SB Nation User Blog: royhobbs

Running in the 2009 Las Vegas Santa Run

royhobbs — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:52:45 -0000

Ever since I found out that Uncommon Sportsman covered obscure and weird events like Man v. Food challenges, and the Krispy Kreme Challenge, I've always made sure to check the site whenever there's something obscure and weird, especially if I was personally a participant in it myself, since I'm all about the obscure and weird. So this past weekend, I was out in Las Vegas, and this morning, I'm back in Atlanta, but my body's still on PST, and I have the rest of the day off, and I'm curious, so I click onto Uncommon Sportsman, to see if there was any mention of the Annual Las Vegas Santa Run that I took part in. Well now.

Not only was there no mention of the wonderful charity event, it turns out that I'd been anointed the dubious honor of being an author on this fine website, so what better way to make my authorial debut on Uncommon Sportsman than sharing the story of my experience out in Las Vegas, running in the cold desert, with 8,000 other people dressed like Santa Claus?

More story, photos, and a rich and famous celebrity name drop after the jump.

First and foremost - the Las Vegas Santa Run is an event held by Opportunity Village, a non-profit organization that specializes in serving those with intellectual disabilities, and gives them schooling, jobs, and social recreation services, to integrate them better into the community. I can't say how many years this has been running since this was my first time doing so, but as much fun as it was for me as a participant, it's not for me to ignore the purpose of the event in the first place.

So the irony is, I go to Las Vegas so often, that the novelty is gone for me, overall. I've lost thousands of dollars playing blackjack, craps and roulette, and I'm batting a clean .000 when it comes to winning a sports bet. Seriously, I bet that my Atlanta Braves could beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, only to watch as the Braves not only lose, but that was Randy Johnson's perfect game. Just two years ago, I put money on the Tampa Bay Rays to beat the Boston Red Sox, only for the Sox to come back from a 7-0 deficit to win it in the 9th. Heck, this past weekend, I put $20 on the Washington Redskins to pull the upset of the season and beat the New Orleans Saints, and watched some of the most idiotic turnovers and an overtime field goal rip a $314.80 pot out of my greedy gambling hands.

I've seen comedy shows, and I've seen Cirque du Soleil several times over. Bottom line is, I'm a little over Vegas these days.

However, a good novelty event, like say, running in a 5K dressed as Santa Claus, certainly piques my attention. My surrogate brother made the suggestion to me that we run in this event, and before I knew it, I was on a plane and off to Las Vegas, completely unenthusiastic about the gambling and the likely loss of more money, but very optimistic about participating in LV Santa Run.

And since I can't do anything normal these days, I thought it would be a novel idea to differentiate myself from 8,000 other Santa Clauses, and bring one of my replica wrestling championship belts. And since I wasn't going to be alone for this particular run, my brother and I saw it fit to each bring our respective TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP belts.

Here's the funny thing - I pull out a wrestling belt in any other city in the country, and it's a joke that people get. Ha ha, wrestling is lame, wrestling is fake, cool belt, lame belt, yadda, yadda. However, do this in Las Vegas, where real pro-wrestlers, boxers, and/or mixed martial artists are known to wander around in the streets, and suddenly, people legitimately think that my brother and I are real pro-wrestlers. Whereas I thought it was going to be fun and dandy the whole time with the belts, this sudden believability kind of derailed the entertainment. Just a little bit anyway

Even in city of sin, Albert Pujols cannot be avoided. Funny thing is, given the organization's goals, similar to his own foundation's goals, it would make some sense if the real Albert Pujols showed up to this event one of these years.

Here's a glimpse of the second bend of the route, and the seemingly endless line of runners dressed as Santa Claus, running around the parking lot of Town Center, which is located just south of the Strip, right beneath Mandalay Bay.

Now I consider myself somewhat of a decent runner for someone who does it for fun mostly, and I'm good for about an 8:20 mile at marathon pace, but all throughout the entire run, I was getting burned by these genetically superior super-parents who were effortlessly breezing past me, and to rub salt into the wounds, all while pushing strollers of their future-bound superior-genetic children in them. In the end, I finished the 5K in 25:08, which was fine by me, considering the circumstances of the cluttered starting point, and the constant fighting with the fake beard, and trying not to inhale a pound of white fuzz the entire run.

With the run completed, I loitered around the finish area, to simply cool down and enjoy the sights of hundreds of other enthusiastic runners, and seeing what other creative means aside from wrestling belts that others came up with. Like creepy elf-like creatures.

Or dressing up their Greyhounds, and parading them down amidst the runners.

And then we had what I'm guessing is one of the local Las Vegas rollerderby teams representing, or some chicks who were really inspired by that flick "Whip It"

And where you have charitable events, you're bound to have cougars. Cougars in Christmas-themed pajamas, handing out bottles of water to runners, no less.

And ditching the traditional elf-like hats that everyone wears, some opted for the more conventional pimp hats instead.

And about 19 minutes later, my brother crossed the finish line, and then we proceeded to get back to the regularly scheduled program of a typical dude Las Vegas trip, where I lost a lot of money, got a little inebriated and lost more money while trying to shamelessly flirt with a blackjack dealer.

Oh yeah, we also got to meet ROBIN LEACH, which was kind of cool. Since I don't know if anyone's going to get that, since it seems like assuming that everyone will, will only result in people who were born past 1992 chime in and say "who?," this smooth cat with the silver voice was the host of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

As a whole, the Las Vegas Santa Run was a blast, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. And I'd encourage everyone else to join in in future years, since I know for a fact many of my fellow authors and contributors are all in like Southern California to begin with anyway.

Champagne wishes and caviar dreams, everyone.

Brian McCann Charity Softball Game; Andruw Jones wants his job back

royhobbs — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:48:45 -0000

There's a reason why I call Brian McCann "Baby Jesus." Aside from the adorable chubby cheeks and the lovability towards our All-Star catcher, he's simply a phenomenal baseball player. Without question the most talented catcher in the National League, and arguably one of the best in all of baseball. But aside from his incredible skills and talents on the field, we should all know and respect that Brian McCann is a human being with a heart of gold and a person of great charity.

No, I'm not talking about the time McCann gave one of his spare 60" plasma televisions to Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen, but much, much better.

Brian McCann, along with his wife Ashley are spokespersons for the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research, which is a non-profit organization for, you guessed it, childhood cancer research. And in order to raise money, Heap put together a good ol' fashioned "celebrity" softball exhibition game for his charity.

Now the reason I put celebrity in quotations just a moment ago is because after the experience, there really weren't many celebrities present. Some people don't even count professional athletes as celebrities. It was kind of a stretch, overall, but present were a handful of professional baseball players, a few retired Atlanta sports figures, Kip Pardue (from one of my all-time favorite movies, Rules of Attraction), but then the rest of the people there were pretty much all Atlanta radio deejays and other Clear Channel employees, a whole lot of Delta employees, and a handful of folks from some brewery or something. Not really "celebrity," but it was for a good cause, but I thought I'd point that out, because I'm a snarky internet basement blogger, here.

Regretfully, I had a pretty lousy day at my job, and I guess looking back on it, it might've had something to do with the fact that it was Friday the 13th, and I'll admit that the drain on my day did effect my mood going into this shindig, so if I sound especially cynical tonight, I dismissively apologize in advance, because I won't want to write this later, because I'm still wrapped up in trying to crank out 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month.

As expected, the two biggest draws of the event was the presence of event organizer, Brian McCann himself, as well as teammate, all-star third baseman, Chipper Jones, rocking the awesome hunter-orange knit cap, and the extra-urban sweat pants. But there would be some surprise appearances from several other players that went unmentioned:

Such as Kelly Johnson, who looks like he's doing his best impression of Dita, the character Mike Myers portrayed on Saturday Night Live's "Sprockets" skits

And of course, you can't have a charitable event that warms your heart without Mr. Charity himself, Tim Hudson

But the biggest surprise was the appearance of former Brave, Andruw Jones. Since I'm one of the few people that actually still listens to 99x, I found out that Andruw was going to be at this thing the day prior, but it was still a surprise to actually see him again. I wonder if he still has his home in Alpharetta with his collection of European supercars that are all silver, still?

Here are a bunch of children hanging over the dugout, acting way more poorly behaved than the two children pictured way above. I swear, it must be the weather or something, or the fact that it's a college campus that doesn't (legally) sell alcohol, but the sheer number of kids present at this event was borderline retardation. But 90% of the time, I know better than to blame the kids as much it should be the fault of the weak and spineless parents who let their brats go running around and making the atmosphere less than preferable for other people.

Anyway, one of the marquee events was that there was going to be a mini-home run derby with several player participants. First up was Kelly Johnson. It was funny, given all the constant debates here, and the 2B controversy experienced over the last season, the MC (who btw was that fat imbecile, Jeff Dauler of the Pujols-awful Bert Show) said "starting second baseman," and my first thought was "whoa, Martin Prado is here too?"

Kelly launched either three homers or one and then the money ball, and finished with a score of 3.

Here's Andruw taking his cuts, and he proved that he could at least hit some slow-pitched softballs a good distance. I was hoping for, more than anything, to see a mighty Andruw-whiff, and see him screw his left leg into the fake turf pad. It's nothing personal, I still like Andruw as a guy, but I was always amused whenever he struck out so dramatically. He finished with a score of 6.

Huddy taking some cuts. I can't remember if he hit only one homer (to the power alley), or if he managed to hit the moneyball as well. I can't quite recall.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, but the biggest surprise for me was that our minor-league hulk, Cody Johnson also appeared at this event. Now fans like us all know who he is, and are not the least bit surprised when he was smashing some absolute moon shots out of Georgia Tech's Chandler Stadium, but if people present didn't know who he was previously, they've all got a new name to pretend like they're savvy about baseball with their co-workers now.

Seriously, here's a grainy shot of the outfielders all running to the wall and going "o shit" as the ball futility soared out of the park, and probably into the frat houses' yards across the street on the other side of the wall. Maybe even smashed some windshields of any idiots who actually thought it was a good idea to park there. In the end, CoJo finished with a 6 as well, tying Andruw.

They went to a three-swing tie breaker, and Cody was unable to hit one more, while Andruw pulled the first pitch he saw, and the former Brave won the home run derby.

As for the game itself, I took some photos, but most of them came out looking like crap, so I won't bother posting them, but here are a couple of shots to share:

This is Mrs. Chipper. It's like you see her, and notice that she's carrying a hunting bag, and everything makes sense.

Huddy came up to bat only once, and he laced a single off of Brian McCann, who was pitching for his team. He had the biggest grin on his face after safely reaching first. It looked like he would've attempted to steal, but Kelly Johnson came up and homered him in shortly afterward instead.

And there were a lot of homers. At least by anyone who plays baseball. Kelly homered, McCann homered, Cody homered, and Andruw homered . . . twice. The only ones who didn't homer were Chipper and Huddy, and for the matter, each only batted once. Chipper must've injured himself or something, and Huddy saw no point as soon as it was someone else pitching.

The brunette is Mrs. Heap, and what looked like a case of sharing some first-base coaching duties turned out to be a girls' club ploy, as the two of them chatted up whomever was playing first base at the time, and the next thing they know, radio personality Jenn Hobby is marching down to first base with nobody covering it.

And this is Jenn Hobby. She might also be on the dreaded Bert Show, but she's still a cute little thing that I certainly don't mind looking at.

But yeah, the game. This crappy shot is still probably my favorite one, because it's something that nobody will probably ever see in the history of human kind ever again. Pitching, Kip Pardue. At that very moment, playing first base, Cody Johnson. I promise you, none of you will ever see such a tandem ever again. Ever. Again.

lol Willie Harris.

And a surprise pinch-hit appearance by Ron Gant. It was a crucial at-bat too, with runners on, with Mr. Muscles to break the game open, but instead, Gant pops out in this blur, to third, to end the inning. His team (McCann's), ends up breaking the game open later on instead.

Seriously, it was a little lopsided. The red team had Chipper and Huddy who both took one at-bat each, but Heap's team (blue) had him, Kelly, Cody, Andruw, and Kip Pardue, and each were getting multiple at-bats.

Okay, this is something I have to get off of my chest. And I'm sorry, in the apologetic way that I don't really mean it, if the guy pictured here is a member here, but you're about to be made into an example.

Now I like stats, sports trivia, and I can be a veritable wealth of pointless and useless sports information. I know Andruw always wanted to play shortstop, I know that Chipper came up as a shortstop, and I know that Huddy played in the outfield at Auburn. I also know that Heap played second base when he was really young, and that Kevin Nash played basketball at Michigan State before turning to professional wrestling, Sam Bowie was the guy drafted before Jordan, and that Allen Iverson was the first scrambling quarterback to come out of Newport News before the Vick brothers.

But as Pujols as my witness, I do not like, or ever like, when people like Napoleon Dynamite here feel the need to interject themselves into my whimsical conversations at the ballpark to tell me shit I already know. The smartest-guy-in-the-room routine works great on the internet, but not so much in the real world.

To add on to this little rant, I really do appreciate stats, analysis, and the great educational debates that are had here, or any discussion forum on the internet. I've learned more about baseball stats and analysis than I'd ever though I'd care about throughout the last few years, and it's great. But while at the ballpark, it's stuff I just don't really care to hear about. Something about being present in person that strips the game down to something that can be enjoyed at such a base level, instead of through a wealth of numbers.

I had a guy tell me about how Joe Mauer was on the verge of winning the "sabermetric triple crown," which in short, is the fact that in 2009, Joe Mauer's "slash" stats (avg/obp/slg) were higher in all three categories than anyone else in baseball. I looked at him for a few seconds, and then turned back around to watch baseball. And then in between innings, when he wasn't looking, I sent a text message to a friend to tell them how lame it was to drop advanced statistical discussion with a complete stranger, regardless of if they could follow it or not. There's just something about talking about sabermetrics and advanced stats, that just isn't my cup of tea, in person. On the internet, it's fine, because here, we're all nerds, so it's okay to nerd it all up here. But not so much outside the basement, because you just kind of end up looking . . . well, nerdy.

/end rant

Anyway, why did I entitle this "Andruw Jones wants his job back?" Because he was playing like Frank Wren was in attendance, or that he was auditioning for a job or something.

He went and won the home run derby.
In Chipper's only at-bat, Chipper popped it up to left field, and since it's co-ed slow-pitch softball, there's usually a weaker fielder in the corners, but Chipper being Chipper, the cerebral thinking-man's hitter, goes for the weak spot, but didn't account for Andruw Jones to do his best impression of Jose Reyes, and run all the way into the left field from almost second base, and cleanly record the put-out.
Andruw homered twice

Not impressed? Well, they happened to be from both sides of the plate. Apparently, Andruw thought maybe some switch-hitting could get him back in favor.

Anyway, because Andruw Jones stole the show, Heap's team won something like 11-7. The event overall was a little mediocre, but it was cool to hang out with Lizziebeth and 10-4 for a little bit. Obviously, since gondeee didn't make any effort to rally the troops, nobody really knew anyone, but I did bump into Lauren T. on the way out.

Too many kids, not enough celebrity, no booze, overall ehh.

And speaking of gondeee, I got home, where I had left my cell phone, and this is a text message I received:

"I'm bailing on the game, I need to get drunk instead."

lol'd. At least he can still feel good knowing that his $10 admission went to a good cause, as did all of us who attended, and that's why we did it. We love Brian McCann, and want to support his good cause.

Garret Anderson is a Type B despite being one of the least valuable players in the Major Leagues...

royhobbs — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:12:57 -0000

Garret Anderson is a Type B despite being one of the least valuable players in the Major Leagues last year."

Fun With The Elias Rankings - Lookout Landing

Satirical post about the flaws of the Elias Rankings, that surprisingly work to the favor of the Braves and their potential departing free agents. Also for more interesting reading, the Deadspin article on the same topic.

Braves 2009 Season in Review: Javier Vázquez

royhobbs — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:10:52 -0000

Javier Vazquez wasn't just the best pitcher on the Braves, but he was one of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball, in 2009.

View full size photo »

Quick, name the only starting pitcher in the NL East who never once pitched under five innings per start, over 30+ starts and 200+ innings, in 2009?

Overall, Javier Vazquez is one of five total pitchers in all of Major League Baseball (Grienke, Haren, Shields, Wainwright) to achieve this feat. Regardless of the wins and losses, there's something to be said about a pitcher who comes out consistently, does his job, and does it well. Really well.

I'm going to go out on a short limb here, and declare Javier Vazquez the Ace of the already outstanding Braves pitching staff. Now the definition of what an ace is, is often under debate, but in general, most people can agree on the following criteria:

Starts a lot of games
Wins a lot of games
Eats a lot of innings
Good ERA
Stops the bleeding
Doesn't walk a lot of guys
Strikeouts preferable

All this considered, Javier Vazquez accomplished the following:

32 starts is second on the team, behind the 34 starts made by both Derek Lowe and Jair Jurrjens.
15 wins is tied with Derek Lowe for most wins on the team.
His 219.2 innings pitched is the best on the Braves, best in the entire NL East, 4th best in the National League, and 11th best in all of baseball.
Vazquez's stellar 2.89 ERA is second, behind Jair Jurrjens's even more stingy 2.60 ERA.
Javier Vazquez made 17 starts in 2009, following a Braves loss. The Braves went 12-5 in those games, and 8-0 in their last eight Javy starts following a loss.
44 walks makes Javier Vazquez the most efficient pitcher on the staff; he walked fewer than even Tommy Hanson in 90 more innings and 11 more starts. Only four other pitchers in the 200-innings-pitched club, ML-wide walked fewer guys than Vazquez did. His 1.81 walks-per-nine is third best in all of baseball.
238 strikeouts makes Javy the best punch-out artist on the team, as well as the NL East, second best in all of the National League, and fourth best in all of baseball. He also sported a fancy 9.77 strikeouts-per-nine, which was third best in the National League, and fifth overall in the Majors.
Javier Vazquez pitched three complete games this season alone, which is as many as the Braves had in 2007 and 2008 combined. Yes, one of them was an eight-inning complete game loss, but so was Jorge Campillo's in 2008.
And just to throw this out there, Javy led the majors with 20 sacrifice bunts.

So the bottom line is that Javier Vazquez wasn't just the best pitcher on the Braves in 2009, but he was most certainly one of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball. The National League Cy Young will in all likelihood go to Tim Lincecum again, or maybe even Adam Wainwright, or Chris Carpenter, but I'll be grossly disappointed if Javy doesn't receive some Cy Young consideration himself. In the three Triple Crown categories that the BBWAA weighs heavily, when making their choices, Javier Vazquez is T-4th in wins, 6th in ERA, and 2nd in strikeouts.

I'm sure you're all aware of the negative stigma attached to Javy, about being not being able to hold up under the pressure of a critical game, and he certainly didn't help his cause with his final start of 2009, and I know baseball is no exception to the "what have you done for me lately" mentality that many sports fans harbor, and that pitchers are only as good as their last performance, but what a lot of people need to realize is that without Javier Vazquez, the Braves might never have been in a situation where there were critical games to be played. The four starts prior to his final, Javy pitched brilliantly, tossing 32 masterful innings, notching both his complete game victories, and allowing a paltry three earned runs. In a stretch where the Braves needed every victory to remain alive in the playoff hunt, who says Javier Vazquez couldn't handle pressure?

Honestly, there's not a whole lot much to ask for from Javier Vazquez, going into 2010. He's going to make a lot of starts, strike out a lot of guys, and eat a lot of innings - stuff we all knew he was capable in 2009 before he even threw a pitch with the Braves. Win more games? Take that request up with the offense, whom in Javy's ten losses, contributed a meager average of 1.3 runs of support in his losing starts.

Maybe, we could ask for him to sign some sort of extention to stay in Atlanta? As it stands right now, he's entering the final year of a three-year deal that sees him making $11,500,000 in 2010, which is an incredibly fair cost for a pitcher of Javy's caliber. Obviously, this much bang for the buck has not gone unnoticed by the baseball world, as Vazquez has been the topic of many a fantasy trade, that sees the Braves dealing their current ace pitcher, due to the luxury surplus of quality starting pitching in their current staff, for a potential package of prospects and/or the mythical "big bat" that will assist the Braves back into the glory days. All I'm saying is that I'd prefer to keep Vazquez through 2010, and potentially beyond, but I wouldn't be the least bit opposed to keep my ears peeled and entertain some offers to hear what's up.

Would it be possible to sign Javy to some sort of extension? Possibly. He has made statements expressing desire to stay in Atlanta, and many bring up the idea that he is opposed to going out to the west coast again, thus limiting the number of teams he could go to down a bit. But one thing to think about is how much of the Braves' money do you want tied up in starting pitching alone? Say the Braves extend Vazquez, but aren't capable of moving any of their starting pitchers - Derek Lowe is on the books for three more years, Kenshin Kawakami for two more, and if the supposed rumors come true, Tim Hudson for three. In 2011, Jair Jurrjens is eligible for arbitration. It goes without saying that in order to extend Vazquez, someone will have to be moved in order to have a chance of keeping the finances under somewhat control. Unless Liberty Media decides to actually open up the books a bit, which I'm sure is not going to happen.

So for better or worse, we're just going to have to assume that Javier Vazquez is going to be suiting up for the Braves come the start of the 2010 season. I expect more of the same from 2009, but there also stands the possibility that the "honeymoon period" of moving back to the NL after a long tenure in the AL helped his numbers, which I don't necessarily agree with fully, because he should have gotten worse as the year progressed, not better, like Javy's did. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing more Javier Vazquez in 2010, and I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he might just be the Opening Day starter, for the Atlanta Braves.

A 2009 Season, Up Close and Personal

royhobbs — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:07:52 -0000

So it's been quite a while since I made any sort of an extravagant-effort of a fanpost, and I'm beginning to feel like if I don't do something soon, all these thoughts and words will expire, and be too late to put into writing. Anyway, life has been a little chaotic in royhobbs-land the last few months since I decided to quit my job at one point, did some travel, saw some friends, saw some family, traveled some more, and eventually realized that I'd rather be paid for doing something as opposed to not, and got back onto the freelance wire.

But in between all of the events in my life, I saw it fit to always leave a little bit of room in my schedule for baseball. And when the dust settled, I had been to a whole lot of games, met several interesting people along the way, saw many parks, old and new, and found some stories to tell. I realized that the 2009 season was certainly one for the books.

This will also be probably the largest post I put up for the calendar year.

In total, I went to 49 baseball games this season. At risk of sounding lamer than usual, but that's a career-high for me. This includes all games at Turner Field, and other Major and Minor League ballparks. I didn't think I'd end up at so many games this season, but when you have a period of time in the summer where there's no job to go to, all of a sudden, it's really easy to go the park without any worries of needing to be anywhere the next morning.

But anyway, I'd like to share some experiences at the ballpark, both home, and away. I know that I'm not the only one with pictures and/or stories to share about their 2009 season, and I highly encourage others *cougheskimo* to do such, if you're so willing. Apologies in advance if some of these pictures or words seem like you've seen/read them before; high chance that many are repeats, but I'm all about compacting things into a neat-little package. I can't keep track of everything I've ever posted, so a little bit of re-run isn't going to hurt, I hope.

Anyway, my 2009 season started just a little bit sooner than most others; back in March, I made my way to Toronto, Ontario up in Canada, since I had some friends up there who had managed to snag some tickets for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Seeing as how the event is now going to only be held every four years, I figured, it was a great opportunity to see a rare-r event.

The game I went to was Team USA vs. Team Canada. Obviously, living in the United States, I have a great deal of interest in the US team, and furthermore our very own Chipper Jones and Brian McCann were the respective starting designated hitter and catcher for the Americans, and I had every intention to cheer for their success.

Being the first game of the baseball year for me, it was hard to believe the electricity in the air of the packed Rogers Centre. Obviously this was more than just a baseball game to all Canadian citizens, since it was against the United States, and I'll admit that it was a little intimidating being around a whole lot of people that wanted to see nothing more than US failure. But I maintained my allegiance, and cheered for every US hit, and every putout they notched, even if it drew hostile glares and glances from all around. The best part of the experience was when Brian McCann blasted a home run, and I was the loud and boisterous American in a Braves hat and jersey going bonkers among a silenced Canadian crowd.

The US prevailed in the end of this game, no thanks to atrocious bullpen contributions, but when Canada was relying on Pete Orr to pull through with the game-winner, even I didn't hold my breath too long in the bottom of the 9th.

Finally, April rolled around, and it was time for real baseball to begin. After staving off the defending world champion Phillies in Philadelphia by taking 2/3, the Braves returned home for the much anticipated home-opening weekend. I had friends in from Washington, as the Turner Field once again opened their gates for the 2009 season with the Braves taking on the Washington Nationals.

This surely was a sign of things to come, as the home opener was met by Mother Nature, who decided to christen the start of season with a miserable storm, and delay the game for about 90 minutes. But my friends and I did not budge, as we waited out the entire storm, and play eventually resumed, with a battle of bullpens, and the Braves taking the opener in extra innings.

I always get a kick out of early-season statistics. Here's Peter Moylan rocking his ERA of 135.00, after previously sporting the Infinite ERA just one out ago.

The Braves successfully started their homestand, by sweeping the Nationals. The game on Sunday got out of hand enough for me to divert my attention from the play on the field, to this drunk guy in the neighboring section who was blitzed drunk. To the point where all his friends were stealing his sunglasses, and random strangers were coming up to take pictures of him. And naturally, since I see it as an interesting story to tell myself, I'm right there documenting it myself.

A major thing that occurred in the Braves organization in 2009, was the move of the AAA-affiliates from Richmond, Virginia, to Lawrenceville, Georgia, and the inaugural season of the Gwinnett Braves, and their new ballpark. I found this exciting enough to where I honestly looked forward to this event more than the opener at Turner Field. I was the guy on my laptop with a clock, waiting for the minutes to tick down so I could get early-sale tickets; for a Minor League game, instead of the big Braves.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one excited for the Gwinnett Braves, since I got so stuck in pre-game traffic, that I missed the first 2.5 innings of the opener, and the Norfolk Tides were already up at that point. The promising G-Braves made things interesting and brought the game within striking distance, until an old friend in Manny Acosta gave up a grand slam in late innings that prompted me to leave the opener, before the opener's traffic would eat me alive later that night. So much for a successful opening, as the G-Braves were swept out of their inaugural home series.

As some of you may or may not know, each year, I try to hit up a few parks in other cities, and one thing I like to do is wander on over to the SBN sites of the respective team fanbases of the parks that I intend on going to. It didn't take long for me to set my sites on a weekend series out in Cincinnati, with the Braves having a three game set. I asked the folks over at the Reds' Red Reporter, for some advice of what I should make the most of my day with.

I only went to Cincy for the Sunday day game, where I was pleased to see that the Braves had already taken the first two games, and I would be there for the potential sweep. I actually met up with gondeee out in Cincy, and we hung out for an afternoon, wandered over to Kentucky, ate some interesting food, and then watch the Reds go to town on Kenshin Kawakami, and the offense go stagnant, a reoccurring theme throughout the season. The only Braves to really contribute offensively were some backup players, in David Ross and Brandon Jones. Shown above-right is a scene that I've seen occasionally on television, but never in person; apparently, a wild bat went flying into the stands, and someone was given a rude awakening. And the shot was taken from where I was sitting, which wasn't all that far away from the incident. In the end, I had the unfortunate jinx of bearing witness to the only loss in the series, and I came back to Atlanta a little disappointed, but overall pleased with the city of Cincinnati, and my experience there. (Read my recap of Cincinnati over at Red Reporter)

One thing I do not discriminate towards is who's playing. If the idea is presented to where it's convenient for me, I'm not obligated to make all my road trips solely Atlanta Braves baseball.

That being said, I had a friend out in Philadelphia who had just moved into a "nice" place, and wanted myself and some other friends to come over, as some what of a housewarming. I put "nice" in quotations, because I don't really believe there's anything nice about Philadelphia. However, contrary to that belief, I must say that his place was kind of nice, and there was this candy store nearby that had this smoking hot cougar and equally hot daughter working there, much to the contribution to many a healthy male's fantasy.

But anyway, that weekend, just so happened to be a much-anticipated grudge match between the Phillies and the visiting New York Mets. Other acquaintances out in Philadelphia invited me out, knowing how much of a baseball fan I was, and completely regardless of our allegiances. So in the center-field standing-room only, a Braves fan, Mets fan, and several thousands of Phillies fans are watching Oliver Perez and Jamie Moyer match each other inning for inning, run for run. Fights were literally breaking out at least once an inning, and despite the fact that the Braves weren't even there, I had one guy try and pick a fight with me for wearing a Braves hat at Citizens Bank Park, but back down when none of his crew was really paying attention.

The game was actually very exciting and entertaining, and Charlie Manuel emptied his bench in the 10th, and the Phillies won on my favorite way to see a game end - a walk-off walk.

I'm going to go out on a limb, and say if not my favorite Braves game all year, this is definitely up there. Toronto Blue Jays visiting Atlanta, with Kenshin Kawakami taking on Roy Halladay. The definite surprise of the night was Kawakami matching Halladay inning-for-inning of masterful, scoreless baseball. Kawakami up to this point had been pretty unimpressive, and many Braves fans, here and many places else were beginning to turn on him, but he certainly brought some positive attention back to himself with this kind of performance.

It was such a great game to be at. After both starters were lifted after hotly-contested scoreless game, in the bottom of the 8th, the Braves went right to work. Matt Diaz with the leadoff double, Yunel Escobar advances him on a groundout, and then Casey Kotchman brings him home on the sac-fly. After an exciting 9th, the Braves win a 1-0 decision. I find 1-0 games to be the most exciting, if you haven't guessed.

When the Braves made their first trip to the west coast, during a holiday weekend, I decided that it would be a good time to actually drive up and see the kids over at Low-A Rome. I had never been there prior; honestly, I hadn't really ever thought about going up to Rome until this season, and with the extra day off for holiday, I had no more excuse to not go.

Rome was everything that a single-A park should be; cozy, relaxed, and the players very accessible. One thing that stood out to me was the presence of cheerleaders; like real ones, and not the "don't call us cheerleaders" cheerleaders that so many Major League teams have. But as for the baseball itself, I couldn't possibly have picked a better game to watch. Zeke Spruill versus Casey Kelly and the Greenville Drive, two promising young arms, clashing.

Spruill went eight innings deep; whereas he gave up a lot of hits, many was due to the bad Rome defense, and most were just singles. Unfortunately for Rome, Kelly was a little better, giving up only one hit in six innings, but being pulled due to a very strict pitch count. Rome lost, and I was beginning to feel superstitious with how every time I went to a MiLB Braves game, they lost.

Now unless you've been living under a rock throughout the 2009 season, a very important thing happened to the Atlanta Braves. Young pitching phenom, Tommy Hanson made his debut in early June. Called up from Gwinnett, and taking the place of future HOFer, Tom Glavine, in a messy break-up situation, but the future was declared now, and Hanson was brought up. Combined with "Brian McCann signature bat day," I had no reason why I shouldn't attend this monumental occasion.

At first impression, the hype was most certainly real as Hanson had a very easy first inning, but the rookie jitters certainly got to him later on, and he may have developed an early nemesis in Brewers left-fielder, Ryan Braun, as he was taken deep by him twice that day. Fortunately for Hanson and Braves fans everywhere, Chipper Jones decided to go nuts that day, and also go deep twice, and render himself a double shy of the cycle, and the Braves won.

Right around this time was the time in which I left my then-current job. After being on assignment for 15 months straight with no real vacation, I saw it fit that I definitely, needed some time to unwind, rest, and enjoy a summer alternatively. Therefore, when the idea was planted in my head that I should come to Myrtle Beach with some friends, I saw a perfect opportunity to go see the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

I love the Pelicans. Their identity is so campy, but their role in the hierarchy of the Braves organization is still so essential and important to its players. My knowledge of the minor leagues is still very elementary compared to a lot of TCers, but I'm also not blind nor deaf. I had my eyes peeled for guys like Freddie Freeman (above), Cody Johnson, and the crown jewel, Jason Heyward. Heyward was mysteriously nowhere to be seen, Johnson was on a scheduled day-off, but I did get to see Freeman in action.

But alas, it was not meant to be. In the bottom of the 4th inning, after the visiting Kinston Indians had taken the 1-0 lead, the skies had opened up something fierce, and a mighty rain fell from the heavens and pelted Coastal Field, as well as all of Myrtle Beach. I waited for almost an entire hour, but play was eventually suspended. With a 1-0, I count that as a loss in my book, regardless of the rules. Given the abysmal record of the Pelicans that year, even if they made it up, there was still a 70%+ chance that they probably lost.

After the debacle at the Beach, I didn't waste any more time. With Interleague in full swing, the Braves had a date with the AL East this season, including an away series out in Baltimore. To those of you who don't know, I'm originally from the Northern Virginia area, so I have this ingrained hatred of the state of Maryland, in a similar vein that SEC fanatics hate opposing state's schools. So I saw this as a great opportunity to see the Braves hopefully march into Baltimore, and dominate the Orioles.

Best part about it was, that I wasn't the only one familiar with Baltimore. For reasons I can't quite figure out to this day, there's a notable concentration of Braves fans in Virginia, and it was declared that Baltimore would be the unofficial meeting ground for an unofficial small conglomeration of TCers. Like unwanted visitors we gathered in the outfield pavilion of beautiful Camden Yards, and made our presence known. For the second time this season, my Braves away-game was being pitched by none other than the Jeckyll and Hyde known as Kenshin Kawakami, and much to the frustration of us present, he pitched himself into and out of some hairy situations.

And speaking of hairy, none of us could figure out this guy's deal. CBtits said it best, when he compared him to "Shipwreck from GI Joe, the gay sailor from the Village People, and a leopard." And he had a strange fondness for ducktits (above), and wouldn't stop talking about how astonished he was that he was enjoying the company of a bunch of Braves fans as opposed to his fellow O's fans.

At one point, we actually had a glimmer of hope that the Braves could pull off a win with all of us present. After some two-out magic, the Braves coaxed out a 4-2 lead, but a bullpen implosion of the worst kind led to the Braves' demise that evening. ducktits didn't leave Camden Yards on his own two feet, and I had to suffer the indignity of Orioles fans taunting me after watching my team lose in a cesspool like Baltimore. But honestly, it seems only fitting that the Braves lose this game with all of us present. It's like karma paying back in Canadian dollars for a violation we made using Euros. I don't really know what that is supposed to mean, but given the scenario, it kind of works.

All things considered, this was probably the most fun I've had, meeting with people, essentially met over the internet. And it was quite the memorable occasion, that I'm actually hoping we do next year, in like, maybe DC next time or something.

I don't exactly remember which game it was that this photo was taken, but looking back, it's one of the ones that amuses me a bit. Campy yes, but this season, there have been airplanes circling around Turner Field that fly advertisements; sometimes it's been GEICO and the googly-eyed stack of money, or Chic Fil-A, but a lot of the times, it's the Cheetah. And this photo makes it look like the Chic Fil-A statue is endorsing the Cheetah. BTW, the Cheetah is a gentleman's club.

A noteworthy event that occurred this season was the long-standing Coke bottle in the left field skyline pavilion was replaced. Call me a purist, or a traditionalist, but I was a big fan of the old bottle. Not visible in these small photos, but it was sequined with baseballs, bats, bases, catchers gear, and all sorts of baseball-related material. But Father Time was not nice to it (in only 12 years), and due to the nuisance of maintaining it, Turner Field saw it fit to simply get rid of it, and replace it with a "new and improved" (read: lower maintenance) Coke bottle that has an LED label around it that can generate messages or logos in high-definition. Hurrah, I suppose.

Anyway, it was only a matter of time before the travel bug began itching again. Not only am I willing to follow the Atlanta Braves on the road, the same courtesy applies to the minor leagues as well. I have several good friends in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, and I find myself visiting them anywhere from 5-7 times a year. Supposedly, my baseball fandom has rubbed off on them a little bit, and through some prodding, they warmed up to the idea of actually coming with me if I were to go see the Durham Bulls. And it just so happened to be convenient that I planned a trip to go see the Durham Bulls, when they were hosting the Gwinnett Braves.

At first, it seemed like it was a bad idea, as the Bulls jumped all over the G-Braves, as they were their own worst enemy, by sending Tony Armas, Jr. to the mound. But after Armas was lifted, the Durham offense stalled, and the G-Braves clawed their way back into the game. And of all people, much-criticized Kelly Johnson is the one who comes through with a go-ahead three-run blast, to which the G-Braves are able to hold on to. This would mark the first Braves affiliate to actually win a game while I was in attendance. Color me pleasantly surprised.

One thing I noticed about fans in Durham, is that when the opposing team is batting, the younger fans kind of make this ambient sound, like they do at Dook basketball games when the opposing team is shooting free throws. Much like in basketball, it didn't really seem to work against Gwinnett, and rather I could swear that they began hitting better with a little bit of antagonism.

I was feeling a little behind on my ultimate goal to eventually see all 30 MLB parks, so the way I saw it, I had to see at least one new MLB park while I was on my vacation. I combed through the schedules for a day game to make a day trip to, and as luck would turn out, Tampa Bay made themselves available to me. It kind of happened by accident, but I realized that I was going to be seeing the AAA Rays in the Durham Bulls, and then see the Major League squad the next day. As I did in Cincinnati, I had inquired with the locals over at DRaysBay.

I'll be honest - it turned out to be a rainy day in Tampa when I flew in and made my way over to Tropicana Field, so I was glad it was an indoor dome, but in the end, I wasn't the least bit impressed with the Trop. In fact, I was kind of a little disappointed. The experience was no doubt worth it, and there was certainly one interesting story to come out of it, but as for a baseball venue, the Trop is nowhere near the best. I couldn't have lucked out with a more impressive pitching matchup, as it was phenom David Price versus Roy Halladay, so that was nice, and in an ironic twist, this was the second time in the season in which I watched the Toronto Blue Jays get swept.

What is this interesting story you ask? Well, the Trop is a dome, meant to take the weather factor out of the equasion of a baseball game. And in the state of Florida, it's meant to help alleviate the summer rain showers that could ruin a lot of outdoor baseball. As I had mentioned, it was a rainy day in St. Petersburg, and I was certainly glad to be watching Price vs. Halladay indoors. But then a funny thing happened. There turned out to be a lot of thunder and more importantly, lightning, and a small section of the left field area suffered a tiny power outage. In other words, the rain still played a role in the game, and for lack of a better term, despite being indoors, I had to endure a rain delay. Indoors. (Read my recap of Durham/ the Trop over at DRaysBay)

Greg Maddux holds a special place in the hearts of all Braves fans, and any educated baseball fan, regardless of their allegiance can appreciate the type of player that Maddux was. It was a special night at Turner Field when it was declared that Maddux's #31 was to be retired, and his number enshrined on the skyline wall with greats as Hank Aaron, Eddie Matthews, Warren Spahn, Phil Niekro, Dale Murphy, and Jackie Robinson. And as cool and collected as Maddux always, always was on the mound, throughout his entire career, you've never seen a grown man squirm and look more uncomfortable being in the spotlight, as Maddux was that evening.

If I'm not mistaken, that four-game set with the Mets in which Maddux's number was retired garnered the highest attendance spike of the entire season. Which I'm quite glad to hear, considering the overall Turner Field attendance on the year was down significantly, but that people here in Atlanta legitimately cared more about seeing Maddux being honored, than any of the Red Sox or Yankees series. Oh yeah, this was also the homecoming for everyone's favorite former right-fielder, Jeff Francoeur, who was traded to the Mets for Ryan Church.

Sometime in August, I made this elaborate plan to undertake another baseball road trip. First, I was going to visit my family back up in Virginia, while making some small excursions down to Woodbridge to see the Potomac Nationals host my favorite campy minor-league squad in the Pelicans for two games, and then travel with a friend up to Pittsburgh to visit PNC Park and see the Pirates take on his Nationals. Well, the trip to PNC Park didn't happen because of the annual holy sabbatical diehard Steelers fans make to Pittsburgh for training camp that same weekend, and a improvised effort to make it out to Mississippi instead didn't happen because of too many fat people on a plane making it reach weight capacity before I could board, but I still managed to enjoy two baseball games between the P-Nats and Pelicans. Granted, it was two of the quietest games I'd been to in my entire life, but they were still enjoyable.

One name that seemingly was almost forgotten to many throughout the course of the promising 2009 campaign was Tim Hudson. With the outstanding starting pitching the Braves had enjoyed throughout the course of the year, it was a convenient problem that Huddy was on his way to returning to the big leagues in late August. Despite the fact that the big Braves were in town, I decided to make the drive out to Lawrenceville instead, where Huddy was making the last of his rehab starts before he was to come back to the team in Miami, the place where he injury first occurred. The selling point for me was the idea that it was supposed to be Tim Hudson versus Jake Peavy, whom at the time was doing his own rehabbing for the White Sox's AAA-affiliate, the Charlotte Knights. For reasons that weren't really explained, Peavy started a day later, but the thought of seeing two ace-caliber pitchers in a rehab start was very appealing.

But it was all good, as Hudson showed that he was definitely feeling good, and looked to be ready to come back. He worked six effective innings, and the Gwinnett offense took care of the rest, anchored by Brandon Jones, who had a multi-hit effort, including a grand slam.

The thought had occurred to me after my trip to the Beach, that I had just visited three of the four levels of the minor league affiliates of the Braves. I figured, why not go for all four, and despite my first attempt being thwarted by morbidly obese people on a plane, I had one last shot, with one more Sunday day game left on the calendar late in August. And this time, luck shone on me, as I was able to board my flight with relative ease that morning.

One thing I was really hoping for was to get to see the number one prospect in all of baseball, in Jason Heyward. I never went up to Rome when he was up there, and I had been unlucky in missing him in while at the Beach. By the time I was up in Potomac, Heyward had already been promoted to Mississippi. I had hoped to get a baseball signed or something, but I finally got to see Heyward, and much to my amusement, both he and the also promoted Freddie Freeman were quite standoffish with the autograph seekers, and furthermore, neither of them actually played in the game I was at.

But that was okay, because I was finally in Mississippi, and I just wanted to see some baseball. I got to see a genuine Phillip Wellman explosive tantrum and ensuing ejection, and the M-Braves offense took care of the rest. Seems like my rash of watching Braves affiliates lose had come to a pretty abrupt halt the last few attempts, and I left Mississippi pretty pleased overall.

Here's a shot taken from Labor Day, where Kenshin Kawakami knocked out Micah Owings in extra innings. The good news was that Owings was able to get up after about two minutes of no movement. The bad news was that the bases were loaded when it occurred, and it was the go-ahead run for the Reds. Rubbing salt in the wounds was that Corky Miller, of all players in MLB drove in another run immediately following. Worse off was that the Reds completed a three-game sweep that day, which really put a damper in the Braves' playoff aspirations. It was no worse to see the repercussions of those losses than it was right here.

How quickly things change. After many had felt the need to throw in the towel after the sweep to the Reds, the Braves responded with an 8-for-9 winning streak, and suddenly, hope sprung again for a post-season berth. However for me, despite how much I wanted to go to the park to see more of this surging Braves squad, life had taken me way out west to Washington state, where I was attending a wedding of a good friend. Being the opportunist that I am, if I wasn't going to be watching the Braves, I was going to be watching some baseball regardless.

I'd been to Safeco Field and seen the Mariners play before, but I was hungover from the wedding reception, and the idea of sitting in the sun and watching some baseball sounded like a great idea. The funny thing is that the first time I was out there, it was the M's and the Yankees, and it just so happened to be the billing for the game this time around. However, there were a lot of different faces compared to the last time, and the result was very much different. The best part was seeing Ken Griffey, Jr., the same one we almost had prior to the season, hit a big three-run blast off of the beneficiary to the ESPN hype machine, Joba Chamberlain, en route to the Mariners rout.

By the time I was back in Atlanta, and things were settling down from starting a new freelance gig, and the recent flooding of the metro area, the Braves were winners of 16 out of their last 19, and were 2.0 games out of catching the Colorado Rockies. With the season dwindling, I saw no more better time to begin cashing in the remainder of my ticket vouchers, and I made sure to get some awesome tickets for whatever remaining games I had planned on attending, since these were going to be crucial. The temperatures had begun to drop, thwarting many away from the ballpark, but those who did show up were definitely enthusiastic.

But as we all recently remember, things didn't turn out as hoped. Stagnant offense, another unfortunate big game bad performance from the typically reliable all year long Javier Vazquez, and some bad baserunning led to our own demise. Not to mention that the Florida Marlins have played the role of spoiler better than any team in baseball for like three years in a row now.

So I had one last ticket for the season, and it figures that the best ticket I have all season is for an inconsequential game, since the Rockies had clinched the final playoff spot earlier in the day. But, like a weight removed from our shoulders, I felt light and relaxed going into this final Braves game for me, and I had intended to enjoy myself. I got a ball autographed from Tommy Hanson, and I had a fun albeit brief conversation with Brooks Conrad since, I was sitting right on the dugout. I was also right near the Tomahawk Team all night long, and this is where I'll admit that I had the biggest crush on member Jessica for like, the entire year. But when I tried to speak to her, twice, she blew me off pretty badly, so I got over it real fast.

Now I don't know if she was a real beauty queen or not, but it didn't really matter, because she was quite the looker, regardless. All the guys around her knew it, and the dangerous thing was that she knew it too. And most importantly, everyone on the field was aware of it too. After every top inning, she would stand up and wave at the players, coaches, and field staff, and see who would look up. A few times, she would hold up an 8x10" glamour shot of herself, and smile and point at players. In the end, Yunel Escobar, Adam LaRoche, Glenn Hubbard, a bat boy, and one unidentifiable person from within the dugout threw baseballs up to her, to which she laughed about upon receiving each one. She would smile and look pretty for a second, and then just hand it off to a nearby kid who clearly wanted it more than she did. But the best part was Yunel, who was clearly in love, based on how often he kept looking back at her, and instead of going way back behind home plate like he occasionally does to cheat better glances at the opposing pitcher, he stayed in the appropriate on-deck circle, and kept glancing back. After the game (which the Braves lost), I chatted with her briefly, and she talked about how she was doing it for fun to see how many players she could get to acknowledge her. All while, writing something onto one of the 8x10s, which she handed down the dugout, which Glenn Hubbard had come out and retrieved. We both laughed at that one.

And that's how my Braves season ended - with a loss, but an interesting and entertaining story.

But my baseball season wasn't quite over yet - I had one last road trip in me just yet. I made my way up north to Minneapolis to see the final series out at the HHH Metrodome, before the Twins begin their 2010 season in their new outdoor Target Field (which the Braves are scheduled to see next season). It was an interesting situation too. I had planned this trip to Minneapolis somewhere in the middle of the season, and at the time, the Twins were like the Braves; caught somewhere in the middle of the pack, and at their current paces, probably would miss the playoffs. But much like the Braves, the Twins made a surge late in the season, and re-entered the playoff picture. But unlike the Braves, the Twins kept on winning, and going into the final weekend of the regular season, were still playing meaningful baseball. I felt pretty good knowing that the tickets I had for what seemed like an inconsequential Twins vs. Royals series were suddenly the most meaningful series in all of baseball left.

But it wasn't going to be easy for the Royals, because standing in their way was AL Cy Young hopeful, Zach Grienke. And for five innings, Grienke did everything as advertised, and held the Twins scoreless.

But then in the 6th with two outs, things began to fall apart. If anyone was going to get to a Cy Young pitcher, it would have to be an MVP type of player, to which Joe Mauer responded by tagging Grienke for the first runs of the game. By the time the inning was over, the Twins were up 4-0. But instead of cruising to victory, a whole lot of familiar faces from NL East years of past started showing up to make things interesting: Mike Jacobs hits a blast into the trashbags for the Royals. The Twins call on former Natinal, Jon Rauch, and as we've seen happen many times from his DC days, he gives up a pinch-hit to former Brave, Brayan Peña, en route to blowing the save. Another former Brave, in Juan Cruz also makes a relief appearance, and strikes out two. But in the end, a Michael Cuddyer homer in the bottom of the 8th absolves all, and the Twins win an exciting game. The Metrodome was packed the entire time, and I can't lie and say I wasn't a little bit envious at how the Twins fans came to represent, but I was still pleased at being privileged to be there at that time. (Read about my Minneapolis trip over at Twinkie Town)

Later that evening, the White Sox had beaten the Tigers, and suddenly, the AL Central had two teams at the top of the hill. Both teams would end up winning the next day to remain tied, forcing the pivotal play-in tie breaker game 163, which we all know the Twins won the division in extra innings.

One of these days, my season won't end as soon as this season did, and hopefully there will be some Braves playoff baseball in the near future to help extend a season out. But I'm not complaining; 2009 was full of excellent trips to the park, and parks afar, and I'm already planning out an epic road trip for 2010. And if all goes to plan, it's going to be early in the season, and likely balls cold.

Closing thoughts on this extraneously long post:

So having been to all four levels of the minors this year, here's how I would rank the venues:
1. Coastal Field, Myrtle Beach - first of all, it's the beach. Relaxed atmosphere, easy to get to, players are fairly accessible, and there are a lot of great angles to watch the game. And when the weather's nice, a refreshing ocean breeze comes from time to time.
2. State Mutual Park, Rome - The first word that comes to mind about this park is "relaxed." Probably because it's Low-A, but it's a cozy park, where the players are very easily accessible for autographs and conversation, and there are bad places to watch the game.
3. Trustmark Park, Mississippi - Almost everything said about Rome can be said about Mississippi. The only real differences is that Mississippi just kind of seems lacking, when it comes to basic amenities, which is why I put it here instead of above Rome.
4. Gwinnett Stadium, Gwinnett - Comparing what Richmond was to what Gwinnett is, is like comparing a... Ford Taurus SHO to a Ford GT500. The Taurus is unsuspecting, and kind of old and busted, and the GT500 is sexy, modern, and technological. Both are fast cars though, except one seems approachable and attainable, where the other one is like the hot chick you have no business even bothering to try and speak with. All that being said, Gwinnett is no doubt a very nice park, but a little too serious for minor league, IMO. A little too corporate, the players aren't accessible, and ironically, I can get a better bargain for Major league action alternatively.

One of these days I'll find a way to get to Danville, and hangout with CBtits, or I'll go to Orlando during the GCL to see what's up there.

While I'm on the topic of minor leagues, it should be worth noting that I ran into Craig Kimbrel in almost every level of the minors this year. He was down in Rome when I went out there, then was back up at the Beach, and was promoted to Mississippi by the time I made my way out there. The funny thing is that I didn't actually get to see him pitch until I was out at Potomac for the away game. I was pleased at what I saw that first time, and I'd hope he'll get a cup of coffee in 2010, but be up with the team by 2011. If not for the fact that he maybe had like a week in total up in AAA, I would've made my way out to Gwinnett again, just to say that I saw Kimbrel in all four levels.

Know what's the best part of traveling? The food. Remember, I'm a 628 lb. behemoth. Here's royhobbs' favorite MLB dishes from his travels in 2009:

1. Cuban Sandwich, Tropicana Field (above, center) - located at this Cuban shack in the "Carnival" part of the Trop, this sandwich was awesome. I have a fondness for Cuban food to begin with, so being able to get a Cuban at the ballpark was awesome.
2. Skyline Chili, Great American Ball Park (above, left) - cinnamon in chili? Inconceivable! I've been told that the Skylines outside of GBAP are far better, but I'm pretty sold on what's available at the park, so far. I needed a pickme up after watching Kawakami implode against the Reds, and I think Skyline did a sufficient job of it.
3. Maryland Street Meat, Pickle's Pub outside of Camden Yards - Here's some irony; despite my disdain for the city of Baltimore, the Orioles, and the state of Maryland, I'm actually a big fan of Camden Yards. It's actually my favorite park in the American League so far. This halo of forgiveness actually extends out one block beyond the centerfield gates, across the street to Pickle's Pub, where the people are jovial, the food and beer are cheap and satisfying.
4. Chicago Dog, Metrodome (above, right) - When I was walking around the Favredome, I saw some guy eating one of these monstrosities, and I decided that I needed to try one of my own. In the third inning, I found where they were being sold, and I got one. My friend decided he needed one too upon seeing mine. By the time we got back to our seats, a man behind us asked where we got one of those. I told him. An inning later, he and four other guys behind us were chowing down. One pound of hot dog, covered with onions, mustard, peppers, black pepper, and tomatoes.
5. Garlic fries, Safeco Field - I do not care what eating these fries does to my breath, my fingers, or my section. These things are pure awesome.
6. Tony Luke's, Citizens Bank Park - Ha, it feels good to put anything Philadelphia related, last on any sort of list. But really, I'm often told that Tony Luke's is better outside of the park, but it's not a bad option at the park. But as far as I'm concerned the best cheesesteaks in Philly still come from Chink's Steaks.

Well if you've made it this far, applaud yourself. And if you thought I could make any sort of picture post without some chauvinistic content, you're kind of out of your mind. The second best part of traveling? Girls. To me, girls at the ballpark and/or wearing sports paraphernalia are automatically more attractive than the Kelly Bundys and Hilary Bankses that sashay around modern society. So I leave you with a small collage of some of the pretty faces that make my otherwise dudetrips a little more easier on the eyes.

If you've read this far, you have my gratitude. I have a good bit of local friends, but not nearly of them are into baseball and sports as I am, so I like to have you guys to use as somewhat of an outlet of my combined passion for baseball and writing. Hopefully, I've succeeded in either/or helping you kill some time at work or school, or crashing your browser with how big this post actually is.

And as I said before, if you've got any awesome photos or stories of your own to share, don't just leave a comment - flex those linguistic wings and make a post about it. So until next year, have a neat winter.

Pujols' elbow surgery deemed a success

royhobbs — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:25:39 -0000

Pujols' elbow surgery deemed a success

The most interesting thing to me about about this article is the part where Dr. James Andrews, he of the mastery of the Tommy John Surgery is deemed as belonging to the Atlanta Braves. That's news to me.

HHH Metrodome - A Visitor's Perspective

royhobbs — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:31:55 -0000

Hello again, Twins fans.

It's been a little bit over a week since my visit to Minneapolis, and I'm finally caught up all the daily nuances in life to where I can actually deliver with a write up of my experience. To cut to the chase, I had a very great time up in Minnesota, and I thank everyone who chimed in during my initial inquiries of things to do, places to eat at (and drink), and some other activities to keep in mind. The duration of my stay was only a single night, and part of an afternoon, so obviously I couldn't pack everything into it, but I am grateful to everyone who gave me suggestions.

29 more photos after the jump, hoping your connection is decent.

The funny thing is that my friend and I had planned this trip back in early August, when the Twins were 5 or some games out of first, and the thought of this particular squad going to the playoffs was an afterthought. And then suddenly, going into the last week of the season, both the Twins and my Atlanta Braves made nice little streaks of wins that put both into the serious playoff picture. Unfortunately for me, the Braves couldn't keep their end of the bargain, and I had to bear witness as a game-ending pick-off at third base effectively ended the season for them. However, the Twins got the memo to keep on winning, and suddenly the tickets that I had for Saturday's game was quite possibly the most meaningful game in all of MLB that day. To say I was excited for it was an understatement.

I landed in Minneapolis early on Saturday, and I'm glad that I planned on arriving early; part of it has to do with my flight privileges, and flying early is always the best idea, but mostly because the Twins vs. Royals game I was there to see was bumped to the afternoon slot by FOX. I picked up my rental, a Ford Focus (which pulling the hand-brake while moving results in a sound effect akin to picking up a coin in Super Mario Bros.), and it was off to find some breakfast. I didn't really ask anyone here where some good breakfast was, but the desire for some breakfast really
hit hard after landing, so I asked the girl at the Budget desk what she suggested, and she pointed me in the direction of Key's Cafe and Bakery. Awesome place. Had an incredible chorizo omelette to start my day sufficiently.

One thing I like to do when I go to cities I've never explored before, is to just set out on foot and walk around. After eating at Key's, my friend and I didn't realize the proximity of the area, and that we were suddenly right in Minneapolis. Nicollet Mall was literally two blocks away, and the Metrodome was about a six block walk, according to a couple in Twins regalia. So instead of hopping back in the rental and trekking back to Bloomington to check into my hotel, we decided to hoof it and explore the area.

A sign as big as the Grain Belt sign made it clear that I was to try this Grain Belt beer. Also, one of you mentioned the mills around town, and it crossed my mind upon seeing both the Gold Medal and Pilsbury factories on oppsing sides of the river. And, for some reason, I guess it's the art studies in me, that really likes photographing run-down dilapidated buildings.

So my friend and I eventually make it to the Metrodome, and the interesting thing is we assumed that it would be visible right away. And then it turned into one of those situations where you turn your head to the left, and oh, there it is. I guess the fancy photographs of the exterior from across the river is what I expected to see, but coming from inside of Minneapolis, on foot, leads to very different circumstances.

Pictured, is a supposed corporate-ly sponsored tailgate set up right outside of HHH, except for the fact that there was hardly anyone there. Too much promotion, not enough booze and food, it looked like.

Crossing the tracks, and then this was the pre-game buzz I was looking for. Twins jerseys, t-shirts, and caps everywhere, which was something I could truly appreciate. The best part is that the Twins' identity has remained much the same throughout the last few decades. My biggest gripe with the Atlanta Braves is how many times the identity had changed throughout the decades of Milwaukee, the Aaron-era, and then the Ted Turner-present era, that gives fans reasons to have no truly uniform standard of colors, so home games in Atlanta turn into these mixing bowls of reds, blues, and college football crap of rednecks just looking to get trashed.

Pictured is my state of confusion - Mall of America Field, obviously for the Vikings, the promotional banner for next year's home of the Twins, and ol' Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome down on the bottom like some afterthought.

This is more like it, even if it's an inflateable, cheese giant throwback jersey. At least I was able to capture some proud Twins fans in this shot.

Okay, this is kind of ridiculous. I know football is king to some, and I certainly like football as well, but baseball is my
first love, and more importantly, is in a critical stage at this time of year. The exterior of HHH gave pretty much zero indication that the hottest team in baseball actually played sports here. And no, I will refrain from making a rehashed, and likely unwelcome Brett Favre joke, because I just haven't been paying enough attention.

This picture stings. Jack Morris's 10IP ridiculously awesome performance in 1991 against my boys. But regardless, I'm under the mindset that it's better to lose to the best, and I was really actually hoping to get a glimpse of 'ol BlackJack, but among the throngs of fans crowding, I didn't get to find Mr. Morris anywhere.

But it was Fan Appreciation Weekend, and lots of Twins greats, and alums were present in the halls. I think this was Gary Gaetti's, but I'm not 100% sure. Forgive me for not being savvy in all the former Twins. There were also a ton of more interested fans there than I was, obviously just as equally there for the legends as they were for the game.

Obligatory field shot, while Royals take BP. As it is with every park I go to for the first time, no matter how many times I've seen a place on tv, whether it be Interleague, ESPN, or whatever, it's always a different experience walking the place and taking in the sights yourself. You can notice little things, like the faint hint of the hashmarks and Vikings logos in the turf, and see how the aisles and stairs work.

Since RFK, the former home of the Washington Redskins was also used for Nationals, I guess I kind of expected the walkway system of that place. But since it was also a dome, which Atlanta has in the Georgia Dome, it more resembled that. Maybe a little narrow for my tastes in the hallways, but the vending was plentiful, and there were no lines at the restrooms, so I guess those weren't too bad.

COUNTDOWN TO OUTDOOR BASEBALL. I like campy things like this, I'll admit. I felt privileged to be there in the time of (so we all thought) final games at the Metrodome. I missed out on opportunities to see Shea and Old Yankee, and I didn't want to miss another ballpark before it was too late.

Mascot TC lofting slow-pitched softballs into the upper deck. I remember during an Interleague game versus the Braves a few years ago, they showed a clip of some big, bearded ringer smashing homers pre-game, but I didn't realize that TC would do it too.

SANTA CLAUS. I get a kick out of old guys who rock the Santa Beard. With only general admission tickets, I tried to convince my friend that we should sit in Santa's section, but he wanted to stay put with our view from straight-away center.

Zack Grienke warming up. He might be a likely candidate for the AL Cy Young, but I wasn't too worried for the Twins. Afterall, you guys had Orlando Cabrera, who was the reason I didn't mention in the previous post I made, why the Twins WOULD make the post-season. I made a joke with my friend, calling him the equivalent to the NBA's Robert Horry in baseball, based on how he always seems to be on a team going to the postseason. Naturally, my friend being from Washington and a Nationals fan, made point to debunk the theory that even Orlando Cabrera couldn't take the Natinals to the playoffs. But whatever, I knew O-Cab's presence was all that was necessary for the Twins to make playoffs happen.

I saw a few people eating these monstrosities throughout HHH, and it was only a matter of time before I realized that I had to be one of these as well. Unfortunately for me, there's only one vendor on the second deck that sold them, and they were quite a hike. The best part was that since my friend decided to be the designated seat-holder, I was the lucky one who got to walk through the halls carrying TWO of these Chicago Dogs, much to the dismay of the few attractive girls I walked by. A funny thing is that while my friend and I were chowing down, four gentlemen behind us decided that they needed the Chicago Dogs as well, and a while later, we turned to see four guys pounding these dogs as well.

An interesting thing about sitting in the general admission seats where I was sitting is the fact that anything hit into right field was an adventure that was more or less unwatchable. Anything hit into the outfield, after the first two seconds, I wasn't sure what was happening. I deduced from fan reaction of the results, since a Kubel catch meant an out, and like when Mike Jacobs went deep, the instantaneous silence meant homer.

Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer. I love this song. Not just for how well it relates to sports, I'm a child of the 80s, and I love Bon Jovi. They played this in Atlanta too, but then they lost.

A funny thing happened next - so as I said, my friend is a Nationals fan. When Jon Rauch came out, he mentioned something about how funny it would be if Rauch blew the lead, but then was still pitcher of record when the lead was re-taken, and getting the BS,W - for old time's sake. Well.

And Michael Cuddyer delivers the go-ahead homer in the bottom of the 8th while Jon Rauch is still on record after allowing the game tying run to score previously. The reaction from the Metrodome was ear-ringing. Truly a wonderful sensation, being around baseball fans that cared that much.

Joe Nathan closing out the game. Again, I must mention just how into the game the fans were, and how amazing that felt being there. Braves fans are generally really apathetic, and don't ever come close to selling out Turner Field on any capacity. Being at HHH for such pivotal games was awesome on many levels, but mostly I was just in awe of fans that cared.

Big jubilation on the Twins win. My friend was sufficiently charmed by the Twins magic, and before the trip was over, he had purchased a Twins hat for himself.

The 'ol victory line.

Something fascinating, not necessarily surprising. Funny what allegiances awaken during the midst of a division race. Twins fans cheering for the White Sox; and they were given much reason to cheer later on in the evening when the White Sox beat the Tigers, and the Twins catching them in the standings, setting up a pivotal Sunday.

LOLRauch (BS, W). I also enjoyed at how fast the game breezed - with Grienke going strong for six and two-thirds, and Nick Blackburn tossing a gem with his own seven strong innings.

A ballsy move by this one gentleman, doffing the Detroit Tigers jersey in Minnesota; he was getting quite a tongue-lashing from some homers on the way out of the park, which proved to be entertaining for about five seconds.

Massive crowds of Twins fans departing from the VikingDome.

Overall, the experience of attending a Twins game at the Metrodome was nothing short of memorable and totally awesome. It goes without saying that the circumstances in which the game was played had a lot to do with it, but it felt great being around passionate fans, and ones that cheered and jeered based on what was going on, on the field, and not what the out-of-town scoreboard was showing.As for the Metrodome itself as a baseball venue, I'm not thrilled, but I'm not disappointed. It's a moot point considering next season it's not an issue, but I'm just being honest. I'm glad I got the chance to see it before it's no longer a baseball venue, but I'm certainly not really going to miss it. In terms of domes, I'd rank Toronto's Rogers Centre above HHH, but HHH is still leaps, bounds, and high jumps better than Tropicana Field.

The rest of my trip in a few pictures:

I went to Gruek's Bar after the game, where I tried the house brew in Amber Red (considered it "eh"), tried the Grain Belt (which was "okay"), before returning to my comfort in Sam Adams. Also hit on the cute redheaded waitress rocking the baseball cap, which is a look I can dig.

As for the following day, as much as I wanted to scalp my way into the (not so) final game at HHH, the timing would interfere with my flight, so I opted to not go. Instead, I ended up in Dinkytown for two hours waiting outside, before getting to experience Al's Breakfast:

Which was worth the wait for a tourist like me, because I had interesting conversation with some locals in line, and the abomination known as "the Jose" (hash browns smothered in salsa, cheese, eggs benedict) was so unhealthily delicious.

Then I ended up at the Mall of America where my friend and I walked for hours, endured a Nickelodeon world ticketing snafu, rode all the rides, ogled some Vikings cheerleaders who were present, and I managed to finally find a souvenir Twins baseball that I couldn't find anywhere in HHH, or one of the Twins Pro Shops located in the surrounding area.

And then we hit up this German restaurant called "Glockenspiel" in St. Paul before heading to the airport on our respective flights out. Except that for some reason, flights back to Atlanta suddenly turned bad, and I ended up getting stranged in MSP. Due to the fact that I was reliant on needing an early morning flight back to catch up with work, I couldn't really make the best of my extra night in Minnesota, and instead needed some Tylenol PM to ensure some sleep at all, before I was successfully able to get back to Atlanta the following morning.

Random trip notes:

104.1 JackFM is like, the greatest radio station I've ever listened to in my entire life. Seriously. The previous renter of the Focus I had left it as a pre-set, and I realized that I didn't once need to change the dial throughtout my entire trip.
Parking in Minneapolis - I hope you folks realize how good you have it. $5, for all day event parking? Crazy. I'm used to paying anywhere from 2x to 5x that. 20x if you're in Boston.
My craving for Italian was sated at Buca di Beppo in St. Paul. I know they're kind of a chain, but they're not in Atlanta, so I don't consider them, as breaking of my rule to try new and local things when traveling.
This pains me greatly, very greatly. But I figured I had to get SOME baseball talk here. But I can admit that when it comes to it, I'd have to consider Joe Mauer, to be the slightly superior catcher over my own boy, Brian McCann. The numbers are oft-close, but there are just some intangibles watching the way Mauer plays, and the fact that going into October, Mauer is still going strong, where as McCann has what I've observed as late-season slumping. I know many back home argue that his physical freshness has a lot has to do with the fact that Mauer can DH from time to time, but let's not be delusional. As lovable as McCann is to me, he's got a little baby fat, and not the athletic build that Mauer has. McCann is still cream of the crop IMO in the NL, but I'll admit that Mauer's the better guy outright. For now, hopefully.

Aside from the traveling woes on the way out, I have nothing bad to say about this trip at all. Minnesota was a wonderful trip, and I have fond memories of closing out the 2009 reguar season out there, instead of Atlanta where the Braves apparently got swept by the NATIONALS to close out their season. Again I must thank those who contributed ideas and suggestions to me, and it goes without saying that this trip probably wouldn't have been as great with them.

And looking at the schedule for next year on my 2009-2010 Target Field calendar, it looks like a repeat trip is in order in June, as my Braves get their first look at new Target Field against the Twins. Looking forward to it!

Quick question for the locals

royhobbs — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:15:20 -0000

Hello Twins fans--

Awesome win for you guys today. I'm happy that the Twins staved off elimination, because the Braves couldn't do the same, and I would like to see some meaningful baseball this weekend.

Anyway, the reason I post to your fine site today is because I'm one of those guys. This year saw trips to Cincinnati and Tampa Bay, and repeat trips to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Seattle. But I'm ending my regular season in Minnesota, and I'm looking forward to having the privilege of visiting the Metrodome before it's no longer the home of the Twins. I have tickets to Saturday's game, and it's Sunday's game, among other things, I'm here to inquire about.

The FOX pickup actually works better for me - ballpark food is great and all, but in cities that I've not ventured beyond the airport in, I'd really like to have at least one decent dinner. So with Saturday's game being in the afternoon, it frees up my evening to find somewhere good to eat. That being said, anybody have any recommendations? I've been hankering for some good Italian food lately, but I'm open to all suggestions. I hate to sound naive, but I don't really know what kind of foods that Minnesota is best known for, not like Cincinnati's chili, Wisconsin's cheese and brats, and Baltimore's crab cakes.

Sunday - I don't have tickets, and I didn't really look beyond the MLB site. Don't know what this says about me, but I'm more apt to test the scalping waters. With this in mind, does Minnesota have a somewhat of a predictable scalper scene, or should I find a pub to crawl at for an inning or two, before finding someone, if there is going to be any scalpers on a monumentous occasion like the Metrodome's last Twins game? Or does the Metrodome have any day-of-game cheapies or general admission?

Finally, in the event that I can't get to the game on Sunday, is there any recommendation of what I should do/see/eat? A buddy of mine who will be with me is fascinated in the Mall of America, back when WCW wrestling did a live show from there, so we might end up there at some point, but I was wondering if anyone else has any interesting suggestions.

Thank you in advance, and good luck to the Twins, and I hope they can keep the season going all the way until Sunday for all of us.

PS - if you guys are interested, I can put together an unbiased, outsider's write-up about my experience at the Metrodome after my trip.

Previous park write-ups, with the help of local folks all around MLB cities: Great American Ball Park, Dodger Stadium, Angel Stadium, PETCO Park, Tropicana Field

The Diamond, to become home to Giants affiliate

royhobbs — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:22:32 -0000

The Diamond, to become home to Giants affiliate

The Diamond, former home to the AAA-Richmond Braves, was a fond memory for me, since it was the closest thing to the real Atlanta Braves I could actually see while still living out in Virginia. Unfortunately, more people saw the Diamond as this dated dump of a baseball venue, known for it's shoddy construction, and the one time scare of a giant chunk of concrete falling off of it. So the the AAA-Braves were moved from Richmond to Gwinnett, and has been more or less used exclusively for college (VCU) baseball.

Until 2010, when the AA level's Eastern League has decided to do a little bit of expanding, and create a new team, whose home will be the Diamond. Name, and which division they'll be in is unknown yet, but they will be affiliated with the San Francisco Giants.

Whether or not this will create some future fandom towards the Giants is yet to be known, but at least for my former fellow Virginians, more baseball is coming back in the void left by the R-Braves.

Does anyone care about the Braves-Mets "Rivalry" anymore? My take - not really. At least not...

royhobbs — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:48:08 -0000

Does anyone care about the Braves-Mets "Rivalry" anymore?

My take - not really. At least not since 2000 or so. Maybe I just haven't been alive long enough, but it doesn't seem like there really was much of one, at least as long as I've been alive/coherently following baseball.

Even at its most scrutinized, it seemed pretty one-sided all through the late 90s into the 2000s, with the Braves coming out on top most of the time. The last time it seemed genuinely relevant was in 2006, when the Braves pretty much imploded, and the Mets were there to take the NL East title for their own.

I think it's also hard to consider a rivalry, when it's either one-sided, or both parties are currently in the midst of playoff droughts of their own. Not to say that the Braves couldn't really use three more wins against the Mets, but when it comes to the subject at hand, there hasn't been a true Braves-Mets rivalry for quite some time now.