went to a game with my parents in Frederick, MD.  It was a single A team.  I have been going to these games since I was two years old.  My mom's old company used to have season club box seats.  They were really nice. From what I can remember, food of all kinds, the mascot (Keyote) would come visit (as a child, that was the best thing in the world), and really comfortable seats.  I guess I saw the stadium differently when I was a younger.  Since being able to travel and see many more stadiums (thanks to Dan!), I felt like this one was really lacking a lot. 

One of the traditions at the Key's games is to shake your keys anytime bases are loaded, someone hit a home run, or during the seventh inning stretch.  They have a coyote as the mascot who they call "Keyote."  The Keys won the night we went 4-1.  The Keys are the minor league team for the Baltimore Orioles (which is why I am wearing the Oriole shirt in my picture).  They play at a stadium called the Harry Grove Stadium.    Okay, I am just going to go into the ratings.  I can explain a lot there without being repetitive. 

Ratings:

Food:  3/10:  The only food options available were hot dogs, popcorn, nachos, pretzels, and peanuts.  They did not have anything unique.  No cracker jacks! 

Crowd:  8/10:  The stadium was pretty packed and the people were very friendly.  We made friends with the people next to us and behind us.  The person behind us actually sang the national anthem.  Although when you go anywhere with my mom, you will make friends. 

Cleanliness: 4/10:  I believe that the overall stadium was pretty clean.  Our seats were wiped down for us before we were seated and the area was clean.  The bathrooms on the other hand were pretty gross.  There was barely any toilet paper, and no soap! 

Transportation to Stadium:  5/10:  There is usually always traffic on the way to the stadium because you have to get on one of the main highways.  It always has traffic because everyone is always headed to the mountains.  A Saturday or Sunday game is probably better but we went on a Friday when everyone is headed out.  The stadium is pretty out in the middle of nowhere as is Frederick.  Very farm country, so driving is about your only option.  There are no buses or trains or anything like that around unless you go with a bus group. 

Stadium Appearance: 4/10:  The stadium is a very old one.  All the walls are billboards or advertisements.  The field looked very well kept.  The concession area was very small and crowded.  You could easily feel crammed.  I don't think it was the prettiest of stadiums but again, it is very old.  Also, unless you have close seats, you will be sitting on the bleachers. 

Cost:  10/10:  The cost was very reasonable.  My mom was able to get us tickets in the front row behind home plate for $11 a person.  Nothing is overpriced in seating here.  The cheapest is Youth or Military at $5 to reserved seating at $11 a person.   

Entertainment: 1/10 There was none.  There may have been a trivial question or two on the big screen but no on field games or anything to keep you interested.  They do have a kids area where kids can go play in bouncees, and merry-go-rounds.  But of course to ride it, you have to pay.  I am not sure the price. I didn't go over there.  There were also fireworks on a Friday night.  We saw them, and they were pretty lame.  There was one firework, and then 4 minutes later, another one would go up.  Pretty boring to watch. 

Overall:  4/10:  It was a nice friendly environment to go to, but I wouldn't put it anywhere near any of the other ones we have been too.  It wasn't the cleanest and the most fun.  The team played very well though and have a lot of good players. 



Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Y! Sports' Tim Brown on Best Baseball Towns

He largely rates them based on their current fan environment, but takes location and stadium into account as well. Quick little video for those interested. Link here.